Part 2, Chapter 16

Easy riddles

Ch 16

Xun and Leng Zai reunited with Xiaomin and Shun at the palace. After a short explanation of what had happened to them the four had decided that the only place the Sea Witch could have meant was the abandoned palace where Leng Zai had regained his power of speech. It hadn’t been a hard riddle, Xun admitted to herself. The world the kitchen staff inhabited wasn’t exactly large.

Now Xun and Leng Zai dug through the closets in the bedroom of the abandoned guest palace. The lotus lantern hung from a hook over the desk giving off a cheerful glow.

“How many clothes does one person need exactly,” Leng Zai asked, “What a waste. It’s not like he can wear them all at once.”

“Who cares why he has so many clothes, how are we supposed to find the ones that are the most magical?” Xun looked around her in despair. Clothing covered almost every available surface in the room and there were still two more closets they hadn’t even looked in yet.

Leng Zai picked up a red robe embroidered with golden dragons. “Maybe we should go with the prettiest ones?” He held the garment in front of him. “I would look rather splendid in this,” he said, twirling. 

Xun rolled her eyes, “Yes, yes your lordship. Now help me figure this out.”

Leng Zai looked at the messy rainbow. “Well, if magic is absorbed as he was wearing the clothes then we need to find what he wore the most often.”

Xun looked at the stitches on the elaborate garment she held. “Not this, each stitch looks like it could have been made yesterday.”

They sorted though the clothing, folding up and replacing everything that looked unworn. By the time they were done twelve garments were left on the bed, each one soft and dulled with use. 

“All of that and he only wore these twelve? They’re so plain compared to the others.”

Leng Zai shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter as long as his magic can help,” he said simply. “From the amount of dust that’s built up in here he’s long gone anyway.”

“Shall we hide this in the garden? The Sea Witch didn’t say when she would come. I’ve asked Xiaomin and Shun to help me keep watch for her, but it would be bad if we missed her.”

Leng Zai gathered up the long folds of cloth in his arms, “Lead the way!”

Xun took the clothes from him and set them back on the bed and pushed Leng Zai down after them. “Before we go, something has been bothering me...”