Cunning General Si Ning

No matter how Si Ning would love to find out the person Si Nan wanted to go to the lantern festival with because he knew his sister so well he was sure she would go out that day but first he had things to find out.

"Xiao Pei." Si Ning called out. 

The door opened immediately and Xiao Pei walked in, closing the door behind him, Si Ning gestured for Xiao Pei to come closer which Xiao Pei did but was still leaving some distance between them and Si Ning gestured for him to come closer and bend which Xiao Pei did but was still a little far from him and this made Si Ning clicked his tongue, annoyed that he wanted to bang his hand on the table but when he saw that Xiao Pei seemed confused even though he was still keeping a straight face yet Si Ning could not blame him because it seemed like the distance between them was what he deemed as close enough.

Si Ning feeling week to say another word stretched his hand till he was finally able to grab Xiao Pei's ear and he tugged it leaving Xiao Pei no choice but to move closer to the side of the table, his shoulder almost touching him, his ear closer to Si Ning's mouth.

"I want you to take the fastest horse to the palace and tell Second Prince Xiu TianZhao to write the details concerning what he told the Emperor when I and Ah Dai was caught closer to the XiXi tavern, the day I was dressed in a female attire." Si Ning explained more like a whisper as he retracted his hand, nodding because he felt like he just told Xiao Pei a clear description of that day not to cause any confusion.

It wasn't unnecessary for Si Ning to pull Xiao Pei's ear but he did it anyway because he was stressed up and at that moment he couldn't talk out loud and since he had nothing more to add, he gestured for Xiao Pei to leave.

Xiu TianZhao writing a letter to him was the best plan Si Ning could come up with. Si Ning would have loved to summon Xiu TianZhao to the Si residence but he doesn't think it was right to order a Prince just because they were friends and Xiu TianZhao wasn't a subordinate of his he could order around so the least he could hope for was for Xiu TianZhao to write to him and not send Xiao Pei back that he would come and see him instead.

Si Ning had no time to wait for Xiu TianZhao to come over and by reading the letter he was anticipating means he doesn't have to meet Xiu TianZhao which saves him time since the palace guards were still at his residence which means they were waiting to escort him to the palace and would see who so ever comes to the residence and Si Ning doesn't know if someone that would report all his moved for the day to the Emperor was among them so he had to assume a person like that was among the guards or bearers which means he had to be careful.

"I will deliver the message." Xiao Pei saluted before exiting the room swiftly.

Si Ning started drumming his fingers on the table with a mindset that he wasn't going to step into the palace without a word from Xiu TianZhao. It might have been three days since he regained consciousness doesn't mean he should be in a good form to leave his residence so that means he could always lie that he was extremely weak and that was why he couldn't get to the palace early. He was still trying to think about what he could do about the document the Queen Dowager gave him when he heard a sound of heavy metal hitting the ground which made him turn quickly to see Ah Dai picking up a helmet and seeing this made him raised a brow, his eyes on the blue and silver beautiful helmet he had never seen which made him wonder who owns it.

"Ah Dai has polished Young Master's armor and I am only arranging it." Ah Dai explained as he placed the helmet in a box. "Because Young Master doesn't use the helmet made me forgot to pack it and now Ah Dai have included it." He explained before grabbing Si Ning's sword and unsheathed it.

"Do you need to pack the armor?" Si Ning asked because seeing his amour and sword do remind him that a General wasn't only about attending court meeting, reading reports, and having fun after the court meeting while eating the healthiest food and drinking wine.

"Yes since Young Master will have to wake up by five in the palace to train." Ah Dia said as he took a cloth and started wiping the already cleaned sword.

Eh?

"Five? You mean five in the evening?" Si Ning blurted out even when he knew it was likely morning Ah Dai was talking about.

"Young Master has been skipping practice since you came back from the war with Xilie but the palace will not be like that. Young master will have to train every morning but Young Master should only be able to miss some days but it shouldn't be more than a day within five days but Young Master still has to practice and also spar sometimes with the Head of the palace guards." Ah Dai informed him.

Si Ning's eye twitched. Getting married to Xiu Zhicheng was his way to make his burden lighter and not for him to train so it could match with the appearance of a hardworking General. He could always find a way to avoid training because he doesn't want to take up his sword and spar with Lin Fan which might make him end up having an injury due to him falling or Lin Fan mistakenly slash him and worst making a fool of himself because he wasn't sure he could beat Lin Fan or the sword practice he did when he was an Actor was applicable to sparing.

"Young Master, the gifts the palace guards brought, should I open it?" Ah Dai asked as he sheathed Si Ning's sword and placed it on the table.

"Hmmm." Si Ning nodded absentmindedly. He wasn't a bit curious because he was sure those boxes contained gifts like silvers, gold, and medicinal herbs. He had seen more than enough of that. It was just like adding to his richest and he wasn't enjoying seeing more silvers one bit because he already had more than enough.

Ah Dai opened one of the boxes lids and brought out a white robe, even though it was white it was dazzling and how it looked so soft despite Si Ning being few feet from it, he could tell it was an expensive clothing material that he didn't know when he stood up and moved closer to it like he was being drawn, he spotted the embroidery of a dragon on the tip of the sleeves and he couldn't help but narrowed his eyes, displeased when he noticed it was the same dragon emblem representing Xiu, that dragon emblem almost made it look like a reminder that he was a servant of Xiu. He raised his hand to touch the cloth, feeling the smooth soft texture.

A quality robe fit for an Empress.

Si Ning nodded, satisfied that Xiu Zhicheng seemed to have a taste of good clothing because if Xiu Zhicheng didn't pick it out for him then he doesn't mind asking about who chose the cloth and make them his stylist.

"I think his Majesty will like Young Master to wear this today to the palace." Ah Dai said smiling widely as he moved over to the bed to lay the robes on it with the sash that came with the cloth.

Ah Dai didn't have to tell Si Ning to wear it because he had already decided to wear the robes while he walks in the palace and pretends to be an immortal in a cultivation drama.