A/N: Sorry for the super-long wait and thank you for being so patient!

Zither (1) and Flute

Two different Chinese instruments for two very different women.

The strumming of a carved zither, its melancholy voice singing.

Eyes closed, pouring her emotions into the intricate weaving of melody.

Fingers moving smoothly across the strings, almost expertly.

Loud yelling grated harshly against the gentle timbre of the zither, interrupting her peaceful reverie. A slightly cross expression crossed Yue Ying's face, wrinkling her nose in annoyance.

Ugh, men are so noisy After a moment's thought, Then again, so are women. A slight smile replaced her annoyed look.

The water-hued silk of her dress brushed softly against the dusty flagstones, small puffs of pale dust rising. From behind a protective curtain of bamboo, Yue Ying spied the source of the yelling.

Who other than Ma Chao, the splendid?

Splendid my horse… That man is as arrogant as they come, but he is invaluable to Shu. I, or we, cannot afford to offend him.

The resident Wei hater-Ma Chao was confronting Jiang Wei, who had insisted she call him Boyue from the start. It was no secret that the horse general had no love of anything neither Wei nor Cao Cao related. Unfortunately for Jiang Wei…

Mengqi is, apparently, in an extremely bad mood. Male PSMing, maybe, Yue Ying thought wryly. And his bad mood was not being made better by fighting a losing battle of insults.

A faint grin turned up the corners of her lips, their exchange of derogatory sentences humoring her. However, it was quickly wiped off when Ma Chao hauled the young man up by his shirt, violently shaking him.

Her fingers reached to part the thin veil of shoots. Pausing, Yue Ying withdrew her hand and tucked an auburn lock of behind her ear. Perhaps they don't need my help. I will wait, for a while.

"Ma Mengqi! Jiang Wei!"

Authority, stern and cold as the Antarctic winds, frosted his words. His exasperated expression, grim yet coolly furious, froze the quarreling duo, their retorts silenced with a glare. Yue Ying was profoundly thankful that Zhao Yun had never spoken to her so.

I think it would have taken me a month for me to mentally defrost if he did…
A minute.

Three minutes.

Eight minutes.

Ten minutes later, Yue Ying, slightly bored, parted the curtain of bamboo and stepped out of the garden bed.

If it takes men this long to settle an argument, no wonder the land is in chaos…

"Good day, Zilong, Mengqi, Boyue."

Zhao Yun bowed slightly, his normally tied back hair falling gracefully off his robed shoulders.

"Good day, Lady Yue Ying."

Smiling brightly, she tugged on Jiang Wei's sleeve. Lying through her teeth, she spun an excuse that seemed plausible.

"I…Ah, Boyue has some unfinished work to do. Yes, he does. So if you will kindly excuse us…"

Jiang Wei raised an eyebrow quizzically in response, and then quickly wiped his face blank. Catching onto Yue Ying's plan, Zhao Yun gave her the slightest of nods.

"In that case, Mengqi and I will be off. Let's go."

Zhao Yun began steering Ma Chao towards the stables, ignoring the man's sputtering and protests.

Grinning impudently, Jiang Wei stuck out his tongue at Ma Chao, daring him to come back.

Yue Ying let the sun shine upon her face, basking in the warm glow of light. Delicate jasmine blossoms, the last of the year, lingered on their branches and released a honeyed fragrance, perfuming the air.

Jiang Wei trailed alongside her, uncertain whether or not he should be the one to break the tranquil silence.

There is so much that I do not know about my fellow comrades, especially the warrior woman, Lady Yue Ying. Why are there such rumors about her appearance? She is not that bad to look at. And is she married?

A thought, one from a few days ago, crossed Jiang Wei's mind. Without stopping, nor restraining himself, he blurted it out.

"Yue Ying, are you Zhao Yun's wife?"

"Yue Ying, are you Zhao Yun's wife?"

Wha… What? He didn't just say that, did he?

A blush spread, splashing her pale face with deepening shades of red. Yue Ying mentally willed her face to return to its normal colour and wished vehemently for a hole to dive into.

"I… Erm… No, I… uh… Zhuge Liang is my husband. I'm not married to Zilong."

Yue Ying felt like slapping herself, disgusted. I sounded like a naïve schoolgirl stammering out a confession to a crush…

Surprise flitted across Jiang Wei's features, promptly replaced by shock. Abruptly, he dropped into a bow, brown hair falling into his face.

"I'm so sorry! Please forgive me, Lady Huang! I didn't know…"

He stopped in mid-rant, eyes crossed. Slender fingers pressed against his brow, gently pushing his head back up. Yue Ying smiled back at him, forgiving.

Softly, "It's alright, Boyue. Not many people would think about Zhuge Liang being my husband." A bitter note entered her words, subtly hidden, "He doesn't pay much attention to me, anyways…"

There is something else she is not saying… A line of questions began forming in Jiang Wei's head.

"Um… Why are there rumors that say you are," Jiang Wei paused, "ugly…?"

He was rewarded with another smile.

"Oh, those rumors. I spread them myself, you see. I wanted someone who would see past my looks…"

He finished off her sentence, "And love you for who you really are."

Yue Ying ruffled his hair, as a sister would do to her younger brother. Jiang Wei was like the adorable, intelligent brother she never had.

Seating herself on a stone bench, she inquired, "Is there anything else you would like to ask?"

He smiled back at her, warming her heart.

The eerie lilting of a flute, quieted so not to wake anyone, drifted through a calm night. Its beautiful, but chilling melody set his back crawling. Polished bamboo glimmered faintly with the light of a full moon, mirrored in a glassy pond.

Her loose hair fell off her shoulders and down her back, a living waterfall of ebony. The light fabric of her cheongsam clung to her body, the red silk maroon in the dark.

"There is sadness in your music, love."

Zhen Ji registered the voice as that of her husband Cao Pi's. The last note died into the surrounding stillness, fading into the chirping of crickets. Lowering the flute, she placed it gently, on the worn bench, beside her.

The long strands of Cao Pi's ponytail brushed her hand. Discreetly, Zhen Ji glanced to the left of her, taking in the moonlit form of her love. Her icy demeanor vaporized as he drew her closer, her head resting on his chest. She relaxed, worries and troubles diminishing like windblown dust.

You will always be there for me…

Two moonlit silhouettes by the lake.

Disgusting… Love is a worthless emotion.

Shadowed eyes narrowed in intense dislike at the scene. Drawing the curtains shut with a snap, the strategist sat back down at his desk, purple robes whispering against the floor. He fingered his fan, the black feathers invisible in the gloom.

Are you jealous?

Maybe, maybe not, why would you care?

"Yet again, arguing with myself…" Sima Yi muttered quietly, words fading into the shadows.

Who cares? No one can hear you anyways.

Who cares? I care!

But why are you… jealous? Do you miss a certain someone?

Shut up. Shut up.

There you go, scurrying like rabbit around the truth.

I told you to shut up, already.

So you are jealous.

So what if I am?

You just admitted it. I win, this time.

He narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

I will get him back, even if it costs me my mind.

(1) An ancient stringed instrument with 30-40 strings, played horizontally with a pick.

A/N: Tee hee, a bit of Cao Pi/Zhen Ji there. That pairing is nice, I'll have to admit, but I still like the Zhen/Zhao pairing. Anyways, I digress. This is the longest chapter yet, which is a good thing for you. Some of the characters will be OOC, for a while, so just a warning. And shonen ai will be hinted at, so if you don't like, then don't read. If you just don't care, then keep reading.And again, thank you, my readers!Until next time...