After Tai Long’s fate was decided, Yan Yixuan went to visit the Lin household later that day bearing gifts. Since his preferred method of showing love was through gifts and favors granted in the background while seldom asking for anything in return, his sister Yan Yiwen and brother-in-law Lin Changyuan didn’t suspect any ulterior motives this time either.

That was why they were surprised when Yan Yixuan said, “Brother-in-law, I have a favor to ask.”

Though startled, Lin Changyuan answered readily, “Tell me, Brother Yan. I’ll do it if it’s within my capabilities.”

“It is, indeed,” Yan Yixuan reassured. “I have an ill-mannered captive, a former prince from Sui who has recently been demoted to a commoner, and who is in dire need of straightening himself out. He’s the same one who extended my stay at Sui before. The empress recommended having him work under your observation as a punishment of sort and I thought it would be a great idea. Can you help me with it, please?”

Yan Yiwen’s eyebrows flew up while Lin Changyuan leaned back and exclaimed, “What?! Sui’s former prince? I’m just a simple weaponsmith. I-I don’t know if this is a good idea…”

Though Yan Yiwen understood his hesitation, she trusted that if her brother asked her husband to do this, it must be within her beloved’s capability and pose no danger to him. So she unhesitatingly clasped her husband’s arm and batted her long lashes at him. “Changyuan, please? Can you help my brother?”

Just then, little Lin Meihui entered the room, having hurried over after hearing that her uncle was here. She heard the tail end of the conversation and pounced on her father’s other arm without even understanding what this was about. She blinked her adorable eyes at him and pleaded, “Father, you have to help Uncle Yan!”

Lin Changyuan was helpless in the face of this double pronged attack and gave in. “Alright, alright, I can never say no when you both gang up on me.”

The mother and daughter cheered.

Yan Yixuan couldn’t help but chuckle, his eyes filled with warmth. He bowed his head towards Lin Changyuan and said, “Thank you for agreeing, Brother-in-law. Please come by the main house when you have time and I’ll provide you the details.” He then hugged his sister with an arm. “And thank you for your timely support, Elder Sister.”

Yan Yiwen tapped his nose. “It’s nice to be able to help you for a change.”

The young man smiled at her affectionately and turned to his little niece. Patting her head, he spoke, “Thank you, too, Hui-er. What do you want as a reward for assisting your uncle this time?”

The little girl perked up and declared, “I want a ducky!”

Lin Changyuan and Yan Yiwen, “……”

Lin Changyuan massaged his forehead, knowing what was coming, while Yan Yiwen smiled wryly.

Yan Yixuan blinked and asked, “A ducky again? Didn’t we get you the mandarin duck waist pendant you wanted last time?”

Lin Meihui nodded and bounced on her feet with shining eyes. “I want a real ducky this time!”

Yan Yixuan chuckled. Now he understood the expressions on his sister’s and brother-in-law’s faces. Putting on a serious expression, he told his niece, “I can consider getting you a duck, but you’ll have to grow stronger first.”

The little girl stopped her bouncing and tilted her head with befuddlement. “Huh? Why?”

Yan Yixuan earnestly informed her, “I’ve heard that aquatic birds like ducks are very ferocious. You’ll need to first grow big and strong enough to defeat them, otherwise they won’t acknowledge you as their friend or let you keep them.”

Lin Meihui looked enlightened. “Then I’ll ask Master Jin to teach me more about fighting!”

Ruffling her hair, Yan Yixuan praised, “Mn, good girl. By the way, why do you like ducks so much?”

With a solemn expression, the little girl explained, “I heard a cleaning aunty talking with others once and saying that Mother and Father are really close and nice together, like two mandarin ducks. Since I like Mother and Father and they’re supposed to be like those duckies, I decided I like duckies too!”

The hearts of all present melted at that adorably earnest reason.

From then on, many of the gifts sent from the Yan household to the Lin household invariably contained ducks as a motif, much to the steward Ruan Shu’s bafflement, Lin Meihui’s delight, and her parents’ amusement.

Family shenanigans aside, now that Lin Changyuan’s help was successfully obtained, arrangements were swiftly made for Tai Long to work at the military’s weaponsmithing forges at the edge of the capital.

Lin Changyuan, who had risen to the position of a respected master weaponsmith, would oversee Tai Long and treat him as a new apprentice. It would put the former prince at the lowest level in the entire smithy with the other new apprentices. If Tai Long made any mistakes, it would be taken out of his pay. He would be given three square meals of gruel to eat per day and would stay at the dormitory halls with the other apprentices.

Before he entered the weaponsmithing compound, Tai Long’s clothes and all personal effects were taken away. He was made to change into a new set of commoner clothes with a plain ribbon to tie back his hair. His pampered skin was unused to the rough hemp cloth and he kept fidgeting. Everything about his new circumstances and living conditions felt discordant and uncomfortable, causing him to be in a perpetual bad mood. But there was no one he could take it out on and no one who would care to listen to his complaints. No one in the compound even knew his true identity. Having to keep all his grievances to himself made him feel like he was choking on them.

Since Tai Long was unskilled, he was tasked with running errands for now like other new apprentices. It was hoped that this would help the apprentices start by understanding the smaller details involved in the job they were to learn. It involved little things like passing messages, fetching materials from the storehouses, delivering batches of finished weapons, sweeping and cleaning etc. Of course, Tai Long planned to take it all lightly, his pride disallowing him to lower himself to the level of these commoners.

At night, Tai Long had to share his space with a horde of unclean, snoring men, all of them on the same communal pallet. Even lying at the very edge so as to not be surrounded by such smelly and loud people didn’t help him much. His current state was in sharp contrast to the former prince’s experience of resting alone in his spacious and clean bedchambers before. As a result, he found himself unable to sleep, only dozing off tiredly a few hours near dawn.

The gruel the dorm served the apprentices every day was of low quality and awful even by normal standards. Only the most desperate even considered it. Most apprentices just bought palatable and cheap food from eateries and food stalls set up outside the compound. However, Tai Long had just started and wouldn’t earn daily wages like the others for a while. But unable to stomach the gruel, the only choice Tai Long was left with was to go hungry.

