Chapter 47: Xia Xiaohua

The sun has died. A man is running down from the mountain. He passed through the forest of pine trees and hundreds of bushes. He seems to be in rush. He panted for so many times, catching air inside his lungs. Suddenly, he stepped on a rock and slipped. He rolled down on the downhill slope and stopped when his back crashed to a trunk.

"Where are you going?", A deep voice coming behind him.

The man is panting heavy breath. He shows nothing but panic on his face. His whole body is trembling with fear, he couldn't stood on his feet.

"P-Please, Sir!! I-I'm nothing but a mere messenger!!!"

He crawled away, but his eyes are locked on the slithering black cobra in front of him. The snake crimson orbs are shining, and his very sharp silver fangs are drooling.

"You had the chance to run away since 2 days ago but it's your own foolishness that lead you to stay comfortably inside His Majesty's manor."

"P-Please, Sir-"

The man didn't had the chance to continue his words. The black cobra slithered to his left foot and twined that man's stomach and chest. The snake crushed his bones with powerful twist until the man spitted black blood from his mouth. He couldn't breath nor regenerate his internal injuries. For the final touch, the snake bit his neck with its sharp silver fangs and discharged a liquid that quickly spreaded through that man's blood.

Once the snake done with its business, it released its bite and left two teeth marks on his neck. The talking snake slithered away, untied his body from its twist and left him alone. That man gradually lost his consciousness and became suffocated as a result for not being able to catch an air. His pale face turned blue, and his eyes turned to absolute white. His black veins printed clearly on his bluish skin.

"Your Majesty.", The snake bowed at Xin Suan who is still reading a book inside his room.

"Ah, you have back."

"I have done your request perfectly. By this, if the investigator team ever bumps into his dead body, they will find his death caused by a snake's attack."

"Well done, Hei She."

In the next morning, Yin Ling received a letter from Xia Xiaoli's family. His wife reported that Xia Xiaoli has been missing for three days and she search for a help. His wife wrote that his disappearance is odd. She informed that Xia Xiaoli went somewhere after had a meeting with Chairman Ma and never came back afterward.

Since Yin Ling is the head of military and defense section, he has the right to despatch an investigator team for helping the nobles to resolve their matters.Yet the investigator team is neutral. They are built that way, so they only speak the truth. Neither Yin Ling nor Xin Suan couldn't tell them what was actually happened, so they chose to fool their own soldiers into their little scenario.

By the moon raises, Xin Suan prepared himself. He took a long bath and burnt much perfume incenses. Jiu Lan wondered why his master behaving unordinary. He chose to dress himself quite flashy and asked her to do his hair. However, he looked very handsome, befitting the figure of a young emperor even without armor wrapping his body.

Before he left the manor, he wore a bamboo hat and thin black veil to cover his lower face. He rode a horse and went away. Jiu Lan who is burn by curiousity finally dared herself to ask Yin Ling when the two had dinner together.

"General, where did His Majesty go? He prepared a lot tonight."

"To the tea house.", Yin Ling replied calmly while chewing some meal inside his mouth.

Jiu Lan was too shocked until she dropped her chopsticks on the table. Yin Ling who was also surprised instantly turn his head from his bowl to the woman in front of him.

"T-Tea house!?", Jiu Lan who is now not wearing a mask widened her hazel eyes.

"D-Don't get the wrong idea!! I-It's not something like that!!", Yin Ling swallows his food in one gulp.

"W-What kind of errand does he has in that kind of place...???"

"A meeting! It's a secret meeting, he disguised himself as a customer!"

"Oh my... Poor Ai Lie...."

"Jie Jie, don't get the wrong idea!! It's just a disguised!! Beside it's not a real tea house!!"

It was Yin Ling idea to arranged the meeting in that place. Jiu Lan is unhappy with his plan especially when she knows Xin Suan's guest is a woman. A tea house is an entertainment house, it's improper for a man to meet a woman in the night let alone in a dirty place. Immediately Jiu Lan feels sorry for Ai Lie, but it's already too late.

