28 The Green Snake Wants to Go Home

The Sun was already setting, blanketing the world in a warm, comforting hue of amber when She LiangLin sat down beside his sisters and the two loitering guards at the large round table. He was physically and mentally exhausted.

Lan QingYu had been adamant that they should leave as soon as possible. He really didn't want to be beaten up for his unsophisticated manners. But LiangLin could read from the green snake's face that he was torn. To leave and never catch sight of YaYun again, or stay and try to survive in the environment none of them was used to?

LiangLin didn't care much either way. He wasn't the one pining after Zhang YaYun, and he would dare anyone to try and beat him up and come out unscathed. But he couldn't leave a brother hanging, so he decided to take this opportunity to complain to his siblings.

The sisters and the two guards listened to him patiently, occasionally throwing glances Lan QingYu's way, who was still ripping flowers to pieces, as if they had wronged him in some way. They were pretty sure by the time they left White Lotus Hall, they would have to rename it as No Lotus Hall.

When LiangLin was finished, winded from talking so much, he leaned over the table and waited for their verdict. LiAi smacked her lips but said nothing besides fanning herself lazily. LiChun was smiling at him encouragingly but gave no comforting advice. The others only blinked at him.

LiangLin pushed himself up, annoyed that he had used so much energy and jaw strength to complain and none of them had a wise word to say!

LiYue could sense his thoughts as she clapped him over his head with her fan.

"What do you want us to do? He is an adult. It's not like we can force them together or lock them up in a room to make closer acquaintance."

"AhYue is right, Lin'er. We can't force people together." LiBai said as she ran her fingers through LiangLin's hair in a comforting manner.

"Hey, who said anything about forcing?" Wei KaiJun said as he scratched his chin while leaning his back to LiAi.

"We just need to bring them together." Xie JingYi offered. "YaYun is definitely attracted to QingYu. He even kept me awake to make sure he didn't fall asleep mid reading through the reports. He said he would get rid of the work pile so he can take QingYu out today."

"Today is soon over," LiChun said drily from beside the rooster. As her words hit the air, the amber hue disappeared, leaving only darkness as the Sun dipped behind the gate walls. "Scratch that, it's over."

The rooster looked confused, his round, chubby face pulling into a frown. "I wonder what happened. I went through the reports with him, and his solutions were good. He should have been done since early morning."

"Should have, would have, could have. You men aren't trustworthy." LiChun said as she reached out and rubbed at the tight frown over JingYi's brows with her thumb.

"Your face doesn't look good frowning."

Xie JingYi relaxed his expression at once, and LiChun gave him an approving smile.

Wei KaiJun sat up straighter seeing this and pulled a frown, pushing his face closer to LiAi. She raised her two fingers and almost poked his eyes out if he hadn't pulled away in time.

"You are so cruel!" Wei KaiJun cried out and slumped back against her shoulder in defeat.

"You were invading my personal space."

"Evi!"

"Anyway," LiYue said, side-eyeing the guards. "At most, we can try to arrange them to meet in private and see where they manage to go from there."

The crew propped up, leaning over the table. They shot a brief glance QingYu's way and saw the green snake still murdering flowers in the pitch-black darkness. Only sad little 'plops' could be heard as he plucked the stems and sometimes even the roots out of the pond.

"Where should we make them meet?" Xie JingYi said, his heart aching in pain as he watched the glorious White Lotus Hall die a slow and excruciating death.

"Oi, just lock them up in a bedroom, and everything will be solved by itself. That's how my parents taught us to deal with relationship problems," Wei KaiJun said and earned a loud smack over his head from LiAi.

"As if we will wrap little QingYu up and offer him to the wolf in disguise!" LiAi seethed and waved the fan in front of the monkey's face.

"How do you know he doesn't want to offer himself as a sacri- ow!"

--

Zhi ChangNing arrived at the Imperial Hall as the Sun's final rays brushed over the marble floors, turning them almost golden. She moved to the back of the throne and walked along the empty corridors. It was already late, only guards and servants working the night shift moved about. They offered polite bows as she weaved through the area, walking towards YaYun's study.

