The door was shut, and the temperature in the room gradually began to rise. Wuji glanced at the weary-looking Xie Chengze, then scanned the room. Sensing no third person’s presence, he asked, “Your Highness, where is Wuhen?”

“I sent him to help Sheng Yiren.” Xie Chengze sat back down at his desk and picked up his brush to continue working on the blueprint in his hand. “Some letters need to be sent out. Since you weren’t here, Wuhen was the only one who could go.”

Wuji nodded, then walked behind Xie Chengze and raised his hands to press on his temples.

A gentle, appropriate pressure slowly spread, relieving the dizzying throb in his head. Xie Chengze instantly felt much more comfortable, and his vision cleared considerably.

“Thank you for your hard work on this trip. What reward would you like?” he asked.

Wuji’s Peach Blossom Eyes flickered, and he then chuckled softly. “This subordinate doesn’t want anything.”

“You don’t want anything? Does that mean you’re plotting for something more?” Aware that Wuji and Wuhen had always been desireless, Xie Chengze couldn’t help but tease him.

Unexpectedly, the owner of the Peach Blossom Eyes nodded seriously, his tone subtle. “Yes. I’m just afraid Your Highness can’t afford it, which is why I’ve never dared to ask.”

“Oh?” This, on the contrary, piqued Xie Chengze’s competitive spirit. He put down his brush, looked up, and asked, “What is there that I, this Prince, cannot afford?”

Wuji lowered his gaze. Although both his and Wuhen’s eyes were long and narrow, one pair was deep and stern like a sharp sword, while the other overflowed with romantic charm. Even when he wasn’t smiling, he already appeared gentle and refined, to say nothing of when he smiled, which was like peach blossoms blooming in the third month of spring—as the wind blew past, the pink and white petals would fall like a dazzling curtain of rain.

“Your Highness,” his voice carried a hint of a plaintive tone, “do you truly not remember?”

Once, His Highness had been most concerned about his legs.

On that snowy day, after having both his legs broken, he was dragged up the stairs and delivered to a private room in a restaurant. As he sat slumped on the floor, he saw Wuhen, face ferocious, tightly gripping a pair of chopsticks and aiming them at a young child’s eye, threatening those luxuriously dressed people for a carriage and gold to escape the city.

He only felt that Wuhen was too foolish. So foolish and stupid.

He should have escaped by himself. Bringing him along was undoubtedly a burden. Besides, did he really think the two of them, as mere youths, could escape the clutches of these high officials and nobles?

They couldn’t escape.

Wuhen was not one who could afford to gamble, but he was. He saw the young child whose eye was being threatened by the jade chopsticks. Though the child himself was in peril, his gaze towards him was filled with pity, his eyes frequently landing on his bruised and blood-stained legs, full of anxiety and worry.

Children were the easiest to deceive.

A youth from a Prostitute House was already incomparably cunning, knowing how to exploit the soft-heartedness of the kind. Ignoring the pain of his broken bones, he crawled wretchedly towards the young child, deliberately smearing the blood flowing from his legs onto the floor to make himself look tragic and pitiful.

He succeeded, of course. The young child, with reddened eyes, begged his mother to have his legs treated. He brought him and Wuhen into the palace and had the imperial physicians tend to them with great care.

He developed a high fever that night. The young child, afraid he would die, sat on the bed and watched him for the entire night without sleep. Though he was at an age where he loved to sleep, he forced himself to stay awake until his eyes were bloodshot. He kept rubbing his stiff and ugly legs, thinking it would make him feel better.

In reality, it hurt like hell.

The pain made him cry miserably that night. The young child then leaned close to his ear and sang him off-key little tunes, patting his arm gently to soothe him. Though younger than him, he coaxed him to sleep as if an adult comforting a child, saying that once he fell asleep, it wouldn’t hurt anymore.

And it was as if it truly stopped hurting.

During those days, the young Highness stayed by his side, reading storybooks to him, telling him about interesting things happening outside, and watching him slowly get back on his feet and take his first steps. To encourage him to walk more, he would pat his small chest and promise to give him a reward, such as…

“Your Highness, sleep with me tonight.”

