Chapter I: A Long Journey (Part Two)

Upon reaching Silver Lake, the rickshaw-puller stopped in his tracks, allowing Yang Hsu-Wen to alight. As Yang Hsu-Wen stood in the midst of the courtyard right before the main building of Silver Lake Inn, he began to study carefully the rich detail of the architecture, the various carvings made onto the walls of the building, with excessive use of the red paint on the pillars. Sitting at both sides of the main entrance were two stone carvings of kiirin, a mythical beast mentioned in ancient literature. They were understood to be bringers of good fortune, and warding off evil.


Right in the middle of the courtyard was a pond about six cubits wide, with several colorful carps swimming in it. “Good heavens! These fishes must be well-fed.” Yang Hsu-Wen thought to himself as he stood before the pond and studied at the horrendously fat carps swimming about energetically. Amused by what he saw, he chuckled softly to himself, before whispering to the carps, “See you around later, my chubby friends.”

When he approached the main entrance, he carefully raised his right foot first and stepped into the inn. This had been an old practice for as long as he could remember. Since young, his mother had always instructed that one must always entered into the buildings with your right foot, and leave the building with the left foot stepping out first. It was understood that ‘left’ is considered bad whereas ‘right’ is considered good. Therefore, when entering any premises, one must always bring the good in, and when leaving the premises, one must take the bad out. Failure to follow this procedure will bring about bad luck. Though Yang Hsu-Wen never understood how bad luck will be invited by the actions of his two feet, he was faithful to such teachings, and always took extra care.

Entering the Silver Lake Inn, Yang Hsu-Wen was awed furthermore by the grandeur of the hall. It appears that this inn was indeed luxurious, and Yang Hsu-Wen suddenly wondered if the costs of staying in this inn would be very much. He had heard from those who have travelled far that things in Silver Lake tend to cost a lot more than An-Chih. Although back home, his father was a small-time business man and the Yang family can be considered pretty well-off, but this was like nothing he had ever seen. Once awhile his uncle, the younger brother of his father, would travel to the larger cities on business trips, and often bought gifts for his little sister and him. He would also tell them wonderful tales of these beautiful cities, and Yang Hsu-Wen had always dream of travelling far. However his father was particularly against that, and preferred to remain in An-Chih, saying that big cities are dangerous. Then again, his current trip was also made, against the wishes for his stubborn father too.

“Welcome to Silver Lake Inn, how may I help you?” A young employee from the Silver Lake Inn approached Yang Hsu-Wen. Like the Inn, the employee’s uniform was a bright hue of red, with embroidered trims that seemed to match the layout of the inn.

“I would like to have a room.” Yang Hsu-Wen replied.

“Well, would you prefer a premium room, or a suite?” The young employee asked again.

“Well, I’m just one person. I just need a small room to stay for a couple of days.” Yang Hsu-Wen replied uncertainly. He was confused by the terms ‘premium’ and ‘suite’ being used. They both sounded luxurious, and he began to wonder if this inn does not at least have normal rooms for a regular guy like himself.”

“Well, as business is particularly good these month, especially with the Imperial Examinations going on, we have no basic rooms left, and even so, most of the premium rooms were taken up, and actually only one is left right now. The remaining rooms are suite rooms.” The employee explained apologetically.

“I see…so how much it is for a premium room per night?” Yang Hsu-Wen enquired.

“The last room we have here is about five hundred and twenty giins.” The employee replied with a smile.

“Hell! That’s almost twice the price of what I have allowed in my budget.” Yang Hsu-Wen thought miserably to himself. Knowing that he is already spending more than he should in his travels, he wondered if he should cut short his stay at Silver Lake just so he can stay in the famed Silver Lake Inn. Seeing that he could not make up his mind, the employee lost interest in attending to Yang Hsu-Wen and went to approach another pair of visitors who had just entered the inn.

“Welcome to Silver Lake Inn, how may I help you?” The employee repeated the words, as this was the standard greeting to any visitor who comes to the inn. The two were indeed an odd pair, comprising of a middle-aged Southern woman and a young lady of Northern origins. The Southern woman had distinctively darker skin which was common with the people from the South. She had long thick curly black hair, neatly done into a braid, reaching below her waist. However, she wore Empire garments, her tunic cut from coarse fabric dyed in dull blue. Her skirt was made of the same fabric but retain the natural wheat color. She had large engaging eyes that one would almost always notice upon seeing her.

Her young companion was fair of complexion, with unruly golden-brown curls falling down to her waist. She wore merely a ribbon of lilac shade on her head to keep her curls from falling down to her face. Like her elder companion, she wore Empire clothing, opting for a tunic and dress of a closer shade to the ribbon on her hair. She looked about twenty and her colored hair was a notable trait of Northern origins. On her back was a haversack, reminding Yang Hsu-Wen of the wandering pharmacists, carrying plenty of potions and herbs in their backpacks, ready to sell a remedy to the traveler. There were plenty of these people moving about the Empire, and travelers might sometimes stock basic first aid material from these wandering pharmacists. Usually they costs more, because outside of the town, such things are hard to come by, and they often stock up their wares from towns and re-sell them at a much higher rate due to the demand.