Thankfully, he was at least used to waking up at the first hint of dawn as was required of the apprentices. Due to his pretense of faithfulness to his people’s god, he had gotten up early every day to visit the temple in the palace’s grounds and light a few incense sticks. That, combined with his pretended willingness to readily preach their god’s name, had put him in a good light in front of the more traditional and superstitious part of the court. At least he didn’t have to try and find ways to invoke their god in normal conversations now.

But that aside, due to the combination of hunger and lack of sleep mixed with his irreverence towards his job, Tai Long soon got himself into trouble.

The weaponsmiths finished the newest batch of spears and arrows that were to be sent to a city’s guard two settlements over. Since it was a simple enough job that did not necessitate doing much, Lin Changyuan decided to have Tai Long accompany another new apprentice on the task of delivering the weapons. Since the former prince was sure to not know how to drive a cart with that temperament, he was unlikely to be able to run off with it. The task was predicted to be uneventful and over by the next night.

And so, Tai Long grumblingly set off with the other apprentice, who was called Shang Jin.

Unlike the other apprentices who disliked working with the unpleasant and bad-tempered Tai Long, Shang Jin was always on the lookout to make more money to send to his family and had thus easily accepted this assignment to partner with this troublesome fellow apprentice. At first, Shang Jin tried to liven up the mood as they journeyed. But faced with Tai Long’s consistent expression that spoke of how he was unwilling to be here and miffed about it, the other man gave up and the mood in the cart grew stagnant.

Since Tai Long didn’t know how to drive and refused to contribute in any other way, Shang Jin had to keep an eye on everything, from fetching water when they ran out, making sure they were on the right route, to tending to the horses during the brief water breaks, or appeasing Tai Long’s temper.

Understandably, Shang Jin soon grew tired enough for his eyes to grow blurry.

This fatigue caused Shan Jin to misread directions one too many times, inviting Tai Long’s increasingly angry scolding. Shang Jin tried to keep himself motivated by the money he was going to earn and pushed on. By the time night arrived, they were still between cities and had to stop by the roadside.

“We should decide who will keep watch first,” Shang Jin hesitantly brought up during dinner.

By now, Tai Long’s stomach had started cramping with hunger while emitting the growls of a hungry beast. Maintaining a stony face, Tai Long harrumphed. “Is there any need for that? We’re in the middle of nowhere with nothing but trees on either side. Do you think thieves are going to jump out of the branches to steal such worthless things?” He hadn’t wanted to do all this anyway, so why should he have to put in any hard work even at night?

Shang Jin sighed. He contemplated something for a while, then offered, “Brother Tai, how about we trade? I’ll give you my last two pork buns if you promise to keep the first watch. I was up till late last night writing a letter back home to send with the money I saved till now. That alongside today has left me too tired to keep watch effectively.”

Tai Long’s eyes snapped to the two plump buns in Shang Jin’s hold that he had been carefully averting his eyes from till now. He swallowed down his misgivings about needing to keep watch along with a mouthful of saliva and managed a stately nod. “Fine, you sleep then.”

Shang Jin gratefully handed over the last two buns and curled up in his seat to fall into an exhausted sleep almost immediately.

Meanwhile, it was all Tai Long could do to eat measured bites of the buns and not wolf them down gracelessly.

Ever since he began working at the smithy, hunger had been a constant companion chewing his stomach and weakening his limbs. The fact that he kept refusing to do petty odd jobs to protect his dignity only displeased the senior weaponsmiths and caused his wages to be docked. When he was about to pass out from hunger, he forced himself to subsist on the sickeningly bland gruel in the dormitory that only the poorest of apprentices bore with. He was never able to go back for two consecutive bowls of that slop due to the sheer amount of shame he felt as a former prince. And so he lived with continuous hunger.

Now that he finally had some normal, palatable food in his hands, Tai Long didn’t wait to dig in. The buns had grown a bit tough on the outside by now, but it was manageable, and the cold filling was still soft and flavorful enough to be enjoyable. Though it was no delicacy to his experienced taste buds, it still felt extremely fulfilling.

Once he was done eating, Tai Long drank a few mouthfuls of water to wash it down. He leaned back in the driver’s bench, sighing as he rubbed his stomach.

The rhythmic snores from the man curled up beside him mixed with the sound of leaves rustling in the cool night breeze. Faint moonlight filtered down from the canopy of branches above, casting mesmerizing shapes on the ground that danced with the wind. The road they had traversed and would continue on was an endless ribbon of pale, hard-packed soil to their right, both its ends melting into shadows as if signifying the unknown. Deep calm suffused the night.

Tai Long looked up at the sky with bleary eyes and yawned. Now that his stomach was sated, he grew drowsy. There was no group of men crammed into a pallet, no snores or stench of unwashed bodies covered in rank sweat. Though the hard wooden bench jutting out from the front of the cart was far from the luxurious plushness of his bed in the palace, he now found it irresistibly comfortable. He shifted to settle himself better and gazed up at the starry sky that served as their tent.

Tai Long realized that he had never quite studied the night sky as he was doing now. If he did happen to glance at it while in Sui, it was always distractedly, while his mind was occupied with some scheme against his siblings or a new plan to gain more of his father’s favor. Now, with nothing to work his mind, it felt blank and empty like a fresh sheet of paper. He didn’t know if he liked this feeling.

As he pondered, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier with each blink. Soon, they fluttered closed as Tai Long drifted off to peaceful sleep.

When he awoke next, it was due to Shang Jin shaking him and shouting frantically in his ear, “Wake up! Wake up, damn you!”

Tai Long rubbed his face and straightened. He knocked away the other man’s hand before blinking his leaden eyelids open. “What are you making a fuss about?” he asked grouchily.

Shang Jin wanted to strangle him. His eyes burning, he demanded, “Why did you fall asleep when you were supposed to keep watch?! Look, now it’s all gone!”

Tai Long startled and looked behind him. Sure enough, the cloth covering the cart had been ripped away and revealed the emptiness underneath. All the weapons had been stolen. It was difficult to tell if the thieves had expertly maintained silence while handling the weapons or if it was the two apprentices who had slept too deeply to notice.

Deciding not to waste much time here since there was nothing they could do, Tai Long and Shang Jin quickly set off back to the capital with their empty cart. Shang Jin was livid at Tai Long’s carelessness and fumed silently the entire way back. He didn’t offer to share his food when he bought breakfast and Tai Long refused to ask no matter how fierce his stomach’s protests grew.

