Chapter 34 (1/2)

Chapter 34: Alliance

The Senior Grandmaster met Qi Chen's eyes without fear, very much unlike his cowardly past self. It was as if he'd suddenly grown a backbone.

A long silence lingered in the air, only to be broken when he said, ”The G.o.ds see everything. I know what I am doing. But how about you, Your Highness? I hope you know what you are doing as well.”

A coward like the Senior Grandmaster going against him like this? Qi Chen did not expect it. He balled up his hands and glared at the Senior Grandmaster as he left. Their relations.h.i.+p ended here. From this moment on, they were no longer friends, but enemies.

With his arms crossed, Nan Xun watched as everything unfolded. He quirked his lips into a lopsided smile. Jun Huang indeed had a good eye for character. The Senior Grandmaster was not a brave man, but he cared about the people and loved the people. It was inevitable that he would part way with Qi Chen one day. Now it seemed Qi Yun was the best candidate they had.

After he left the palace, his shadow guard came up to him. ”Your Highness, brother Feng invited you to meet him at the tavern.”

It's been a while. Nan Xun smiled and nodded. After changing out of his court attire, he went straight to the tavern.

Not too long ago Jun Huang still considered the tavern a place for thugs and troublemakers, while he believed it was the safest place for conversations. Now, however, Jun Huang often asked him to meet her at the tavern when there were matters she wanted to discuss with him. Nan Xun couldn't help but smile a little.

Around the same time, Qi Yun, who was drinking tea in his garden, received Jun Huang's invitation as well. He put down the teacup and made arrangement for the meeting.

It didn't take long for Nan Xun to reach the tavern. When he arrived, Jun Huang was on her own, a distant look in her eyes. Hearing his approach, she turned around and smiled at him with the sun s.h.i.+ning on her from behind. The image was forever burned into Nan Xun's memory.

”Your Highness came sooner than I expected.” Jun Huang looked at Nan Xun with her lips curved. Her silk robe fluttered in the wind. She wore a white jade cap to hold her hair up, and there was a fine green jade pendant on her waist. At this moment, she did look like a handsome gentleman.

Nan Xun returned her smile and approached her slowly. The smell of tea wafted in the air. He stood there, looking at Jun Huang. His eagle eyes were not sharp like they usually were, but as soft and tender as water. Unfortunately, Jun Huang had turned around to look at other things and missed it.

”How has the situation in the palace been?”

Nan Xun huffed, then sighed. ”The imperial court is split into a couple factions. The death of the crown prince threw the royal uncle's people into disarray. And now the second prince is rising in power. However…”

Jun Huang frowned at him. ”However what?”

Nan Xun was silent for a moment. ”The royal uncle's people believe that Qi Chen was behind the crown prince's death, but they have no real evidence. They can only try to pressure Qi Chen in the court.”

”Recently, Qi Chen has been trying to please the emperor, so he spoke of rebuilding the border. This proposal was vetoed by the royal uncle, stating that the treasury was too empty for this to be a good idea. The emperor stood on the sideline without intervening. And the empress was in a secret war with Consort Zhen.”

The imperial court was not Jun Huang's domain, so she didn't know well the way it operated. Bewildered, she asked, ”Then why doesn't the emperor take action?”

Nan Xun scoffed, his eyes turning sharp. ”The emperor does not get involved in matters like this. It is the modus operandi of the royal family. Do you think the emperor is comfortable on that throne of his? He wants courtiers to keep fighting among themselves.”

Then, a server took a young man in fine clothes to them. It was Qi Yun. He greeted them with a smile with a foldable fan in his hand, his eyes as bright as the stars. He was like water, its taste mild and long-lasting. Nan Xun, on the other hand, was hard liquor. Cool and refres.h.i.+ng. His sculpted features demanded attention, and attention he got.

”Someone came early.” Qi Yun chuckled, eyeing Nan Xun openly. Nan Xun looked at the often housebound fourth prince, a polite but distant smile catching at his lips. Proper, but not how he was usually like.

Qi Yun looked away and smiled at Jun Huang. ”Now you remember to invite me? And with someone else here?”

Jun Huang smiled awkwardly. She didn't expect Qi Yun to talk like this. Today she invited them to discuss business. If they continued to treat each other this way, they would not get along.

Jun Huang decided to break the ice herself. She cleared her throat and asked them to take their seat. ”I invited you here for a reason. Now that Qi Chen is in power, there's no telling what he would do in the future. The important thing now is for you two to form an alliance.”

Jun Huang turned to Nan Xun. ”Nan Xun, you don't want Northern Qi to fall in the hand of someone like Qi Chen, do you? You know better than anyone that Qi Chen cares nothing for the people. He cannot be allowed to gain the throne.”

”Besides, the emperor has always been wary of you. Who knows what Qi Chen will do to you in order to become the crown prince? If you and Qi Yun become allies, you won't have to fight on your own in the imperial court.” Jun Huang said what she said out of her heart, but it was Nan Xuan who would make the final decision. Nan Xun, however, continued to drink his tea without so much of a reaction.

Jun Huang couldn't do anything but sigh. She got to her feet, troubled. ”The way you two are behaving – we might as well surrender now. You talk things out on your own. I'll be outside.” With that, she left, her face dark.

Qi Yun looked up at Nan Xun and chuckled. ”That's how Baiyu always is. I hope you don't mind.”