Cunning General Si Ning

Si Ning was a bit confused when Ah Dai didn't make any announcement of Xiu Zhicheng arriving and only walked in and closed the door behind him then bowed before heading to light up the lanterns in the room without glancing at Si Ning.

This was Ah Dai's routine every evening when the sun set, he would come into the room to light the lanterns and candles then after he would ask what Si Ning wanted to eat so he could start preparing it so that Si Ning would be able to eat and go to bed early. Since it was a normal occurrence Si Ning didn't say a word and only watched him while he tried not to wear a disappointed look.

When Ah was done, he moved closer to Si Ning and reached inside his sleeve bringing out what seemed like a letter, and stretched out his hand to hand it over to him.

"Hmm Is that from the Emperor?" Si Ning asked blandly even though he was itching to grab it to quickly read what was written in it, instead he folded his hands and raised a brow trying to look bored like he didn't even care or wasn't interested in a letter from Xiu Zhicheng and only asked if it was a letter from Xiu Zhicheng because the Emperor might send him one.

"No Young Master." Ah Dai said slowly as he held the letter with his two hands stretched forward.

"Oh, who?" Si Ning unknowingly sounded disappointed as the light in his eyes became dull and right there his enthusiasm got extinguished making him pay attention to Ah Dai because he hoped it wasn't a letter from Chen An.

Ah Dai moved closer to Si Ning. "This is from the Governor of Dong, Second Prince Qiu Bai of Xilie, his guard brought it over this night." He reached inside his sleeve and brought out another letter. "The head of the palace guards, Lin Fan brought this letter this night and I think it might be from the Emperor and he is waiting outside but the guard of the Governor of Dong had left." He placed the letter on top of the letter he was holding and handed it over to Si Ning.

Si Ning wondered why Qiu Bai sent him a message but he was more curious about the letter Lin Fan brought because it could only be a letter from Xiu Zhicheng so he opened the letter first and straightened it out while Ah Dai lit the candle on the table to make the room brighter and for Si Ning to be able to read the letter without straining his eyes.

'Si Ning, This letter is to inform you that I will not be able to see you tonight because I will be having dinner with my mother the Queen Dowager, and my three Concubines.'

Si Ning turned over the letter to see if the continuation was written at the back only to discovered that was where it stopped. No apologies, no showing of how regretful and sad he was for not being able to come and this made Si Ning head almost exploded in anger because he doesn't know why he needed the information of Xiu Zhicheng ditching him to hang out with his Concubines and didn't even care to at least to write 'good night' at the end of the letter.

With how annoyed Si Ning was he didn't even take note of Xiu Zhicheng having dinner with his mother too and not only with his Concubines, all he took note of was him having dinner with his Concubines. Si Ning interpreted it as Xiu Zhicheng prioritizing his Concubines over him. The letter didn't even say for him to get dressed so he could have dinner with them as the future Empress, not that he would have loved to join their dinner but he wanted to feel important and be able to meet the rest of Xiu Zhicheng's Concubines, not that he wanted to meet them but at least Xiu Zhicheng should invite him even though he might end up declining but the invitation would have least show how important he was and also save him face.

"Young Master, Young Master?" Ah Dai called with a worried expression as he bent a little to be able to detect if anything was wrong and to quickly study Si Ning's expression and see if he could find a solution in case Si Ning was upset.

Si Ning sighed as he noticed he had squeezed the paper so tightly in his hand so he waved his hand as a gesture to show he was doing fine and when Ah Dai only moved back to his previous position did Si Ning straightened out the letter and without hesitation, he placed it above the candle till it caught fire.

"Young Master!" Ah Dai called out in panic, looking around until his eyes landed on the tea tray so he quickly cleared the tray and brought it over for Si Ning to put the burning paper without getting hurt.

To avoid worrying Ah Dai, Si Ning complied, satisfied as he watches the paper turn into ashes yet it couldn't quench the anger in his heart that he wanted to see and punch Xiu Zhicheng for keeping his hopes up tonight only to leave him hanging. He felt so ridiculous dressing up beautifully and even worried if he should or should not put on his outer robe only for his expectation to got extinguished just like that.

"Next time the Emperor comes, no matter what and I mean no matter what." Si Ning repeated to show how serious he was. "Do not allow him in and tell Xiao Pei and Jiang Ye." He ordered between gritted teeth as he clenched his fist.

Tonight Xiu Zhicheng had disrespected him and showed him he would come second to his Concubines and becoming the Empress was just a title and a way to create a balance of power in the nation. He was almost fooled that Xiu Zhicheng might love him but never again, he would never be fooled twice just because Xiu Zhicheg showed him some care which might have been fake. First he does one thing and next he does the other which was making Si Ning confused about where the Emperor's affection really lies and maybe he was pretending to like him for Xiu nation's sake. For Si Ning not being able to know the answer was just adding fuel to his anger.

"Yes, Young Master." Ah Dai nodded zoning his mind to do as his Master says as long as it would put Si Ning at rest but then he frowned after he finally understood the weight of Si Ning's word. He wasn't sure if he or Xiao Pei and Jiang Ye would be able to keep the Emperor away so this thought made him swallowed a lump on his throat.

"Do you understand?" Si Ning had to be sure Ah Dai understood his statement.

"Yes, Young Master." Ah Dai replied as he folded his hands looking worried as he frowned, his expression going from worried to confused.

Si Ning's eyes widened after guessing what might have caused Ah Dai to suddenly become nervous. "Only let the Emperor in if your life or Xiao Pei and Jiang Ye life are at stake." He said when he realized his mistake. He just gave out an almost impossible task and he doesn't want to lose Ah Dai, Xiao Pei, or Jiang Ye just because they obstructed Xiu Zhicheng's way.

"Yes, Young Master." Ah Dai said as his worried expression cleared replaced with an appreciative one.

Si Ning straightened out the next letter as he tried to control his anger because he wasn't about to let himself be upset over Xiu Zhicheng.