Wolf King And His Fox Consort

Xiao Zai shot Chu Yun a meaningful glance, who schooled his features into neutrality. 'A long lost relative' could mean a lot of things. It could mean that Ru Long knew of his relation to Xiao Yao, for instance.

"Did you find that long lost relative?" Chu Yun asked, keeping his words vague.

Ru Long chanced a look towards Chu Hean. "No, but I found something else."

Chu Hean fought valiantly not to show any emotion but in the end his lashes still shuttered down over his eyes coyly. Chu Yun had half a mind to cuff him upside the head. He thought his brother wasn't the kind of person to let himself be seduced away from his family by the first random man who he found wandering in the woods.

Honestly, he hoped most people would be more discerning than that -- let alone his own younger brother.

He turned to Chu Hean, raising his voice in a sternly, "Did you run away because of him?"

For a moment Chu Hean had no reaction, and then split into riotous laughter. "Do you think my mind is so soft that I need someone else to think for me?"

What was Chu Yun supposed to think? It was better to say nothing at all.

Ru Long wrapped a hand around Chu Hean's shoulder and glared at Chu Yun. "Your brother is much stronger than you give him credit for."

"That's not what we're discussing here," Xiao Zai said, intervening before things could get out of hand. "We want to know the reason behind your behaviour in Zui. The lies about the engagement, the inane talk about becoming my concubine...What were you trying to accomplish with all that?"

Chu Yun kept his eyes on the Crown Prince while Xiao Zai talked, but he had no reaction to his words. Clearly he'd been aware of all of his brother's schemes -- maybe he was even behind them.

"What I needed to accomplish has been accomplished, so you needn't concern yourself with it anymore." 

Chu Hean spoke with a tone of haughty dismissiveness that rankled. Chu Yun wasn't just going to accept his half-assed excuses. "Yeah? What if I write a letter to the King of Su telling him his Crown Prince is running fool's errands with an omega nephew of the King of Xin? What do you think will happen then."

Both Ru Long and Chu Hean bristled immediately, their expressions darkening simultaneously. 

"I advise you not to do that," Ru Long growled, his eyes narrowed threateningly. "Things could go very badly for you."

Xiao Zai took a step forward, placing himself between Ru Long and Chu Yun. "And I advise you not to threaten my husband."

Chu Yun appreciated the gesture, and it was always attractive when Xiao Zai showed his claws, but now wasn't the time. He pushed him aside and advanced towards Ru Long. "I think you'll find I'm not easily intimidated, and that I do what I want."

Ru Long smirked at him. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he spread his arms wide, backtracking on his earlier aggression. "We're all family, anyway."

This guy couldn't be real. Chu Yun scoffed in his face. "You're no family of mine. As far as I know you and my brother aren't married. You're nothing to me."

"Don't talk with him like that," Chu Hean said, now himself taking a step in front of Ru Long. "You will never understand our bond. There's nothing like it in the world."

Chu Yun would never understand? Was Chu Hean really implying that his ill-fated, juvenile relationship was somehow more meaningful than his marriage? He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Xiao Zai experienced no such indecision. "You must be joking," he said with a growl.

Perhaps anticipating that things were about to get out of hand, Ru Long cut in, "Let's be rational here. In the end, none of Chu Hean's actions ended up being prejudicial to either of you."

Yes, but only due to Chu Yun's timely intervention and quick thinking! He was so furious, that for a moment he considered throwing something at both their heads. Instead he took a measured, calming breath and smiled. "Of course, I'm sure that's true if I think really hard about it."

Ru Long smiled pleasantly. "I was sure you'd see it that way eventually."

Xiao Zai wasn't feeling as generous. "Keep in mind that we can still get in touch with your father at any time."

"Let's hope it won't come to that."

"The only reason it won't is if you tell us what you're planning," Xiao Zai insisted, not giving any ground.

Subtly, Hua Nanyi moved towards the door, placing herself in front of it, her arms crossed over her chest. Her posture made it obvious that she wasn't going to make things easy for Ru Long and Chu Hean if they tried to make a run for it.

The two of them exchanged a charged look. Chu Hean nodded in some kind of unspoken agreement, but it was Ru Long who finally talked, "Our goals aren't so divergent. We also want to see the King of Zui deposed."

Xiao Zai laughed humorlessly, his ink dark eyes flashing in the gloom of the room like flint. "Except you are part of the royal family of another kingdom, that hardly means we have the same objectives."

"For a foreign power to interfere in the succession of another is an act of war," Chu Yun said, his chin raised high.

Chu Hean tilted his head to the side and gave Chu Yun a long look. "But isn't exactly what you're doing?"

"How am I, Xiao Zai's husband, representative of a foreign power?" Chu Yun's voice rose in an annoyed hiss. 

Ru Long turned to Xiao Zai with a smile. "As far as his Highness knows, you could be a spy from Xin, placed at his side to ensure the weakening of the royal house of Zui, so that Xin could reap the benefits."

Chu Yun showed no reaction, despite the fury burning inside him. He knew what the Crown Prince was trying to do, and his accusations weren't even unfounded. Chu Yun had initially looked at Xiao Zai becoming king as a great opportunity for Xin. A way for him to easily manipulate someone into approving laws and decrees that easily benefited his people. 

He no longer felt that way. 

Xiao Zai was a fair person, and he knew peaceful cooperation paved the road to prosperity far more firmly than constant border skirmishes and infighting over natural resources ever could. The kind of petty conflicts that served only to stoke the ego of the landed gentry and lazy nobles weren't how Xiao Zai was going to make his mark as a King.

Somehow, along the way, Chu Yun's aspirations to put a puppet in the throne of Zui that he could easily control from the sidelines had shifted into genuine loyalty.

Having Xiao Zai as king was the best thing, for both Xin and Zui. 

When Xiao Zai spoke, his voice came out in a threatening rumble. "If you're done making unfounded accusations about my husband, I would appreciate it if you went back to explaining just what your goals entail."

Emboldened by Xiao Zai's unwavering trust, Chu Yun pressed on, "maybe it's related to how Zui betas from border towns have been leaving en masse for Su?" He looked around the room meaningfully. "Maybe it's related to your presence in this, frankly very odd, Academy for omegas?"

Ru Long grinned, flashing rows of pearly teeth. "People leave to wherever they are promised a better life, a more decent life."

Chu Yun hummed. "I just wonder if those promises aren't all empty," he tapped one finger against his chin. "One wonders if it is a better life that waits them in Su, or something else."

Ru Long opened his arms wide. "His Grace is welcome to go to Su and see for himself how migrants from Zui and Xin are treated," his gaze drifted towards the stone-faced Hua Nanyi standing by the door. "My guess is that they fare much better than their Su counterparts in Xin and Zui."

"As long as we don't tell the King of Su the motive of our visit, right?" Chu Yun said, his eyes flashing.

Ru Long's smile faltered. "We have our own succession matters, and as his Grace mentioned, foreign intervention is an act of war."

"His Highness would to do keep than in mind and stay out of Zui, then," Xiao Zai said.

The two of them exchanged poisonous smiles, while Chu Yun redirected his attention back to Chu Hean. "I still don't know what the purpose of this Academy is. It seems absent all the features that would make it into a school for the refined omega children of high society to learn good manners."

Chu Hean's smile spread slowly across his face. "Oh, it is that, believe me. But you're mistaken about who frequents it. All kinds of omegas end up here, those of good breeding and those of dubious pasts, alike. Somehow, Harmonious Resonance has room for us all."

"To what ends?" Chu Yun asked.

Chu Hean met his gaze with open defiance.. "Our own."