Wolf King And His Fox Consort

Min Sezhui looked up at Chu Yun in confusion, completely at a loss. Her usual easy smile was nowhere to be seen.

All the other concubines had already left the royal palace, taken their dues and gone to start new lives somewhere else or gone back to their old ones.

Only Min Sezhui still hung around her old quarters like a ghost, unable to move on. Attached to a place where she had been unhappy for a long time, but unable to conceive of a different existence.

Chu Yun didn't know how to help her, but he hoped that getting her out of her bedroom might be a start.

At his side, Hua Nanyi looked on at Min Sezhui with a blank expression, which albeit not reassuring, didn't expose how much Chu Yun was talking out of his ass.

"I don't know if Concubine Min has heard this, but there is a Xiongnu diligence in the place right now, and it falls to me to organise an event the Wise Prince Lieba Chun wants to host in order to show his valour as a spouse."

The word 'spouse' made Min Sezhui bristle immediately. "This one was already married once."

Chu Yun smiled thinly. "Concubine Min needn't worry, I need her help because I have never organised any event of the sort, and while Concubine Min might not have organised one herself, she has surely attended them."

Her relief was palpable, but she still didn't want to have anything to do with what Chu Yun was about to embroil her in. She kicked at her floor restlessly, her fine brocade shoes looked scuffed up and unkempt.

"This one isn't clever, and has no talents, there is nothing she can do to help his Royal Highness." She bowed her head deeply. "Apologies for being useless."

She was about to close the door in Chu Yun's face when his arm shot out to stop her. "Concubine Min isn't useless. I'm sure there's a lot she can do to help us, her opinion on decoration, food, music, would be very much appreciated."

A denial was on the tip of her tongue again, but her politeness was making her falter. She didn't want to say "no" to the King Consort again, and Chu Yun was banking on that to finally get her out of the room.

He hated Xiao An for a lot of things, and the damage he had done to Min Sezhui's self-esteem was just a reminder of what he had put everyone around him through during his lifetime. Harder, less gentle people had honed the pain inflicted on them like a blade, but Min Sezhui could only let herself be cut up into ribbons like an old robe meant for scrap.

Before, she was so determined to show the other concubines that she wasn't slow, that she could learn, and talk about the same things as they did. But now, weeks after Xiao An's death, she didn't leave her quarters and hadn't gone back to her spot under the scholar tree.

Spring had come for everyone but Min Sezhui, who withered in the shadow like a fallen peach blossom. 

Hua Nanyi sighed in annoyance and turned to Chu Yun, "Your Royal Highness, we don't have time for this. The honour of the Zui kingdom hangs on the success of this ceremony, if Concubine Min won't help we should move along."

She spoke with the authority of a trusted adviser, and her curt tone made Min Sezhui shrink on herself.

But Chu Yun understood her gamble, and was happy to play along. "Yes, let's go we shouldn't waste any more time."

Just as he let go of the door and made his way to leave, Min Sezhui threw it open. "I-- this Concubine will help," her gaze was lowered, and her fingers were clenched in the fabric of her robes tightly.

She looked frayed, from head to toe. Chu Yun knew that if she went out like that everyone would stare at her.

"We can wait for Concubine Min to change into finer robes," he said although his tone made it sound as if it was merely an issue of protocol. "We'll be sure to stay busy for most of the day."

She nodded and disappeared inside the room without another word, closing the door behind her.

Hua Nanyi sighed deeply, leaning against the doorframe. "Do you think this will change anything?"

Chu Yun shrugged, matching her position on the other side of the door. "I have to try, she'll fade completely if nothing changes."

He hadn't forgotten Min Sezhui's kindness when they first met, or the black eye she sported for days when Chu Yun's gambles backfired. He owed her.

Minutes later she emerged from her quarters dressed in fresh robes. She didn't quite look like her old self, but it was a start.

Chu Yun smiled encouragingly at her. "Let's go then, we have a lot of work ahead of us."

Min Sezhui made no comment but he hoped that just being outside and breathing some fresh air would do her good.

---

Xiao Zai had just left an unproductive meeting with some ministers when Xiao Yuan found him on the hallway.

"We have a problem," Xiao Yuan whispered, pulling Xiao Zai by the elbow towards a secluded nook. "Your bother-in-law is gone."

"What do you mean gone?" Xiao Zai hoped that Xiao Yuan was playing a very unfunny prank on him.

"He's gone, not in his room, where he was the last time anyone checked in on him."

Xiao Zai cursed under his breath. They should have known that just having guards outside Chu Hean's door wasn't enough to deter him. He was a highly trained assassin after all. Escaping a guarded room was nothing for him.

Still, Xiao Zai had hoped that he would at least care about Chu Yun enough not to put him in such a compromising position.

Clearly not.

No matter, he knew just who to ask for help.. Maybe they could even make things interesting ahead of the upcoming games.