Reborn To Be The Imperial Consort [BL]-Chapter 125: Dancing Daffodils — VI

[Bonus Chapter 10]

Special dedication to: AriaDragoness1

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"Lijing! Hu Lijing!" Li Xinyuan seized the nine-tailed fox by his shoulder. His grip on the male was tight, knuckles white with exertion. "Calm your heart." He whispered, his own voice shook in spite of those words.

The winds howled their ominous call. The frozen and dead trees shook, their branches trembled as the snow continued to fall down in a relentless pursuit.

The surgeon swallowed, resolutely as he could, he pulled Hu Lijing backwards. His throat bobbed with every dry swallow. His eyes darted towards the maw of the cave; golden gaze danced precariously on the periphery of light and oblivion.

"Think." He said in a low voice, desperate to have even a sliver of hope. "You said so yourself, Lijing. He cannot be back, your lover saw him pass on."

Hu Lijing trembled, his hands — fallen to his side and clenched in loose fists — shook along. Whether it was from fear, apprehension, or rage; Li Xinyuan had no way to know.

"He did." The fox of divine flames nodded, almost cautious as though he feared fostering hope. "He did." He repeated.

Perhaps it was the nine-tailed fox’s fear, but Li Xinyuan was starting to feel anxious and frightened too.

"Then, we must return." He stated firmly, kept his gaze trained on the cave’s mouth. "This is a risk too high."

The surgeon clenched his other hand behind his back. Regrettable as it was, it would be nothing but a fool’s game to forge ahead when they both knew very well who their opponent was.

Li Xinyuan took a deep, cold breath that froze his lungs to an extent. The chill in his heart overrode the warmth of his Qi as it spread far and wide in the vessel of his body.

The two of them would not be able to face the fallen ten-tailed fox all alone.

To do so, Li Xinyuan shot Xueyue a brief glance, they would require the Crown Prince’s assistance.

From the description of the horrors the fallen deity had thundered upon the Spirit Realm, Li Xinyuan knew better than to take the ten-tailed fox lightly.

"Let us return." He repeated himself when the amber-haired male showed no signs of backing away. "This will be a foolish move, Lijing." He tried to persuade the latter.

However—

The surgeon heaved a sigh, his shoulders slumping as he caught a gleam of old wound reopening and a fiery desire to see in the nine-tailed fox’s eyes.

His hand squeezed on the form shoulder, his eyes trained on the side of Hu Lijing’s face. And he knew, there was no reasoning with him.

"Do you wish for this?" He asked, keeping his voice low. For a brief moment, he saw rue in Hu Lijing’s glance.

"Yes," the nine-tailed fox of divine flames nodded, swallowing as if to brace himself. "I have to. I must be sure, though it was ZhenHai who witnessed the disaster dissipating... What if his soul managed to linger and travel through the realms after me?"

Li Xinyuan bowed his head for a moment, his ears twitching at the tremble ill-concealed under Hu Lijing’s voice.

"This is dangerous." He reminded again, his heart hammered in his chest. "He may very well be a rabid demon at the moment, to have caused such a disastrous blizzard. Are you absolutely certain?"

Hu Lijing nodded, his eyes narrowed as he stepped closer to the frost-layered cave. "By all means." He breathed out.

Li Xinyuan bowed his head, accepting his defeat as he allowed his hand to drop off Hu Lijing’s shoulder. "Let us go then."

At that, the nine-tailed fox stiffened. Belatedly, his head snapped to look at Li Xinyuan, his eyes blown wide in alarm.

"No!" He spat, furiously shaking his head. "You will not come with me, Xinyuan."

In response, the surgeon shook his head. "I will." He asserted in a calm voice. Or just as calm as he could muster up at the moment. "I will not allow you to venture alone in this."

"You—"

"—Lijing," the surgeon cut him off, making the nine-tailed fox jolt. "I insist."

The nine-tailed fox swallowed, his lips pursed together as he turned his head towards to his entrace of the cave to dodge the earnest gaze of his friend.

After a long moment, he sucked in a breath through his teeth, feeling the damning chill, nodded stiffly. "Very well," he hissed reluctantly. "But. At the first sign of true danger, you will flee without looking back."

