Chapter 23: Iron Place (1)
TanTan gets clue about the iron forging place, it is not too far from the town sides by walking. On the way, TanTan is thinking how to dig more information from this Prince FengEr. But Prince Feng Er seems a sociable person, he opens the conversation first.
"So what will you do if you find out the owner of the dagger, MuTan Mei? You know its dangerous to fight with them by you alone."
"I will find a way to catch them all, and the most important is to ask them the reason they want to kill me..."
"Maybe someone paid them to do so,...the dagger seems belong to the assassins, someone must be have a deep grudge to you. Can't you remember who might be?"
'Yeah, right....HuaMuTan's enemies are so many, from where I can start? I even don't have all her memories yet...if I must think the most possibly candidate who hates HuaMuTan so much, it will be....'
"I don't know....maybe Prince Li?"
TanTan speaks out her mind...
Prince FengEr widens his eyes to hear such answer, and laughs so loud...
"Wei Di? Hahahaha...No way...how come you suspect your own husband? Didn't he hurt for protecting you from the assassins?"
'That's what make me so confuse about him...he suppose to be the best candidate of my enemy but he protected me...'
"Yeah, you are right, SanWangGe...but I don't remember anyone else who have grudge to me...Remember, I had forgot everything..."
Prince FengEr stares at TanTan and thinking,
'Poor HuaMuTan...she had really forgotten some strong enemies around her....' He then feels want to help her more,
"Do you trust me if I tell you about some your enemies in your past?"
"Who? Your sister?"
"Hahaha, yes she is one of them but believe me, she is really not harmful... at least she never hides her hatred in front of you right? She is just a honest girl"
"That's true, I can see that, so who do you mean my enemies?"
"Let see....MuTan Mei, you are actually so famous and fiercely before...no one dare to against you because you are Queen GrandMother's favourite, you know about this right?"
"Yeah...and then...?"
"But it is also the reason why some people put jealousy to you in the palace..."
"Someone in the palace?"
Prince FengEr nods, then he explain about the royal family. The King of Li Country, Li LongWei has many concubines and they compete to each others for King's and Queen GrandMother's attention. The highest position now of course be hold by the present Queen, who is also the mother of the present crown prince. In the past, it was so clear to everyone that the arrogant HuaMuTan hates the Queen and the other King's concubines. Almost all the King's concubines even the Queen herself ever had conflict with HuaMuTan but with Queen GrandMother's protection, HuaMuTan always could escaped from their evil schemes. Beside them,
there is a crown Prince, Prince LiLongYi who had grudge to Hua MuTan.
"Even the crown Prince ??!! But why???"
TanTan looks to Prince Li confusedly.
Prince Li just looks back to her and smiles,
"Its because you are too pretty, MuTan Mei"
The answer is puzzling TanTan, but Prince FengEr doesn't continue his explanation as they also has arrived to the place they aim.
"Ah, that is the place..."
In front of them, there is an area where they can see so many men forging irons around. The place is known as Iron Place, for mostly the main activity there is forging iron. It is also where one of the mass production of weapons be made in the town.
Although TanTan wants to ask Prince FengEr more, but she keeps it,
'Right now we better focus about the dagger' So TanTan starts to ask one by one the blacksmith at the place.
TanTan shows the picture of dagger she bring to everyone she asks but none of them seems ever see the design, some even rudely rejecting to give any information. So far it can concludes that the weapon is made in this town or any town nearby, big possibility that it comes from the capital city.
TanTan feels down for the result of her investigation. In the break time, she sits in one of simple noodle restaurant and sighed deeply. Prince Li orders 2 warm noodle bowls and he prepares the chopstick, giving it to TanTan,
"Here, its better for us to refill our energy first before we continue"
Smelling the aroma of the noodle, TanTan's stomach is triggered of demanding to be filled, so she takes the noodle gratefully and eats it all.
The way of TanTan eating absolutely not as elegant as HuaMuTan's eating way but it refreshing for Prince FengEr...so Prince FengEr enjoys seeing TanTan eating, he himself even doesn't touch his noodle at all. From all his observations about TanTan, he concludes that this HuaMuTan is no longer same like the past HuaMuTan, but he doesn't care, even the oppositely he becomes more attracted to this HuaMuTan than the past one.
After TanTan finishing her noodle, suddenly a glass of water has been served in front of her, by Prince FengEr.
"Ehm....thanks..." TanTan drinks it all, then she realizes Prince FengEr's noodle is still full,
"You don't eat, SanWangGe?"
"Oh...gosh...I am too mesmerized by your way of eating...till I forget to eat mine" Prince FengEr smiles, he is clearly throw a flirt to TanTan.
In his surprise, TanTan put a suspicious look to him.
