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Chapter 197 – The Fox And The Wolf Are Hospitable

Both Chu Yun and Xiao Zai fell silent at Chu Hean\'s admission. For his part, Chu Yun wanted to roll his eyes at his brother\'s serious words. He had found Ru Long passed out somewhere near Harmonious Resonance (in circumstances Chu Yun didn\'t fully understand himself — and perhaps never will) and imprinted on him like a baby chick.

The whole thing felt to him painfully young and juvenile. Especially when the two of them talked about their relationship as if they were the first two people on earth to fall in love — a sure sign of youthful folly. 

Chu Hean still hadn\'t come of age yet, and Ru Long was probably around Chu Yun\'s age, but Chu Yun wasn\'t putting much stock on his maturity. 

Really, what did either of them know about love? 

Perhaps it was condescending, but from his perspective he had the impression that their courtship had gone something like: Chu Hean saying "I wish I could change the world," and Ru Long replying, "You can do whatever you want, darling" — which was neither true nor helpful, but Chu Hean being a brat had probably eaten it up.

He didn\'t realise how much his inner thoughts were affecting his expression until Xiao Zai elbowed him lightly on the side and whispered, "you\'re frowning."

Chu Yun wiped the expression off his face and replaced it with a blank look, but not before Lieba Chun caught it. Something flashed in his eyes, a steely glint of determination, and he addressed Chu Hean after a prolonged silence:

"Thank you for being candid," he sounded genuine, not hurt at all. "I will of course retract my proposal if you\'re not amenable to the wedding."

The tension melted off CHu Hean\'s shoulders. His thick eyelashes fluttered in relief as if he truly believed Lieba Chun would truly marry him by force. Chu Yun wanted to shoot him a pointed, "I told you so" look, but he decided he was better than that at the last moment.

Lieba Chun rose to his feet, and patted his pants somewhat stiffly. "I\'m afraid I came all this way to make a fool of myself," he laughed, self-deprecatingly.

Xiao Zai got up as well and clapped him on the shoulder as if they had been friends their entire lives. "Not at all, it has been a great honour to host the Wise Prince, and he and his people are welcome to stay as guests of Zui for as long as they\'d like."

Lieba Chun lifted a hand to his heart and bowed respectfully. "His Majesty honours us, but I\'m afraid I wouldn\'t want to impose."

Chu Yun got up to his feet as well. "It wouldn\'t be any sort of imposition," he hastened to add. "The Wise Prince and his people have such a long journey ahead, the least we could do is allow them to rest well."

Despite Chu Hean\'s terrible blunder, childish conduct, and otherwise intractable behaviour, he had perhaps delivered a useful ally to them. Lieba Chun had grounds to demand some kind of retribution for being led around and dragged all the way from the grassy plains to Zui on Chu Hean\'s whims.

Instead he had been kind and courteous, and entirely respectful even though Zui must be entirely different than what he was accustomed to.

Lieba Chun rubbed the back of his neck with a chagrined smile and looked away from Xiao Zai. "Then, if his Majesty truly doesn\'t mind, we\'ll have to impose on his hospitality. No more than a week, surely."

"We\'ll have accommodations prepared for everyone," Chu Yun said, although, logistically, he wondered where they were going to fit all the Xiongnu riders. There weren\'t individual rooms in the palace for each of them, and the rooms there were weren\'t prepared for sharing, Chu Yun would have to get creative.

Before he could follow that line of thought further, Lieba Chun interject with a rueful laugh. "We are simple people, most of us prefer the cold breeze of the open plains. My people won\'t be comfortable sleeping inside." He paused. "If there is some open swath of woods, or forest, we\'d like to make our camp there."

"Of course, the royal woods are just behind the palace complex, the Wise Prince will be close enough to us," Chu Yun said. 

Xiao Zai had a complicated expression, as if he wasn\'t sure it was proper. In the end he just nodded along. Chu Yun understood his reticence, but this was Lieba Chun\'s wish and it would be ruder to force him and the entire Xiongnu contingent to sleep in rooms if they would prefer not to.

Lieba Chun grinned widely, his pearly teeth glinting in the low light, made even whiter by the golden glow of his tanned skin. "I\'m very grateful, to both his Majesty and his Royal Highness." Slowly he turned towards Chu Hean, who he had been ignoring up to that point.

"Since we\'ll be staying a little longer, I\'d like to make a request of his Grace," he said, one corner of his lips quirking up in obvious mischief.

Chu Hean\'s shot him a narrowed look, but eventually gave a stiff nod of his head. "The Wise Prince may ask."

"If I return home to our steppes without a spouse it will raise several questions. It would be a blow to my honour as Xiongnu." 

Chu Hean\'s glare grew almost scorching, but Lieba Chun interrupted him before he could complain. "That isn\'t to say that his Grace has to do anything, but it is common for us to organise games when trying to prove our worth as mates."

That made sense. Chu Yun thought surely not all the Xiongnu were seduced by assassination attempts, so there must have been another criteria for less exotic preferences.

"I would appreciate the opportunity to organise games in front of my people, so they know it wasn\'t a matter of ability that led to his Grace\'s rejection." He winked with a smirk. "At the same time, his Grace could invite the person he loves to participate as well."

Before Chu Hean could say anything Chu Yun cut in. "We\'d love to host such an event. I think it would be very entertaining for the people of Haolin."

Lieba Chun grinned. "Then it\'s settled."

Chu Hean fumed silently but no one paid him any attention.