As evening fell and the air cooled, Xiao Yun paced back and forth under the long gallery, hands on hips — looking for all the world like a husband pacing outside the room while his wife was in labor.
Half an hour ago, he told Xie Caiqing he’d take him out of the palace and told him to go change. Xie Caiqing obediently went back to his room, and Xiao Yun waited outside, thinking he’d be done in three to five minutes.
But half an hour passed — and Xie Caiqing still didn’t let him in.
Xiao Yun pressed against the door. “Sweetheart?”
“Hm.”
“Sweetheart, are you done yet?” he asked loudly.
“Almost.”
Xiao Yun breathed a sigh of relief. “Then hurry.”
“Okay.”
More time passed. Xiao Yun pressed up against the door again. “Done yet?”
“Done, done.”
Xiao Yun silently counted to ten. Still no sign of him. Finally out of patience, he pushed open the door and rushed in — only to find Xie Caiqing sitting in front of the bronze mirror, frowning and slowly retying his hair ribbon because it wasn’t symmetrical enough.
Xiao Yun stared in disbelief. For this?!
Xie Caiqing turned in surprise, his long hair half-down. “Your Majesty, why—”
Without a word, Xiao Yun rushed up and scooped him into his arms. Xie Caiqing widened his eyes, then skillfully wrapped his arms around Xiao Yun’s neck and calmly said, “Has Your Majesty changed your mind and wants me to warm your bed?”
Xiao Yun froze. “Do you think that’s all I ever think about?!”
“Isn’t it?” Xie Caiqing asked with a touch of confusion. “Didn’t Your Majesty want to take me out because you were tired of the palace and wanted to… enjoy the same thing somewhere new?”
“…” The vein on Xiao Yun’s forehead twitched. He finally realized just how awful his image was in Xie Caiqing’s mind. Without a word, he pulled the ribbon from those soft fingers. “Let’s go, let’s go — at this rate, the baby will be born before we even leave!”
As he spoke, he carried the other man in his arms and hurried out, looking just like a husband rushing to find a doctor when his wife suddenly went into labor.
Xie Caiqing was startled and struggled to get down, glancing back toward the room. “My hair ribbon, my clothes aren’t… my waist accessory…”
Xiao Yun sprinted back like a 100-meter dash, fumbling to gather everything Xie Caiqing mentioned, squeezing them between his fingers. “There, all good now! Let’s get on the carriage first—I’ll help you dress and do your hair there!”
“That’s not the right waist accessory… I haven’t even scented my clothes yet…”
“Forget about scenting them! Didn’t you say all I ever think about is that? Clothes are going to come off anyway—waist accessories too.”
“Your Majesty, I need to scent—”
Xiao Yun thought, Why is he so fussy? Good thing he only had Xie Caiqing, and that Xie Caiqing was a man. If he had a harem of three thousand like in the old days, and they were all like this, he might as well die. Xie Caiqing tried to get down again, but Xiao Yun leaned in and sniffed his fair face. “It smells good, smells great. No need for perfume—it’s all naturally absorbed.”
Xie Caiqing froze, then felt embarrassed and annoyed.
Absorbed, really?
Xiao Yun ran faster carrying someone than Xie Caiqing could on his own. With all the jostling, Xie Caiqing felt dizzy, and before he realized it, he had already been stuffed into the carriage.
Xiao Yun sat him on his lap and started tying his hair.
“I can do it myself…”
“You look good even with messy hair!”
“What do I look like with hair all over the place?”
“Okay, okay, don’t move! I’m almost done! It looks good!”
After tying the hair, Xiao Yun turned Xie Caiqing’s face toward him. The mistrust on Xie Caiqing’s face wasn’t even hidden, and Xiao Yun saw it clearly, saying irritably, “My handiwork is great! Back when I was at war, I always did my own hair!”
Without a bronze mirror, Xie Caiqing felt anxious. Hearing this, he relaxed slightly, lowering his head to look at his waist accessory, saying nothing.
“Don’t like the waist piece?” Xiao Yun could now instantly read his thoughts without him speaking. “Want to switch with me?”
Xie Caiqing glanced at Xiao Yun’s waist accessory and slowly shook his head.
“You’re being obedient—wait, are you saying mine is even uglier?”
Xie Caiqing: “…”
He didn’t know when it started, but he had almost forgotten about pretending—was he acting like a harmless bunny, or was this actually his true self?
Over time, he couldn’t tell whether the version of himself in front of Xiao Yun was an act or not.
After all, the bunny persona was still a part of him.
He also didn’t know when Xiao Yun became able to instantly understand what he was thinking. And he couldn’t tell whether Xiao Yun was reading the bunny or reading him.
