Chapter 83 - Irenic (1/2)

Prince Yi left the royal study feeling irritated and straight away got on his horse and went back to his manor. The moment he arrived, he stormed into his study with his head guard, Tian Ji following behind him. After slamming the table, Prince Yi asked. ”Have they found him?”

”No, Your highness, we're still searching.” Tian Ji responded with his head bowed, ”It should only be a matter of time, he should not have been able to get far.”

Prince Yi took a deep breath and asked, ”And those fools?”

”They are still being interrogated, it seems they truly may not have noticed anything.”

”Useless! If they cannot give anything useful get rid of them!” Prince Yi said through gritted teeth. Tian Ji looked at him for a bit then bowed and left the room. Prince Yi was fuming in anger, he looked at the ”Art of War” book on the table and his scowl deepened.

...He's pushing me out now, isn't he?... First of all, they sideline to that useless library and then now to be a companion? And then after that? Get rid of me? I won't let him!...

Prince Yi's mood had been very bad since the Emperor's return to the capital, and the events that have followed in the past few days only made it worse. First of all, there was this issue of the alliance with Zou kingdom which came as a quite shock to him. He was perplexed as to what Prince Rui thinking by suddenly turning into an ”advocate of peace”, even to the point of convincing his father to take a losing deal and to virtually be under Long country's rule. The Zou king has been known to be a weak-minded fool and so manipulating him to agree with their own plan should not have been an issue.

Their original plan was for Prince Rui to persuade the Zou king to form an alliance with their neighboring nations and then escalate the war situation which had been at a stalemate the past few months. Forcing his brother to send the troops in the capital back to the war front, leaving him more vulnerable. Then Prince Yi would take the opportunity to move his own hidden troops which he had been acc.u.mulating all these years to attack the palace. While this new development of an alliance irritated him, he still concluded that he would be able to get a reasonable explanation once Prince Rui arrived. After all, he still had an important figure in Prince Rui's life as a hostage, his closest aide and childhood friend, Molin.

Everything still seemed under control until yesterday night, when the captive escaped, while the guards on duty were all drugged and passed out. All-day, his men have been covertly searching all around the capital trying to find Molin but they have all been useless so far and have not even found a trace. He reasoned that Molin had to still be hiding somewhere in the city since the news of Prince Rui's impending arrival was everywhere. What is worse is that it was clear he had help in escaping and for an outsider to have been able to penetrate that deeply into his residence without being noticed is unlikely. This meant that it was likely there was a spy on the inside, and so he also had to contend with that.

Prince Yi thought he still had some time to sort this out before having to meet Prince Rui, as he would constantly be surrounded by poeple and watched on his arrival. Therefore, arranging their meeting would have had to wait until things died down which would take some time. But now with his brother doing this, the deadline had been moved forward and it now it was seeming more and more likely to Prince Yi that this was all his doing.

...It's either he's stupidly overconfident or he has a plan...Either way, he's treating me like an idiot and I won't stand for this!...

***

Back at the palace.

Lei Xing had returned to her palace feeling a bit irritated and had just been sitting on the side quietly for a while now, with Ah Jin standing there sullenly. Her plan for today was interrupted. The Emperor's actions were also somewhat confusing, which made her also feel somewhat anxious.

...He's a confusing person, no, he's a confused person...It's not my lack of understanding, it's just that he isn't making sense...Maybe he has too much free time? He better not come back here tonight to try anything or I'll neuter him -_-)...Okay, maybe I won't, but I may try so he better not...

Lei Xing turned to Ah Jin, ”Is there anything else I should know?”

Ah Jin immediately kowtowed and apologized, ”I am sorry Your highness, I did not expect this to come up...Also since you never attempted any embroidery yourself and always left it up to me and Xiao Ruo... it skipped my mind...and it did not occur to me to mention this...I am very s-”

”That's enough, that's enough. Get up.” Lei Xing said massaging her forehead. After Ah Jin stood up, she flatly said, ”But I am being serious, anything else I need to know? Think hard.”

...I hate being caught unawares in illegal dealings, tell me now so I can prepare my cover-up story...A good one takes time to craft, you know -_-)...

”There shouldn't be anything...” Ah Jin hesitantly said.