On the third morning the prince took his time in his morning ablutions. He made sure that he was dressed impeccably, then he summoned the servant assigned to his rooms to request for a meeting with the new guest in his study and for breakfast to be brought for both. Once the servant bowed and left the white prince left his quarters and made his way to the study that he was given for his personal use when he arrived. As he waited for either a reply or the woman herself to appear he began to compose a letter to the Great Bei to request a visit. By the time a servant announced that the princess had arrived he had finished other various letters. When she had entered she was a vision in a deep ruby red with gold embroidery deel of her people. She truly looked like the princess she claimed to be. Her hair was woven into various intricate braids and crowned with a simple yet superbly crafted djasal headdress. He had to admit that she did know how to transform herself with clothing. He could not help but wonder what she would look like garbed in the traditional hanfu that the women wore in his country. Wasting no time he greeted his lovely guest and gestured for her to sit across from him before signaling the servants to bring in their morning meal.
Weiwei greeted the man before her trying to hide her nervousness. After the incident a few nights ago she did not know what to expect. She primly sat in the seat that the prince indicated to her which appeared to be directly across from him. Her mind screamed that this was not proper. An unmarried man and woman should not be dining alone but she was curious to find out what he wanted. She waited in silence as the servants placed various plates of sumptuous foods in front of them, tested each plate for poison and showed both royals the results then promptly left the two of them alone. But the smiling prince said nothing as he ladled congee into a bowl and indicated for them to trade bowls. She glanced at him dumbly for a moment until she picked up the bowl in front of her and replaced it with the one in his hand. Their fingers brushed momentarily and Weiwei felt that same spark that she felt last night as he was inspecting her injury. Her eyes widened and she pulled her hands back and tried to cover her reaction by concentrating on eating before she realized that she was eating like a heathen. Swallowing the large spoonful of porridge in her mouth she asked "It's not that I am not appreciative of the meal. I must ask, why have you requested this highly irregular and scandalous meeting?"
Xiao Nai couldn't help but smile at her fluster. Clearing his throat he replied. "I would prefer to keep this discussion just between you and myself for the time being."
"And what kind of conversation would this one be?" Weiwei asked.
"One that can benefit the both of us." Xiao Nai smirked.
Intrigued Weiwei asked. "Which is?"
The white prince leaned forward and said in an intoxicating voice. "What can you tell me about General Zhen?"
Taken back Weiwei looked dumbly at the prince before taking a moment to gather her wits and reply. "When he was younger he was very popular in the tribes because of his impressive battle records. Before my father became chief my grandfather chose to test his heir and hold a contest to rule. Zhen was one of the few to enter; he lost to my father. Years later shortly after I was born he tried numerous times to betroth his son to me. In order to and I quote strengthen the foundation of the tribes. My father refused more times than I could care to count. As I grew my father publicly took on a set of foundlings to train to be warriors to protect me instead of Zhen's son. This was partially true. My father did indeed take a foundling under his wing but there was only one foundling that he was training. The identities of the foundlings were Kei Oh and myself disguised as a boy. When I proved myself a capable warrior my father allowed me to break off into my own tribe and my male persona was promoted to be the leader of that tribe's warriors Kei Oh followed me as my aide. Again Old Zhen was angry that his son was passed over in lieu of some parentless and nameless welp. It didn't help that my warriors kept on bringing further honor to the Rising Jade Seas tribes and my father often spoke very fondly of the red general. Or that on numerous occasions I upstaged both him and his son on various ceremonial hunts and arena battles. His right hand man, Li Haiming is a person you have to worry about though. He is the one who does things behind the scenes. Li Haiming is a dangerous man to be on the wrong side of. He had been trying and failing to get spies into my encampment for years now."
"Did Zhen know about the treaty?" The man in white asked abruptly.
Her eyes slightly bulged. "You know about the treaty?" Weiwei quickly fired back.
Xiao Nai smirked, "I do."
"And the contents of the stipulations?" she asked and his smirk widened causing Weiwei's eyes to bulge more doing a very impressive impersonation of a goldfish.
