'I thought I might see what Xiaomao 's take on all of this is. It is peculiar that this case isn 't just similar to the previous one, but rather as identical as possible. To me, it seems almost impossible. '

Jinshi nodded, 'I was about to suggest that. Certainly seems like a puzzle she 'd find fascinating. '

'Indeed, ' Gaoshun agreed. 'I 'll find her later and see what she makes of it. '

Jinshi rubbed the center of his forehead trying to disperse the tension headache that had been gathering over the last hour or so. 'What do you think the likelihood is that getting an answer will convince that man to stop these daily visits? '

'I would be hesitant to make any bets about the matter. I 'm sure he 'll get bored eventually. ' Gaoshun added, 'If there 's nothing else, I have a few matters to attend to. '

Jinshi nodded, 'Go. I 'll follow up later and see how things go with the apothecary. '

Once alone, he lowered his head into his hands and groaned. He had no idea why, but for the last week, the one man in the entire palace he least wished to have any dealings with had been spending at least an hour a day camped in his office. If there was a good reason for the visits, Jinshi had yet to figure it out.

The man 's name was Lakan, and he was a master strategist. The one man that even Jinshi 's older brother knew better than to tangle with. So far, Jinshi had always managed to stay out of Lakan 's way. Lakan was cunning and brilliant. One would have to be a fool not to realize that. Why he suddenly seemed fixated on Jinshi was baffling, and frankly Jinshi was rather terrified of what it could mean for his future.

That afternoon, Lakan had arrived, as he had everyday for the past week, and he 'd fixed his attention on Gaoshun. Asked the man if he remembered a strange incident from a decade ago involving what had appeared to be poisoning by pufferfish, though the investigation had proven that was highly unlikely. In that case, the victim had eaten pufferfish the night before, but when the trash had been gone through, all the parts that would 've caused poisoning had been present and fully intact. The mystery had remained unsolved. Lakan had proceeded to inform Gaohsun that another poisoning, completely identical to the one ten years earlier, had taken place within the last several days.

'I thought that since you investigated the case before, you 'd like to investigate this one as well, ' Lakan had said before handing over all details of the new case and taking his leave. At the door, he had paused and informed Jinshi, 'I shall return tomorrow. I do so enjoy these daily visits of ours. '

'That makes exactly one of us, ' Jinshi grumbled, remembering the man 's words.

He spent the next two hours attempting to get some work done, but it was all for naught. Finally, he gave up and returned to his room. A bath was needed, and he did feel a bit better once he finished.

Suiren always insisted on drying his hair. It was a bit childish, he supposed, to enjoy letting her do it. Technically, it was a skill he should be able to do himself. More than once he 'd seen Maomao watching it happen with undisguised disgust on her face. Someday, if he was especially lucky, he might convince Maomao to take on the task. He rather liked the idea of giving her free reign to run her fingers through his hair. He 'd had more than a few dreams about it.

He went to take a seat, to allow Suiren to dry his hair, when his ears picked up the sound of Gaoshun and Maomao talking in the next room. He knew he should leave them be, but curiosity proved to be too much. After all, since he knew what they were discussing, he wanted to hear Maomao 's take on all of it. He stood in the entryway for a few minutes observing their discussion, before stepping close to Maomao.

Her back was to him, and he got close enough in time to hear her mumble, '...matches the evidence recovered from the trash. '

He couldn 't help himself, he leaned down, bringing his head level with hers and asked in his most charming voice, 'And what are you two talking about? '

Startled, she screamed. Her face contorted into something so unhuman, he found himself backing away slightly, and teased her, 'Such a look. You wound me. '

Her face relaxed into a more normal glare and she held her hand to her chest as she caught her breath, 'Serves you right for sneaking up on me. '

'Young master, come here this minute and sit down or I 'll make you clean up the mess your hair is leaving all over the floor Xiaomao and I worked so hard to clean earlier, ' Suiren ordered from the entryway.

Chastised, Jinshi followed the older woman to the couch and allowed her to dry his hair. However, he didn 't let Maomao out of his sight, and told her, 'I want to talk to you. '

She looked like he 'd suggested she eat a bucket of broken glass. In fact, he wasn 't sure she wouldn 't prefer that over speaking with him. However, she did follow and stood watching Suiren work on his hair with a glare that said she thought him little more than a child in a man 's body. It was a true mystery, worthy of her deductive skills, why that didn 't infuriate him, and instead only made him long to take her in his arms and do a whole host of things that would likely lead to her personally castrating him.