Xin Suan arrived at the capital city's front gate. He placed his horse there and entered the gate. The street he walked on is crowded, he jostled in the middle of people passing by. Miraculously, no one realized his presence as an asura nor recognized his face as a king, everyone who accidentally looked at him will ignore him right away. It seems he covered himself with a spell.

He entered the tea house. Many men and women having their blissful moments inside the room. Laughter, chatter, and music are filling this whole building. His crimson eyes wandering around, scanning every table he passed. Voila! A young woman with bear fur coat sat alone in the corner of the room. It seems she can't disguised herself well as a normal commoner, she still dressed elegantly like a noble, used best jewelries, and wore make up on her beautiful baby face. She had a glass of drink.

Xin Suan approached her but she didn't realized his presence. He knocked the wooden table twice and she quickly gained her focus.

"Your-"

"Shh!", Xin Suan coded her to stop, "Follow me."

The young woman looked nervous as she follow Xin Suan behind. They walked and turned left after reaching the end of the secret hallway inside the big building. They arrived at a room that is very far from the crowd.

"Come in.", Xin Suan opened the door.

"Ah, yes!"

A wooden table with two chairs are placed in the middle of this secret chamber. It is obvious this chamber isn't used for any filthy deeds but purposely made for secret meetings. Xin Suan sat on one of the chair, and the young woman quickly followed his movement.

"Your name?", He opened his bamboo hat and removed his veil.

"Xi-Xia Xiaohua, Your Majesty!"

The young woman couldn't help but staring at the magnificence in front of her, 'Ah.. He is as handsome as what the rumor said.'

"My apologies to make you meet me in the place like this."

"T-That's fine, Your Majesty!"

Xin Suan stared at her for a while and silently muttered as his eyes scans every detail of her face, 'Small and short body. Wide and bright eyes. Pinkish chubby cheeks. Stuttering when she is nervous. Ha... She reminds me to someone.'.

"Uhh... Y-Your Majesty, I still don't know our purpose of meeting here...", Her face grew redder after watching Xin Suan didn't blink his eyes for a while but stick them at her sharply.

"Right.", Xin Suan leaned his back on the chair, "Xia Xiaohua, you have to swear me a thing. After this meeting, you may not open your mouth even if you are forced to. If you betray me, I will make you pay for it."

Xia Xiaohua gulped in nervous, 'And also he is as scary as what the rumor said!'

"I-I swear it with my own life, Your Majesty!"

"Good. Now, do you have any idea where Xia Xiaoli is?"

"M-My brother?? Not at all, Your Majesty.", She shook her head, "He is always travelling around this world. May I know why did you ask such question?"

From this Xin Suan knew that Xia Xiaoli's missing is still a secret even between his own family. The only one who is troubled with his disappearance is his own wife.

"Hmm... To make it short, I will have you to read this.", He handed over a roll of paper.

Xia Xiaohua read every letters written on the silk made paper. She widened her eyes as they reached the middle part of the paper roll. When she has done reading, a drop of tear is rolling down to her cheek.

"F-Forgive me, Your Majesty! I must apologize on behalf of my brother!!", Her voice is trembling.

"No need to cry. I came here not to punish you or threatening you. I came here to clarified your brother's death and to ask you a favor."

"... A favor?", she wiped her eyes.

"Before we started, I must apologize to you too for being rude.", He stood from his chair.

He walked beside Xia Xiaohua and kneeled, " I want to give you this.", He pulled her wrist and put on a green jade bracelet with a silver dragon pendant on it.

"T-This...!?", Xia Xiaohua had her feeling mixed between happy and sad.

"A refusal token. Forgive me for giving you this too late, Xia Xiaohua. Since my real name is a secrecy, I gave you a dragon pendant instead."

Dragon is Xin Suan's emblem. It symbolizes his legacy, which means the public will knew that the silver dragon is a refusal token from the king.

"From now on, hold your head high, Xia Xiaohua. I hope you will meet your soulmate soon."

