there is no law that emperors must be fair || jing yuan

A Dance with Death

“Come along, Blade.”

You watched as Blade looked to you and then back at the emperor, “do you not want me to watch over her while she rests?”

“There is no need for it. There will be other guards making their rounds here, that way she doesn’t have to have you hovering over her shoulder while she tries to rest.”

The emperor turned back towards you, making you stand a bit straighter. You don’t know why, but every time that he looks at you, you feel as if his eyes are picking you apart, tearing you open. It was such an unsettling feeling. It made your palms sweat and your legs shake. You didn’t like his attention.

“And Y/n.”

“Yes, Your highness?”

He gave you a knowing look which made you correct yourself immediately.

“Jing Yuan.”

You noticed how he smiled at your correction, “rest well.”

And just as he turned to leave with Blade following after, you called for him.

“Wait, Jing Yuan!”

He turned his head to look at you, “hmm?”

“Where exactly will we be going?”

Your voice sounded too shy for your liking, but you didn’t know how else to ask.

He gave you a little smirk, “you’ll just have to wait and see.”

He didn’t let you say anything else as he left with Blade, the door quickly shutting behind him while leaving you to your thoughts.

He’s going to kill me in secret, isn’t he?

As you wobbled back to the bed and immediately dove into the comfort and safety of the covers, you couldn’t help but to listen to Jing Yuan and try to get some rest. Though, your worries followed you, even in your sleep.

Meanwhile with Blade and Jing Yuan, Jing Yuan could only grin at the guard next to him.

“You’re so tense, Blade.”

Blade looked gave the emperor a side glance before saying anything, “what makes you say that?”

Jing Yuan stopped walking and so did Blade. The two facing each other.

“You had your hand on the hilt of your sword the entire time I was with her in there.”

Perceptive as always, Blade thought. His face setting into a neutral expression so he doesn’t show just how annoyed he is.

“She has amnesia, but I didn’t know how much she actually remembered. So, I had my sword ready just in case she tried anything.”

Jing Yuan chuckled softly, “so you were protecting me?”

Blade nodded and Jing Yuan smiled a little at that, “and here I thought you were actually protecting her.”

Blade tensed up a little at that. He couldn’t stop himself from doing so. Jing Yuan’s words surprised him. And the tensing of Blade’s shoulders was all the clarification that Jing Yuan needed.

“Honestly Blade, you are quite amusing,” he turned to leave, but he stopped walking for a moment to look back at Blade, “before I and y/n go out, be sure to tell her that her little amnesia act is quite good. If I didn’t know she was acting, then I would have definitely be fooled.”

Blade paused right then and there.

“You-“

Jing Yuan turned back around, his eyes glinting with mischief and mirth, “it will take a lot more than that to fool me, Blade. Now, I may not know exactly what you, Dan Heng, and y/n are planning yet, but…I’ll play along for now.”

Jing Yuan finally took his leave and all Blade could do was clench his fist.

“So he knew from the start.”

Blade knew that besting the emperor would be a near impossible task, but it seems everything just got harder.

“I might as well tell Dan Heng about this-“

“Tell me what exactly?”

Blade looked to his left to see Dan Heng walk up the stairs then, Blade’s arms came up to cross over his chest.

“Jing Yuan knows.”

“Knows what?”

“Everything. About you, me, and the fact that y/n doesn’t actually have amnesia.”

Dan Heng paused at the news just as Blade had, “and he didn’t confront her about it?”

“Not yet.”

“Does she know?”

“No. Jing Yuan said that he was going to play along for a while.”

“Does he know why we are doing this?”

“He said he doesn’t, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he figures it out by tonight.”

“Why tonight?”

“Him and y/n are going out.”

Dan Heng thought for a moment and Blade continued talking, “should we tell her?”

“…No, we shouldn’t. If we tell her that Jing Yuan knows about us, then everything will fall apart. Besides, it’ll be safer for her if she remains in the dark and continues to act like she has amnesia.”

Blade nodded, agreeing with Dan Heng’s logic.

“What do we do now?”

“For now, we wait and see. And we should also try to find the person who is Jing Yuan’s eyes and ears. Because someone must be telling him what we’re doing.”

“One of the maids maybe?”

“Unlikely…wait.”

“What is it?”

Dan Heng looked to Blade, “I think I know who it is.”

“Who?”

“It’s-“

“Moze.”

Jing Yuan greeted the assassin when he entered his office.

“Emperor Jing Yuan.”

“Has Feixiao come to fetch you yet?”

“No, if she had, then I wouldn’t be here.”

Jing Yuan chuckled at that, “yeah, I guess you wouldn’t,” Jing Yuan went to his desk and took a seat, Moze moved to stand in front of him.

“So, our deal still stands, yes?”

Moze nodded, “until Feixiao comes back, I’ll take orders from you.”

“Good.”

Jing Yuan paused for a moment before continuing, “later, I and y/n will be leaving for town. Follow us, alright?”

“I will.”

Jing Yuan dismissed him then, and when the assassin left his office, Jing Yuan sighed and leaned back in his chair. His eyes glancing towards the big window that took up most of the wall to his right.

“Y/n…just what are you trying to do?”