It suddenly occurred to him that in the short time he 'd observed her talking with Gaoshun, she 'd seemed fully engaged. That was a little annoying. 'You seemed quite interested in the conversation with Gaoshun. I 'd swear you were hanging on his every word. '

'It 's easy to pay attention to a story that 's interesting. '

His annoyance grew. 'Wait a minute. Is that why you frequently cut me off when ' '

'Oh my, it does seem to have gotten quite late, ' she stated, cutting him off mid-sentence. 'If you have no further need of me, I 'll take my leave. '

He tried to put words together, but floundered and Maomao made a quick escape. He went to stand and chase after her, but Suiren yanked hard at his hair and ordered, 'Do not move. ' After a few seconds, she chuckled, 'I do quite like that girl.

'She 's infuriating, ' Jinshi muttered, half-heartedly.

'She 's good for you, ' the older woman mused. 'Doesn 't seem to care a bit for that flattery you try to wield so cunningly. '

Jinshi sighed, 'You know, you 're the only one I let speak that way to me. '

Suiren laughed again, 'Oh, I don 't think I 'm the only one. Xiaoamao certainly doesn 't hesitate to, and I have yet to see you stop her. '

Jinshi chose not to respond to that comment, and Suiren completed drying his hair without further comment.

***

Late that night he was too restless to sleep. He wandered the halls of his darkened house. Only the faint moonlight streaming in through the windows gave any illumination to his surroundings. Maomao was infuriating. Exasperating. An absolute menace. Sometimes she really made him want to scream. And yet, it all served to make him even more crazy about her. In fact, he was more determined than ever to marry her.

He was walking down the hallway where Suiren and Maomao 's rooms were, when he noticed Maomao 's door was hanging open just a little. He came to a halt, hidden in shadows, but able to clearly see into her room. She was awake, sitting at her window, staring up, completely transfixed by the clear sky full of brilliant stars. One of her arms was propped up on the windowsill and her chin rested on her open palm.

She wasn 't the only one completely transfixed. He felt like he 'd had a spell cast over him. True the waning crescent moon didn 't provide much light, but what it did provide bathed her in a glow that made her seem more like a fairy than a human. The normally sharp and prickly woman was suddenly relaxed and soft. He fought the urge to knock on her door and disturb her. Just because she wasn 't able to sleep either didn 't mean she 'd appreciate him interrupting her solace.

He only allowed himself a few minutes of observation. He wasn 't certain how he 'd explain what he was doing if she did manage to catch him. As silently as possible, he backed away from her door and returned to his own room.

***

'Maomao! ' he cried out as her eyes slid shut. Her tiny body slumped against him, and he desperately tried to get her to wake up. What had happened to her? Her face was a bloody mess. He shook her and begged, 'Please! Please don 't leave me! Maomao! Don 't leave me alone! '

But she didn 't open her eyes. Her breathing slowed. 'No! ' he screamed the word and pulled her tight against his chest.

'No! ' Screaming, he woke in a full-blown panic. Sitting up, he clutched at his chest, willing his breathing and heart rate to calm. He was glad he 'd woken before Suiren had arrived. Given the pink and purple streaks of dawn that painted the sky, he doubted he had more than a few minutes before she did with Maomao in tow.

It was going to take everything in him not to grab the young woman and hold onto her for dear life. He was very confused over the dream. Typically, when she was injured or dying in his nightmares, it was because of something she 'd done to herself. This time, something else had been responsible. He had no idea what, but this hadn 't been because of anything she 'd done. Someone had done it to her.

There was a knock at his door, and a moment later it opened to reveal Suiren, Gaoshun, and Maomao. 'Good morning, young master. Time to wake ' ' Suiren stopped abruptly, and adjusted her greeting, 'Ah, I see you 're already awake. Did you have a good sleep? '

His eyes were fixed on Maomao. He couldn 't look away from her. Suddenly, he was on his feet and crossed the room to stand in front of her. Reaching out, he lightly touched her hair, 'Are you alright? '

Her eyes met his, and her brow furrowed, 'Should I not be? '

His hand moved to cup her cheek and she backed away, out of reach. He dropped his hand and didn 't try to reach for her again, but persisted in his line of questioning. 'Have you been getting harassed by the court ladies? '

