94 The White Tiger (1/2)

The emperor, as it turned out, was not joking. He did start an investigation on the matter of the injured tiger, which, surprisingly enough, turned out to be a different breed from the bait the ministry of animal protection had let loose in the jungle for the games.

Truth to tell, the ministry was rather embarrassed by the irony its name carried since what it does actually was capture rare and exotic animals offered as brutal prey to officially close the Battle of Talents. But it had always been in charge of the bait every year and it has been doing its duty splendidly until called by the emperor to explain the presence of another tiger hunted down for the same reason.

The minister, who took over his boss after he lost his head under the empress' orders, was terrified. He didn't know of any tiger roaming the garden around the pond. In fact, he didn't know there was even a pond in that wretched plains. He very much wanted to ask the emperor about it but he held his tongue, conscious of the probing stare her majesty the empress threw at him when he started to stammer his innocence.

Oh heavens, he didn't want to lose his head. He was just a minor government official with no power really to make changes to the ministry. In fact, he didn't even know why everyone kept insisting he was next in line to the ministry position when in fact, it was another powerful person above him. But that ostensibly powerful person had also lost his head and...If it weren't for the fact that he was newly married and he didn't want to disappoint his wife, he would have chucked this job a long time ago. The pressure of keeping one's head on one's shoulder was not worth it. Not worth it at all.

”So, you don't know anything about how this animal got in this pond at all?” The empress was saying. ”Then who does?”

”Your grace, I don't really know,” he was forced to confess. ”All I know is that the white tiger came to us from a sale nearly two years ago. The ministry was in charge of maintaining and keeping the bait for the hunt each year. Last time was a black dragon that was killed by someone from Zhengyi. Previous to that was a wild boar and...”

”What about this red tiger?” asked the emperor. ”No record of it in your files at all?”

A subordinate suddenly hurried forward and handed the minister a thick file. He looked at it somewhat confused then hurriedly read what was inside. His eyes bulged and when he finally lifted his eyes to the emperor, a somewhat embarrassed look had replaced the fear and panic on his face.

”Your...your majesty,” he said, stammering. ”Forgive your poor servant. Your poor servant is wrong. There is a record of the red tiger in our file but...,” here, the poor minister's face blushed scarlet.

An Ning who was already expecting what was coming, started to laugh in pure amusement.

The minister looked at her, then at the emperor, then he swallowed painfully.

”It says here that a tiger cub was indeed given to your late grandfather by a...ahem..a princess when he visited the kingdom of Tanhui shortly after his marriage to his majesty's late grandmother the empress.He...that is, the tiger cub...erm...his majesty's grandfather came back with the tiger cub..and...ahem...the princess...the empress was not amused and vanished the princess in the lodge to live where the emperor would often visit her...,” the minister's voice ended awkwardly. ”Your majesty, I am not repeating gossip. It's all here in the report. In the report,” the minister explained fearfully. He could almost feel the soft breath of the executioner's sword against his neck.

The empress fell on her chair laughing hysterically. The emperor looked reprovingly at her, trying to intimidate her into silence but it was just too preposterous that he ended up in hysterics as well.

”What the heck was that princess thinking giving my grandfather such a vicious animal for a gift?” Gu Sheng said, wiping his streaming eyes. ”I mean, what were they doing to that poor animal all these years? Pretending he was their baby or something?”

An Ning laughed.

”Imagine your poor grandfather's face when he saw that tiny cub grow into the size of a small house. I can imagine him calling it a monster and insisting they kill it or something. But someone must have been taking good care of it all these years. The animal looked well-fed, considering it was mean and vicious,” she chuckled.

”Any record of that in your file, minister Si?” the emperor asked.

Minister Si turned to his subordinate who shook his head.

”No, your majesty.”

”I want you to investigate this matter thoroughly after the hunt is over. Someone deliberately hurt that poor animal so it would attack zhen and the empress. Investigate and give me a report in three days' time. Okay that's it. Everyone dismissed.”

Minister Si almost ran from the room. His head was still intact, he thought, sighing in relief. But then he remembered what the emperor said. Investigate in three days' time and give him a report.What if he couldn't find anything to report? Off with his head then? Minister Si gulped and almost stumbled. Luckily his subordinate caught him by the arm and pulled and half-dragged him away from the room.

Gu Sheng looked at An Ning speculatively.

”What?” she asked, smiling a little.

”Another hidden assassin?”

”Probably,” she shrugged.

”This is getting to be too tedious,” he complained.

”Little Gu, the kingdom as it is now, stands at a crossroad. Your enemies will not stop unless you're dead and they take over the kingdom,” An Ning said bluntly. ”This is the extent of the imperial power you hold. You stand at the apex of the center of the universe. It's only natural that people will have ideas. Look at this Battle of Talents, for example. It's nothing much at first glance. Just a friendly competition between friends and neighbors. But it's actually the capital imposing and showing its power to the world. The hatred is natural. So does the envy. You can't do anything about it, even if you try.”

”I wanted to leave but you won't let me,” Gu Sheng complained bitterly.

”And go where? Even I don't know where I'm going when I leave here. Or if I'm ever going to leave. Go back to my father? Who is he? There's only one father I know and it's not him. Go back to my world? How do I do that? I am as trapped in this world as you are, Little Gu. I can't seem to get out even if I wanted to.”

”So, you're staying? Here? With me?” Gu Sheng tried to keep his voice at a level pitch and not make it sound as relieved as he felt.

”You know what I think? I don't think Yuqui is the end for both of us. Both of us don't live in a vacuum, you see. There are forces at play which haven't showed their hands yet. Until they do, then we stay here and wait,” An Ning said, thinking of the conversation she had with her grandparents.

Maybe now, they finally figured out how to get to her and were on their way to rescue her back. This world was infinite and the infinite was always filled with surprises. The door to an entrance always had its opposite in an exit. And an exit always lead to a door of other possibilities. Time was just a concept. It can be turned and molded to anyone's will. Until time reaches its patience and the entire universe goes back to its starting point then they will have to be patient. There was nothing they can do about it anyway.

The hunt continued into the night. When Minister Si came back to report on the dead and wounded, the numbers were astonishing: 49 dead and 180 wounded. The dead and the sick had been pulled out of the hunt, leaving behind more than half to continue the hunt.