Accompanying the Phoenix Chapter 30 part2

[June 12, 2019]
...

Her softly spoken, "Also a comrade," made Xing Zhi smile in satisfaction.

The crowd was confused. The nature of the questions left them scratching their respective heads. None understood the strange riddle in front of them. Fu Rongjun put one hand on his hip and laughed.

(You sure have a lot of guts immortal god!)

"Today's practice session is over." Shen Li shot a mean glance at Xing Zhi. She turned around and hopped off the platform, then headed over to Mo Fang. "If Fu Rongjun bothers you again, I will properly reprimand him. I'll be sure to give him a beating he won't forget."

Mo Fang stared. He whispered, "Was Your Highness trying to help me earlier?"

Shen Li's face darkened. She glanced at him, then quickly away, not sure what to say. In no time at all the other generals surrounded her to ask about the drinks she promised. They saw no reason to ponder on the display earlier so dropped it in favor of some good alcohol. Mo Fang stayed where he stood and watched as the group pulled her away. He whispered, "Thank you for your regards Your Highness," without realizing the words had passed his lips.

A fierce gust blew by and Mo Fang shivered as he came back to his senses. Someone yelled, "Mo Fang, come on!"

Those in the crowd waved him over.

"Go on ahead." Mo Fang shook his head. "I'm going to stay behind."

Shen Li kept walking but gave an order over her shoulder. "Go grab him."

Two generals walked back, and planking either side of Mo Fang, dragged him along with them. The boisterous group made their way out of camp leaving the soldiers behind to practice.

Fu Rongjun ran over to the training platform. He didn't dare be too rash but he simply couldn't cover up his joy. Bowing to Xing Zhi he said, "Many thanks to immortal high god for revealing the truth!"

"I did not do it to help you." Xing Zhi shot Fu Rongjun a glance. "I… merely thought it would be amusing." It went exactly as he expected, so why wasn't he happy?

He had wanted to break through her indifference and see a livelier her.

Fu Rongjun looked up to see an unsmiling Xing Zhi. It was on the tip of his tongue to say: immortal high god… do you like messing with other people's feelings? But he refrained in time. He tactfully said farewell instead. "In that case this lord will take his leave."

He finished what he wanted to say and was turning to chase after Shen Li's trail. He didn't even take his first step when Xing Zhi indifferently put a damper on his mood.

"You are behaving quite presumptuously in this realm."

Fu Rongjun's skin crawled for a second. He stiffly turned back to look at Xing Zhi to find the other now wore a slight smile.

"But how could I reproach the Heavenly Emperor's grandson?"

Fu Rongjun relaxed at those words.

"I sent a letter to the Heavenly Emperor yesterday. He will naturally be the one to do so." And with that last parting remark Xing Zhi turned around and left, leaving a nervous Fu Rongjun alone on the training platform.

Fu Rongjun broke out in a cold sweat. He could a practically hear the Heavenly Emperor slamming the table and yelling out in anger…

Meanwhile Shen Li and the generals were drinking and having a great time till the wee hours of the morning. A tipsy Mo Fang walked Shen Li back to her residence. They bade each other farewell at the front gates and Mo Fang circled back to his own house.

Shen Li opened the gates but avoided the front entrance, instead she detoured around the side wall. Despite doing this she still ended up running into Xing Zhi. He was standing in the courtyard in his signature white robe and gazing at the full moon. Their eyes met but she quickly turned her head away without a word of greeting. She was looking for Rou-ya.

"Your Highness is an engaged woman. Engaged to a man of heaven no less. Coming home with another man so late is inappropriate."

Shen Li paused. The lanterns in the courtyard lit her face and gave it sculptured appearance. Her eyes were dim though. "Oh? Inappropriate? Is that what high god thinks?" Shen Li sneered. "You're the one who gave me this marriage. Now you're trying to bring my subordinate into it? God sure is prone to meddling."

Xing Zhi frowned. It was rare to hear Shen Li speak in such a tone. "You've drunk too much."

"I'm quite sober thank you." Shen Li's eyes burned with resentment and anger. Her emotions were all over the place. "Let's talk some more about what is appropriate and what is good. It would have been good today if I had successfully fooled Fu Rongjun. To help my subordinate so that mess of a man would stop bothering him. But today immortal high god really embarrassed me.

Shen Li laughed at herself. "So I concede. Are you satisfied high god?" Smirking she continued. "Do you even know what you're doing? You act as though you're jealous. Do you like me or something?

Xing Zhi was silent for a moment. He looked away from her and said, "From whence would these feelings arise? Your Highness is inebriated."

A high god like Xing Zhi didn't seek or desire anything, least of all another person. Shen Li should have known that.

"Is that so?" Shen Li turned and walked away back towards the interior of the main manor. Her words floated coolly behind her. "Then in the future, no matter who I chose to protect, no matter how I protect them, I'd appreciate if Immortal High God Xing Zhi will hold his tongue. Kindly leave me a way out."

The wind blew around Xing Zhi making his hair flutter around him. He turned his head up to look at the dusky sky. It was a long time before he spoke. Talking to himself he said, "Hm... I will give it a try."

Chapter end