Chapter 202 – The Fox Things Something Odd Is Going On

Over the next days Chu Yun met with Lieba Chun often to get the details for the games down and have everything organised, before back pain had him bedridden.

The physicians assured him that wasn’t going to happen, even though each day he found it harder to walk.  But he would be damned before he slouched!

During those frequent meetings he couldn’t help noticing Chu Hean’s occasional presence. 

The first time he saw him he looked as sour as Little Beast after someone stepped on his tail. He hung around the corners and avoided both Lieba Chun and Chu Yun the whole time Chu Yun was there.

Chu Yun wanted to ask him what he was even doing there if he was so displeased, but he didn’t want to risk getting into a row in front of Lieba Chun.

The second time, while he still looked churlish, he was at least moving around Lieba Chun’s tent, inspecting the few items the Wise Prince had brought with him into Zui while he and Chu Yun talked.

Chu Yun tried to focus on his conversation with Lieba Chun but Chu Hean’s presence was intrusive — his gaze kept drifting towards his corner of the tent, trying to make sense of his presence there.

The third time he met with Lieba Chun he heard laughter coming from the inside of the tent. When he walked in, the smile froze on Chu Hean’s lips, who excused himself quietly before leaving in a hurry.

“What was that all about?” Chu Yun asked Lieba Chun, trying to sound casual.

Lieba Chun laughed off his question. “Oh, just a private joke from the time Chu Hean spent with us in the steppes. His Royal Highness wouldn’t understand.”

He didn’t probe, but he also didn’t pay attention to anything else Lieba Chun said during the entire meeting. He didn’t remember the last lime he had heard Chu Hean laugh so freely.

—

Naturally, he had to discuss these things with Xiao Zai.

“Something is going on,” he told him, while pacing the length of their bedroom while Xiao Zai took off his outer robes and hair crown.

He hadn’t forgotten the glint of opportunism that had shined in Lieba Chun’s eyes after overhearing Chu Hean’s fight with Ru Long. He was sure he was doing something, and Chu Yun’s nature demanded that he find out what.

Xiao Zai came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him, kissing the side of his neck, before moving on to massage his sore flanks. “This is good news, just let it be,” he said, whispering the words against Chu Yun’s ears. “Maybe Chu Hean has finally realised that Ru Long will always have second intentions, and that unlike what he wants, they’ll never stand on equal ground.”

That was all well and good, but Chu Yun’s burning curiosity wouldn’t be so easily satisfied.

He was about to open his mouth to complain, when Xiao Zai silenced him with another kiss, he pulled away from his lips softly. “Are you bored? I think you’re bored.”

Sometimes Chu Yun wished he wasn’t so perceptive. He grit his teeth and looked away. “No, I’m curious…I just told you.”

Xiao Zai smiled at him, tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear. “No, you’re bored. You’re a strategist and you’ve been planning events. Before I became King you spent days coming up with plans about how to keep our heads attached to our necks. I know flower arrangements can’t be considered life or death decisions.”

Despite himself Chu Yun let out a snort. He wanted to assure Xiao Zai that he was fine, that he had nothing to worry about, that he understood they had to take things slow with the court. 

He was pregnant after all, it wasn’t as if he was feeling all that energetic.

But that truth was that he was incredibly bored.

He didn’t feel diminished by his tasks as King Consort, but they also didn’t stimulate him in any way. He could handle most matters in a few hours.

Ironically, if Xiao Zai had a large harem, he would probably have his hands full trying to manage them all.

He let himself slump against Xiao Zai’s shoulders. He mumbled, “Maybe I’m a little bored,” into the fabric of Xiao Zai’s white inner robes.

“After the games you’ll start attending court with me,” Xiao Zai said, running a hand over the back of Xiao Zai’s hair. “If any minister has a problem with it they can bring it up, and then you can make them pay for the insolence.”

Chu Yun chuckled, turning his face against Xiao Zai’s neck and inhaling deeply. He smelled so good. His wolfberry wine scent always went straight to Chu Yun’s head, making him feel intoxicated without drinking anything.

“They’re going to hate me,” Chu Yun said, his tone was joking but it was a genuine warning.

This time the ministers wouldn’t be meeting the coy, sycophantic Chu Yun who sucked up to them in order to earn support for Xiao Zai. And the difference was bound to make their heads spin.

“Good,” Xiao Zai said. “Maybe you can tell them all the stuff I can’t.”

Chu Yun couldn’t, not really. But he still said, “Deal,” while looking into Xiao Zai’s dark eyes and feeling his stomach swoop pleasantly. He had never thought he could feel this close to another person. As if their hearts beat in sync.

By the time they went to bed Chu Yun had forgotten everything about Chu Hean. He fell asleep with his head over Xiao Zai’s chest, the steady rhythm of his heart lulling him to sleep.

—

The next morning he woke up alone, as was often the case these days. Only after a brief moment of disorientation did he notice the steady knock on his door.

Only one person would be as brash as to knock on his door while he was still sleeping. So he didn’t even bother getting out of bed as he told Hua Nanyi to enter.

She just stuck her head inside the room. “Your brother is here. I told him you were sleeping but he says it’s urgent.”

Chu Yun fell back on the sheets with a groan. “Send him in, and breakfast too.. I have a feeling it’s not the kind of conversation I’ll want to have on an empty stomach.”