When the servants came in the morning to do their work, they were shocked by an upside-down figure in front of the main house.

The prince’s personal attendant was doing a one-handstand for some reason. There were 2 buckets full of water on his free arm and a vase, also filled to the brim with water, on each foot.

His mouth was covered tightly with layers of ribbons, but they could still see him smiling at them.

The servants sweated nervously.

Was he being punished or something?

Didn’t he regain the Prince’s title and honour?

Just what did he do to deserve such severe punishment on the same night??

In many ways, this was worse than whips or physical punishment. None of them could do handstands. It would be impossible for them to do it with one arm and all those heavy things to balance.

They should be careful not to provoke or offend the Prince.

The 5 people looked at one another and awkwardly left to do their chores. They couldn’t help but get distracted by the ‘art exhibition’ in the courtyard though.

He barely moved an inch.

Nearing mid-day, the main house door opened and a dishevelled man appeared with his sloppy robe. His snow-white shoulder was exposed on one side and his sash was loosely tied, almost serving no purpose at all. With his eyes barely opened, one would think he was sleepwalking.

The servants looked away in panic.

Xue Lan was still half awake and blankly looked at Mo Shen, “What are you doing? Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Mo Shen raised an eyebrow and looked at his sealed mouth.

“…”

Xue Lan then remembered what happened last night.

He scoffed and was about to return inside when the entrance gate suddenly opened.

Mo Shen swiftly put down the buckets and vases, got back to his feet, and fixed Xue Lan’s clothes.

Right when Tian Chen entered, Xue Lan was already properly dressed. Not a strand of his hair was astray.

Xue Lan sobered slightly and saluted, “This subject greets Your Majesty.”

The servants saw the Prince was in an entirely different state and almost doubted their eyes. And where did his attendant go?

Hearing that Xue Lan addressed himself all the same, Tian Chen inwardly felt glad.

He then noticed that Xue Lan seemed…purer than usual.

“Prince Xue, have you just woken up this late in the day?” Tian Chen inquired.

“…Forgive this subject’s indolence. This subject is ashamed,” Xue Lan held himself back from glaring at Mo Shen who was hiding in the room.

Tian Chen couldn’t help but look more.

This was what he would be greeted every morning if Xue Lan slept by his side…

“Your Majesty, is there something you need from this subject?”

Tian Chen put his straying thought aside, “Prince Xue must be tired from yesterday’s hunt. We only came to check upon the residence. We will not disturb your rest further.”

Xue Lan shook his head, “This subject had plenty of rest thanks to Your Majesty’s kindness and generosity. If there is anything you need, please do not hesitate to use me.”

“Your sentiment is more than enough for today,” Tian Chen tucked the side hairs to the back of Xue Lan’s ear. “Rest well, Prince Xue.”

Xue Lan bowed and watched him leave.

When he turned around, Mo Shen was already there. He let him back inside though he didn’t want to uncover his unruly mouth yet.

Mo Shen served him rich seafood for his brunch. He purposefully caught other things than fish so Xue Lan wouldn't get sick of it.

Xue Lan was too lazy to celebrate the Summer Festival, but he could at least make his master's meals festive for the day.

After he finished his morning routine, Xue Lan sat on the couch in thought.

“People at Qi Ming have definitely heard of this big event,” Xue Lan tapped on his fan. “In the past, they would come in autumn to gather information under the pretence of celebrating the Emperor’s birthday and I wasn't informed anything of it.”

Mo Shen stretched out his hand and with a snap of his finger, a little nightingale appeared from a flare of black flame. It flapped to Xue Lan’s shoulder and pecked his cheek before promptly flying away.

“…” Xue Lan looked at Mo Shen silently.

Even like this, he still didn’t give up eating his tofu.

“In the meanwhile, let’s continue cleaning the inner court,” Xue Lan fanned himself.

