04

"Was father an officer," Wan ke asks pulling out his dresses from the cupboard, he places it on the short wooden table and his mom arranges those into his bag.

"They work under him dear," She replies folding his messed up dresses 

"Maaa,I mean my father," he pressures on the word father which makes Ms Qin's actions to pause when the words rang into her ears.

"Xing,"

"Wan ke," he reminds.

"How do you know?," She asks her voice coming out softly in way that it could be broken at any time.

"He was the captain,"she answers falling over her knees as the topic of her husband always make her heart broken.

"Maa,"he bends low and cups her face "I'm sorry for bringing it up but I want to know,"he looks deep into her eyes with concern "You told me that dad was dead,How did he die?"

Xing loved her father so much,she always spends the nights with him after he comes back from duty,the question of where her father has been always disturbs her but she didn't like to talk about it with her mother because when ever she mentions him her mother ends up being miserable. She knew that her father was dead but she wants to know why didn't she see his funeral.

"No one knows how he died," she burst into tears hugging her daughter "We didn't even held a funeral for him," she sobs.

"He was missing right and posters were put up to find him?," 

Releasing Wan ke from her hold she looks up at him in surprise "How do.....,"

She was cut off when the maid knocks on the door "Dinner is served ," she informs and leaves.

Helping his mother to get on her feet he wipes her tears with his thumb "Never talk about it again okay," he consoles her as he smiles softly which makes her to smile too.

"I toast you to come back successfully and bring the power to our kingdom," Lord Wen holds the cup of wine in the air in front of Wan Ke's. 

"Yes father," he drinks and takes his seat next to his mother.

Xing was not too close to her step father yet she respects him and loves him for taking care of her mother and herself after the death of her father.

"You are my pride," Lord Wen smiles as he pours another cup of wine and drinks with happiness as his son is going to the school of leader and scholars and he is going to come back with the power of being the top general in all states.

The dinner table was cheerful than usual as it's the last time that Wan ke is going to be with them for dinner. Lord Wen keeps on boasting about how strong Wan Ke is and he is happy that after the few months of the course he is going to be powerful by his son forgetting her real identity. Being drunk his wife takes him to the room instructing Wan Ke to sleep early.

Walking out of his room he stares at the full moon which looks bright in the night sky. Pulling out the black piece of cloth from his pocket he ties it around his face below his eyes. Keeping slow steps trying not to make any noise as the guards and the maids were strolling around, climbing on the huge barrel placed beside the wall he climbs over the wall and gets down outside, his lips twitches up to a smile for his victory of sneaking out everyday without being caught.

Hiding behind the tree he leans over the large trunk , his black dress never showing any appearance to the guards walking out of the state department. In a blink of an eye he runs through the narrow lane beside the building taking a deep breath in he stands at the corner of the wall where the two walls are joined ,he looks up to see the height for the window. Rubbing his palm against each other he holds the stone popping out from the wall by placing his right foot on one wall and the left on the other,he makes his way to the window.

Getting into the dark room he walks in towards the centre table, bending low he picks up the book placed on the table and flips through the pages to find the document. Placing the book in the same position he walks around searching for any clues and the paper. 

"Why can't I find anything?," he grunts low crossing his arm over his chest angrily after looking everywhere and got nothing.

He looks around once again and his view stops on a piece of cloth sticking out of the closed drawer of the centre wooden table. Furrowing his eyebrows he walks towards the table and opens the drawer slowly making sure no sound is created as the surrounding is in pin drop silent.

His eyes widens when he brings the cloth in front of eyes the red piece of cloth has a special symbol printed on it. He clutches the cloth tight in his palm reminding the scene of his step brother's death when he found a similar piece on the ground of the woods near the river where they were playing.

He kicks the drawer close and steps back quickly when the sound of footsteps got into his ears. Rushing backwards he opens the huge cupboard and gets into it as it didn't have any layers in it. Turning towards his right he looks through the lines of the cupboard covering himself with the clothes hung in.

He observes the person walking into room who is looking around curiously like knowing that someone has sneaked in.

Wan ke's lips twitches up to a smirk knowing that the person is Jiang Yi and he is satisfied that Jiang Yi is cautious because of him.

He walks around the room and looks behind the shelves and every other spots in the room where someone could hide. A sigh of relief leaves Wan ke's lips when Jiang Yi leaves the room by locking the door closed. Taking a deep breath in he looks straight,he shrieks without his intention letting his breath out when his eyes meets another pair of eyes which is staring straight at him.

"Who.....," before he could complete his sentence the other man push opens the cupboard and steps out ignoring his presence.

"Wait," Wan Ke snatches his arm to stop him as his eyes fall onto the paper which he was looking for in his pocket"What are you doing here?," Wan ke asks his voice low yet stern.

The man in black same as Wan ke turns around a piece of black cloth tied around his face below his eyes too. His eyes observes Wan ke from top to bottom while Wan ke follows his gaze with knitted brows.

"Let's make a deal," Wan ke smiles trying to play on him but he turns around and jumps off the window in a flash leaving Wan Ke puzzled.