19. No Going Back

How dare you disobey me, you worthless bastard! Your sister will pay for it!

The message echoed on and on in Meng Huo's mind before he slumped on his knees.

"Ge!" Wu Xin crouched down in front of him, panicked, "what does this message mean? Sister?"

"Sister..." Meng Huo repeated and jumped to his feet with a sudden surge of energy. He snatched the paper from Wu Xin's hand and rushed out of the room.

"MY PRINCE!" he started to yell on the long corridors to find Han Xin, not giving a damn about the attention he was drawing.

"MY PRINCE!"

"HAN XIN!"

"Meng Huo?" Han Xin was too shocked to see Meng Huo running around like a headless chicken, shouting his name.

"You have to help me!" the suffering man threw himself on Han Xin's feet, clenching on his legs, "you have to save her!"

"What are you doing?!" the prince wanted to pull the now crying man, but the other was adamant.

"You have to save her... please... I will do everything you want... she is the only one I have..."

As he couldn't pull the other up, Han Xin rather crouched down, "what are you saying? Who is she?" he asked with growing anxiety as well as anger.

"My... sister... Meng Hua..." Meng Huo replied in between his heavy sobs.

Sister? It was the first time Han Xin was hearing Meng Huo had a sister, but it was not the right time to interrogate the crying man. Holding his arms tight, he asked "where is she? Why is she in danger?"

"In the... concubines' palace in the East," Meng Huo sniffed, "the king will kill her," he confessed as he passed the message to Han Xin's hand.

"WHAT THE HELL DOES IT MEAN?" Han Xin shouted after reading the message, but at that moment, Meng Huo's consciousness slipped and he fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"Ya! Wake up!" Han Xin patted his cheeks gently, but couldn't get any reaction. Cursing, he lifted the fainted man and rushed to his room after calling for the healer.

When the healer arrived, Han Xin left the room with the mysterious message. Disobeying... bastard... sister... concubines' palace... the king killing the sister... Each bit of information was shocking on its own, but Han Xin didn't have time to think.

He went to his room and wrote a message to his spy in the East. He knew a spy would be handy after the poisonous wine incident, but he would never guess to use him with such a purpose.

Once he was done writing, he tied the message on a homing pigeon and sent it.

The rest was waiting...

As if he knew it, Meng Huo didn't wake up all day long. He broke into cold sweats and kept repeating his sister's name like a mantra. Not wanting to alarm the others, Han Xin kept the situation hidden, even mildly threatening Wu Xin to keep his mouth shut.

That night Han Xin didn't even blink, attending to the suffering man and waiting for the spy's reply.

Fortunately, early in the next morning, the homing-pigeon came back with a message. Han Xin darted from his spot and got the message with shaky fingers.

I saved the girl, we are on the border.

Han Xin let out a relieved sigh and sat back on his previous spot. Gently, he patted Meng Huo's cold cheeks while calling out his name.

"Meng... Hua..." Meng Huo murmured tiredly as he half opened his bloodshot eyes.

"She is safe, don't worry," Han Xin said, void of emotions.

"Really?" Meng Huo straightened on the mattress and grabbed Han Xin's hand, "thank you... thank you so much, my prince."

Han Xin saved his hand from the other's grip rather harshly, "after breakfast, you will tell me everything... without any lies. Then I will decide whether to let you see your sister or not."

In the face of the cold treatment, Meng Huo felt a pang in his heart, but he didn't regret what he did. Indeed, he sacrificed his own life, his own happiness, but it saved his sister's life.

Breakfast was served, but none of them was in the mood to eat. They sat silently with untouched food between them until the maids cleared the table.

"I am all ears," Han Xin said intimidatingly with cold eyes.

"I am a slave not a prince."

It was as simple as that and there was no going back.

***

This chapter is a birthday gift for Lan_ShengYin,

I wish you tons of happiness and love^^ You deserve it fully my cute mei mei... lav ya💙💙💙