Part 3, Chapter 22

Uncle Xidi, the unexpected

Ch 22

The three girls sat on the massive bed in the Emperor’s room. Leng Zai had cast a spell on it shortly after his magic had been restored to keep them safe from prying eyes. Xun had judged it still safe after she had seen the build up of dust on the desk.

“We really should take better care of this place,” she said, sneezing. Shun and Xiaomin had agreed and together they had made the place somewhat habitable again before they sat down to confer.

“Zao Shen,” Xun said. “He must be working with the King of the Merfolk.”

Xiaomin, who was still catching up on the details, asked, “Why?”

“He’s the only one who knew I was back. And that I married Leng Zai.”

“Who’s really Emperor Jianyu,” Shun added, almost to herself.

“Try not to focus on that,” Xun said, exasperatedly. “He’s also the only one who could have poisoned the high gods en mass. Oh Diyu. I told him Jianyu is in the city. Xiaomin, Shun, do either of you have a way to get a message out? We need to warn him.”

The two girl’s shook their heads. “The Kitchen God let’s people out to pickup supplies, but we don’t work in the kitchen any more,” Xiaomin said.

“Can you fly out,” Xun asked Xiaomin.

The tall girl shook her head. “They shot down the last servant who tried to escape that way.”

“Is there anyone else who is still allowed to leave the palace?”

The girls shook their heads in tandem. 

Xun wrapped her arms around herself. “Leng Zai is smart, he’ll be okay,” she said, as much to herself as to the other two.

Shun and Xiaomin exchanged a doubtful look. 

“He’s pulled himself together now, as the Emperor he was always good at… well everything really,” Xun said. She ignored the lack of change in their expressions. “The King of the Merfolk has the people of the city held hostage. Unless we remove that threat the Emperor can’t move and all our other plans are irrelevant. If we can find and free the high gods we might be able to overpower the King before he can give the order to start killing people. Any ideas?”

There were footsteps outside the door. All three girls stopped talking immediately. A stocky, middle aged man walked through the doorway. Shun and Xiaomin tried to make themselves invisible on the bed, but Xun slid off and approached the man.

“Uncle Xidi?” She said incredulously.

“Xun’er!” He replied, smiling widely. “I thought it was you.”

Xun ran up to him, hugging him tightly. “Uncle! Why are you here? How are you here?”

He hugged her back for a moment before pushing her back a little. “I can always find you, it’s a little piece of magic your father gave me when you ran off and we only found you after the Sea Witch brought you back from a play date with her daughter. We still have no idea how you made your way all the way there, you were only 400 or so. But enough, Xun’er, we need to get you out of the city. It’s not safe here.”

Xun shook her head, “I can’t leave, Uncle. The Emperor is here to take back the Palace, but the whole city is being held hostage. I have to help him.”

The older man put his hand to his brow. “And how are you planning to do that?” He asked. 

“We thought freeing the high gods would be a good first step,” Xun replied.

Xidi nodded slowly, “It would be good to free them, but it’s possible the King still gets his order out. Do you have any idea where the high gods might be held?”

Xun shook her head, but she didn’t seem confident. “I don’t know for sure, but I think they might still be in the Palace.”

“That would make sense,” Xidi agreed. “I’ll search for them. I have to go. There are people who will miss me if I disappear for too long.” He kissed her once on the forehead, as a father would a daughter, and hurried back out into the corridor.

Xun waited until he had left before she fell back on the bed. “I didn’t expect to see him here,” she said.

“Who is he?” Xiaomin asked, her feathers clearly ruffled by the intrusion.

“A friend of my father’s,” Xun said. “He works with my cousins now. I shouldn’t be surprised, of course they would have people in the Palace.

“You shouldn’t have told him so munch,” Xiaomin scolded. 

“I’ve known him since I was a baby.”

“You’ve known Zao Shen for a long time too and if it weren’t for the fact that Leng Zai protected these rooms you would have been in prison the day you came back.”

Xun wanted to argue, but her friend wasn’t wrong. 

“Let’s look for clues tonight,” Shun interjected. “We can start in the Hall of the God of Medicine.”