Who would have thought that the monkey would be the first to stir from their poisonous wine?
Wei KaiJun crawled up on all fours, shaking his head to clear his foggy mind.
"Oi, you are all evil..." KaiJun groaned as he pulled himself up on the chair, rubbing at his temples to soothe his throbbing head.
Looking around, all his friends were still more or less unconscious. He thanked the gods he had started drinking from a young age, so now he never got drunk, not even from the real stuff - zodiac wine. That stuff would knock a mortal straight to the next life. But this wine… KaiJun looked at the half empty bottles littering the table. This stuff was something else.
LiAi glared at him from her half-lidded eyes, but her cheeks were slightly flushed, the rosy hue peeking through the thin layer of powder. "You are more durable than expected."
"And you are eviler than I expected," Wei KaiJun mumbled as he blinked his daze away. Man, these snakes were trying to kill them with this stuff. He had never felt so nauseous in his life before.
"Wei KaiJun, we need your help," LiangLin said as he took a seat next to the monkey.
"You snakes knock them out before asking for help?" Wei KaiJun never had a near-death experience, but he sure as hell felt like he was going through the final stages of his soul being torn out of his body. The hot, tingly sensation was burning him inside out.
"Er, we thought of asking help from XueYa first..." LiangLin looked embarrassed as Wei KaiJun snapped his head up to look at the white snake, all effects of the poison cleared from his visage.
"What problem is it you have to ask XueYa?" KaiJun's pride was hurt! What problem was so big that these snakes didn't even think of asking him first?
"It's about YaYun."
YaYun? KaiJun eyed the snakes suspiciously, but he had to admit, YaYun worried him too. He had been only half-joking when he told YaYun to get it on with the fox and get it over with. But now, it didn't seem like it helped the situation at all.
The emperor had been stuck in the Plum Blossom Hall, so much so he didn't even attend the official meetings anymore. The old geezers were happy, they were waiting for the wedding, but even more so, they waited to hear about the upcoming addition to the Zhang bloodline. If this situation kept up, there was going to be an army of little ones crawling out of Plum Blossom Hall.
But somehow, KaiJun doubted it to be as simple as that. He would expect YaYun to be more laid back, happy after finally finding the perfect one. But the man seemed wound up tighter than ever before. Something was up, KaiJun could feel it.
"You know he is not himself," LiAi said as she reached out and massaged the knot formed between KaiJun's brows. The monkey was surprised by the sudden touch, but sat still. "QingYu saw the fox take some of his life force before."
"Life force?" KaiJun took hold of LiAi's wrist, pulling her hand away.
"Yes, YaYun fainted and was carried inside the Plum Blossom Hall."
No wonder the snakes went for XueYa. KaiJun glanced over at his friends.
Yu Zhong wouldn't agree to consult the sorcerer, KaiJun could already tell. JingYi had been worried about YaYun too. The rooster would help, no doubt. But ChangNing… She was a difficult one. KaiJun could never tell what the husky was thinking. But at least he had JingYi to work with.
"Let's wake JingYi up." KaiJun decided.
The snakes shot wary glances with each other, and KaiJun noticed it.
"What?"
"Er..." LiChun smiled awkwardly as she patted the unconscious JingYi's round cheeks. "We don't know how to wake them up. Just how to knock them out."
"..." These snakes… KaiJun sighed as he let LiAi's hand fall from his. For now, it was up to him then. "I assume you met XueYa if you are asking me for help now?"
LiangLin nodded.
"What did he say?"
LiangLin told him of the charm Yating must have put over YaYun and how XueYa wanted to get his hands on the zodiac books to help YaYun. Wei KaiJun's expression was unreadable, and when LiangLin finished, the monkey stayed silent for a while.
"We will steal the books."
"Can we trust that sorcerer?" LiangLin asked. He doubted the sorcerer would keep his promise.
"Yes." There was no hesitation in KaiJun's answer, and the snakes looked surprised.
KaiJun didn't blame them. They hadn't grown up with XueYa, so his cold bastard persona was the only thing they saw and knew. But he had known XueYa since they were still crawling on all fours, drooling all over the furniture. When it came to YaYun, XueYa would never lie.
"If XueYa says he needs those books to help YaYun, we will get him some bedtime reading."
"What about YaYun? How can you steal them without him knowing?" LiBai asked as she hovered over Yu Zhong's figure.
KaiJun smiled, hesitating to tell the snakes that YaYun had abandoned all duties as the emperor to tend to that fox. But he was under a charm so one couldn't blame the man.
"He has been… busy." Wei KaiJun cleared his throat, itching to gulp the remaining wine down to wash out the dryness. The snakes' faces darkened. "He rarely steps out of the Plum Blossom Hall, so stealing the books shouldn't be difficult."
"Why bother?" A weak voice called.
Lan QingYu stood by the arch leading to the sleeping quarters, visibly tired. He was like a drooping flower, deprived of water and sunlight. Dark bags hung heavy under his eyes, a gauntness eating him away little by little. His hair had lost its shine, eyes dull as he looked over the shifters. "If YaYun is content, why are you trying to ruin it?"
Ah, shit, did QingYu hear YaYun was up and staying in Plum Blossom Hall? LiangLin grimaced. They had kept the wedding hidden from QingYu, but if they stayed here, QingYu would find it out eventually once the decorations were up.
Still, LiangLin had no heart to tell it to the green snake, QingYu was withering as it was. The green snake had consumed little life force, even though the sisters had tried to share it with him, and it was showing.
"He is under a charm, QingYu," Wei KaiJun said, his usual playful manner gone. "He didn't want to marry that fox. YaYun can be an idiot sometimes, but don't give up on him yet."
Lan QingYu lowered his eyes on his hands that were busy pulling at the hems of his green robes. "I'm… I'm tired of thinking about it."
"Don't." LiChun hurried over his side and guided him back towards the sleeping quarters. "Don't think, Qing'er. We will do that for you. You only need to rest. Lin'er will handle it."
Wei KaiJun felt a deadly aura vibrating beside him, and he turned to lock eyes with LiangLin. That fox was going to die, LiangLin looked like he was ready to gut a man with his bare hands.
"Once the others wake up, I will get JingYi to help me out," KaiJun said. "The others… I will need time to coax them to help. But I'm sure they will agree to it, eventually. It is about YaYun, after all."