"... so that we will have some sort of expendable support when we go against Zhuge Liang, leaving Shu defeated and Wu weakened enough for me, I mean us, to destroy them and control all of China," Sima Yi explained, waving his fan around and stabbing the map as though that would somehow lend credence to his words, or at least make Cao Cao look in his general direction rather than out the window. He glared at his commander's back.
"Milord, are you listening to me?"
"Of course."
"Milord, could you repeat what I just said?"
"Of course."
"Milord, would you notice if I left?"
"Of course."
"Milord, may I stab you and take over the kingdom?"
"Of course."
"Milord, you are an imbecile," Yi said with a grimace as he snatched a stack of papers off of his commander's desk and surreptitiously pocketed the royal seal of Wei before stalking out of the room. This "taking over the kingdom" business was looking better every day.
As he stalked past the personal quarters of most of the royal family, he did his best to tune out whatever noises where audible from therein. Yi had long learned that there were things one had to ignore unless one wanted to be involved. And Yi certainly did not.
"Oh, you're up late, Master Zhongda..." purred a voice from somewhere behind him.
"I'm working," Yi replied, brandishing the papers as proof, "And for heaven's sake, put a shirt on."
"You haven't even turned around..."
"I don't want to."
"Yes you do."
"No, I want to make sure everything that is supposed to be made into law has been, then I want to sleep. Alone. In my bed. With clothes on." That was final. Zhang He rolled his eyes. They had had the exact same conversation many times before. Of course, neither one would ever do anything to change it.
––––––––––
Dawn broke, revealing empty beds and missing lovers. Shang woke alone, pondering exactly what had happened the previous night. She quickly decided that she would rather not think about it. This was so not how she had imagined married life. Someone was messing with the door, so she hurriedly pulled on the nearest article of clothing and got up, intending to help. The door swung open before she reached it, revealing a young man in violet robes.
"... I suppose our lord has left already...?"
"Clearly. Wh-?"
"I shall take my leave then, farewell." He turned on his heel and left hurriedly, his footsteps nearly silent on the polished floor. Shang frowned, watching him leave. He had an odd aura about him.
"Who says 'I shall take my leave' anymore anyway?" Especially to a girl wearing someone's cape as a last-second dress...
––––––––––
"Thirteen? You're nuts, kid!"
"He's his father's son, brother, you cannot change that."
"Yeah, but.... THIRTEEN!"
Pi sighed as he tuned out Xiahou Yuan's rambling. There was nothing else one could do, really. He was going to be in for a rant about his father's youthful conquests that would drag on and on and on until someone interrupted it and ...
"I heard that there's an archery competition. Would you care to-?" Yuan cut Zhang He off with a whoop and charged out of the room.
"Well, that worked beautifully. I'd best catch up to him..."
Pi sighed again, this time more from relief than from the darkness of his soul. Archery competitions were more important than awkward conversations, thank the heavens.
"... Were you being serious about that before?" Oh, wonderful. Pi did not want to have to launch into that explanation again.
"Hn."
––––––––––
Shang was attracting attention, and far more of it than she wanted to. Stares and whispers followed her down the maze of hallways she was trying to navigate. Of course, the vivid shade of red she was wearing might have had something to do with it. That, or the fact that she kept on finding herself in dead ends, tangled in overly-elaborate drapes, or generally on the ground in a pose more common to Xiao Qiao. This was one of those moments she was really thankful for the invention of pants. And furious that her brothers had inherited all of the sense of direction in the family.
"You have walked by here thrice already, Lady Sun," commented a tall man who had been leaning against the wall. Shang did remember passing him a few times. Who could forget seeing that large an amount of butterflies in one place, after all?
"I know."
"Do you need any help?"
"No," Shang replied harshly, turning away from him and striding down another hallway.
"You know, all you could find that way is Lady Zhen's room," the man paused, examining his carefully done nails, "Oh! And more curtains."
"... Bitch."
"Now, then, Lady Sun - may I call you Shang Xiang? - 'bitch' is not the most beautiful way to address anyone who is attempting to help you..." He sounded amused more than anything else.
"I was being nice."
"Honesty is rarely the best policy, Shang Xiang. If you are trying to find the main hall, it's back that way. Mostly."
"Mostly? Why aren't there maps?"
"Someone would use them to plot against someone else." He emphasized the some. Shang raised her eyebrows.
"This happens often?"
"Wei is the court of chaos, Shang Xiang. You see no beauty in that?"
"In plotting against one's superiors? No!"
"... You shall learn." His smirk made Shang really want to stab him. Or maybe that urge was caused by the idea that he looked that much better than her in makeup. Or by the fact that he flounced. It took Shang another hour to find the main hall.