They reached the weaponsmithing compound by afternoon and Shang Jin was left to dejectedly narrate the incident. Needless to say, they were showered with severe reprimands.

“How the fuck do you lose an entire cartful of weaponry due to sheer carelessness?!” the senior weaponsmith in charge of this assignment yelled at them. “Do you know when the deadline for sending them over is? Tomorrow! It took us four days to finish this batch of replacement; how are we supposed to do it in a day and a half now, huh?!”

Shang Jin looked miserable, his head sinking lower and lower in guilt. On the other hand, Tai Long looked away with annoyance, feeling that the sight of this old man flapping his mouth and flinging spittle everywhere was unsightly.

Noting his disdain, the senior weaponsmith grew angrier. “You both will be punished for the loss of material and work caused due to your mistake! You will pay for it from your own wages! Now tell me, which one of you was the bastard who was supposed to be keeping watch when the theft took place?”

Shang Jin peeked at Tai Long, not wanting to rat him out.

Tai Long sneered, not even attempting to hide his culpability. As someone who had rarely ever had to face the full brunt of the consequences for his own irresponsible actions, he was angry now that he was being taken into account for it by a commoner. “I don’t know why you’re making such a fuss for a few bits of metal. Aren’t you just going to make more? It’s not like this empire lacks that much money after plundering Xie with war and Sui with a treaty.”

“Shut up! How dare you speak of this country that way!” the senior weaponsmith shouted, infuriated.

The others watching the commotion nearby shot furious gazes at Tai Long for maligning the empire despite him being the one at fault. Their already bad impression of this lazy and arrogant man only worsened.

“Apprentice Tai, since you bear the biggest blame, you will pay the biggest price,” the senior weaponsmith declared with eyes burning with rage. “Apprentice Shang, you will only have to pay one week’s salary to clear your share of the debt.”

Shang Jin quickly calculated with his fingers and heaved a breath in relief that he should be able to afford that much. But the money he wanted to send to his family would probably be almost gone. He regretted that he couldn’t share his earnings with his loved ones after spending so much effort to save it up.

Shang Jin gave Tai Long a wronged look, then bowed to the senior weaponsmith to thank him for his leniency. He then left to find some odd jobs to complete and begin earning back what he lost.

However, unlike him, Tai Long was well and truly angry now. He was barely paid anything as it was, and now he had to lose out on even that for who knows how long?

“Why should I listen to you and give away my earnings?!” Tai Long yelled at the master weaponsmith. “I refuse to let you steal what’s mine! Go ask the empress or the general for more money if you’re that hard up!”

The senior weaponsmith bristled. “What does either of them have to do with you?! Do they owe you? Since you made a mistake, you’ll pay for it, you insolent brat!”

One of his junior apprentices, a burly man, couldn’t take it anymore and butted in. “Yes, Apprentice Tai. Stop flinging blame at others. Learn to take responsibility for your actions like an adult!”

Tai Long scowled at him. “This place steals what little it is supposed to pay me as it is, and now you all want to take even more from me? Forget it!”

“That’s because you refuse to do the tasks assigned to you!” another apprentice under the senior weaponsmith spoke out. “How can you complain about your pay when you’ve been avoiding working?”

“The fact that you are being paid at all though you do nothing is a mistake,” yet another junior apprentice added with folded arms and shook his head disapprovingly.

The youngest of the master weaponsmith’s apprentices glared at Tai Long and said acerbically, “You always look like you’re doing us a favor by setting foot into the smithy. What, you really think you’re so great that you have to be paid just for showing that pretty face of yours around here?”

Tai Long gritted his teeth and growled out with pompous arrogance, “Yes, so what? You know nothing about me and my life before I had to mingle with you peasants! You all should be glad things aren’t the same as before or I’d have you lot stripped bare on the streets, then tortured and humiliated in public! I would have my people dig out your families and make them see you suffer! By the time I’m done, they’ll be nothing but pathetic little worms crawling in the dirty streets, and you’ll all be cold corpses hung up to rot somewhere so you can feed the crows with your worthless flesh!”

The people witnessing his threats sputtered with pure rage at his audacity. They really wanted to get their hands on him to beat him up a round or two to teach his stinky mouth some manners!

The senior weaponsmith was barely able to hold back his emotions before they exploded, but his young apprentices weren’t so reserved. With hands forming fists that trembled, they marched towards Tai Long with violence in their expressions.

Tai Long looked at them vigilantly. People around him quickly stepped back so they wouldn’t be caught in the brewing fight. Tai Long felt all too small in the emptiness surrounding him. It wasn’t a feeling he was used to.

“Enough!” the senior weaponsmith barked at his apprentices. “If you want to channel your aggression, go hammer a few pieces of metal until you’ve calmed down. Don’t sink down to that brat’s level. All of you, get back to work before I’m forced to issue another round of salary deductions!”

The apprentices froze, looking torn. They really wanted to beat Tai Long up until he was unrecognizable. How dare he talk like that not only about them and their families, but their esteemed master as well! However, they respected their master too much to disobey him and forced themselves to turn away and leave.

Tai Long bared his teeth mockingly at their retreating backs, but didn’t say anything as he left to laze around in some corner.

Displeased with him, the senior weaponsmith went to Lin Changyuan and complained about all the troubles his recent apprentice caused.

Lin Changyuan massaged his forehead with hands covered in soot and sighed. “I'm only meant to ensure he doesn’t leave and is treated equal to the other new apprentices. But I suppose I should put him to work as well and make sure he doesn’t create more problems.”

Tai Long was thus put under stricter supervision and made to assist Lin Changyuan. While the other new apprentices envied him his chance of getting so close to their master and learning more than them, Tai Long felt nothing but disgust towards all the work he was being made to do. Most of the time, he worked halfheartedly or simply ignored his instructions. But Lin Changyuan hounded him until he finished what he was assigned, making Tai Long dislike the older man further.

The grueling work, along with the limited meals and a pay that had quickly gone into the negatives, caused Tai Long no small amount of bitter hopelessness. Meanwhile, the rest of the smithy Tai Long was assigned to loathed him for both his uncaring attitude and how his mistake caused the apprentices of the senior weaponsmith so much trouble. Even if they were from another smithy, as fellow weaponsmiths, they knew how difficult it would be to rush to redo the weapons order in less than two days.

