As the sun rose, Rucheng’s eyes opened to the sound of the morning birds singing outside her window. Sighing she kicked the quilt off her and climbed off the bed. She pulled on her robe and kicked her door open as she stretched her limbs.
Off to the kitchen, she boiled water and sniffed the medicines and tonics she made in the early hours of the morning. Happy with their smell, she poured them into vials and stored them away in the shade.
She brewed a pot of tea, cinnamon and chilli flavoured just the way she liked it. After drinking a cup, she went to wash and left her brother’s palace. She walked along the pathway greeting the servants who greeted her. Greeting the frowning guards too.
Walking around the crown prince’s palace, she recognized one then left for Mei Yuan’s palace. When she arrived there she was greeted by a servant who let her in. she heard sounds of swords clashing together at the back.
Following the servant, she came to a training ground that was set up for Qinghe who was currently sparring against Yuhua. She bowed, “Good morning.”
They stopped to look at her and beamed, “Ah-Cheng, you’re early?” Qinghe said, kissing her on the cheek. She kissed him back on his cheek and exchanged kisses with Yuhua, “Mn, I’m here to pick up sister-in-law.”
Qinghe sighed, “Don’t be too hard on her okay?”
Rucheng raises a brow at him, “Oraboni, you are saying this now when Ah-Ling already told me to not go easy on her. Who should I listen too?”
Qinghe frowned at her, “Who do you think?”
She shrugged, “Your wife will let you know when she returns.” Turning to Yuhua she said, “Knowing Ah-Ling, I’ll be busy today and will need you to attend to the princess, I’ll be leaving now, please be there within an hour.”
“What does he have you busy with?” Qinghe questioned not really caring for the answer.
“With his consort,” she answered nonchalantly as she walked away.
Both Yuhua and Qinghe stared at her dumbfounded. Snapping out of it, Qinghe frowned, “Wait, wait, wait Ah-Cheng. We just arrived, how could he have a consort already?”
She stopped and turned around. Shrugging she said, “If you want to know, then pay him a visit tomorrow.”
Walking away, she ignored their yells. She returned to Changling’s palace. Arriving at his chamber she brought the tea that she set to brew before she left. Setting it down by the table, she opened the windows.
“Did you find him?” Changling’s raspy voice reached her ears.
“Yes,” she answered as she poured him a cup of tea. She turned around with the cup in hand. Changling got up from his bed and walked down the steps. He walked over to the table and sat down with the tea at his lips.
Swallowing the lemongrass and pomegranate tea, he watched as his sister left his chamber and returned with a green robe. His face changed to disgust, “Where’re my red robes?”
“I never brought them with and this was prepared by Aunty Hye Jeong, I’ll be shopping for your new robes later today when Yuhua and the princess arrives. So please behave yourself when you fetch your consort from the Crown Prince’s palace,” she warned.
Changling groaned as he got up and turned around. Rucheng slipped the robe up to his arms and over his shoulders, “I’ll prepare clothes for you, will you be having breakfast before or after you retrieve your consort?” she asked him.
“Before my dear sister,” he answered, shaking his arms out.
“Good, I prepared a light breakfast for you, I’ll bring it immediately,” she said.
Changling sat down and waited. His light breakfast soon came. It was a lettuce salad with slices of lamb inside it. There was a bowl of bone broth and grilled fish, along with the lemongrass and pomegranate tea.
Changling ate as Rucheng brought out silver robes for him with white boots and ran a bath for him. During his breakfast, Changling thought of all the ways he could punish his runaway consort. When he was done, he threw the green robe to the ground and went for his bath.
Rucheng cleared the table and she walked passed the bathing chamber and heard, “Prepare a spare room for him and have the silk hanging from the beams.”
She nodded her head and got straight to work cleaning the dirty dishes, getting ready for lunch and preparing the spare room for Youxian.
Leaving his palace, Youxian strolled off to where Rucheng directed him. The guards stationed outside the Crown Prince’s palace looked at him oddly but said nothing. Changling walked passed them and kicked the door open.
“Your highness what are you doing? This is the Crown Prince’s palace!” One of the guards said astonished by Changling’s actions.
Changling winked at them and continued forward. The servants came running towards him. Changling’s sharp eyes scanned them. Soon Qiang Wu came out with an angry expression on his face. Before he could say anything, his eyes met Changling’s fiery gaze.
“H-hyung-nim?” he stuttered.
