Chapter 18: Daily Life in the Upper Study

Chapter 18: Daily Life in the Upper Study

Chen Shuoan was totally confused.

He sat there in a daze, perched in Yuan Rang's lap.

Yuan Rang's face looked pretty grim, and the air around them felt heavy.

What could a fourteen-year-old kid even be worried about?

Based on his own experience, Chen Shuoan suddenly got it—he must not have eaten enough.

He nuzzled his fluffy head back against Yuan Rang, asking with concern, "How was your breakfast this morning, Your Highness?"

Yuan Rang's cheek tickled from the nuzzling, and his mind was all over the place. He steadied the reins and answered politely, "It was fine."

Dude, are you seriously that literal?

Chen Shuoan couldn't be bothered to argue, so he pressed on, "Did you eat your fill?"

Yuan Rang was always patient with him, chuckling and asking, "Why do you ask?"

Seeing him like this, Chen Shuoan figured it wasn't about being hungry or not, so he just shut up and went back to playing with Chen Gangpao in his arms.

Yuan Rang quietly laid his head on Chen Shuoan's shoulder, taking in his scent, and said, "I don't like Qin Zhonglian."

Chen Shuoan felt a warm breath tickle his ear. Yuan Rang seemed to say something, but he couldn't quite catch it.

"What did you just say, Your Highness? You want a whole chicken feast?" Chen Shuoan deliberated.

Honestly, his selective hearing had been getting way worse lately.

Yuan Rang smiled helplessly and hummed in agreement.

————

Chen Shuoan had been acting weird ever since he got back from Divine Hidden Mountain.

Zheng Yuanzhi and the other three got together to figure out how to save their good buddy Chen Shuoan, who they were thick as thieves with.

"What's up with him? Possessed or something?"

"No clue, it's been days already."

"Yeah, he keeps mumbling about finding a chicken and an egg. I have to thank my lucky stars I'm not a chicken when I walk by him." Li Wei said flatly, clearly traumatized by it.

Zheng Yuanzhi made a wild guess, confidently proposing some supernatural theory: "Could he be possessed by a fox spirit from the mountains? Dude's always thinking about eating chicken."

Qin Zhonglian thought this was total nonsense and said with disgust, "Can you come up with something that makes sense? Don't act like you're brainless all day."

Zhang Chenggong, though, backed Zheng Yuanzhi: "I think Brother Yuanzhi's got a point. No matter how weird Shuo'an's been before, he's never acted like a total psycho like this."

With that, he picked up his brush and started scribbling all over the paper.

Qin Zhonglian watched, frowning the whole time.

When Master Zhang finished his so-called masterpiece, Zheng Yuanzhi stared at the paper, confused: "What the heck is this? A giant meat bun?"

Zhang Chenggong held up the painting with both hands, blew on it carefully, then shot Zheng Yuanzhi a contemptuous look: "You uncultured swine, this is a plump hen."

Zheng Yuanzhi was about to blow a gasket. He rolled up his sleeves and charged forward, cursing, "I'll beat you until you turn into a hen today!"

Li Wei, who'd been enjoying the show, quickly stood up and pulled Zheng Yuanzhi back: "Let's keep the peace, let's keep the peace."

Zhang Chenggong wasn't just confident in his painting skills—he also had a high opinion of his own brains.

He started laying out his master plan to the group: "If Shuo'an's really possessed by a fox spirit, we use this chicken as bait. The fox spirit will definitely be lured out and show itself. Then we get a master to do a ritual, and Shuo'an comes back safe and sound."

Zheng Yuanzhi: "..."

Li Wei: "..."

Qin Zhonglian: "..."

He'd come up with an idea, but it was usually a bad one.

Zhang Chenggong got all worked up as he talked, standing up and dragging his stool back with a screech that made everyone's skin crawl.

Just like his IQ—enough to make your skin crawl.

