The frown deepened on Di Xúe’s face as he watched the message from his uncle. That little plum survived an encounter with two cultivators. How? His uncle did not say, just that the Zhiji was kidnapped and rescued by himself and the Vans. How did any of them defeat cultivators?

Were the Vans so strong that they could measure up to cultivators? But they are presumingly merchants. Either commoners among the Vans are even stronger than the Sects here on Tiandi or these are no merchants. Neither was good news.

Or… Was Wang Yu Jían hiding something from him? His uncle had been a traveling hermit for quite some time. Was it possible that he had been taught to cultivate during his travels? It would not surprise Di Xúe but that only made him wish that his uncle would never become his enemy one day.

“Is there news from Dongzhou?” asked Lin Hai. He has been quiet for a while observing the Di Xúe’s expression but apparently was not able to contain his worry.

“The Zhiji was kidnapped by pirates, he was rescued by the Wang Yu Jían and the Vans.”

Lin Hai’s eyes went wide,” Is he harmed?”

“Yes, a wound to the abdomen. Apparently, the heavens do not grant him luck twice,” Di Xúe pondered. He tried to ignore Lin Hai’s piercing eyes but gave up with an eye roll after a while.

“He will be fine, just a bit sore.”

That seemed to satisfy Lin Hai who let out a sigh,” When is he coming home? We have far better doctors here in the capital.”

“They are on their way. It took a few weeks to clean up the mess and to Xiao Mei to be able to travel but they are on their way,” Di Xúe said before frowning at the last piece of information on the message. “And apparently, Xiao Mei was gracious enough to hire two of the pirates, Hong and Wei, to be his bodyguards.”

“…”

“Xiao Mei hired two of his kidnappers to be his bodyguards?” Lin Hai asked with disbelief written upon his face.

“Yes.”

“Is… Is he insane?”

“Apparently.”

*****

A whine escaped Yecao Cao when he was hugged by his brother the moment he exited the wagon. His wound had still not healed and the throbbing pain reminded him of that. The Emperor and the Shaofu stood with dumbstruck faces as Yecao Ji ignored them completely to rush to his baby brother. They were even more shocked to see the thin and pale Yecao Cao. How hurt was he to become so thin in just a few days?

“It hurts, brother Ji!”

Yecao Ji glared at his younger brother,”I do not care!”

“Be careful with the boy,” Wang Yu Jían chuckled as he exited the wagon with a grin. Yecao Ji turned to the Wang with a fierce glare and before anyone could react…

“Slap!”

Gasps rush through the servants at the shocking scene. A mere Tóng dared to slap the Wang! Uncle of the Emperor. Wang Yu Jían though did not even flinch and ignored his red cheek.

“I send you to protect my brother! Look at him!”

Everyone’s expressions turned to shock at Yecao Ji’s words. Including the Emperor who looked flabbergasted. Did they know each other?!

The only one who still had a neutral expression was Yecao Cao. “So he was a friend of yours?”

“Friend?! Hardly, he is a freeloader,” Yecao Ji huffed.

“But you do know him!” everyone thought as they looked at the two men with complicated expressions. Yecao Ji looked enraged while the Wang looked with Yecao Ji with an expression reserved for the bedchamber.

“He is mostly intact,” the Wang said and ruffled Yecao Cao’s hair. Yecao Cao narrowed his eyes and said without mercy.

“Brother, I was stabbed with a dagger.”

Yecao Ji glared at Wang Yu Jían who shrugged. “I said mostly.”

The two men started to squabble but Yecao Cao ignored them. He had achieved his revenge and instead rushed to the Emperor to hug him. He looked up into the Emperor’s disbelieving eyes with a bright smile.

“Huángdi! I have brought down the scoundrels of Dongzhou. Feed me cakes!”

Once more a gasped erupted from the servants. The nerve of these two brothers!

“Cakes?” the Emperor said and cocked an eyebrow.

“Of course, look how thin I am. You will need to feed me or I won’t have that cute physic that you love so much, dear Huángdi,” Yecao Cao giggled and pretended to blush which almost made the servants faint. They really did not want to know this about their Emperor!

The Emperor smiled and grabbed onto Yecao Cao’s ass with a smirk. “It doesn’t matter in what form you return to me. You will always be my little plum!”

