Klaeben, Ai, and Fenhua walk up the stairs of the palace, watching the soldiers forming lines outside the walls, as they continue a high pitch voice is heard "you, where have you been yesterday ?" They look to the right seeing Gao beside one of the jade pillars enchanted with golden dragons and deers that twist all over the pillar "I haven't seen you after the destruction of the harbor, report me where have you been?" Klaeben open his mouth but Lixins voice is heard as the large door slowly open "they were sent to my property By my orders" Gao's fingers point at the palace "you cannot do whatever you please in times of danger" "The emperor has given me the right to act as I find it suits best, Now come with me" the others follow, looking at Gao with one last blank stare and the door behind them slowly close, and Lixin continues to talk "in two hours we will search Every warehouse and storage in the country to find the traces of those who stand against the emperor" he look with a cold stare at Klaeben "except you, you will stay behind" Klaeben raise no objection and continue to walk, looking at Lixin with the same cold stare.
The hours pass, the hot sun is behind the clouds and Lixin with the others and a small group of soldiers start investigating the werehouses in the northern province one by one, they reach the last, a small one with wooden walls and a pyramid roof.
Fenhua says with his arms extended upwards "Maybe this is our lucky one or maybe we will see how much wheat they have inside" no one speak and Lixin knocks on the oak door, an old wrinkled man with ragged clothes opens it looking with his head up at Lixin and bowing and with a dry voice and almost audible voice he says "good day to you defenders of our nation, how can I help you?" Lixin says "we want to inspect your storage" The man nods his head "of course, please come in" he walks inside and the soldiers follow Lixin from behind.
They walk through the narrow Hallway and the old man says "Soldiers never come here, did something happen?"Fenhua asks "Haven't you heard about the slaughter at the port?" "No, what happened? How terrible is it?"Most of the soldiers faces gloom and as Lixin is ready to talk the man says "its alright, you don't have to tell me" he opens another door and two small children rush and hug the man's legs, the old man steps aside for the soldiers to pass, Lixin look at the muddy and empty place and the few stocks of flour and wheat at the far right.
Fenhua look around and then he met the gaze of two children in a little better condition than the man, he feel a pain in his chest and lower his knees, making a grinning face, the children laugh and Fenhua continues to play with them and after a while Ai comes too, playing with them and giving them some silver coins, Fenhua look at her and gives the children two gold coins and with a smile he says "Where are you parents?" The old man comes beside him and stares at him.
Fenhua whispers "I'm sorry" "do not be, I have to see the children laugh from when" he looks at them "Forget it, you just brought them the joy that time doesn't let me give them" the man walks closer to the soldiers and Ai says "you are really good at keeping children entertained" "its nothing special you just need some practice and time with them" the children rush at him giving him a bluish stone, Fenhua takes itand from behind a shout is heard "general come here"Fenhua turn to see and then back to the children but they were with his grandpa hugging them tight and passing them three pouches of coins each, Fenhua looked at the soldiers Seeing pushing away the stocks and tearing the wall.
Fenhua's eyes wide open and Lixin and a soldier take out bags one by one, the other soldiers open the bags and one of them says "gunpowder" and the other says "salt and mercury" the soldiers draw their spears and swords except for Ai and Femhua, Fenhua look at the old man holding his children tight with a glooming face, he look back at Lixin slowly walking at him "soldiers lower your weapons" Lixin eyes shine as he look at the man "mister" the man interrupts "zhang" "mister zhang if you tell us any information about the gunpowder I will ensure you that the emperor will spare your life, though your punishment will be imprisonment for the rest of your life" "if I knew anything I would tell you, believe me, but, I know almost nothing" "neither for those that have given you the powder?" "I only know that they would come back to take it, they gave me one gold coin to keep it a secret" Lixin look at his men and two of them grab the hands of the old man and pushing the children further "Please, spare my grandchildren, they have no one else to rely on" Lixin says with a brazen and authoritarian voice "the emperor will decide that" the old man curve a smile as he bow "thank you" the soldiers grab him from his shoulders and push him towards the door, the children grab his legs and lay their heads with their eyes closed, his eyes almost broke with tears, looking at Fenhua with his arms start shaking, his breath becomes heavier as hs grab the children's arms, pulling them away, the children shake and scream and the old man hold up his tears as Fenhua takes them "please take care of them" Fenhua nods his head with a cold stare and the soldiers take the bags and the man and go outside at the horses, Fenhua stands beside Lixin "general can i take them to our house?" "no, they are the children of a killer" "They are Children, they do not have any sign of greed or anger or an instinct to kill" Lixin look at Fenhua with authority "besides I followed you to grega and im following you now, i think i deserve a reward" Lixin look at the children "no" Fenhua takes several seconds to respond "well it seems i can just leave then" Lixin grit his teeth and his eyes remain with the same coldness "we will do what the emperor wish" Fenhua roll his eyes at the general and Lixin moves to the door and the soldiers follow him as Fenhua speaks to the general with his hands making all kinds of gestures.
