The day was bright and clear save for one cloud in the great distance to the west. Chue thought it looked like a frog.

She quietly passed the barracks and the training grounds. Ducking into one of the many identical buildings of the outer court. A shoji tile clicked against the board.

'Hmmm, ' the thoughtful chuckle was brimming with mirth behind the monocle. A quick click in response and the challenger hung his head in defeat.

The assistant plopped down a stack of papers, 'Sir, your attention is requested on these forms, the Moon Prince sent- '

The assistant cowered from the sharp glance, 'The

Moon Prince

hmmm? He and I have

much

to discuss. '

He knows.

The glance toward Chue was all she needed. He stretched dramatically and waved nonchalantly to his opponent, 'Go away, come back when you 're at least a knight. '

'What does that even mean? ' The bewildered soldier complied.

'At least you 're not a 'go stone ', ' Chue murmured as he passed.

He must be new.

'Ah, I asked for a knight, and so one appears. Perhaps you can clarify this influx from the Moon Prince 's office. '

'Certainly Sir, ' she chirped, '

after

this meeting. '

She handed him the summons, he scratched his wiley and unkempt facial hair. The figure groaned and took a swig of his juice and mumbled incoherently while looking back over the shoji board.

'It 's about your daughter. '

The fox eye glinted behind the monocle and the freak strategist slowly turned to regard the woman fully.

His voice suddenly cheerful, 'then we better get going! '

***

Doors opened and they passed yet another set of guards. The humming and casual swinging of his gourd drew attention away from his keen visual observations. 'I haven 't seen her at the Medical offices for several days now, has she been borrowed by the Empress again? '

Chue said nothing, The final doors opened and she escorted him to the final seat. She went to get snacks as she was a stand-in for his attendant, and a bored strategist is a destructive strategist.

The room was small, nondescript in terms of decor or detailing or anything that would relay opulence and yet the attendees stood in stark contrast. Lakan bowed as best as his personality could manage, 'to what do I owe this pleasure your Majesties? '

For indeed it was not only the Emperor, but the Empress. Gaoshun stood in one corner behind the third attendee. The strategist shot a sharp glance, 'I don 't suppose this pretender knows where my daughter is? '

Purple robes of gold lining, long hair partially pulled up in a cloth and ambiguous features, she sighed, 'This isn 't for you Lakan, we have to keep up appearances. '

His look darkened, 'Ah, has the Mi clan stolen my daughter away for the look-alike son? '

The three stared aghast, his audacity tossing about secrets in given company knew few bounds. There was a knock at the door, Chue bounded over, snack tray in hand, and opened it slightly letting a very nervous Lahan in. His uncle eyed him but said nothing as he stood in a corner. Chue plopped down a charcuterie tray in front of Lakan and set a bloodied hairpin before him, 'Not that I 'm aware of, I don 't think Maomao would have gone for the femoral artery if she didn 't think it was serious. '

Lakan and Ah Duo nodded approvingly, the Emperor attempted to remain stoic, Lady Gyokuyou gasped lightly behind her sleeve. Lakan shot a death glare at his relative, Lahan adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat.

'So what do we have? ' the strategist stated more than asked.

Gaoshun carefully set a shoji board before the strategist, it already had several tiles down. Chue began pointing, 'in addition to the Moon Prince and Maomao, a small team infiltrated this facility to track down a known Drug Lord. '

She started setting tiles down according to his passing comments of who was what tile type and then put several black go pieces around the facility. The strategist was looking at all the other building placements. He grumbled and mumbled, 'where are we in reference to this map? '

Chue waggled her fingers, 'somewhere over here. '

He growled, 'If you 're doing an Op. in a brothel, why wasn 't it the Verdigris house? '

Gaoshun winced, 'Maomao had the same thought, Sir. '

'And you

didn 't LISTEN

TO HER!? '

His face flushed red as he hissed through his teeth, 'that old crone made a veritable fortress around Maomao. There 's

no way

anyone would have gotten out of there with

either

of them. Even the three Princesses would have brandished their own hair pins before letting

anyone

touch her. The whole lot of 'em would do

anything

to protect her granddaughter. '

Well if he 's gonna share secrets it may as well be all of them.

The silence was deafening, and uncomfortably long.

Gyokuyou imagined if someone tried to steal Maomao during a garden party or from her home and while she agreed her ladies in waiting would try their best, the flashes of courtesan behavior she had caught from the girl were far more ruthless and cutthroat. Which begged the question, 'I 'm sure you had your reasons for

not

having that additional protection correct? '

Gaoshun sighed heavily, 'The drug seems to primarily be showing up where venereal diseases are present. Maomao once explained that a new client with strong perfume may be hiding such a condition, so the Madam is very picky about who she lets in. '

'So Huo uses the weak, less protected brothels for distribution, ' the Emperor observed rubbing his beard.