Xia Xiaohua admires the beauty of the jade bracelet. Though indeed she is a daughter of a jewelries businessman, she never saw something so beautiful like the one on her wrist. Or was it because the bracelet a gift from a handsome charming king?

Xin Suan sticked himself back on the empty chair.

"Your Majesty.... I may be impudent, but I want to know the reason behind this refusal token."

Xin Suan took a breath.

"I already have someone that I will never dare to betray or to cheat on her."

Her rose gold eyes stared at the bracelet. Somehow her expression show slightest disappointment.

"Very well, at least now I know why I get rejected twice, and I am grateful it wasn't because my lackness. Hehehe.", She smiled.

"You aren't lack anything if you could proof your usefulness to me."

"... Pardon?", She raised her eyebrows.

"Firstly, I am the one who is responsible for your brother's missing."

Xia Xiaohua took a pause. She is still processing his words.

"Yes. Me and General Yin are the perpetrators who penalized him to death."

Xia Xiaohua gasped in surprised.

"I hope you will show understanding towards our decisions."

"..... After all what he done, he deserved it. Once again, as the youngest child of Xia family, I beg your forgiveness, Your Majesty.", Xia Xiaohua lowered her head.

Xin Suan couldn't reply anything. Thus he chose to move to the bigger matter.

"Secondly, I need your knowledge as his sister. Have you ever heard about this 'Venomous Thorns'?"

Xia Xiaohua shook her head.

"Very well. Have he ever asked you or your other siblings to support him financially?"

Xia Xiaohua pinched her own chin. She flinched her eyebrows and her glare on the table became sharp.

"5 years ago, there was a time when he asked us to invest for his businesses. Since he is the successor of my father's riches, we his younger siblings are prohibited to poke our noses in his businesses. He asked my older siblings and me to met him in his house, but he didn't ask for money. Instead, he asked us to support him with fineries and high quality cloth. But me and my older siblings don't get along very well with him, so my second older brother and my sister refused his proposal."

"And you are the only sibling who is still willing to support him, yes?"

Xia Xiaohua nodded, "Correct, Your Majesty. I thought he needed those items for his stores."

"You aren't wrong. Indeed, he needed those for his own good, but do you know that the reason behind it was he actually almost bankrupt?"

Xia Xiaohua widened her eyes again.

"It seems you don't know. Because of this secret project that I mention in the article you read, he lost too much money. He was blackmailed by Chairman Ma and pushed to the edge so that he will beg for your father's support. He didn't even pay the mandatory tax."

"He-What??? Didn't pay???"

Xin Suan nodded.

"A man like him... He was always proud and loved to gain the spotlight among the nobles. I didn't know he fell into terrible useless things like that."

"Now, Xiaohua, I will ask for your honesty."

The air grew colder than before. Xia Xiaohua became nervous.

"Which side do you support? Your own brother or us the remaining asuras?"

The answer is obvious. Though Xia Xiaohua shares the same blood as their villain, she is not siding with her own brother. She shares different opinion with him, but the atmosphere inside the room become terrifying. She feels like she is being threatened.

"O-Of course the asuras, Your Majesty....", Her voice is trembling.

"Are you certain?"

Xia Xiaohua quickly nodded in cold sweat.

"Good. I hope you stick to your words."

Finally the heavy burden that smothering her neck is relieved.

"Now, the last thing I want to say. I have a personal request for you. Collect every documents in your brother's house and bring them to me, especially those who mentioned this 'Venomous Thorns'. No one must know about your action, so you have to act in conceal. Can you accomplish that?"

A personal request from the king himself. Xia Xiaohua, although she is a daughter of a nobleman, no one ever acknowledged her as an aristocrat due to her innocent child-like appearance. She is judged as childish yet cocky because her father was very strict and oftenly meddled in her relationships. In result, she became an outcast in elite society. But isn't this good? If she could proof herself worthy in front of the king's eyes, she will never need someone else's recognition.

"Yes I can, Your Majesty. I will do whatever it takes to accomplish your mission.", She spoke boldly and burnt by vigor.

