Chapter 192: The Fox Expected This Even Less

It took some time for Hua Nanyi to get her bearings, according to her she had ridden for days on end after she cought up to Chu Hean and Ru Long.

"I regret ever telling you I was bored," she said, accepting the cup of tea Chu Yun gave her.

"Did you get the chance to talk with Xiao Ziyi?" he asked, taking a seat next to her.

She drank almost all of the tea in one thirsty gulp, before shaking her head in denial. "No, I wanted to get back to you as soon as I could."

"You should go see her now," he rapped his knuckles against the table, lost in his own thoughts. "Xiao Zai is in an audience, but he should be finished by the time the two of you get back."

Hua Nanyi looked like what she needed was about a solid two day's sleep, but Chu Yun couldn't trust anyone else to go talk with Xiao Ziyi, and he knew she absolutely wouldn't come unless she knew it was important. She avoided the palace at all costs.

Hua Nanyi downed the rest of her tea and got up with a tired but resolute nod. "I'll hurry."

She hadn't said much about what she'd seen, but there was no doubt in Chu Yun's mind that this was the kind of thing that needed to be discussed in a diplomatic way.

Xiao Zai and Xiao Yuan were meeting with several ministers, trying to slowly push forward a few reforms. Progress was slow, and while Chu Yun advised Xiao Zai on how to approach the matters and how to talk to the ministers, he didn't show up himself.

It was better for now, while Xiao Zai's ascension was so recent, that they didn't think that Chu Yun had any influence over him. He would have time to establish a role for himself later on, for now, any implications that he was exerting any sort of authority could be prejudicial.

Just as he had expected, Xiao Zai was just leaving the throne room when Chu Yun arrived. He was discussing something with Xiao Yuan in hushed tones, but stopped the moment he saw Chu Yun approach.

Xiao Yuan greeted him and excused himself, assuming that whatever they were going to discuss was private, but Chu Yun stopped him.

"Let's go back inside, you should hear this too."

---

He detailed the situation to Xiao Zai and Xiao Yuan, telling them how Hua Nanyi had tracked Chu Hean and Ru Long to a Xiongnu encampment just outside Zui's borders.

The Xiongnu usually roamed the grasslands, raising horses and cattle, following a nomadic lifestyle with some brief incursions into the nearby kingdoms of Su, Zui and Xin -- but that hadn't happened in years.

It was worrying that at least some of them were so close to Zui's borders, especially considering Chu Hean's and Ru Long's presence with them.

"From what you've said your brother's goals are unpredictable," Xiao Yuan said, frowning deeply. "And the First Prince of Su seems to be trying to find 'long lost relatives'?"

Both Chu Yun and Xiao Zai nodded awkwardly. That was the gist of it -- more or less.  Chu Yun wasn't sure if they should tell Xiao Yuan about Ru Long's possible connection to Xiao Yao just yet.

Xiao Yuan's frown deepened. "What do they want with the Xiongnu, then?"

Chu Yun didn't have an answer for him. He couldn't clearly see what either of them had to gain by trying to align themselves with a people who were notoriously closed off, and loyal only to themselves. 

The Xiongnu were comprised of several clans of divine beasts, with the current leader being decided internally through means Chu Yun didn't understand. There were tigers, bears, and supposedly even dragons among them -- although that was the stuff of legend, no one really believed it.

All they could do was wait fro Hua Nanyi's and Xiao Ziyi's arrival, which thankfully didn't take long.

Hua Nanyi looked exhausted when she dragged herself into the throne room, followed by Xiao Ziyi who just looked annoyed.

Xiao Zai stopped pacing in front of the throne, and taking advantage that everyone else had been excused from the room , blurted out, "What the fuck is going on?"

Four expectant pairs of eyes turned to Hua Nanyi, who took a sobering breath and raised her hands in apparent surrender.

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"This is going to sound hard to believe, but...I don't think Chu Hean and Ru Long were there voluntarily."