Li Xinyuan squinted at that. Those words were nothing short of alarming. His fists tightened behind his back, his heart clamouring to protest.

In the end, he said nothing but nodded with a sigh. This bargain, he would accept it. "Very well. But—" he held his palm towards Hu Lijing "—before we do this. Let me—"

He turned to smile at Xueyue who sat perched on his shoulder. The bird had not said a single word throughout this exchange. "—Yueyue, will you do something for me?"

Gently, he petted the bird, scratched its head with care.

It seemed to understand the gravity of the situation as it nodded. "Your wish is the command, Master." Worried, it nuzzled its soft head against Li Xinyuan’s throat. "Yueyue shall follow whatever you desire."

Li Xinyuan felt his heart soften. His hands gentled further on its head. "I ought to thank you then." He stole a glance at Hu Lijing, then re-centred himself on Xueyue. "Fly, Yueyue. You must bring my request for aid to His Highness himself. And no one else."

Xueyue tilted its head. "No one else?" It chirped.

Li Xinyuan shook his head firmly. "Not a single soul. Now depart." Xueyue let out a chirp and flew into the stormy skies.

"May the heaven be with you, Master!"

Li Xinyuan watched, with head tilted back, the bird disappear into the white of the storm. Beside him, Hu Lijing watched along before speaking up.

"Why the Highness?" He inquired, curiosity embroiled his heart all the while. "Alone, too."

Li Xinyuan did not look away from the sky, for it could be his last sighting. With an enigmatic smile, he chuckled in answer. "If not My Liege, then who else?"

None but a few were stronger than that man, and above his station, Li Xinyuan had not the stature to ask for aid.

His heart fluttered strangely in the confines of his ribs, fingers curled on the inside of his sleeves, he shook his head. "He is enough."

Hu Lijing looked at his side profile, his eyebrows rose at the words. In the end, he abstained from making a passing comment on the look that grace Li Xinyuan’s handsome face.

Turning on his heels, the fox spirit squared his shoulders and held his head high as he marched towards the darkened, chilling maw.

"Let us go."

Li Xinyuan nodded, following behind a few paces with his elegant brows drawn in a tense furrow. "Yes."

It would be a long, nerve-wrecking journey, that much he was certain of.

...

The Crown Prince’s Palace, Forbidden City.

Reclined on the comfortable chair, Liu Mingyun sat behind his work table. Head resting on his loose fist, with elbow perched on the arm rest, he idly observed the meeting proceeded in front of himself.

The officials who were in his favour argued back and forth with no end in sight. Decorum long forgotten now, they were merely scholars exchanging their views in a less than graceful manner.

Not for the first instance, the Crown Prince found himself bored. His mind wandered to seek escape from the pointless tedium of the ensuing debate.

He couldn’t quite understand the need for political manoeuvre proposed to himself. He was irreplaceable for the Royal Court, after all. Both in terms of the military might as well as strategic management of the empire.

He was confident in both his strength as well as cruciality of his position in this elaborate play. Thus, Liu Mingyun saw no point in the debates, however entertaining they may be.

These days, aside from the duties he was obligated to perform, Liu Mingyun found himself increasingly drawn to the thoughts circling his betrothed.

How is Xin’er fairing? Are his travels harsh on him? He is on the more delicate side, surely he must find the constance of journey hard? His letters seem fine, but is he really?

Such thoughts had become almost staple. All too often Liu Mingyun feared he would become like his Imperial Father and Lord Father who only had each other in mind whenever they were near.

Having something in between was good, but an excess of anything was bad. Be it love, grief, anger or hatred.

That was what the Crown Prince liked to tell himself when he was younger, un-weathered by the trials of the royal life. Overtime that belief had only strengthened.

Yet, these days Liu Mingyun found his resolve wavering from the unshakeable plateau he had built for so long.

And the reason for the quake?

Li Xinyuan.

The Crown Prince sighed without words. Simply knocking his fist on the table, he signalled the dismissal of the meeting.

"You may leave." He intoned absently, and allowed his crimson gaze to wander towards the window.

Xin’er. He thought, are you well?

Somehow, his heart felt restless.