The funeral was to take place in the temple’s great hall. Monks were constructing a wooden platform to put my master’s body beneath it, with Master Yu giving directions. Some people were helping with the floral arrangements and another worker was hanging a wooden sign that would indicate that this was my master’s funeral. The aroma of food indicated that the cooks in the kitchen were busy at work, but we wouldn’t really have the appetite to eat later. Horse and I surveyed the scene, listening to the workers murmuring as they did their jobs.
“Now death will come to us all,” a worker commented.
“Who could have done such a cruel thing?”
“It is the presence of these royals. They ruin everything!”
Nearby, I saw that Nuwa was talking to someone of Master’s friends, all of whom were in grief and yet had come to help. Some were crying, and others shuffled their feet. Seeing this made Horse and I depressed, so we slipped out of the room and peered into the kitchen. Maybe all of the gossip in there could give us more information with our investigation.
The kitchen was hot and stuffy. The cooks sweated while shouting out commands, and those serving under them chopped vegetables vigorously, or seasoned the soup. They were busy, but they didn’t stop talking. Horse and I hid behind some trees and tried to hear these conversations, peeking out from the leaves from time to time.
“Why would Lady Li have wanted to marry a lowly farmer, anyway?” one asked.
“He has land and an estate, remember? All he needed was a title.”
“Besides, who else can Lady Li marry? Most men would marry her for access to the throne, but her father is probably some useless nobody!”
“Who says?” a voice piped up. It was a young girl of about fourteen. “How dare you speak ill of Lady Li!” She waved her knife about. The other chefs’ eyes widened.
“A-and even if she were a bastard, so what? She is kind and generous. Doesn’t this count more than status or wealth?” The lady in waiting’s face was red. It was at that moment she spotted us.
“Intruders!” she screamed. And then, she ran, surging past everyone and out of the kitchens. The cooks working in there stared at us, not knowing what to do.
There was no time to lose. We went after her. She ran along the long, endless corridors, and we followed. I supposed that she was heading towards the temple gardens, and I was right. We kept up with her with ease, and for a moment, I wished I had four legs instead of two so that I could run faster, but no matter. She zig-zagged through the bushes, and jumped over some flowers, while we did the inelegant thing of stampeding through them. At last, she came to the moon bridge. Without any hesitation, she ran on top of it, tip-toeing like a tightrope walker. We ran and in a few moments, we had her cornered. Horse and I blocked the lady in waiting, and there was no escape route.
But this lady didn’t think twice at all. She jumped into the pond. Splash!
Thank goodness it was shallow. Her robes were wet and muddy, and her hair was now undone. It swirled about her almost protectively, like a shield. She shivered and looked rather pathetic. I jumped into the water. There was another splash.
“Stop it! I didn’t do anything!” the attendant screamed.
“Then why did you run away?” I asked.
“I’m in love with Lady Li!”
Wait. What?
“And even though it would pain me to lose her, I didn’t kill him. I swear I didn’t. And Lady Li won’t look my way now, will she? No one notices the attendants.”
Another splash. Horsehead had jumped in and grabbed her by the arm.
“Well, I am noticing one of them now.”
We dragged this young lady out of the pond and brought her to the attendants’ quarters, where she changed out of her clothes. Finally, she strode out of the room.
“Why were you there?” Horse asked. “Weren’t you supposed to be with Lady Li?”
“I–I wanted to find who did it. People already whisper terrible things about Lady Li. They think she did it. I don’t think she’s guilty.”
I nodded.
“But tell me–is Lady Li really… a bastard?” Horse chimed in.
“Shhhh!” she said, glancing around. Then, she nodded. Quickly, the young woman led us out of the attendants’ quarters and into a secluded corridor.
“If Lady Li had succeeded district would be ruled by the king, and she is here to cement this legitimacy. If the rumours were verified–”
We all knew what would happen, so we fell silent.
“What about the other attendants, who were at the dinner? Do they have the same affection you do for Lady Li?”
“My peer, Xiaoyun, did not care much for our lady but did her job well enough for the money. I do not know much about Prince Huang’s attendants.”
“Could Xiaoyun have done it?” Horse asked.
“No. I don’t know. Perhaps for the money. But even if she did, please show her mercy,” she begged.
Suddenly, a chime sounded. The funeral was about to start. Horse and I turned to go.
“Please don’t tell anyone of my love for Lady Li,” the lady in waiting said. “It will only complicate matters.”
“We will, uh–“
“Xiao Duan. My name is Xiao Duan.”
“Xiao Duan, your secret is safe with us,” Horse said. With that, my partner and I nodded and proceeded to attend the funeral.