'This Prince must be a playboy for he can flirt it so boldly...'
Prince FengEr seems aware of the suspicious from TanTan, so he immediately correct his words,
"Please don't angry to me, MuTan Mei. What I mean is your way of eating is so different than before..."
"Oh...I hope I am not humiliating you, SanWangGe?"
"Of course not, I even like your present way of eating...." Prince FengEr seems couldn't not hold himself from not flirting TanTan,
'Again with the flirt...'
Suddenly Prince FengEr looks around and pull his body closer to TanTan, gesturing he want to say something carefully, not for be heard others. So TanTan confusedly close to him,
"MuTan Mei, its not comfortable if you keep calling me SanWangGe here...you know its better for we keep our real identity here...maybe by that, we can get more clues later, so why don't you call me just FengGe, I'll call you TanMei..."
TanTan looks around, she realizes that compare with other customers of that noodle restaurant, both her and Prince FengEr's appearances might quite stand out than others. Some people around them also glance to them in curiosity looks.
'Maybe its not bad idea...if we too stand out, they perhaps won't tell us anything like some blacksmiths just now'.
"Very well, FengGe... but what do you think should we do next?"
"Well ,suddenly I feel very hungry so if you don't mind, wait for me finishing my noodle first?" Prince FengEr smiles apologizing to her.
TanTan doesn't mind, while the Prince FengEr eating, she still can observe the road, checking if there still any iron workshop they don't go yet.
Then suddenly her eyes catch some mysterious 2 men, they seem checking around to make sure not be seen anyone before another man join them and three of them turn to a very quiet alloy. They look so much suspicious for TanTan,
"FengGe...I think we should go now..."
Without waiting Prince FengEr's respond, TanTan has rushes to the quiet alloy where those men aim.
"Wait...TanMei..."Prince FengEr just can put the money to pay TanTan's and his unfinishing noodle and follows TanTan.
Behind the wall, TanTan carefully eavesdropping those men who talking in front of an old little house. When Prince FengEr arrives, she gestures Prince FengEr to keep silent and listen.
One of the man who looks more clean and tidy in a black cloth seems is the leader, while the other two who have dirtier and rude figure maybe the subordinates. The leader talks to one of the subordinates who is quite fat and has more longer beard,
"Are you sure everything is ready? Nothing left..."
"Of course, the weapons are all in the safe place. We has move it all after that accident! None left behind. You can trust me!" The beard man hit his chest to ensure his leader.
"Be quiet! You are too loud, fool!" The other man who is skinnier hit the beard man rudely.
"Hey, how many times I told you...Don't hit my head!!"
"What...you want to fight??!!"
Those both men are acting like two fighting clowns in the circus.
"Enough..." The leader lower his voices "Now take me to the place, I want to check it by myself before I can report it to the High Master..."
Those other two men lead the way for their leader and they go to other way, headed to the woods. TanTan keeps following them, while Prince FengEr holds her arm to stop her for a while,
"TanMei, I don't think its a good idea to follow them like this? Why don't we come back and report all these suspicious things to Wei Di, so he can send soldiers to catch those men..."
'Giving this lead to that Prince Li so he can figure it first than me? No I won't let it happens!'
"Are you scare, FengGe? You may return if that so....coz I will keep investigating them, maybe they can lead me to the killers..."
TanTan just continue walks, she speed her pace so she won't lost those men.
Prince FengEr just sighed,
"What a brave but careless girl..." But he is also keep accompany TanTan.
Those men stop at a small old lodge which seem not inhabitated for long time. They aware around before they enter the lodge. TanTan watches them quite far from behind the trees.
"Now what do you want to do, TanMei?" Prince FengEr observes TanTan, he wonders what act TanTan will take in this kind of situation?
"I want to check inside the lodge..."
"Hm, It seems difficult, we can't just barged in there and they won't leaving the lodge without any guards." Prince FengEr observes the condition and explain it calmly to TanTan. Too calm, as it likes he explains about how to choose good vegetable in the market.
And somehow it irritates TanTan,
"I know that...!" She keeps thinking, 'If only I can distract those three men from there!'
She looks around the woods, she notices one area is having a hole, like abandoned natural well but not too deep and then she looks to Prince FengEr, calculating...
"FengGe, can you make a fire?"
"Its not hard but why?" Prince FengEr looks to TanTan confusedly...
TanTan smiles begging him and then explain her plan to him. While listening her plan, Prince FengEr just smiles and put some thought in his mind,
'What an interesting plan...she is quite smart and bold'
In a few minutes later, TanTan throws a stick of fire at the front of lodge, the fire is just big enough to make the smokes enter the lodge...
