Henry sat there eating a roasted haunch of ham while the maids were yelling at Yi and her siblings. It was pretty hilarious. At first, it started harmlessly enough. Yi and Lu both got up and made their way before Gram Gram, intent on telling her something. Something must have happened on the short walk, though.

Maybe someone bumped someone else's shoulder by accident or on purpose. He didn’t know. Perhaps it was just two alpha females engaging in a pissing contest. Whatever the reason, ki started flaring, fingers were pointed, and words were shouted. When two lionesses fight, the whole pride has to jump in. Soon, the maids and northerners were also pointing and shouting.

Henry took a deep drink of delicious ale. It was crisp and clean, with not too much hoppiness, and he preferred it to the rice wine the Southerners drank. The two factions were still fighting, but the elders were happy to let them shout themselves down.

There was more arm waving and flaring ki until Lu and Yi marched over to where Henry was sitting and shouted at him.

“Master, I demand you tell this southern cow that you want me and not her,” Lu said in that stern, authoritative voice that he loved.

“Brother Hen Ri, tell this servant that you would prefer not to fraternize with the help and want me instead,” Yi pouted, hitting him with the doe eyes.

Henry was snapped out of his foodie bliss. He threw his hands up in the air placatingly.

“What the hell are you two talking about? Please, I’m so goddamn confused,” he said in exasperation.

“I can answer you there, Hen Ri. " Yinglong's smooth, powerful voice broke through the din of voices and shouting. The room suddenly became quiet as if waiting for him to speak.

“ First, I want to congratulate you, Hen Ri, for breaking that seal; truly a monstrous feat of idiocy.”

Henry just rolled his eyes as Yinglong mimed a polite golf clap. Did they have golf in this world? Another question that Henry would have to stash away for a rainy day.

“As Mother has most likely told you, that seal has been considerably weakened with its reapplication. We know that whatever is in you is sentient and malicious, so it would be awful for everyone if you had another little accident in the South.”

He looked at Henry with a deadly serious gaze that brokered no mirth.

“I live in the South Hen Ri and would very much like my home to remain unspoiled. With that in mind, we thought it prudent to send you babysitters who could strengthen the seal when you inevitably make another bad decision.”

“Hey, I have self-control. I don’t need any flunkies watching me,” Henry said indignantly.

Everyone in the room rolled their eyes.

“Goddamn it, I’m serious. I don’t want no sniveling little rats following me around, cramping my style.”

Lu and Yi turned slowly from glaring at each other to glare at him.

“Oh, I see now. Fuck I’m an idiot,” Henry said, embarrassed

“That is good that you recognize your shortcomings Hen Ri, now back to the business at hand. These two ladies you managed to offend have offered their services to reapply your seal.”

Yi and Lu stood straighter before him as their retinue lined up behind them.

Yinglong, ever the showman, paused to allow the two sides to present themselves fully. Gram Gram smiled as she gnawed on a piece of raw glistening steak of some high-grade spiritual beast. Fei looked on disinterestedly while nursing his goblet of ale.

“We were going to send some guards with you, but the issue with your seal is not something we can have too many outsiders aware of. In this case, it is best to use family.”

Henry understood. They couldn’t have loose lips sink this ship. Too many powers out there would kill to break him for the secrets they thought he might hold. No, it had to stay in the family.

“Either of these two and their cohorts would be adequate for the task, so it’s up to you who you want to take,” Yinglong said with a shit-eating grin.

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Henry had to give himself a mental facepalm. How was he going to choose?

On one hand, he had the loyal maids who trained him and were devoted to a fault. They would have his back fully, and he wouldn’t have to worry about any funny business. They also seemed highly ill-suited to this task. None of them had any practical experience in the South, just book learning notwithstanding. He needed people who knew how to move in the social circles of the Southern Clans. The maids didn’t have that kind of social grace.

