"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!

PLEASE STOP!!!

PLEASE... AAAAHHHH NO MORE!!!!

PLEASE!!!!! HAVE MERCY ON ME!!!!

AAAAAHHHH!!!!

OH MY GOD!!!!

AAAAAHHHH!!!!

SPARE ME, PLEASE!!!! LET ME GO!!!!

SECOND MIS- AAAAHHHH- TRESS!!!!"

Anbai shook her head.
"That guard," she sighed, "Is so dead."

The soldier was squirming in the glowing ropes, desperately trying to wriggle his way out. But the more he struggled, the more the ropes seemed to coil around his wrists.

The Elder Lord Li stood there looking at the whole scenario with a highly confused look on his face. The only thing he had understood so far was that the barrier they were in wasn't exactly a soundproofing one, but a one that somewhat muffled loud noise.
For instance, the man's howls.
And, strangely enough, the tune of Caihong's prized ruan.

"First Mistress Ruan, can you please explain to me what's going on?" He finally inquired, totally flabbergasted.

"LEAVE ME!!! LET ME GO!!! PLEASE!!!! SECOND MISTRESS!!!"

Li Liang ran his hand over the shimmering barrier, feeling the vibrations of the sound waves tickle the fingertips.

"PLEASE FORGIVE ME, SECOND MISTRESS RUAN!!! OH GOD, PLEASE STOP, SPARE ME FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!!!"

The Elder Lord suddenly heard a murmur and he looked behind him to see Anbai saying something under her breath. He listened carefully.
"Oh shit, this one... I never thought she would do this..." She was shaking her head at intervals.

"Anything wrong?" He asked.

"Huh?" She was shaken out of her reverie. "Oh, Elder Lord. Uh, were you saying something?"

"Ummm, you looked like you were saying something, so.."

"PLEASE FORGIVE ME, MY LADY!!! AAAHHHH I SWEAR..."

"Oh, I was just surprised, this," she referred to the ongoing show in front of them, "This was total, well, unexpected."

Ruan Fai had the same expression of awe on his face. He too didn't know what to expect anymore, so he felt that it was best to remain silent.

"ON MY LIFE!! I WILL ALWAYS BE PROMPT!! AAAAAHHHH!!!! PUNCTUAL!!!!"

"I think, I don't need to tell you that I too agree with you, First Mistress Ruan," Li Liang smiled. "Your sister is a volley of surprises."
After pausing a bit, he added, "I understand that this is a protective, sound reducing barrier. But could you explain the other things to me?"

Anbai chuckled, "Well, I guess I need to let you in on a secret. My sister, well, I don't know how I should say this, but, there are three main places in the royal quarters where you can find her. Number one, in the training ground. Number two, in the library, with her nose buried in the books and scrolls. Number three, in a room adjacent to this one, but I won't tell you what's in there, as I am, hahaha, sworn to secrecy."

Li Liang nodded, taking in all the information, silently urging the young lady to continue.

"All I can say is that Caihong is the creator of this, well, torture spell. As far as I know, the barrier was purposely not made soundproof, so that, the confession of the criminal can be heard by the witnesses who are to be inside this barrier."

"AAAAAHHHH!!!! PLEASE, NO MORE!!!!"

"The spell was cultivated in such a way that, when Caihong plays the ruan by it, a series of notes are produced, of a very high frequency and a very large amplitude. So anyone who hears it even for a moment feels like he's going to bleed from all the pores in his body."

"OH GOD, I'M GOING TO DIE!!! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!! I HAVE A WIFE AND THREE KIDS TO FEED!!!" HAVE MERCY, MY LADY!!!! PLEASE!!!"

Li Liang was horrified. He peered at the little girl leaning comfortably against the bedpost and leisurely strumming the instrument, with a lopsided grin on her face, and enjoying herself.

"Second Mistress Ruan!" he called out. "It's enough! Please, the guard will-"

He felt a hand on his arm. It was Ruan Fai.
"Don't," He said.

"What?"

"Don't stop her."

"But... But... The guard-"

"He won't die. He won't even bleed out. Believe me. The spell was fashioned in that way."