"Such a strong will. In return, I will grant you anything you want as long as your wishes have nothing to do with me."

Ah. That means she must not cross the line.

"Can I ask something, Your Majesty?"

"Do tell."

"My brother's sin is unforgivable, yet me, my father, my mother, and my other older siblings have never interfered with his sinful actions. If I could completed my task successfully, I-"

"You don't want your family to be exiled, am I correct?"

Xia Xiaohua was surprised. She wondered if Xin Suan actually could read her mind.

"Don't worry, I never have that kind of intention even if you can't fulfill my request. But still, you have to be careful. One wrong move and you will be doomed. Try to act in stealth and never reveal our little secret to someone else, even to your family. Do you understand?"

Xia Xiaohua nodded a few times.

"Good. Bring me what I asked by next week. We will meet again in this place. Now our meeting has ended, my apologies for taking your time."

"N-No, not at all, Your Majesty."

"Very well, let me take you home."

Xia Xiaohua feels very fluttered, "T-T-There's no need, Your Majesty!! I-I-I could go home by myself!! M-My house isn't far anyway..."

"It's not good for a young woman to walk alone this late. As a man, let me protect you. I need you to be safe."

Well, his intention is not for romantic affair in the first place. Delivering Xia Xiaohua to her home was nothing but a mere act to keep her from any harm since he will need her to be his 'accomplice'. But Xia Xiaohua definitely mistook his actions as something more than that.

Xin Suan walked Xia Xiaohua to her manor. She is the daughter of a rich person, she has her own personal manor, guards, and servants, as if she is a princess. Xia Xiaohua bowed at Xin Suan before his leaving, but he didn't even reply her with word nor smile. She watched his flowing black robe on his back, further and further from the gate of her manor. Deep in her heart, she can't wait for the next meeting.

Xin Suan has fully dressed with veil and bamboo hat. He went back to the city gate and rode his horse. He travelled back to his manor. The moon is at the top of the sky, and it's already midnight.

But Jiu Lan who couldn't sleep knew his arrival and greeted him at the gate. Xin Suan wondered why she looked so disappointed, but he preferred not to ask anything. While Jiu Lan herself chose not to speak about her disatisfaction. Her mind kept telling her prejudice especially after knowing her master came back to the manor so late. She turned herself like a doll, she helped him to undress his flashy garments and washed the oil from his hair without speaking a word.

Xin Suan quick bath has done. He laid his body on his soft wide bed. He closed his eyes and lost consciousness for 4 hours. The first thing greeted him after he regained his consciousness was Yin Ling.

"Heeyy.", Yin Ling shook his shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing at my room?", Xin Suan rubbed his eyes.

"We have a meeting with the councillors, remember?"

"Shit, I forget."

"You.... Yesterday, you didn't do anything with her, right?"

"What the heck!? Of course not!"

"Then why are you looking very tired right now?"

"I walked her to her manor, that's why I'm coming home too late.", Xin Suan gets up from his bed.

Yin Ling throws a glare to him.

"Be loyal to your owner, Your Majesty. Just because she isn't here, doesn't mean you can play with another girl."

"What the hell are you talking about!? It's still morning, don't mess with me!"

Yin Ling frowned at Xin Suan as he watched Xin Suan entered his bathroom. Today, those two asuras have an important agenda. Both of them dressed in full armor, readily to travel to the palace. When the two entered the throne room in Chang Huan Palace, many old men who stood in line greeted them. Xin Suan and Yin Ling crawled up to the higher floor as their footsteps are accompanied by the clack of their iron boots. Xin Suan sat on his throne while Yin Ling stood beside him.

The sunlight shines above Xin Suan, as if he is the chosen one. His ruby diamonds glanced at the crowd of old people below. From his throne, he could see the sly faces on those filthy councillors who are secretly rebel from him. His brain is still fantazising about how to kill them one by one with his own hand, but he knew he couldn't do that easily. As the king of the criminals, Xin Suan at least still try to be wise and kind.

"Your Majesty.", A man spoke loudly. His deep voice is echoing to the walls, filling the whole room.