The Snow Emperor and the Little Plum

Chapter 6

Di Xúe walked over the garden. The peach tree's were filled with sweet, round fruit and the lake glittered beautifully under the moonlight. The air had started to become colder as autumn had arrived but it was still comfortable enough to take a nightly stroll. It did not take long before he had arrived at his destination.

The two Imperial guards, An Dan and An Xi, straighten their back as he came closer but he ignored them as he entered the home of his Zhiji. The room was dark and Di Xúe frowned as he lit a candle almost to drop it when he turned and an old face looked back at him.

The face was wrinkled like a raisin and the eyes watched Di Xúe with suspicion. Di Xúe cocked an eyebrow and waited for the old servant to recognize him. Suddenly, the old man's went wide and he threw himself to the floor.

"Glorious Huángdi!"

The shout echoed in the room and a loud thud followed suit. Di Xúe ignored the trembling old servant and his eyes fell towards the table. The little plum released a large amount of foul words from his mouth as he clawed himself up from the floor with unruly hair and one of his cheeks red.

"Slept well, Xiao Mei?" asked Di Xúe sweetly and held back a laughter as the little plum glared at him with unfocused eyes.

"Why the hell are you here?"

Di Xúe narrowed his eyes at the rude little plum.

"Most honored Huángdi..." The little plum added reluctantly.

Di Xúe was satisfied with that and sat down opposite of the little plum who yawned. Di Xúe threw a glare at the old servant who still hadn't moved.

"What are you still-"

A squeak interrupted Di Xúe who seriously wanted to whip someone. A young girl had burst into the room and looked ecstatic as she gazed upon his face. "What is with these two? I have never seen such incompetence!"

"Get me and my Zhiji some food," Di Xúe said coldly and both the servant rushed out to obey him. "Why have you kept those two but thrown out all other servants?"

"The other servants were rude. Especially that damn steward Mu Bai. He kept insulting me the whole time he was here. He served me cold food. Never meat, said something about me being too fat and even suggested for me to only survive on water! He ignored my orders and when I heard him gossiping about me behind my back, telling the servants that I should kill myself..."

Di Xúe's expression did not change but he took a mental note of the name, Mu Bai. Lin Hai had suggested Mu Bai as he had been one of the most loyal stewards in the palace but it seems like the man needed to know his place. A slap on the face of the Zhiji was also a slap onto the Emperor's face.

"Well, you need to lose weight. How else are you supposed to outrun assassins?"

Yecao Cao huffed," I seemed to do fairly well when you were being targeted. Otherwise, you would have been dead."

"Yes, and I have no idea how you succeeded in running past the assailants," muttered Di Xúe. He had been in utter shock at the speed of the little plum even back then. It was ridiculous how such a round thing could run so fast.

"I got a lot of practice running away from the Imperial guards," the little plum said proudly.

"Do I even want to know why you were running away from the palace guards?"

"Apparently, it is not appreciated when random people are sleeping in the Imperial garden."

"Why aren't I surprised?"

The servants were back with food. Di Xúe tried to ignore the open gawking of the girl but it became increasingly hard as she was so close. The little plum seemed to be amused by his discomfort but at least had the decency to dismiss the two servants.