Disclaimer as before- I don't own Koei or Dynasty Warriors...

Next chapter to continue this extended fic! Ooh there's more mystery for them to solve... and I'm off to write more... enjoy! Oh, and thanks guys foryour reviews on this fic! Theywere one of the main reasons I decided to add to it:)



Chapter 7- Mystery Man

The Little Conqueror yawned as he stretched between the kegs of wine from the previous night. His head hurt like hell but that wasn't what was bothering him. He wanted to know how his sister had got on with Gan Ning. He was the only one who knew about Ning's secret and inside he was really excited about the prospect of his sister going out with the ex-pirate. Sun Ce was a fun guy, and therefore wanted everyone to have fun. He couldn't see his sister forced into an arranged marriage to someone who was just plain boring, so he was planning on asking his father if he could be left in charge of setting up Sun Shang Xiang's 'wedding'. Ce knew this would be a challenge in itself as he still had to gain all of his father's trust. If Quan had asked then he would be allowed almost straight away, but with Ce it took a lot more time and a lot more thought.

Sun Ce stood up, stretched again, and made his way out of the kitchen, getting a few strange glances from the maids who were walking around making breakfast. He kept an eye out for Gan Ning as he wanted to know any news. He hoped it had gone well- nothing pleased him more than seeing his little sister happy…

"Sun Ce! There you are!"

Ce turned around and came face to face with his wife Da Qiao. His smile was instantly wiped from his face as he knew that she'd launch an attack of words at him, moaning that he'd had too much to drink and was setting a bad example to the other Wu generals.

"Er… good morning my beautiful wife…"

Da hit his arm. "You're drunk again! Whenever we have a party you just see it as some excuse to get wasted! I bet you don't even know where Shang Xiang is!"

"She's… in the castle…"

"Wrong!" The elder Qiao hit her husband again. "She's not in the castle! I don't even know where she is! Sun Jian is going to kill you if she's gone missing!"

"Me? Why me?"

"You're Shang's eldest brother and Jian expects you to keep an eye on her for him. You're lucky he's still asleep otherwise I'm sure your very existence will be at stake!"

"I can't keep an eye on her at all times! She's old enough to look after herself…"

"No she's not! She's the Wu princess- do you know what could happen if Cao Cao got hold of her?"

"She'd kick his ass, end of story!" Sun Ce chuckled to himself just as Da raised her hand to his face. She didn't slap him but induced fear into the poor man's eyes. Just then, a cheery girl walked past…

"Hi guys! Nice morning isn't it?"

Da recognised the voice and immediately turned around. "Sun Shang Xiang! Where the hell have you been?"

Shang smiled. "Nowhere in particular… why?"

"I've been worried sick! You weren't in your room this morning or the training room or any of your usual hangouts!" While Da's back was turned, Sun Ce was mimicking his wife's mouth actions and flapping his arms about like a bird. Shang Xiang had to suppress her laughter.

"You know I can take care of myself! And it wasn't as if I went very far. I'm not hurt or anything so stop fussing!" Before she carried on walking, Shang Xiang gave a wink to Sun Ce. It was then he knew that she had been successful in her 'search', and he smiled to himself as she walked off.

Da sighed. "That girl can be trouble sometimes." She faced Sun Ce again. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing my wife!" he replied. "Absolutely nothing…"

At breakfast everyone sat around the large Wu dining table. All of the generals were there, still slightly drunk after the previous night's celebrations. Signs of the party were still around the room- the flowers, the decorations… no one had been bothered to clear them away yet! Sun Jian was wide awake and smiling as he sat at the head of the table- he was in a cheery mood because for once nothing bad had happened at the party that he had to sort out. Usually Sun Ce ended up insulting a very important person, destroying relationships between Wu and other kingdoms. And Jian was supposed to be leaving Wu to that man? He wondered sometimes…

"So how was the party for everyone?" he asked. He got mainly grunts for answers.

"I drank so much…" Ce moaned.

"Zhou Tai tried setting me up with some women," Quan said. "And I might like to add that he failed…"

"Ha! Only the best for my Lord!" Zhou Tai chuckled in his deep voice. "You need a woman!"

"Speaking of women," Lu Meng said, "who scored last night? I mean one of us had to…"

The generals looked around at each other trying to spot any visible signs of love in their faces. Obviously it didn't show on Sun Ce or Zhou Yu- they were happily married as it was. Gan Ning hoped that he didn't give it away too much. He didn't spend too much time looking at Sun Shang Xiang, and neither did she at him. They didn't want to give it away just yet- only Sun Ce knew as yet…

"How about my special little girl?" Jian asked Shang Xiang. "Did she have a good time?"

She simply smiled at him. "That is for me to know and for you to find out!"

Xiao gasped. "That means yes! Are you hiding something Shang?"

Shang laughed, "Me, hide something? I think not!"

"You are! Ooh did you get a guy in the end?"

"Maybe I did Xiao…" she replied. "But that's classified information."

Xiao stared at the Wu princess' face for any sign of change. "You wait and see Shang Xiang. If there's anything that us Qiaos are good at doing that's uncovering secrets. Besides, I rise to the challenge! This new man of yours can't be that far away…" Xiao scanned the table. "You lot aren't safe from the detective prowess of the Qiao sisters!"

Da glanced at her sister. Detective prowess? Ok, so Da was good at finding out where Sun Ce disappeared to when he was meant to be in meetings, but that didn't make her a detective! Xiao was just over-excited, and she knew that Xiao wouldn't stop until the man had been found…