Chapter 26: The Plan // Fluff

It was midnight when Zed arrived at the Main Palace. He was pale and had dark eyebags. Exhaustion could be seen on his face, but he still continued to meet with the King.

They were meeting in a room that was smaller than the main hall, but had a similar throne placed in it.

This was called the audience room, where the King meets with his aides and advisors whenever they consult him with matters about the Kingdom.

Seeing the youth in front of him, The King remarked. "You look very tired, boy."

"I'm.. fine sir. At the very least, I won't collapse until all this is over."

"Ho? No more Father-in-law?"

Zed smiled wryly. "It would lose its purpose since Meixiang isn't here."

One of the King's brows arched upwards in interest. "Ho? I thought you and my daughter had that kind of relationship."

"We are simply friends, my King." Zed calmly stated.

"Hmmm... Is that so? How about in the future?"

"I can guarantee nothing. While I like her, I only like her as a friend, and as for what she feels, I don't know."

Zed added, "And we are still too young and have much to see in the world, so you never know, maybe she'll fall in love with someone else. Either way, I will support her as her friend."

The King faintly nodded, thinking that Zed's explanation about his relationship with his daughter was good enough for now.

"Well then. Let's start. What is this plan of yours?"

Zed smiled as he begins to speak.

-

In the Shi residence, Shi Jingfei was crying alone in her dark room.

"Sniff... sniff.."

Once again, her brother had berated her for her actions. He was merciless with his words as Shi Jingfei truly felt that it would be better if she just disappeared.

She felt depressed and unneeded. The words her brother told her tore her heart into tattered pieces. She knew that it would be better if she just didn't mind her brother's words, but...

In the end, he was still her older brother. No matter how much of a bad person Shi Zedong was,  he was still her brother.

But... she felt very sorrowful.

As a result, she had locked herself up after her brother berated her.

She needed comfort... she wanted to be embraced right now, but... all she was embraced by was her blanket.

It had been this way since her childhood... but remembering the comforting warm feeling that her other brother had given her...

She couldn't help but whisper his name.

"Brother Xin..."

She badly needed someone right now, but... she chuckled to herself as she thought it was impossible.

"You called?"

Suddenly, a voice came from her window. Shi Jingfei stared with her eyes wide open as she couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"B-brother Xin?!"

Inside her room, leaning on her window frame, there stood Zed garbed in an imperial soldier's uniform.

He didn't wear a mask so Shi Jingfei immediately recognized him.

"Brother!"

She got up from her bed and ran up to him.

"How are yo- Oof... did you have a hard time?"

Shi Jinfei was hugging Zed tightly, sticking to Zed's chest as if she never wanted to let him go ever again.

A sigh of helplessness came from Zed, as he proceeded to comfort his adoptive little sister first.

The two remained silently hugging each other for minutes before Shi Jingfei released him and looked at him.

When Zed saw her face, he asked in worry. "You look pale and sick! are you eating properly?"

"I could say the same to you! How long have you not been getting sleep, brother?" Shi Jingfei asked back.

"Look- before anything else." Zed spoke in a serious manner. "You need to understand that Lan'er, Meixiang, and I are leaving this Kingdom."

Shi Jinfei looked shocked at the sudden news.

"W-why?" She asked in a small voice but Zed didn't elaborate.

"I don't have time to explain. The only question is, are you willing to come with us? If you are, then you must be prepared to leave the Shi family." Zed said in a heavy tone.

Shi Jingfei immediately responded. "I will!" 

Her response was so fast that Zed needed to repeat what he said again to make sure she knew what she was getting into.

"I know... that for some reason, we will need to escape the Kingdom, right?"

Zed nodded.

"Then Fei'er will come."

"Are you sure? You do know that you will have to abandon your family, right?"

Shi Jinfei's expression became gloomy, but she took a deep breath and looked at Zed in the eyes.

"You are my family."

Once again, Zed was shocked by her statement, but recovered a second later.

(E/N: Man, this kid, making all the girls fall for him, and he doesn't even realize it! Such a chad.)

He could see the resolve in Shi Jinfei's eyes as this wasn't a simple or impulsive decision. She genuinely thought that Zed, his sister, and Meixiang were her family.

Zed smiled at Shi Jinfei. "If so then prepare yourself because... I came to kidnap you."

Shi Jinfei revealed a similar smile and replied. "If so, then take me away from this place, Brother."

Zed nodded and covered his face with a mask.

"Then I'm gonna need you to scream as loud as you-"

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!-"

Zed didn't even manage to finish what he was gonna say as Shi Jinfei proceeded to squeal as loud as possible.

"I'll hurt you a little bit, but I promise to make it up to you. Sorry, it's an inevitable process." Zed whispered.

(E/N: I can already see her becoming a masochist…)

Shi Jinfei simply nodded as she knew what was about to come.

"Is that coming from the young missus room?"

"I think so, yeah! We need to check!"

"I swear if anything happened to my daughter-"

Shouts from the hallway could be heard and soon, men entered Shi Jinfei's room only to see their young miss in the hands of a military soldier, holding a knife to Shi Jinfei's neck.

"Halt!- Not a step closer or-"

Zed made a superficial wound on Shi Jinfei's neck and blood immediately flowed. He did this because, not only did they not stop and listen, they immediately moved towards them.

