Lu Yan ate too fast, and felt bloated and dazed after.
Seeing her heavy eyelids, master ordered, "Take the day off."
"No..." Lu Yan protested slowly, "I need to keep working."
Ji Jing tried not to smile, "Alright, let's play a game of go then."
Lu Yan approached his table, and sat across from him.
They played.
Lu Yan struggled to keep her eyes open.
Finally, she asked, "Master, why do you think my aunt treats me like she does?"
"You go take a nap. Come find me when you're awake, and I'll teach you how to find out."
Lu Yan pouted at him, but she really couldn't keep her eyes open.
She stifled a yawn, and said, "Alright then."
Shuffling slowly to her room, she fell into bed and was asleep within moments.
---
In the late afternoon, she woke up, and remembering his promise, went to find master immediately.
He turned it into a lesson, "Let's count the possibilities first."
Lu Yan, who just wanted an answer, was disgruntled, "She just hates me!"
"By why?"
"Who knows? She's crazy!"
"If she were crazy, it would show. Does she show strange behavior towards others?"
Lu Yan thought it over, and shook her head.
"So, she's not crazy?" he pressed.
"I don't care about her! I just want an answer." Lu Yan burst out loudly, smacking the table in frustration with her open palm.
Ji Jing paused.
For a moment, Lu Yan breathed heavily.
The anger subsided, replaced with fear of master's reaction.
She looked at his face furtively. He was looking at her, but he didn't seem angry.
Seeing her tentative look, he smiled slightly, "I'm not angry. I have a question for you."
Lu Yan pouted. Still more questions!
She looked at her palm. It stung a little, but she didn't want to rub it in front of master.
Sulkily, she hummed.
"Do you only want the answer to this question, or do you want to be able to find the answer to any question you ever have in the future?"
Lu Yan only wanted this answer!
But, knowing master's methods, she said, "Alright, alright, she doesn't act crazy towards anyone else. So she's not crazy."
"She might still be crazy, just good at hiding it normally," master said.
He was purposefully leading her around in circles!
Seeing Lu Yan's sour expression, master grinned suddenly.
He usually showed little emotion. This was one of the few times Lu Yan had seem him grin so widely.
Lu Yan tried hard to swallow her indignation.
After a pause, she said, "Okay perhaps she's crazy, and doesn't hide it from me."
'What else could it be?"
"Umm... maybe there's some secret about me?"
"Like what?"
"Maybe my parents aren't my real parents. That's why they don't care about me, and aunt dares to mistreat me."
Lu Yan meant it as a joke, but Master nodded seriously, "Not bad. What else?"
Lu Yan looked at him and shook her head.
"Alright, either you aunt has some problems with her character or there's a secret about your birth. How can you figure out which one of these it is?"
At that moment, Gu Sheng's voice was heard instructing a subordinate outside.
In a flash of inspiration, Lu Yan said, "I can have someone like Gu Sheng go and investigate."
Master was amused, "You don't have a person like Gu Sheng. But if you did, what would you ask him to investigate?"
"He could interrogate my aunt's servants, especially Song mama." Lu Yan nodded decisively, "She should know all of aunt's secrets."
"Let me guess, this interrogation involves torture."
Lu Yan put her thumb and index finger close together, "A teeny tiny bit. For the answers."
He nodded seriously, "Of course, it's all for the answers."
Lu Yan nodded.
"What happens after he gets the answer?"
"He dumps Song mama back, runs away, and comes to tell me."
"Based on the questions asked, your aunt would immediately realize you were behind Gu Sheng. Then she'd get the city guard involved. They'd find and arrest Gu Sheng. Isn't the price too high for the answer?"
Lu Yan didn't like the way this fantasy ended so quickly.
Resigned, she said, "Okay no torture. Collect the information discreetly. Don't let aunt find out I'm looking."
Master nodded, pleased, "As it happens, this aligns directly with what I wanted to teach you. How to collect good quality information."
Lu Yan felt a little betrayed.
He saw her expression, and promised, "You'll find your answer. It will just take a little longer."
Lu Yan huffed a breath, and nodded.
"Alright, can you quickly summarize the strategy topics we've covered so far?"
"First, we discussed human psychology. The 5 types of character, and their predictable responses. The 7 emotions. Their impact on decision-making. Behavior patterns under stress. Developing psychological profiles of people."
"Later?"
"Later, we talked about communication. Code systems. Non-verbal communication methods. Fast message transfer. Intercepting enemy messages. Protecting our own."
"Good! Now we're talking about information. Again, we'll discuss several topics in depth. I'll start with these topics. We'll start with the 5 circles of information sources, which are family, friends, merchants, officials, and enemies. Then we'll discuss 3 levels of loyalty, information flow patterns and risk assessment and source protection."
Lu Yan nodded.
Master began lecturing.
---
Shan came to find her at dinner the next day.
He saw her, and pouted, "I was injured yesterday but you weren't there."
Before Lu Yan could reply, he continued in a concerned tone, "I asked around heard you were sick yesterday. Are you feeling better?"
Casually, he put his hand to her forehead.
Lu Yan slapped it away.
He looked at her in confusion.
Lu Yan looked at him carefully.
His eyes were guileless, and he seemed confused about her reaction.
Lu Yan smiled slightly, "I wasn't sick. Just tired. Master gave me a day off. I slept a lot."
"You're always working. And when you are not, you're sleeping. I barely get to see you anymore."
The truth was, since the last conversation with master about these three brothers, Lu Yan had been keeping her distance from him.
When she didn't say anything, he poked morosely at his food, saying in a low tone, "Did I do something wrong?"
Lu Yan looked at his drooping expression. Having known him for months, she felt she understood him somewhat.
Even though he was always smiling, he was never truly happy.
He liked bringing her snacks, and loved it when she gave him snacks in return.
He was just like her. For her, the snacks were a sign that someone cared about her.
Having seen his joyful expression when she reciprocated, she had long realized that it was the same for him.
Hesitantly, she said, "Actually I feel guilty that I went to tattle to your brother that day."
He looked up, "What day?"
"Didn't the platoon leader tell you?"
He looked confused, "Tell me what?"
Lu Yan tilted her head, paused, then said, "Let's eat quickly, and go somewhere else to talk."
Everyone eavesdropped on everyone else's conversations in the eating hall.
He agreed without another word, and wolfed his meal down.
Lu Yan felt amused and tried to match his pace.