Yecao Cao wanted to bite off the arrogant face of the Emperor when he felt his hand linger. The servants were in tears as they wanted to remove themselves from this intimate scene and Yecao Cao felt for them. Why could this damn Emperor not fall into his traps?!

Yecao Cao humphed and turned to the two pirates he had enlisted. “Carry my things to my room. Someone show them the way to the Palace of Heavenly Grace.”

“You are not taking two criminals into the palace,” the Emperor said and narrowed his eyes at the two men who immediately dropped all Yecao Cao’s things and fell to their knees with trembling bodies. Yecao Cao flinched when all his things made a nasty sound as they landed on the ground signaling that his cakes were ruined.

“Of course they need to enter the palace. How else are they going to guard me?” Yecao Cao muttered.

The Emperor frowned. “Why would you even hire them?”

“It was a waste to kill them. I took them as a gift for my success.”

The Emperor’s face suddenly was plastered with a sweet smile. “Another award? Why did you ask for one if you already have received an award? If you want these two as a reward then I guess you won’t need the cakes.”

Yecao Cao froze as he watched the two men and consider throwing them away for cakes. The two men trembled almost like they could read the Zhiji’s mind. Yecao Cao let out a sigh in defeat.

“Fine, I don’t need the cakes. After all, I got plenty of them from the Vans and they are exotic. I’m keeping these two.”

The Emperor’s face turned sour and Yecao Cao was sure that he had made the correct decision if only to spite the powerful man who claims to be his lover.

Hong and Wei hurried to carry all the things to his room while he walked over to Yecao Ji who had finally stop nagging at the Wang.

“So, did you find anything to give me? Any exotic wares I can sell?” his brother asked and eyed the luggage.

“Those are for me, I got you something better,” Yecao Cao pulled out a contract.

“And this is?”

“The best teahouse in Dongzhou and a decent bakery. Now owned by the Yecao family,” Yecao Cao said with satisfaction. Yecao Ji read the contract with a gleam in his eyes.

“That… Oh, that is the teahouse and bakery you scammed Shu Qiang out off,” Wang Yu Jían said as he remembered the affair.

“And I got a contract from the Vans. They are willing to sell you exotic cakes and ingredients from both Diamanas and places called Tiramion and Kranael. No idea where they lie but anyway…”

Yecao Ji looked like an overindulged cat while Wang Yu Jían frowned.

“How did you-“

“Well, I might have reminded him that I did get kidnapped when I was under Shue’s custody so…”

“You two brothers are evil,” muttered the Wang.

“Shue called me adorable,” Yecao Cao huffed with his hands on his hips.

“Is he blind. You are the ugliest among our family,” snorted Yecao Ji and got a glare from Yecao Cao.

“Did you journey to Dongzhou only to handle business?” muttered the Emperor as he eyed Yecao Cao who felt his perusing eyes on his back. A shudder ran through his spine but he did not look back.

“Of course he did. Why else would you have sent my dear little brother to such a dangerous city. Especially when he has no military training. You would after all not intentionally put him in any danger, would you?” Yecao Ji said sweetly bowed with a smile while his eyes never left the Emperor. “Honored Huángdi.”

Yecao Cao was not surprised by his brother’s attitude though many of the servants present were confused by his insinuation and most of all the threat that lingers underneath. Wang Yu Jían merely chuckled cheerily.

“Of course not, my dear nephew sent me to handle the unrest. I was to protect your brother.”

The Emperor’s eye twitched and Yecao Cao wanted to laugh out loud when he saw him grinding his teeth at the two men. He could either admit sending his so-called Zhiji to face danger which would make everyone suspect that the Zhiji was not favored. Which would destroy his plans. Or he could admit defeat and be led around by the two men. The anger was apparent but the Emperor swallowed his pride and gave them a smile.

“Of course I would never put my dear Xiao Mei in danger. I have prayed to the heavens for his safe return every day and now that he is here I am more than happy to spend time with him again,” the Emperor said and narrowed his eyes at Yecao Cao who felt himself starting to sweat.

“My, then I don’t have to worry that my brother will leave your side anytime soon,” Yecao Ji chuckled and the Emperor’s face turned black. He had walked right into that one…