"Please elaborate."

"The spell was structured so that it will give one only the excruciating sensation of dying or bleeding, not the actual thing. It's a form of punishment, which of course, was never tested, solely because there was no one on whom could she inflict such torture. Besides, she didn't have the heart to make anyone hear even a single note. But now that she is using this, simply implies that she is furious. She is too fond of your grandson to be able to punish the guard like this for not getting the Physician here on time. "

Caihong, still with her eyes closed, inquired, "Okay, now, you stupid guard, I was at the market when I told you to get the Physician, as my friend here needs urgent treatment. It took us an hour to find a carriage and rush back, only to find that the Physician is not here yet. He was informed just a little while back. WHAT ON EARTH IS THE CAUSE OF SUCH UNNECESSARY DELAY?"

Her fingers began to pluck the strings of her ruan deftly, emanating a series of fast, high pitched notes, wrenching out more screams from the guard's throat.

"AAAAAHHHH!!! LET ME GO, PLEASE!!!! FORGIVE ME AHHHHHHH!!!! SPARE ME!!! I DON'T WANNA DIE!!! AAAAHHHH!!!!PLEASE!!!"

"You mean, the guard won't die?" Li Liang asked, worriedly.

"ANSWER MY QUESTION, IDIOT!!! WHAT WERE YOU DOING FOR SO LONG?" Caihong roared, her eyes ablaze.

"I-i-I AAAAHHH WAS-" the poor guard, who was squirming like a worm, began.

"No, Elder Lord," Anbai answered, trying to end his worry.

"Are you sure, that he won't bleed or anything?"

"I WAS TRYING THE FRESHLY FERMENTED WINE AT AN INN!!! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!"
The guard wailed at the top of his voice, struggling in the ropes which had now crawled their way up to his torso so that they could hold him in place.
"SECOND MISTRESS RUAN!!!! I'm SORRY!!! I'LL NEVER DISOBEY AGAIN!!! PLEASE PARDON ME!!!"

"No, believe me, Elder Lord Li. Bleeding would have probably given him some kind of relief, but well, giving relief isn't exactly the point here, is it?"

They all looked back at the writhing man and the girl on the floor. Caihong seemed oblivious to everything else around her.

Just then, something clicked, and Li Liang cried out, "Sect Leader!! Your daughter, she is not inside the barrier like us!!"

"Yes, she isn't. What of that?" Ruan Fai asked, puzzled.

"Sect Leader Ruan!! She isn't protected by the shield!!! She can hear the agonising tune as well!!"

To his utter bewilderment, both Ruan Fai and his elder daughter, Anbai looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"You're laughing? What's so funny?"

"Oh oh hahahahaha oh oh my, my apologies, Elder Lord, hahahaha, I am so sorry, I just couldn't, hahahaha, one minute. Well, that's the catch right there. The tune is melodious to her. It won't affect her at all. It will never blow up in her face. After all, she is the one who has made it. When has a spell ever gone against its level headed creator?"

Li Liang smiled awkwardly at his stupidity (but that must be forgiven for his mind is overwhelmed by all the events of the day) and agreed.
' This girl is a genius. So young and yet....'

Right then, Lady Ruan Quinyang dashed into the room, with the Elder Lady Ruan at her heels. Of course, she hadn't noticed the barrier and bumped into it.

At the low thud, Caihong, at last, opened her eyes. Without pausing the tune or missing a beat, she glanced at her sister, and raised a brow twice and rolled her eyes.
In response, Anbai perked her eyebrow once and lifted her head slightly.

'Now that's weird,' Li Liang thought. 'They're talking through their eyebrows. Is that their way of conversing in sign language?'

He looked at Anbai who brought the elder women into the room and made them sit.

"Second Mistress Ruan," yet another voice was heard from the door. It was Zhang Taio, who was now staring at the scene playing out before him, wide-eyed in alarm.

