He let the weight of that settle. "That kind of gathering does not exist without tension." Jin Su frowned slightly. "You think it could escalate?" Luo He looked at her directly. "I think it will."
Silence.
"Decades of hostility," Luo He went on. "Compressed into one event. One wrong word. One insult. One provocation," He tapped the table once. "And it turns into war."
Jin Mulan crossed her arms. "And we are going there to stop that?" Luo He's lips curved slightly. "Prevent it if possible," he said. Then after a brief pause "Control it if not." That answer was far less comforting. Jin Quan leaned forward.
"You're planning to interfere between two empires?" Luo He looked at him like the question was obvious. "I'm planning to ensure the outcome benefits us." The bluntness of it made Fei exhale slowly.
Luo He continued calmly.
"If war breaks out unexpectedly both sides suffer losses without preparation."
He tapped his chest lightly. "But if we understand the timing, the pressure points, the people involved." His eyes sharpened slightly.
"Then even chaos becomes something we could use." The room remained silent. Because what he was suggesting wasn't just risky. It was absurdly dangerous.
Standing between two emperors at the edge of war and trying to manipulate the outcome. Luo He however looked completely unconcerned. "So to answer your question," he finished casually.
"We're going to be humiliated" A faint smirk. "and to prevent a war." Then he added quietly "Or decide how it begins."
"Next" Luo He said his tone shifting slightly, "we address something closer to home."
The room stilled again. "This duke's son," he continued voice calm but carrying a faint edge beneath it "has become a persistent inconvenience. A thorn on my side to be exact."
A pause.
"Worse," he added. "He has made it personal." That alone was enough to change the air. Luo He did not often use that word lightly. He turned his head slightly his gaze drifting toward Su Kim.
"I hold my women in high regard," he said plainly. "Not as ornaments. Not as distractions. But as a part of me." His voice lowered. "Which means they are family."
The statement carried weight. "The same as my wife," he continued glancing briefly at Jin Mulan. "The same as my mother." Then his eyes hardened slightly.
"So if anyone decides to lay a hands on them,"
A faint pause.
"They are no longer dealing with a misunderstanding." Without warning he reached out and caught Su Kim by the arm not roughly but firmly enough to pull her closer.
His other hand settled naturally at her waist drawing her into his side as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Su Kim stiffened slightly at the sudden contact. Not resisting but clearly aware of every pair of eyes in the room.
Jin Su's expression shifted almost imperceptibly. A flicker of bitterness crossed her face before she masked it quickly.
Jin Mulan watched the scene quietly.
There was still a trace of discomfort in her gaze but far less than before. She had already learned that resisting this part of Luo He's nature was pointless.
What mattered to her now was awareness. Control. Position. As long as she understood where she stood in his world she could tolerate the rest. Luo He meanwhile paid none of it any attention.
"As for the duke's son," he continued calmly. "I will not act directly." That caught everyone off guard. Jin Sang raised an eyebrow. Jin Quan pummeled his first on to the table in disappointment.
The men expected the arrogant fool to be destroyed by Luo He.
"You're letting it go?" literally every one asks in unison. Luo He smiled faintly.
"Hardly." He released Su Kim slowly though his hand lingered for a moment longer than necessary before stepping away.
"I simply won't handle it myself." He turned back toward the table. "I already have a plan in place." Fei spoke this time. "You want us to act?" Luo He shook his head once. "No."
Another pause.
"I want him to walk into his own destruction." That answer was colder than anger. Jin Su frowned slightly. "Explain." Luo He leaned forward slightly fingers resting against the table.
"Men like him rely on power they did not earn," he said. "Status. Protection. Arrogance." His eyes narrowed faintly.
"So you don't crush them directly."
A small smile appeared on his smug face.
"You remove the ground beneath their feet and let them fall." The room fell silent again. Because that method was far more dangerous than a simple retaliation. Luo He straightened afterward his tone returning to its usual casual nature.