Mo Shen went to the shelf and picked up a box of paint supplies and a box of calligraphy tools. From their hidden compartments, he took out bounded layers of thin papers filled with the complete information of every consorts and concubines along with their backgrounds and families.

“Have Tian Chen found who Shang Ke’s bed partner was or who the assassination target was?” Xue Lan skimmed through the list.

Mo Shen shook his head. He lowered down his mouth cover, “Shang Ke insisted that it was Yang Huo until he died from blood loss. As for the concubines, one killed herself from paranoia after hearing Consort Wu’s death while the other was locking himself up in his room. Shall I end him?”

“Summer heat can muddle the mind after all,” Xue Lan nodded, “and don’t forget the note.”

“Certainly,” Mo Shen chuckled.

When the sun was at its peak the next day, the male concubine was still hiding inside his blanket. He was sticky from sweat since he didn’t dare to go out to take a bath. Some of the caring concubines sharing the same room pitied him and left him water and food by his bedside every meal time.

He heard the door open and guessed that it must be lunchtime. The footsteps stopped by his bedside but there was no other sound afterwards.

His spine instinctively chilled and his hair stood at its end in alert. His body trembled in fear as he held his breath, praying that he was only being paranoid again.

But even in the silence, the presence by his bedside couldn’t be ignored.

He soon ran out of oxygen. The feeling of suffocation was painful, but he still didn’t dare to open a gap in his blanket to let the air in. He squeezed himself in even tighter.

Suddenly, the blanket on his face pressed onto his mouth and nose. It was an iron claw grip and he couldn’t free himself from it.

Mo Shen watched as the body in the blanket jerked and twitched before it went still 2 minutes later. He staged the body and searched around to find a stack of papers slipped at the head of the bed.

Without needing to write it himself, the concubine already confessed from fear. He only needed to take away the unnecessary parts.

A few minutes later, the roommate came to deliver food and drink as usual. He and the others didn’t find anything strange until the next morning when one of them noticed that their roommate hadn’t changed position at all.

He would usually wake up with his head out to breathe in his sleep.

Li Feng was peacefully patrolling when he received a report of a dead concubine in House of Elegance, the male concubines’ accommodation.

The imperial palace was as eventful as usual…

He never would’ve expected that this ‘suicide’ would flip the harem upside down.

Meanwhile, in Xue Lan’s residence, Xue Lan was getting ready to go out.

“My Lord, are you not going to do anything to the damn cat?” Mo Shen didn’t like having his kin intruding on his territory.

“I believe he’s lost in this world because of me. And didn’t I tell you about the lake?” Xue Lan kept his head still for Mo Shen to bound his hair with the crown.

“The distortion indeed caused some changes on both worlds, but that cat got stranded here because of his own fault,” Mo Shen clicked his tongue. “Demon beasts are all generally dumb.”

“He’s already a mascot of this country now. Bear with it,” Xue Lan stood up when his hair was done. “Let’s go.”

Seeing the two of them leaving, the tiger leapt down and wanted to come along.

“You’re not invited, you fat cat,” Mo Shen kicked it away.

The tiger cried in protest and whipped its tail to him. He caught it and squeezed it violently making the tiger roar and brandished its claws.

Before they tore each other apart, Xue Lan intervened between them, “Play nice or you’re sleeping together tonight.”

The two of them, “…”

They effectively calmed down.

Xue Lan patted the tiger’s head, “Xiao Hu, stay here and guard the house.”

Xiao Hu whimpered in reluctance but he obediently laid down to stay.

Mo Shen sneered at him before escorting Xue Lan out.

“Why are you so childish?” Xue Lan was speechless.

“No demon likes having another demon invading their territory,” Mo Shen said in annoyance.

“You plaster yourself all over me that not even dust can invade. Not to mention such a big creature,” Xue Lan replied.

Mo Shen paused, processing the words, “…Huh?”

“What?” Xue Lan looked at him puzzled.

Seeing Xue Lan’s oblivious look, Mo Shen burst out laughing.

His master was cute today as well~