Chapter 293 - Delayed Departure

Ah Jin took the purple soul stone from Xiao Ying's hand and put it in her sleeve.

Xiao Ying then nodded towards the bed, still pouting, "Go..."

Ah Jin lightly shook her head and went over to the bed where the unconscious Tung Mei lay. She sat down, took Tung Mei's hand and closed her eyes.

Xiao Ying also walked over to the bed and crouched down beside Ah Jin and went, "She's still alive, right? I did say she wasn't dead. I'm not stupid enough not to know the difference...So can you hea-"

"Stop talking." Ah Jin ordered with a frown and Xiao Ying quickly shut her mouth and anxiously waited for Ah Jin to be done.

After a while, Ah Jin finally opened her eyes and Xiao Ying promptly jerked alert, "So?..."

Ah Jin sighed, "Her soul's too weak..."

Xiao Ying frowned, "But then you can give it some energy to strengthen it...It'll work, right?"

Ah Jin shook her head, "No, it will only make it worse...Her soul's already been here too long, she was supposed to die months ago, but then you came along and kept it tied here all this time...Trying to force her soul to remain here right now could end up destroying it... There's nothing we can do for her..." Ah Jin said, dropping Tung Mei's hand on the bed.

"But..." Xiao Ying pouted and looked at the unconscious Tung Mei feeling horrible, "...Even this I can't do right..." She mumbled, blinking back tears, "...She said she wanted to see her father again, so I promised to heal her if she let me borrow her body. She said she didn't want to die here without saying goodbye to her father but now...now" she sniffed, "Nothing goes well for me these days..." She wailed and then buried her head in her knees as tears streamed down her face.

Ah Jin looked at the crying Xiao Ying in surprise and not knowing what to do. She had known Xiao Ying a long time but this was the first time she had ever seen her cry like this. No one had ever taken her infatuation with Yong seriously, but now Ah Jin could see that her feelings ran deeper than any of them understood. It was obvious that this rejection was really hard on her.

Ah Jin knit her brows in thought for a bit, then she got an idea and went, "How about this? I can cast a spell on her so when her soul leaves, it'll go to her father for a bit...in maybe a dream? Hm?

Xiao Ying sniffed and poked her head up a bit and asked, "You can?"

Ah Jin swiftly nodded with a smile, "I'll do it right now..." Xiao Ying nodded and Ah Jin lightly touched Tung Mei's forehead with her fingers, closed her eyes, and then Tung Mei's body seemed to be covered in a light glow. After a bit, Ah Jin opened her eyes again and smiled at Xiao Ying, "There, it's done...She'll see her father again, you kept your promise."

Xiao Ying looked at Tung Mei's body and bit her inner lip, using her sleeve to dab at her eyes as she sniffed. Ah Jin sighed and pat Xiao Ying's head and said, "It's okay, she would have never been able to say goodbye to her father if not for you...You should go home now..."

Xiao Ying glanced at her, "Say bye to Xing jie for me..."

Ah Jin nodded and Xiao Ying then glanced at Tung Mei one more time and her crouching form vanished.

"Don't forget to go to Qi temple first!" Ah Jin called out after her. Obviously, she got no response but she was not worried as long as Xiao Ying had the bracelet, Doctor Lou could find out her whereabouts if he really wanted and take his sister to her, if necessary.

Ah Jin sighed and then quickly rearranged Tung Mei's body to its former position. It would be too suspicious for her to die right after one of the Empress's head maids came over so she had also put enough energy into Tung Mei's body so her soul would remain at least a few days before beginning its journey to the afterlife.

Ah Jin walked back to where the aunt stood. The woman then unfroze and Ah Jin said to her, "I can see that her condition is really bad so I will take my leave now... She is a personal friend of the Empress so she deserves the best care, I will inform the Empress of her condition and an Imperial physician will be sent over."

The aunt smiled and bowed, "Many thanks to the Empress..." Ah Jin smiled and then left the room and the aunt promptly followed behind to see her off. 

