Qi is gathered and stored in the dan tien, which is located in the lower abdomen. It must flow through the meridians (similar to veins) in the body to both gather and to use Qi. The Qi core (dan tien) is the energy vessel that holds the gathered Qi. If shattered, one is no longer able to use Qi.

  Min stamped yet another request as denied. Honestly what were these officials thinking? There was no chance this garbage was going to get approved let alone make it to the courtroom. He jotted down notes regarding it, date, who the request was from, quick summary, and why it was denied, in his log book before putting the paper in the pile for DoYun or YeJun to deal with later.

  The nation had only been at peace for five years and the officials were already starting back up with their greedy idiocy. Min grabbed the last document he currently needed to go through, dismissing the previous one from his mind as he focused. This one at least wasn’t some lord being unnecessarily greedy.

  Min set the document out of the way and placed a fresh sheet of paper on his desk. The grey colour of his sleeve distracted him for a moment. He shook his head to keep his thoughts from wandering after a pair of slate eyes. He then wrote out a new request form. More information was needed, and though the lord of that particular area was a good man, Min didn’t want to risk something getting missed by accident. Min wrote his order for the imperial information department. He set it in the tray to go out immediately and filed away the original request for later.

  “Chief Advisor Han Lee?” a female voice asked. Min looked up to see a woman wearing court garb in the colours of his sister-in-law. Min swore under his breath. He’d lost track of time again.

  “Tell your mistress that I’ll be there as soon as one of my aides returns.” Min replied, waving a hand to dismiss her. He was probably the only person who could get away with that tone and calling his sister-in-law that.

  “My apologies sir, but I was instructed to wait here and return with you.”

  Min sighed. “Fine. Wait out there then.”

  Jae was persistent. Min understood why, he got so focused on his work he’d forget to eat. The chances of him getting distracted and forgetting to come to her palace were rather high. He’d also done it several times over the years only to have her or his brother show up to find him asleep in a pile of documents.

  “Chief Advisor!” an angry male voice yelled.

  Min looked up from the document he was reading vexed. Where the hell were his guards and aides. Who had let this oaf just barge in? Min fixed a cold glare on the intruder. An older, balding, official stood not three feet from Min’s desk.

  “If I’m not mistaken it’s quite the breach for a mere official to enter the office of not only the chief advisor to the emperor but your senses must be getting as scarce as the hair on your head for you to not only speak first, but to raise your voice at a member of the imperial family.” Min stated coldly, his voice devoid of all emotion save the disdain he felt for this particular man. The man’s face went red with rage and the vein on his forehead became visible. Min just watched, waiting. After a moment the man sank to his knees, bowing his head.

  “Please forgive my mistake, Chief Advisor, Prince Han Lee, Min-Jun.” The man did not sound even slightly apologetic, but Min knew how much conceding this much humiliated the old man.

  “That will depend on just how important whatever it was that caused you to make the error is.” Min replied. He felt the presence of his men just outside of the room awaiting orders. Seems the three of them had finally returned.

  “I came in response to your letter of refusal.” the old man spat, still on his knees. He looked up at Min. Min smirked at how clearly the man’s hatred of him was in those eyes.

  “So, because I rejected your proposal you stormed into my office yelling like a child throwing a tantrum?” Min asked icily.

  “The west needs aid!” the kneeling official insisted.

  “Then you and the rest of that damned relief department ought to put your heads together and write a proper proposal.” Min sneered. “The one you submitted could have been written by a child.”

  “Your-”

  “Get up.” Min ordered interrupting him. The man slowly stood. Min rose and walked over to the official. He stopped just in front and to the side of the old man. Min gripped the man’s right shoulder with his own right hand. He tightened his grip until the man winced. “It is not my job to correct the errors of fools. If no one in your entire office is capable of writing a proper relief plan then the lot of you ought to be replaced. You’re lucky my brother has not given me the power to do so, or trust me I would have gotten rid of all of you years ago. My brother still has use of you, it would do you well to remember that it is the current emperor to whom you owe your job and title, not the former empress.”

  Min leaned in close so that the court lady and his own men would not overhear. “You should also remember that it is only due to my brother’s kindness that you still have that worthless hide and your shrivelled old heart still beats. If you continue to cross me that will no longer be the case.”