Due to this, the senior weaponsmith’s apprentices also started making trouble for Tai Long, and his infuriatingly disrespectful attitude incited them to try and beat him up whenever their paths crossed. Due to his pride, the former prince also never asked for help. But Lin Changyuan had learned his lesson about letting Tai Long out of his sight after the recent debacle and now kept close watch on him. He was thus always able to rescue the prince before any fights could break out. But this only caused the junior apprentices’ rage to condense after it was stoked by Tai Long, then suppressed again and again before they could vent it.

Seeing what an expert the prince was at courting hatred, Lin Changyuan had a big headache.

The continuing workplace hostility, combined with the lack of proper food and enough sleep, meant that despite all his blustering and arrogance, Tai Long was the most miserable he’d ever been in his life.

The only consolation in his wretched life as a civilian was that his black cat, Xiao-Ji, managed to find him again.

At that time, he was in the midst of another heated argument with Lin Changyuan.

“I told you, I don’t need your charity! I don’t need you taking this chance to look down on me!” Tai Long furiously declared to the older man.

They were standing in the little yard behind the main building housing the smithies. A short well with a weathered but sturdy wooden bucket was tucked away at the side. The bottom of the well was filled with stones to filter out the sediment and the water was particularly clear.

Whenever there were burn injuries at the smithies, the first place people ran to was the well so that they could pour its cool water over the wound. If the burn was serious, they would then proceed to the medic stationed at one of the small side buildings for further treatment. If the burn was self-inflicted due to carelessness, then the injured person would have to pay for the treatment and medicine out of their own pocket.

Tai Long had once been instructed to get water from the well and thus came to know of it. Since then, he came to the smithy after work ended just so he could have a wash here in peace. Having to smell other people’s sour body odor was one thing; having to smell his own odor ripening by the day was a whole different level of agony and mortification.

It was after one such bath that Lin Changyuan came across Tai Long and decided to have a talk, hoping that showing some kindness would loosen up this uptight and aggravating former prince’s attitude.

Seeing Tai Long being difficult as usual, Lin Changyuan rubbed the middle of his brows. “Apprentice Tai, all I asked you was if you’d like me to buy you a meal, since your stomach seems to be growling most of the time we meet. It was not meant as an insult to your overinflated sense of pride.”

Tai Long reddened at the undignified sounds from his stomach being mentioned. It only fueled his furor as he snapped, “I don’t care what you meant it as! I won’t have you meddling in my affairs any more than I allow it! And who knows what all you are planning to add to that charity food under your wicked brother-in-law’s urging.”

Lin Changyuan heaved a sigh. “Please don’t bring Brother Yan into this. He is not as involved in your life as you think.”

Tai Long clenched his hands into fists. “Of course he’d appear that way! But do you truly believe that someone like him will not hold what I did against me?! He must be plotting of ways to torment me further even now!”

Lin Changyuan looked at him strangely. This former prince…was really paranoid. He wasn’t quite sure on the details of all that happened in Sui, but Yan Yixuan certainly didn’t seem very bothered about it. It made him guess that Tai Long must not have done anything too terrible. But his attitude certainly left Lin Changyuan feeling less than charitable towards him and his troublemaking.

Folding his arms, the older man spoke in a level voice meant to calm tantrum-throwing infants, “If you want to think that Brother Yan has it out for you, I’ll certainly not stop you from continuing to anxiously bite your nails about it. Let’s put that aside. I’ll ask you one final time—do you really not want me to provide you food? You’re thinning out fast. Your body isn’t going to last long at this rate.”

Tai Long’s face was a wall of stubbornness. “I don’t need your pity. I am a prince! I can handle this much!”

Lin Changyuan sighed again. Well, he didn’t think his brother-in-law would care if this man dropped dead due to his own obstinacy. He himself didn’t quite like people like Tai Long, so he supposed he should just leave it.

“Very well, then,” he said. “Since you’re so sure, I’ll let you be.”

Tai Long’s face conveyed his smugness at having gotten his way and Lin Changyuan wanted to roll his eyes. How could an adult be so immature?

“What’s that look for?” Tai Long asked with a scowl.

“Nothing,” Lin Changyuan said mildly. He was just about to turn to leave when a faint meow sounded.

Tai Long’s head whipped to the side. He’d recognize that call anywhere!

Rushing to a nearby brush, Tai Long called in a daze, “Xiao-Ji? Xiao-Ji, is that you? No, it can’t be…”

Lin Changyuan witnessed with startlement as the younger man’s formerly fierce and arrogant expression melted quickly into one that was half hopeful and half disbelieving. He had to blink to see if he hadn’t hallucinated the transformation.

Tai Long was frantically digging into the brushes, unmindful of the cuts accruing on his arms. He finally touched fur and hastily yet carefully pulled out a matted little cat with big golden eyes staring at him unblinkingly.

Tai long stared at the cat as if afraid it was an illusion. The cat let out a soft meow that sounded equal parts plaintive and accusing. Xiao-Ji clearly felt wronged that Tai Long had left it behind.

The armor around him that Tai Long had been maintaining in this foreign land melted into a happy puddle. He clutched the cat to his chest and pressed a reverent, tender kiss to its dusty head. “Xiao-Ji, Xiao-Ji, you found me! Somehow, you found me!”

Having missed Tai Long, Xiao-Ji luxuriated in his affection now and acted spoiled. Its soft little paws pressed on Tai Long’s collarbones as it butted its head gently against his cheek.

Tai Long smiled warmly and hugged his precious fur ball tighter. A lump of emotions had lodged itself in his throat and he swallowed. He couldn’t believe that in the midst of such hardship, he had been granted such fortune!

At the side, Lin Changyuan couldn’t help being surprised that even this former prince could show such an expression of simple joy, and all because of a dusty little cat.

After Tai Long was done showering his first round of affection on Xiao-Ji, he finally recalled that he wasn’t alone and turned to direct a glare at Lin Changyuan. But maybe because he was unable to look too fierce when Xiao-Ji was in his arms, his expression seemed more like that of a child trying too hard to look rebellious than anything.

