"How could I neglect my own guest? You should go back and keep Xin Huai company."
"Humph, you just can’t bear to part with your good wine. Afraid that I would stay and drink all of it."
"Am I that stingy in your eyes? How about this... Xin Huai also likes to drink, right? You take this bottle back... I am getting old, and the doctor won’t let me drink too much."
"That’s great, thank you, Dad," Phoenix said delightedly.
After Phoenix left with the red wine, Zhong Daolong asked, "What do you think?"
Chen Fenglei stepped out of the shadows beside Zhong Daolong and said, "This matter is indeed mysterious. Who would send a Grandmaster to ambush two youths? Were they targeting Shen Xinglan or Tang Fei?"
"Mysterious? I find it quite normal," Zhong Daolong sipped his red wine and said.
"Has the King already got an answer?"
"Don’t you have one too?"
"Even the Grand Steward of the Phoenix Palace doesn’t dare to easily mention that name anymore, proving they have indeed grown to a terrifying extent..."
"Without evidence, I dare not speak rashly."
Zhong Daolong looked at Chen Fenglei and said, "Who else in New Star could casually send a Grandmaster to fight to the death for them?"
"For Tang Fei? Is he worth it?"
"Worth it or not, let them decide," Zhong Daolong said gravely. "However, due to this young man’s arrival, quite a lot of glory that used to belong to Shen Xinglan has indeed been diverted... It’s only natural for them to want to eliminate this potential threat early."
"After all, once the young tree soars into the sky, it won’t be so easy for them to chop it down anymore."
"So what should we do now?" Chen Fenglei asked.
"The people they want to kill, we just can’t let them have their way," Zhong Daolong said. "Isn’t Tang Fei injured? Isn’t he currently recuperating in the White Crane Academy?"
"Have Tian Que go on my behalf to check on him, and bring some medicinal herbs and nutrient solutions to help strengthen his body."
"Your Majesty’s grace is boundless, Tang Fei will surely be deeply grateful."
"This young man is a fine blade; we can’t just let them destroy him," Zhong Daolong said. "Keep him, for I have great use for him."
Right after Phoenix returned, Xin Huai came out holding a ball and said, "I could smell the alcohol from afar. Did you drink? Oh, and you brought some back for me?"
"How about that? Enough friendship, right?" Phoenix handed the bottle of red wine to Xin Huai and said, "My dad just awoke some good wine, and since you were here, I packed it to bring back."
"Enough friendship. More than enough," Xin Huai tossed the ball onto the couch, and the small Bichon, leaving its soft embrace, was very dissatisfied and whined a few times.
Xin Huai sniffed at the mouth of the bottle and said, "Not bad, a two-year-old Autumn Thought. Good wine. This wine is hard to come by now, only available in the palace."
Not needing a cup, he guzzled a big mouthful from the decanter.
"You drunkard," Phoenix scolded.
"I’m not greedy for money or lecherous; I just . Can’t you satisfy me?" Xin Huai retorted.
Phoenix had a maid bring over wine glasses, and then they slowly began to taste the wine.
Holding the wine glass, Xin Huai asked, "How about it? Your dad wasn’t angry, was he?"
"No," Phoenix shook her head and said, "I actually wish he had been angry..."
Anger meant he wasn’t hiding anything, that he’d flare up right there and then.
Not being angry was dangerous because you never knew what he was thinking.
She had cut her overseas inspection trip short, which, logically, should have angered her father.
But he was not only not angry, he didn’t even utter a single word of reproach...
That made Phoenix uneasy.
"That’s true," Xin Huai nodded and said, "There’s an old saying, ’Being close to the monarch is like lying with a tiger,’ I thought that was said for those external ministers, never expected it applied to one’s own family as well."
"I was even thinking about whether you should fight for that position, but now it seems... perhaps it’s better not to take that seat. Whoever sits there becomes inscrutable and frightening."
Phoenix deeply agreed, saying, "I wouldn’t want that position. I’d rather be a general, fighting fiercely on the battlefield. At least then, I’d know who the enemies are."
"Did he tell you anything?" Xin Huai asked.
"He said I should go see Shen Xinglan," Phoenix said with a bit of annoyance. "Do you think I should go?"
Xin Huai squinted and smiled, saying, "Interesting... really interesting. What’s this? Helping you choose a husband? A great escape between life and death, and whoever survives till the end gets a princess as a reward?"
Seeing Phoenix’s somber expression, Xin Huai hugged her and comforted her, "Men can only satisfy your desires, but sisters can accompany you to drink, chat, shop, eat, and curse all the men in the world... There’s nothing a man can do that I can’t. Even what a man can’t do, I also can."
Tang Fei walked up to Xuanyuan Mingjing and knelt down with a ’Plop’.
"Thank you, Master, for saving my life and taking care of me during this period... I owe my small life to Master’s timely help."