"Shuo'an, come check this out. Isn't this chicken pretty? Don't you think it looks delicious?" Zhang Chenggong sprinted over in a flash, leaning over Chen Shuoan's desk with hopeful eyes.

"...Chicken?" Chen Shuoan stared at the thing on the paper in disbelief.

Then he let out a cold chuckle and said, "Pretty."

Hearing that, Zhang Chenggong was even more convinced of his theory.

Perfect—can't even resist a fake chicken. It's definitely a fox spirit!

Zhang Chenggong rubbed his hands together, ready to pounce and take down the fox spirit that had possessed his bro's body, only to get kicked to the ground by Chen Shuoan.

Chen Shuoan, with a mix of cold indifference, mockery, and nonchalance, said, "What I mean is, show me this ugly thing again and you'll find out what 'pretty' really means."

Zhang Chenggong slunk back to Zheng Yuanzhi and the others like a beaten hen.

"I told you to feed your brain more, but you wouldn't listen." Li Wei chuckled, having gotten a great show out of it.

Qin Zhonglian couldn't hold it in either, laughing until tears came out of his eyes.

"Seriously, why does he need a chicken and an egg? To hatch baby chicks?" Zheng Yuanzhi pondered.

"Would His Highness the Sixth Prince even allow it? One Chen Gangpao is already a handful. Raising chickens is totally unrealistic. Even if the Sixth Prince were Chen Shuoan's own dad, he wouldn't let his son trash his courtyard, right?" Li Wei scoffed, then suddenly shut his mouth as if remembering something, "Actually, the Sixth Prince might actually say yes to that."

"..."

Everyone went quiet.

Qin Zhonglian coughed awkwardly, remembering the unreadable look Yuan Rang had given him that day, and felt a chill run down his spine. He changed the subject: "Chen Gangpao is getting more and more out of control. Every time he sees me, he lunges and bites. A dog the size of a booger, but at mealtime he barks louder than firecrackers on New Year's, as punctual as the palace clock."

"I haven't really noticed. So by your logic, when Chen Gangpao grows up, he'll turn into a vicious dog?" Zheng Yuanzhi said with a serious face, never imagining Chen Shuoan would raise him to have such a temper.

Qin Zhonglian said bitterly, "He only has it out for me."

Li Wei found it hilarious just thinking about it, defending the little pup: "Chen Gangpao wags his tail at everyone. He's got a great personality. He's just a bit hyper—there's not a single patch of wall left intact in the courtyard where he's kept."

Zheng Yuanzhi: "..." You call that hyper?

Zhang Chenggong burst out laughing: "Gangpao always looks like he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. He's hardly a vicious dog—more like a cheap knockoff."

The four of them exchanged teasing glances and said in unison, "No wonder you're Chen Shuoan's dog."

Chen Shuoan, the dog's owner, was still looking glum.

When His Highness the Sixth Prince mentioned wanting a whole chicken feast, Chen Shuoan had already made up his mind.

He'd give His Highness the best all-chicken banquet in the entire Rong Dynasty.

Plus, he still owed the prince two baked eggs, so he'd have to settle that debt too.

Chen Shuoan absentmindedly listened to the tutor droning on about classical texts at the front of the room while secretly peeling a tangerine under his desk.

A ray of sunlight slipped through the window into the study, falling right across Chen Shuoan's face.

He turned slightly, pressing with his fingers, and the tangerine juice sprayed out, forming a beautiful arc of color in the sunlight.

Chen Shuoan stuffed an entire tangerine into his mouth and played with the peel.

"What are you doing?" The tutor had noticed his weird behavior a while ago and, finally fed up, came down from the lectern to catch this slacker red-handed.

Just as the tutor bent down to see what he was playing with, a burst of tangerine juice shot straight into the tutor's eyes.

Chen Shuoan couldn't help but silently recite the Ksitigarbha Sutra for himself.

It's not like I'm out of options—I can always die.