XueYa's eyes trailed along the raised lines of scars over the sorcerer's back, embedding the details into his memory. Feng MuLing, that was the name of the sorcerer that escorted Yating to the palace. The man who was kneeling before XueYa, exposing his bare back for him to see.
The fox spirit was trapped at the corner of the house, surrounded by blue flames. The whipping fire didn't scorch the interior of the building, but if Yating tried to escape, he would burn out of existence. It was a spirit fire, designed by sorcerers to control and tame spirit animals.
There was no escape, just death for the fox spirit. Yating was whimpering in the corner, shooting pleading glances Feng MuLing's way. Without knowing either of them, XueYa could tell something was going on between the two.
Feng MuLing was too willing to submit to XueYa the moment Yating was cornered by him. Sorcerers didn't care for spirit animals. They were nothing more but pawns for them to use, abuse, and throw away once useless. For Feng MuLing to react this way, it was telling.
Feng MuLing was just a low-level sorcerer, most likely appointed to be a servant to a spirit animal by a high-ranking sorcerer, the true owner of Yating. Someone who XueYa wished to meet and make acquaintances with.
XueYa stood up, having memorized everything useful from the enchantment carved over the sorcerer's back. "You can put your robes on."
Feng MuLing hurried to cover his body, shame clear in his pasty skin and sunken eyes. He evaded Yating's gaze, keeping his eyes firmly on XueYa's black boots.
"Don't feel ashamed, we are not that different from one another," XueYa said as he took a step towards Yating.
Only then did Feng MuLing move, grovelling at XueYa's feet in fear. He parted his thin lips to plead for mercy, but only gurgling sounds came out. XueYa had silenced him for the time being.
Fingers clawed at XueYa's robes, but he waved Feng MuLing aside as if he weighed nothing. "Do as I said before, Feng MuLing, and maybe you won't die."
Feng MuLing halted, his eyes falling on the tearful fox, but he held back, letting go of XueYa's hem.
"Please, don't!" Yating cried out. His nine white tails had appeared and feathered out like a fan, trying to cocoon himself away from the fire and XueYa's advancing figure. His fox ears emerged, the rosy tips pressed close to his head defensively. "I'm here because of an order. I didn't have a choice! Please don't hurt me!"
"Can't do, little fox," XueYa smiled as the blue fire rose higher, the flames licking the roof and walls around Yating's cowering figure. "You angered a certain little snake. I won't let you go that easily."
"No-"
"Stay still, and it will hurt less."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Why is he still here?" Xie JingYi asked as he stepped into the Plum Blossom Hall and saw Feng MuLing standing dejectedly behind XueYa.
All the guards had been summoned to the house to see over YaYun. XueYa had taken care of the fox. The creature would no longer have its hold over YaYun, only the white fox jade remained, hanging idly over XueYa's sash.
"He is useful," XueYa shrugged as the guards walked past him to take a look at the sleeping YaYun. XueYa had placed him on the bed in the other room. "There is no point in wasting resources."
"Is YaYun ok?" Zhi ChangNing whispered as she leaned over the peaceful figure. "Why is he still asleep? Can we wake him up?"
"No."
"Huh? Why not?" Wei KaiJun sat on the edge of the bed, poking at YaYun on the nose, but the man didn't react.
"Because I don't want him to wake up."
Yu Zhong grabbed XueYa by his robes, pulling him into a chokehold. "You, what are you trying to do? Wake him up, now."
XueYa only smiled at the ox despite oxygen slowly depleting from his lunges, his skin tinting darker by the second.
"XueYa, wake him up," Xie JingYi said, worry shining in his rounded eyes.
"Yu Zhong! Let him go before he suffocates to death!" ChangNing snapped and Yu Zhong slowly eased his hold over XueYa.
"Ah, should have known XueYa is up to no good. What a bad brother." Wei KaiJun shook his head.
"What now, he is an emperor. A country can't go on without him." ChangNing mumbled, lines of distraught shattering her stone-cold facade.
"The country will be fine, there will be an emperor," XueYa announced, chuckling despite all eyes glaring daggers at him at the moment. "If you want YaYun to wake up someday, do as I say. Only I have the antidote to the poison I gave him. Kill me, and you will watch YaYun sleep for the rest of eternity."
"Damn sorcerer!" Yu Zhong went for the kill but was held back by Wei KaiJun and Xie JingYi. "He did this on purpose! He probably sent that fox over, planned it all to steal the throne from YaYun!"
"I'm flattered that you think I'm that meticulous," XueYa's grin only widened, unsettling the guards further. "But no, the fox wasn't sent by me."
What did XueYa want? Had he always wanted to be the emperor? Was that the reason he had returned secretly to the palace back when YaYun was crowned as the new emperor? The guards didn't want to believe XueYa was capable of this, but all the signs pointed to it.
"For now, YaYun shall stay here. You will each guard over him for the time being. Oh, and not a word to the old geezers, or else..." XueYa turned to leave with Feng MuLing closely behind him when ChangNing called out.
"Why, XueYa? Why are you doing this? Do you want to be the emperor this badly? YaYun never wanted the title in the first place!"
"I won't waste time explaining it to you. You will understand one day, maybe." XueYa moved towards the entrance before turning his eye back on the guards. "The wedding preparations - I want them ready within a week."
"What?" JingYi stepped out from behind the others. "Why? The fox is no longer here, and YaYun is unconscious."
"Do as I say, rooster. Notify the snakes, too. I, as Zhang YaYun, shall marry She LiangLin within a week," XueYa laughed at their horrified expressions. Everything was going according to his plans. "Can't let all the wedding preparations go to waste, now can we?"