The Black Rose
Acknowledgement:
Cai Meiren: Ah, thank you for reading this little fic of mine! Even though there were some grammar and spelling errors, oh god so embarrassing! I was using my phone to edit it because my computer broke so yeah, that's why it's a bit weird in grammar and spelling. But thanks! :D
KimmyTheRedHead: thanks! Since the story was in ancient China might as well choose some Chinese words so yeah! :)
Mockingtale: Hi again! Thanks for reviewing this fic! This was actually a try out for me but I never thought I would get responses like this :) and no I'm not Chinese but I'm taking Mandarin as my IGSCE so I'm pretty good with it. And the fact that I'm obsessed with Chinese history, culture, and whatsoever :p but I still suck at calligraphy, oh well. Practice makes perfect! :)
Thanks for the nice reviews guys! Hopefully this will be longer than the first one, as a token of appreciation! :)
Chapter 2: I Need an Assistant
Just yesterday, Zhu Bannian had given me an assignment. An assignment that he knows I will fail... He did not need to say much for many members of the clan would know before he even spoke of it. It was like a code of some sort
The code he gave me was the simplest of all codes the resistance against the Sima family and a chance to redeem myself. It was not hard to see through these codes after years of learning them, but for first timers they wouldn't understood what he meant.
The code he gave me, it's as if he's not even trying to. I'm not so surprised, he loathed me after all
We always spoke on codes, so no one other than the clan could understood what we meant. A strict rule of "think before you spit it out"
Enemies would understood what we were discussing if we use normal Hanyu (Chinese), so the language that we have was called "Hei Setou" or more commonly known as the Black Tongue
Named after Zhu Setou himself, who had created the language for almost 500 years ago. We used the language when we were in missions, as a way to communicate with each other if the mission required several of our men or women.
We used to go solo, but some missions need more than a few members. I guess that he gave me the mission to assassinate the current leader of the Sima family, Sima Shi, was to see me die
That was one of the reasons we trained from a very young age. Ugh... I just wish I could just slay him where he slept, use his flesh to bake cakes and feed it to whole clan. Just like what Zhouwang (Wang means King or Emperor, Zhou is a name) had done to an unfortunate man.
And that very same man was being eaten by his own father, who knew of what had become of his son before barfing it all out after his meeting with the emperor. Disgusting, truly disgusting
The only problem I have now was how would I enter the castle without alerting the guards? Even if Suma Shi was dead, his younger brother Sima Zhao would take his place.
Ironically, he was the laziest of the family but also the most intellectual. It's a shame that he was a lazy bum.
Anyway, this mission would be the most dangerous I would have ever done. I need to sneak past the guards and... No, not that way. I could- no, that's not right either.
Sneaking past a few guards was easy but sneaking past an army of guards plus many enemy officers will be too much for me.
Just thinking made my head swell, I sighed. I stood up from the bed and picked up my scarf, I need to think outside the box
Meaning I should get out of this hell hole to concentrate more on my mission. I opened the door and walked towards nearest exit.
Children were all being trained by the clan, I tried to ignore the screams of pain they were producing. The cries of suffering that they went through, the blood spilling from their tiny bodies.
I would go insane if I stayed longer. I stopped in front of a pillar just in time to avoid a sword that was being deflected by the current strongest child of the family.
His name was Hei Huo, and what a suited name it was. Just like his name, Black Fire, he was wild like a the raging flames of Chibi from long time ago. Ironically, he was the youngest of the family being at the age of 3 years old.
Usually talent like his was a rarity but I couldn't care less about it. Besides, I was the haiqunzhima right? Hmph, such irony. They should have called me the "baise de yang" (white sheep)
A trip to the market would be nice to get me off of here, yes that would work. I love the market, the people there were always so nice to me and not like the ones here.
They treated everyone like family, including strangers. The town was always to busy with life, unlike here. It's always like a funeral.
I finally reached the gates. It was a simple shaped gate, very circular but also blocky somehow. It wasn't that big but enough to let the biggest man in our family, who was currently almost 2 meters tall , through.
The walls shone brightly, it was the color of my skin. A pale cream. The guards were outside, protecting the gate from any possible threats
I stepped on the small stairway before walking towards one of the guards, "I'm going for a walk to town" I said. They didn't response. Good, if they did then I would thought that the world would end soon.
Many of my clansmen avoided me for a simple reason, I was a failure. Status doesn't have an effect as I was the eldest daughter of the clan leader but still they ignored me. They respect those who have strength the most
I walked outside, a bamboo forest surrounded the mansion. Of all the places they could choose from they had to picked the forest. Hah... Well, that's what you get if you were born in a family of strict assassins.
We choose a forest to hide our existence in the world, for we live in the shadows. We are the vampires of the world, we hide from the light and into the shadow. Creatures of the night as I liked to say it. And I might take a while before I actually arrived in town, the forest here's just too thick!
Meanwhile in Luo Yang castle...
2 figures were walking in a castle hallway, it was bright and sunny outside as the trees swoon and the birds chirped happily. The castle was rather large, grey stone walls and red wooden window frames, pillars, or whatever. The roof was dark ebony colored, it was a king's castle
The figures were walking down the hall outside, looking for a specific person, "Yuanji? Don't you think Gege (older bro) Shi should have an assistant?" Asked a brown haired man. He wore a white undershirt, a casual teal shirt with silver and golden shoulder pads.
