Wow I know I update fast but this must be a new record, lol! Actually I had the chapter already typed up, and I knew I would be busy tomorrow (monday) so I figured I'd post it now since I wouldn't get around to it tomorrow. Enjoy!
Mei Li wasted no time. She tore the picture of Guan Ping and his father out of her sketchpad and started running down the halls.
"Zhuge Liang!" she called out, hoping that wherever the strategist was, he would hear her. "Zhuge Liang! Come quick!"
She ran into the library, the place where she thought the Prime Minister would most likely be. He was not there. A lady was there, though, someone whom Mei Li recognized but didn't remember what her name was.
"Have you seen Zhuge Liang?" she asked the lady.
"I'm sorry I don't know where my husband is," the woman said back to her. "Why are you looking for him?"
"I need to tell him something important," Mei Li responded, about to show the lady the picture she was holding in her hand. "Wait," she said, pausing. She looked the woman over and started putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Her voice sounded so familiar, but she had just called Zhuge Liang her husband, which meant she was Yue Ying, if Li remembered correctly from the strategist's story he had told her about her parents. "You're Yue Ying." Li finally said.
"Yes, I am." She said. "And you're Mei Li, my husband's new apprentice."
"That's right," Mei Li said. "But then why do you seem – wait!" she said, suddenly remembering where she had seen Yue Ying before, besides at Shu. "You're the woman! The woman who took me home after my uncle died and who talked to my aunt and me about his death!"
Yue Ying blinked for a second, trying to remember the incident. "Ah, yes," she said, a smile forming on her face. "I was in the area around that time. So was my Zhuge Liang. He was inspecting the body of your uncle."
"My husband is with the authorities, ma'am. Some experts examined the body, and they concluded that he died of a heat stroke." Mei Li remembered her words exactly. Strange how these things came to her at the most random of times.
"What were you doing there?" Mei Li asked, thoroughly confused. Zhuge Liang just kept popping up in her life, didn't he? How many times had Li seen him before and not known it was he at the time?
"I'm guessing my husband told you the story of your parents by now?" Yue Ying asked. Mei Li nodded. "Well he was on his way to visit your aunt and uncle to check up on them. You know, see if maybe they had had any threats from your mother's murderer lately or something like that."
"They were threatened by the man?" Mei Li asked, taking the seat next to Yue Ying. She folded up her sketch and placed it on a small desk next to her. Being so caught up in the moment, Li had forgotten the urgent news she had for Zhuge Liang.
"Oh, yes, several times. He wanted to get to you, to see if you knew anything about the treasure. Especially when you were younger, and you would have those dreams. You often spoke of them to your aunt, but none of them pointed toward the treasure. Your aunt was worried about you, but at the time a child's nightmares were the last thing on our minds, so we didn't pay much attention to you."
"When did you start talking like this again, Mei Li?"
Mei Li stared back at her. "What do you mean, 'again'?"
"Well, you were very young. I suppose you don't remember."
So that's what her aunt had meant. She had dreams when she was much younger, and would tell her aunt about them, but her aunt was too busy being threatened by this man to have the time to worry about it.
"So, you're trying to tell me that you and Zhuge Liang have visited my aunt and uncle several times to make sure that they weren't being threatened by this man? And Zhuge Liang is still on the case, trying to catch the murderer?"
"Yes, that's correct," Yue Ying answered.
"How come I don't remember any of this?"
"Well, once you got older, we were afraid you'd start to piece everything together, and we didn't want you to worry about any of these adult problems. So we would come by very late at night while you were asleep in order to discuss it with your aunt and uncle."
"So … the man knows where my aunt lives," Mei Li said, suddenly getting scared. Right after her uncle died, she had run away and left her aunt all alone. For all she knew, her aunt could be dead right now. All her parent's money could be dug up right now, or maybe worse – maybe the man was following her, waiting for the opportune moment to spring. After all, he wanted that treasure, and he was convinced that Mei Li held the answer. She toyed with her locket. For all she knew, maybe she did hold the answer.
"Yes he does. But I wouldn't worry about it, Li," Yue Ying said comfortingly. "Your aunt hasn't had a threat from this man for over seven years. For all we know he could have backed off by now."
"So this whole time you and Zhuge Liang have been a very important part of my safety and I didn't even know it." Mei Li said. "Did you recognize me when I came here to live?"
"Well, we thought it might be you, but we weren't sure. Like I said, we hadn't seen you in a long time, since the purpose of our nightly visits to your aunt and uncle were to discuss it with them, not you. Once my husband interrogated you, though, and found out it was definitely you, we decided you should know the truth."
"Well, thank you," Mei Li said. "I appreciate being let in on my own past," she added rather sarcastically. "Wait a second," Li said after thinking for a bit. "How come you were so formal with my aunt when you stopped by to tell us how my uncle died? How come I had to show you where I lived if you already knew?"
"If I acted like I already you knew people, you would start to get suspicious. And at the time we were still trying to keep your past a secret from you."
"See, that's what I don't understand." Mei Li said, standing up. "If you're trying to protect me so much, why aren't you letting me know what's going on? Why am I always left in the dark to go dream up some horrible future for my loved ones?"
"Li, it's nothing like that."
