Tai Chen Palace

Dong Hua was thinking about his conversation with Zhe Yan last night. He was perplexed. A few individuals were capable to speak to him that way. The old phoenix was one of those individuals that lived to tell the tale. He sighted and decided to read one of his scrolls to distract his mind. Zhong Li approached him. "Dijun, high gods Zhe Yan and Bai Zhen are here to see you."

"Lead them to my study Zhong Li."

"Right away Dijun."

Dijun materialized into his study. "Why are you here old phoenix? Are you here to continue your lecture?"

Zhe Yan stared at Dong Hua expressionless. Bai Zhen huffed and smiled.

"We came because we have important things to discuss with you regarding Qing Qui security."

"Oh? Since when you share with me Qing Qui's affairs? Humm?"

"It was more Bai Zhen's idea to come here, but if you are not interested to hear what we need to share with you we will happily leave you at peace." They stand up ready to leave when Dijun spoke to them.

"What is going on with Qing Qui security?"

Zhe Yan smiled and sternly said to Dong Hua. "Last night after you left, someone was able to infiltrate Xiao Jiu's room at my peach blossom forest. Luckily Bai Zhen sensed it on time but wasn't able to identify who it was."

"Is Jiu'er all right?" Dijun worriedly asked.

"Xiao Jiu was sleeping. She was unaware of the danger she was in. Who ever came in, clearly had obscure intentions towards her. We slept in her room to guard her. Which bring us here to see if there is a way to find out if she has been marked as a target." Bai Zhen said.

"Does Bai Zhi and Bai Yi know about this?" Dijun asked them.

"Not at the moment. We wanted to talk to you first to come up with a solution before we go to the elders."

"Leave it to me, I will find out if someone is lurking around Qing Qui. Rest assure that I will not let anything happen to Jiu'er."

"We know that, but also, we know that you can't be at all places at once. We are just covering our bases first before we go to the rest of the Bai family. We have to discuss Qing Qui security implementation with Xiao Jiu. Whoever it was knew that she was not at her residence. She's been followed and we don't know for how long." Zhe Yan interjected.

"Where is she now?" Dong Hua asked.

"She is at the palace attending her duties. She has imperial guards there right now." Bai Zhen said.

"Bai Zhen, how well your army is trained?" Dong Hua asked.

"Qing Qui hasn't trained for war like in the past days." Bai Zhen answered.

"I will suggest that you start training them as soon as possible. If anyone is trying to harm Qing Qui's queen in any way, a war will follow. If your army is not ready to defend Qing Qui I will not imagine the disaster that will go after. I guess that peaceful days are being shorten. This is an order Bai Zhen."

"Yes Dijun, I will follow up directly with our generals."

"I will ask Mo Yan to help you train your army. It is a good idea to cover all aspects just in case. How are the demon land borders?" Dong Hua asked.

"We have received reports that their clan's leaders are having problems internatlly. Uprisings have arisen in the few past months. Xiao Jiu is diligently working a plan to establish diplomacy for peace with some of the clan leaders that are willing to work towards it. She knows risks are possible." Bai Zhen responded.

"So there is a possibility that her near attack is related to her work." Zhe Yan said.

"Has she traveled to the demon realm?" Dong Hua asked.

"Not yet. We were discussing a plan with one of their leaders for a meeting on neutral ground." Bai Zhen answered.

"Who?"

"Xu Yang, Ruler of the Red Demon Clan. He has been working internally with other clan leaders to establish a peaceful treaty with Qing Qui to end past rivalries. However, we have been careful with procedures. We want to make sure their intentions are not traiteurs."

"It will best involve Crown Prince into these negotiations. After all Qing Qui is in allegiance with the heavenly realm. He can make sure to smooth out any grievances. Talk to Bai Zhi and let us meet with Ye Hua tomorrow, we need to come up with a counterplan to prevent more uprisings . This is more than only one person. It can unbalance the peace within our realms." Dong Hua demanded.

"I agree Dijun." Zhe Yan said. Bai Zhen nodded in agreement. "Very well, we will take our leave."

"Have the Bai's come to Tai Chen Palace tomorrow after morning court meeting, I will talk with Ye Hua so he can be here as well."

"It's a good thing we came to you first." Bai Zhen said.

"The last thing we need now is a war, if we work together, we can prevent it from happening, plus we still need to find out if Jiu'er near incident is related to this. I will run a full investigation."

"Thank you, Dong Hua, it means a lot to us." Zhe Yan said. They left Tai Chen Palace and went to meet Bai Zhi & Bai Yi and shared the details for their meeting with Dong Hua and Crown Prince.

Meanwhile Feng Jiu was attending morning court at Qing Qui, she noticed that her grandfather & father were absent. She proceeded with her duties until she was done. One of the east land's generals reported strange activity near the borderlands. She decided to check it out.

"Migu, please tell my uncles and the rest that I headed to the borderlands with the imperial guards."

"Yes your highness." Migu said.

"Let's go general." And they left the palace.

Migu was at not at ease with her departure but he understood the urgency of the report. He decided to send a missive to Bai Zhen right away.