Circumventing Fate 80 - Irenic

Prince Yi left the royal study feeling irritated and straight away got on his horse and went back to his manor.

The moment he arrived, he stormed into his study with his head guard, Tian Ji following behind him. After slamming the table, Prince Yi asked. "Have they found him?"

"No, Your highness, we're still searching." Tian Ji responded with his head bowed, "It should only be a matter of time, he should not have been able to get far."

Prince Yi took a deep breath and asked, "And those fools?"

"They are still being interrogated, it seems they truly may not have noticed anything."

"Useless! If they cannot give anything useful, get rid of them!" Prince Yi said through gritted teeth.

Tian Ji looked at him for a bit, then bowed and left the room. Prince Yi was fuming in anger, he looked at the "Art of War" book on the table, and his scowl deepened.

{...He's pushing me out now, isn't he?... First of all, they sideline me to that useless library and then now to be a companion? And then after that? Get rid of me? I won't let him!...}

Prince Yi's mood had been very bad since the Emperor's return to the capital, and the events that had followed in the past few days only made it worse.

First of all, there was this issue of the alliance with Zou kingdom which came as a quite shock to him.

He was perplexed as to what Prince Rui was thinking by suddenly turning into an "advocate of peace", even to the point of convincing his father to take a losing deal and virtually be under Long country's rule.

The Zou king has been known to be a weak-minded fool, so manipulating him to agree with their own plan should not have been an issue. 

Their original plan was for Prince Rui to persuade the Zou king to form an alliance with their neighboring nations and then escalate the war situation which had been at a stalemate the past few months. Forcing his brother to send the troops in the capital back to the war front, leaving him more vulnerable.

Then Prince Yi would take the opportunity to move his own hidden troops which he had been accumulating all these years to attack the palace. While this new development of an alliance irritated him, he still concluded that he still had an advantage, so he could get a reasonable explanation once Prince Rui arrived.

After all, he still had an important figure in Prince Rui's life as a hostage, his closest aide and childhood friend, Molin.

Everything still seemed under control until yesterday night, when the captive escaped while the guards on duty were all drugged and passed out. All day, his men have been covertly searching all around the capital trying to find Molin, but they have all been useless so far and have not even found a trace.

He reasoned that Molin had to still be hiding somewhere in the city since the news of Prince Rui's impending arrival was everywhere.

What was worse is that it was clear he had help in escaping, and for an outsider to have been able to penetrate that deeply into his residence without being noticed is unlikely. This meant that it was likely there was a spy on the inside, so he also had that to contend with.

Prince Yi thought he still had some time to sort this out before having to meet Prince Rui, as he would constantly be surrounded by people and watched on his arrival.

Therefore, arranging their meeting would have had to wait until things died down, which would take some time. But now, with his brother doing this, the deadline had been moved forward, and it now seemed more and more likely to Prince Yi that this was all his doing.

{...It's either he's stupidly overconfident or he already interfered with my plans...Either way, he's obviously treating me like a fool!...}

***

Back at the palace.

Lei Xing had returned to her palace feeling a bit irritated and had just been sitting on the side quietly for a while now, with Ah Jin standing there sullenly. Her plan for today was interrupted.

The Emperor's actions were also somewhat confusing, making her feel somewhat anxious.

{...He's a confusing person, no, he's a confused person...It's not my lack of understanding, it's just that he isn't making sense...*sigh* Maybe he has too much free time? He better not come back here tonight to try anything or I'll neuter him!...Okay, maybe I won't, but I may try, so he better not -_-)...}

Lei Xing turned to Ah Jin, "Is there anything else I should know?"

Ah Jin immediately kowtowed and apologized, "I am sorry Your highness, I did not expect this to come up...Also, since you never attempted any embroidery yourself and always left it up to me and Xiao Ruo... it skipped my mind...so it did not occur to me to mention this...I am very s-"

"That's enough, that's enough. Get up." Lei Xing said, massaging her forehead. After Ah Jin stood up, she flatly said, "But I am being serious, anything else I need to know? Think hard."

{...I hate being caught unawares in illegal dealings, tell me now so I can prepare my cover-up story...A good one takes time to craft, you know!...}

"There shouldn't be anything..." Ah Jin hesitantly said.

Lei Xing narrowed her eyes, "No other illegal activities? Are you sure?"

Ah Jin knit her brows and hesitantly replied, "It should be fine..."

"Is it fine or not?" Lei Xing asked a little irritated.

"It is fine." Ah Jin resolutely responded.

Lei Xing sat there scrutinizing Ah Jin for a while and then said, "Since we're talking about past transgressions, tell me, why did I run away?"

Ah Jin went rigid and blankly stared at Lei Xing wide-eyed and then started blinking rapidly, "I - I told you, I really do-"

"If you found me, then you must have known where I was going or at least the direction I was heading?" Lei Xing said, a bit exasperated. All this lack of knowledge was making her feel uncertain, which in turn made her anxious.

This whole life made her feel that way, and this incident just brought her anxieties to the forefront.

{...Who knows where the next phantom embroidery piece is going to come from -_-)...}

"I really don't know..." Ah Jin responded, sounding a bit aggrieved.

Lei Xing let out a breath, "Fine then." and then she remembered her weird dream and asked, "Have you and I ever had a conversation on a cliff's edge before?"

"No." Ah Jin promptly and bluntly responded, Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at her and Ah Jin lowered her head. 

Lei Xing frowned at Ah Jin.

{...I can't tell if you're a good liar or a bad one...But I can know that you're terrible at secrets -_-)...}

Before Lei Xing could further question, Xiao Ruo rushed in with a big smile on her face and happily said, "Your highness, you should come see this! You should really-"

"What?" Lei Xing snapped, and Xiao Ruo then instantly calmed down and said, "The Emperor sent some things over."

Lei Xing's frown deepened, Xiao Ruo urged again for her to follow. After scrutinizing Ah Jin for a bit longer, Lei Xing sighed, then got up and followed Xiao Ruo.

{...I'm really not sure what to do about this maid -_-)'...}

When she arrived at her study, she found a bunch of Eunuchs reorganizing the place.

They had setup four more bookshelves alongside the one she had, put another behind her desk and another set of two on the sides. They were currently stocking them with books from a few trunks.

As she walked into the room, they stopped and bowed to her, and then one of them came up to her with a smile, "Your highness, the Emperor noticed that your collection is quite limited and so instructed for us to bring these over. If you have any specific requests, do tell us."

Lei Xing stood there and scanned the room with a blank expression. 

{...It would seem another demon has now possessed him...or maybe an angel this time?...}

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