Chapter 228: Magic / 6.15 : Chuxiao
Yan ducked when his father tossed the inkstone.
"Father please calm down."
Huang asked with dark eyes:
"How am I supposed to calm down when Atlas is part of the ministry? If it isn’t bad enough one of my spies told me that he was staying at the imperial palace and that the emperor proposed marriage between Yun and Su Xin."
Yan looked at his father wide-eyed. He immediately asked:
"Why is Atlas staying at the imperial palace?"
"He’s there to supposedly cure the empress dowager."
Yan sat down anguished. The twins never invited him to stay at the imperial palace even when he was pretending to try everything to cure that hateful bitch.
Is that why he feels like they’ve become friends? The fact that the emperor named Atlas the minister of rites is proof since he has no experience in that field.
They need to get the upper hand on Zihang in court so the twins we’ll have to get closer to them. He can still picture the twins’ smiles when Atlas entered the court.
They looked at him expressionlessly when he smiled at them, Yitian always does but Yujin would smile. The twins have been slipping out of his hands since Atlas came back.
Yan looked at his father and said:
"It’s okay father tomorrow night Atlas will be destroyed."
"His reputation will be destroyed and even if it is he’ll still be a minister."
Huang thought and he smiled cruelly.
"Since Zihang has been so insistent on finding the dark mage how about we bring it to him? Although he’ll quickly regret it when he kills his firstborn son."
Yan said:
"What reason should we give for him to simply target Atlas? People may suspect us."
Huang ordered:
"Send a message to king Wu Luoyang and tell him the feast was canceled. Chuxiao will turn into him and give the Shengs a night they’ll never forget."
Yan smiled brightly. He can’t wait to watch Atlas die.
"Young master his majesties have invited you to dinner, they said that your sister and Su Xin are here."
"I’ll be right there."
Atlas smiled, his babies are too cute. He braced himself and let go of Ling Saifei’s hand. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and took deep breaths. When his heartbeat slowed down he stood up and stretched.
He learned his lesson the first time he broke the transfer. He should be done before the feast. He walked out of the room and left for the dining hall.
The guards opened the doors and he saw the twins on one side and on the other his sister and Su Xin. The twins were talking to Yun’er and Su Xin only had eyes for her. His love for her was evident.
Even in the OGTL after she perished he never married anyone. He loved her and he felt that he would be betraying her if he took a wife. Atlas smiled and took a seat between the twins.
Yun’er said excitedly.
"Brother."
Atlas smiled at her and asked:
"How are you?"
"I’m okay I just miss you at home."
Atlas said:
"You can come to see me anytime you want."
Yitian added:
"We’ll let the guards know that you can come and go as you please to see your brother."
Yun’er smiled.
"Thank you, your majesty."
"You can call me Yitian."
"And you can call me Yujin."
Yun’er felt stunned hearing that. The emperor is talking to her casually and he said that she can call him by his name, the great general too. She nodded unable to say anything.
Atlas asked:
"Who’s your friend?"
Yun’er cheeks flushed.
"Brother this is Su Xin, Su Xin this is my brother Atlas."
Su Xin looked at Atlas nervously.
"It’s nice to meet you Atlas."
Atlas narrowed his eyes and he grabbed his wrist across the table. Su Xin looked at him stunned but he let him. He knows that if he ever wants to marry his Yun’er he needs to get Atlas’ approval.
She respects his opinion more than anyone’s and if he’s not on board she won’t accept him. He’s already over the moon that the emperor proposed marriage between both families but now it all depends on Atlas.
Su Xin felt like Atlas was peering into his soul and his heartbeat quickened. Atlas let go of his wrist and smiled.
"I agree, it’s nice to meet you too Su Xin."
His attitude was like he never grabbed his wrist and looked at him threateningly. Su Xin calmed down and he smiled back. He has no idea what he was trying to find out but he feels like he did and that he’s okay with him.
He looked at Yun’er and saw that she was smiling reassuringly at him. His heartbeat who had just calmed down quickened again. He couldn’t stop himself from reaching out and caressing her cheek.
He’s been dreaming about this for so long already. He knew how scared Yun’er was to marry him because she didn’t want to lose him but he doesn’t know what changed.
Even after she canceled the engagement she was still scared that something might happen to him and he feels curious. He asked:
"What made you change your mind?"
Yun’er held the hand that was on her cheek and laced their hands.
"Atlas."
Su Xin looked at Atlas.
"The Beis were the ones who threatened you. They were scared about what it would mean if both our families were to merge."
Su Xin’s eyes darkened. So his darling was scared all the time because Huang and Yan wanted to become more powerful than the Shengs? His poor baby had nightmares almost every night.
Even if that’s the case Yan is a mage and Atlas is a magian now. He tried to be as tactful as he could without hurting his feelings as he asked:
"Yan is the most powerful mage how are you going to stop him if he tries anything? You’re a magian now."
When Atlas smiled he relaxed seeing that he wasn’t offended. When a red symbol appeared on his neck he looked at him wide-eyed.
There was a circle and inside was an M and above it an A.
"Y-you’re an archmage!"
"I am."
He looked at the emblem on his forehead speechless. He mastered all the elements ability and he reached the cogent stage for them all.
Yan only mastered the fire element and even if he reached the highest level he could it can’t be compared to Atlas. He looked at Yun’er and understood why she’s okay now.
Su Xin stood up and bowed. When he looked up he met Atlas’ eyes.
"Thank you I’m eternally grateful."
He knows that Atlas is the one who asked the emperor for their marriage.
Atlas smiled.
"You don’t have to thank me. You make Yun’er happy and I know that you’ll treat her the way she deserves to."
Su Xin smiled and he took back his seat. When the food came they all ate in a warm atmosphere. Atlas got to know Su Xin better and Yun’er the twins. She can tell Atlas reconciled with them and they clearly mean a lot to him.
Huang stood behind the man looking at his appearance in the bronze mirror with a smile. Chuxiao turned around and asked with a wicked smile:
"How do I look?"
Huang answered:
"Like that fool Wu Luoyang."
"You’re sure he’s not coming?"
Huang said:
"I am trust me."
Chuxiao said:
"I want to play with more than Atlas."
"You’ll only play with him until a few minutes before the end of the feast then you’ll be able to kill him in any way you like and his family too."
Chuxiao narrowed his eyes.
"It’s not enough."
Huang said:
"I’ll give you how many bodies you want once you deal with the Shengs."
Chuxiao sneered and said crazily:
"What’s the fun in playing with dead mice? I want to kill all those royals until the only thing left is their intestines."
Huang took a step forward and warned:
"Don’t go overboard. It’s already a risk to let you attend a royal event, if you linger you’ll be caught. Yan and the mages there will have to pretend to try to get you but it will look suspicious if they keep failing while you massacre everyone."
Chuxio laughed.
"Even if they were to try to stop me they wouldn’t be able to but it might make the night more fun."
Huang warned in a low voice:
"Chuxiao don’t forget our end goal. Don’t you want the entire empire to be ours? If you don’t disappear immediately after killing Atlas the imperial city will be put on high alert and lockdown so no one will be able to enter or leave. How are we supposed to bring in your puppet army then? If you only kill Atlas they’ll realize that he did something that warranted the attack but if you go after all the royals we’ll never be able to go through with our insurrection. Do you want to keep living in the woods or leave in luxury in the imperial palace? You choose."
Chuxiao narrowed his eyes. After a few seconds he said:
"After toying with Atlas all night I’ll only kill him and his family."
Huang smiled cruelly.
