Work Text:
“Yu Tang, be careful,” Han Jiangping muttered, the steady warmth of genuine concern evident in his eyes as he looked at his younger brother.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Bai Yutang tossed his head back, a flash of his usual theatrical arrogance returning to his features. “Don’t you trust me?”
Jiangping crossed his arms, exchanging a highly amused look with Xu Qing, who was leaning heavily against a rock.
“Oh, we trust your skills, Fifth Brother,” Xu Qing snorted, a massive grin splitting his rugged face. “It’s your judgment we’re worrying about. Ever since a certain Imperial Cat rolled into town, you’ve been running around like a dog chasing a carriage. All you talk about is Zhan Zhao, and all care about is Zhan Zhao. Even now!”
“I am performing a crucial investigation now!” Bai Yutang snapped, his brows knitting together in instant annoyance. He pointed an accusatory finger at Xu Qing. “The Cat” —the bit out— “is tied up with official work elsewhere, and someone with my talent needs to unearth secrets. It has nothing to do with helping him.”
“Right, right. Of course,” Jiangping chimed in, his voice dripping with an uncharacteristic, sugary innocence. He stroked his chin thoughtfully. “It’s just that lately, you seem less like the proud, untamable ‘Sleek Rat’ of the Jianghu, and more like Zhan Zhao’s personal errand boy.”
“Are you still on with that!” Bai Yutang’s voice pitched higher, genuinely offended. “I am a master martial artist! I go where I please, when I please! If our plans happen to align because we are both pursuing justice, it is a mere coincidence!”
“A coincidence that happens regularly,” Xu Qing chuckled, nudging Jiangping with his elbow. “Look at him, Second Brother. Look at that fancy new tunic. He’s practically preening. You know who else runs errands, stays up all night fretting, and tries this hard to look flawless while doing dangerous chores?”
“Who?” Jiangping asked, playing along perfectly.
“A man aspiring to impress,” Xu Qing declared, thoroughly enjoying the way the veins on Bai Yutang’s forehead were starting to throb. “It’s exactly what a man does when he’s got intentions of marrying a woman of interest. He follows her around, doing all the heavy lifting, hoping for a single smile. Tell me, Fifth Brother, are we going to have to start preparing a dowry for Kaifeng Manor?”
Bai Yutang’s face flushed a sharp, furious crimson and his jaw tighted so hard it clicked. By all rights, he should have thrown a punch at them; they were older but he was still the most skilful. He should have…. He should have fiercely denied it, laughed in their faces, and sworn on his life that he was not doing any of that.
Instead, he just glared, his lips pressed into a rigid, stubborn line. The fiery, definitive denial they expected never came. He merely quibbled over the semantics, desperate to deflect the heat.
“You two have too much free time and zero brain cells between you!” Bai Yutang hissed. “Comparing me to a blushing groom and Zhan Zhao to my wife! Have you grown bored of life?” He threatened, “I am still the White-Clad Rat and Zhan Zhao is an imperial official. He is nothing to me but that!”
“But you still go on wild escapades with him and rarely return home,”
“You still send for us to save his life as though scared you might lose him,”
“And now you’re breaking into a heavily guarded imperial palace for him,” Jiangping pointed out, a triumphant smirk playing on his lips.
Whatever he said in defence, they would still use it to tease him about his relationship with Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang could not stay here a second longer; the look on his brothers' faces was entirely too perceptive, and the silence where his denial should have been was echoing too loudly in his own ears.
With a dramatic swirl of his cape and a final, fiercely annoyed scowl thrown over his shoulder, he left.
Behind him, his two sworn brothers just shook their heads, sharing a quiet, affectionate laugh.