The flip side of this was Yi and her siblings. They knew how the South worked, and Henry could hide behind their supposed reputation. They could guide him through all the snakes and vipers the tournament would eventually draw out. It didn’t hurt that Yi was a smoke show, and he really thought that she liked him. This could be his virginity talking, though.

Just like with the maids, though, there was a darkness to this light. He had just beaten them all in combat, and now he would have them act as bodyguards in his time of weakness. That was paramount to asking for a knife in the back, or maybe he would go for a stroll and find himself repeatedly tripping and failing on top of ten swords. No, thank you, he was good off of that. What was he supposed to do?

Lu and Yi just kept staring at him as if daring him to pick the other.

For once, he wished he didn’t have to decide why he couldn't be greedy; why couldn’t he have both?

“Gram Gram will do you another favor, dear boy.”

Gram Gram, please don’t mind talk to me. You know I can’t deal with that right now, and what do you mean? Please do me a favor, Henry thought aggressively.

Gram Gram stood up and cleared her throat, which stopped the bickering and attracted everyone's attention.

“Now settle down. I have an idea that I would like to propose to the both of you,” she said, walking towards the two cultivators.

They both bowed their heads in reverence. To Henry, she was just Gram Gram, but she was a presence beyond reproach to them.

“Hen Ri here…,” she said, pointing at him as he shoved half a chicken into his mouth.

He swallowed hard and almost choked on the food before he drank some ale. He waved at the two women and smiled.

“Has a tendency to overdo things with his impulsiveness. I like that quality in him, but that also means he is prone to making messes that he is ill-equipped to fix.”

Gram Gram took Lu and Yi’s hands and pulled them with her as she returned to Henry.

“I think you both bring quite a lot to the table but both offer completely different things, Hen Ri needs both of those things especially to deal with the Clan brats in the south.”

She smiled at Henry gently and motioned with her head for him to join her.

“I think instead of choosing, why don't both of you go with him? What would be a better cover than having Hen Ri travel with his servants and siblings, who are there to root for their younger brother.”

Henry had to give it up to Gram Gram, who was a sly old fox. It made total sense, to be honest. What self-respecting young master would not have servants with him?

It also made sense that his siblings would be there; they could even use the cover of needing to watch out for their younger brother to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes.

Gram Gram was a sneaky, sneaky dragon.

“Thank You, darling; I've had a lot of practice at playing these games.”

Please, Gram Gram, get out of my head, Henry thought as he glared at the old lady.

She just laughed. He was starting to think she enjoyed getting a rise out of him.

“If that is your will, Madam, then consider it done. We will be there to serve the young master to the best of our abilities,” Lu said as she gave a deep bow to Gram Gram before walking off to the other maids.

“I guess it makes sense that they be sent as servants, once a maid always a maid,” Yi said sharply at Lu.

The green-haired maid kept walking, but Henry noticed her shoulders had bunched up with fury.

“Great Grandmother, we would be honored to accompany Brother Hen Ri on his trip to the south and will strive to ensure his safety outside of the matches.”

Gram Gram raised one bushy eyebrow.

“I will personally assure you no harm befalls him,” Yi said quickly with a stutter.

“Thats better, little Hen Ri is very dear to me and it would be a shame if anything unsightly would happen to him if you were able to prevent it.”

The threat was not lost on Yi; she just wondered why great grandmother gave a damn about this pretender. It just made Yi want him even more.

She walked back over to her siblings. Some would gripe about having to support someone who had bested them. They would fall in line, though they always fell in line when she asked.

“Do you think this is a good idea, Gram Gram? The boy is reckless, and adding my children and the maids will be like adding fuel to the fire,” Fei said, walking over and helping the old lady back to her seat.

“Yes, I think it is a grand idea. The kids need some toughening up. You can’t protect them forever, Fei. The maids need to widen their horizons as well. The world moves outside our spheres of power, and we must move with them or get left behind.”

She turns to look at Fei with a playful glint in her eyes.

“Besides, haven’t you been saying how much you’ve wanted to have grandkids?”