Chu Yun wasn’t done after leaving Xiao Zai’s sister with that coercive invitation. He walked out of the army garrison and instead of walking towards the their carriage pulled Xiao Zai along by their linked arms and onto the main street.

“Where are we going?” Xiao Zai asked, looking behind him at Chu Yun’s servant who kept pace with them, her face revealing nothing.

“It’s good for us to be seen out and about,” Chu Yun said, holding on tighter to Xiao Zai’s arm, as if he was afraid Xiao Zai was going to make a run for it.

Xiao Zai sighed and let himself be pulled along, as Chu Yun looked into storefronts and inspected the wares on street stalls. 

It became apparent right away that the two of them were attracting a lot of attention, Chu Yun in particular. Xiao Zai couldn’t help noticing all the faces turning in his direction as they walked by, and the surreptitious glances from behind handkerchiefs and folding fans.

Xiao Zai wasn’t comfortable under this much scrutiny. It was never a good sign to be the centre of attention in the palace, and this reminded him too much of all the times where intense scrutiny was a precursor to a vicious attack.

  Chu Yun on the other hand was completely in his element, his back straight and his chin held high as if wasn’t even aware of all the eyes on him. It was obvious how comfortable he was in social situations just from looking at his posture. Xiao Zai wondered if Chu Yun had ever been intimidated. If he had ever feared for anything that wasn’t going out in last year’s fashions.

“Why are you looking at me so intently?” Chu Yun asked, looking up at Xiao Zai from under his lashes. There was amusement playing at his red lips. It made something tighten inside Xiao Zai’s chest.

He averted his eyes. “What are we doing here? Do you want to buy something?” 

Xiao Zai didn’t like being on the receiving end of Chu Yun’s knowing looks. It never meant anything good.

“Gentlemen! Can I interest you in beautiful painted fans? Something with plum blossoms for the season, or perhaps with peach blossoms to match your mate’s eyes?”

The vendor raised his voice above the din of the busy street, waving excitedly towards Xiao Zai and Chu Yun.

Chu Yun snapped his mouth shut and pulled Xiao Zai along with him towards the stall, the glint in his eye growing tenfold.

The vendor grinned at Chu Yun. “Feel free to browse, I’m sure young master will find something that matches his beauty.”

Chu Yun cut his eyes to the vendor, clearly amused at what was happening. The man was a beta, probably a human from Su, and had no idea Chu Yun was an alpha too.

He’d just assumed, looking at the way he was hanging from Xiao Zai’s arm that he must have been an omega.

Chu Yun didn’t seem in any hurry to correct him.

“What do you think, dear?” Chu Yun asked, running his fingers over the carved handles of the folding fans.

Was this a test? What was Xiao Zai supposed to answer? He hated having to guess what Chu Yun wanted from him.

“Uh, just pick whatever you like best,” Xiao Zai said, desperate to leave.

Chu Yun’s servant girl, who usually looked at Xiao Zai as if he was really stupid, leaned over to inspect the fans together with Chu Yun. “The craftsmanship on these is really high.”

“Young miss has good eye,” the vendor said, looking expectantly at Xiao Zai.

“I need help choosing,” Chu Yun said, sounding almost sweet. “Help me pick the one that best matches my beauty, dear.”

Xiao Zai grit his teeth. Chu Yun was a constant trial. Surely this was punishment for coming on his face.

Xiao Zai cast a dispassionate eye towards the fans and picked the first one he saw, holding it out to Chu Yun. “What about this one?”

Chu Yun inspected it critically, opening it with a flick of his wrist and turning it around in front of his servant who hemmed and awed crytically.

“Wolves prancing through the snow,” she said, hissing.

Xiao Zai’s face fell. Fuck, he hadn’t noticed.

The vendor, unable to shut up joined in, “Yes! It’s a very popular motif, bringing to mind hunts in family. A good gift for an expecting partner.” He winked at Xiao Zai as if they were in on some joke, and not Xiao Zai’s funeral.

Panicking, Xiao Zai took the fan and slammed it closed on the table. “Do you have something with foxes?”

