His Majestyâs Orders Canât be Defied
I never thought Uncle Huang came to the same conclusion as I did while he was recovering in the underground palace.
âAll this old one can do with all the time on his hands is mull over these things. If he still knew less than you, then he lived his life in vain.â Uncle Huang, seemingly reading my mind, chuckled, and then turned to Boss Shen. âFiendsâ Genesis stressed us. The White Princes benefited. Is there still anything that isnât obvious?â
Boss was smart â just a tad less than me. She had a hard think, then punched me, went back to thinking and exhaled. âIt is hard to accept. I never thought all of our struggles against Jiang Chen were just a front to so much more.â
Uncle Huang coldly said, âOpposing the imperial court is courting death. Fiendsâ Genesis suffered, while the White Princes gained all that there was to gain. If they were not colluding, would someone as shrewd as Gongsun Chu be willing to work for another? Fiendsâ Genesis are fools; their trust in someone as ruthless and shrewd as him will be their own undoing.â
Uncle Huang fell asleep a while later as we continued talking, but he didnât forget to stress that we had to find out the truth before he succumbed to his fatigue. After shutting the door gently behind us, Boss and I could see the dilemmas we were both facing. There werenât many among the White Princes who had what it took to kill Elder Yu, but no names came to mind. They were all wielded authority and physical might that could almost compare to Shaolinâs abbot. If they killed the head of Confucianism, theyâd cause a huge stir.
Uncle Huang wouldâve accused someone if Confucians were okay with falsely accusing people. The culprit undoubtedly left too little evidence, or Yan Shisan wouldâve already found out who it was.
âAre we really going to pick up this case?â
Walking beside me, Boss bobbed her head. âNot us, though, but me.â
âDid I just get fired?â
âDo you have time for it? The sun is coming up.â
The two of us cast our gaze to the horizon, where we saw the first rays of sunlight and sighed in synchrony, except I lowered my head afterwards to steal a glance of Bossâ face. Perhaps the angle I saw her face from was even more mesmerising than her beauty, making me reactively lower my head again.
âAnother day has passed by.â Boss looked towards me. âThe academy idol contest commences tomorrow. Are you ready?â
âItâs daybreakâŠâ
Of course⊠not. I wasnât preparing for the idol contest, and I had things I still needed to wrap up. I heaved a big breath.
âSomething stressing you out?â
âNah, just some shameless military guy whoâs bloody strong is making life hard for me.â
âPfft.â Boss patted my head. âDonât call people shameless when youâre no better.â
I was speechless, not because I couldnât think of a comeback but because I recalled that night at the inn.
â⊠You best make sure youâre in a spot to say that before you say it.â
â???â
âAhem, Boss, head back and catch some sleep. I need to pay His Majesty a visit.â
Boss was visibly somewhat peeved I took a ânaturalâ step back, but my second sentence distracted her. âYouâre going into the palace at this hour?â
âHehe.â I took out a golden⊠piece of wood from my shirt. âYes!â
***đđđ đŁđđđđ.đđđ
âIdiot! Moron! Fool! BrainlessâŠâ
âYour Majesty.â
âWhy did you wake me at this hour?â
Even though His Majesty had his finger pointed at me, it was too early in the morning for him to find the words to insult me with.
I apologetically cupped my hands in salute. âYour subject apologies for waking you up, but your subject has an urgent report to make.â
âThat doesnât justify having someone pull me out of bed! To make matters worse, you had Wang Tushui go ask Her Majesty go to Brilliant Consortâs palace to wake me. You really want to see me miserable, donât you?â
âNobody else would dare to go, though.â
âThat doesnât just-â
âYour Majesty, Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor have shown up.â
âOh!â His Majesty leaned his face that resembled the aftermath of a maniac catâs attack closer and gestured with his hands. âCome closer to speak.â
I jogged over straight away despite not knowing why we had to be so close when the only other person in the palace besides us was Eunuch Wang.
âDonât give me that look! This sets the atmosphere!â chided His Majesty. âSo, what did she say?â
âOh, oh, she said, as long asâŠâ
And so, I doubled Zuo Suniangâs demands â especially when it came to how many people she wanted to recruit and how much money she needed. Donât get it twisted now. I wasnât trying to make things difficult for Northern Wondrous Warrior Manor; I just wanted His Majesty to not have an excessively positive impression of them. That was my insurance policy in case they came after me in the future. Moreover, His Majesty wouldnât accept her ridiculous terms, so why not raise the bar to give him room? In that way, heâd still be able to satisfy her demands even if he shaved off 50%.
You can call me Master Negotiator Ming.
âApproved.â His Majesty nodded. âIs that it?â
Wh-what did His Majesty just say? Why are you being so generous?! Pay me back my three hundred thousand, then! You have money to renovate their manor but not pay me for going to war for you?! Is this surnameism?! I can call you âDadâ, too! Iâm your son-in-law, after all!
âThey had to suffer unjust punishments. Li Clan lacks men in the family. We must come together in the future, so we cannot lose Northern Wondrous Warrior Manorâs support.â
⊠And what about me? Now thereâs a fat extra sum.
âAll that said, itâs not enough to earn her trust. Go tell her that, not only do I agree to her terms, but I will also double them!â
âHuh?! Four times?!â
âWhat? Double is twice. Where did you learn your maths from?â
âAh, no, you see⊠your subject was stupefied.â
Doesnât this mean⊠Iâve just earned a huge sum?
âAs long as sheâs willing to tell me where the secret path is, her demands are trivial.â
âWhat secret path?â
His Majesty looked at me as if I was a moron. âWhat sort of question is that? How can I trust them if I donât have jurisdiction over the secret passage?â
Oh⊠I see you havenât woken up yet. You want their secret passage? I promised not to ask for it.
âNo matter what you have to do, find out where it is.â
⊠Your Majesty, do you remember I have to attend the exams? How can you order me around like this? Since youâre forcing my hand, Iâll have to accept the generous extra sum!