Lin Changyuan hid a smile. “I see that you’re busy with an important guest. I’ll leave you now, then.”

Tai Long began to snap back a retort angrily, “What’s with that look―”

A furry paw pressed on his lips, interrupting him, as if protesting his loud voice shouting by its sensitive ears.

Glancing helplessly at his cat, Tai Long gently shifted its paw and turned back to glower at Lin Changyuan. He started in a lower volume, “As I was saying, why do you look at me as if―”

Xiao-Ji chose that moment to bump its head into Tai Long’s mouth, as if demanding to be pampered with more kisses.

Lin Changyuan’s lips twitched as he struggled to hide his smile.

Tai Long expressionlessly patted his cat’s head to temporarily appease it and began once again, “Don’t think I didn’t notice that you―”

Xiao-Ji bit at Tai Long’s jaw, like a child misbehaving to get their parent’s attention.

Sighing, Tai Long paused and looked down to see his cat blinking at him innocently. His skin barely stung a little where those little teeth had pressed against it. “Xiao-Ji,” he said with fond exasperation. “Stop interrupting me. Can’t you see that I’m trying to give someone a piece of my mind?”

Now that Tai Long’s attention was back on it, Xiao-Ji let out a satisfied meow and blinked at him slowly, conveying trust.

“Oh, what am I going to do with you…” Tai Long chided in a gentle voice as he scratched it behind the ear. Xiao-Ji purred happily.

Lin Changyuan stifled a chuckle, earning a furious look borne out of embarrassment from Tai Long.

“Don’t think this is over!” Tai Long said, unwilling to give up.

Lin Changyuan smiled and nodded. “Mn. Do you want me to write up a statement that your cat has permission to stay with you in your dormitory hall?”

Tai Long’s pride struggled against his love for Xiao-Ji. The winner was as expected. Looking away awkwardly, the former prince bit out, “Yes.” He then added heatedly, “But don’t think my acquiescence means anything!”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Lin Changyuan nodded perfunctorily. “I know you said you didn’t want me to provide you with food, but now that you have a pet, would you like me to send over something for it, at least?”

Tai Long’s words were gritted out, “…Yes.” After a pause, he forced out more words, “He likes eating chicken the most.”

“I’ll make sure to keep it in mind.” Lin Changyuan grinned. “Oh, and also―”

“Xiao-Ji doesn’t need anything else!” Tai Long interrupted hastily, then fled with the cat clutched in his arms as if afraid to incur any more favors he’d feel indebted towards.

Lin Changyuan laughed quietly. He had started this discussion feeling frustrated and annoyed at Tai Long. But now, he only felt amused after witnessing the younger man struggling to compose his expression in the face of a lovable little cat’s innocent adoration.

Maybe this former prince wasn’t a complete lost cause after all.

On the other side, Tai Long slumped down onto his part of the pallet in relief while continuing to cradle Xiao-Ji in his arms. Looking down, he poked the little pink button of its nose and scolded gently, “Why did you look for me despite all the hardships and uncertainties? Life with me is not going to be easy like before, you know? You should have stayed at the palace and lived a life of being worshipped in luxury.”

Xiao-Ji twitched its whiskers and leaned to the side to avoid the finger poking its nose, then burrowed into Tai Long’s embrace and rubbed against his chest with plain joy at finding him.

What could Tai Long do but laugh and indulge the fluffy little thing? He smoothed his hand over its back and reassured, “Fine, I won’t leave you again. I suppose I’ll have to reassess my way of living to make space for your wellbeing now. But first, a nice, long scrubbing for you.” Tai Long paused, then cursed under his breath. “Damn, I should have thought of it before. Do you think that one surnamed Lin is still standing by the well waiting to lecture and smirk at me?”

Xiao-Ji nuzzled him stickily.

Tai Long sighed and patted it. “Alright, let’s wait for a while to make sure that troublesome fellow’s truly gone.”

Since work had already ended, the other apprentices who didn’t have plans outside trickled into the dorm hall in twos and threes. Those who knew of Tai Long’s acerbic character kept looking at his loving gestures and gentle smile towards the black cat in his arms as if wondering whether he was possessed by a demon. The fact that they didn’t find it odd that a supposed demon was being nicer than its human host before said a lot about their expectations of Tai Long’s attitude.

One of the men who didn’t interact enough with Tai Long to form a bad impression yet approached him curiously. “Yo, are you planning on keeping that cat as a pet?”

Tai Long frowned with displeasure at being talked to. But since this was about Xiao-Ji, he took it seriously and responded, “Yes.”

The man shrugged. “Some people can’t stand being alone here without their families, so I understand. But most of them later abandon their pets because they now have to spend for its food and take responsibility if it bites someone else’s clothes or shits in their boots. It’s too troublesome.”

Tai Long puffed up with outrage as if someone had just disparaged his child. “Xiao-Ji has perfectly good manners, unlike many of the people here! And of course I will provide for him, and gladly at that!” He did not want this uncultured man, who smelled like a pigsty and looked like he’d rolled in one, casting judgments on his ability to take care of the only beloved thing in his world!

Seeing that his words had caused Tai Long to get defensive, the man waved a hand while scratching his neck with the other. “Fine then, forget I said anything. Just make sure your cat doesn’t have any other master. It seems like someone already wrapped a string around its neck with a token to show ownership, haven’t they?”

Tai Long stiffened.

Squinting, the man bent down and studied the token. “Say, does that look like real gold to you?” he asked, unable to hide the hopeful and greedy glint in his eyes.

Tai Long’s heart jolted but he kept a calm face on the outside. “No, of course not. Who has that much spare money that they’d spend it on gold tokens for their pets?” Except me, that is, he thought smugly.

The man leaned close and noticed the dulled surface and the countless little nicks and scratches on the token. “Hmm, you’re right, I suppose. I got too carried away with my fancy.”

He theorized that if that token was really gold, it would mean that this cat belonged to some wealthy man. But by the way its fur was matted and how starved it looked, it was most likely just some randomly picked up street cat that must have been abandoned along with its collar after its previous owners decided it was too much trouble. In that case, if the token was really gold, there was no way they wouldn’t have taken it back before setting the cat free. Even if the cat had just escaped, there was no way anyone would let it run free long enough to get all those scratches on the token before recapturing it, if only to take back the gold. It must mean that either way, this token wasn’t worth much.

