Water Mirrored Moon - 水鏡月

Part IV - The Western Emerald: 82. Dragon Rises

Zhao Ling Feng snorted as he read the secret letter and then tossed it into a burner.

While I thought it would be difficult to kill my brother...Mother Empress will be disappointed that Wu Cui Xi is still alive...but I suppose I should deal with my guest first...

"Don't you think you're getting sloppy, reading your secret letters in front of me like that?" asked a handsome man with sandy coloured skin and hair and slanted green eyes. He casually settled himself against the pillar, watching as the Crown Prince of Tiansheng moved to the desk on the dais.

Zhao Ling Feng narrowed his eyes, but he sat down and then dipped a brush into the ink and calmly drew it across the page, careful to hold back his sleeve.

He had noticed the intruder as soon as he had entered his study. That the man had slipped into the East Palace without alerting his hidden guards meant that this person was not to be looked down on. Other than extremely high-level martial artists, very few could get into his palace undetected, and then elude the hidden guards. So, this person was one of perhaps three people he knew who were simply that capable. Since he was related to the other two, this could only be...

"So, you've finally come," Zhao Lin Feng said. "I was not expecting you for a few more days, your Highness, Crown Prince Ashina Atil."

"You can call me A'Ying for now," said the Crown Prince of Xiyu.

"As you wish. Welcome to Tiansheng, A'Ying. Please make yourself comfortable," Zhao Ling Feng gestured to the tea on the warmer. He smiled slightly to diminish the irony of his tone.

The Crown Prince of Xiyu barked a short laugh, uncoiling his large frame and pushed away from the pillar. His wild, supple grace reminded Zhao Ling Feng of an untamed beast.

Smiling sardonically, Ashina Atil helped himself and threw back a cup of tea. He did not miss the faint flicker of disdain that crossed Zhao Ling Feng's face at his rough manners. Striding over to a chair, he sat down and waited expectantly. The gold hoops in his ears jingled a little as he ran a hand through wavy hair that was loosely secured halfway down his back.

"You could just wait until the old man dies. It will not be long if the rumours are correct. You are already the Crown Prince. If you can fend off Zhao Ling Fei for a few more years you will naturally inherit," Ashina Atil pointed out, swinging the leg that was comfortably hooked over the other knee.

Zhao Ling Feng quietly set down the brush and scrutinized the strong sweeping strokes still wet on the paper.

"Hmmn. You have good style," Ashina Atil complimented.

"Fend off? Is that what your elder brother did before he died in that hunting accident?"

"The loss of my elder brother is still quite painful to me," Ashina Atil sighed tragically, his expression then turning into a wolfish grin. "As was the loss of my other brothers. However, Ashina Yasa would have made a terribly weak king. As a member of the royal family, how could I not think of my country's future?"