'So you bait him into an ambush, not walk into a den of wolves, ' the defensive father growled.

Ah Duo sighed and rubbed a temple, 'Remember you are not the

only

concerned parent here Lakan. We can argue over what went

wrong

some other time. The question is what we do

now. '

Lakan swiped up the three Go pieces, pinning them between fanned fingers, 'Give me these three and you 'll have your lead. '

'You 're welcome to them, but we 've already tried. All they were asked to do was to keep Huo safe that night. The butcher, the baker and the sailor don 't have any connections to each other. They don 't have any history with the law, pay their taxes, otherwise model citizens. In all three accounts it seems Huo has treated or given medicine to a family member or friend. '

Lakan's voice was low and menacingly quiet, 'How long has it been? '

For sitting at the zenith of power, none of these individuals wanted to answer the question. Chue motioned for Gaoshun to pull up the board and she unfurled a map, '8 days, we 've searched in

these

places to no avail, we've been expanding our search West ' she set a hefty scroll in front of him, 'and these people claim they don 't know anything. '

You know when a natural disaster is coming? All the animals go quiet like they know something is about to hit and they are finding the safest hiding place possible? Such were the participants around the infamous fox.

Nobody crosses Lakan '

NOBODY.

Lahan was actively trembling when he received the wrathful gaze, 'You

didn 't

tell ME? '

"In his defense, he was sworn to secrecy," Gaoshun attempted.

As if an automaton whirled to life the gears began clicking and the questions came coming, every detail, every participant, every guard, assistant, cart, breed of horse the pursuers were riding and minute detail was asked in rapid fire. Gaoshun made a list of what elements were missing and which leads Lakan wanted an answer from; within the hour, and a follow up list for answers by the morning.

Lakan regarded the Emperor, 'What troops are you making available for this? '

'The Imperial Army is prepared to rescue the Imperial Brother the moment they have a heading, ' the Emperor replied, 'As well as the Ma clan. '

'Who knows of this? ' Lakan asked.

'The members of the Moon Prince 's household, those who went on the mission, us, and 3 informants, ' Gaoshun replied.

'Fine, I want to meet with the other members of the team first thing tomorrow morning, ' Lakan 's mind was already calculating questions and angles and strategies, 'You know they could be all the way in Shaoh by now with the right transportation.

Tch. '

'Chue will keep everyone informed, do what is necessary, all communications will be top priority, ' the Emperor declared.

'Then inform the old crone of the Verdigris house and Dr Liu so we can get more ears in proper places, ' Lakan said, studying the map and rubbing his chin in almost a Maomaoesque fashion.

The group pondered the additions, his nephew spoke up mental abacus going, 'That would allow us to have better tabs on Maomao 's allies who may otherwise question her absence. '

****

Gaoshun stepped into the decorated establishment. It was early afternoon so the Verdigris house was quiet, the wizened woman was tabulating at her desk. She took a long drag on her pipe, not even looking up, 'if you 're looking for Maomao, she isn 't here. '

'I ' I know, ' her quill stopped and she looked up at his hesitation, 'may we speak in private? '

'Wwwwwwwwwhat!? What kind of crack pot security did you bring!? ' She was

this

close to knuckling the Ma clan guard, 'If you had done it

HERE- '

He threw his hands up, 'please don 't stab the messenger, I know, we were lectured by Maomao and even Lakan deemed your establishment a fortress. '

'Who 's stabbing someone? ' Meimei ducked her head in. Gaoshun facepalmed, Pairin ducked her head in, 'Awww I was hoping your pretty friend was stopping by. '

'This was

supposed

to be a top secret conversation, ' Gaoshun groaned quietly.

'You act as if a courtesan can 't keep a secret, ' Joka said, turning a very sharp hairpin over in her hands.

The madam motioned them in and put a finger to her lips, 'Maomao and the Moon Prince are missing. '

'They

eloped! '

Pairin clapped happily, bouncing voluptuously.

They stilled when they saw Gaoshun 's expression, there was a shift in the air as not one, but four mama bears were awakened from hibernation, their cub missing. Joka gripped her metal pin, '

Who? '

'The Emperor himself is entrusting you to help us find information on a drug lord named Huo. He was the man who took them, ' Gaoshun bowed to the princesses, mentally deeming them on par with his wife, 'It seems like he is willing to experiment on courtesans who have venereal diseases. '

Meimei was suddenly holding Joka back, 'I 'll

hunt him down myself. '

Ever the student of Fengxian, Meimei countered, '

Think

Joka, who of your regulars can you glean information from, ' she put a hand on the hairpin, pushing it down, 'You know as well as I this is a hunt of the mind before we can do anything. '

The madam hummed, 'Perhaps we can do more than glean, which of you ladies would like to be taken off the roster for a bit? '

'Who would get the most attention if she were unavailable? ' Joka countered.

