"As for the effects of the illness…" Xiao An Fei said, "A cure was, luckily, found. Is this not a joyous event, My Lady? Are you not happy?" 

"Yes, I'm ecstatic," Li Meirong answered dryly. She wasn't sure who or what to believe anymore.

"And in the upcoming match, My Lady will surely be participating!" Xai An Fei's voice grew louder with excitement, and Li Meirong sighed.

"That'd be nice."

It wasn't that she was upset about being replaced with another competitor for the first match – in all honesty, she would rather not be hassled about the tournament at all, and she preferred staying home.

It was Zhu Qingyue, after all, who had coerced her into being in the tournament in the first place. 

But she had practiced so hard! All the time and effort she had spent training would be for nothing if she didn't at least try.

"If it isn't His Lordship," Xiao An Fei began quickly, seeing Li Meirong's troubled expression, "then who is it that My Lady cannot find?"

"My fox spirit!" Li Meirong exclaimed, rising abruptly from her chair. "I can't find him anywhere!"

"..." Xiao An Fei pursed her lips, but kept her mouth shut and her words locked behind her teeth.

The Sovereign Lord's ways of tricking his own wife were sure to bite him back one day, and likely one day soon...

Li Meirong raised the cup of honeyed water and downed it in one large, unladylike gulp; she then bent quickly to put on her shoes. 

Xiao An Fei leaned forward to do the task for her, and Li Meirong politely refused her assistance.

"But My Lady, that is my job," Xiao An Fei whined pitifully.

"I can do this much," Li Meirong rebuffed. "I might be a bit lazy, but I'm not disabled."

"My Lady, that is not… a woman in your position should not…" Xiao An Fei could not find the words to finish her explanation.

It didn't matter, as Li Meirong wasn't waiting around for her to finish.

"I'm going to look for my fox spirit," Li Meirong said decisively, and headed for the door. "I think I know where he might be. Snowball is a big fatty; he always goes where his stomach leads him."

Once again, Xiao An Fei turned speechless from shock.

'My Lord, your wife thinks you are a big fatty…' Xiao An Fei silently mourned for the Sovereign Lord's long-lost dignity. 

"As you wish, My Lady," she murmured, and then silently followed close behind Li Meirong. 'I just have to make sure she does not reach the tournament grounds until the Sovereign Lord returns,' she thought. 

It didn't take Li Meirong long to reach Bao Li's quarters, which was the first place she thought to find her ever-disappearing fox spirit. Unfortunately, it was yet another fruitless attempt to discover where Snowball kept disappearing to.

Bao Li claimed she had no idea where the fox cub was, saying she had not seen him in quite some time.

It happened to be Bao Li's day off, and, as she had nothing else to do, she volunteered herself to accompany her distraught friend in her search, with a bottle of plum wine in hand.

And so, after a long while of searching, Bao Li, Li Meirong, and Xiao An Fei gathered around the table outside Li Meirong's cabin, gazing at the lush scenery.

Bao Li's cheeks were already flushed from drinking too much, even though it was only the middle of the day.

"The little furball will come back soon, do not worry," Bao Li said, pouring some of the plum wine into a cup for her friend in the hope of helping ease her worries. "It is not the first time he has vanished on you," she added, and gestured for Li Meirong to drink.

Li Meirong refused the cup shyly.

"Don't hold it against me, Sister Li, but I think I need to stay away from wine for a while. I end up doing stupid things if I drink too much. Let me join you with a cup of tea instead."

Xiao An Fei, who was in the middle of taking a sip of the wine, suddenly started coughing madly.