Yang Hsu-Wen was still debating with himself, unable to make the decision between cost saving, and indulgence. After all his feet was still very sore, and the notion of going to another inn at this stage was very unattractive. When he finally made up his mind to have the last premium room he interrupted the employee and said,

“I think I shall have the premium room.”

“Oh sorry, I didn’t know you wanted it. These two ladies have already taken the last room.” The employee replied apologetically.

“Gee…those two do not even think twice to take the premium room. Maybe it is really profitable to become a wandering pharmacist?” Yang Hsu-Wen thought to himself, and cursed himself for not having been more decisive earlier.

“Teacher, looks like this man was here earlier, and we have taken the last room.” The Northern girl whispered to her elder companion uncertainly, sounding almost guilty.

Overhearing the girl, Yang Hsu-Wen turned to look at her, and the Northern girl merely offered a shy smile.

“Well, didn’t you want to say you wanted to stay at Silver Lake Inn?” The Southern woman whispered to her younger companion with a smile. “Whilst I can still afford the price of a premium room, the price of the suite room would not be within my means, Keli.”

“True too.” The Northern girl named Keli nodded. She had heard so much about Silver Lake, and when she learned of her teacher’s intention to travel via Silver Lake to the capital, she was thrilled. Although she had grown up in the Empire, this was about the first time she was going to the capital, and to any of the major cities of the Empire. As such, she was insistent of staying at least a night in Silver Lake Inn, to experience it for herself, and after some persuasion, her teacher has relented. Much as she felt bad for this young scholar, she was not about to give up her opportunity to stay at Silver Lake Inn either!

“Ladies, may I show you to your room?” The employee asked again in a friendly voice.

“Thank you, if you please.” The Southern woman responded with a smile, and the two women followed the employee as he led them up the stairway, and disappeared from Yang Hsu-Wen’s view.

“Dreads! What should I do now?” Yang Hsu-Wen stood at the main hall, wearing a big frown. He looked around the hall, seeking for at least a chair to sit down as he was tired of holding on to his luggage, which though light, now seemed to weigh a ton on his aching shoulders. He glanced over to the far left, and saw that there was a restaurant, and decide to head there and to dine first. He would have to think of staying somewhere else later in the day.

When he approached the restaurant, the attendant at the entrance greeted Yang Hsu-Wen. She looked about fifteen or sixteen at the most, wearing a large lotus on her hair, with two pigtails at both sides of her face. Like the previous employee, this attendant wore bright red as well. “I’m sorry, sir, but right now all tables are taken. You might need to wait a little longer before you can dine here, if you do not mind.”

“I really mind! Just when can I finally place my butt on a chair and rest my two poor aching feet?” Yang Hsu-Wen’s mind was screaming with protestations, but to this sweet-looking girl he merely nodded and said, “I supposed it is alright to wait a little.”

“Thank you sir.” The girl replied with a smile, but no sooner had she said that, her eyes brightened and said to the newcomer, “Please come in sirs! We shall prepare the table immediately.”

Annoyed, Yang Hsu-Wen wanted to protest and scream at the girl that she had told him that the place is full only a split second earlier and now out of the blue when another guest arrived he can immediately dine? Turning to see whom the girl was speaking with he suddenly noticed a familiar face.

“We meet again!” Hsin-Yu greeted Yang Hsu-Wen with a smile.

“But…she just said the tables are all taken at the moment?” Yang Hsu-Wen wondered aloud, though he was pleasantly surprised to bump into Hsin-Yu and his attendant so soon.

“Oh, he had made reservations earlier, so it’s different.” The young attendant girl explained with a bright smile, though she kept glancing over to Hsin-Yu, wearing a silly grin, which made Yang Hsu-Wen wondered if the girl was totally besotted with this beautiful youth too. “Looked like his beauty had a strong effect on little girls too.”

“You intend to dine here too?” Hsin-Yu asked again.

“Well yeah, I just really need a place to sit down and rest, but all the rooms were taken, so I supposed I would have to go try my luck in another inn.” Yang Hsu-Wen shrugged his shoulders.

“Join me. I’m sure a table can accommodate one more person.” Hsin-Yu invited.

“Is that really alright?” Yang Hsu-Wen was a little surprised at the kind offer, and was too tired to resist it.

“Of course? You might need to wait quite a fair bit if you had not made any reservations. I’m sure Sun Ping would not mind too, right?” Hsin-Yu turned to his attendant.

“Of course. Young Master’s friend is my friend too.” Sun Ping replied with a nod, though he had reservations of his young master getting too close with a stranger out of the blue.

“Thank you very much.” Yang Hsu-Wen replied, immensely grateful to have met this beautiful youth.