When the hot porridge was served, Fu Shen and Yan Xiaohan sat facing each other, holding their bowls. The hot steam brought a bit of blood color to their pale lips and cheeks.
They could finally calmly examine the thorny path ahead and ponder where to start.
Yan Xiaohan spat out the mouthwash tea and put the tea bowl back on the table, saying: “My lord.”
Fu Shen was still leisurely drinking porridge: “Hmm?”
Yan Xiaohan: “I have a few questions and hope you can clarify them for me.”
“I say, Master Yan,” Fu Shen put down his spoon, casually hooking the corner of his mouth, “we’re already in the same boat, so stop with the ‘my lord’ formalities. It’s too distant.”
“Since you put it that way, fine,” Yan Xiaohan compromised, “Jing Ying, I heard from the Emperor yesterday that he seems deeply dissatisfied with you. Have you recently done something to anger him?”
“Cough, cough… Let’s not be so intimate,” Fu Shen choked, helplessly saying, “Can’t you just call me by my name?”
Yan Xiaohan smiled softly: “We’re about to get married, consider it early practice.”
Fu Shen was so disgusted he lost his appetite, casually putting the porridge bowl aside, sighing: “Orphaned child, it’s a long story.”
Yan Xiaohan’s pupils slightly contracted: “Just born. Why?”
“The origin of this goes back even further,” Fu Shen said, “The previous Emperor had nine sons.”
The one most loved by the previous Emperor and most likely to ascend to the throne was the Fifth Prince, the King of Ying. The King of Ying and the Third Prince, now the King of Su, were brothers from the same mother.
Fu Shen said: “The English King’s name is ‘Hun’, and ‘Hashi’ means ‘jade’ in the Eastern Tatar language.”
Fu Shen: “In the Battle of Western Autumn Pass, I originally did not want to intervene. It was Hashiqudun who first sent a confidant to find me in North Yan, requesting me to bring the English King’s bloodline back to the Great Zhou. I will send a message to the Duke of Su, and in May he will personally come to North Yan, meet with the messenger, and confirm that Hashiqudun indeed originated from the English King’s household.”
Yan Xiaohan: “So you agreed?”
