A Maiden's Strange Voyage

It was uncharted territory for him and thus they needed to take it slow. Even as they had asked person after person for directions. But it took time, just like any with common sense said that it would.

Before they were somewhat close, but still walking around without any idea on what they were doing. And thus needed to ask again. Even as they barely knew the place better than any other person.

"May I ask where is this?" Taking the chance to ask, knowing that they needed it.

"Oh, it"s the building you"re standing behind." They looked at it in an instant and could tell just where they were now looking at. They nodded. Just as they had found the place at last. It didn"t really matter where was it now.

They could enter now into the house. Even as they were asked to mention Feiyu"s name. And to keep her out of it. Using Chaoyun if it was preferred.

"Remember to call me Chaoyun." He nodded. Knowing just how important it was in such a situation. They did not have much of a choice. Other than to go by it.

"And we should finish everything first. Looks better that way." Taking the chance to finish the last of their snacks before starting to walk towards there.

Her name was that of a simple girl from the countryside. Nothing similar to Feiyu, nothing which would tie her together with them. And in such a place, it was almost impossible to expect anyone she knew. But she kept an eye out.

"State your business here." It had been a man in such a situation.

"We"re here to look for Master Liu. Tell him that we"re here as Feiyu asked us to." He had taken it with skepticism. But brought it in.

Even as he came out in the next instance to bring them into the house. They were brought into a study room, clear with the table below. The brushes, the paper. And of course the stacks of books, freshly printed with the movable printing type.

And sitting in there was a young man. Who looked up to them in a smile. Perhaps looking forward to the news being brought to him. "Bring in some tea for the guests and also some food too."

They had eaten something but it needing almost half a day to come here. Mostly because they were not in the very least familiar with the place enough. But it was at his courtesy, and perhaps to discuss it.

The food came in a short while. Even as Yuan Shao mostly wolfed down on everything. And she had the feeling that he often did like doing this when he was a guest.

She picked up the chopsticks and ate another. "So, who are you?"

"Yuan Shao." He spoke after swallowing his food. Just as he went for another round.

"Chaoyun." Even as he never seemed to be like this in any other situation.

"You two must have come a long way. I remember them telling me that she lived on the other side of the city."

"Feiyu asked us to come here to really understand the situation." Seeing as how his mouth was still full. But he had stopped, with enough for her left.

"Mostly on how much money was taken from you, whether your business still is suffering from it."

"It"s fairly terrible. The wealth being lost isn"t the worst on us. We can make do with less, and it was a donation to the temples. But rather the land that we had collected and ama.s.sed. And the tenants who have been on there."

It was something that they could use even in the near future. "Without it, we would be reduced to paupers. The civil service pays well, but not enough to sustain the family. And we no longer have the wealth to invest or to maintain it."

And thus why he was troubled. Above all, it was something that they knew about while they were here. This was not anything they could do it.

Even as he had taken out a book, free of any ink. And he pa.s.sed them it. "We"re mostly here to doc.u.ment it for Feiyu, and also Yin Rui."

Though he had not asked anything for the most part. And showed his own desperation and how Feiyu suggesting him this would have been a G.o.dsend to him. A way out for his troubles. She could tell it, the sign of a troubled customer who was served by her and managed to forget his troubles.
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This was more than that. A way out, a way to keep what they had wanted. And it was not a reason why he was willing to buy into them. Since Yin Rui was an official and had the chance to explain to him this.

"We"re working for him too. They"re friends." Knowing that he had not liked her in any way. This was something that benefited him much more than it did anyone else.

"That makes so much sense." Even as he never seemed to go into the section of why it was happening. Or even questioning them. "Either I would have to thank them later. They have been so helpful."

They shared a look. Desperation was something that could blind people if they needed it. Just as he took down the last of the details and stood up. Done for the day. They headed back to the city. Having all done now.

Just as they had made them leave.

Even as none of them had said anything. He had not expressed any skepticism, and this would have been considered fairly routine. And when they were out on the streets, he had looked at her.

"That was one desperate man."

"The type of customer whom I would have little problems pleasing. Because they would just want to have a good time and some food. And then they are usually left alone and would feel satisfied."

"What would you consider me?" He asked. Perhaps out of curiosity and what he would think about it. And whether he needed it at the end of the day.

"The guy who is there to hitch off a free meal. Because you are a ton while in there."