He really hoped it was the former.
Xiao Yun made a fuss the whole way—dressing him, applying his human-skin mask—and just as they finally finished, the carriage arrived at its destination.
The street was bustling, lined with stalls overflowing with goods, hawkers shouting, and people returning home. Husbands and wives walked side by side, children chased each other. There were no palace walls, no grand golden halls—only the honest, heartwarming bustle of everyday life, allowing people to relax, take a breath, and smile a little more easily.
Standing beside the lavish carriage, Xie Caiqing quietly turned back to look.
In the street, a man in simple clothes tugged a little boy by the ear. “You little rascal! Look how late it is and you’re still not home!”
The little boy grinned cheekily, letting himself be pulled along. “Brother, can you not tell Dad…”
“If you behave, of course I won’t! Otherwise, he’ll make you eat spicy bamboo shoots! Have you learned your lesson?”
“Hehe, big brother, you’re the best.”
As they walked away, Xie Caiqing pressed his lips together. A memory surfaced—of his royal brother punishing him.
When he misbehaved, his royal brother never hit him, but made him stand or copy texts as punishment.
He remembered being very small, frail, and falling asleep halfway through copying the texts. The next morning, everything was finished.
Back then, he’d foolishly believed in some fairy who came to help him at night.
Xiao Yun leaned lazily against the carriage, watching him. At that moment, Xie Caiqing seemed strikingly real, stirring something in his heart. He followed Xie Caiqing’s gaze, paused, then looked up at the sign above the luxurious restaurant.
Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
Xie Caiqing looked away, turning to Xiao Yun. “Your Maj—”
He noticed the finely dressed people passing by and corrected himself, “Let’s go in.”
Xiao Yun blinked, then smiled.
No more “Your Majesty” and “your humble servant”—just “let’s.” As if the two of them were on the same side now.
“Go in?” Xiao Yun asked in surprise.
Xie Caiqing froze. “Aren’t we dining here?”
“Yes,” said Xiao Yun.
“Then why aren’t we going in?”
Xiao Yun blinked innocently. “I never said we were dining here.”
Xie Caiqing looked at the carriage stopped at the front of Drunken Immortal Pavilion: “…”
Xiao Yun shamelessly said, “I’m just used to parking the carriage here, that’s all.”
Xie Caiqing nodded, a little lost. “Then… where are we dining?”
Xiao Yun took his hand. Xie Caiqing jumped in shock. It was crowded here, and he instinctively pulled his hand away.
Xiao Yun said, “We’re both wearing masks.”
Only then did Xie Caiqing remember they were both wearing human-skin masks. So, he put his hand back.
But after doing so, he realized—just because we’re wearing masks, why did I have to put it back?
Xiao Yun was already grinning like a fox. He had gotten used to playing this game. Xie Caiqing didn’t know why, but he always seemed one step behind, always doing something foolishly adorable without meaning to.
Xie Caiqing stared at the hand Xiao Yun was holding.
Now I’m torn—if I pull away, I’ll feel embarrassed because I was the one who put it back. If I don’t pull away, I’ll still feel embarrassed—I’m a man, being held like this by another man on a busy street. Isn’t that ridiculous?
Xiao Yun couldn’t help but burst out laughing halfway through his sentence. Whatever he did, he always did it with flair and didn’t care at all about how others looked at him—same with laughing. Many people glanced over curiously, and when they saw it was two finely dressed men holding hands, they showed amused, knowing smiles.
Xie Caiqing: “…”
Embarrassed and angry, Xie Caiqing knew pulling his hand away now would seem petty and childish. So he let himself be led, turning his face aside in silence.
Xiao Yun tightened his grip, a wave of warmth stirring in his chest, and pulled him into the bustling marketplace.
Today they were in disguise, so their guards wouldn’t be following them openly—it was just the two of them on the surface.
Seeing how familiar Xiao Yun was with the area, Xie Caiqing asked, “Did you used to come out like this a lot?”
Xiao Yun replied, “That title sounds too distant.”
Xie Caiqing cautiously tested, “Master Yun?”
Xiao Yun grinned and said, “You can call me husband.”
“…” Xie Caiqing’s face turned pale, and he made to withdraw his hand.
“Alright, alright, stop fussing, dear wife,” Xiao Yun said. “No one likes living at their workplace. When the commoners are off work, they’re off work. When you officials are off duty, you’re off too. You don’t have to keep acting. Your husband here acts twenty four hours a day, every day, all year long. No matter what I’m doing, I have to jump up the moment something happens. Isn’t that exhausting? And I can’t even quit. If I do, a bunch of people will cry, scream, and threaten suicide.”