Disappointed, the man said his goodbyes and left.

Tai Long heaved a breath in relief. Damn these poor men! He forgot that he was amongst commoners now who wouldn’t hesitate to kill for a tiny bit more money! No, he couldn’t let Xiao-Ji be endangered for that little bit of decoration.

Quickly cutting loose the red rope that served as the cat’s collar, Tai Long removed the token and wiped it clean with a finger. He stared nostalgically at the image of the palace carved into one side of the square token, with traditional and elaborate Sui-style carvings on the other side.

He was the one who had ordered this token to be made and had attentively designed every aspect of it. The carving of the palace was to make sure that even when Xiao-Ji ventured outside, people would know it was from the palace and treat him with appropriate reverence. Yet now, this token indicating status was nothing but unneeded trouble.

Tai Long rubbed a thumb over the textured surface depicting the palace and felt an intense bout of homesickness. While most of the culture in the empire, Sui, and Xie were the same, there were still aspects that drove it in that this was not his homeland.

There were no more mentions of gods, no chanting drifting in from the distance, no wisps of that specific combination of scents that spoke of holy incense, no recognition and bowed heads when he passed by, no dry weather and yellowed soil, no crumbling hills and pale green shrubbery lining the corners of his eyes, no windows with lattices crowning the top, no echoing cries of the hunting hawks…

He missed his home.

Tai Long gently curled his fingers around the token and directed a sorrowful smile at the cat watching him intently. “I guess it’s only us now, Xiao-Ji.”

And Xiao-Ji meowed softly and rubbed against him, expressing that now that it was here, he wouldn’t be alone.

Putting away the token, Tai Long hugged the cat and buried his face into its fur, uncaring of the dust.

After indulging in melancholy for a few minutes, Tai Long sprung up and headed to the well to give Xiao-Ji a good wash, his usual haughty expression firmly fixed in place.

When he returned with a clean and dry black cat who looked scandalized at having to get wet in the first place, Tai Long found Lin Changyuan waiting by his corner of the communal pallet.

As promised, the older man had brought the document stating that Tai Long’s cat was allowed to roam in the dormitories and smithy, and any damages incurred due to it would be Tai Long’s responsibility. Tai Long easily affixed his fingerprint to agree to the terms. Lin Changyuan had also brought some shredded meat for the cat and informed Tai Long that he could collect the cat’s portion of food at the dorm’s kitchen. Tai Long made a mental note to snatch up his Xiao-Ji’s food first thing each morning just in case someone desperate found it before him and stole it.

Xiao-Ji eyed the food Lin Changyuan brought, licking its chops eagerly. Smiling, Lin Changyuan filled a plate with the meat and set it before the cat, but Xiao-Ji didn’t do anything more than sniff it cautiously. It only began eating when Tai Long nudged the plate towards it, showing that it trusted the former prince’s judgment more than the stranger.

Tai Long gave a proud sniff, only to be met with the suppressed hilarity in Lin Changyuan’s gaze. The younger man turned away, scowling. He hated how he always felt like a child in this man’s presence!

As the cat ate, the smell of meat attracted many an envious glance. But the presence of a master weaponsmith like Lin Changyuan nearby dissuaded anyone from getting any wild ideas of snatching food. Even Tai Long couldn’t help but gulp down a few mouthfuls of saliva when he thought of his recent abysmal meals.

Sensing Tai Long staring longingly at the food, Xiao-Ji nudged a lump of meat towards him with its nose.

Tai Long’s gaze warmed and he gently pushed it back with a finger. “I’m fine. You eat. Look, you’re all skin and bones now.”

Xiao-Ji blinked as if not understanding what sort of idiot refused food, but dug back into the plate.

“You’re so good to your cat,” Lin Changyuan observed. “If only you could show a fraction of that goodwill towards people.”

Tai Long huffed. “People are deceitful creatures. I’m not sure about all animals, but my Xiao-Ji is definitely pure and good. He deserves being treated accordingly.”

Lin Changyuan chuckled and shrugged. “I can’t say you’re wrong.” And he couldn’t say out loud that that logic sounded childish as hell.

To Tai Long, talking to someone like this without it devolving into an argument felt strange to the point of being uncomfortable, so he stayed silent and tried to ignore Lin Changyuan’s presence until Xiao-Ji was done. Lin Changyuan didn’t mind as long as insults weren’t being hurled at him, and he soon left with the emptied plate after cheerfully bidding Tai Long and Xiao-Ji goodbye.

When evening passed and it was time to sleep, Xiao-Ji put up with the horrendous snoring and the thick smell of unwashed bodies in the hall to curl up on top of Tai Long. Burying its oversensitive nose into Tai Long’s chest and paws covering its ears, it settled in for the night.

Tai Long wished he had a quilt to act as a buffer for his cat. He patted its back in commiseration and closed his eyes after making sure Xiao-Ji was as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. He was so used to various parts of his body being slept on by the cat that he had long learned to not move anything while asleep. That ability had served him well these past days or he might have rolled right off the platform with the pallet too many times.

The warm weight on his chest reminded Tai Long of something in the past. An advisor by his side had once come to know of Xiao-Ji’s habit of sleeping atop him and tried to tell Tai Long that it meant the cat was staking its dominance over him. How could a mere animal behave so audaciously with the first prince of the nation?!

Tai Long, however, had already seen through that advisor. He had been someone planted by his side by one of his rivals for the throne, and his purpose in saying all this was so that Tai Long would lose his temper and mistreat Xiao-Ji in some way. Hurting the supposed divine messenger chosen by their god himself in a fit of anger would not only incur his father’s disapproval, but also that of the entire royal court. But Tai Long had taken it as a chance to exaggerate the matter and claimed to his father that the advisor had blasphemed against the divine messenger.

Tai Long thus used this opportunity to get rid of the mole while also earning himself the respect of the conservative part of the court as someone so pious that he turned in one of his own people for speaking against their god’s messenger. This way, even the sibling who sent that advisor to spy on him wouldn’t be sure whether Tai Long had figured out their plan and thus kicked out the agent or if he had just taken this opportunity to show off his piety while assuming he was sacrificing one of his people.