"The free meals always taste the best." Even as he left back to the place.

--

Feiyu had come out in the evening for Dianyu. Liao Yue had told her that he could only pick it up once he covered this lesson with her. Even as she was uncomfortable with the whole issue.

There just wasn"t the chance for it to go any other way. Dianyu was sitting on the bench itself, and unlike the other times, she was with her parasol. Clearly waiting for her.

Something that only she could do, and even she was so baffled at her own. What made her a good choice to be this? But she didn"t think she would have taken up an apprentice, or at least one like her.

She was fast, much faster than most people. Which had been the reason why she needed to do this now. She sat down. "Tonight we need to talk about your influences and the test itself. It would usually occur once the new pa.s.ses. And it would take place in Kaifeng. But there is something you need to know."

She leaned in. The woman took a pause. "We would need to be there for at least a few months. To be suitable for candidature. Mostly for him to train you up and see if you qualify. It"s to ensure a certain standard and if not they are sent back. Only the third year apprentices have to take the exam."

And in her situation, it was not. She was being nominated. It"s not uncommon to give it a try for the first year. There were many who did. Including Yuan Shao. But they had either spent their childhood here, quite unlike Dianyu.

But if Madame Yuan recommended it to her, and at the same time, Liao Yue had not said much about it. It was the truth to say that she was truly capable. And able to handle it.

Even as she couldn"t put a finger on why she had been so able to adapt. Most would not have been able to handle the change. It was something sudden, something different. But she had adapted to it all the same.

Her upbringing was not unusual, but perhaps in how she was allowed to decide on her own. Just where she could head and what she could do. The first time she had met her, it was where she avoided serving another girl. An inconceivable notion for anyone else.

But for her, it was not. And her choice back then, she had not hesitated one bit. Her mother was a woman of her own ideas, a woman who followed what she thought was right. Something which she ingrained in the girl.

Her greatest temptation was a life without any consequences. Where she could run from one choice to the other without ever knowing the pain of it. To her, it was a life where she could do as she, please.

But would never grow as she would never ever need to learn that there was no turning back. She had done it unconsciously, knowing that it was a road of no return. But not knowing the full implication.

Something that she needed to learn now above all. The girl did not say anything. "Liao Yue told you about the influences."

Where she needed to keep it in mind and have a clear head to move forward. "It isn"t your temptation but what is keeping you back."

She looked curious. Feiyu knew full well since hers was so vivid. Her own parents, her sisters and her brother. The Emperor never ranked as one, because how does a man whom she had never formed a connection to did.

"There are things which tie us down to our fates. And these things are the ones which prevent us from channeling energy. Breaking with fate can mean that we may never see them again. And fully breaking with them means that there is no certainty you ever will either."

The girl nodded. Understanding the logic behind it. To begin, this was not easy. As it would need her to use the energy and have Feiyu intercept them.

It was to bring them to a plane. It required mediation at all costs. And that to them meant needing silence. "We"ll need to be inside. It would require you to channel your own energy and see what I can find. Fate has its mark on you, the same way that your own will can be expressed in the world."

And that this energy was what has affected them. The energies were always different for every one of them. And thus it was necessary for a master to only have one apprentice. This was not possible otherwise.

It was all about entering the mind of Dianyu, and entering what would be the thing holding her back. Feiyu knew to an extent. But until she had seen it, she could not say a word.

"Follow me." She stood up. Dianyu did as well. She remained worried, even now as she could not be said to be the most familiar. This was her first. But she knew the procedure.

They entered the room inside, closing the door. This was now between the two of them as it was. She took a seat down, and Dianyu did as well. This was her room and the place where Dianyu would always wait for her.

"Close your eyes." She knew the tune she needed to play on her pipa, a much easier way to enter and sync her energy with hers. Ease themselves into it, and see what they would see.

Dianyu was unsure, and she was uncertain. But she would have to accept it. The song continued to play until of course she managed to feel her energy with hers. It was the energy which she sought to combine with hers.

The feeling of connectedness, it was now there. And finally ready for her to see what was blocking her and holding her back. That was what a master did once they have reached a certain threshold, even as it was something that Liao Yue told her due to his own knowledge of it.

She closed hers in the last instance, the one thing it needed to finally bring them to the plane of her mind. When she opened, it was where she expected it to be.