A Relief

In a room undisturbed by the light beaming down on the world outside, a sickly man lay still in bed. He stirred at the soft knocks on the door. His voice as fragile as a feather, he wheezed for the man outside to come in.

"Butler Zhou-"

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

The coughing held no power, yet what lay on the palm of the hand that covered his mouth were distinct colours of red.

"You need not say anything, master. I have come to report the well-being of the young master."

An elderly man with keen grey eyes hurried to aid his master, his face one of concern.

"Oh..."

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

The ill man sat up with what seemed to be great strenuous effort. Butler Zhou stood beside him and relayed to him the results of his findings.

"As you suspected, the young master strayed into the lower towns. He now finds company with a young girl and two other boys. One rowdy, the other quiet. Only yesterday was he shopping with them for a few things."

So he had friends now... The sick man felt relieved. After all the years of his confinement, he worried that his son would never be able to mingle with others properly ever again.

The butler's tone softened, traces of a smile could be seen on his weathered face.

"The young master is doing well. Yesterday, though it was slight, he smiled."

The man jolted in surprise. That boy who would refuse to have anything but coldness plastered on his face... smiled?

"He did?"

"Yes master." The butler chuckled at his master's unbelieving tone. "Though he now answers to a different name. He calls himself-"

"Stop," The sickly man raised one hand weakly, cutting the butler off. "I don't need to know. The boy wouldn't want me to know either."

"Of course." The butler spoke no further and the room was devoured by a lonely silence.

The one to break it was the man in bed.

"The boy's living conditions, you didn't pry, did you?"

"No master. I merely observed him when he wanders around the upper towns. I never follow him when he appears to be making his way home. There is just one thing that concerns me. He makes frequent visits to the hospital, though, for his privacy, I did not look into who he was visiting or why he went there."

"I see. Good then. One more thing before you go. Have you investigated what the other son has been doing lately?"

"Young master Qing? Ah... He seems to have hired a few people. I have not yet discovered why. I am afraid that the madam still feels insecure about his position."

"Insecure... Leave him. Though he cannot compare to my eldest, Qing'er has a good head on his shoulders. He wouldn't do anything rash."

The butler stared at his master with a face full of doubt but acquiesced in the end.

"As you wish. I shall be taking my leave now."

The door clicked shut and the room was once again drowned in the daunting silence. The man was left with the new information raising a racket within his head. Not bearing it anymore, he forced himself into a state of unconsciousness.

...

The pallid moon glowed faintly in the jet black sky. The time was ten minutes before midnight.

All was quiet but for the heavy footsteps that tread with haste without care for disturbing the inhabitants of the mansion. It stopped at the sickly man's room.

The door clicked open once more.

Assured that the body on the bed was asleep, the figure strode to it and, with no great fanfare, plunged a sharp dagger into the man's chest. Whether it struck the heart or not was not something the figure had to care about for the man's eyes flew open at that moment.

Though the room was dark and light was something greatly desired, the man recognised the intruder's figure after a few hard blinks and his body stilled in despair.

"You-"

His vision waned and, in the midst of his confusion, the figure besides him began to shout in a loud voice. He tried with all his might to stay conscious but God had other plans.

His head finally slumped and the excruciating agony that spread in his chest burned like the embers of hell.

The world faded into oblivion.

He could feel no more.

...

The number one news circulating the streets of the Capital contained one thing - the dashing young chairman Liu had been hospitalised. The real cause was not disclosed to the public. All that was revealed was that the chairman was found, late at night, unmoving in his bed warranting great concern from his son, Liu Qing. The boy's concern was not without reason for the chairman had collapsed and his breath was still.

If the boy had not sought his father so late into the night, the man would have no chance of recovering.

Many had their own speculations. The heart wrenching story of the beautiful wife giving up her life to save her child had been told far and wide. Was it not that he'd attempted suicide? The loss had finally killed him from within and now, he decided to reunite with his beloved. Was that not why?

All maidens out there expressed their heartache at his illness. They declared that his pain was theirs and only God knows how many tears they shed for his torment.

Liu Qing slowly took over the work his father handled with a determined attitude, winning the praise from many fellow business workers who shared their condolences for his father's sudden sickness.

Liu Xing's wife continued to attend the dinner parties where she reveled in all the attention her husband's situation granted her.

The news had yet to reach the lower towns but it would be soon enough before they were alerted that another promising figure would be stepping down from their position.

Though saddening, those who lived there had not much connections with the dealings of the upper towns and cities and so would merely convey their condolences and move on with their lives.

They wouldn't care, and neither would he.