Caihong looked at him, narrowed her eyes and tilted her head in a leftward motion. Zhang nodded and moved away from the door. Then without any warning, she swung her hand outwards. A golden wave left the ends of her fingers and crashed against the guard's body, severing the binds. There was a shattering sound as the barrier fell apart as if someone had smashed a club against a mirror. The sorry man was hurled right out of the room, He landed on the ground beneath a flight of steps, with a crash and a loud groan.

"Come in, Ge," she called out, dispersing the musical instrument.

She pulled out a piece of parchment and a pen and started drawing blocks on it. She labelled them and drew a circle around one area of the sheet.

"What's this? A map?" Zhang crouched down to inspect the rough diagram she had sketched.

"Hmmm, here, look this is the alley where I found him. There are three men there. Go and imprison them."

"Mèi, you're speaking as if they're going to be waiting for me to go and catch them. They must have escaped already. Why didn't you tell me there?"

"Ge. They won't run. I shot them an-"

"You killed them?!?!"

"Ge. Let me complete, will you? First of all, no one dies from a wound in the shoulder. Secondly, I drugged them. My arrowheads were smeared with the potion. So they're just unconscious. You can interrogate them after a week."

"A week?!"

"They will wake up after a week."

"Oh. Alright, I'll get going then."

Zhang bowed to everyone else in the room, mopped his sweaty forehead and left.

"Ruan Caihong."

At last, Caihong smiled her duchenne grin. "Mom?"

SLAP.

"WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO DO, HUH?! HUH?!" Quinyang shook Caihong violently by her shoulders. "KILL ME?? WHY ARE YOU SUCH A BRAT? CAIHONG, WHY ARE YOU SO NAUGHTY? WHY?"

She burst into tears, as she hugged her younger daughter to her heaving bosom.

"Why do you make Mom so worried about you, huh? I was so scared that I would never see you ever again, I-" Quinyang sobbed. "Caihong... my baby... Why are you so bad? Can't you be a little like your Jiejie?"

Caihong just smiled, despite the fiery red marks of her mother's fingers on her cheek, and hugged back tightly.

"Oh god, you can't imagine how sick I was feeling... I will surely die worrying myself sick about you... Why do-"

"Oi, Mom, don't say that. I had just gone to the market. I'm sorry I didn't tell anyone before going. I'm sorry I sneaked out. I'm sorry for doping those guards who were at the gate. Dad, please don't fire them. It was me. I drugged them. They're innocent."

"Hey, you girl, look at me. Look at me. Promise me, you will never do such a thing again. Promise me, you will never give me such a scare again."

"I promise, Mom, I will be a good girl hehe."

"You'll never be good, I know. You will always be causing some mischief. You were always a handful, since birth. Your sister was much calmer huh."

"Yet you love this very handful, and wouldn't want any other handful... hee hee hee."

Caihong flashed her a toothy grin and began prancing around her mom like an excited puppy. Quinyang giggled and caught her up in her arms.

"You're not supposed to be lifting heavy objects or people, Quinyang!" The Elder Lady Ruan admonished.

"I'm so sorry for taking this long, Your Highness," The Royal Physician waddled into the room, huffing and puffing. "The patients were taking a long time to respond to the medicine."

The Royal Physician was a plump, red-faced, jolly, old man; the extremities of his knowledge extended very far. He was a widower, and his daughter always assisted him in his work. His son was, however, a wild youth, who spent the entire day, either rambling or picking up fights, and had no interest in herbs or anything else whatsoever.

His daughter, Cheng Xue, followed him in, holding a large battered wooden coffer in her thin arms like she always did. She set it down on the bedside table, rolled the sleeves up to her elbows and got down to business.

"Please cure my grandson, Doctor," Li Liang pleaded, holding the warm, wrinkled hands of the old man. "He is my lifeline. I'll die if -" He broke down.

"I assure you, Elder Lord Li, I will do my best," the Physician promised.

"Father," Xue called. She had removed the covers from Renshu's body and was examining him closely.

"Yes, dearie?" the Physician asked.

Both of them spoke in whispers for some time.

Li Liang, who was wiping his tears, felt a tug on his hand. He looked down. It was Caihong.
He smiled and kneeled so that he could get down to her level.

