Those Northern Beasts

Qi Xiu watched in amusement as He Chunhua flashed a hundred different ways to show anger in her face. His final provocation was to cuddle up to He An in front of her, which he was more than happy to do so.

He didn't bother to see how angry she was anymore, he just wanted to stay in He An's arms.

"Concubine Xiu! Your Majesty!" The moment Suyin saw the two enter, she hastily skipped over to their side, examining Qi Xiu to see if there were any injuries on him. When she saw the scratches that were still red on his face, her face paled.

He An sighed and let Qi Xiu down to sit on the bed.

"Fengge, where were you when Princess Chunhua was attacking Qi Xiu?" He side-eyed Pan Fengge, his voice stern.

"It's my fault! Please, punish this servant instead!" Suyin sobbed. Pan Fengge hurried to comfort her.

"It wasn't her fault. Your Majesty, I'm to blame." He solemnly tried to stick up for the crying Suyin. In fact, he knew he really should have stayed behind with the concubine instead of letting his emotions blind him.

"Your Majesty, they didn't do anything wrong..." After seeing how serious this was, Qi Xiu was quick to step up for them. He felt guilty now that others were going to get into trouble for his own actions.

Although it was true He Chunhua had tried to attack him, she was unsuccessful and he ended up inflicting the scratches on himself to frame her. These two had no hand in this.

He An grew even more impatient at seeing his cub stick up so bravely for others. His cub was too worrisome!

"...I'll put this matter aside for now. Suyin, clean the scratches. Fengge, you're dismissed." He finally said.

However, Pan Fengge was here to report something to the Emperor so instead of leaving, he whispered, "Your Majesty, the assassin committed suicide."

Neither Suyin nor Qi Xiu could hear him.

He An hummed in acknowledgment. He had already known about the suicide due to the system alerting him the moment the assassin had killed himself.

"We checked to see if he had kept any poison under his tongue, but we didn't find anything. We suspect someone on the inside had helped him." Pan Fengge's tone was grave. If there truly was a spy in the palace, this was a terrible situation.

He An's eyes fell on Qi Xiu and he stayed silent for a minute before replying, "Alright, thank you. You may leave now."

After Pan Fengge left, he called for the system in his head while drinking some water.

He An: [Did Yao Xuefeng receive our 'friendly' reminder yet?]

Six: [The letter should arrive to his camp very soon, host. >.<]

He An: [Good.]

*

Meanwhile, at a camp located in the woods right at the border between the north and the south, there was a discussion going on inside the largest tent.

"Those northern beasts...!!! General, they must be provoking us! We should attack them now!" One of the men slammed his fist on the table, his large build almost destroying the wood.

"Lei Wen, don't be impulsive. If what they say is true and they do indeed hold our prince captive then we cannot act rashly." Qiao Zhou, the only woman amongst them, was quick to retort. She herself didn't know for sure whether the north was lying or not, but she simply didn't want to take the gamble.

"Qiao Zhou, you're shameless!" Lei Wen shouted.

"Are you saying you're better than I am, putting our entire army at risk?!" Qiao Zhou wasn't willing to take his insults and shot back fiercely.

"Both of you, shut up!" Yao Xuefeng eventually had enough of their bickering and silenced them at once, "That insane Emperor isn't bluffing, the letter is real."

?!

Both Lei Wen and Qiao Zhou's eyes widened as they looked at their general with bewilderment.

"If that's the case, we need to take our prince back from their evil clutches!" Lei Wen was aggressive with his suggestion, but Qiao Zhou didn't agree and told him not to act rashly.

"Are you saying we should let them corrupt the only hope our south has?!" Lei Wen was in disbelief at her words.

"Shut up! You two, if you continue this any further, I'll feed you to the dogs!" Yao Xuefeng was known to have a short temper and these two were truly irritating him now. He rubbed his temples and grumbled.

"The north is plotting something since they admitted to keeping our prince hostage." He said before gritting his teeth and continuing, "They proposed a peace treaty to end this conflict, our only option is to agree."

"General, have you gone crazy?!" It was Qiao Zhou's turn to yell now. "Peace?! I'll never agree to this!"

"Then are you saying to let them keep our prince?! He's the only member of the royal family left, yet you want to abandon him?!" Yao Xuefeng drew his sword and aimed it at the two of them. Qiao Zhou held back her anger and clenched her fist at her sides.

To Yao Xuefeng, Prince Xiu—his childhood friend, was more important than the country. The only reason he'd kept fighting the north so adamantly was so that when Qi Xiu returned, he'd thank him for keeping the south safe.

Now that he knew the north held his prince captive, how could he let this go on?! Even if his two subordinates... no, even if the entire south didn't agree, he would still go against them all.

"General Yao, what if what they say is a lie? What if the prince is truly dead and they're simply lying in order to trap us?" Qiao Zhou questioned with resentment.

Yao Xuefeng grabbed her by the throat and placed the sword to her neck. Lei Wen intervened and stopped him from taking his own subordinate's life in time.

"The northern beasts agreed to let us into their territory for the peace treaty. We'll see if Prince Xiu is truly with them when we get there. If what they claim turns out to be a lie..." He didn't finish but Qiao Zhou and Lei Wen knew what he was thinking.

Of course he had thought of this possibility, but he still wasn't going to let up the chance to bring Qi Xiu back.

Emperor He An, if you dare to deceive us, I'll destroy you until there's nothing left.

*

He An, who was currently in his room going through important papers, sneezed.

"Your Majesty, do you have a cold?" Qi Xiu looked up from the bed and asked.

"I'm alright." He An smiled at his gentle cub but thought to himself, is someone talking ill of me behind my back?

He rubbed his nose and went back to studying.