The scent of sandalwood incense lingered in the air, its delicate fragrance mingling with the herbal aroma of medicinal concoctions in the clay bowl placed on the small table on Yinyue's day bed.
Intermittent clacking sounds of the wooden abacus filled the room since Yinyue turned her day bed from a convalescent bed to a makeshift office. Ayi knew Yinyue was pretending not to hear her while staring at the accounting reports.
Ayi stood with her hands clenched into fists at her sides, surveying the three maid servants scurrying past, carrying stacks of bamboo scrolls in their arms. They moved like busy ants coming in and out of the room since Yinyue woke up.
Beside the day bed, 04 sat on the ground fiddling with his brush in front of another table filled with open scrolls, a filled inkstone and three writing brushes thrown carelessly.
She surveyed the room with a mix of frustration and concern; her gaze lingering on the stacks of bamboo scrolls and the wooden abacus. Chiyin was right — Yinyue was going to work herself to death, not fight to death this time.
"That damn stubborn girl," Ayi grumbled under her breath and stared at the untouched bowl of herbal medicine among the scattered scrolls on Yinyue's table.
"Your uncle said bedrest, not work from bed," Ayi insisted. "And you haven't even drank your medicine."
"Stop, say nothing more," Yinyue spoke without looking up. Without hesitation, she reached for the bowl of dark medicinal concoction. She lifted it to her lips and drained its contents. The bitter taste causing her to grimace for a moment before setting the empty bowl aside.
With a wipe of her sleeves, Yinyue asked 04, "Where were we?"
"Millet in Bian granaries - 4000 jin (author's note: 0.5kg). Barley in Bian granaries - 2500jin. Estimated usage to supply…need maybe twice more to store," 04 recited from the scroll he inked with his writing brush.
"Let's continue with the salted meat, then." Yinyue's fingers danced on the abacus, sliding the beads smoothly against the worn grooves of the frame. Intermittent yet rhythmic clacks resonated throughout her room.
"Record another 3000 Jin for the next winter."
Annoyed at Yinyue's flagrant disregard of advice given, Ayi glanced at 04, who shrunk back from her. "04, talk some sense into your master."
04 remained silent, his eyes downcast as he continued to write whatever Yinyue dictated onto the bamboo strips before him.
He shifted uncomfortably under Ayi's glare, pretending not to hear what she said. Who is he to advise his superior? Why did she even drag him in? He's only a bodyguard who preferred the sword over the words. This isn't part of his job, but 02 and 05 were busy with another task. With 01 sick in bed, they have been doubling up, filling for his share of jobs.
"Hushiyi said he will do the administrative work," Ayi insisted, pacing back and forth in front of Yinyue to get her attention.
Alas, Yinyue didn't look up from the writing on the scroll on the table. With one wave of the abacus, she let the beads clack loudly in front of Ayi and said in an icy tone, "There are more important things than administration."
Ayi could only guess what she was doing had something to do with Yandi's supplies. She could see scrawls of written numbers on the scroll against items. "I don't see how all these calculations could be so important?"
Yinyue's fingers paused momentarily on the wooden beads, her eyes fixed on the scroll in front of her, and took a deep breath.
"No food, no horses, no weapons, no defences…" Yinyue looked up and gave her a wry smile. "What do you think will happen if our military can't fight?"
Her curt reply taken Ayi aback and Ayi glanced at 04, who nodded his head in silence, as a hint to shut up. He had been recording the expenses of forging swords, spears, shields, armour and arrowheads earlier.
And before that, repairs to the troop lodgings. Now it's the food storage for the troops stationed along the Black Mountains. Next, it would be the maintenance upkeep of fortifications from what his eyes could gather from the tags on the pile of scrolls.
Each transaction, both in and out, logistical transfers and distribution networks, needed to be recorded with accuracy. What was transferred in and out, and how much used. No wonder 02 and 05 volunteered for something else. And 03 was terrible at calculating anything beyond his fingers on both hands.
04 could only wallow in self pity silently at being dumped the task.
The door opened and 02 stepped through. He hesitated before approaching, noticing all in the room staring at him when he entered. They looked sullen. 04 coughed politely. 02 frowned — did he enter at the wrong time? He almost felt like he stepped into a funeral.
Yinyue gestured with a raised hand for everyone in the room to leave. This time, even Ayi left with all of them without a fuss. 02 waited until the door was closed.
"Well?" Yinyue asked.
"Nothing out of the ordinary. Still the same 01 with some memory loss," 02 reported. He almost wanted to say 01 was ruder than before, but bit his tongue. Of course, after suffering severe injuries, anyone, including himself, would be in a worse mood. 02 realised he would look petty if he reported it to Yinyue.
"And the sulphur springs?" Yinyue narrowed her eyes.
"Um…" 02 blinked and tried thinking how best to describe the reaction when 05 and him took 01 to the hot springs. "He hates it. But his reaction was worse than before."
"Describe."
"It's like a cat being thrown into the water. You know…the type of cat which hates water," 02 explained and then took a deep breath to stop himself from laughing.
"Did he fight you? In water, cats will scratch at anything to get out."
02 nodded. "He tried to, but we brought him under control and he soaked in the hot spring for a while. Maybe a quarter of a joss stick time."
"You sealed his meridian points?"
That was the only safe way to restrain any one. Sealing the key meridian only required pressing the specific meridian location with a certain concentrated force on the target's body to immobilise the target. Better than tying someone up with a rope.
"Yes, or else he would injure himself by trying to injure us," 02 replied.
He recalled 01's reaction to the hot spring. Even though he never liked 01, ever since they trained together in the Shadow Pavilion. His dislike differed from hate. 01 was still part of their team, even though he wanted to wring his neck at times.
He noticed Yinyue's brows furrowing as she stared into the scroll, as if contemplating something related to 01. Almost like she suspected 01 was not 01. Still, it wasn't his place to ask. 02 had checked with staff and even Chiyin.
He even asked Chiyin if it was possible for the Xirong, 01's people, to change faces using their rumored art of face-changing. However, Chiyin told him that 01's face was not changed. 01 had never left the room until today since his return from the Black Mountains.
"Anything else different to his normal self?" She asked again.
Still the same arrogant, standoffish, insufferable, and silent 01 — that was all 02 could think of. But he couldn't say it aloud. If 01 acted politer without attitude, then he would suspect that someone had switched 01 away.
"Other than memory loss, nothing unusual. Just a bad temper," 02 replied.
"He always had that bad temper, so that tells me nothing."