YIYUAN

"We beg his Majesty to reconsider!" The emperor's entourage pleaded, sincerely. They kowtowed before him, blocking the exit of his bedchamber so that he wouldn't leave.

"Your Majesty, if this servant may speak," Court Lady Nam came forth.

"Court Lady Nam? Why are you here?" He released his main entourage for leave before he left the palace. So why was she in YiYuan?

"That is... Your Majesty..."

"What?" Though it was not the case that he wasn't glad to have her back. The people who served him currently were not as good as they could be under the supervision of Eunuch and Court Lady Nam.

"Her Highness summoned His Highness' entourage back on the basis: No servant may leave the palace unless sick to the point of death or due to retirement."

Is that so? What was this action meant to define? Possibly to remind him that his power was limited to the court only. He chastised the Grand Dowager for summoning his subjects for a court meeting in his absence, and in return she was silently doing the same in regards to the harem.

Shen Hong smirked, making a note to visit his grandmother when he went back to the palace. It wasn't like he was not curious to know what she was up to recently.

"This servant seeks permission to share her humble opinion," Court Lady Nam was bringing back the matter at hand.

He nodded his head for her to continue.

"This servant begs His Royal Majesty to stay indoors for the day." She stared at the ground and he was not sure whether it was out of respect or instead to avoid staring at his sore face.

"That is impossible, Court Lady Nam. I have to practise with my generals."

Li Lian was right. In the morning, he indeed woke up looking like a pig. His cheeks were plump, swollen b.a.l.l.s of pink. The physician kneeling behind Court Lady Nam said it was an allergic reaction he did not understand the cause of, but Shen Hong was well aware that it was the ointment that Little Fox applied on him.

Conniving woman. She had not bounds.

"His Royal Majesty is right. But what image will be portrayed before the generals if our emperor is to show up looking disfigured?" Leave it to her to be straight forward. "Your Majesty, the Dragon entourage has failed to look after our emperor, please have our heads cut off."

"Your Royal Majesty, please stay indoors!" Eunuch Nam yelled, pleading, and the rest repeated after him.

What a pain to wake up to this. "Hao, I will go to the pools, rather." He wished to lay there and collect his thoughts.

"His Royal Highness is benevolent!" They praised.

Was it worth it to get slapped by a woman, just so you could sleep next to her? No. Even if she was just as beautiful? No. It was not. Not when you are the emperor.

Something in the equation was not right. Shen Hong had experienced thousands crying for mercy, yet one who cried to slap him was the one who moved his heart.

"His Majesty's cheeks look better now," the Royal Grand physician inspected him, later that afternoon at the pools. "Is His Majesty sure that he did not lay on something he is allergic to? Because this subject also does not understand where the swelling came from."

Shen Hong gave an accusing look when he saw Luo Meng grin knowingly. He was standing outside as his master received his share of claps. What an unfilial servant. He could have come in to get the slaps for him. So much for being faithful.

"Yes, I woke up like that."

To this Luo Meng laughed loudly and Shen Hong scowled.

Imbecile.

Shen Hong tried to relax a bit as he s.h.i.+fted on the lounging chair. It was soothing to be surrounded by the bubbling scented waters of blue. He tried to change the subject. "Where is Yang Liu?"

Luo Meng rubbed his stomach to hold himself. "Your Majesty, I told her that General Feng has always known about her gender and she was greatly distressed, so she left for the palace"

Truth could be bitter at times. "You must go easy on her."

"Forgive me, Your Highness."

"How could you tell that General Feng knows?"

"The other day Yang Liu was accidentally shot in the chest on the hunting grounds, he attended to her first. It was obvious that he figured it out."

Shen Hong looked down at the Royal Grand physician who now paid attention to his chest. On the left side, where his heart resided was skin knit upon each other, the sight similar to tree roots engulfed. It was going to be a great pain when the time came to have his heart restored in his chest.

The physician took out a cotton swab and dabbed on the swell of skin. "Does His Majesty's chest still hurt?"

"Not recently, but I have occasionally experienced a piercing chest pain." He remembered the time he almost collapsed when he came out of jail.

"His Majesty is not a pure royal blood, therefore the incubation of his heart with Furia blood is not as easy."

Grand Consort Shu was a low-born commoner. Because of this, he suffered lack of dominance as a warrior spirit that the other dragons before him easily possessed. Most of his achievements were out of hard work than heritage advantage. Other dragons could easily tackle without trying, while he worked hard to attain speed. Others easily mastered sword techniques, while he practise for it. All that he had was from blood and sweat.

Outsiders called his lineage, blood suckers, which was not far from the truth. The royal bloodline relied on Furia's blood to preserve their life into longevity. Instead of mere 50 years , they could live up to a tripled amount. But in his case it was unknown how long he would survive considering his tainted blood. It could be more than expected or quite less than the normal life expectancy.