Lying on the pallet with a pile of rough and stinky men now, Tai Long wistfully thought back to his days in the palace. Back then, he had plotted and schemed with such subtlety. How did things turn out the way they were now? When did he start to lose his temper so quickly, his pride feeling so brittle and having to be protected so vigorously at the slightest nudge to it? Was it after that Duke Yan kept defying him? No, he had still managed to arrange a few schemes then…

He remembered—it was after those damned needles poked him in the sedan! The sheer disrespect and insult had burned away all his reason, and he had been running on pride-induced fury ever since.

But he couldn’t keep going like this, especially now that he had a cat to take care of. He couldn’t keep giving in to his impulses to rage around as he wished for the momentary satisfaction of hitting back at every small offense, or it might hurt the innocent creature depending on him. Though…he would rather that his sensibility not cost him the dignity of a royal. People were simply not worth it.

But no matter what, in the end, his Xiao-Ji would always be his biggest priority, without exception.

Tai Long still remembered the first day he saw Xiao-Ji. The cat had walked into the royal temple oh-so-nonchalantly while the entire court was in the midst of a paying respect to the god ceremoniously. This annual festival was to thank the God of Eternities for granting another year of blessings and requesting that the next year be even more bountiful. It was also said to be the anniversary of the kingdom of Sui’s founding.

Needless to say, aside from flower petals scattered over thresholds and waving banners, it was also filled with banging drums and firecrackers aplenty to scare away even the most hearing impaired street animals. And the holy incense that was lit at every doorstep to invite fortune surely didn’t help with how it choked the streets in the capital with its smoke.

In this din and clamor, a certain black cat walked through the clouds of smoke, proving itself to be the bravest of all animal souls.

Partially blind and deaf by it all, the cat dignifiedly took shelter in what happened to be the nearest building—the royal temple. And it didn’t do it in some unimportant corner either, but rather in the middle of the temple’s main idol’s lap while worship was in progress. To avoid obscuring the idol with smoke, the incense sticks and lamps had been moved away, thus creating a passable shelter for the exhausted little creature.

Before the royal priests or the king could kick up a fuss, Tai Long, who was yet a teen, loudly proclaimed with pretend-wonder, “Ah, the Great One has allowed the cat onto his lap! If He were offended, surely He would have struck the animal down with thunderbolts! This humble prince wonders if the Great One shows us favor by sending this cat to us for a reason.”

Yet uncorrupted, the teenaged Tai Long really didn’t want the blood of an innocent animal to be spilled just because it had the bad luck to offend a few pompous humans who gave too much importance to a stone statue.

Tai Long’s ploy worked and most of those present were willing to look at it as a good omen. After all, who wanted to waste time killing a random street cat when they could take a more optimistic outlook and see it as an auspicious sign from their god? The cat was thus duly dubbed a divine messenger and given status and care in the palace.

Tai Long couldn’t care less about the cat now that it was safe. But the king often brought up the matter and spoke proudly about how they were able to welcome their god’s messenger during his reign.

And so, Tai Long saw an opportunity and approached the cat so he could attract a bit more of his father’s favor.

Due to the twisted and mind-breaking way the king showed his affection to his consorts, Tai Long’s mother had long turned mad, though it wasn’t apparent from the outside at first. She expressed her helplessness and terror at her circumstances by physically and mentally abusing her son in little, unnoticeable ways before it was found out. She was then executed in front of her shaken son.

His mother’s hatred and abuse, combined with his siblings’ ill will and competitiveness towards him, meant that the only way the young Tai Long could find any familial affection was by pleasing his father. And so, when news reached him that the cat he casually saved was now purported to be a divine being with their god’s favor, the teen prince decided to see if he could make the cat acknowledge him as its master, thus helping him gain his father’s attention, and maybe even his approval.

Unexpectedly, the cat reciprocated Tai Long’s casual care with pure, selfless love. There were even times it tried to protect him from beatings from his brothers as they tried to forcefully dissuade Tai Long from going after the throne.

Of course, Tai Long couldn’t be said to be defenseless just because he lacked a mother to back him up. The prince used such opportunities of being bullied to invite his father’s sympathy and had the king deal with the perpetrators. But Tai Long also had to walk the delicate line between acting pitiful to pull on his father’s heartstrings and appearing too clingy and whiny, which would just annoy his father and invite disdain. Whenever he had to hold back from complaining to his father, the young prince plotted by himself and got back his due from his siblings many times over. He didn’t enjoy scheming, but he learned to grow sufficiently good at it to protect himself.

But through all those turbulent years of uncertainty among intrigue, where it felt like the very ground under his feet could fall apart and the sky could come crashing down at any time, the only unwavering thing was the little black cat’s loyalty and love. As a teen struggling in such dangerous shark-infested waters, alone and unloved, how could Tai Long keep his walls of indifference strong? Before he knew it, he lavished every bit of love he was capable of onto his adorable Xiao-Ji, offering up all that remained of his humanity to it.

Even Tai Long himself didn’t realize that he was seeking all the unconditional love his family had failed to give him from a cat. Still stuck in the time when he failed to get that first dose of love from his parents, the prince kept waiting and waiting to be showered with the affection he was owed. He did not yet realize that his expectations were that of an abandoned child and not the adult he had grown up into, and that as an adult, he was expected to give affection to receive it in return.

But Xiao-Ji did not have such expectations of him. It was a simple and loving animal that easily fell for the prince’s initial superficial care and lavished all the love its pure heart could muster. In return, it managed to place its fluffy black paw on the one soft spot in Tai Long’s heart, claiming it boldly and irrevocably. And Tai Long happily let it, for the only thing he learned he could trust was his cat’s unwavering affection for him.

His cat would never play sinister games or dig pits for him. It would never be as insidious as those schemers who got him drunk during celebrations, seduced him into bedding them, then turned around to accuse him of forcing them the next morning, demanding he take responsibility. Some of these people wanted to climb him for power or wealth, while others were sent by his siblings or their people to charm him into letting them stay by his side and spy on him.

Uncaring of his reputation and unwilling to let his prideful self be taken advantage of, Tai Long had kicked those conniving bed partners out mercilessly. The schemers naturally stirred up a fuss in revenge and spread rumors that the young prince was a scum man who liked forcing people into his bed before discarding them the next day, and that his tastes were horribly perverted and twisted, much more so than even his father.

