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After dismissing the impromptu assembly, Su Li returned to her tent.

When she had asked the shadow guards to investigate everything about Li Rong, she had been pleasantly surprised by the fact that Li Rong was called Zhou Sheng this time around.

This meant she had found the target of her secondary task and now only needed to ponder about who to make his nominal guardians - this way she could complete her task as well as help her friend who was an orphan in this world and wasn't well-liked by his superiors in the army.

She had been informed that he seemed to fluctuate between lucid and semi-lucid from time to time. In his semi-lucid state, it was as if he was being tortured from the inside out and the child would sob and curl in on himself.

Su Li wondered what had happened to him before that resulted in Li Rong being in this state every few days. Maybe, she'll ask him when he regained consciousness and also question him about how he came to be in this world and how much he remembered from the last one.

If both of them were here, could it be that person was also somewhere in this world?

Su Li could feel her heart racing and blood pumping at the thought, still, she tried to curb her enthusiasm. She couldn't have high hopes or her heart would break all over again if it turned out to be her own wishful thinking.

That day His Majesty ordered everyone not to break camp and the next day the monarch and his ministers started on the journey again.

During the next half of the journey, nobody dared to disturb His Majesty with anything. None of the ministers spoke until spoken to by the monarch and they even curbed their clan's girls from making a foray anywhere near the imperial tent.

Meanwhile, as the physician had predicted and as she was told, Zhou Sheng seemed to regain consciousness every few days but those moments seemed almost negligent when compared to the time he was either lying limp in a moving carriage or on a bed in another tent.

"Unit Commander, do you think the emperor is trying to curtail your powers? The Kumbh Mountains are treacherous in their terrain. You don't think His Majesty has something planned for the high ranking military officers of our garrison there?" The subordinate who had been tasked to find the daily schedule of the emperor asked Ning Fu.

Since the day of the demotion of their comrades, The Devil Snare Army had felt as if a sharp razor blade was about to land on their necks any moment. Hence, after some days of muttering between him and the other generals, he had been pushed to the front to talk to their Unit Commander.

Without hearing for a reply from Ning Fu, the subordinate continued, "If it is as such then Unit Commander let me and a few of our brothers take care of this while you take this opportunity to leave. Later on, our army could raise the banner and conquer all under the heavens."

Ning Fu didn't reply but the lines on his forehead had definitely furrowed at his subordinate's words. The general could see the Unit Commander's change of expression. He swallowed the rest of his words and didn't dare to make a sound.

Ning Fu was so infuriated by the general's words that he kicked him in the knees and the other person fell on his back. He harshly reprimanded, "Never say such words again. I told you to stop thinking about useless things but it seems you haven't been listening to me. Leave and never repeat such words in my presence again."

The general came out of the Unit Commander's tent and stared back inside with a complicated expression. He even felt wronged in his heart.

Those other bastards didn't have the guts to face the Unit Commander and pushed him to the forefront instead.

While Unit Commander himself asked him to gather Intel about His Majesty's daily affairs.

He did everything as he was told to do and what was the result?

He got kicked by The Unit Commander.

He felt so stuffy and disgruntled in his heart. He wanted to vent his feelings but since the last decree, he was even afraid to breathe loudly in the direction of his own subordinates.

What if they made up some charges and presented his case to the emperor?

Wouldn't he have to bear forty lashes without any rhyme and reason?

He felt a shudder pass through him at that thought.

A person might ask the question that what did that general do to vent his feelings?

The answer is that the general looked left, the general looked right and when he saw that no one was paying attention to him, he viciously kicked a few stones nearby and then left in a huff.

Anyway, he was a kind and honest official at heart so after repeatedly hearing a denial from his superior and making sure that The Unit Commander wasn't planning a rebellion, he didn't think more about it.

After all,whether their superior wanted to be a courtier or wanted to sit atop the seat of power, he and the rest of The Devil Snare Army had already pledged their lives to follow him.

Moreover, it was better and more peaceful this way.Sometimes even if a rebellion was successful, the winners were termed as traitors to the crown by the coming generations and nobody wanted to be blackened by that ink.

In a few days, the party reached the foothills of The Kumbh Mountains and the king ordered to camp there for the night.

