Rising Phoenix

Helian Zheng turned, glaring furiously at the Grand Physician. As soon as the old man met Helian Zheng's eyes, he quivered as if fighting an intense battle before turning and fleeing.

"Hu!"

"Cha!"

The old man fell with a cry, steps away from the gate, his back stabbed with a folding fan and an ornamental dagger.

Helian Zheng and Ning Yi both straightened, putting down their hands and exchanging a glance. The blades in their eyes glittered as they laughed.

"Prince Chu has great Kungfu!"

"Prince Hu Zhuo has great decisiveness!"

"Ha ha."

"Hei Hei."

After laughing, they turned, ignoring each other.

The Tian Sheng Emperor regained his calm and spoke. After saying some words of consolation to Ning Yi, he ordered the Three Judicial Departments to return to their investigations of the previous crimes, adding on Director Liu's collusion to murder a Dynasty Prince. Finally, he turned to Helian Zheng: "Next time, don't be so hasty."

Helian Zheng's mouth twitched as he lowered his head: "Yes. Please, Your Majesty, help our tribe find the real killer."

"Of course." The Emperor replied, smiling kindly as he brought back order to the court. "You can leave this case with the Three Judicial Departments. You will have your justice. It is just as your King Father said, you are still young and boisterous; your Father has asked me many times to find you a legal wife, saying that our Tian Sheng women are mild and virtuous and could soften your temper. Do you have a person in mind?"

Helian Zheng's face twitched. The Hu Zhuo King wanted a marriage alliance with the Central Plains and the Tian Sheng Emperor was happy with the idea, but Helian Zheng did not want to be bound by marriage and had kept delaying. But today, he had wrongfully created chaos and the Tian Sheng Emperor had immediately seized this matter — if he still refused, the old man would tell his father and he would have no more good days.

But he truly did not want to tie himself down to a woman so quickly, and the Central Plain's women were soft like greenhouse flowers. Where was the fun?

After struggling with himself, a brilliant idea popped into his head as he recalled an interesting encounter he had a couple days ago.

"Your Majesty," Helian Zheng began. "There is someone that I like, but this woman has a low status and cannot be the Hu Zhuo Prince's legal wife. What does Your Majesty think if I take her as my concubine?"

"Oh?" The Tian Sheng Emperor emoted, curious. "Since you are willing then I am happy to see it happen. Which family's daughter? Say the name and I will marry her to you."

Ning Yi and the others all turned curious gazes to examine the prince, the intense air somewhat dissipating.

"This minister has only met her once. She is not beautiful, but incredibly talented, and I like that." Helian Zheng lifted his chin, cocking his brows as his eyes danced with hidden playfulness and excitement. "Niece to Fifth Army General Master Qiu, Feng Zhiwei."

Ning Yi's head suddenly whipped backwards.

Meanwhile, Feng Zhiwei's hands shook and she almost dropped the white cloth she was using to wrap her wound.

Both of them looked over, Ning Yi staring at Feng Zhiwei, Feng Zhiwei glancing at Ning Yi, their eyes meeting for a moment.

Then the moment passed and they both turned away, Feng Zhiwei continuing to bind her wound, glancing sidelong at Helian Zheng. She used the same gaze to look at her bleeding hand, as if Helian Zheng were a wound the she needed to wrap fiercely, tight enough that he could not move.

Such matters were not fitting for the Golden Palace and the Emperor soon dismissed the ministers, ordering Helian Zheng to the Imperial Study. The experienced ministers and Princes were brought along, even Feng Zhiwei accompanying them, in charge of the Tian Sheng Emperor's ink and brush.

As soon as they were seated in the study, Ning Yi turned to Helian Zheng, his eyes glimmering with a cold, bladed smile, the same expression he had worn when Helian Zheng was framing him for treason.

He smiled, saying: "I was just thinking, the Prince really is quite interesting. Being married by the Son of Heaven is such a glorious opportunity, do you really want to waste this chance on a concubine? Do you really think you can depend so heavily on the Son of Heaven's generosity, without any sense of propriety?"

"Prince Chu's words are strange." Helian Zhang shot back sardonically, purple light glimmering in his amber irises. "This is his Imperial Majesty's grace, as a minister, am I supposed to refuse his gift?"

"Really?" Ning Yi smile thinly, curving only around the corners of his lips. "Too much cleverness will snap, and too much prosperity will lead to decay, Hu Zhuo Prince needs to be careful of too much good fortune[1] or it will take its toll on your life."

"Wheat bran[2]?" Helian Zheng cocked his head, not understanding Ning Yi's complicated court subtlety. "My horses eat the best oats and they grow strong and powerful so they can carry my 38-catty heavy spear. You Tian Sheng young masters are too frail to withstand a gust of wind, with your powder and your paint. Your horses only need wheat bran to grow strong enough to carry you."

His words were as incongruous as the mouth of a horse on the head of an ox, but as everyone was hiding their smiles, Helian Zheng proudly continued: "The Tian Sheng women have to be ridden by you weak men, how pathetic!"

The princes and ministers reddened, with some of the white haired ministers covering their faces and cursing the savage for profaning the golden palace. If it were not for the presence of the Emperor, some of the ministers may have flicked their sleeves and taken their leave.

Feng Zhiwei had just been tying up her bandage with her teeth when she heard these words and she could not resist a jolt, almost ripping open her knot.

Ning Yi turned to focus on Helian Zheng, examining him for a moment before nodding: "Truly, the prince is a heroic and rare man. With words like those, the women of Dijing must find you legendary, flocking around you like birds."

Some of the other men gathered in the Imperial Study snickered.

"She will definitely be honored to marry me." Helian Zheng replied proudly.

Glancing sidelong at Helian Zheng again, Ning Yi suddenly laughed, nodding and sincerely replying: "Yes, prince, you are right. This little prince will await the day that you and your new woman come thank the Emperor, and on that day I'll definitely prepare a precious gift to congratulate you."

His words were sincere but his tone was undeniably mocking. Helian Zheng was not stupid, and he turned to glare angrily at Ning Yi.

The two men stared off, one smiling coldly, the other staring angrily, ready to come to blows, all that was missing were the lightning bolts and roaring thunder.

All the ministers exchanged speechless glances, wondering at Prince Chu's strange behavior. He would normally never stare down another person like this, and they all thought his behavior influenced by his grudge against Helian Zheng for wrapping him up in the deadly scandal.

The Tian Sheng Emperor assumed the same thing, noticing Ning Yi's unpleasant expression and stepping in to change the subject, chuckling as he said: "Prince, Qiu Shangqi's niece is one of the finest women of Dijing, with her background, why did you say she is of low status and only fitting as a concubine?"

A minister coughed lightly as Grand Secretary Yao Ying leaned in to awkwardly explain: "Your Majesty, Qiu Shangqi has only one younger sister, the one who that year…"

[1] 福泽fu ze, good fortune

[2] 麸子 Fu zi wheat bran