He winced, when the royal physician applied pressure on his non-beating heart chest. The man tending to him looked so focused. The best physician in the palace, they called him. Shen Hong couldn't help wondering about the skeletons behind his success. "You were sixteen when my father was born?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," he quipped. "This subject was a junior at the time."

"And how did you know my Grandmother?" It's not that Shen Hong was suspicious of Gu Huan's qualifications, by his own right the Royal Grand physician earned his position. However, from the few rumors Shen Hong was aware of, he was curious to know the past relations.h.i.+p the man had with his grandmother.

"We are from the same clan so as children we were raised together." He continued to dab the wet cotton on the entangled skin.

"And how old were you when I was born?"

"Forty summers."

So like his grandmother they were in their sixties now.

Luo Meng walked to Shen Hong's side. He seemed off recently, edgy and anxious to the nail. Shen Hong ignored his behavior, aware that it would take him years to have Luo Meng open up about what bothered him.

He continued to interrogate his physician. "The same time I was born you made a palace maid pregnant, isn't it?"

"This subject―"

"Where is the child?" He was not keen to hear out his sorry excuse and plea for forgiveness.

"The child died at birth."

Probably why he was allowed to still serve as the Grand Physician, the evidence of his unfathomable sin was non-existent and his skills were second to none.

"Almost lost everything for a woman?" Luo Meng scorned and gratuitously laughed.

Shen Hong chuckled along. He missed Elora and sought after her but would he be headless to sacrifice anything that belonged to him for her? Would he place anything on the line for a woman? That would be absurd and what he tagged as insanity. Because he wouldn't.

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"Hao. After looking after me, have Luo Meng's condition checked." He looked over at his shadow guard who was grappling toward the exit for escape.

"Your Majesty!" Luo Meng tried to protest.

"You should realise that you will be most useful to me if you can differentiate people's faces." Imagine being in a forest with trees of the same type and age. That was what Luo Meng felt among people. All faces were the same to him. In complexity, he suffered from a condition in which he struggled to remember faces.

"But I can tell people apart by smell, touch, clothing."

"That is not enough," his tone admonished any countering. If Luo Meng could be healed, Nevoria would then have the best spy, or better yet, a.s.sa.s.sin on hand.

"Your subject, Zhi Peng greets His Majesty, the emperor."

The emperor sat behind a cream faded screen that concealed him into silhouette, later on that evening in his chambers. "How far are you from finding her?"

"When His Majesty is ready to have her summoned in the palace, it shall be done."

They found her quite easily? This was why Zhi Peng was his appointed advisor, he could research everything to help him make decisions―though he did not need his advice. "Alright. When I get back at the palace summon her."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhi Peng bowed.

"But His Majesty does not seem pleased." Luo Meng who sat on the corner behind the emperor cast a surprised expression.

He was right. Truth was, the excitement he felt for Elora had weaned without him realising. He was now possessed by the suns.h.i.+ne that warmed him inside. "I think Li Lian is Elora."

"Your Majesty, that is not possible." Zhi Peng was quick to dismiss.

"Anything is possible." He looked back at Luo Meng. "What do you think?"

Luo Meng repeated his words back at him. "Anything is possible."

Zhi Peng was not as willing to back off. "But Your Majesty from what this subject has found out about Li Lian, her childhood in Nevoria is non-existent in opposition to what the Wei clan states. That woman must be a spy from Huticah, Your Majesty."

Shen Hong's fisted his hands and bit his lips. It was like Zhi Peng just punched him in the stomach. It can't be. She cannot be from there. She must not be.

"Why Huticah and not any other country?" Luo Meng challenged.

"Your Majesty! That woman occasionally meets General Feng. This cannot be forgotten."

Luo Meng groaned. "That is not enough substance. We work with facts not a.s.sumptions."

"Enough," Shen Hong silenced them. Harsh truth as it may be, this confirmed his suspicions. Li Lian had connections with Elora and some treachery work in progress. "If her background is non-exist, then you shall look harder until she exists."

"Your Majesty! From what this subject knows she has to be a spy," Zhi Peng whined.

"How is that news? I do not employ you to repeat things to me."

Zhi Peng instantly slapped himself twice. "This subject deserves to die." Another slap. "Forgive this subject."

Li Lian was a mistress of deception. She could be anyone and he was going to catch her at it. Wretched woman. "I heard that my swordmaster is back at the cave. Hear my command."

From where he hid, Eunuch Nam rushed in with the scribe. "Your servants are listening."

"Ask General Ling to lend me any of her favourite wear. Let her know that I will compensate her."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"And Luo Meng, I have something special I will need you to organise for me." It was going to be specially made for Li Lian.

S.V