***

An Hao walked into Prince Rui's tent to find him standing on alert with his sword ready to fight and stopped in his tracks with a raised eyebrow at Prince Rui, the "warrior." He would have laughed if he was not so irritated with the whole situation they were in, "If you're so on edge like this, why were you so eager to go over to properly be killed like a fool?" An Hao ill-humoredly said as he waltzed in and sat down, irritated.

This was supposed to be a simple mission, he was supposed to already be on his way back to the capital now. But now, here he was stuck here babysitting a Prince.

Prince Rui glared at An Hao and An Hao raised his eyebrows in challenge, "I'm not the one who wants you dead here...Tch, you should be thanking me..." An Hao mumbled folding his arms and looking off to the side. 

Prince Rui let out a breath and then sat back down as well, but retained his hold on the sword. 

They had arrived at the camp two days ago and An Hao would have handed over Prince Rui as planned and been on his way back to the capital by now if not for a few questionable things occurring. 

First of all, An Hao's group actually arrived three days earlier than scheduled, but then before he could even pass on the order for them to notify Zou kingdom's troops, a Zou messenger came to inform them that they will be ready to receive their prince the next morning.

It was odd but An Hao was thrilled until he got to the meeting point to find Prince Houyi leading the reception. 

Apparently the search for the offending Chun siblings and the other fugitives had brought Prince Houyi down to the border. And when he heard his dear younger brother homecoming, he could not help coming to receive him himself so they could "work" together on the case. 

An Hao quickly picked up on the awkward atmosphere between the two Zou Princes so before Prince could go his brother. An Hao quickly jumped in and halted the process, claiming that there he still had some official matters left to discuss with Prince Rui and so they would need to keep him for a few more days. Prince Rui frowned in confusion but he quickly caught his drift and played along.

Prince Houyi did not seem to buy it as he flashed then a glare, before silently departing with a disgruntled frown. And so here they were. 

"The Emperor should have received my message by now... It's only a matter of time until he decides what to do with you...If he says you can leave, then you can leave...That is if you still want to." An Hao flatly informed.

Prince Rui did not respond and simply knit his brows. He had also sent a message to his father but with the way things stood, he was not even sure that his father would receive that message. It was no secret that his oldest brother was not fond of him and he even suspected that he wanted him dead. It was also no secret that his brother was not happy with the situation with Long country. He was angry with their father for not allowing him to lead the war back then and blamed Prince Rui for their loss. 

But he could blame their father, he worried his ambitious son would turn his army against him.

What's more, with Princess Nalan not here to be a hindrance or to witness anything. Prince Rui could imagine that Princess Houyi saw this as a perfect opportunity to get rid of him.

Prince Houyi did not even bother to hide it by coming over with his own personal guards. He could already imagine his brother lamenting and claiming to have received his dead body from Long country and calling for a war to right this wrong. Prince Rui inwardly sighed, this was all so troublesome.

An Hao also inwardly sighed, massaging his temples. He could not trust anyone in the camp right now because obviously someone had fed information about their arrival to Zou without authorization.

With that said, An Hao was also worried that Prince Rui's life was in danger in camp, so he had men from his unit guarding the parameter of his tent 24/7. For extra protection, An Hao himself also slept in the same tent. 

If Prince Rui was killed in Long country, it would definitely be a problem for the Emperor. There was no way An Hao was going to allow this Prince to die under his watch and ruin his Emperor's plans. 

{...This is all so irritating...Who knows when I'm going to get back and I even made all those promises to Xiao Ting - will she be angry? Should I write her explanation maybe?...}

An Hao's face lit up as he thought of writing her, he immediately stood up to leave. But then he stopped in his tracks and sat back down with knit eyebrows. 

{...It's best to wait for the Emperor...Who knows he might tell me to return tomorrow...Let's not rush, just wait...Can wait...wait...}