They reach the palace and go inside, Lixin orders Ai and most of the soldiers to stand still and him, fenhua and the old man with his kids are accompanied by a preator.
The emperor's golden door open and the children grab their grandpa tight from his legs slowly walking inside as the emperor look at them with narrow eyes, Lixin push the old man and for a moment he freeze before he kneels along with the children as Lixin and Fenhau follow "my emperor these people have gone against your will, We found bags of powder inside the walls of the mans storage" the man breath become heavier, Fenhua look at the man, feeling his head empty and dizzy.
The emperor look carefully at the man and suddenly Fenhua says "my emperor, before you make any choice I want to say that the children are too young and they are not involved to be punished" Lixin grit his teeth and the emperor calmly says "come forth soldier, and tell me your name" Fenhua heart skips a beat and walks closer to the emperor, enough to see his wrinkles, he bows again even lower with his head almost reaching the floor "my emperor im too young but I will serve you till my death, these children do not need to be punished, they just don have anywhere to go, please spare them and I will make them rightful people" The emperor raise his hand and Fenhuas feel a tie in his chest "and what if you can't do what you promise, what if they bring the same or worse shame to themselves and my people?" "I can assure you it will not happen, and if by any chance it does I will be punished first" "Then take them from here, as for the man" "my emperor I believe we must not talk about this matter in front of children" "then take them and leave, quickly" Fenhua raise his head and extends his hands towards the children as they start yelling and crying, he pulls them swiftly out and continue to the halls, seeing the soldiers looking at him with for mere seconds before they turn their gaze.
He opens the door and Ai instantly walks closer "Let me help you" "Ai can you do something for me?" "Whatever you need" "go to the market and buy some vegetables" Ai nods her head and as they go down the stairs she turns her back and wave at him.
She comes inside, holding apples and a large root with small black bulges at both ends, suddenly the smell Of fish from the kitchen catch her attention, her belly growls and walk towards the kitchen seeing Fenhua sitting opposite the children and three plates on the table, two big and one small with thinly sliced red raw fish, Fenhua turns Ai whispers to his ear "their grandpa is dead" Fenhuas face stays calm, slowly nodding his head.
Ai sit and Fenhua brings another plate with golden flowers and place some of his fish at her "I'm sorry, I haven't kept more for you, the kids really liked it" Ai smiled at him "It's alright, we can buy more another time" Ai smiled at the children and they turn their heads at the ground, she look in front of her and Fenhua ask "have you seen Klaeben?" Ai's lips curve downward "he is in the cemetery, I saw him earlier buying some flowers" "you have to talk to him, it is not healthy" he makes a small pause looking thoughtful at Ai and then laughing" says the man who drunk two whole bottles of wine" Ai say nothing.