They had made better time than Ning Fu had expected and he watched silently with hooded eyes but a keen gaze as the monarch seemed to crease his brows deeper in worry each day and seemed to lose weight - his frame looked like mere skin and bones.

The monarch never seemed to sleep - most nights he had seen His Majesty wandering on the outer edges of the camp - silent and alone.

Ning Fu wondered what was keeping His Majesty awake every night?

Was it his past lover?

The draught the kingdom was facing?

Or something else entirely.

Even right now he could see from his position, the monarch standing a few feet away from him, motionless and facing the moon. The moonlight made the person seem even more ethereal.

Ning Fu's heart almost trembled at the sight. Just as he was about to go forward and greet the emperor, he saw an almost skeletal boy being led towards the monarch. The boy was Zhou Sheng.

His Majesty's favourite these days.

Nobody except a few who were the closest to the seat of power seemed to gauge and understand this fact. However, how could Ning Fu not see that?

He had borne witness to the restlessness in the Emperor on that first night when Zhou Sheng had been lying on the imperial bed!

He pricked his ears once again to eavesdrop on the conversation even though it wasn't moral or ethical.

The boy came there with two shadow guards holding him but before he could bow, the emperor dismissed the formalities and the guards were dismissed.

Zhou Sheng said, "How are you feeling?"

His Majesty gave a smile in response, "I am all right."

The answer didn't seem to satisfy the other person as he reiterated his words, "Are you really? Even though I have been out of it for most of the time, I have noticed that you don't seem to sleep very well."

The words were deflected, "Nothing of that sort. Being a monarch is a heavy burden to shoulder and I find myself too ill-equipped to deal with it."

Ning Fu knew those words of the emperor were a lie. When had any of them ever even seen His Majesty struggling to come to a swift decision?

Never.

Nonetheless, it was a clever ploy to turn the boy's attention away from the topic. It sounded like His Majesty wasn't too keen on talking about his daily nighttime habits.

However, the boy seemed to know the monarch well enough to not be dissuaded by those words.

Ning Fu wondered about their closeness once again and questions filtered through his brain that he had no answers for.

Zhou Sheng laughed, straightening his lean body and though the sound was strained, it wasn't free of fondness.

"Your abrupt way of trying to change the topic almost gave me whiplash."

His Majesty faintly sorted at those words and then there was a brief silence as each person tried to make the other person drop the topic.

In the end, the monarch turned his eyes away from Zhou Sheng.

Ning Fu was shocked at that.

Closeness he could understand.

The monarch had been in a place far away from home and he might have formed tight bonds with people who were more like friends or comrades to him than subordinates.

On the other hand, this was completely different. The monarch sliding his gaze away from that mere slip of a boy was akin to admitting defeat and the imperial family was never one to admit defeat or recognise when they couldn't out-stubborn someone else.

This was an unprecedented and unchartered territory all of its own.

Before Ning Fu could think on it further, the monarch wearily went on, "It's nothing grave as such. It will take time to just..." but then he stopped in the middle of his words.

Ning Fu couldn't help but have deep lines form on his head when he thought and pondered about the words His Majesty had stopped at the tip of his tongue and swallowed back.

Yet Zhou Sheng didn't seem to have the same problem as him. His face showed that he had perfectly understood whatever was left unsaid between him and the monarch.

The boy gently insisted, "Those demons are of the worst sort to fight on your own. There are no greater thoughts than the ones that are not voiced but always present..."

His Majesty abruptly cut off the other person.

Atleast, this snub was like a soothing balm to Ning Fu. It looked like he wasn't the only one whose words were left unfinished and unheard by the ruler.

"Let's not talk about it, " The words were softly whispered and it looked like His Majesty almost fled from the place.

This brought a faint smile to his face but then he again felt depressed because Zhou Sheng got to speak two complete sentences before his words had been unceremoniously blocked by the emperor whereas all Ning Fu could repeat every time was the salutation to the ruler.

When Ning Fu again turned towards Zhou Sheng, he saw him looking at the monarch's fleeing back with an almost elusive gaze and Zhou Sheng again laughed while shaking his head.

This time the laughter was way cooler than before and had a tinge of sadness and pity in it.