The man gave him a curious look, and then knelt behind his stall, emerging moments later with a beautiful lacquered box. “These are very special items, made out of priceless peach wood,” he said, his tone grave. “I don’t show them to just any costumer, you understand…”

Xiao Zai had a bad feeling, but the man was already opening the box’s thin lid.

He extricated a very fine folding fan, and flicked it open with a flourish. 

Xiao Zai immediately went pale. 

The front of the fan, the side that would generally face others, depicted a wolf above a white nine-tailed fox. Its fangs sinking into the fox’s neck as it pinned it under its body on the snowy ground.

“As you can see this is more of…an erotic piece,” the vendor explained, and then turned the fan around, showing them the inside of it.

If the frontal scene was bad, the inside was hair-raising. It depicted two men, one with wolf ears and the other with nine fox tails, recreating the positions on the front of the fan, except both of them were naked.

“Oh, my,” the servant girl said, averting her eyes.

The vendor shot her a sheepish smile. “Well, yes, as I said, this is more of a collector’s item, not something most people would wear out in polite society.” He put the fan back into its fine peach wood lacquered box. “But it would make a fine gift for a significant other, something a little racy to make your intentions obvious perhaps.”

Xiao Zai shot Chu Yun a panicked look. His face was unusually unreadable, looking as still as lake waters. It was obvious, from previous conversations, that he was aware that some Zui erotic art depicted nine-tailed foxes as objects of both desire and conquest, but he had probably never seen an example before.

Slowly, a grin spread across his features, lighting them up with a cold glee that set all of Xiao Zai’s fine hairs on end.

“We’ll take both fans, please package them for us, shopkeep.”

He turned around to Xiao Zai with an agreeable little smile, which meant Xiao Zai was going to pay for this in ways he couldn’t even fathom. 

—

Chu Yun was more or less aware that he was employing psychological warfare on Xiao Zai each time he smiled at him or held his arm — it was obvious from his pinched face that he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

But what kind of strategist would Xiao Zai be if he didn’t keep his opponents guessing?

Speaking of which, he should really get on with the rest of his day.

After rummaging through the sleeves of his robes he came up with a folded piece of paper which he handed to Hua Nanyi. “Be sure to get everything on the list, and then meet us by the carriage.”

She left with a nod, and disappeared among the crowd. 

Xiao Zai went tense. “Where are we going? Aren’t we going home?”

Chu Yun smirked up at him. “What’s the matter? Aren’t you enjoying showing me off?”

Xiao Zai’s mouth fell open and shut several times before he wisely decided to remain silent. Chu Yun steered them out of the busy market district and towards more residential roads. 

They came to a stop in front of a mossy wall with a tall, tiled gate. 

Xiao Zai read the tablet inscription above the gate’s doors and then turned to Chu Yun. “What are we doing at Minister Song’s estate?”

Chu Yun just grinned and called for a servant. Xiao Zai would find out soon enough.

A servant let the two of them inside the house, and into a cosy reception room where Tan Ruo was waiting for them with freshly brewed tea.

“Ah, it’s a pleasure to welcome his Highness and his Grace in our humble home,” Tan Ruo said, sounding all the while like she meant it. “Unfortunately I’m afraid my wife is still at court.”

Chu Yun returned her smile. “We’re only here for a short visit, actually we wanted to invite Lady Tan and Minister Song to a little gathering at our estate.”

A little gathering that would happen on the same day as the ‘celebratory feast’ they had just invited Xiao Ziyi to — as luck would have it.

Xiao Zai was shooting him warning looks, but Chu Yun ignored him.

Tan Ruo beamed in excitement, “Oh, we would love to!”

Chu Yun smiled again, taking a demure sip of his tea. “Just one more thing…Sister Tan knows that I’m recently arrived in Haolin, and don’t know many people yet,” he sighed. “Could I bother Sister Tan to extend some invitations to her friends and acquaintances on our behalf?”

If Tan Ruo was excited before, now she was positively vibrating. “Of course, I’ll be happy to help.”

Chu Yun’s grin grew. “Just one more thing, since her Highness the First Princess will be attending maybe it would be a good idea to keep the guest list small, just a few close relations.”

Tan Ruo nodded seriously. “Of course, of course.”

And just like that, Chu Yun had ensured himself the biggest feast in Haolin.