Black opera-length and fingerless gloves. A white with golden drawings scarf-like cape could be seen from behind. A dark blue scarf was around his waist with a metal belt, white trousers and ocean colored boots
"He's been working really hard lately ever since Fuqin (formal for father) retired along side Muqin (formal for mother). Don't you think?" He asked a blond woman in a teal and white dress
"You are right about that, Wo Zhu (my/I/mine: wo). Zhu Sima Yi choose him to be his successor after all, and soon after it would be yours" she said. The young lord sighed heavily at that comment
It was true, he was going to be next in line after his brother but not that soon. I mean, his older was still 26 years old. In his prime time, so he won't be worrying about it for now. It's not like he had an illness or suffered a fatal wound right?
"Well, yeah but I'm not talking about me Yuanji. I'm talking about Gege, I'm sure he could use the help from an assistant" he reasoned with her
Yuanji thought about what he had said. He's right, Shi would be too tired if things were going as the way they were.
He even had developed bags under his eyes and was stuck in the office doing paperwork, sometimes after he was finished with that he went straight into battle. He had a point, Shi needed an assistant to get his mind off of work.
"You do have a point, Wo Zhu. He does need to lay back a little, but don't hire someone yet before his permission" she warned him. The young lord's eye twitched, symboling thy he was indeed planning that.
He smiled a awkward smile before saying, "W-wha? Of- of course not, Yuanji! Gege pifu ruguo wo zheyang zuo wo huozhe! Hahaha... (Brother will skin me alive if I did that)"
The woman chuckled amusedly, her lord was always so scared of him. Maybe because he constantly stole his baozi (meat bun) all the time, and thus... Creating a humorous family feud, him always chasing and yelling "give me back my baozi!" or even swearing if he was too angry at the time.
Their Muqin would always stop them with a smile, mostly because if she smiled... Something really bad was going to happen very soon
Their Fuqin would not stop her, because he too was afraid of her. It was very hilarious as the men in the Sima family were the women, get what I mean? He himself was afraid of her, only when she was angry. She chuckled at the memory
"Yuanji? What's so funny?" He asked curiously, she looked at him and laughed, "Oh, nothing Wo Zhu. Just remembering some old memories" she said before turning serious again, "Now where's Zhu Shi if you need him?" She wondered until she heard a clattering sound nearby.
She looked around to see they were near the kitchen, "Do you think he's there?" Asked the young lord. She shook her head
He was a lord, there was no way he would sneak into the kitchen just to get a baozi. Unless he's desperate...
That scene would be most embarrassing indeed, she opened the door on her right to see the chefs were all chasing a rat that stole a baozi in a very messy kitchen.
Food were all over the place, kitchen utensils were scattered throughout the large kitchen. Chaos was everywhere, "Whoa... Talk about chaotic" whistled the young lord.
Yuanji sighed before the scene that unfolded in front of her, "Huilai zheli ni shou! (Get back here you beast)" yelled a chef as he tried to hit the rat that was running around the kitchen
"Um... Lets just go back" The Lord said. Yuanji nodded as they left the chef to their business. Again, they walked around the hallway until the founded a servant carrying a tea set. She wore a red dress, and had black hair tied in a pony tail
"Excuse me" Yuanji said to her, "Do you know where Zhu Sima Shi is?" She asked her. The servant nodded, "Shi (yes), Yuanji Furen (lady). He is currently taking a stroll in the garden" she said before going to the kitchen.
"Well, you heard the lady Yuanji. Lets go" he said. She nodded as they continued to walk in search of Sima Shi. A few minutes of walking, they finally arrived at the garden
Cherry blossoms trees were at their peak, their beauty was breathtaking. Peach trees were also there, a large pond that covered a quarter of the field sized gardens. It even had a few crimson colored bridges above it and a small island with a single apple tree in the middle
Small trees such as bonsais were also there. Miniature rocks such as Chibi, at the edge of the pond was also present. In the middle of the garden, it was empty. Just a circular, grey floor walk to admire the scenery.
Right in the middle of it was a man wearing a white robe, "Gege Shi! We've been looking all over for you!" The young lord said. Sima Shi looked behind to see his brother and his sister in law, "Zhao? Why are you looking for me?" He asked.
It was Yuanji who answered him, "Wo Zhu, you must be tired from working most of the time. Why don't hire an assistant?" She asked. Shi tilted his head to his left, "A geren zhuli (personal assistant)?" He repeated her. Zhao nodded, "Yeah, it's just that we're worried about your health and it's not good overworking you know?"
The elder lord thought about it, it was true his body was growing weaker due to constant working. And he was getting sick of doing paperwork all the time, it was everyone's worse enemy. He nodded, "I could use the extra hand, thank you. But please choose a very suitable one. Reliable, strong and a stalwart assistant"
"You got it, Gege! I'll go look in the city, Yuanji can do the more professional way, it's more mafan de (troublesome) that way" Zhao said before leaving them. Yuanji sighed, he would never change his ways...
To be continued...
Kinda short but it fits the story more. Anyway, thanks again and please review! :D