THE NIGHT EMPEROR: 夜安王 【The Night Emperor Book 1】| ✔️

Chapter 15 Protest

The silence that fell in the room was an oppressive one that weighed heavily on both Ye An and Xi Chen's chests for different reasons.

Xiao Yan took another sip of tea. "So now. On to the recent invasion. It seems to be premeditated."

Ye An furrowed her eyebrows once more. "Premeditated? What do you mean? Aren't all invasions premeditated?"

"Premeditated on our side, I mean. My source reported that some people knew of the invasion way before it happened. There were hushed talks of the invasion behind closed doors on the weeks leading up to the invasion. On the day of the incident, more men were dispatched to the wall. It certainly looked like they were already expecting an attack before there were any signs of the Northerners beyond the wall."

Ye An turned to look questioningly at Xi Chen who also had his eyebrows knitted. He shook his head slightly indicating that he had no idea of these so-called "hushed talks".

"Do you know who started the rumor then? Or at least those involved in spreading it?" Ye An asked Xiao Yan.

"Apparently it was some low-ranking soldier. My source managed to trace things back to the low-ranking soldiers but couldn't pinpoint the person who started it."

Ye An contemplated the information that she had gathered so far. So there was a possibility that someone let the Northerners in ten years ago? It wasn't that farfetched considering what she herself knew of the wall. Countless lives were lost building that monstrous wall. If it was that easily penetrable, those people would have died in vain.

As for the recent invasion, why was nothing reported to her if someone knew about the invasion prior to it happening? Did the Empress Mother know of this but it slipped her mind to pass the information along? Did they have spies over at the North to gather information? But based on the young lieutenant's facial expression and the response he gave her earlier, it didn't seem like it, at least he didn't know anything about it. He probably also didn't know that more soldiers were scheduled to patrol the walls on the day of the invasion since he would have left the border by then.

Someone who opened the doors and welcomed the Northerners into the country ten years ago and another one who knew about the Northerners' move before it happened. For all she know, those two might even be the same person. But who?

*******

"Xiao Yan looked like she was pretty possessive over you, Your Imperial Majesty." Xi Chen commented in awkward nonchalance once they were back on the busy streets.

"Huh?" Ye An was deep in thought, trying to process and piece the full story together but to no avail.

"I said, Xiao Yan seemed to think of you as more than just a friend."

"Really? I don't think so. We're just friends." Ye An replied absentmindedly.

"I have a feeling that she doesn't think about it the same way as you do, Your Imperial Majesty." Xi Chen said a little pointedly.