Chapter 34: Unacceptable

Chapter 34: Out of Line

"Let's go."

Someone gently tugged at the ends of Chen Shuoan's hair—not painful, just ticklish.

He smiled and said goodbye to his buddies, following behind Yuan Rang toward Guangyang Palace.

"Will you come with me tomorrow?"

Chen Shuoan was lying by the pond watching the golden-red fish swim. Being a little shit, he yanked off a dead branch from a nearby willow and tossed it in, watching a bunch of dumb fish fight over the food.

These fish were adorably goofy, each one plump and round, huddled together like a big golden ball.

He was having a blast, like a little kid, and answered sweetly when he heard Yuan Rang's question: "No need. I'm bringing Chen Gangpao along too, so they can all see what the most gorgeous dog in the world looks like."

Yuan Rang lowered his eyelashes gently, watching Chen Shuoan's smiling face reflected in the pond, and pressed again: "Bring Chen Gangpao along—can you come with me?"

Chen Shuoan was totally oblivious, reaching his hand down to gently stroke the unafraid fish, letting them dart between his fingers.

"No need, that'd be way too much trouble."

Yuan Rang's dark eyes locked onto the fish that seemed to kiss Chen Shuoan's fingertips, telling himself he wasn't about to get jealous over some damn fish.

He could let Chen Gangpao slide, but these fat fish? No way.

The next second, a pebble plopped into the water, stirring ripples across the pond. The goldfish, startled, vanished in an instant.

"Huh?"

Chen Shuoan let out a surprised yelp, his hands being pulled away from the water.

Yuan Rang pulled a crisp, clean handkerchief from his lapel and methodically wiped the water droplets from his hands, saying casually: "You've got the nerve to stick your hand in there? What would you do if you slipped and fell in?"

Chen Shuoan pouted, thinking his scolding made zero sense: "I'm seventeen, not seven. I know what I'm doing."

As he spoke, he remembered his buddies' jokes about his precious fur baby's coat that morning and asked sincerely: "Your Highness, what do you think of Gangpao's looks?"

Yuan Rang had been sick of Chen Gangpao for ages, especially since Chen Shuoan had turned him down twice that day over some stupid dog.

If Chen Gangpao could one-up him today, tomorrow he'd be two steps ahead.

Yuan Rang's face gave nothing away, cool as a morning breeze, but behind the scenes, he was quietly throwing shade: "Gangpao's got a real special coat—looks pretty weird, honestly. Even the way he plays is different from normal dogs."

Chen Shuoan immediately grew alert, pulling back his hand that Yuan Rang was carefully wiping, his eyes going wide as saucers, a bad feeling creeping up in his chest: "What the hell did he do?"

Yuan Rang carefully folded the handkerchief, held it in his palm, and chuckled reassuringly: "Dogs are little troublemakers. On a normal day, he's either chewing on the walls or sneaking out to dig holes and roll around in the dirt. Free as a bird and just adorable."

Chen Shuoan: "..."

Adorable my ass.

So that's why this stupid dog's mouth fur was getting whiter and whiter—he's been sneaking around chewing on the walls and dyeing his fur that way?!

He took a deep breath, his blood pressure spiking: "Where'd he pull this stunt? How come I never noticed?"

Yuan Rang curved his lips into a smirk, as if it were no big deal: "Shuo'an didn't know? Gangpao's chewed the lawn in Cuixuan Garden down to the dirt. There's like five or six holes in the ground that the servants can't fill no matter what they do. He's been pretty well-behaved lately, though—spends all day staring at the white parrot my grandpa's got staying with me."

Chewed the lawn down to the dirt.

Dug fifteen or sixteen holes that can't be filled.

Staring at someone's little bird with ill intent.

All of this was the handiwork of that little menace Chen Gangpao!

A vein bulged at Chen Shuoan's temple. He was pretty sure that in two lifetimes, he'd never met a dog with this many talents.

Yuan Rang was startled, and seeing he was actually pissed, couldn't help feeling a little annoyed at himself. He dropped the whole stirring-the-pot act and slowly moved to stand beside Chen Shuoan, reaching out to pat his back and calm him down: "It's fine. Puppies are naturally mischievous. No point getting worked up over this, Shuo'an."

Chen Shuoan felt like he was way out of line.

If Gangpao had wrecked the Chen family's courtyard, that would be one thing—but this was His Highness the Sixth Prince's palace, turned into a total mess by a dog owned by some study companion. What kind of nonsense was that?

He sulked and thought it over for a long time, feeling like a person should know their place and act right, and sincerely apologized to Yuan Rang: "Your Highness, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you in the future. I'm gonna go grab Chen Gangpao right now and give him a good whooping."

Seeing his low spirits, Yuan Rang's heart clenched, a dark flicker passing through his eyes. For the first time, he was disgusted with his own shady tactics.

But greed was greed—when he heard Chen Shuoan make that promise, he was still thrilled, trembling all over with his own shittiness.

Guilt and excitement mixed together.

He couldn't help but pull the guy into a firm embrace, his voice low and husky as he coaxed: "Then it's a deal. Shuo'an will properly make it up to me in the future."

Chen Shuoan felt bad about it. After returning to Guangyang Palace, he skipped lunch and stormed off to Cuixuan Garden, dead set on getting Chen Gangpao's black dog head.

That noon, Chen Gangpao's dog life faced its first epic nerf.

Chen Gangpao's two paws clawed at the edge of the bath basin, howling his lungs out, totally sincere about it, while Chen Shuoan gripped the scrub cloth with a face like a demon, looking absolutely terrifying.

The servants were all hands on deck, wrestling to hold down Chen Gangpao's body that was fighting like his life depended on it. It was a total circus, like a New Year pig-slaughtering scene.

Chen Shuoan was sweating buckets from exhaustion.

Oh, Chen Gangpao, you're something else. Now there's no one in all of Guangyang Palace who can handle you except me!

While he was fervently renovating the old dog, a bunch of people yapping away, the racket was loud enough to reach even the far-off Xianfang Hall.

Liu Shuxian was lounging on a daybed, pretending to nap, cradling a snow-white Persian cat.

The cat was on its back, purring loud enough to shake the walls, its snow-white tail curling and swishing lazily, its big blue eyes gazing innocently at Yuan Rang, who was kneeling in the middle of the spacious front hall.

"You've always been cold as ice, but with him you're all heart."

Yuan Rang's body was ramrod straight, his lips pressed into a thin line, his dark eyes heavy with gloom.

Liu Shuxian gently stroked the cat's back, her red lips parting just a touch as she let out a soft "tsk."

In one swift motion, she dumped the cat on the floor, the wooden daybed letting out a soft creak as it shifted.

The white cat padded over to Yuan Rang on little pink paws, its soft little head rubbing against his knees, which were pressed against the cold floor, letting out these tiny, pitiful mews.

"Get out."

————

By the time Yuan Rang arrived at Cuixuan Garden, Chen Gangpao's renovation project was nearly complete.

Chen Shuoan was scrubbing him hard while holding him up by the tail, a few drops of sweat hanging off the tip of his nose.

He tilted his head, rubbing away the annoying drops with his bare, pale wrist, leaving a shiny streak of water across his arm.

He spotted Yuan Rang walking slowly in from the doorway and flashed a bright smile: "Gangpao's a pain to wash—one scrub and a whole clump of fur comes off. I've already gone through several basins of fresh water."

Yuan Rang chuckled softly as he came to a stop in front of him, reaching out with long, slender fingers to tuck the stray hairs from his forehead behind his ear, lingering there, reluctant to pull away.

"Just let them handle it. How'd you end up with water all over your face?"