"Ugh...." Si Ning grunted as he sat down, he sighed relieved as he stretched out his legs, shaking his feet so that Ah Dai could take his shoes off.

"Young Master..." Ah Dai knelt beside Si Ning and he quickly removed his Master's shoes and started using his right good hand to massage his legs gently.

​​

Si Ning slowly pulled out the hairpin holding his half ponytail and his head felt lighter, he tilted his head left till he heard a crack then right before lying down slowly. Having to put up with Xiu Junjie insisting him to watch him train when it wasn't necessarily for Si Ning to watch yet the boy wanted to show his skills going on about a disciple watching his Master train and Si Ning knew Xiu Junjie just wanted some praise from him.

It was quite boring to watch Xiu Junjie's training instructor trying not to get on the Crown Prince's bad side while trying to make Xiu Junjie look cool by acting like Xiu Junjie was winning by his strength. It was pathetic acting that Si Ning almost exploded in anger then he realized the Imperial tutor that left must have been the reason Xiu Junjie trainer was going easy on him, his eyes pleading and just like they communicated through telepathy that the man wanted Si Ninh to take over and when Si Ning couldn't watch anymore he managed to escape while leaving Xiao Pei to watch in his place and train with them as preparation as the training instructor for Jiang ChenMu.

When Si Ning got to his room, he discovered it was almost noon so he had no time left to rest, he only put on his Official robe then head up to the meeting room, and with the rest of the Minister, they waited, standing for almost two hours waiting for the Emperor. Shao Lang tried to make some few talks but Si Ning wasn't listening because he was more concerned about his legs that were ready to break apart and when the wait was finally over and Xiu Zhicheng appeared, he seemed to be in a bad mood, the meeting dragging on and on because of Xiu Zhicheng whose aura was all over the place, creating tension in the air while his Phoenix eyes kept darting from one Minister to the other making them stutter and shiver as they made their report and court was only dismissed by evening.

Si Ning was glad that Xiu Zhicheng didn't look at him once in the courtroom because he doesn't want to be glared at like how Xiu Zhicheng glared at the rest of the Ministers, he couldn't help but try to think about what might have caused the foul mood, he deduced that maybe Xiu Zhicheng woke up at the wrong side of the bed or the breakfast with his family didn't go well or it might be some unpleasant news he received before coming to the court which might be the reason he arrived at the court late but at the end of the day there wasn't any negative report that might have caused the Emperor's foul mood.

It was such a stressful day and it wasn't over yet but the least Si Ning could do was to get some rest before Chen An comes over. His legs were killing him and he wanted to at least yell out in frustration but with Ah Dai that was present and trying to help him relax, he just couldn't do that because he doesn't want to scare him.

"Young Master what should I prepare for you?" Ah Dai asked.

Si Ning didn't reply, he doesn't have an appetite but if he couldn't just say so and make Ah Dai worry so he pretended not to hear him as he closed his eyes leaving it up to Ah Dai to assume whether he heard him and not reply or he didn't.

"King Consort, First Commander Chen An, Second Commander Su Heng, and Third Commander Ji Ran as arrived....!"

Si Ning noticed Ah Dai's hand paused when he heard the announcement of Ji Ran being among the Commander that came to see him, he was tired and wasn't interested in poking into his Servant love life, the only person love life he was interested in was Si Nan. He grunted not having the strength to sit up.

"Young Master?"

"Help me up Ah Dai." Si Ning managed to say.

"Yes Young Master." Ah Dai stopped his massaging and spread out his hands to grab Si Ning shoulder's lightly before pulling him up.

Si Ning didn't bother to sit properly, he only let his head fall on the table, his hair all over the table that a strand even entered the cup of warm milk on the table. When Ah Dai saw this he quickly removed the strand and brought out a handkerchief from his pouch to wipe the wet strand of hair.

"General." Chen An came in and saluted and next to him were Su Heng and Ji Ran, they also saluted with a little difficulty because of the papers they were holding.

Seeing this made Ah Dai quickly cleared the table after packing Si Ning's hair behind him and smoothen it out. The Commanders piled up the table and they took their seat opposite Si Ning supporting the paperwork with a hand to prevent it from falling because Si Ning didn't raise his head not creating enough space on the table.

To not waste any more time Si Ning raised his head, his hair once again falling over his shoulders and Ah Dai quickly smoothens his hair out again, letting it all fall behind Si Ning to not obstruct his work and view.

If Si Ning looked exhausted then the Commanders looked worn out. From what Si Ning noticed, Ji Ran had lost some weight but still looked sharper than ever, his eyes concentrated on him and Si Ning could see he was trying not to look at Ah Dai, Su Heng on the other hand had bags under his eyes and his eyes looked so dull while there were dark circles under Chen An eyes and he looked so tired.

"General, you don't look good, should I go and call the Imperial Doctor?" Su Heng asked.

"Young Master...."

"I am fine." Si Ning said cutting Ah Dai off because he knew Ah Dai was about to ask for forgiveness for not asking if he needed a doctor but Si Ning wasn't a kid, if he feels a bit unhealthy then he won't hesitate to call for medical attention and if anyone would need to see the doctor then it would be the three Commanders in front of him.

"King Consort, Lieutenant Jiang request for an audience."

Si Ning was pleased to know that Yang Sheng found a way to address Jiang Ye. He tilted his head waiting for Jiang Ye to come in before he starts to look over what his Commanders brought and when the door opened, Jiang Ye came in with a basket, he saluted and at the same time, Ah Dai also saluted and swiftly left the room.

"Madam told me to bring General dinner and Madam also wrote a letter." Jiang Ye reported and he placed the basket beside Si Ning.

"Did you talk over it with Jiang ChenMu?" Si Ning asked, he raised a brow when he saw two rolled-up papers in the basket, he took it to see one was a letter from his mother and the other from Si Nan.

"Yes General, I still aim to be a Commander of the Si army but Young Master Jiang ChenMu insisted on taking me back."

Si Ning nodded. "Hmmm this is the second trip you made to the palace, you can go." Si Ning said watching as Jiang Ye saluted and left the room.

Now was the time to work.