"That's what it sure sounds like!" Mei Li said, getting angry. "My whole life has been kept a secret from me. And it wasn't until I actually went and did something on my own until I was allowed to know something about it. I had to run away from it all in order for it to come back and bite me. Was I really so insignificant, that I had to run away in order for you to remember me and say, 'hey, maybe we should clue this girl in about the past sixteen years of her life!'?"
"Li, please –"
"No! Whatever it is you want me to think about or whatever, I don't care anymore. Maybe I'll go run away again, huh? Where would you be then, without your bait to catch this murdering man? If he hasn't shown his face for seven years then why does it still matter?"
"Mei Li, please calm down. We didn't want you to get hurt."
"No, you're hurting me now. I'll tell you where I won't get hurt; in a place called Wei with an arrogant woman and a girly butterfly man!" Mei Li stormed off in a fit of rage, forgetting all about the sketch of Guan Ping sitting folded up on a desk in the library. And poor Yue Ying was left to wonder what in the world Mei Li meant by "girly butterfly man".
Mei Li muttered to herself the entire time as she stormed back into her own room. She slammed the door behind her and sat down on her bed, her arms folded in a child-like manner, as if she were throwing a temper tantrum.
"And they were trying to protect me." Mei Li said mockingly to no one in particular. "Yeah, call keeping my entire life a secret from me and not letting me know that a murdering man is pursuing me … yeah that just about sums up 'protect', huh?"
It wasn't until two days later that Mei Li's temper tantrum caught up with her. Two days later, a young man came knocking on Mei Li's door one night after dinner. Mei Li stood up and answered it.
"Hi, I'm Jiang Wei, in case you don't remember me." The young man said.
"Hi," Mei Li said curtly. "And no, I don't remember you." Since she was still a little sore at Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying, she was taking it out on anyone that happened by her.
"Zhuge Liang sent me to you," Mei Li was about to close the door in his face at that comment, but he put his hand on the door to stop her. "Just listen to me, please? If not for the Prime Minister, then for your aunt's sake."
Mei Li paused, wondering what this Jiang Wei knew about her aunt. "Has something happened to my aunt, or did Zhuge Liang tell you to say that so I would listen?"
"Can I come in?"
"Sure," Mei Li said unenthusiastically. She forced herself to open the door and let this young man have a seat in one of the chairs in her room.
"Zhuge Liang wants you to know that you're acting very childish," he started off. "He knows it was unfair that your whole past should be kept a secret from you, but it was for the better."
"Before you get too deep into your story," Mei Li interrupted. "I'm just wondering; do you know the whole story yourself, or are you just repeating what Zhuge Liang said?"
Jiang Wei paused, uncertain if he should tell Mei Li how much he really did know. Finally, he responded by saying, "The Prime Minister told me the whole story so that I could be more understanding towards you. And, if you'll let me speak in my own words instead of Zhuge Liang's, I am very sorry."
Mei Li rolled her eyes. As if Jiang Wei would even begin to know how she was feeling.
"Look," Jiang Wei said, leaning toward her to get her attention. "I know what you're thinking. You think that I know nothing of what you're going through, and that I'm just Zhuge Liang's little guinea pig. Well, for your information, my life hasn't exactly been a walk in the park, either. I have my share of problems." He sat back in his seat. "I'm just trying to help make the peace between you and the Prime Minister so that this murdering man can be stopped." He paused, looking at her. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt." She stared at him for that last comment. "Nobody would," he hurriedly added, looking away and blushing slightly. "Especially after we're so close to the treasure, and so close to putting this whole ordeal behind us."
"I just want to know if anything has happened to my aunt," Mei Li said, not caring how Jiang Wei felt about her at the moment.
"Oh, yes," Jiang Wei said. "Well, Zhuge Liang told me to tell you that she had another encounter with the man the day your uncle died. And when you ran away, that scared her all the more. She thought the man had gotten you. Once you came to Shu, though, the Prime Minister was able to send a message to her that you were with us, safe and sound. But, in order to be safer herself, your aunt has traveled to stay with her daughter for a little while. The farm is being kept in the hands of one of your neighbors for the time being."
Mei Li sighed with relief at hearing this. Suddenly she didn't feel so bitter toward Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying anymore. The idea of her protection had finally started to sink into her head. And now that she knew her aunt was safe, well, that made everything a hundred times better.
"There is one more thing," Jiang Wei said, getting an uneasy tone in his voice. Li's heart beat started racing, and a familiar bad feeling started in her stomach and spread to the rest of her body.
"You've kept yourself locked up in your room so often lately that no one's had the chance to update you on anything, really. Guan Ping and Guan Yu, among others, left to defend Fan Castle yesterday."
Mei Li could only stare open mouthed at Jiang Wei.
"And Zhuge Liang was wondering if you knew anything about this, and what it means." Jiang Wei said, taking a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket and handing it to Mei Li. She unfolded it and saw the sketch of Guan Ping that she had left in the library the day she talked to Yue Ying. Realization hit Mei Li hard, and she knew if they died, it'd be her fault for real this time. She could only think to herself one word that evening for being so selfish and forgetting about this young officer she liked so much:
Idiot!
Thanks again to all my reviewers! Kudos to BlueSun91 for reviewing every single chapter so far! I probably wouldn't have kept writing the story if you didn't review all those times! I hope everyone enjoys it as much as those that review say they do. Keep a look out for chapter 13.