Understanding the urgency in his sister's eyes, Ku Fu rose from the throne and said, “Imperial Adviser Ku Wen and I will discuss this in detail, Ku Xue you join us, Ku Shen escort Ku Wei back to the eastern tower.”

“Fath... Imperial Prince Ku Fu, I promised to take senior brother Ku Wei to Old Cho's noodle house to celebrate the end of his isolation, may we go before returning to the tower?” Despite not mentioning food to either Ku Xue or Ku Wei on the way over, Ku Shen still managed to deliver this lie to his father without the slightest hint of the truth showing on his face.

“Very well. When you finish return here, we should have decided on the best path forward for Ku Wei's cultivation by then.”

Ku Shen and Ku Wei both stood, gave a salute and bowed to their father before leaving the hall. After they'd left Ku Fu approached Ku Wen, “Sister, what went wrong? I can tell that this wasn't a typical affinity test.”

Ku Xue knew that his father only asked him to stay so he could silently observe, but he couldn't help but gasp when he heard his aunt say, “If I'm not mistaken, he possesses the death element! I know cultivating that element is taboo, but he has already lost so much time, we can't afford to waste his potential further by forcing him to practice a different element.”

*** *** *** ***

Gaia, the capitol of the Gaian Empire, is not the largest city, but it is the wealthiest and most densely populated in the empire. People from across the empire come to Gaia for political reasons, trade, or seeking their fortunes. The streets seemed to come alive with the hustle and bustle of the crowds.

Their fashion, their accents, all of it was new to Ku Wei. He was so absorbed in watching the passing people that he lost track of Ku Shen several times, to the point that he was now being pulled along by his little brother.

As they approached an intersection, a breeze blew past Ku Wei and he could hear a light murmur, but as the breeze passed Ku Shen he paused for a moment before turning right and picking up the pace. Still being pulled along, Ku Wei exclaimed, “Whoa! Little Shen, what's the rush?”

“Nothing much, just remembered that it's faster to go this way to Old Cho's,” said Ku Shen. This was an obvious lie, but before Ku Wei could press him on it Ku Shen bumped into a young woman, causing her to stumble and fall.

Before Ku Wei could offer her a hand, the woman was already back on her feet. As she dusted herself off she gave the two princes a very subtle salute and bow. She then began to apologize for bumping into Ku Shen, only for him to cut her off insisting it was his fault. As the two went back and forth claiming responsibility, Ku Wei could hear a light murmur again beneath their words, but couldn't make it out.

After the conversation came to an end, Ku Shen finished leading the way to Old Cho's. Wearing a large grin, he boasted, “See Big Bro, I told you that way was faster,” completely ignoring the fact they'd just made two left turns to get there. Turning to a server as they entered, he continued, “We'll be using the private room in the back, bring us two large bowls of noodles in broth, an order of stir fried veggies, an extra large order of dumplings, and a pot of tea. You can put it all on my tab.”

“As you wish Prince Shen.”

“I take it you come here often Little Shen,” Ku Wei said after the server recognized Ku Shen at a glance.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Leading the way to the back room, Ku Shen shrugged, “Well, they do have the best dumplings in the city, maybe even the empire.”

After entering the room and sitting at the table opposite each other, Ku Shen's casual demeanor began to fade as he looked at Ku Wei seriously. Seeing this, Ku Wei asked, “I can tell something is happening. Can you fill me in?”

“We were being followed...”

“Is that odd? Perhaps they are guards from the palace, sent to keep an eye on us.”

“I've had armed escorts before, they make themselves known. They don't lurk in the shadows.”

“Assassins then. I take it I'm the target, since you regularly travel within the city without being assaulted.”

“Maybe. Father put me in command of a small spy unit. We bumped into one of my operatives on the street earlier. She's been following us since we left the palace and she said she saw our pursuers leaving the palace at the same time.”

“Why would assassins from the palace be after me?”

“Unfortunately, the politics behind the scenes in the palace is quite bloody. It's one of the things Father has my unit look into. He likes to keep tabs on the situation, but overall he feels that it helps weed out the family members that aren't strong enough or smart enough to survive.”

“That doesn't explain why they'd be after me, I'm not involved in court politics.”

“As the second born you're the heir to Aunt Wen's title, like it or not you're a key political figure. Now, I foresee two scenarios. One, they are assassins and they are targeting both of us.”

“Why both of us?”

“Because, if the main family doesn't have enough heirs to inherit both titles a contest will be held to choose an heir from the branch families. My guess is that one of the ranking member's of the branch families thinks their child would make a better heir than either of us.”

“That makes sense. What's the second scenario?”

“Few people are aware that you and Ku Xue are twins, but one of them could hope to use you to challenge Big Bro Xue's claim to Father's title. In that case they want to kidnap you and break you, so they can install you as a puppet ruler later. No matter which scenario they'll try to kill me.”

Ku Wei thought of a third scenario, but immediately dismissed it more out of fear that it was true than any evidence to the contrary. “Alright. Regardless, I assume you have a plan. Otherwise we would have tried to make it back to the palace instead of coming here.”

“Of course I do. This restaurant butts up against the building behind it, so most assume there's no rear exit, but the two building used to be one business and there is still a door connecting the two. When my operative gives the signal that the coast is clear, we're going to exit onto the street behind us. When those following us realize we're gone they'll assume we're headed for the palace, but we're going to head for a safe house my unit uses instead. One of my operatives is already headed for the palace, they'll get a few guards we can trust to meet us at the safe house and escort us back to the palace. You know, you are taking this surprisingly well, I thought you'd be much more flustered by this.”

“Honestly, I find this all rather exciting. What I'm most afraid of is that Imperial Prince Ku Fu will use this incident as an excuse to have me locked up in my tower again.” Ku Wei had spoken without thinking and it was only now that he realized how much he hated being in that tower. A small part of him wished he didn't have to return to the palace at all. Putting his new found desire for freedom aside, Ku Wei returned to the matter at hand, “Will the signal be another breeze carrying that subtle murmur?”

“Huh? It's called a wind whisper. Wind cultivators, like myself, use them to communicate discreetly over long distances. I'm surprised a Novice was able to detect them. Sounds like I need to train my unit har...” At that moment a light breeze entered the room carrying with it that familiar murmur. “Speak of the devil, it's the signal. Looks like we'll have to skip lunch, lets move.”

Ku Shen led the way as they rushed out the back of the building. As they left the business district, they came to a cluster of small homes. Ku Shen began navigating the alleys between the houses with practiced ease, quickly arriving at the safe house with Ku Wei in tow.

“Head on in, I'm going to double check we weren't followed,” said Ku Shen as he began to double back the way they came.