'That 's not something ' '

For once, he was the one who cut her off, 'Don 't put me off. Answer the question. '

She wouldn 't meet his gaze, but she did shake her head, 'No, not really, sir. '

He folded his arms across his chest, 'So you are getting harassed. ' She gave him a look that normally would 've convinced him to back down, but the terror of the dream was still fresh in his mind and he sternly ordered, 'Have you been harassed? Have any of those women laid a hand on you again? '

She hesitated a second too long before answering, 'No, sir. Please, don 't ask me that again. '

He opened his mouth, unwilling to drop the subject as she clearly wanted him to, but he noticed Gaoshun out of the corner of his eye, shaking his head telling him to stop. Jinshi sighed, 'If they are giving you a hard time, please tell Gaoshun or Suiren if you won 't come to me. You do not have to tolerate such abuse. Do you understand? '

'Yes, sir. '

He backed away and turned his attention to his breakfast, though he had little stomach for it. Something about the dream had felt a little too real. A little too much like he was glimpsing a vision of the future. No matter how hard he tried to brush the feeling off as nonsense, his efforts were futile. He couldn 't erase the image of Maomao 's bloody, swollen face from his memory.

***

Lakan arrived early in the afternoon for the daily visit. Jinshi was even less in the mood to deal with the man than normal. The topic of conversation the strategist chose was a game of Go he 'd played twenty years earlier. Jinshi nearly went to sleep as the man described every move of the game in excruciating detail. Lakan didn 't seem to notice how thoroughly uninterested Jinshi was. The weird, monocled man enthusiastically went on and on until he finally shared about the last move of the game. It was all Jinshi could do to resist cheering. He worried if he showed even the slightest positive emotion, Lakan might take it as encouragement to either regale him with another game 's details right then and there, or he 'd pick an even longer and more boring game to share about the next day.

There was no doubt in his mind that Lakan would be back the following day. And the day after that. And the day after that. The strategist was going to show up every damn day until the end of time, and Jinshi would probably never find out what the man actually wanted. Surely it wasn 't just to spend quality time together. Didn 't Lakan have an adopted son for that sort of thing?

Not long after Lakan had departed, Jinshi left his office. He knew he wasn 't going to get any work done for at least a few hours. He needed to decompress after the strategist 's visit.

He found Gaoshun and Maomao discussing the problem of the man who 'd been poisoned. Maomao was studying a cookbook, and her eyes were fixed on a particular recipe. Jinshi took a seat at the table, snacking on some longan fruit. He couldn 't keep his eyes off Maomao. She looked fine. There was no indication of anything to make him think his dream had any bearing on reality.

'Did you say seaweed? ' Maomao 's question to Gaoshun pulled Jinshi back to the present.

'Yes. Is that odd? '

She considered the question before replying, 'Not necessarily, but still I think it might be worth looking into. Would it be possible for me to inspect the kitchen where the meal was prepared? '

'I 'll get it arranged, ' Gaoshun assured her.

***

That night, Jinshi 's nightmare was horrifying. Maomao was locked in a room with a venomous snake. He wasn 't there. He was merely observing it, like watching some kind of horrific performance. He woke with another scream as the snake coiled and moved to strike.

He didn 't go back to sleep. Instead, he spent hours practicing his forms with his sword. Sword fighting was hardly something he needed to be able to do as a eunuch, but he wasn 't actually a eunuch and if the worst should happen, he 'd need to use his skills in battle. Hopefully, a battle that would never come. After all, things had been relatively peaceful over the last few years.

Overall, the day was uneventful. Basen, with much grumbling, agreed to accompany Maomao to the home of the poisoned man so she could investigate the kitchen. Jinshi wasn 't sure why, but Basen seemed to almost despise Maomao. The man did a poor job of even attempting to hide his hostility. Jinshi let Gaoshun deal with it, but knew if Basen got too out of hand, he 'd have to say something. He wasn 't going to have Basen treating Maomao poorly. The man needed to understand that one day she was going to be Jinshi 's wife and he 'd be expected to treat her with the dignity and respect that went along with that position.

As anticipated, Lakan showed up that afternoon. This time he came with a long, seemingly unending tale about a game of Shogi he 'd once played. The man droned on for well over two hours. By the time he departed, Jinshi 's head was pounding and he returned to his room. He had Suiren bring him something to aid with the headache and a pitcher of water. Told her he didn 't wish to be disturbed for the rest of the day.

