After walking for a solid five minutes, she finally reached a wide arch, the traditional peifang, that stood at the entrance of her domain. Immediately the dense greenery gave way in an almost flat area where you could hear the croaking of frogs surrounding a small house made out of bamboo wood. In front of it was what she could only describe as a decorative pond rather than a small lake. She bent her head as she studied the place and stepped lightly on the wooden bridge that crossed over the still waters covered in those mythical flowers. Unlike the others of its kind, the Black Lotus had no known magical properties, so she had always assumed they were just decorative to add to the mystical vibe of that questionable woman’s garden.
She leant over the jade railing and studied them as they lazily bobbed in the water: they truly were marvellous and rather similar to how she had pictured them. The only difference was that, in addition to the multi-coloured corolla, the roots themselves were a deep indigo rather than green as she had predicted. They were charming, and despite her growing apprehension, she could not resist appreciating them. Sighing she straightened herself and without waiting a moment longer headed for the house.
There were no sliding doors to separate the indoors from the outdoors, but rather some ethereal azure curtains that swelled in the wind like sails. She moved them aside to reveal a large main room and two wide arches. One probably led to Zhang’s private library considering its width. She determined that must be the extent of her lodgings seeing how the room also hosted a screen decorated with a winding blue dragon behind which she spied what must be her bed.
What was the purpose of the screen then if you could still see everything?
She shook her head and her eyes fell on a table sitting in the middle of the room topped with some flowers. She moved further into the room and sat down on the cushions with composure. She stroked one flower with her finger. They were gentians, and their warm purple tone fit marvellously with the other colours around her. She had noticed that many such flowers grew in the garden between the numerous ponds of the small lake.
A knock disturbed her relaxed contemplation. As she turned, she was surprised to see Shi XinNian’s wavy hair. She straightened rigidly but did not get up.
“Yes?” she asked. Indifferent enough, right?
The boy bowed reverently.
“Liang-Gongzi asks at what time you would like to commence lessons.” He asked in a small voice.
Her heart sank. How could such a small being turn into such a cruel man? The answer to her unspoken question was delivered promptly in the form of an incredulous Zhang ZhaoDa who grabbed the other boy by the nape and threw him down the steps.
“What were you thinking, approaching the Mistress like this? Where are your manners?” he shouted angrily.
Zhang YueLiang was about to interfere when blinding red lights came on and froze the scene before her.
-虎-
If you persist in behaving OOC we will be compelled to inflict some punishments.
The irritated voice of the Customer Service interjected, freezing her on the spot.
“What?”
-虎-
You are not at liberty of behaving any differently than the Original, or we will deduce Coherence points.
“Coherence points?” she asked in dismay.
-虎-
Your character is built on an elaborate points system. The stats relate to: Coherence, Initiative, Complexity and Empathy. If just one of these scores reaches the minimum, the novel will start over. If all of them do, you will die.
Her eye started ticking, truly sending her OOC.
“And when were you planning on telling me this? How does this point system work? What score am I on right now?” she asked, spreading her arms open and almost sending the vase crashing to the floor.
A browser window opened in front of her showing her a diagram with four entries. She noticed her Coherence points were already ten below the starting point of fifty. She stared in outrage and pointed at that, as if to emphasise it to the superior entity who oversaw it.
-虎-
We apologise, but your politeness toward Zhang YouDao must have influenced this new score.
She took a deep breath desperately trying to calm herself.
“Could you please explain to me how I am to change the outcome of the story if I cannot stray from the Mistress’s behaviour?” she asked indignantly.
-虎-
That isn’t our concern.
“It… it isn’t… - her face was quickly becoming red in anger. – What do you mean it isn’t your concern? You sent me here without any ideas as to how I could fix it?”
…
The system did not answer.
“Of course, you turn a deaf ear when it’s convenient to you, isn’t that right? – she unclenched her hands and took a breath. – Alright, alright, I get it.” She took another breath. Had she the freedom to, she would have sat in the lotus position and meditated. Perhaps if she increased her spiritual power she could ascend and give the Customer Service a piece of her mind.
The lights turned off and the scene resumed.
She waved her pipe and assumed an indifferent expression as was expected of her.
“Zhang, you may go. I will teach him his place myself.” Even though I have no ideas as to how.
The two boys looked at her, and then her disciple bowed his head bringing his hands together.
“Of course, Shizun.”
She emptied her pipe in the small ashtray which was probably made out of amethyst and waved away the boy who was still bowing.
“Obviously that will be at the time Zhang Shigong told him, do you remember it?” she said with the air of superiority sported by who pretends to know everything. However, she herself had no clue when that would be, especially because -GodIsAWoman- had not bothered mentioning it!
It looked as though Shi XinNian swallowed nervously.
“Of course, Shizun, the wake-up call is at six and lessons start at seven.”
Zhang YueLiang nodded contentedly. That was not too bad, she remembered that in a different novel a clan used to wake up at five in the morning.
“Yes, yes. You may go now.” She said as she waved her pipe at him. The boy stood up and bowed before running away. She looked at him as he disappeared.
How was it again that he started attending the school?
While deep in thought she took the teapot decorated with small blue birds and poured herself some tea. Then stopped mid-movement. She had forgotten to punish him. She grimaced, wrinkling her forehead. It would be a challenge to be as much of a bitch as the Original had been.
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