The carriage made it across the entire city of Haolin, out of the bustling market districts and the sprawling residences of court officials and nobles alike, and came to a stop in front of a dilapidated wall.

Chu Yun thought someone was playing a cruel prank on him.

He wished he had a fan with him so that he could snap it in half at the sight of the place.

A chipped, rotting, wooden signboard above the gate read: “Manor of the Prince of Bei.”

Chu Yun looked out the carriage window at the sign. “A relative of yours?” he asked Xiao Zai, his teeth gritted in barely suppressed anger.

Xiao Zai wasn’t intimidated by Chu Yun’s offended airs. “Yes, my uncle. He was executed for treason when I was a child. The estate stayed empty until now.”

Chu Yun took in a big sobering breath. “That,” he said, pointing out at the derelict sign and gate, “is a warning.”

Xiao Zai crossed his arms in front of his chest and nodded. “I don’t need a strategist’s mind to arrive at the same conclusion.” He smiled at Chu Yun. “That warning is also our newest home. What would my husband have me do about it?”

“I would have you return it! You must have a stipend as a prince, I have a huge,” he lowered his voice before hissing out the word in humiliation, “dowry. We can buy an entire street of mansions. We absolutely do not need to live in squalor.”

Everything Chu Yun was the truth, and Xiao Zai would have loved for things to have been that easy.

“The estate was given to me by my father as a wedding gift.” He grimaced, just remembering that conversation. “Don’t you think he was smart enough to know that if we had nowhere to go we would just buy or build something? Whereas as if he gave us a dump, we would have no choice but to live in it!”

Chu Yun understood the principle of not offending one’s monarch, especially when he was also one’s father — but he had never met one so determined to fuck over his own son.

Once again, Chu Yun thanked the merciful stars that he was not the worst off one in this tragic marriage.

He threw open the carriage door. “Fine, we’ll live in this fucking dump,” he said, jumping down into the dusty street, and ignoring a servant’s proffered hand. “Of course the street is not even fucking cobbled!”

Xiao Zai jumped out of the carriage too and amused himself with watching Chu Yun’s efforts to stomp out the dust around his robe’s hem, which naturally only kicked up more dust.

“Don’t worry, it will snow soon, the dust won’t bother you then.”

Chu Yun shot him a glare full of evil intent and stomped through the gates and into the estate proper.

Xiao Zai followed after him, but almost collided with his back when Chu Yun stopped to gawk at the weeds that had taken over the main courtyard.

“I don’t care how much it costs, I want scores of workers here in the span of an hour, and I want this courtyard cleaned out by the end of the day.” He turned around to face Xiao Zai, their noses an hairsbreadth apart. “If not, I’m going to pull them out myself, and I hope people can see the spectacle I make from the street, which they probably can because there are holes in our wall! I hope word reaches all the way to Xin.”

Chu Yun’s beautiful fox eyes grew even more brilliant as he spoke, lit from within by his indignation. He looked lovely when he was furious. Xiao Zai couldn’t help admiring the ruddy hue of his cheeks, the scornful twist of his mouth.

It was some kind of twisted joke that if Chu Yun wasn’t an alpha Xiao Zai would be attracted to him. Even if he was a beta, Xiao Zai would still try to court him, try his best to cultivate genuine feelings between the two of them and make the best out of a bad situation.

Unfortunately, they were both alphas, and their pride guaranteed that fighting was all the future had in store for them.

“It will be done as his grace commands,” Xiao Zai said, bowing mockingly to Chu Yun, who turned even redder.

Xiao Zai might only be able to make his new husband blush from anger, but it was a pretty sight nonetheless.

—

Chu Yun got his workers, who got started on the cleaning of not only the courtyard but the entire palace as well. He got some masons to appraise the damage to the wall, which he knew very well would take several days to fix.

A selection of servants from the palace also arrived, which Chu Yun dismissed right away. The wolves must have clearly taken him for an idiot, to think he would willingly let spies inside his home.

Instead, Chu Yun instructed Hua Nanyi and a few of the other personal servants he had brought from Xin to go to the market and send over anyone offering their services as a servant for him to interview.

He strongly advised Xiao Zai to keep only the servants he trusted most, to which he got an extremely reassuring answer:

“I don’t trust any of them.”

So Chu Yun interviewed servants for him as well. By the end of the day, their newly established estate had twelve new servants personally vetted by Chu Yun, a clean main courtyard (all others were still a work-in-progress), and rooms that were no longer in danger of sending someone into an asthma attack.

Xiao Zai had to admit that Chu Yun knew how to run a household. He told him so over dinner in their bedroom.

Chu Yun scoffed at the praise. “That’s the least of what I can do,” he said, picking at his food carefully. He was impressed with the talent of the cooks, if not with Zui cuisine. He was sure they would be able to make something more to his liking as soon as he taught them some Xin recipes.

Right now, he had more important issues at hand.

“Now that I’ve turned the dump your family has forced us to live in, into…less of a dump,” he grimaced at all the work that was still left to do, before continuing, “I think I’m owed some answers.”

Xiao Zai nodded. “Ask some questions.”

Chu Yun considered the benefits of kicking Xiao Zai under the table for being glib, but decided that was a battle better sacrificed in the name of a bigger war. “I know why I’m here. My uncle thinks I’m a threat to his three, incredibly stupid alpha sons, but my presence here is a tragedy to my parents, make no mistake.”

He paused. “Let me be blunt, the king seems to hate you so much, that I must ask: are you a bastard?”