He really hadn 't a clue of what to do about Lakan. Normally, he 'd be able to set boundaries with someone who insisted on pestering him so, but that was hardly an option with the strategist. No, Lakan wanted something, and Jinshi was just going to have to continue putting up with the man 's exhausting visits until he figured out what that something was.

Sleep was non-existent and his head continued to ache, despite the medicine Suiren had given him. In the middle of the night, he took to wandering the halls of the house aimlessly. The whole house was silent and dark. Not much of a surprise considering how late it was. He decided to make himself some tea and went to the kitchen. He found the necessary items and had nearly finished the process when he suddenly heard, 'Master Jinshi? '

He turned and was surprised to see Maomao standing in the doorway. She looked at him with a bit of confusion, 'What are you doing? You shouldn 't even be in here. '

His head suddenly hurt a little less, 'It is my house. '

She sighed and shook her head, 'If you needed tea, you should 've asked. '

'Exactly who should I have asked? As far as I knew I was the only one awake. I am quite capable of making tea. '

She gave him a look that said she definitely didn 't believe he was capable of any such thing. In fact, she proceeded to say, 'Considering you 're incapable of drying your own hair, I find it highly suspect that you think you can make tea. '

Apparently, middle-of-the-night Maomao was much more willing to exchange banter than daytime Maomao. He flashed her a grin, 'Drying my hair takes skill. '

She rolled her eyes, 'And yet, the rest of us dry our own hair with little difficulty. Can 't possibly imagine what makes yours so truly special. '

He folded his arms across his chest, 'Oh, can 't you? Then perhaps you 'd like to show me how simple it is. Next time it needs drying, you can do it instead of Suiren. '

She stared at him cooly, 'I 'm sure she 'll appreciate the break, sir. '

He laughed, 'I 'm sure she will. Now, why are you awake? '

'I was prepping the seaweed I collected earlier today. I just got back from the kitchen Master Gaoshun secured for me. '

He sighed, 'And you were all alone, I suppose. '

'I was perfectly safe, sir. '

'You should 've used this kitchen. '

She shook her head, 'That seemed unwise. '

'How so? '

'If I am correct regarding the toxicity present in the seaweed, it would be foolish of me to work with it where your food is made everyday. '

He had to acknowledge it was a valid point. Still, 'You shouldn 't have been out so late alone. '

'And you shouldn 't worry so much. ' She stepped past him and took over dealing with the tea. 'Let me fix this, sir. I 'm not sure what you thought you were doing, but this is the sorriest attempt at tea I 've ever seen. '

'Oh, is it? '

She turned toward him slightly and glared. It wasn 't even close to her fiercest glare, but it still sent a shiver down his spine. She clucked her tongue and replied, as she dumped the tea he 'd been steeping, 'You don 't have to worry about anyone poisoning you, I 'm certain you 'll succeed in poisoning yourself if you attempt to make yourself tea in the future. '

He watched her with mild amusement, 'I do think you might be exaggerating a bit. '

'Considering that the tea you were making was likely going to have you up the rest of the night with severe stomach cramping, I really don 't think that I am. '

'Surely it wouldn 't have been that bad. '

She didn 't even look at him, 'Of course, you 'd think that. Perhaps I should leave you to your fate and misery. '

He stepped a little closer, 'I apologize. Please, make tea that won 't kill me. '

She made no reply, but quietly worked at fixing a new pot of tea. He stayed quiet, watching her the entire time. There was something so very pleasant about watching her work. About being alone with her in the quiet. Too soon, she stepped away and told him, 'Finished. Have a pleasant evening, Master Jinshi. '

Her back was to him, but before she could leave the room, he had crossed the small space between them, and laid a hand on her shoulder. She froze and in a repeat of something he had done months earlier, he gently lifted her hair away from the side of her neck. Lowering his head he nuzzled the side of her throat, inhaling her scent and against her soft skin he murmured the words, 'Thank you for the tea. ' His lips brushed against her in the lightest, gentlest kiss. A second later he let go and stepped back.

She didn 't turn back to look at him. He could see the skin he 'd just touched had turned a light shade of red, and a second later she bolted from the kitchen. He resisted the urge to hurry after her and instead drank the tea she 'd so kindly prepared for him.