The three looked at Pairin, she went wide eyed, 'oh OH! OH NO! Absolutely NOT! '

'She 'd be all

over

the staff, ' Madam groaned.

Gaoshun pondered for a moment, 'Perhaps ' perhaps not. '

****

Yao and En 'en stepped sheepishly into the medical office of Dr. Liu, 'You called for us Sir? '

'Actually, I did, ' Chue chirped.

Dr. Liu looked vexed, 'I 've been informed of your recent

extracurricular activities

along with several other state secrets I don 't particularly want to keep. It would have been

nice

to be informed sooner with Maomao leaving us short staffed. '

'Oh, they couldn 't have told you if they wanted to, they were sworn to secrecy, ' Chue winked with a finger to her lips.

'We could have

at least

received a message that she was working for the Empress again or some such nonsense just to get her off my roster. '

'

Again

? '

Someday Yao and En 'en would be fully versed on Maomao 's endeavors since entering the Palace. Today was ' not that day.

'Apologies Dr. Liu but searching for the Moon Prince and Lady Maomao took priority, Miss Chue hasn 't hardly slept this last week, ' she bonked her own head as if that detail fell out.

'Then who came for her things? ' Yao asked.

Chue focused, 'I 'm sorry- what? '

'Someone came and cleared out her belongings from the dorm room, I assumed it was someone from the Moon Prince 's household or the Rear Palace for the investigation. '

'Did you see them!? '

'Unfortunately, no. '

The bird flitted her focus onto the doctor, 'I need to know the list of every person with a key to the dorms. And if you hear anything about medicines or drugs from a guy named Huo please inform me or Lahan immediately. '

'Yes ma 'am! ' the girls said in unison.

***

Ah Duo slumped into her chair back in her villa, a glass of wine set in her hand. The Emperor had kept her remarkably informed as the various calls to action went out. Chue was chasing down whoever took Maomao 's belongings. The most promising was the Verdigris house which -as Lakan predicted- went the plan the apothecary was trying to do in the

first place

. She debated how she could activate her own rumor mill. Considering the timing she decided to hold off so this Huo fellow wasn 't alerted to a simultaneous search for him.

***

It was late, the toddler princess and her infant brother had fallen asleep long ago, and yet the Empress continued staring out the window.

Hongniang poured the tea for her, 'What 's the matter Milady? '

Gyokuyou considered her words, 'Someone I care about back home has gotten ill and the doctors don 't know what to do about it. '

'Perhaps you should ask the Moon Prince about it? He 's been off with Maomao for some time now. '

Well THAT didn 't go the way I wanted.

The empress smiled sweetly, 'Sure, but I doubt they 're gonna send Maomao all that way for one person. '

'Sure, but if it 's the beginning of a pandemic. '

'That 's a thought, perhaps some research should be done about the illness, if you 'll excuse me Hongniang. '

Her head lady bowed and she pulled out a pen and paper.

My Dearest Emperor,

It has been brought to my attention that a pandemic might be worth notifying the public about. Perhaps additional measurements of research and development could be requested of the experts in the field. If funding is ' provided perhaps individuals may come forth with tested solutions for the greater populace.

Forever yours,

Empress Gyokuyou

She summoned Chue for delivery.

***

Tok! Tok-tok! Thud.

The soldiers cheered as Lihaku took another opponent down. Someone tossed him a towel and he wiped his face. He felt someone watching and turned to see Gaoshun watching quietly from across the yard. The gentleman nodded his head to follow and Lihaku waved to the guys, 'I 'll be back in 5. '

They stepped between a couple buildings and Lihaku caught the vibe, quieting and asking seriously, 'Any word? '

Gaoshun shook his head. Lihaku sighed wiping his tired eyes, 'I 'm sorry Sir, I should have been keeping better tabs on the whole ro- '

The man raised his hand, 'What 's done is done, you did your best. There are several groups out gathering information but one branch is baiting a trap and has need of you. '

'

Anything

Sir! ' he had clearly been beating himself up about this, sunken eyes and looking a little gaunt, his stress was beyond hiding.

The Ma clan guard looked a little flushed, 'Yes, I 'm sure, but it 's not what you 're thinking. The Emperor wishes to station you elsewhere for the time being and will furnish your stay. '

Lihaku immediately imagined the abandoned Shi clan castle, mid winter, shivering, with his torch going out. He gulped, 'Of course Sir, where am I being stationed. '

'The Verdigris House. '