"Come with me," she pulled his hand again. He nodded and followed.
She led him to another table in the room and opened a drawer. She poured out a liquid on some clean gauze and started dabbing at the cut on his finger.

"Ah, Second Mistress, you don't need to," Li Liang chuckled. The very next moment he hissed, for the girl pinched the raw skin around the wound, making a fresh drop of blood ooze out.

"Yes, I don't need to," Caihong smirked, raising a brow. She proceeded to wrap a clean gauze around the cut. "I'm sorry about that, I wasn't in my right mind."

Li Liang got up and bowed. "Thank you," he whispered sincerely.

"Don't bow to me, Elder Lord Li Liang," Caihong bowed back. "Don't thank me either. You're wise, and when has wisdom ever bowed down to inexperience and impulse?"

Li Liang was stunned. 'This girl sure knows how to sweep me off my feet.'

"Second Mistress Ruan...."

Caihong gifted him one of her breathtaking smiles; it made hope surge through his veins. He could only smile back at her, awestruck, and struggle to hold back his tears.

"What's his name?" She asked.

How could he refuse to yield to her innocent demands?

"Li Renshu."

Anbai's eyes caught Xue's gesture towards her. She looked at her questioningly, and soon understood what she was trying to say.

She walked over to where Li Liang and Caihong were talking, bowed to the former and said, "Mèimei, come, let's go and have a bath."

"Nooooo, Jie, I want to stay with Renshu!!" Caihong whined, her bow-shaped lips curving into a deadly pout.

"Baby, go and bathe right now," Both Ruan Fai and Quinyang insisted.

"Please...." Caihong begged.

"Let's have a warm bath first, mei," Anbai firmly stated and began to pull her out of the room.

"Jiejie... Pretty please?"

"If your friend wakes up and sees you so dirty, will he be pleased? Just look at you, all grimy, aish," Anbai cleverly reasoned.

Caihong pondered a bit and then agreed to go. Both the siblings began to make their way out of the room.

Just as they left the room, Caihong started as if she had forgotten something important. "Wait a bit, Jie! I'll be right back!"

With that, she pulled away and rushed back into the room.

"Aiya this girl...tch," Anbai sighed.

Caihong ran over to the bedside and sat beside Renshu's unmoving body, and took his hands in her own.
"Please wake up soon, Renshu, hehe. I can't wait to be your friend. But for now, I have to run for my bath as I am really dirty. You won't like to see me dirty, will you?" She smiled. "Hey, don't look at me like that, I am very beautiful when I am clean. Aren't I, Dad?"

Everyone in the room gasped when she peppered his face with soft kisses. "Wake up soon, okay?" She whispered, and with a final kiss on the boy's forehead, she darted away.

******

"Please tell us, Doctor," Li Liang asked, anxiously.

Xue had taken Renshu to another room to bathe him, and dress his wounds. The Physician, in the meanwhile, was brewing a concoction.
"Just a minute," he muttered, as he added a few last herbal ingredients to the liquid, and stirred them slowly.

Ruan Fai, Li Liang and Ruan Quinyang pried him with questioning looks.

The Physician poured the liquid into a vessel and handed it over to his daughter, who had just put the boy, who was burning up with fever, back in bed.

"He is so young, how could they do this to him? Papa, he could have died! The hell, any average kid of his age would have died!" She cried as she corked up the bottle.

The Physician heaved a heavy sigh.
"It's an inhuman, absolutely murderous affair, that has transpired, Elder Lord. Good God, what were they trying to do to the child?? Murder him??"

"Doctor, what do you mean?" Li Liang questioned, a sharp, icy, gripping fear settling within him.

The Physician sighed, "I'm so sorry, Elder Lord Li."

As he went on to voice what he had discovered during his scrutiny, the blood of everyone standing there ran cold.
In shock.
Horror.
Grief.

Li Liang collapsed to the floor; his knees lost the strength to hold him up any longer.
"Ren... Ren..." He wept, as he clutched his head with his trembling hands.

His mighty sword fell to the marbled floor with a sharp clang.