74 Shriek (2/2)

Why did His Majesty take the boy along with him when he had been mostly unconscious prior to reaching the foothills of the mountains?

What kind of interactions did both of them have?

Did His Majesty pass on any specific orders regarding the boy?

What was the imperial official's reaction to an unknown being picked for the rain ritual?

Ning Fu answered all her questions with extreme patience.

He didn't know what she was driving at but still, he knew she had the best interests of the monarch in her heart, so be didn't mind explaining a bit more.

Suddenly, they heard His Majesty calling them, ”Mohou, Unit Commander, why are you standing there? Come inside the pavilion. The sun is too hot today.”

Though there was still a smile on the monarch's face, it wasn't as carefree as it had been just a few minutes ago - when His Majesty thought that there weren't other people around.

Ning Fu and Empress Dowager both noticed the difference.

The monarch was still smiling at them I, but his face, his eyes didn't contain the previous joy and contentment.

They came to a joint decision to not disrupt His Majesty and Empress Dowager said, ”Ah! Your Majesty, Ajia was just walking in the gardens to stretch Ajia's legs and coincidently met Unit Commander. It has been so long since Ajia had heard about interesting anecdotes about the outside world, so Ajia wants to talk to Unit Commander. We were just leaving.”

Finishing her words, Empress Dowager left the place with Ning Fu following behind her at a sedate pace.

They had just taken a few steps when they heard His Majesty's shriek.

Ning Fu felt his breath stuttering when he heard that shriek, his heart almost skipped a beat.

Without worrying about the consequences, he took out a sharp dagger from his robes, pivoted around on one foot and instinct had him throwing his dagger fast and accurate - towards the place an assassin could attack His Majesty from.

He choked in horror when he saw the dagger flying at an equally startled pair - His Majesty and Zhou Sheng.

From their posture, it was clear that the pair had been goofing off - both of them plastered to each other, with nary a space between them. It was then that Ning Fu realised that either of the two might have been tickling the other person, which was why His Majesty had shrieked.

It hadn't been a frightened shriek rather, it had been of playfulness.