She had heard of the gift from the emperor of Jin. Her father had told her to go and talk some sense into YaYun. Funny how people expected her to talk when she enjoyed her time spent as nearly mute. But she went anyway, more as a friend of YaYun than an advocate for the officials.

ChangNing understood the urgency everyone was feeling, but she also understood YaYun. They grew up together, saw the struggles he went through, and love was certainly a thing YaYun was not taking lightly. Not after everything that had happened.

She stopped before the study and raised her hand to knock on the doors when they flung open and Yu Zhong stepped out. The ox nodded at the husky.

"Your old man also asked you to talk to him?"

"Yep. Is he inside?" ChangNing said as she tried to peak behind the gigantic ox. She was not small in her human form, but Yu Zhong was just so inhumanly big, his shoulders almost touched the edges of the doorframe.

"No, he is nowhere to be found." Yu Zhong's voice thundered as he pulled the doors close gently. These little soft movements surprised the surrounding people. Usually, they associate brute force and stuff breaking whenever they saw him enter the room. Doing something so gentle was definitely not expected.

Yu Zhong moved through the yard, and Zhi ChangNing followed him without a word. She didn't have to ask where they were going. Whenever YaYun was feeling down or uneasy, he would be by his mother's house.

The sky was dark as ink, without even a star to guide their way, as the two arrived before the Plum Blossom Hall. The gate doors were left ajar, and a soft halo of light breached through the gap. Someone was home.

Yu Zhong pushed the door open, and the two stepped in.

Large, white lanterns hung by the plum tree branches on both sides of the path, lighting up the entire trail as they made their way slowly towards the house.

Before the modest building, YaYun was crouching in the field, searching for any imperfections in the sea of green. His crown was placed over the swing, alongside his emperor's coat and outer robes.

YaYun looked like a regular man at the moment, tending to his own land with his sleeves rolled up over his elbows, his hair tied in a messy pile.

He could sense the two approaching, but not even once did he glance their way. He poured his entire attention tending to his already perfectly trimmed flower field. He had been there since the meeting had ended, cleaning up the house, fixing the swing with stronger silver robes, and checked every tree and grass growing in the area.

The husky and the ox exchanged worried looks as they stopped beside YaYun, watching as he stood before one of the plum trees, deep in thought.

"YaYun, why are you still here?" Zhi ChangNing started. No answer.

"The field is already perfect, YaYun, not even a petal is crooked. Go get some rest." Yu Zhong said as he placed his hand over the emperor's shoulder.

YaYun ran his fingertips over the poem carved on the tree. A sad smile graced his lips.

"I don't know if I'll be coming back here after today."

ChangNing and Zhong exchanged glances.

ChangNing said, "YaYun, don't you think you're overthinking? Just marry, have kids, and you are free to go back to your wanton ways."

"ChangNing is right, YaYun. As long as you are successful in continuing the Zhang lineage, no one is going to interfere with your other relationships." Yu Zhong said.

"I don't want to mistreat the mother of my children." Zhang YaYun said quietly.

"You aren't the first and definitely not the last to have other concubines lining up," ChangNing said.

"Besides, it might turn out this one could be the one, all the things you wanted, wrapped into one," Yu Zhong said. It was one of the few and far moments the ox had managed to sound encouraging. It only unsettled the emperor further.

"You will make a good husband and father, YaYun. Don't worry." ChangNing added. " Let the time tell, it doesn't help your cause to worry and plan ahead. The date is already set; the concubine will arrive in the palace in a few days."

"But the snakes-"

"We should return the body to She LiangLin as soon as possible, and they can be on their way back home." Yu Zhong said, giving YaYun a gentle squeeze over his shoulder.

YaYun brushed Yu Zhong's hand aside but said no more. He didn't want the snakes to leave. They were a breath of fresh air, something he very rarely got to experience within these high walls of the palace.