Raising a brow, Changling walked towards him, “Ah-Qiang, I will only ask you once, where is Hwan Youxian?”
As Changling stalked closer Qiang Wu could feel that if he disobeyed this person before him, something bad would happen. They weren’t that far apart in age but Changling seemed far stronger than he was.
Qiang Wu’s steps faltered, “I-I don’t know, I haven’t seen him since yesterday,” he lied.
Changling nodded and smiled a wicked smile. They stepped into his palace. Changling closed the door behind him and said, “I will hurt you. Your status and your father won’t be able to save you from my wrath, you heard my question so answer me.”
Qiang Wu valued the friendship he had with Youxian. Their fathers are best friends and so were they. He trusted Youxian with his life. After hearing about the perverted things Changling was doing to his best friend he swore that he’d do something about it.
Now that he was faced with Changling and his threat he sought to go through with it. He faces Changling with determination shining through his eyes, “H-hyung-nim! I don’t appreciate you coming into my palace and making demands! I told you that I don’t know where he is an…” before he could finish he was sent to the ground with a slap.
Qiang Wu cupped his face that was in pain. It felt like he was hit in the face with a wooden plank. He looked up at Changling in shock. Swallowing hard he asked, “H-hyung-nim?”
Changling stepped forward with a hardened gaze. He grabbed Qiang Wu by the jaw and squeezed it hard. Changling looked down at Qiang Wu then brought him up to eye level. Smiling he said to Qiang Wu, “I want what’s mine and you won’t stand in my way.”
He threw Qiang Wu across the room into a bookshelf. He fell to the ground with a yell. The books, vases and some boxes fell, landing on him.
The ruckus startled the servants and on sight guards. They came running to see what was happening. When they saw the crown prince on the ground with blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, the guards tried arresting Changling but were beaten up by him too.
The servants ran away and the commotion caused more guards to come over but couldn’t stop Changling as he beat them all down. One of the servants spoke out as Changling was about to leave the room, “W-Why are you doing this Prince Changling, why have you hurt the Crown Prince.”
Changling regarded the servant, “Because he is hiding what belongs to me.”
The servants frowned, on stood out and asked, “W-what does Crown Prince Qiang Wu have of yours?”
“My naughty runaway Youxian,” he said with a mischievous smile.
“If it’s Commander Hwan you want, he’s resting in the spare room reserved for guests,” the servant from last night spoke out.
“Mind showing me the way?” Changling smiled mentally taking note to reward him later.
The man nodded stiffly before leading the way, Changling told the servants to take care of the injured people and followed the servant.
They came to the guest room where Youxian was staying. The servant wanted to speak but Changling held his finger to his lips. Walking lightly on his feet, he walked up to the door and opened it. Youxian was hiding in a corner with tears in his eyes.
Changling walked up to him with hushed steps. Stopping in front of him, he bent down. He touched Youxian’s face, pleased that it had returned back to normal.
Youxian’s eyes snapped open. Seeing Changling before him, he cried out in fear, “G-get away from me you monster!!”
Changling grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up, “Ah-Xian, how can you call me a monster?” he said with a smile.
Ignoring Youxian’s cried of pain, he dragged him out of the guest house back to where the unconscious crown prince was. Changling threw Youxian against the crown princes bed and said, “Look at your brave friend, he sacrificed himself for you.”
Youxian’s eyes widened seeing Qiang Wu unconscious with a swollen face. His head snapped in Changling’s direction, “What the fuck did you do to him?”
“Ah-Xian…” Changling started.
“Don’t fucking call me that you pervert!” Youxian yelled at the top of his lungs. Changling looked at him in shock but the shock soon faded into a grin.
He looked at Youxian with understanding, “Well you must understand that I’m only like this because of you!”
Youxian looked Changling confused, how in the hell was his perverseness his fault?
Changling smiled as he gazed down at Youxian, “Come, it’s time we return, I’ve prepared something for you.”
“I’m not going with you!” Youxian said through gritted teeth, “You leave now!”
Changling shook his head. He walked up to Youxian and grabbed him by the hair. He raised his arm then punched him in the stomach, punching all the air out of him causing him to fall unconscious.
He picked Youxian up princess style and walked out of Qiang Wu’s chamber under the terrified gazes of the servants. As he stepped out of the palace doors, he heard rushing footsteps running towards the palace.
