Wolf King And His Fox Consort [BL]

Xiao Ziyi let out an undignified groan the moment she heard Chu Yun's suggestion.

"By the Heavens, why would that be first thing that came to your mind?"

The obvious answer was: because it made sense.

Xiao Ziyi was an unmarried alpha, the Commander General of the Zui army, and was in good standing with her brother, the King of Zui.

Of course Xiao Zai would be trying to seek a politically advantageous marriage for her sister, and of course her sister would be interested in that as well.

Xiao Ziyi however, seemed reluctant to see the brilliance of Chu Yun's plan. "You said it yourself that Ru Long will probably look into any correspondence from Zui towards the royal family of Su"

Chu Yun nodded, but was quick to amend, "which is why we'll send a letter to the King, and another to the Queen, extending her an invitation to Haolin, so that you and the Third Princess can meet. The Queen will be able to make her own choice on the matter."

While it was expected that Xiao Ziyi found a spouse, that the person would be a human princess was unorthodox -- to say the least. Which was part of the problem her current 'flirtation' with Hua Nanyi presented.

Chu Yun didn't know how far either of them planned to take things, but both of them must know that if they wanted an 'official' relationship in any sense they'd encounter numerous obstacles. Even as a concubine, the fact that Hua Nanyi was a human, and one of absolutely no standing, was going to be contentious.

The point wasn't actually to go through with such an alliance, only to have the Third Princess, hopefully the Queen, and whoever else came with them, in Zui. After that, Chu Yun could go about prying precious information about Ru Long out of them.

"It is a good idea," Xiao Zai said, his tone conciliatory. "Think of it this way: the number of ministers has been greatly depleted, so the remaining ones won't put up much of a fight even if they catch wind of it.

But on the other hand, my grace period won't last much longer before I have the nobles from Haolin and other provinces demanding I replace the ministers with their own sons, daughters, cousins-thrice-removed and so on."

Ultimately, Xiao Ziyi knew they were right.

Chu Yun could see it in the thin line of her lips and the white-knuckled grip she had on the desk in her private quarters in the palace. She rarely stayed in the palace, and so her private quarters looked no different than a guest room. She was probably wishing she had found some training exercises for her troops on the other side of Zui.

"What is your plan then, for not going forward with the engagement after inviting both the Queen and the Princess here?" Xiao Ziyi hissed, glaring at Chu Yun while avoiding Xiao Zai's eyes.

Chu Yun gave her a pointed look. "I'm sure that when Ru Long is exposed as the mastermind behind the attack on Xiao Zai's they'll want to terminate the engagement themselves."

Xiao Ziyi hung her head, defeated. "Let me think about it."

Xiao Zai shot her a complicated look. "Like I said, our window of opportunity is very limited."

"Until the end of the day, then," she grumbled, and turned her back to them, walking towards the window overlooking the courtyard from two storeys up.

The conversation was obviously over. Chu Yun didn't think they'd get anything by insisting that this was really only a ploy, and that no one expected her to marry a Su princess, or anyone else for that matter. But he was sure that in the mood she was in, Xiao Ziyi would sooner throw something at his face than hear him out.

So, Chu Yun quickly made his escape, dragging Xiao Zai by the sleeve with him.

---

"I think that went well," Xiao Zai said, when they were halfway across the palace complex's main building, approaching their quarters.

Chu Yun thought Xiao Zai should review the definition of every single one of those words, but he made no comment. Hua Nanyi should be in their quarters, pretending to be a maidservant and cleaning halfheartedly.

He wanted to be the one to tell her of their plan firsthand. And all things considered, he was dreading that conversation a lot more than he had the one with Xiao Ziyi.

"Let me talk with her alone," he told Xiao Zai, when the two of them came to a stop outside the door to their quarters.

Xiao Zai gave him an amused look. "Are you sure you don't want me there in case she starts pelting you with calligraphy brushes, or entire flower arrangements?"

Chu Yun did not look forward to the prospect of taking a decorative vase to the head, but he didn't think it would come to that.

"I don't need you to protect me," he said instead, smirking at Xiao Zai and patting his shoulder condescendingly.

Xiao Zai pretended to be hurt by that, before taking advantage of the empty hallway to reel Chu Yun against his chest by the waist, and whisper against his ear. "But it would make me feel a lot better if my big, strong, alpha, pretended from time to time."

He was teasing. Chu Yun knew he was teasing, but that didn't stop his words from having an effect. He loved this game they played.

And well, he was starting to feel the bareness of the skin above his scent glands very keenly. As he thought that, his hand flew to the nape of his neck.

He gave Xiao Zai a heated look from below his curling lashes. "Sure I'll pretend there are some things I need from you."

Xiao Zai's answering smile was just as heated. "I won't need to pretend to love giving them to you."

He ducked his head and stole a kiss right off Chu Yun's lips, before walking past him in the direction they had come.

Chu Yun told himself he wasn't going to look back but in the end he couldn't stop himself.

When he turned around Xiao Zai was looking at him too, the grin on his face almost blinding -- as if he had been wagering with himself whether Chu Yun would look back or not.

One of the things Chu Yun had learned with Xiao Zai was that sometimes it was as much fun to win wagers as it was to lose them.

---

Hua Nanyi looked as bored as he expected when Chu Yun walked into the reception room of their private suit of quarters. She had the windows open and was sitting under one of them, trying to read a bamboo strip scroll, but was clearly finding the whole thing a waste of time.

She threw it to the side as soon she saw Chu Yun. "Oh good, you're here, I'm bored, give me something to do."

Chu Yun grimaced. "I have somethings to tell you."

It wasn't boring, at least.

He told Hua Nanyi the plan he had come up with, to lure the Third Princess of Su and the Queen Consort to an official state visit into Zui with the goal of discussing an engagement to Xiao Ziyi.

A goodwill gesture, for the continued peace and prosperity of both their kingdoms, that would allow them to find out more about not only the situation in the Su court, but Ru Long's role as the Crown Prince among it all.

Hua Nanyi listened in quietly, not interrupting even once until Chu Yun had finished talking.

"That's it," he said, "Xiao Ziyi still hasn't confirmed if she'll let us go ahead with it, but I wanted to tell you nevertheless."

She remained quiet for a time, still sitting on the floor below the window, gaze firmly fixed on her own booted feet.

"You really never stop, uh?" she asked, smiling a little to herself with no real humour.

"We have to find a way to find more about what Ru Long is planning."

"But I also know that your brother said he'd find a way to lure him here," she glared at Chu Yun. "Why not try his plan first?"

They still might have to, but first Chu Yun wanted to have as much information on Ru Long as possible. There was still the Minister Hu angle -- he was considering all his options -- but he didn't want to go into a confrontation blind.

"It's not real, we won't go through with an actual engagement," he said, trying to reason with her.

He understood Xiao Ziyi's reticence. She would have to at least pretend to have a vested interested in an engagement, but Hua Nanyi knew it was a farce from the beginning.

She got up from the floor and gave Chu Yun a cold look.

"It's not that," she shook her head with a self-deprecating smile. "I'm technically your servant, other servants talk to me, gossip and everything else you tell me to keep an ear out for. And As soon as this becomes known I'll have to hear all the reasons why they think Xiao Ziyi marrying a human from Su is beneath her. All the reasons why someone like me is beneath her."