"Stop!" The man who seemed to be Shi Jingfei's father ordered his men.

Shi Jinfei closed her eyes and decided to trust everything to her brother.

Zed was actually quite worried and his hands were nervous. He didn't want to harm anyone in his family but it was a necessary step for his plan to work.

Shi Jinfei's father furrowed his eyes as he saw the clothes Zed was wearing.

"You... you're a military soldier... then that means Tian ordered you to do this?"

Zed nodded and used a deeper voice. "That makes things easier. Clan head of the Shi family, join our side and we will uproot this kingdom and get rid of those arrogant royals."

"No!" He rejected. "You guys can do what you want, but leave my Shi family out of this!"

Zed exaggeratingly sighed and said. "You don't really have a choice in this..."

He brought his knife closer to Shi Jingfei's neck again.

"Jingfei! Damn it... you bastard! Let go of her!"

"Only if you agree to join us. We can give you some time to think, but in the mean time..." Zed looked at Shi Jingfei. "We'll be keeping her in our prison..."

He then chuckled. "Of course... the prison with the worst inmates."

Shi Jinfei's father's forehead crumpled greatly as he turned red in anger.

"You... YOU!-"

"Remember the deal, old man..." Zed spoke as he climbed the window frame.

"The sooner you agree, the sooner you can get your precious flower back in one piece, but... wait for too long? Heh..."

Leaving those ominous words, Zed and Shi Jinfei flew away and Shi Jingfei's father and his men could do nothing, but stand still while watching Zed flee.

-

They landed somewhere hidden between the alleys of the city and changed clothes. After that, they proceeded to walk normally all the way to the Main Palace.

Zed turned to Shi Jinfei. "Sorry about that." He was talking about the wound on Shi Jingfei's neck.

Shi Jingfei shook her head. "It's fine. Fei'er is alright.... on the other hand, Fei'er never knew that brother could fly like that?"

"Well, you remember that I could use a weird martial arts, right?"

Shi Jingfei nodded.

"That ability is one of them."

"I see." Shi Jingfei accepted that explanation and did not ask anymore.

-

They eventually arrived at the Main Palace and Zed was extremely tired because he had to walk the long set of stairs and climb uphill.

He was exhausted to the point that Shi Jingfei needed to support him.

It was way past midnight, and Zed could tell that the sun would rise in half an hour or so.

He was guided towards one of the guest rooms. The servant offered Shi Jingfei a separate room, but she declined.

Shi Jingfei noticed that Zed was extremely exhausted, to the point that he was barely even awake.

She gently laid Zed down on the bed while occupying the other side of the bed herself.

Zed fell asleep before he even hit the bed.

Shi Jingfei stared at Zed's peaceful face and continued to admire it for quite some time. She gently touched the wound on her neck and felt the soft and secure dressing that covered the wound.

'I guess this means... you have become my brother and family in the truest sense.' Shi Jingfei thought, while remembering the choice she made today.

She felt happy, ecstatic, and delighted because she could finally feel the brotherly love that she had yearned for her entire life.

However, there was one emotion that held her back, which was her pitiful feeling for her blood-related brother.

Now that she had left, she knew that her brother would be having the greatest time of his life. At the same time, she felt pity for him because if he continued to live the way he did, he would never find true and genuine love.

'Like how brother feels for me, and how I feel for him.' She concluded while caressing Zed's cheeks.

Just by being in his presence, Shi Jingfei could feel comfortable and at peace. Her desolate heart didn't feel lonely anymore.

Her family treated her as an asset because of the potential she showed. They showered her with praise, but never took the time to actually get to know her.

Her own brother, who was the only place she could seek comfort from in her family, hated her.

Just as she was drowning in her unhappy memories, Zed's arm moved and hugged her. His face was resting on her chest and she could feel his breath upon her skin.

Shi Jinfei greatly blushed, but did not move Zed away from her. Instead, she hugged his head and playfully felt his soft black hair.

'This feels strangely calming..' While thinking so, she unknowingly drifted off to sleep.

-

Zed woke up and found his head wrapped in someone's chest. He smelled a calming vanilla scent that vastly differed from the smell of his sister.

He immediately wanted to move away, but, remembering the events of last night, he calmed down and realized it was Shi Jinfei.

Feeling the movement on her chest, Shi Jingfei woke up and looked at Zed who's face was squished on her chest.

Her heart tugged at how adorable he appeared especially when he looked at her with those large black eyes of his. It reminded her of an adorable feline animal.

Her mouth was twitching as she felt the uncontrollable urge to rub his hair. She didn't fight against her urges and placed her hand on top of his head.

"?" Zed only slightly shifted his head innocently as if to ask what she was doing.

"!!!"

Shi Jingfei felt like she suffered a dozen amounts of damage to her heart. 'Is this what it feels like to spoil a younger sibling?' She thought while caressing Zed's head.

"Fei'er?" He spoke while his mouth was still stuck to her chest.

She lovingly responded, "Mhm? Yes, brother?"

"Good morning." Zed greeted.

She remained staring at him with a warm gaze. "Good morning to you too, brother.."

"..."

"..."

Zed was wondering when she was planning on letting go of his head.

But the latter doesn't seem to have any intentions of doing so.

Edited By: WorthyAdversary