Tai Long only sneered and didn’t pay it any mind. When had he ever cared enough about other people to worry what they thought? He was the First Prince sitting high on top, someone who would one day be king. Why would he need to look down at the dirt lying by his feet?

But matters still ended up growing troublesome in the end.

From then on, among the people Tai Long showed interest in, many accepted his advances but pretended to be with him against their wishes, misunderstanding that he only liked to sleep with those who were unwilling. When Tai Long made to back off so he wouldn’t force them, they tearfully asked why he was distancing himself from them when they acted like that for his benefit.

Tai Long was frustrated and annoyed, but after he let the rumors run rampant for so long, he couldn’t erase the misunderstanding no matter how much he explained.

Exasperated, the prince once again decided to let this bothersome thing be and let his partners pretend if that was what they wanted.

However, amidst the people Tai Long showed interest in, there were also those who were truly unwilling to be with him. But as time went on and the lines between what was real and what was pretend blurred, the first prince became unable to distinguish between those who lay with him willingly while pretending not to and those who were truly reluctant. But he had stopped caring about other people’s thoughts long ago, and the misunderstandings and rumors of how he slept with unwilling people from back then gradually became truth.

Tai Long did not think he was hurting someone by disregarding their refusals. After all, he himself did not think of sex as something important; it was so cheaply obtained after all. All he needed to do was throw out a crumb of his favor or some money, and there would be plenty of beauties crawling to lie under his feet or on his bed. And so, he did not spare enough thought to the fate of those he took by force. Who would get torn up over something so cheap taken from them?

Of course, the way the servants around Tai Long hid the aftermath didn’t help his understanding either. The servants always made sure to keep under wraps how the prince’s victims and their families had to be pressured so they wouldn’t take legal action on him, especially when some of the victims grew broken enough to kill or badly harm themselves. The ones who took care of the prince’s affairs didn’t think their irritable master cared to know about such trivialities, or that even if he cared, knowing all this would only worsen his mood and they would have to be the ones suffering his temper.

Meanwhile, with no one to teach him right from wrong or show even a hint of displeasure at his lifestyle, Tai Long went down the twisted path of debauchery. He never saw indications of the damage he was doing, so he never questioned himself, assuming that it was normal for a prince of his status to be this way.

Safe in his bubble of ignorance, Tai Long tried to please his father by emulating him and growing similar tastes. The prince thus managed to consistently stay a step ahead of his siblings by anticipating the king’s needs and attending to them swiftly.

Tai Long got his father any treasure or beauty he wanted and preemptively punished anyone who displeased the king. For the sake of obtaining the title of heir, Tai Long learned to enjoy the hunt as he captured people according to his father’s preferences and learned various methods to torture and humiliate his father's enemies so he would be pleased.

But despite everything, the king made sure that his eldest son would never grow too complacent in his position as his most favored. He always kept Tai Long on the brink. He didn’t push the prince far enough away to drain all his hope, yet didn’t keep him close enough to let him feel fully confident in being chosen as the heir, all so that his son would firmly be kept under him.

To that effect, the king even isolated Tai Long from the people around him. The king insisted that his son strictly maintain that distance between master and servants, royal and civilians, in all manners possible. Tai Long didn’t care about having people by his side and only sought his father’s approval and favor. He thus agreed to stay aloof, knowing full well that his father’s real motive was to cut down on his potential influence and loyal supporters by making him push everyone away. But the only thing Tai Long needed was his father to like him enough to make him heir.

Tai Long never thought there was anything wrong with his father’s behavior. Just like how all those people below him in status were nothing more than ants to him, the first prince was also just an ant in front of the king who stood at the very top. That was how things worked. And once he obtained that throne at the top, he would never have to be an ant again. To earn that right and acknowledgment from his father, Tai Long worked hard, casting aside all trappings of morality and conscience.

However, one small flame of humanity remained in him that Tai Long couldn’t bear to willingly extinguish, and that was the one cradled carefully between his little cat’s soft paws.

Xiao-Ji couldn’t make use of his weakness to thwart his ambitions or manipulate him. Xiao-Ji was the one living being that he didn’t need to lie to, manipulate, or fill his head with messy thoughts for. He could be simple and just enjoy the pleasures of the small, daily moments, like feeling satisfied after feeding the little cat, feeling flattered by its trust as it curled up and slept unguardedly in his arms, realizing he was cherished as it bumped him and purred in consolation, and feeling content as he saw the furry black lump stretch out in the sun and bask with lazy feline happiness.

His little Xiao-Ji was completely worthy of being called divine, though it had nothing to do with Sui’s god.

Tai Long wondered, would the palace and royal temple in Sui make a fuss after realizing that their divine messenger was missing? He sneered. What did their thoughts matter now? At most, they would focus their search in the capital and the surrounding areas, not suspecting that Xiao-Ji would have traversed such great distances through dangerous odds just to find the prince they threw away like trash. Tai Long’s eyes shone with vindictive pleasure. At least to his Xiao-Ji, he was the biggest priority!

Tai Long hugged the cat snoring softly on his chest. He decided that no matter what, he had to show that he was worthy of Xiao-Ji’s loyalty. No matter his own hate, he had to focus on first making sure that his cat was comfortable, sheltered, and fed. He couldn’t treat Xiao-Ji’s earnestness as frivolously as he treated his royal guard. He didn’t want his beloved cat to turn its back on him like they did!

crimson_carnation

So there it finally is, the reason he's like this now (⁀ ▽ ⁀ ;) Of course, it doesn't mean I'm saying he warrants a complete pardon for all the terrible things he did, and I doubt he can even be reasonably redeemed in anything short of a full-length series of his own...

Either way, the next part is going to be a rollercoaster, with Tai Long finally facing more consequences for his behavior here and reassessing certain views (๑° ω °๑) It's...not going to be easy for him.

On another note, I finally came up with an idea to make the synopsis for this story reflect it better, and I did it by adding a cute mini theater of sorts to the already existing synopsis (●⁀ ▿ ⁀●) You can see it in the story's main page here and leave a comment with your thoughts if you like~

See you all next week, and don't forget to click the little heart at the end if you liked the chapter~ (৹⁀ ᗜ ⁀৹)/