  Min released the man and the official sank back to his knees. His face was white now instead of red. It was a definite improvement. Min walked past the kneeling figure and exited the office.

  “Someone help the old man back to his quarters.” Min ordered. “And Doh, take care of the letters on my desk.”

  Min stopped in front of the court lady, she too had gone pale. “I believe our great empress asked you to guide me to her palace?” Min gestured for her to lead the way. After a hurried bow she did so. Min followed her at a leisurely pace.

  They hadn’t made it far beyond the building that housed his office before Min noticed they were being followed. He sighed. That foolish old man. Min glanced at the court lady in front of him, debating if he wanted a witness to this or not. Min brushed his fingers against his sword, it would only take a moment to be rid of her. Jae’s emblem glinted in the sunlight, Min sighed. He continued on keeping an eye on the shadowy movements. They were not far from the empress’ palace when the shadows stopped following and surrounded them.

  “Get down.” Min ordered quietly. The woman moved quicker than he’d expected her to, she not only ducked out of the way, but hid herself behind the nearest shelter. Smart. Realizing their cover was blown the assassins converged on him.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Min drew his sword and dagger. They had been clever enough to surround him. Min smiled, one or two of them paled in response. There were only five this time. Not giving them more of a chance than he already had Min attacked. Why assassins were always surprised when their prey attacked first Min didn’t know.

  He felt more than saw the dagger coming towards him. Min shifted and leaned slightly so that it just missed him. He wrapped it in his own Qi and used the force it had originally been thrown with as he directed it at one of the assassins. It lodged in the man’s neck fatally wounding him. With the first of the assassins dead Min rushed the second, the one who had thrown that dagger.

  He moved more quickly than a human should, his steps hastened with Qi. Before the second assassin could react Min had relieved him of his head. Blood splattered on his face, Min turned to face the remaining three assassins. They surged into motion, number three and four threw daggers at him while number five shot darts. Min used Qi to lighten his steps and dodged the projectiles as if dancing. This was not the most well trained batch of assassins he’d faced.

  With a flick of his wrist, a bit of Qi, Min downed number five with his dagger. Min quickly drew a second dagger he had hidden in his sleeve. The remaining two leapt to attack him at once, both having drawn their swords. Finally some proper team work. Min blocked the one that reached him first, number three, then dodged number four, releasing his lock on three’s sword. Min imbued his weapons with Qi. He threw the dagger at number three, hoping to force the man to dodge, and locked swords with number four. He heard and felt as his dagger found its mark.

  His Qi filled sword was far stronger than his opponent’s regular weapon. Min grunted, pushing against the sword. He felt as the force in his Qi imbued sword began to weaken number four’s sword. After a moment his enemy’s sword gave out and shattered. Min used the force it’d taken to break the sword to continue and slice his opponent into two. A feat that was only possible thanks to the Qi he’d filled and wrapped his sword with.

  Min wiped his sword on his now dead opponent’s robe. Only once it was sheathed did he move to take care of the injured assassin, number three. Min calmly noticed the clear fear in the man’s eyes. Min pulled his paralyzing poisoned dagger from the man's leg before crouching above the man’s head.

  “You chose the wrong master and wrong target my friend.” Min told him before driving the dagger with practised precision deep into the man’s eye socket, killing him. Min then retrieved his other daggers, cleaning them on the robes of the assassins before putting them away. Min walked back to where the court lady hid. “I suggest you hurry on ahead and let my dear brother and sister know I’ll be needing a change of clothes.”

  The woman was shaking wide eyed, but nodded. She scrambled to her feet and hurried off to do as he’d said. Min continued slowly in her wake. Some guards ran from the direction the court woman had gone. Seems she’d alerted them. Min gestured for them to continue on when they paused to see if he needed help. This latest addition to his dear sister-in-law’s court was quite quick on the uptake it seemed. Though she’d been obviously shaken by what had happened she’d kept her head. Min sighed, at least the chances of him changing into something else grey were pretty slim. He wasn’t used to something so simple being so distracting.