Minding his own business he continued his walk back to his palace while looking down at the handsome boy in his arms. It’s been a day since they met but just from last night’s taste testing, he knew he’d enjoy Youxian.
Sighing the intimate words ‘Ah-Xian’ left his lips.
As he reached his palace, he was suddenly surrounded. He lazily looked at the prince’s and royal guards who held their swords pointed at him.
Qionglin, Wu Yong’s second, third son yelled, “Hyung-nim, what is the meaning of this? Why did you injure the Crown Prince?”
Changling regarded this child he saw in the royal court, “And I should answer to you?”
Just before he was about the answer, Dong Woo stopped near them. Looking at the standoff between Changling and the royal guards he frowned, “What is wrong with you all, Prince Changling is unarmed?”
They all reluctantly lowered their swords but still kept their guard up since Changling wasn’t originally from the palace. Dong Woo saw his son’s limp body in Changling’s arms. Changling looked between the father and son then turned on his heels.
Dong Woo followed after him, “Changling, what’s the meaning of your actions?”
“Qiang Wu was hiding Youxian from me,” he answered listlessly.
Dong Woo’s brows furrowed, “Why?”
“You should ask him when he wakes up,” Changling said turning around at the doors.
“Why’d you injure him? He’s the crown prince, you’ll be punished for this,” Dong Woo stated seriously knowing Empress Kim and her father, Wu Yong will be pressured into punishing him.
Smiling at Dong Woo, Changling said, “Oh I didn’t injure him, I taught him a lesson that he’ll remember for the rest of his life. Now if you’ll excuse me, I still need to discipline the one sleeping in my arms.”
Turning around he stepped in and both Rucheng and Yuhua shut the doors behind him and closed it behind their brother. “Don’t allow anyone in until tomorrow alright?” He reminded Rucheng.
“The room is prepared,” she said with a bow.
He hummed and walked towards the room at the far end of his palace inside. Gently kicking the doors open he walked in and almost came in his pants.
The bed was cover in black silk, while the sheer draping’s covering the bed was red. Incense danced around the chamber exciting him. His eyes caught the red silk hanging from the beam that was adjustable.
Pleased with his sister’s work, he made a mental note to spoil her when he remembered again. His eyes landed on the nightstand where the lamp was with a small bowl, probably the laxative she brewed.
He placed Youxian on the bed and disrobed him. Once he was done, he smelled his body to make sure he was clean. Happy with what his nose took in, he picked him up gently and walked over to where the beam was. Standing under it, he bent down and sat Youxian down. Leaning Youxian against him, he tied his right wrist with the silk then his left wrist over his head.
His sister always planned ahead and he was happy to see that there was silk at the bottom of the wooden poles holding up the roof. He pulled them over from either side and tied it around his ankles minding not to hurt him.
Walking over to the pole on his left where he could adjust the silk to hold him up straight. Rucheng soon walked in with a tray of tea and sat it down by the table near the back window. She walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a few sheer robes and presented them to him.
“What’s this?” he asked, not happy with the green and purple colours.
Holding up one to him, she said, “I went shopping while you were out and I plan to go back, I wanted to know if you liked these robes for him to walk around in. I don’t think he’d be too happy to walk around naked so these should be sufficient.”
She held her hand under it and showed him that they could see her hand through it. Changling nodded with a smug smile, “Ah-Cheng, you’ve outdone yourself again but please choose better colours.”
She nodded her head, “Mn, reds, white, black and pinks. I’ll prepare slippers for him too.”
“Take all the money you want and buy yourself something too, if you want to spoil yourself, go for it also inform the madam that I’ll be in later on this week and our aunties too,” he said as he pulled out a black wooden box from the closet.
Placing it on the table, he pulled out a bamboo cane. Running his fingers over the cane he placed it down on the table and closed the box.
Rucheng’s body involuntarily shuddered just looking at the cane. She grabbed the robes out of the cupboard and speed-walked out of the chamber closing the door behind her.
Changling chuckled with a shake of his head. He looked over at the unconscious Youxian who was standing up limply. Picking the cane up, he kicked off his shoes, took off his pants and undid his robe to hang loosely over his shoulders as he paraded around with his front exposed.
Stopping in front of Youxian, he held onto his chin. “It’s time for you to wake up Ah-Xian,” he said kissing his cheek.
He picked up his silk belt and tied it around Youxian’s mouth. Seeing that he wasn’t waking up, he walked over to the table and enjoyed the mango infused orange blossom tea.
