Dead End

So it turns out that Zhu Huiqing was the epitome of a lofty young master. He’d been subjected to Meng Mei’s barrage of questions as they went to fing Guang-laoshi. He took the questions in stride, likely just assuming that the young sect leader was just a chatterbox.

Apparently Zhu Huiqing had been working at Libaogong for three years now and was the same age as Meng Weiyuan. He was a young master from one of the smaller sects on Libaogong’s territory. Recenty he’d been promoted to be the head of his squadron and he was a primary guard for the Meng family.

None of those answers helped Meng Mei figure out why he was here instead of the YuHu sect.

In Seasons of Sorrow not only was his appearace different, it was never once mentioned that he came from the lands owned by Libaogong. He was the mysterious warrior who stood beside Zhong Changming and defended him against attackers.

Even though the YuHu sect and Libaogong currently had a good relationship, it wouldn’t make sense for Libaogong to just hand over one of their guards.

Meng Mei was still puzzling over this fact when they found Guang-laoshi. She seemed to be slightly amused that Meng Mei had been found by a well meaning guard.

“Well. We’ll have to count today’s lesson as a draw young miss.” She laughed, “I wasn’t the one to find you so I didn’t truly win. But you were still found so you don’t win either.”

“Yes laoshi.” Meng Mei sulked. She’d been doing so well hiding from Guang-laoshi but clearly she hadn’t been cautious enough.

“Thank you for returning her guard Zhu. You may resume your duties.” Guang-laoshi dismissed Zhu Huiqing with a kind smile.

Zhu Huiqing thanked her with a bow and turned to leave. He disappeared down the corridor in an instant.

“Let’s go back to my classroom and we can discuss what went wrong today.” Guang-laoshi placed a gentle hand on Meng Mei’s back to propel her forward.

Meng Mei obediently followed her lead and they started their long walk back to Guang-laoshi’s room. Meng Mei didn’t say much as she pondered everything she’d just discovered.

She needed to get back to her room as soon as possible so she could examine that sword tassel again. Maybe she missed something the first time she’d looked at it, she’d been in a hurry after all.

From what she remembered it’d been a tacky looking thing with it’s bright yellow tassel. But after looking closely at the jade loop attached it turned out to be rather expensive.

In this world every culitvator wore a sword tassel. Most were gifts from loved ones, but some were purchased by the wielder themself. In Seasons of Sorrow Zhong Changming had once remarked that only the most selfish of pepople bought their own sword tassel. It was a sign that they had nobody in their life who cared for them enough to buy such a gift. Han Xiaolian had agreed with this statement, saying that even in her family where they didn’t have acess to much money, sword tassels were still given as gifts.

The most notable differnece between a sword tassel that was given as a gift and one that was purchased by the wielder was the style of charm. Gifts usually dislpayed incticate knots woven as protection symbols, only wealthy families added extra embelishments.

In contrast sword tassels that had been purchased by the wielder usually had gaudy displays of wealth.

Such as a jade loop.

This knowledge at least gave Meng Mei a guess as to what kind of person she was deaing with. The true test would be seeing if she could find which cultivators, out of the hundreds at Libaogong, not only fit that description but were also willing to admit they lost their sword tassel.

Maybe she could find a way to spy on the cultivators.

The only problem was that her schedule conflicted with all of the cultivation lessons. She had no free time to go and investigate the mystery of the sword tassel. The only way she’d be able to change that would be if she was able to master Guang-laoshi’s lessons and become a part of the classes herself.

Meng Mei was brought out of her musings when Guang-laoshi suddenly came to a halt.

“Guang-laoshi?” She called, looking up at the woman curiously. Guang-laoshi’s face had contorted in confusion as she stared at the wall to her left.

“How curious…I could have sworn there was a painting that hung there.” She said, her brows drawn together.

Meng Mei looked at the wall but she didn’t notice anything unusual. Taking pity on her teacher she suggested that maybe Madam Meirong had decided to move the painting elsewhere. Guang-laoshi didn’t look entirely convinnced but she agreed with Meng Mei nonetheless.

They continued their walk back to Guang-laoshi’s classroom in silence, both lost to their own thoughts.

For the rest of the lesson Guang-laoshi walked Meng Mei through each step she should’ve taken to completely avoid suspicion and detection. Meng Mei was embarrassed by how easy Guang-laoshi made it sound.

When it was time for the lesson to be over, Amah picked Meng Mei up like always. Except this time, instead of going back to her rooms Amah told her that Meng Yong wanted to practice weiqi with her again.

“Shouldn’t he be in classes?” Meng Mei asked doubtfully.

“The second young master has been granted permission by his swordsmanship teacher to take a break and practice his weiqi skills.” Amah responded with a smile.

“He probably hopes that practicing weiqi will make er-ge smarter.” Meng Mei grumbled, thinking of Meng Yong’s excitable nature.

“Littke miss should not speak of her brother in such a manner.” Amah scolded with a chuckle. Meng Mei just shrugged, she knew she was most likely correct.

In the hierarchy of the Meng family, each sibling had been assigned a destined role. After his disgrace, Meng Weiyuan was no longer able to hold a secure position in Libaogong’s leadership. So despite the fact he was the oldest son, the best he could do now was become a respected cultivator outside of Libaogong.

Meng Yong on the other hand was now the only son in good standing with his family. As a result he was likely to become the head of Libaogong’s defense. Even though he wasn’t going to be the sect leader, he would still hold a high position in Libaogong.

And of course, Meng Xiāng, or Meng Mei now, was going to become the sect leader.

It would only benefit the sect if Meng Yong figured out how to become a good strategist and calmed down in the meanwhile.

“Fine. Let's meet er-ge for weiqi.” Meng Mei finally conceded.