Wuji’s lips curled delicately. “When we were young, Your Highness would reward this subordinate like this.”

At that time, His Highness poured a great deal of energy into him and Wuhen, thereby neglecting the Crown Prince in the Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince appeared unmoved on the surface, but secretly, he exploited His Highness’s soft heart, making His Highness spend every night in the Eastern Palace.

He could tell that the Crown Prince was extremely disgusted and displeased with him and his brother. But Wuji didn’t care. A youth who had clawed his way out of a filthy place had a tough backbone. He secretly competed with the Crown Prince, “vying for favor” to snatch the person away.

The consequence was being sent by that damn Crown Prince to the remote land of Liaozhou to learn martial arts, using the same old trick.

Just like how he had once driven the First Prince to the distant border, not to return until the Xiongnu were defeated; just like how he had induced Shen Taifu to resign and take Shen Yuan away from the capital to travel and learn martial arts, to be used later; just like how he had secretly schemed to make the imperial concubines wary of Cheng Huan Palace, confining the two princesses and the Fourth Prince to their respective palaces, forbidden from seeking out His Highness to play at Cheng Huan Palace; just like how His Highness would never have a study companion, so as not to divert a single shred of his attention…

But His Highness clearly loved making friends the most.

Wuji had even wondered if it was because His Highness was too lonely that he had secretly slipped away, allowing that lonely soul to slip through the cracks and inhabit this body.

And His Highness, in turn, became a lonely soul, floated up to the heavens, met many immortals, learned many skills, and then finally was willing to return and continue being his Jian An Little Lucky Star.

His thoughts drifted further and further away. Suddenly, he felt his wrist being grabbed. Wuji snapped back to reality to see that Xie Chengze had gotten up at some point and was pulling him towards the heated brick bed. “I’ll likely have to pull an all-nighter with Elder Gu to prepare things, so I’m afraid I can’t sleep with you through the night. But I can take a short nap with you now.”

Xie Chengze didn’t remember the Second Prince’s childhood and was afraid his hesitation or refusal would arouse Wuji’s suspicion. Thus, his actions were swift and decisive. He pulled up the quilt, flicked it open, and lay down flat on his back.

He patted the spot next to him and urged, “Hurry up. Let’s make this quick.”

Wuji couldn’t help but let out a “pfft” of laughter.

His Peach Blossom Eyes crinkled into a thin line from smiling. Wuji lay down on his side, pressed down on the young man’s raised wrist, and placed his right hand lightly on Xie Chengze’s abdomen over the quilt, creating a long, shallow indent.

He said softly, “This subordinate smells too much of wind and snow; I don’t need to be under the quilt.”

“Your Highness, go to sleep. This subordinate will wake you.”

Xie Chengze nodded and slowly closed his eyes.

Elder Gu’s arrival had eased his mind considerably. Thus, relieved of the heavy pressure, he quickly fell into a dream, though his sleep was still not very peaceful. His brow would furrow from time to time, as if he had encountered some difficulty.

Wuji gently patted the quilt, again and again, and a little tune that the young Highness used to hum often emerged softly from his throat, just like the lullaby he used to sing for himself when he was training in Liaozhou as a child.

“Hmm~ hmm hmm~ hmm hmm hmm hmm~ hmm~”

Gradually, the young man’s brow smoothed out. Wuji also closed his eyes, hugging the warm body as he began to nap.

They were both tired.

——

There were very few people in Liaozhou who knew how to make pastries. Shen Yuan had finally managed to find an old master in his spare time. Although he couldn’t make pastries as exquisite as those in the palace, the local specialty Fruit Cake he made was worth a try.

Keeping the freshly made Fruit Cake in his arms warm with his internal energy all the way, Shen Yuan returned to the county yamen, only to run into Su Qinghe, who was carrying a food box, preparing to deliver snacks to Xie Chengze.

Shen Yuan’s steps faltered. He looked at Su Qinghe, who was full of joy as if about to meet his beloved. His gaze fell on the food box, and his brow instantly furrowed. “What are you doing here?”