The return of Er Xi

Naki 243 BC

The sound of heavy rain falling over the trees and taking root in the dry and cracked ground brought calm to Minister Jing Khe de Naki's state of nerves. After months without a drop of water falling from the sky, the gods finally graced the people with the blessings of nature.

The man, already in his sixties, already tired, bald with a long mustache that could easily be braided, with deep dark circles and muscular pains, was sitting in his library drinking a glass of wine while thinking about the latest events.

Its king in foreign lands for the funeral of the queen who had been brutally murdered by someone who had not yet been discovered. Naki at the mercy of all this, because if Naran had been suffering from attacks within the walls themselves, the king could be the next target, and if the king died everyone would be lost.

Jin Khe shook his head a few times while analyzing the documents of the last foods that entered and left Naki.

Only grains and a little bread donated by Honga and Naran's bags of food in exchange for iron. An unfair but necessary exchange. After all, exchanging a gem like iron for food was vexing. However, Naran maintained full control over them. What brought such a revolt to the minister, since their power was totally limited by the neighboring state that commanded even the entrances of food, the borders of those who entered or left and especially the national treasure, which was already scarce. Naki had autonomy only in theory, because everything was due to Naran's strong influence.

The minister reached out with his wrinkled right hand and took the brush that was on his little table. Dipped in the black paint, spread a bamboo mat in front of him and wrote a letter of thanks to Honga and Naran, his last job since the Kase revolt twenty years ago when it disunited all the peoples who lived as one. When Naki lived in glory with his iron mines, fertile soil and large plantations, they exported to other states. However, everything now belonged to Kase, and the rest lived under Naran.

The red wooden doors opened and the minister saw when a flash of light shone in the sky outside, showing the torrential rain that would fall for the next few weeks. His servant, Lei Yu, completely wet entered the place and did not dare step on the tapestries, just bent right there at the entrance door and held out a perfectly rolled up scroll sealed with the symbol he knew very well. Jin Khe rose from his seat, walked over to his servant, and took the contents from his hands.

- Well, well ... - Jin khe just smiled when reading the letter's contents. Finally, his glory days were coming.

- What does the consort want this time? - Lei Yu asked standing up watching Jin Khe's happy reaction. Something very rare for him since his daughter decided to serve the army and abandon the expectations of a good marriage.

- Ayame must be crazy to send a scroll with this content, but her despair reached immeasurable levels since she was exiled until the king's second order. - Jin Khe laughed as he imagined the consort without her superior air, her ornaments, with absolutely nothing, tucked away in a dark and cold palace alone. A perfect place to ensure that her wickedness does not go beyond your wicked mind.

- What do you laugh so much?

- That consort's lorpa came to ask for help - The minister laughed even more so that his stomach ached from the effort. - She is locked in the cold palace; nobody is allowed to visit her, not even her son. She must be mad with hate. The perfect time to use the best we have. - Jin Khe sat down again and her servant served him more wine. - She wants to take down Naran and give it to her son's bastard. In return, he intends to poison the king and blame the heiress princess Mei Yang. I will profit a lot.

- How does the consort intend to overthrow the king? Naran follows strict laws and even more, traditions are severely used. Even if the king falls, Ammon will never take power. As long as Mei Yang breathes on this land, the chances of the bastard Kong Naran coming to power are nil.

- That is exactly why she asks for my intervention. It is time for things to change. Naran has been in the center for a long time, the time has come for the scenario to reverse. Naki has the largest poison trade in the world. Poisons that will never be discovered, just a drop and everything will change.

- What did she ask for in the letter? - Lei Yu approached the fire to ward off the cold that had hit his body. He wet clothes stuck to his skin, making him shiver. He removed his heavy, soaked robes. He didn't want to remove it, he knew what would happen, but his skin screamed for some of the heat from the flames that crackled in the fireplace. He was so distracted that he did not notice the approach of the minister who was right behind watching his exposed body. The man's old hands ran over the servant's abdomen calmly, as if he wanted to feel every piece of skin that was there. It had been a long time since anyone had been in his bed, and his favorite servant was naked in front of him, causing him pain in his private parts. Jin Khe met Lei Yu's eyes with fervor, and finally kissed him. It was sudden, but not denied.

