Chapter 19: Liu Fengnian

Chapter 19: Liu Fengnian

He was thrilled to have been given the task of copying the Diamond Sutra.

What doesn't kill me might as well just kill me.

Chen Shuoan sat in his seat, eyes vacant as if his soul had been snatched by a wandering ghost.

Yuan Rang walked over and stood beside him, waving a hand back and forth in front of his face several times without getting a reaction, and couldn't help but laugh.

Chen Shuoan let out a mournful wail and slumped forward, his left cheek pressed flat against the smooth desk, his cheek squishing up in layers—so cute.

The person standing beside him withdrew his hand, clasping his hands behind his back, fingers clenched tight, barely holding back the urge to pinch those cheeks.

"What're you doooing?" Chen Shuoan asked gloomily.

Yuan Rang let out a soft chuckle, bent down to pick up the scratch pad at the edge of Chen Shuoan's desk, and his left hand grazed Chen Shuoan's smooth, fair neck, giving it a light squeeze before letting go in an instant, leaving a tall, graceful figure in his wake.

The implication in his actions was clear enough: I've got the Diamond Sutra copying covered for you.

Chen Shuoan caught the familiar cool sandalwood scent drifting from the hem of Yuan Rang's robes as he turned, and found the Sixth Prince's back view especially towering.

His earlier gloom vanished in an instant. He sprang up in a flash and chased after him, yelling as he ran: "Your Highness, wait up!"

In the nearly empty study, Zhang Chenggong and Li Wei exchanged dumbfounded looks, murmuring: "Does Chen Shuoan have no sense of decorum at all?"

Zheng Yuanzhi, long since accustomed to such scenes, sprawled lazily in his armchair: "The Sixth Prince has been indulging him for ages now. Shuo'an's living the good life again."

Qin Zhonglian stood beside him, arms crossed, sharp eyes fixed on the two figures outside—heads together, shoulders touching—a knowing smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

The palace corridors crisscrossed in a complex web, with redwood railings carved by master craftsmen, and the cloth draped from the rafters was fine Yunjin silk, soft and lustrous.

A gentle breeze swept through the hall, making the tassels hanging from the Yunjin sway lazily, their shadows dancing playfully on the path paved with small green bricks under the sunlight.

Chen Shuoan walked alongside Yuan Rang through the corridor of alternating light and shadow, noticing Yuan Rang's shadow was a good bit longer than his own.

Not wanting to face the fact that Yuan Rang was taller now, he quietly sped up a few steps to get ahead of him.

Chen Shuoan looked at his shadow on the ground, now a bit taller than the Sixth Prince's, and felt at ease.

Suddenly, a soft chuckle sounded from behind, and the elegant dark figure halted.

Chen Shuoan turned around, puzzled, the sunlight hitting his face and making him squint slightly.

Yuan Rang stood against the light, head slightly bowed, dark eyes holding an unreadable smile as he leaned in close to Chen Shuoan's ear and murmured: "Shuo'an is always taller than me."

He tilted his head down, raising a pair of deep, piercing eyes to look at the fair, jade-like person before him.

Chen Shuoan looked down at him, seeing his hair gleam golden and fluffy in the sunlight—he looked more and more like a big golden retriever.

The earlier unease of being eyed like prey by a falcon vanished completely, and Chen Shuoan went back to his usual carefree self, walking on with Yuan Rang like old buddies.

An elderly man was waiting at the entrance to the bedchamber.

Chen Shuoan recognized him—it was Yuan Rang's maternal grandfather, Liu Fengnian, the Minister of Personnel.

"Your Highness, may you be in good health." Liu Fengnian bowed, his murky eyes shifting to Chen Shuoan, who stood behind Yuan Rang. "And this young master is..."

"Chen Shuoan, son of Grand Tutor Chen, pays his respects to Minister Liu." Chen Shuoan quickly announced himself when he saw he was being asked.

