My Devil Emperor
Bad News

"It turns out my master is here." The soft voice made the man who was in focus staring at the replica of the sand map with the flag on it raise his face.

The woman came in after closing the door behind her with one hand, while the other held a sizable basket. He placed the basket on a small table and walked over to the man.

"What are you working on?" he looked at the man's face from under the candlelight.

"Design strategy."

The woman stared at the map replica intently. "this...?"

"Look. This blue flag signifies the dominion of our dynasty, while the red one is the territory I will conquer. And this line, referred to as the border area, is an area of frequent war."

Hearing this, the smile on his lips disappeared. There was sadness and worry in the woman's eyes.

"Are you going to war?"

Noticing the change in her voice, the man turned his head again. He clasped the woman's hand and kissed her.

"What did Xiao Li think?"

"Suami, are you going to war?" repeat it again without heeding ZiXuan's question.

"Ah, I understand. No. gabe. No. gabe. I'm not leaving, I'm just sending troops there."

"Really?"

"really. Why is your husband lying? Oh, yeah, why are you looking for me?"

Yuan sighed before finally smiling back. "I brought you a snack" he said, pointing at the basket he had brought.

His lips chipped in annoyance, and again said, "There's someone who promised me that he'd make me food, but now I don't know where he is."

ZiXuan laughed. He tapped slowly on Yuan's forehead with his index finger. "A very proper satire, Empress Xuan. The person you are talking about is right in front of you. Don't be mad, I'll make it tomorrow."

Yuan laughed and replied, "Okay, Your Majesty, can you put that down first, and let's eat together." He pulled ZiXuan's hand to sit on the chair.

Yuan opened his basket and took out some food from it.

"Try it," Yuan said as he placed the chopsticks into ZiXuan's hands.

Then Yuan sat down beside him.

"Xiao Li had already worked very hard. Eat more." ZiXuan put some food in Yuan's bowl.

The woman nodded and smiled. Without hesitation eat the food that was in his bowl.

"My husband eats too" he said after swallowing one food into his stomach.

ZiXuan smiled looking at that pure looking face. "Eat slowly," he said as he cleaned up the leftovers in the corner of Yuan's lips.

"Why don't you eat it? Does this not suit your taste?"

ZiXuan laughed softly. "It's not. I'll eat it" she said after stopping laughing. It was very desirable for him to tease the woman by answering, I am already full just by watching you eat.'' But it would anger him, so naturally ZiXuan did not say it.

He was just about to put food in his mouth before the knock on the door interrupted them.

"Your Majesty, there's something important that I want to tell you" said someone from out there.

Yuan had already stopped his mouthful and was staring at the bewildered ZiXuan.

"Brother, let's talk about it tomorrow," ZiXuan replied without any intention of opening the door.

"But this is very important."

"Go away. Perhaps General Li Wei really wanted to convey something very important," Yuan smiled gently. She understood well ZiXuan was not only a husband, but also a leader. As his companion, Yuan cannot be selfish even if he wants to.

Without further ado, ZiXuan got up as he said, "Please wait. I'll be right back." He stepped quickly to the front door and opened it.

"My lord! You should come back soon or the food will be cold soon."

ZiXuan turned his head and smiled. "I know," he said before completely disappearing behind closed doors again. He was now staring at Li Wei who was standing tall in front of him.

Without saying anything, ZiXuan walked ahead of him. They went back to the place where they detained the drug dealer.

It was still within the same region, but the middle-aged medicine merchant was already no longer soaking in the black-colored water like last time. He was more like a secret guest.

"O-this old man saluted His Majesty. Is... Did His Majesty and the General come here to check on the servant again?" The merchant stood bowed in front of ZiXuan and Li Wei.

"No. I'll ask you about a few things. Sit back down," Li Wei replied. Now he turned to look at ZiXuan and began to explain. "Your Majesty, I've done an inspection about the customer who bought the incense from the sale and purchase records. Everything was identified but there was one customer we couldn't find."

"Who is that?"

"A-Xue." Li Wei looked back at the merchant and asked, "Do you know him?"

The merchant frowned. He seemed to be remembering and then said, "Oh my servant knows him! Miss A-Xue is one of my regulars. He used to buy light drugs in my shop."

"Have you?" rework ZiXuan was confused.

Capturing the confusion on the handsome emperor's face, the merchant again explained, "Yes, miss A-Xue used to buy herbal medicines in my shop but the past four years, she said, he had never again come until the ninth month, he came again and bought the incense."

"Is he from the same area as you?"

Nodding, the merchant replied, "Yes, he is from the same area as me. It seems to come from a rich family. She is also a gentle and polite woman. At that time the servant also asked why he was rarely seen again. And miss A-Xue said that she works in a distant place."

ZiXuan and Li Wei looked at each other. They're getting closer and closer to this behind-the-scenes actor.

"Did you remember his face?" li Wei asked impatiently.

"Hamba doesn't even know what his face looks like."

"Why?"

"Miss A-Xue always wears a veil to cover part of her face, but I'm sure she has a pretty face."

"I don't care if she's beautiful or not! It's useless!" zixuan's circus as it flicked its sleeves.

Seeing ZiXuan not happy with his answer, the guts of the merchant shrieked again. Steadily he said, "Your Majesty, I really can't see his face. Ta—but I remember, miss A-Xue has a mole on her left arm."

"You sure? You're not tricking me, are you?"

"Hamba doesn't dare."

"Are we going to check one by one the palace servants to find him?" asked Li Wei.

"It won't be easy. Did he just buy that incense? Nothing else?" zixuan asked the merchant.

The merchant shook his head, but a second later he clenched his spirit in remembering it. "No, he bought one more drug."

"What did he buy?"

"Not a cure, rather a meridian-destroying poison."

Right after the medicine merchant said so, one of ZiXuan's secret bodyguards walked inside with a panicked face.

"Your Majesty, something happened to Huanghou!"