  ***

  Tae’s knife slipped slightly, cutting through more than the eggplant. He sighed, taking a moment to just stare at the knife that was now embedded in the ironwood counter. Tae pulled it out of the counter, cutting up the eggplant on the remainder of the cutting board. Once the vegetable was in the pan and sizzling in the oil, Tae took a moment to clean up the pieces of the broken cutting board. He then retrieved a new one from the cupboard above his head. This was the second cutting board he’d broken today, sixth one this week, and only one of dozens of other dishes he’d broken since the last time DoYun, HaJoon, YeJun, and their amber eyed friend had visited. Two weeks and he needed to order more dishes and cutting boards.

  Tae was relieved when the dinner rush ended and he could close up for the night. He sent his workers home before putting a portion of the leftovers in a container, wrapped it up, and left out the back door. Even this close to the pleasure district, the city was mostly quiet this time of night. In about an hour things would get a little louder down in the red-light district, but the rest of the city would stay quiet.

  Tae had nothing to fear in the city streets even this late, but he was still relieved to see the familiar shape of his destination not far ahead of him. After just a few more moments his long stride ate up the distance and Tae knocked on the side door to the bathhouse. It didn’t take long for his knock to be answered. The familiar face of an aging gentleman appeared as the door opened.

  “Seok, Tae-Hwan.” The man greeted him with a smile. Tae handed the man the bundle of leftovers and followed him inside.

  “Pleasure to see you again.” Tae said politely.

  “Facilities are all yours as usual.”

  “Thank you Mister Kim.” Tae nodded. He didn’t wait for the man to say more and headed straight to one of the bathing rooms for men. He set the clean clothing he’d brought with him in one of the cubbies meant for patrons to put their clothing. He then stripped off his clothes, placing them in the basket that Kim always placed in here when he came to visit.

  Tae washed himself thoroughly before climbing into the soothing hot water of the bath. The wash water was now black with dye. Though he had a wash basin at home he preferred using the facilities here whenever possible. He just didn’t feel clean unless he’d had a proper soaking. The sight of his washed white hair floating in the water made him sigh with exasperation. He’d have to dye it again when he got home, Kim would help him if he asked, but frankly Tae didn’t want anyone touching his hair.

  There’d only been one person other than his late mother that he’d felt comfortable letting touch his hair. Tae gritted his teeth as the memory threatened. He forced himself to think of all the errands he had to run tomorrow while the restaurant was closed. He tended to break things that were a lot less replaceable than dishes when he dwelled on the past. Kim was doing him a favour and Tae did not wish to repay the kindness of the old man and the Seong clan by causing more problems for them than he already had.

  His peace ruined, Tae pulled himself out of the tub. He dried himself off, taking care so the towel didn’t snag on his scars or calluses. Once dry, Tae wrapped the towel around his waist, smirking to himself at how little it really covered, and made his way back to where he’d set his clothes.

  He then took the time to dry his hair as much as he could with the towel before binding it up and getting dressed. He wrapped his head in the cloth he’d brought with him just in case. While incredibly unlikely, should someone who knew him as Hwan here in the city be nearby and see him enter the restaurant with white hair there would be questions he really didn’t want to answer later.

  Tae left his dirty clothes in the basket and placed a few copper coins on the counter. Kim and his wife did laundry for a fee for anyone in the neighbourhood. They or one of their children would bring the clothes to Tae some time tomorrow or the day after at the latest. Clean and at least physically refreshed, Tae made his way home. He breathed in the cool night air, enjoying the relative quiet. He popped a small round ball of a nasty blend of dried plants into his mouth and swallowed it without chewing. The herbs were bitter enough that just brushing his tongue was unpleasant. He shuttered slightly at the sensation.

  He unlocked the back door and let himself in the restaurant. He paused long enough to lock the door behind him, before making his way to the door tucked under the stairs that led up to his bedroom. He unlocked the door and stepped into the small space. Tae lit the lantern he kept hung up in there before locking the door behind himself and climbing down the ladder into the basement.

  He ignored everything else in the stone room and went straight to the workbench. He mixed powder, water, and a little oil together. If he didn’t dye his hair tonight it would just mean less time to run his errands tomorrow. It took forever to coat all of his hair in the black dye. Once done Tae wrapped his hair up again before settling down on the bedroll he kept down here. He blew out the lantern and laid down. He could just let the dye sit overnight and rinse it out in the morning. The dye on his beard was uncomfortable, but nothing that would keep him awake once he’d decided to sleep. Tae closed his eyes, the colour amber the last thing he saw in his mind’s eye before sleep claimed him.