Xiao Zai’s suggestion surprised Chu Yun, but he had to admit his curiosity was piqued.

He nodded at Hua Nanyi, meaning that she should get a horse for herself as well, but Xiao Zai stopped her.

“No, just you and me,” Xiao Zai said, steering his horse out of the gates.

Now Chu Yun was really curious. Could this be related to his agreeable morning and lunch with Min Sezhui? If that was the case, news travelled fast in Haolin, indeed. But it also meant that Chu Yun had to play closer attention to his surroundings. It could be just a matter of a servant seeing him and mentioning it to another, and so on…or someone was keeping an eye on him.

He inspected Xiao Zai’s posture as he rode, trying to guess what he was thinking from the straight line of his back. He didn’t look angry, but there was tension in his shoulders, apprehension.

They rode for some time, well outside of Haolin and the farmland surrounding it, until they reached a sleepy village, maybe one hour away from the Zui capital by Chu Yun’s estimates. By the look of it, it was somewhere Xiao Zai was used to visiting, because he knew just when to leave the road and follow a dirt path deep into the woods. 

The village itself was located in an ample clearing, short wooden buildings peppered on both sides of a gurgling river. 

Xiao Zai made his way towards one of the houses. He dismounted just outside the low gate and tied his horses reins’ to a nearby stall. Chu Yun followed his example, his curiosity nearly killing him at that point. Xiao Zai had spent the entire ride in silence, keeping just a few paces ahead of Chu Yun, but now they had arrived and he still wasn’t saying anything.

He walked up to the door and knocked, a few moments later an elderly woman opened the door. 

She smiled as soon as she saw Xiao Zai, and bowed her neck to him. “Your Highness, we didn’t expect another visit so soon.”

“There’s someone I want A-Xiang to meet.”

—

Chu Yun was led inside the house, which was modest but well appointed. In fact, it could almost be called charming, there was a pastoral air about it, about the whole village. 

He understood why when a little girl in a wooden chair with wheels was rolled into the living room by the old woman, who was clearly her nurse maid.

The little girl brightened as soon as she saw Xiao Zai. “Gege, what are you doing here?” 

Xiao Zai knelt by her chair and allowed her to pat his head. “Gege has something to tell A-Xiang, something really important.”

Chu Yun approached the little girl with and knelt beside Xiao Zai. “Hello, A-Xiang, it’s very nice to meet you, my name is Chu Miaoyan, but you can call me Chu Yun” 

Seeing as she was her sister, Chu Yun waited for Xiao Zai’s cue. He took a long breath, and finally said:

“Chu Yun is my husband, A-Xiang, he’s here to meet you.”

The little girl’s eyes went comically wide. “Really? When did you get married? Why couldn’t I go?”

That was clearly the part of the conversation Xiao Zai was trying to avoid. Chu Yun decided to save him.

“Your gege really wanted you to be there, A-Xiang, but I’m from a country very far away so you see…”

She narrowed her eyes at him, sniffing the air softly. “You’re like my gege, but you’re not a wolf like us.” Her small lips flattened into a thin line. “Are you from Xin?”

Chu Yun nodded, amused at the little girl’s perception.

A-Xiang snorted. “Xin isn’t even that far, Su is more distant.”

He smiled. “That’s right, A-Xiang is very smart.”

She returned his smile with a serious nod. “Papa says so all the time, he says A-Xiang is the smartest girl in the world.”

Xiao Zai chuckled and kissed her forehead on his way up. “That’s because you are.” He made his way behind her and put his hands on the back of her chair. “What do you say we show Chu Yun around?”

—

Both A-Xiang and Xiao Zai walked him around the little village. Despite her fierce temper A-Xiang insisted on holding Chu Yun’s hand and personally pointing out every little thing she deemed interesting.

Two things became quickly apparent to Chu Yun:

First, Xiao Zai loved his sister deeply, he smiled more in the brief time they had spent with A-Xiang than in the entire time Chu Yun had known him.

Second, there was something odd about the village. It seemed impossible that anyone could make a living there. The houses were all very nice, despite not being ostentatious, and they all had a neat courtyard in the front. It was still early, but no one was out working, not even fishing in the river.

Everyone Chu Yun had seen, mostly peeking behind windows, seemed to be an elderly woman, sometimes a small head would pop up before being shoo-ed back into the house.

That led Chu Yun to a single conclusion: this was a village where bastards were kept away from polite society. 

Chu Yun had heard rumours of something similar in Xin, a little village close to Lanzhou. A place where rich families could ‘hide’ their ’embarrassments’.

A-Xiang, with her quick wit and sparkling eyes was clearly one of them. Chu Yun was unsure if the little girl knew this — if any of the children were aware of the circumstances of their birth, which meant they would have to grow up here, away from their families.

Chu Yun was silent, lost in his own thoughts, when a sudden, wheezing sound drew his attention. 

A-Xiang clutched her throat, eyes wide with fright. From between her pale lips came a terrible, rattling sound.

—

A.N.: Just a reminder: the A- prefix and the -er suffix are terms of endearment. Usually adults will address children in this way, children will address each other in this way too, but it can also be used towards adults, by parents, very very close friends, or romantic partners to denote tenderness.. Servants are sometimes called by these suffixes too, regardless of age.