Those men inside the lodge are surprised and come out immediately to put off the fire. The leader speaks out their mind,
"Why suddenly there is a fire here?"
"Look!" The beard men pointing to in the woods not too far from the lodge, where it seems some fire on an area.
"There is a fire!" The skinny men tells what they see about.
"Both of you check it there, if you see anyone there. Just kill them, don't leave any witnesses!" The leader gives a clear instruction..
"Roger!" Both men then went to the burned area, where they see the fire just burning some bushes, they move closer to the burning bushes and then suddenly the ground they stand breaking down, they fell into a hole. Coz the hole is not too deep so after that, TanTan and Prince FengEr throw some burned bushes and close the hole with some big woods to make them busy deal with the fire and the smokes.
Then TanTan asks Prince FengEr to rule the leader out long enough while she will be inside the lodge to check. Although Prince FengEr still thinking its a high risked plan, but he had agreed to help TanTan so far.
So Prince FengEr purposely make a gesture from far and it successfully attracts the leader to chase him. Now its the right time for TanTan to check the lodge. Knowing she doesn't have much time, she immediately enters the lodge and she sees many wooden boxes which filled by a lot of weapon with an unique designs. There are daggers among them but it is not similar with the poison dagger she investigates about. TanTan is disappointing but she still takes one of the unique designated dagger with her, in case she need it to fight those men on the way back. When she goes out from the lodge, in the front door, she meets those two men which has escaped from the hole, full of dirt and messy faces coz of the fire and smokes.
'Damn it! I know that hole can't hold them too long, but I don't think they can so quick to return back...'
"Who are you!!!" the beard man shocks to see a woman comes out from the lodge,
"Lets catch her" The skinny man takes movement right away to grab TanTan but TanTan manages to avoid him and run away to the woods.
The beard man and the skinny man ready to chase her, then suddenly a fierce voice stops them,
"What is going on here!!!..."
They turns back and shock to find their High Master is there, a cool aura comes from a black clothed man with a mask covered almost all his face, the same mask of the man who threw his man into the cliff for not completing his order.
Both of the men are trembling scare and they are kneeling down by themselves,
"Hi..high Master...please forgive us...."
"Yee...ah...please let us catch that woman....we will kill that woman right away...no one will know..."
"...That woman isn't come alone, is she?"
"We..we don't know..."
In the flash, the High Master has killed those both men in a cool hand.
Some black-clothed men suddenly appear behind the High Master,
"Get rid of these fools and remove all the weapons immediately...don't let anything left..."
"Yes, Master!" Those black-clothed man instantly do his order.
Meanwhile TanTan keep running and running till she fell down from stumbling a rock. When TanTan tries to stand up, she hears a fighting noise from near. When she finds the source, TanTan sees Prince FengEr is fighting with the leader who chased him down. TanTan stunned coz from their movements, its so clear that Prince FengEr is more powerful than that leader.
'Is that Prince FengEr actually has a high martial skill?'
In a few minutes later, Prince FengEr manages to immobilize the leader, cornered him by using the leader's sword.
Prince FengEr looks so fierce and different than usual,
"Now tell me, who is your Master?! What do you want to do with the hidden weapons?! Tell the truth, then I Prince LiFengEr will spare your life!"
The leader who feels can't escape anymore, laughs nervously when he recognizes the Prince FengEr's identity,
"You can't defeat our Master...he is more higher than you...Ughh"
Suddenly from nowhere, a small poison arrow stabs the leader's neck, it kills him right away. Prince FengEr only can feels someone who shoots it has runaway from the trees, he wants to chase him but TanTan's voice holds him.
"SanWangGe...is he dead?"
"I am afraid so..." Prince FengEr takes the poison arrow to observe it furthermore, he then looks at TanTan, "lets return to Li Mansion,TanMei. Its not safe if we stay longer here..."
TanTan can't argue about that, she nods but suddenly she feels pain at her ankle, TanTan seems had twisted her leg when she stumbled just now...
"Auch..."
"What happens?" Prince FengEr seems worry right away,
"I think I strain my ankle just now....but its okay, I still can walk..." TanTan explains.
"Let me see..." Prince FengEr kneels down to check TanTan's ankle. But Somehow the position of Prince FengEr makes TanTan feels awkward.
Prince FengEr looks up to TanTan,
"Its not worse, but still you can't force to walk...let me carry you back to iron place, we can treat your strain there..."
"No...its okay ,no need to carry me...just borrow your hand to lean would be enough..." The image of being carried by Prince FengEr is too humiliating TanTan,
"Ok" Seeing that TanTan feels awkward, Prince FengEr doesn't want to force her too much so he lets TanTan holding his arms and walk together slowly until they reaches the iron place again.
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