The prince leaned over the table once again but this time he continued to lean over until he was right next to the beautiful woman's ear and whispered "Naturally." He then leaned back with a devious smile on his face as he watched the woman's face erupt into a rosy blush. Who would've thought that the famed war god of the north would be this fun to fluster. Logically he knew teasing her like this could cause her to actually gut him with the spoon that she was eating with but it was just too hard of an opportunity to pass up and with her reaction he knew full well she knew of the contents and stipulations of the peace treaty.
She attempted to calm down and look at his face but his damnable grin just widened and she mentally thrice cursed him. 'Yixiao Naihe indeed' he really lived up to his title. He was good, she had to admit. He pinpointed a weakness in her and was exploding it. It appeared that he was even enjoying her reaction which caused her to blush to deepen but this time in anger. "Then you know of my father's stipulation on the agreement." She attempted to keep her reply dangerously measured.
"I do." He said simply. "I am ambuble to the terms, are you?"
Weiwei froze, she wasn't expecting that. She figured with the warning tone in her voice he would back down. With the way that he acts she was beginning to feel unsure of her plan. His intellect seemed to be on par with her's if not higher. The pros and cons started to organize themselves in her head. "Why would you marry someone who almost killed you a few nights ago?"
"But you didn't. In fact you kept that pin so steady on my jugular that it didn't even leave a surface scratch. You showed great restraint and skill." Xiao Nai simply replied stating in the same way someone would say the sky is blue. "You still haven't answered my questions."
Taking her time to eat another bite of her congee to stall Weiwei looked at the man in front of her again, sighing as she spoke. "Logically, I would be a fool not to agree to the terms of the treaty even without the benefits of the treaty. You would be what every parent would want for their daughter for a future spouse. However I know far too well that I am not a normal female. I am not one to just sit there back at home and practice the four arts and let my husband go off to war or govern by himself." She wanted to be the one to test him now.
"If I was looking for a pretty little ornament to sit primly and daintily eat osmanthus cakes all day I would have already wed some random nobleman's daughter. I have no patience for those silly women who twitter about. What I want is a partner." The white prince replied. Causing Weiwei's heart to flutter uncomfortably.
Weiwei looked at the man so elegantly robed in white silks across from her. She could see the truthfulness in his gaze and could see a future by his side. Knowing both of their reputations they would be a formidable pair that others would be fools to cross. "I don't plan to give up the battlefields or leading."
"Nor would I want you to." Xiao Nai smiled seeing her resolve weaken.
"Then we are both in agreement to the terms." Weiwei stated boldly, causing a beautiful smile to erupt on the face of the man across from her. "As for Older Zhen knowing about the treaty. I do not know for sure. I know he wasn't aware of it prior to me leaving to go to Zhi Yi but I have been away from home quite some time. I do not think that my father would have informed him of it though. Not until it was set in stone."
"Whether he knows or not we can use it to our advantage." the white prince pulled out a scroll and placed it in front of her to read. "I plan to send this correspondence to your tribe's seat of power. I will be arriving within hours after it. Not giving him proper time to do any countermeasures. I would be the focus of attention while a small recon group will infiltrate the encampment and be able to get any information they can get their hands on."
The warrior goddess read the letter informing the Great Bei of his visit to bring his bride back to Zhi Yi per the treaty agreement. She had to admit the letter was clever. With him arriving shortly after the letter it will give him no time to produce a fake Bei Weiwei so his only logical option would be to call for his niece Meng Yiran to fulfill the role and last she checked Meng Yiran was in the west with her parents. It would take weeks if not months to get the girl to the seat of power especially with how delicate her health was. By the time Meng Yiran arrives they could already have spies successfully implanted. Weiwei grinned and pulled out a letter of her own to the man across from her.
"What's this?" He began to read the letter.
Tilting her head and smiling wider, Weiwei told him. "It appears that great minds think alike. This is a letter with my father's seal agreeing to the alliance along with the marriage agreement."
Author's Notes: A deel is a common style of robes worn by both men and women in Mongolia.
A djasal is an ornate mongolian headdress worn by women that can have various semi precious stones turned into beads and metal. Sometimes with auspicious objects and animals carved into it.
