Chapter 24: Revelation (2)
"I don't know. Even my grandma didn't know. No more archives about the Chiangda, but I've been thinking the same way as you. And please, stop interrupting me. Let me finish first... Where was I?... Hmm." She bit a finger and closed her eyes, thinking, and opened them again, beaming.
"Let me continue... This Sorceress had many disciples before, but not Chiangdas. So during the hunt, the organization almost wiped them out. There were a few who escaped with the Sorceress' help…"
"Where are these disciples?" Ming was getting impatient. He needed answers to the questions in his mind.
Her temples were pulsating as she gritted her teeth. "Why are you always interrupting me? Fine, I'm ending it now. The sorceress sent them away with a promise that one of her descendants will inherit her powers and the disciples were to find this person and to give the successor the items she left to each one of them. There, are you happy now?" She said it in one go while her hands resting on her hips.
Ming's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Ma, how do you know these? You haven't answered this question yet."
"Because my great-grandmother was one of her disciples and I received this legacy," she said in one breath, still annoyed with his interruptions.
"What?" Ming's mouth gaped and blinked his eyes twice. "Wow, this is crazy news. Why... didn't you tell us about this before?"
Madame Lei took in a deep breath and solemnly spoke, "I can't tell anyone easily because people are afraid of the Chiangda. My mother didn't accept the legacy because she was afraid. Even your father has doubts about this tale. So, I just kept it inside me the whole time. There were times I started doubting too."
"Then how can you identify the person who inherited her powers?
She lifted her fingers with the green ring with a tiny dragon image on it. "By using this. This jade ring will glow when I'm near the person."
"Have you tried it before?"
"Not yet, but we'll see when I locate my dear daughter-in-law," she said with a smile, still looking at the ring and feeling the excitement to meet Xinyi.
Ming's forehead wrinkled. "Are you thinking she is the successor?"
"Yes!" Her enthusiasm was the opposite of his obvious uneasiness.
"And how can you be so sure?"
She looked at her skeptic son with weary eyes and paced in the bedraggled place. "A month ago, this ring glowed. My grandmother told me that this will glow when the right time comes for us to give the item. And so after it glowed I went through the list of descendants' grandmother left me and searched for each of them until I received your letter about your wedding." And with a contented smile, she said, "I went to the prime minister's house to meet him and fate brought me to the right person on the list."
"And who might that be?" He asked but unsure why. The triggering point was it happened in the prime minister's house.
"A guest in Xian's house. An old lady they called Grandma Liu but in grandma's list, her name is Liu Ya Ying. She told me your bride is the inheritor."
He walked nearer to his Ma with discomfort. Xinyi's lonely eyes appeared in his mind again. Worry laid bare on his face. "Ma! This sounds weird. How can you easily trust anyone in that household?"
Madame Lei sighed and forced a weak smile. "You know what? You're intelligent, Ming 'er, but sometimes stupid. Do you know that?"
"Ma, don't say that to me. I'm the Governor here," he said helplessly. She was his mother, but he had to remind her not to treat him this way because he was an official and the current clan's head.
Madame Lei meant something else when she said it. It was all about the other information she held in secret. Somehow, this was something she couldn't tell him now. [Author: Nor I can tell the readers now. Suspense.]
"Let me tell you one thing, Ming 'er, and believe me when I said this… The prime minister is not your enemy. Stop listening to those old faggots in the Lei clan. Prime Minister Xian Lang knows better than thinking of suppressing a talented young man from advancing in his career."
He moved further from her and threw his hands up. "Ma… I don't want to talk about that. Please, everything I heard now is already driving me nuts. Let's talk about that later. But I have more questions about this sorceress and my wife." He wanted to tell her about the 'fairy lady' but kept it in him. Mostly his wife, the mythical sorceress, and the fairy lady seemed to be connected or could be one person. His conscience pricked his chest again. Ashamed, if what his mother said was all true.
While he talked, Madame Lei pulled the cloth painting from the wall, dusted it, and rolled it.
"What are you doing, Ma? Why are you taking that?"
"This is also one of the items to be given to your wife."
Ming's eyes widened. His mind was sent reeling, unable to process this other revelation. "You mean…" Ming stuttered as he pointed to the broken-down building.
"Yes, the owner of this pavilion was one of the descendants. I just learned of it while I was waiting for you this morning. Lady Zhao Chunhua is on grandma's list too. But I bet she had a hard time passing the legacy and left it here. Anyway, I'm here now and the inheritor is here too, so that is not a problem anymore." She said with an ear-to-ear grin.
Yet, Ming was still disconcerted because of the overloading of information. He couldn't believe the woman she hated to marry had this type of identity.
"Ma, are you really sure about this?"
Madame Lei smacked the rolled painting on his head, but he ducked. She missed, irritating her all the more. "Are you doubting your own mother too? Don't tell me, you got your father's stupidity too."
"Ma, Pa was not stupid. Don't call him that or else his spirit will haunt you."
"Let him come and I will smack him too for passing his disbelief to you."
----- o -----
While they bicker, Xinyi walked out of the cave and looked up at the bright, perfect circle of moon above them. "Where will I go from here, Kuàilè?"
"Do you really need to leave?" said the bird sitting on her shoulder.
"I don't know." She slowly walked toward the brook while her eyes on Anjing pavilion.
At this moment, Ming's and Madame Lei's argument ceased because... the ring glowed.
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JoanB
JoanB Sorry, for the long explanation. I hope it didn't make you bored. Please give reviews, vote, and comment to encourage this author to write more. I love you all. Thank you.
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