That gave Chu Yun pause. She was right -- he found that hard to believe.

"You mean they were there...as prisoners?"

She grimaced, tilting her head slowly from side to side. "They weren't restrained...but they didn't look happy to be there either. Maybe like, unwilling guests?"

Xiao Ziyi had no interest in Chu Yun's brother and the First Prince of Su, she had more direct concerns.

"A sighting of Xiongnu riders so close to our borders is bad news," her jaw tightened, "it has been years since they raided our lands, but that doesn't mean they won't do it again. Word must have reached them that Xiao Zai is now the new Zui King. Opportunists like them would consider a transitional period such as this the perfect time to mount an incursion."

Xiao Yuan paled, crossing his arms in front of his chest defensively. "Surely we can't be certain that that's what they're planning." He looked towards Xiao Zai looking for support. "Maybe the First Prince of Su did drag them here, but Miss Hua just caught them during a disagreement. Maybe he promised them something in exchange for their support in helping him achieve," he gestured vaguely, "whatever it is he wants to achieve."

Chu Yun had to admit that Xiao Yuan's reasoning was solid, and at first he would have agreed with him, but now, he was beginning to reconsider.

For one, the Xiongnu were notoriously unpredictable, Ru Long had to be an idiot to think he could make any sort of deal with them and expect them to follow through. More importantly, he was acting entirely behind the King of Su's back -- if his insistence that he shouldn't be informed of his actions or whereabouts was anything to go by.

Chu Yun and Xiao Zai had upheld their end of the uneasy truce between them -- if it could even be called that -- and Chu Hean and Ru Long hadn't done anything in the meantime.

Getting the Xiongnu involved seemed too dramatic for their previous behaviour.

There had to be something else going on.

He turned to Hua Nanyi: "What did you see? In detail, what did the encampment look like, the riders? What did it seem like they were doing there?"

She worried at her lower lip before turning to him. "I didn't get to spend much time there, because I was almost made shortly after, and had to leave in a hurry, but it looked like they were getting ready to go on the move."

Xiao Ziyi swore under her breath. "Towards Zui? Or maybe back to the grasslands?"

Hua Nanyi shrugged. "It was hard to say, I couldn't hear much, and what I did hear wasn't very clear, but it gave me the impression that Chu Hean and Ru Long weren't there entirely of their own volition. They seemed tense, and then there was the entire manner I found them."

Of course, Chu Yun had forgotten to ask her how'd she track them towards the Xiongnu. 

She paused dramatically before turning to Chu Yun. "You might not like to hear this, but, for some reason I can't quite understand, Chu Hean was dressed like one of them."

Chu Yun really didn't want to have heard that, she was right. Her words conjured all kinds of terrible mental images of what could have happened to lead his brother to wear the clothing of the Xiongnu. It could also explain why Hua Nanyi got the impression that neither he, nor Ru Long, were there entirely of their own volition.

It was hard to imagine that if any of the scenarios Chu Yun was envisioning were true, that Ru Long had been okay with them.

Xiao Zai turned to Chu Yun with a complicated expression. "Could Chu Hean have been following a contract?"

He didn't elaborate, but he didn't need to. 

It was entirely possible that Chu Hean had found his way into the Xiongnu through Harmonious Radiance. He seemed dedicated to Ru Long, and whatever plan he had for Su, and maybe Zui -- but he seemed equally committed to the academy and his role there.

Hua Nanyi intervened with a nod. "That was my first thought as well, because according to what I found out, Chu Hean and Ru Long split up some time during their journey."

What could have caused that? Did it have to do with the Xiongnu, or did that only happen after the split?

Hua Nanyi looked up into Chu Yun's eyes. "To me it seemed like Ru Long had tracked Chu Hean to the Xiongnu too, it was like he had arrived there not long before me.. And like I said, he didn't look happy to be there."

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