She look at the plate and smell the fresh tomato and vegetables, her belly growling intensely, she takes the first bite and stays still for a second before she starts eating faster, Fenhua says "you seem to like it" Ai continues to eat a bit more before she says "I have to eat a fish like this" she stops and her eyes slowly narrow, Fenhua smile "well I can cook you another one if you led me all your money" Ai smirk, and her eyes stay for a while at the children, she open her mouth to speak but Fenhua lean his head forward and says with a soft and caring voice "what happen? Not in the mood for food?" The children lean their eyes to the ground with their glooming faces, Fenhua look around him and for a moment he freeze before he leaves and comes back with two small sticks at his thump and index at both hands, the children look and he place the one stick behind the other, now trapped and with a swift move he frees it with them still being stuck on his fingers, the children look carefully and the boy reach his hands at Fenhua.
He happily give him the sticks and says "if you can do it I will cook you some more food" the boy try again and again with the girl watching carefully and after a while takes them and tries slowly and calmly but fails.
Fenhua says "you can try again later when you will be full" the children give them to Fenhua and they start eating, Ai look at Fenhua with her mouth open "I didn't know you can be so good with children" Fenhua says with an ironic tone "I'm a bit trained for situations like this" "do you mind if you tell me more?" "Maybe another time" he eats his food and gets up "Children when you finish with your food and I with the chores would you like to go for a walk in the city?" the children nod their heads and Fenhua takes his plate and Ai and goes outside with Ai following him.
They go to the back of the house opening the small warehouse and taking a bowl full of water and Fenhua starts cleaning the plates "Fenhua you have to find a family for the children" "I know that well, but it will be very hard with their grandpa having betrayed the emperor" Suddenly they hear the door smashing and footsteps crunching the mulch leaves, Fenhua and Ai run and they see the children's shadows in the woods, Fenhua and Ai rush and see the children's shadows in the trees.
They run behind them and they see the boy laying down, grabbing his leg And the girl trying to pull him,Fenhua run and grab both of them by their hands and they start weeping and screaming "Grandpa, save us" Fenhua and Ai take them inside still screaming and weeping.
Fenhua let them from his hold and rush to the door, trying to push it as their high pitch screams pierce Fenhua and Ais ears, the children suddenly stop and Fenhua sigh "kids please listen to me I will not hurt you, you will just stay with me for a while until your grandpa comes back to get you" the children ignore him and continue to scream "Ai a little bit of help here?" Ai comes and grabs the girl as gently as she can and both pull them back inside and up the stairs to the room at the end of the hall.
They let them inside and try to talk but the children cry and weep, Fenhuas arm and pulls him out of the room, hearing the children weeping and crying and pounding the door "we better leave them for a while, they will not hear us easily and sure not now that they are stressed" Fenhua close his eyes and takes a deep breath, he goes to his room and comes with a short thin black wooden chair and sit, looking at Ai and with an ironic tone he says as he smash his forehead "I'm so stupid, telling them that their grandpa would come back? How stupid am I?" "It was not the best approach, but you have time to find a way to talk to them" Fenhua quickly says "maybe tomorrow they will be more willing to hear me" Ai sigh and Fenhua does the same "we may need a bit more time but surely they will listen to you" Fenhua look at her and point his finger at her and says with confidence "maybe you can convince them, I mean you know how to talk about everything to everyone" Ai smile "I will try" She goes upstairs hearing behind the door the snob of the children, for a moment her hand stays a centimeter away from the handle, she takes a deep breath and smile with a plaintive way and push the door "how is your leg?" The children say nothing as they sit beside each other "did you like the food? Fenhua spent much of his time and energy making it for you" The children again say nothing, She kneel "Fenhua is trying to give you his love and affection, he even cooked for you, I think he deserves to give him a chance" the children still ignore her and Ai gets up and slowly close the door "goodbye" she close it and Fenhua smiley wait at her "did you convince them?" Ai take a deep breath.
Fenhua roll his eyes around and goes down, Ai follows him "do not lose hope yet" "I'm fine" "are you sure?" Fenhua turn, laughing innocently "Im only thinking about how to gain their trust" they go to the kitchen and sit, pensively thinking and exchanging some words from time to time with Fenhua looking over at more pensively "is something bothered you?" "I just think about some of the mistakes i made in my past life" Ai extend her hands forward before taking it back, looking apathetically at her hands.