Lei Yu returns the kiss with equal intensity to show his loyalty to that man. The servant knew of his master's need, an old man who was forced to marry at an early age to bear offspring, but deep down he felt disgusted by his own wife who had passed away years ago. Only in the arms of his servant did he really smile. Jin Khe had never been as happy as he was now. On the other hand, Lei Yu was feeling invaded. He reciprocated his master's caresses since childhood, when he was still an orphan boy rescued from the streets and taken to the Jin family home. Everyone in the city had such admiration and one, a certain fear of that surname, since Jin was synonymous with strength within Naki. Now, as a man, all that was natural, but it did not reach his instincts. He was already used to serving his lord in his bed. He just thought it was all for her, and only for his greatest love. - Are you feeling anything, my lord?

Lei Yu asked when he realized that Jin Khe walked away with a frown of worry

- No, just tired of a stressful day ... "Jin Khe took the letter from the consort and shot it in the fire. Gradually the papyrus disappeared into the flames and the relief was consuming him. Those words had to disappear. - The consort wants me to bring down the king and the princess.

- How will a minister of Naki achieve such a feat?

- Do you think Ayame would make a letter without having a plan? That wicked woman's mind works fast. She has thought of everything. In addition, let us throw this loose king of Naki down. - Jin Khe smiled facing the rain and heavy thunderstorms outside. Naki would finally get rid of a dead weight like that crazy king.

- An ingenious and risky scheme like this requires a detailed plan. Will you do it for free? - Lei Yu asked.

- Of course not! In return I will have what I most want. A decent position and my daughter married. - saying that Lei Yu shuddered.

- Will Miss Er Xi get married? - the servant asked a little shaken.

- Yes! If all goes well, she will marry Prince Amon when he takes the throne. My daughter being a queen ... Everything I dreamed of most. - Jin Khe filled his chest with pride. His daughter would leave that unfortunate life that she chose for herself, and ascend to the throne of Naran.

- Er Xi won't take it that easy. She chose military life. She loves her life and being in front of wars. A single woman, she would never bow to any man in this world. She will never accept such a thing. - The servant's words sounded normal to the minister's ears, but his heart was filled with disgust at the thought of Er Xi married.

- She does not have to choose. She is old enough to be married, already passed! A twenty-year-old woman single and serving in the army alongside the general. What will they say about her?

- That you are a courageous and determined woman.

- A woman needs to get married and have children. What will the generation of the Jin family look like? She needs to get married!

The sound of the knocking outside took both of them out of the conversation. Lei Yu quickly dressed in his old clothes and the minister went back to his initial mode, sitting through the documents. The door opened and a young woman with long black hair, partly tied in a silver hairpin with delicate flowers as ornaments, that flew in the wind causing some threads to pass through her thin and delicate face, with traces of an exquisite lady, appeared next to the black night sky. The slim and well-formed body was inside armor, hiding its charms, but in no way its beauty.

Lei Yu almost lost his breath when he saw Jin Er Xi enter through the wide doors of his father's rooms with her silver helmet in her hands and with her beautiful smile, which left the most beautiful ladies of the court, dying of envy. Er Xi was a true rare and quiet begonia flower, with a warrior's heart. There was not a man who did not admire her strength and determination.

- Dad - Er Xi bowed to the minister and he just stood up to greet him. - I missed you.

- I also felt yours, my little nightingale. I see that you have just arrived from the borders - the minister looked at the helmet in his daughter's hands.

- I came running to see you. - Er Xi then paid attention to the servant sitting by the fireplace, observed his heavy, soggy clothes, and closed her countenance. - Lei Yu, how can you wear these clothes in cold weather? Go get changed before you catch a cold.

The servant felt like crying at the young woman's sweet words and concern. He promptly got up and before leaving, he took his lady's hands and placed a chaste and emotional kiss.

- It is a pleasure to be back, my lady - Lei Yu smiled deeply excited and left. Er Xi finally hugged her father. The minister does not return with much fervor, but deep down he was happy for his daughter's return.

- How long will you stay this time?