Xie Caiqing looked at him, his expression slightly complicated.
“So of course I need to sneak out and play sometimes,” Xiao Yun continued. Seeing Xie Caiqing remain silent, he chuckled, seemingly exasperated with himself. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this. It’s not some pitiful tale. It’s not as easy as people imagine, but most of the time, I still like it. I don’t want to quit. But slacking off now and then? That’s necessary.”
Xie Caiqing fell quiet.
He wanted to say he understood—it wasn’t just self-pity. The burdens behind the glamour were unimaginable. Not everyone could shoulder them.
Anyone else in Xiao Yun’s place wouldn’t be able to carry themselves with such ease and freedom.
He certainly couldn’t.
“What’s wrong?” Xiao Yun scolded himself internally for steering the conversation into something so dull. Smiling, he leaned over and, taking advantage of Xie Caiqing being distracted, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Xie Caiqing froze, snapping out of his thoughts and glancing down the alley.
“No one saw,” Xiao Yun said with a grin. Still holding the blushing Xie Caiqing’s hand, he knocked on the door of a nearby house.
Xie Caiqing looked utterly baffled.
A plainly dressed middle-aged woman opened the door, eyeing the two finely dressed men at her doorstep with suspicion.
Xiao Yun greeted her warmly. His smile was genuinely sweet, and after a few words, the woman’s demeanor shifted drastically. Blushing, she said, “Alright then. I was just cooking. Adding a couple of dishes is no problem. You young masters are really something, wanting to experience how we live with our plain meals. If the food isn’t to your taste, don’t take offense.”
Xie Caiqing was still dazed when Xiao Yun pulled him inside.
The woman’s gaze fell on their hands. She coughed a few times, clearly embarrassed but also secretly teasing.
Once inside, they found four children in the house—the oldest about seven or eight, the youngest barely able to walk.
The woman sternly said, “You kids be quiet! Don’t disturb our guests! Ah Qing, take care of your brothers!”
A little boy answered lazily, and the woman smiled and exchanged a few more words with Xiao Yun before heading off to the kitchen.
Xie Caiqing sat down at the table. Xiao Yun leaned in and asked, “Does it feel dirty to you?”
Xie Caiqing shook his head and quietly smiled a little. Xiao Yun’s heart stirred.
He suddenly understood.
It was a genuine smile. Not the smile of the top scholar, not the emperor’s subject—just a smile shared between two people.
A smile that said: even if he weren’t emperor, even if he were a commoner or even a prisoner, he would still smile at him like that.
Xiao Yun was silent for a moment, then teased, “I thought you’d be hard to please. Turns out you’re easy to keep happy? Not even picky about this?”
He shook his head again.
Xiao Yun chuckled. “You’re odd. You always want the best food and clothes, but you’re not greedy for wealth or status. Just like me. I always want the best, but if I don’t have it, I don’t really care.”
Xie Caiqing’s face shifted slightly. “…So I’m just fussy.”
Xiao Yun burst into laughter. A few of the children, seeing how casually the two men spoke despite their fancy clothes, hesitated for a moment, then curiously approached.
The oldest boy, Ah Qing, held his younger brother and chatted with them for a bit. Gradually, he lost his nervousness and embarrassment about his family’s poverty. Looking up, he asked, “Can I be like you when I grow up?”
Xie Caiqing was startled.
Xiao Yun squatted down to his level and, without hesitation, said, “Yes, you can.”
Xie Caiqing’s heart trembled. He stared blankly at Xiao Yun.
“Really?” Ah Qing asked. “Everyone says my family’s too poor. They won’t play with me. They say the best I can ever be is like my dad.”
Ah Qing’s clear black eyes were filled with defiance, and with doubt in himself. He hadn’t even stepped out into the world yet, but invisible chains were already wrapped around him, dragging him down.
He didn’t even know what those chains were, only that they were already threatening to consume him.
“You really can,” Xiao Yun said lazily. “Look at me—I had it worse than you as a kid. At least you’ve got parents who love you, and you can go wherever you want. I didn’t even have that. People said I’d amount to nothing, but I refused to believe it. I worked hard, and when I grew up, I became rich.”
Ah Qing’s eyes lit up.
Xie Caiqing looked at him, his gaze complex.
“Look at him,” Xiao Yun said, nodding toward Xie Caiqing. “He’s the same.”
Xie Caiqing was silent for a long moment. Then he crouched down and smiled gently. “Yes. I came from a poor family. I studied hard and made my family proud.”
Ah Qing beamed, his eyes bright.
“The current emperor is a once-in-several-centuries good ruler,” Xiao Yun said lazily. “He won’t let people like you have no future.”
