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What beautiful weather, Wei WuXian thought as he happily ate the spiciest eel the kitchen could make and shivering in pleasure as it burned its way through his mouth and down his throat.
He sighed in contentment, lounging back on the luohan bed with a cup of wine, humming happily as he chased down the spiciness with the alcohol. He rejoiced in the way the flavors melded on his tongue in perfect harmony. Mmm, this was so perfect!
Hurried footsteps stumbled to a halt in front of him and Wen Ning, out-of-breath and sweating, bowed.
“The Third Prince wishes to visit.”
“I’m not here,” Wei WuXian replied, languidly taking another sip of wine.
“I told him that, but he didn’t listen! He’s coming now!” Wen Ning cried.
Wei WuXian nearly spat out his alcohol as he sprang off the bed. MianMian reached for his elbow to steady him.
“Wen Ning, you only had this one job!” Wei WuXian scolded as he hurried to and fro, frantically looking for a hiding place.
Ever since he’d begun tutoring his son, SiZhui had grown much more in-tune with his mother’s health. Not that he hadn’t often visited in the past, but he could never stay long enough to detect anything wrong. Now that they’re spending so much time together, it was impossible for him not to take note of Wei WuXian’s lifestyle choices and, being the good boy he was, started to frequently nag at him.
SiZhui, Wei WuXian inwardly wailed in despair, there is such a thing as being too filial!
He attempted to hide under the bed, but the space was too small. He hurried further into the courtyard followed by his two anxious servants. Inside his chambers? No, it’d be first place SiZhui would look. He’d be found out in an instant. Behind those trees? No, too thin and sparse to hide him properly. Never before had Wei WuXian regretted not planting more.
“Empress, perhaps you shouldn’t try to hide from the Third Prince when he’s so worried for you,” MianMian suggested, but her gaze nonetheless bounced back and forth between her master and the gate.
“Are you kidding? I’ll never hear the end of it!” Wei WuXian shot down. It was then he spotted the chest sitting to the side. He pointed to it. “There! What’s that?”
“Empress, you mentioned you wished to clean some things out, so this chest was brought in,” Wen Ning answered.
With a gasp of inspiration, Wei WuXian ran over to it, ordering, “Hurry! Open it! Fast! Fast!”
Wen Ning and MianMian immediately went over and helped him open the lid. Wei WuXian clambered in.
“I’ll deal with you later!” he promised ominously to Wen Ning, who gulped. “Now close the lid! Hurry, hurry, hurry!”
The lid had just shut when Lan SiZhui walked in.
“Oh! What a magnificent chest for storing things!” MianMian commented loudly, twirling the fan she had been using on the Empress earlier. “It’ll be very useful later on.”
“Y-yes! It could store many things,” Wen Ning added lamely, wincing at his poor acting. Wei WuXian was going to kill him if he gave him away.
They turned around at the measured footsteps approaching behind them and bowed.
“Third Prince,” they greeted before straightening.
Lan SiZhui looked around the courtyard barren of his mother.
“Where’s Muhou?”
“Uh…”
Wen Ning looked helplessly towards MianMian, who answered promptly, “The Empress said he had a headache, so he’s resting in his chambers now.”
Worry creased the space between Lan SiZhui’s brows.
“Is he okay? I’ll get Wen-taiyi!”
He turned to go but MianMian and Wen Ning ran in front of him to block him.
“No! Third Prince need not worry! The Empress just needs to rest a little,” MianMian insisted with a nervous smile.
Lan SiZhui frowned hesitantly, looking down.
“Is that so…? You make it sound like it happens often.”
Wen Ning and MianMian exchanged wide-eyed glances but chose to stay silent. After all, it was kind of the truth. The Empress did drink a lot, but he had a higher tolerance towards alcohol, so he didn’t actually get drunk and therefore hungover often.
The young prince sighed and wandered towards the intricate luohan bed, letting out a small despaired noise when he spotted the cup sitting beside the abandoned pot still full of wine.
“No wonder Muhou has a headache!” he exclaimed before turning his attention to the dish beside the pot. “And he’s eating something so full of heat with nothing to cool him!” Lan SiZhui gestured at the plate of bright red eel and then shook his head. “No, I must try to convince him once more to be careful of his health. I shall wait here until Muhou awakens.”
So saying, Lan SiZhui sat on the bed and waited in that stoic manner reminiscent of his father.
Wen Ning and MianMian exchanged another uncertain glance with one another. They couldn’t bear to try to chase away the Third Prince with such a stubborn display. All they could do was stand with him in torn silence.
A short time later, the Minister Steward announced the Emperor’s arrival.
The three of them knelt and greeted him as he approached.
“Rise.”
Just as Lan SiZhui had done, Lan WangJi also looked around the courtyard.
“Wei Ying?”
“It seems Muhou has a headache and went to take a rest,” Lan SiZhui replied with a smile.
“Mn.”
Lan WangJi walked up to the luohan bed, scanning Wei WuXian’s favorite food and drink sitting abandoned still nowhere near finished. Combined with the shifty looks of his Empress’s servants and he had doubts of the veracity of such.
