Wolf King And His Fox Consort [BL]

"So we just need to send word back to Su of what is afflicting their King," Xiao Zai said.

He, Xiao Ziyi, Xiao Yuan and Chu Yun were alone in one of his offices, discussing what Chu Yun had inferred from Ru Yumei's words.

"That would be ideal, except we don't know which one of them we can trust," Chu Yun said, pacing back and forth in front of large cherrywood desk Xiao Zai was sitting at.

He frowned suddenly, stopping his restless wandering after coming to a troubling realisation. "Or even if we can trust one of them, at all."

He was glad to know for sure what had become of the King of Su -- that was one goal of this whole endeavour that had gone exactly according to plan.

But at the same time he was now left at a standstill.

Could the Queen Consort be trusted? Could the Third Princess?

And what about Ru Long's missing twin sister. Did either of them know about her existence at all? How aware were they of Ru Long's actions?

Of his goals?

"You look troubled," Xiao Zai said, from behind the desk.

"Well, the murky waters of Su are harder to navigate than anticipated, that's all," he said, meeting Xiao Zai's eyes with a wan smile.

Xiao Ziyi, leaning against a wall, with her arms crossed in front of her chest let out a gruff grunt. "I still don't know how you could have gotten all that from such a short conversation."

Chu Yun glared at her, but said nothing.

Xiao Yuan, sensing tension, intervened in the diplomatic tone he had adopted after being made adviser, "What if we send someone back with them to investigate the situation?"

"How would we even word something like that?" Chu Yun asked, resting his hip against the desk's edge. "'We can see you brought a contingent of guards with you but they look incompetent, how about taking a few of our people back to Su with you?'"

He shook his head. "There is no way that doesn't sound suspicious."

"They aren't leaving yet, we have time to dig out more," Xiao Zai said, ever the optimist.

"What has Hua Nanyi said?" Chu Yun asked, looking at Xiao Ziyi.

"I haven't heard back from her."

Chu Yun let the issue go. He knew he'd be seeing Hua Nanyi later when she came to deliver his medicine.

No matter how annoyed she was by the fake engagement, she still brought him his medicine every morning and every night. Above all else, Hua Nanyi was dependable to a fault.

---

As expected, she came to their quarters just after the dishes from their dinner had been cleared out.

Chu Yun had asked Xiao Zai to keep himself busy in one of the other rooms, so that he and Hua Nanyi could talk alone.

She lowered the tray and bowl of steaming medicine onto the low table in front of Chu Yun and made to leave right away -- like all the other times, since things had grown stilted between them.

"Wait," Chu Yun said, pulling on the hem of her robe just as it brushed against his knee. "Let's talk."

She didn't try to argue and took a seat opposite him, crossing her legs on the floor and leaning one elbow over the shining tabletop. "If you want to ask about what I found in their room you're going to be disappointed."

"Why is that?"

Hua Nanyi rolled her eyes. "There's nothing to say, they just brought changes of clothes and jewellery with them. Some documents attesting to lands belonging to the Queen Consort, that I assume she intends to use in the engagement negotiations. Other than that there is no secret correspondence, no convenient letter detailing all their nefarious plans."

Chu Yun didn't show any outward reaction. Hua Nanyi's frown deepened. She had thought this a pointless exercise from the beginning, and was now convinced she'd been right.

"And what have the servants been saying?" Chu Yun asked, going straight to the core of Hua Nanyi's anxieties.

Her eyes narrowed. "Exactly what I expected them to. They don't say it in my presence, but I've walked into many a conversation, cut abruptly short by my arrival, about how the Third Princess is clearly beneath the general, due to her lowly human nature."

"It's not as if they were effusive about me marrying Xiao Zai," Chu Yun said, pointing out the obvious.

Hua Nanyi let out a disbelieving scoff and shook her head, looking down at her own fingers drumming and insistent pattern on the table. "It's not the same thing. You were a Prince's son, and a beast like him. I'm a servant and a human. Even if she took me as a concubine it would be a scandal."

"I've said that we can give you a titl-" Chu Yun said.

She snapped her head up to face him brusquely. "You don't get it, do you? I'll never be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with her...like equals. Like you and Xiao Zai do."

Chu Yun's objections died in his throat.

Hua Nanyi's words reminded him of a conversation he'd had with Tan Ruo, that time about Chu Hean. Tan Ruo had posited that what Chu Hean wanted from a relationship was the equality she herself enjoyed with Minister Song, and Chu Yun with Xiao Zai.

An equality derived from the very unorthodoxy of their marriages.

But here Hua Nanyi was, contemplating a relationship just as unorthodox, but now that same equality was nowhere to be found. There were more layers between them than just alpha and beta, man and woman, human and beast, ruler and subject, master and servant.

Chu Yun was so used to seeing her as a friend -- his oldest friend -- that he sometimes forgot of everything that separated them.

"Xiao Ziyi wouldn't care about something like that," Chu Yun said, looking down at his folded hands. He was telling the truth, but the words sounded glib even to his own ears.

"She is the Commander General of Zui's army, the perception the soldiers have of her is everything." She shot Chu Yun an accusing glare. "You know this."

Chu Yun did. "I'm sorry for putting you in this position."

Hua Nanyi sighed deeply. "No, it's for the best that I stop harbouring foolish illusions. You don't need to apologise for making me realise that sooner rather than later."

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