- The division gave me a few days off. I will stay here with you.

Jin Khe chose to hide his plans for a future marriage for his daughter. The lady's personality was aloof, a free spirit too used to riding miles and wielding a sword. It was time for her to retire from her life as a soldier, rest the tip of her hanfu at home, and arrange a good marriage.

Er Xi said goodbye to her father with a brief bow and went out the doors to reach the entrance yard where was covered by water. The sky looked like a black cloak, with no stars, just as dark as an abyss and you could only hear the sound of heavy rain falling over all of Naki. After three months away from home, walking through the corridors of the red palace was nostalgic.

- My lady - Er Xi was startled to notice the presence of Lei Yu in front of her. She was so lost in the scene that she forgot that there were people there.

- Yu! - the woman said smiling.

- I missed you ... Will you stay long this time? - Lei Yu got a little closer and managed to see Er Xi's brown eyes. He missed her so much that he just wanted to hug her. However, he was disgusted with himself. He had long since ceased to be a man, the man he wanted to be for her. His dreams of having the young woman for himself had been swept away in his childhood when he was forced to lie down on the minister's bed and satisfy the lust of that man he called sir.

Now, very close to Er Xi, he wished to go back in time and never have come to the red palace. Perhaps he could find the young woman in another place and have the courage to look up and face her equally, confess his feelings and make her happy as he always envisioned in his nocturnal delusions. However, he was a bastard that had slept with the father of the love of his life, and he would never have his pride as a man again to have such hopes.

- I will stay long enough to pay for the drink I owed you. Remember our bet? - Lei Yu remembered perfectly the last time they were together. Er Xi bet that it would rain that same month, but his knowledge showed that it would rain months later, which happened. That encounter had been three months ago, but it still hammered so deep into his mind that it felt like it had been a few hours ago. - You look weird. What happened?

The servant realized that the minister had not yet told his daughter that she could marry the bastard prince of Naran. Thinking about it, Lei Yu's soul almost fainted in sadness.

- There was nothing, ma'am. - Lei Yu smiled with fallen eyes. - When will you buy me the drink?

- Right now! Come let us celebrate my return. - Er Xi took the servant's hands, he felt his whole body heat up, and a blush came up on his face. He was used to serving his lord in bed, but he would never get used to the simple touch of Er Xi. The young woman took her servant to her quarters. The place was spotlessly clean. It did not even look like the owner had been away for three months. Lei Yu lit all the lamps while Er Xi, behind the screen, changed and recounted her last experiences in battle. He would never do anything to tarnish the young lady's honor, but the longings to have her for himself were uncontrollable at certain times. Therefore, Lei Yu withdrew from the door out of breath. His chest rose and fell frantically. The servant put his hand on his chest, trying to control his overwhelming passion and closed his eyes just listening to the sound of rain to calm his passionate heart. He was not worthy! Not at all worthy of having your lady to himself. He should be content to have only the little friendship between them that he has perpetuated since childhood.

- Yu - Er Xi's sweet voice sounded and he soon recovered himself to enter her rooms. Er Xi was dressed in a white sleeping robe with delicate valley flowers embroidered from top to bottom, very different from the armor she had recently been wearing. The robe showed the beautiful young woman she was, which made Lei Yu bow his head quickly in pure shame to see his lady so relaxed in his presence and he in complete despair.

However, why was he feeling that? They grew up together as brothers. In his heart, he knew that Er Xi only saw him as a great friend, but his spirit cried out his exasperated love to the point of asking the heavens to die. He preferred to leave this world when he saw Er Xi married to another man.

- Here, this glass is yours - she held out the wine and without looking at it, just took it and took a sip. Lei Yu sat across from her and finally faced the young woman who had her eyes closed savoring the wine. Her features were relaxed and her cheeks were slightly flushed making her more feminine.

She could never marry Naran's bastard. Even though he was not worthy of her, neither was Amon. Er Xi would only marry someone approved by him. Lei Yu took his wine and smiled forcefully. If Naran's consort's plan worked, a new world would be built. Naki would be a new land, but the greatest tragedy would be in his life, because He would lose his beloved forever.