Turning around, he spotted the lone, conveniently placed chest just to the side of the courtyard.
Ah.
His Empress was known far and wide for his playful mischievousness. It was a good thing Lan WangJi was well-versed in Wei Ying by now. He was the kind of person who loved to tease but wouldn’t know what to do if teased back and Lan WangJi loved to fluster his Empress as much as his Empress loved to fluster him.
“SiZhui, how has your qin lessons gone?”
A pleased expression came across Lan SiZhui’s face.
“Very well, Fuhuang.”
“Mn. Let’s hear.”
Lan SiZhui’s responding smile was joyously refreshing enough to cleanse the souls of everyone in the vicinity. He was a lot like his mother in that way.
“Of course!”
“Then allow this servant prepare things,” Wen Ning said with a slight bow. “Would Your Highness and Your Majesty please move to the main hall?”
Lan WangJi held up a hand.
“No need.” He pointed to the chest. “Use that here.”
“U-uh…”
Wen Ning looked to MianMian, who subtly shook her head. There was nothing they could do without giving away their master.
Resigned, Wen Ning had no choice but to set up the qin on top of the chest while uttering hundreds of apologies in his head.
Lan SiZhui sat behind the instrument and began to play. The music was smooth and the melody was soothing. It could make hearts sigh and send stress flying away.
Lan WangJi nodded in approval as the last note rang out, the gaiwan of tea sitting untouched by his side on the luohan bed.
“Again.”
Lan SiZhui obliged him two more times before he felt a thump vibrate through his qin, causing his finger to slip and send a sour note through the air.
As the last twang faded away, he could faintly hear a muffled, “Enough already! Get me out of here! I’m about to asphyxiate!”
With wide eyes, Lan SiZhui yanked the qin off the chest and the two servants hastily rushed forward to lift the lid.
Wei WuXian immediately popped up, taking big gulping breaths of air as MianMian steadied him before helping him into the chair Lan SiZhui vacated for Wen Ning to bring around to the Empress.
“I thought I was going to die!” he gasped, going boneless on the chair, still breathing heavily as MianMian dabbled away the sweat on his face with a handkerchief.
Lan WangJi walked up to Wei WuXian with the tea and offered it to his glaring spouse.
“Lan Zhan, you knew I was in there and yet you still had SiZhui play on top of the chest! Again, you say! Let’s see if I’ll ever ‘again’ you in bed!”
Nonetheless, he took the cup and lifted the lid to sip its contents sulkily. Lan WangJi started to massage his shoulders.
“Mmmph, don’t think this means I forgive you,” Wei WuXian warned as he closed his eyes and melted into the touch.
Lan SiZhui, who’d been clutching his qin in his arms like he did with his favorite toy when he was three, approached slowly.
“Muhou, are you okay?” he asked hesitantly.
Wei WuXian turned a reassuring smile at his son.
“I’m fine, I’m fine, don’t worry.”
Lan SiZhui slowly nodded and then asked in a small voice, “Muhou… were you hiding from me?”
Wei WuXian sat up so suddenly he dislodged Lan WangJi’s hands.
“No! No, of course not! SiZhui, I was only playing! Just playing!” he tried to explain frantically, but Lan SiZhui failed to be convinced.
“I know Muhou hates people nagging him the most,” he muttered, brushing his fingers along the strings of the qin, “but I remember when I was young, you’d always fuss after my health. You’d even stay by my bedside for days to look after me and cheer me up when I was ill. You’d always been more attentive to others than yourself, and I regret being so absorbed with my own studies I never thought of your health in return.”
By the end of it, Lan SiZhui’s voice wobbled. Wei WuXian flinched.
“SiZhui…”
Lan SiZhui turned to Lan WangJi.
“Fuhuang, I know you love Muhou very much but perhaps for his own good, you shouldn’t indulge him so much.” He bowed. “Excuse me.”
He raced out.
Wei WuXian jumped out of the chair.
“SiZhui!”
But it was too late. Lan SiZhui was already gone.
Heart like a heavy stone sitting at the bottom of his stomach, Wei WuXian fell back into his seat.
“Lan Zhan, what do I do? It was supposed to be a harmless prank. I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
Lan WangJi patted him on the shoulder.
“Apologize later.”
“How?” Wei WuXian asked, setting down the tea on the chest and resting his chin on his folded arms. “Once SiZhui is angry, it’s so hard to get him to forgive you.”
“Do as he wants. Take care of yourself,” Lan WangJi suggested, resuming his massage.
“You agree with him?” Wei WuXian asked.
Lan WangJi stopped and reached for one of Wei WuXian’s hands, bringing it to his lips to kiss the back of his knuckles, eliciting a blush from his Empress.
“I want Wei Ying to live a long, happy life by my side.”
Wei WuXian let out a melodramatic sigh to cover the heat in his cheeks.
“With two of the people I love most going against me, how can I possibly win?”
He felt Lan WangJi’s smile against his skin.