Chapter 23 — The Fox Game
⸻
Imperial Cells — Night of the Inquisition
The Emperor had ordered the arrest of all those closely or remotely linked to Liyan and Yuèyao.
Doctors. Servants. Instructors. Alchemists. Friends.
All of them.
It was not a surprise.
Not for Ken.
Since that day he stood in front of the Emperor (chapter 20), he knew that this moment would come.
No one was innocent when the weight of the throne became heavier than innocence.
Ken did not resist.
He held out his wrists to the chains without a word, without a complaint.
Because he knew: that day would eventually arrive.
There was no protest to be made.
Only a thought he kept to himself, like a muffled sigh:
"Where are you, Liyan? "
Then, advancing through the damp corridors of the imperial cells, he sketched an ironic smile.
After all these changes, he returned to the same place.
It seems that a slave will never be just a slave, even if he tries to destroy his destiny.
The world always brings him back to his place as a slave.
- Another cell... like the day I arrived in this world.
He was thewn into a naked, icy, silent room.
But this cell was not empty.
There was a man.
Sitting in a suit.
Calm as a monk.
A monocle split on the right eye. Stones of go in the hand.
The man did not raise his head.
- You, what did you do to deserve this hole? He asked in a dragging tone, almost amused.
Ken didn't answer.
He observed the man's forearms, scarred with checkerboard scars.
Engraved. Cared for. Volunteers.
"I'm Luó Hàn," he said, slamming a white stone against a black one. And you?
Ken simply leaned against the wall, without a word.
- What are you doing here, old man?
Luó Hàn burst into a dry, squeaky laugh.
- Hhhh! Young people are really cold with old people like me.
He threw a black stone on the dusty ground.
- Come sit down. We're going to play go. After all, we have nothing else to do in this cell.
Ken approached slowly and sat in front of him.
"I don't know how to play go," he said.
Luó Hàn laughs more softly.
— So you missed something in your life.
He laid two white stones.
- But you're lucky to have come across me. With me as a master, you will become a great strategist. A real one.
He sneers.
- Hahaha!
The game began.
The hours passed.
The stones clashed gently.
Then Luó Hàn stared at him.
— You are Liyan's servant. And also... a former guinea pig of Yuèyao, he said with a smile.
Then he burst out laughing: Hhhh, it's true, my daughter!
- Like your daughter? Ken replied. I see why you were familiar to me physically... You are Yuèyao's father.
Luó Hàn nodded.
"I'm here for the same reason as you," Ken whispered.
Luó Hàn smiled, looking into the distance.
— Yuèyao was brilliant. From an early age, she mastered medicine and toxins. But like all girls, one day, she fell in love.
He rolled a black stone between his fingers.
- I would never have thought... that it would be from Liyan. The Emperor's brother. The nameless heir.
Ken murmured:
- I understand.
⸻
End of Chapter 23