"So no," he said lightly. "We are not done." His gaze swept across everyone in the room. "We prepare." A faint pause.
"For everything." Then almost as an afterthought "And when the time comes,"
A slight smirk formed. "We go to war."
He didn't raise his voice. Didn't emphasize the words. But the meaning behind them was unmistakable. "First," Luo He said his voice steady but carrying an unmistakable edge.
"We bring that arrogant bastard down to the ground." The room stilled. "And we carve one lesson into his skull," he continued coldly. "Never lay hands on a woman without her consent."
His gaze shifted toward Jin Mulan then Jin Su. "For that," he added. "I want the help of my wife and my mother." A bold request. Even for Luo He.
The men in the room exchanged glances part shock and part disbelief. Not because of the target but because of the way Luo He spoke. He wasn't just seeking revenge.
He was deliberately placing the power in the hands of the women. Turning them into the force that would deliver judgment. To them it felt strange almost unnatural.
But to the women it was something else entirely. They were out right exhilarated.
Jin Mulan's eyes sharpened a quiet fire igniting behind them. Su Kim stood straighter.
Even Jin Su despite everything did not interrupt. Because whatever Luo He was Manipulative, reckless, unpredictable,
he never treated the women under his protection as weak.
And that alone carried respect. Jin Mulan though she still held a faint unspoken rivalry with Su Kim felt something shift within her. Not jealousy. Not resentment.
Something deeper. Support. Silent but real.
"Very well," Jin Mulan said at last.
That was enough. The following days moved with ruthless precision. Luo He wasted no time. The beast came first.
Despite protests from Fei, from the others even from the servants who couldn't bear to watch Luo He remained unmoved.
Again and again the horse was pushed to its absolute limit. Driven to exhaustion.
To collapse. To the very edge of death.
Once. Twice. Three times. By the next, even Jin Mulan turned away.
By the sixth the creature no longer struggled out of fear. It fought.
Something inside it had begun to change. Its breathing deepened. Its muscles trembled not with weakness but with resistance.
And then it began. A faint glow beneath its skin. Not bright. Not stable. But unmistakable. The first sign of awakening. Luo He watched silently.
Satisfied. At the same time the women trained. Not gently. Not patiently. But brutally.
Jin Mulan pushed Su Kim beyond every limit she thought she had. Relentless drills. Endless repetitions. Precision over comfort. Speed over hesitation. Su Kim's body adapted quickly but it was not enough.
Because the opponent she would face was not ordinary. The duke's son was a seasoned fighter. Disciplined. Ruthless. Experienced. Cruel. Far beyond her level in raw combat. Luo He stepped in where needed. He did not try to change her style.
Instead he refined it. "You are not a swordsman," he told her plainly. "So stop trying to become one." He placed a blade in her hand anyway. "Learn just enough to survive when your weapon fails."
Under his guidance she learned the fundamentals. Short efficient movements. No wasted energy. No elegance. Just survival. Her true strength remained elsewhere. Her agility. Her unpredictability. Her whip.
And most importantly her sorcery. She learned to blend them. To strike from angles. To control distance. To never fight fairly. Still even then it wasn't enough. Luo He knew it. Which was why he changed the plan.
"She won't go alone," he said one night.
All eyes turned to him. "Jin Mulan goes with her." Silence. Su Kim looked surprised. Jin Mulan didn't object because she already understood why.
"The real problem isn't just the duke's son," Luo He continued. "It's everything around him." His fingers tapped lightly against the table. "He never moves alone. Guards. Companions. Fighters."
Battle-hardened men. Experienced.
Loyal. Dangerous.
"If this becomes a direct confrontation," Luo He said calmly. "Su Kim will be overwhelmed before she even reaches him." He looked at Jin Mulan. "You'll clear the path." Jin Mulan met his gaze without hesitation.
"And she finishes it," Jin Mulan replied. Luo He smiled faintly. "Exactly." No hesitation. No doubt. The plan was set.
This was no longer punishment. No longer anger. No longer pride. This was execution.