Yuan Rang gave a faint smile and gestured: "Minister Liu, please, let's talk inside."

As they walked into the bedchamber, Liu Fengnian chatted: "No need for such formality among family. I've come today just to visit Her Grace, the Noble Consort."

Chen Shuoan pricked up his ears, eavesdropping on the side.

"Reader-in-Waiting Chen, please hold on." Liu Fengnian stopped in his tracks, turning to look at Chen Shuoan with eyes brimming with amusement. "This is the path to visit Her Grace. You're neither one of the groom's people nor the bride's—why are you tagging along?"

Chen Shuoan's face turned beet red, realizing he'd overstepped his bounds. Amid Yuan Rang's teasing laughter, he bolted in a panic, not even looking where he was going.

Liu Fengnian waved for the maids and attendants nearby to withdraw, then pulled a letter from the front of his robe and handed it to Yuan Rang, lowering his voice: "It's word from He Sui, the magistrate of Bozhou. Time was tight and the setup rushed—the accounts might be tough to sort out."

Yuan Rang took the letter with his slender fingers, his face unreadable: "The Third Prince is weary from his journey and quite impatient. Let him rest well on the road for a few days."

A flicker of scheming slowly surfaced in Liu Fengnian's murky eyes. He smiled and said with utmost deference: "I'll arrange it right away."

Then, as if remembering something, he asked: "Has His Majesty's reward come through yet?"

Yuan Rang raised an eyebrow, casually tearing open the letter and skimming it before saying slowly: "Just standard fare."

"I heard from the Ministry of Revenue that the Third Prince handled it personally." Liu Fengnian took the letter paper Yuan Rang handed back to him.

Yuan Rang let out a cold snort: "His Majesty's will."

"Excellent." Liu Fengnian smiled with crafty satisfaction.

Grandfather and grandson pushed open the door redolent with aged wood, and through the thin dark-green gauze saw a woman reclining on the soft couch.

She was willow-waisted, with skin like congealed cream, dressed in utmost luxury.

It was Noble Consort Liu, Liu Shuxian.

————

It was already deep into the night, and summer insects chirped desperately in the grass.

Yuan Rang knocked on Chen Shuoan's still-lit door, holding a scroll of calligraphy.

"Why aren't you asleep?"

Chen Shuoan's rosy lips parted slightly in surprise as he looked at the completed Diamond Sutra copy Yuan Rang was handing him.

The Sixth Prince bent down, seemingly casually wrapping an arm around Chen Shuoan from behind, his slender fingers picking up several sheets of paper from the desk before straightening up.

He fell into a strange silence staring at the chicken-scratch handwriting before him.

The creator of said chicken-scratch was deeply grieved: "With my talent, this is already my limit."

Yuan Rang, cold-natured by disposition yet endlessly patient with Chen Shuoan, offered a reluctant consolation: "It's fine. At least you've made great progress."

Chen Shuoan smiled wearily at that, then suddenly sneezed several times in a row.

Yuan Rang's heart softened. Seizing on his drowsiness, he slowly leaned closer and said gently: "What's wrong? Is someone thinking of you?"

Chen Shuoan laughed and collapsed against his shoulder, like a languid cat.

"Your Highness still remembers that. The people thinking of me are countless—they'd stretch all the way to the northern border of Shuobei."

He said it with such shameless confidence, as if it were all true.

The candlelight flickered warm and dim, their shadows, tangled together, loomed large on the screen before them.

Yuan Rang's pitch-black eyes held a wild, barely contained frenzy, the faint light giving his cold, stern profile a disturbingly obsessive look.

"Is that so?" he asked softly.

Chen Shuoan just mumbled a noncommittal "Mm."

Yuan Rang reached out with his long, bony hand, pressed it over the other man's lips, stroking gently, savoring the exquisite sensation against his palm.

He smiled nonchalantly and said, "Then I get to be first in line."

So nobody can ever take you from me.