Chu Yun went back to his quarters to have his bath alone, all the while his head was swimming with the memories of what happened the night before.

He couldn’t be sure if he had entirely succeeded in accomplishing his task. On the one hand, it was obvious that he had gotten under Xiao Zai’s skin — if his actions last night were anything to go by.

But on the other hand, Chu Yun ended up letting himself get carried away too. 

He didn’t want to dwell on any of that at the moment, and the best way to avoid thinking about unpleasant things was keeping busy.

Something had happened between the First Princess and Xiao Zai to cause their estrangement, and whether it was related to Gu Wei or not, if Chu Yun could find a way of making them reconcile it would greatly benefit him. 

It was obvious the king doted on his eldest daughter, having her support was fundamental. 

Chu Yun didn’t expect her to change her father’s mind regarding Xiao Zai, but maybe she could sway a few ministers towards their cause. And of course, as the army’s Commander-General, her internal influence couldn’t be ignored.

He was considering how to approach the First Princess while he soaked on the wooden tub. Hua Nanyi was supposed to help him wash but as usual just sat with her back against the tub and stared vacantly into the middle distance.

“I’m sorry, am I boring you?” Chu Yun asked, after waving the wash cloth in front of Hua Nanyi’s face for ages without getting any reaction from her.

She pulled the cloth from his fingers and hoisted herself up onto the tub. “Sorry, I was distracted.”

“With what?”

She thought for a while, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. “The other servants…they’re speculation about you and Xiao Zai.”

Chu Yun’s eyes widened and he braced his arms across the rim of the tub. “What were they saying?”

Hua Nanyi gave him an odd look. “Just speculation, gossip…taking bets on whether or not you and Xiao Zai had sex.” She winced as she admitted that, but to her surprise Chu Yun let out a loud laugh.

“Do you think they’ll spread those rumours around Haolin, to other servants, I mean?”

Hua Nanyi nodded. “Some of them might, I can discourage them if you want, make some threats.”

Chu Yun shook his head, his eyes glinting with mischief. “No, no, actually, if you can find a way to encourage them, without making it obvious that that’s what you’re doing, I would really appreciate it.”

“I really don’t understand you,” Hua Nanyi said, giving Chu Yun an appraising look. Here she was, worried that Chu Yun was being disrespected in his own home, while strangers treated him as an oddity just because he was a foreigner, and he wanted to encourage that kind of thing?

He chuckled at the look on her face, patting her arm. “Don’t look like that, they’re playing right into my hands.”

“But how?” Hua Nanyi asked, genuinely confused. Chu Yun had always been eccentric, but back in Xin no one would ever dare to spread lurid gossip behind his back, nor would he suffer fools gladly. Hua Nanyi had ran several oddball errands for him, and she never questioned him. Most  times she even understood his goals. 

His desire to learn more about the Zui King’s favourite concubine was obviously pragmatic, but his intention to run his own name into the mud, and ruin his reputation as an alpha confused her.

She looked so distraught that Chu Yun patted her on the head, as if consoling a panicked child. “Remember the last piece of calligraphy I painted for father’s study?”

Confused, she nodded.

“What did it say?”

That had been months ago, Hua Nanyi didn’t recall the words.

  Chu Yun smirked, one of his eyebrows arching smugly up towards his hairline. “‘Never underestimate your enemies, but whenever opportune, encourage them to underestimate you.'” He shrugged, lowering his cheek onto his bare shoulder. “I’m just seizing the opportunity.”

—

As the carriage came to a stop in front of the army barracks, Xiao Zai began questioning why he’d agreed with Chu Yun’s plan. Maybe he could blame it on post-orgasm haze. 

Calling them ‘barracks’ wasn’t exactly accurate. The army occupied a large estate near the palace, with living quarters for the soldiers, as well as more permanent accommodations for the high ranking officers.

The complex of stone buildings was hidden behind tall gates, out of view from the passersby on the street. Their carriage couldn’t go inside the garrison, but no one tried to stop him or Chu Yun.

Chu Yun held onto his elbow demurely, which never failed to make Xiao Zai anxious. Whenever Chu Yun stayed quiet and let Xiao Zai call the shots it always meant he was planning something nefarious.

He had no idea what he wanted with his sister, but now they were here, with Xin delicacies wrapped in small parcels, and it was too late to turn back.

A guard led them towards Xiao Ziyi’s private offices. She looked as uncomfortable to see them as Xiao Zai was to be there.

“Brother, brother-in-law,” she greeted them both with stiff nods of her head, her lips pinched into a tight line. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Chu Yun took the carefully wrapped parcels from Hua Nanyi’s hands and carried them all the way to Xiao Ziyi’s desk, placing them in front of her with a smile.

“Since sister-in-law wasn’t able to attend our wedding ceremony, I thought it would be a good idea if we invited her over to a meal at our estate.”

Xiao Zai’s back went ramrod straight. This was the first time he was hearing of it, although he wasn’t surprised Chu Yun hadn’t told him. He had correctly guessed that Xiao Zai would have tried to stop him.

Xiao Ziyi’s face mimicked Xiao Zai’s uncomfortable expression, highlighting the family resemblance between the two of them. “Brother-in-law shouldn’t have bothered to come all this way, a written invitation would have sufficed.”

Of course it would, but it would also have made it much easier for her to reject. From the corner of his eyes Xiao Zai saw Chu Yun’s smile turn into a grin. 

“I wanted to make sure sister-in-law knew how important her presence was for us.”