InterGalaxia (On Hold)

2.18

On this particular day, Chi YunQi was bored. Solas had come over to accompany her once again and was excitably fluttering about, insistent on showing Lady Chi a new game she heard about from Lu MeiLi. When Lu MeiLi wasn't attending to the Prince, she was playing with Solas. Chi YunQi gritted her teeth, unconsciously jealous of the woman who was openly with the Prince during the day whilst he indulged in her body every night. He should be careful that he doesn't lose too much Yang essence before he can make my belly swell for the mission, Chi YunQi thought to herself. 

Solas placed a narrow-lipped vase in the middle of the courtyard and retreated two metres back. Picking up an arrow from a large pile on the ground, she flipped it around so that the tip was facing towards her and flicked her wrist, aiming for the feathered tail of the arrow to land in the vase. She was close enough that it guaranteed to fall in. The wind passing by the feathers made the path of flight weirdly wonky, causing the arrow to tap the lip of the vase but not fall in. Solas clicked her tongue in displeasure.

 "So, Big Sister Chi, you just have to get the arrow to fall into the vase tail end first. You do it this way so that the arrow tip doesn't scratch the inside or outside of the vase with the sharp metal tip. What makes it more difficult is that the feathers make it fly differently, making it harder. Otherwise, we'd just get some bamboo poles instead but then it's too easy" Solas proudly stuck out her chest with her hands on her hips as she explained the rules. This reminded Chi YunQi of festival games, similar in concept to the ring toss except there were no toys to win or anything to improve competition and create a desire to win, just the satisfaction of knowing you have decent prediction and throwing skills and help alleviate boredom. There wasn't much for a lady to do in the Palace, there was not much for noble women to do in this era in general. If you weren't a maid or a common woman who worked themselves silly, you just lazed about and have tea parties, luncheons, played instruments, took strolls in the garden or read books. Some would argue that this is better than the almost sedentary or conversely, the bustling life of the twenty-first century, but not for Chi YunQi. She missed dramas, online books, the internet and electricity.

 Sure, she knows how to make electricity due to Science class in high school but those were ready-made circuits with wires already created, you just had to move certain switches and put to wires to the ends of a battery to light the bulb on the circuit. Knowing this doesn't make her a master electrician or engineer, capable of building complex instruments and circuitry to create modern day conveniences. She can't even go to the bathroom with a flushing toilet or have automatic hot water in her baths, she was not feeling happy about this particular World. She felt like she went back to primitive technology, even if she knows she's over exaggerating by calling it that.

 Chi YunQi remained seated in her pavilion and casually threw the arrow. It was going in the right direction when a slight breeze blew the arrow up slightly, causing the fletching to knock on the lip of the vase, knocking up the arrow to almost straight ninety-degree angle and soar up like a rocket ship mid-lift-off. Chi YunQi stared in dumbfounded awe as the arrow's momentum waned, falling diagonally before bouncing on the lip of the vase horizontally and landing on the ground beside the vase. Solas chocked in a guffaw at the sight of Lady Chi's facial expression. General Long, who was passing by happened to catch the scene in its entirety, a small smile on his face. 

Withdrawing the small dagger at his waist, he threw it until it landed into the wood of the arrow. Using a wild hand motion, the dagger flung up with the embedded arrow and landed into the vase, the force of the falling dagger on the lip of the vase dislodged the arrow from the knife to drop into the vase. However, the dagger chipped into the vase and directly shattered it. There was silence before Solas' shoulders slumped. "We just started the game, General!" she whined. General Long looked helpless. The little girl perked up and rapidly approached him, clinging to his arm. "So, how did you make the dagger fly? Do you have special powers? If you do, you can tell me, I can keep a secret" she whispered the last part as if scared someone will hear her. General Long stared bemusedly at her and gestured for her to come closer. He whispered in her ear but Chi YunQi could still hear it. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm the Son of God!" he said super seriously. Solas giggled in excitement and nodded her head like a chicken pecking rice. Chi YunQi smirked. In a way, he was right and wrong. He was right because he's a registered son under the Emperor, who is the Heavens or God, so he is recognised as the Son of Heaven (God) by the people. But he was also not the Emperor's direct son nor any real God's son.