An inexplicably tense atmosphere dwelled in the guest reception room.
Xie Jianshen sat opposite Zhang Fengxi, pinning him with his eagle eyes. Xie Jianyu sat next to Xie Jianshen, looking very interested in the polished table surface.
"Prince Zhang Fengxi, you are the only son of Longjing Palace Master, is that right?"
"Yes."
"Your mother is Lady Song from Qifeng Palace, is that right?"
"Yes."
"Ah."
The way Xie Jianshen looked at him made Zhang Fengxi’s skin crawl from anxiety. Why did he feel like he was being interrogated by a future mother-in-law? This didn’t make sense at all.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Zhang Fengxi wanted to scream.
"You hung around my brother a lot recently. I heard some circulating reports."
"..."
Xie Jianshen smiled.
"It does not look good for any of you at all. You understand, don’t you?"
"..."
Zhang Fengxi opened his mouth to answer. He wanted to tell Xie Jianshen to mind his own business, but then Xie Jianyu spoke ahead of him.
"Prince Zhang Fengxi, aren’t you tired? Don’t you want to go back home?"
Oh, yes, he was tired.
He was sick and tired of being treated like a sick pervert.
Zhang Fengxi cupped his hands in front of Xie Jianshen and Xie Jianyu.
"Then, Lord Xie*, Crown Prince, I shall excuse myself and go back to my Longjing Palace."
Zhang Fengxi rose to his feet, took his vial of antidote, and left without looking back.
All the way back home, he fumed with anger.
Who did Xie Jianshen think he was?
Did he think that his younger brother was the fairest omega across nine layers of heaven, or what?
Speaking about the fairest omega...
Zhang Fengxi suddenly missed Liu Wenyuan.
Oh, his Wenyuan was so beautiful and amazing. And his parents did not act like Xie Jianshen. Liu Wenyuan was a thousand times better than Xie Jianyu!
At Wuyang Palace, Liu Wenyuan was absent-mindedly plucking at a zither. He could not stop thinking about the roaring dragon sigil that he saw on Zhang Fengxi’s inner robe.
It was obviously not his.
It belonged to the alpha who came out of the mountain with him.
Crown Prince Xie Jianyu, Fuxi Palace Master.
But why?
Liu Wenyuan plucked hard at a string, almost causing it to break into two.
There was no logical explanation for why they should exchange inner robes.
This kind of thing was only possible if...
Liu Wenyuan pressed both hands to his face.
There was a circulating rumor that Zhang Fengxi liked alphas.
Xie Jianyu was an alpha.
No way, it couldn’t be, right?
But then, how to explain the inner robe exchange?
"Prince Wenyuan, Prince Zhang Fengxi has come for a visit."
Liu Wenyuan peeled his hands off his face.
Smile, he told himself. "You have to act as if you didn’t see anything. You need to trust your future husband. If you don’t trust him, there is no point in getting married to him at all."
"Wenyuan, I am here!"
That was what Liu Wenyuan planned to do, but it didn’t work as intended. His face crumpled when he saw his betrothed, then he broke into tears.
Zhang Fengxi’s smile was wiped off his face in an instant.
"Wenyuan, why are you crying?"
Liu Wenyuan threw himself at Zhang Fengxi and grabbed his lapels.
"Prince, did something happen between you and the Crown Prince?"
"..."
Did that bastard, Zhou Guiying feed his Wenyuan with some nonsensical stories?
"No!" Zhang Fengxi grabbed Liu Wenyuan’s shoulders and looked into his eyes. "Wenyuan, you must not trust the irresponsible rumors from outside!"
"What rumors?"
"..."
Liu Wenyuan reached under Zhang Fengxi’s robe and pulled at his inner robe.
"I saw it," he sobbed. "When you came out of the mountain, you were wearing the Crown Prince’s inner robe."
"..."
Zhang Fengxi cursed under his breath. So Zhang Fengxi saw it. What’s with Fuxi Palace people and their obsession to embroider their sigil on every single item within their household? No one wanted to steal anything from them!
"Wenyuan, you are mistaken. We were drenched from head to toe so we had to wash and dry our clothes. He and I simply exchanged our clothes by mistake."
To be more exact, they remembered to switch their outer robes but forgot to do so with their inner robes.
Liu Wenyuan’s lips trembled in distress.
"Really...?"
"Yes, really."
Zhang Fengxi laughed. He cupped Liu Wenyuan’s pretty face and gave him a peck on the lips.
"Trust me, nothing happened."
"Mm..."
Liu Wenyuan put his arms around Zhang Fengxi’s body and rubbed his face against the latter’s chest.
"Prince Fengxi, are we getting engaged soon?" he asked.
Zhang Fengxi caressed Liu Wenyuan’s hair lovingly.
"Anytime you want. We can get engaged now, and then get married on your eighteenth birthday. Does that sound good?"
Liu Wenyuan nodded vigorously.
"Yes!" he answered while beaming with delight.
Zhang Fengxi sighed blissfully as he held Liu Wenyuan in his arms.
As he thought, his Wenyuan was the best. Xie Jianyu might be an omega, but he could not compare to his Wenyuan at all.
----------------
Author’s note :
This author has been struggling with titles for a while so let me just write it down in order to prevent some confusion.
The Palace Master’s wife, male or female, has the title "Palace Mistress".
Polygamy isn’t encouraged, but it is tolerated.
If there are more than one wife, then the wives will be referred to as the First Mistress, Second Mistress, Third Mistress, etc.
This is also relevant when referring to a deceased former wife as opposed to the current, living spouse.
The Palace Master’s brothers and sisters and cousins etc. are given the title "Lord" and "Lady" plus their maiden surname.
Lady Song was the younger sister of Qifeng Palace Master, Song Weiyang. She can also be referred to as Longjing Palace Mistress, but I like to call her Lady Song instead.
First, it helps me to remember her connection to her birth palace, xixixi...
Second, I don’t like the word "mistress" because of its derogatory connotation. Unfortunately, this author cannot think of a better title. Huft.