"What did you get from the waiter?" The prince asked, walking to the farm side, houses' lights were glimmering from there, he was peering at the words written on the paper.
"He had seen someone with this mark three days ago, he said the man who is wearing the clothes with this mark comes to their tavern often, mostly in the middle of the week."
The prince wore a thoughtful skin, this enforcement made him watch over that loom to see if the textile machinery of the Feng family was still there.
"Qin Jinhai," the prince read the name and folded the paper.
"Was it the man you played Go with?"
"Yes, he told me this family had been assassinated by their enemies," he saw the house with the crane statue before its entrance. It was a narrowed farm dwell, a small pool was near it, and blue water lilies were shimmering on its surface. Frogs and crickets were singing near it.
"Chaoxiang, did you tell the waiter to inform you about the man?"
"Yes, he also checked the check-in records as the man once had settled there having time with a lady."
"Name?"
"Yin Yuanjun. He is middle-aged, tall and as he described, he had the hands of a tailor!"
It wasn't far from my mind that the man was copying Feng's family mark but why? Whom he was working with? And Whose cotton is he using? All of these could lead him to the correct place.
"What about this man?"
"It seems you are the only one who knows his name, people call him the mad minstrel and no one cares about the rest. They know him as a random guy, whose skill in playing Erhu brought him fame."
"He was playing Go like royals, the way he moved his chains to block mine, this man is mysterious."
Halting before the small pool, the prince gazed at the glowing fireflies, here looked beautiful unlike the withered owner, this garden was kept clean, it seemed the man had another hobby rather than getting drunk and gambling.
"Ah, what a night!"
They heard the growl and the cough sound, and the scent of smoke coming from the weed that the man was dragging in from his pipe prickled their nostrils.
"Huh, holy heavens! What are you doing here?"
He sighed, making his way down his small pool where a stone bench was, the frog near the water jumped on the green leaf of water lily, croaking, possibly cursing the man for being clumsy to smash it.
"Hello, master Qin."
"I saw you following the man, why are you here now?"
The prince snatched a look at the perimeter, and meaningfully smiled, "You have a small beautiful farm."
The old man dragged his way to the steps and took his seat, his left leg moved up, bent on his chest while the other leg stretched out, and he dragged one poke of the pipe.
Smoke clouded up in the air, making the light of his pupils dilate even more mysteriously.
"You aren't here to praise my garden, are you, young man?"
"You are impressive master Qin, why would a scholar eunuch wander around as a stray drunk man, you are an outstanding musician, being wasted?"
"Ah, I hate twisted matters, how could you realize me?"
The prince walked beside the fencing and leaned on the pale which held a lantern above.
"The tattoo on your wrist!"
The man peeked at Chaoxiang, "You have a deadly guard with you, and that mark of your sword is forged in Di kingdom eagle head," his eyes rolled down on the prince's wrist, "Why do you wear a woman jewel?"
His eyes flickered, and a smirk tugged to his face! So, this was their destiny, he had one of the forbidden bracelets glued to his flesh. Then the question was, where is the other one? 'Ah, you are a fool, if he had that one, then this one was broken too. The mark of the fabric was an excuse, these men were looking for something else! Why not play in their game which was also related to his long-term wish?'
"I didn't want it to be here, it crawled to my wrist!"
The man let out amusing laughter, he was so entertained, Mater Qin was the only one who knew the witch who made these bracelets, she calls herself 'Ma'am.' But he was wondering what this man's curse was!
"What do you want to know?"
The prince averted his head, the man was looking at the frog statue with bulged eyes.
"I won't be an encumbrance to you, nor will I pry in your personal life, I am here to know what happened to Feng's family? I want to know who was their enemy that left no one alive."
Master Qin's eyes darted on him, this time fiercely, he was caressing his long white beard. His lips parted and smoke flew out.
"If I tell you this, you might die!", a fleeting thought sparked in his head, 'are you competent enough to abolish them? Your aura is strong and heavy! I see no weakness but the lack of emotion and love, curious to know who had trained you.'
Master Qin wanted to trust him out of curiosity, this man wasn't the royal that should be after the case, but if the bracelet of Ma'am had chosen him, then he could trust him as the late Queen told him. If she died, master Qin must protect her daughter from enemies.
"I will accept to help you but I have two conditions!"
The prince didn't fear anything, it didn't matter what the conditions could be or how stupid it was, he should go back home.
"I hear you."
"There we go!" the man laughed and puffed out his smoky breath, and trailed off, "You will learn to play an Erhu," he paused, watching the face that didn't get marveled. He expected such a childish desire but he had no clue what was hidden behind this magical rhythm of master Qin's Erhu. He could learn to sense love.
"The second one?"
"Yes, the second one, and you will tell me the truth about yourself, Prince Wu Xiuying, I must make sure you aren't here to avenge the princess. I saw how you were looking at her in Tian Tavern."
Chaoxiang squeezed his sword's hilt, how dare he was?
"I can take your tongue out, old man!" he menaced.
"Do you have the ass to do it? Because I doubt!" The man laughed cheerfully.
'Why was he so happy? This man is trying me? I won't lose, he had realized many things about me during the game and lost it on purpose. The entire time he played with me.'
"Calm down, brother! I will accept his desire; it seems he had learned everything ever since he met us."
"Now, come inside." The eager man stood up and stretched his hands to either side, sighing, "What a good night!"
"Clown!" Chao cursed under his furious gust, wasn't he nagging at his tumultuous night a while ago! Abusive eunuch! Respect was a waste to serve this man, he could not trust him, what if he hurt his Majesty.