A/N: As promised, here's part two. Stuff is starting to come together! Follow me on wattpad to read the first two chapters of a new story I'm writing.
Enjoy!
"He what?" Shifu looked between the four, as if begging someone to say it was a joke. They were behind the public offices and library, talking quietly beneath the massive oak tree.
"It makes sense, Master." Tigress said. "That's how he was able to get across the border so easily."
"And, she gave me his records. When I read over them again, I noticed that the date he came across the border was almost two months after the Fall Festival, which is the only time the Mongolian and Chinese royal families meet to discuss politics and border patrols. He could have met her at the festival." Viper continued.
"It also explains how that much money got across the border." Liang interjected. "Usually there are restrictions to how much money can come in with a person. With her on his side, he could bypass restrictions."
"Master, when I was in Xiongxang, I was drugged. If he came across the same drug or they used it on him, it would explain why he couldn't remember anything." Viper also said. The others looked at her in surprise, not having heard this side of the tale.
"Viper, how long were you in Mongolia?" Po asked with a frown.
"A day maybe, why?" She shrugged.
"You sent us a letter dated for the same day you arrived and then you said you were kidnapped that night. I don't think you were gone for a day, I think you were gone for several." The declaration hung for a moment in the air. The five of them were silent while Viper thought it through.
"She must have kept you there out of fear." Shifu murmured "But I do not yet know why." His hands ran along his silvery beard.
"Liang, do you know anything about Xué?" Asked Po.
"Not really. Our families were not very close. I do know that she was born here in China. She moved to Mongolia when she was very young." Liang replied." I've only met her once and that's all I found out."
"Well then, we will focus on that." Shifu decided. "Viper, I want you sorting through records. Find everything you can about Xué. Tigress, try to talk with Ni Chang again and see if he remembers anything else. Po, I want you to look over everything again and make sure we didn't miss anything." He turned to Liang. "Will your father interfere with any of this?"
"I do not think he will object, but I will make sure he doesn't" Liang nodded towards the old Grandmaster.
"Thank you."
"Let's meet back here in an hour." The others nodded and took that as their dismissal.
Liang led Viper through the library and back into public records. There, in a series of old cabinets were court documents, arrest records, military lists, and every other kind of written document she would ever need. Liang remained, offering his help going trough the wall to wall cabinets that lined the back of the library.
They worked in silence for a while, just searching through every file for a clue or something to figure out who Xué was. Court records were a bust. There was only one Xué in an old arrest record, but the description was of an old woman, not the vibrant, pale faced Empress Viper had met previously. Almost half an hour went by with nothing of value, until Liang got to the military records.
"Hey Viper." He called. She lowered the file she was on and went to stand by him. "Look at this." She peered over his shoulder at the record of a young man, whose pale face and sparkling eyes peered out from behind a military painting.
"He looks like her." She squinted to read his name. "Wait a second." She took the file and read it over once more. Something about it was familiar.
"What is it?"
"Come with me." She practically went sprinting out of the library. She decided to try the kitchen, now deserted. Po sat at the table, shuffling through the papers they had brought with them from Gongmen. "Po." He sat up straighter and looked towards the kithcen door as they came running in. "Let me see that."
Viper took the investment record, where they had first noticed the 350,000 yuan investment, and scanned over it. "Look." She pointed to the donor name.
"It's the same." Liang muttered in wonder and shock.
"What is?" Po asked, standing to come next to her.
"We found a record of a military man with the same name as the donor on this form. He looks exactly like Xué." She explained. She set the investment sheet down and began trying to scan the file once more, looking for any additional details.
"So, he took the money?" Liang asked, skeptical.
"No." She frowned as she read something.
"How do you know?"
"Because he died a year ago."
Tigress hesitated to enter Ni Chang's room. However, sudden banging on the wall caused her to go in.
"Ni Chang?" The Emperor's youngest son had his fist buried an inch on the wall. He seemed to be fuming, or stressed, she couldn't tell. "What are you doing? Did you have another nightmare?" She tried to keep her voice even. Slowly, so as not to set him off, she placed her hands on his shoulders and pulled him away from the wall. He didn't fight her, just let her drag him away. His fist fell to his side in what looked like defeat. The window across the room was open, and a cold breeze shifted the curtains.
"What happened?" She asked him, letting him go. He stood there, seemingly unsteady, for a moment before speaking.
"I'm sorry." He said, his voice cracking.
"It's ok." She replied softly, almost a coo. "I am here to help you."
He studied her for a moment, before nodding like confirming something in his head. "I always liked you." He said out of the blue. "I could always trust you."
"Well, thank you." She replied softly.
He nodded. "She was in it for the money." He said simply.
"Who? Xué?"
He nodded sharply. "She made me do it. She made me take the money. I thought we were going to run away together until she told me to invest it. 'We'll make more.' She said. 'We'll be rich.'" He was trembling almost. He looked at her, panicked. "We can let him go to war. She'll make millions. She'll-" He suddenly broke off and jerked forward. She moved to him, to hold him upright.
There, lodged in between his shoulder blades, was an arrow. She brought them both to the ground before another came flying through the open window, intending on impaling itself through her forehead but instead impaling itself in the wall.
She lay him on the ground carefully and crept over to the side table where a beautiful, elegant vase sat, encompassing some flowers. She yanked the flowers out, dumped the water on the floor, and then crept beneath the window.
Another arrow came flying through, and she jumped up immediately after and slung the vase in the direction of the arrow shooter. It hit a figure standing on a nearby roof, and the guy fell to the ground.
She ran back to Ni Chang and tried desperately to stifle the blood flowing from his back. She removed the arrow and pressed her palm against the wound. He groaned.
"Hold on. She said, voice tense. "SOMEBODY HELP." She yelled, hoping a nearby guard in the hallway would come to their aid.
"Tao Nai." Ni Chang muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. He was pale and shivering. Tigress sucked in a breath, tasting the scent of blood on her tongue. He didn't have long.
"What?" She asked. A guard came into the room and then called for more back up. He knelt down next to her and tried to help stop the bleeding as well.
"Stop her." Ni Chang muttered.
And then he was gone.