Spring rain arrived abruptly without the slightest warning, and bean-sized drops of water pattered heavily down.
“With rain this heavy, it won’t stop anytime soon. How is the young master going to get to the palace?” Old Yuan worriedly looked at the dark clouds overhead. Hurrying along the corridor, he didn’t expect a servant carrying items to suddenly emerge from around the corner.
Neither of them was moving slowly, and they almost collided. However, that servant sidestepped, using exceptional waist strength to maneuver around Old Yuan with extremely steady footwork, instantly revealing himself to be someone trained in martial arts.
The round-headed servant avoided Old Yuan, chuckled, and said, “What’s the rush? The young master hasn’t been feeling well these past two days and took a leave of absence, so he’s temporarily not going to the Imperial Study.” The servant looked as pleased as if he were the one exempted from going to the Imperial Study. In his left hand, he carried a pot of hot water, while his right hand supported a plate of melon and fruit. “Instead of worrying about the young master’s schooling, you’d better think about what’s for lunch.”
Old Yuan raised a finger to knock him on the head, laughing and scolding, “Eat, eat, eat, all you ever think about is eating!”
“Eating, drinking, excretion, and sleeping are naturally the top priorities in life!” Ayuan shook his head and said, “I won’t chat with you anymore, I need to deliver these top priorities to the young master first.”
“Go on then.” Old Yuan shook his head helplessly as he watched the boy trot away cheerfully. Ayuan was the posthumous child of a subordinate under the general and had grown up following Bo Ruofeng. Coming to the capital this time, Ayuan hadn’t strictly needed to come, but he had volunteered to follow and take care of him.
Ayuan carried the items to the pavilion in the garden, but the pavilion was empty, with no sign of Bo Ruofeng. “Strange.” He placed the teapot and fruit on the table and scratched his head. “Didn’t the young master just say he wanted to listen to the rain here?”
With sharp eyes, he noticed a patch of muddy, wet footprints under the table. Ayuan crouched down, reached out to smear a bit with his fingers, and rubbed it between his fingertips, realizing it was diluted muddy water. Those muddy tracks dripped all the way from the corner of the wall into the pavilion, and then extended outward from the pavilion.
Ayuan stood up and wiped his fingers clean on the hem of his garment. Following the spreading tracks, he arrived in front of the young master’s bedroom door.
Two people were talking inside, arguing back and forth, which Ayuan found rather novel: The young master had no close friends in the capital, and judging by the tone of the conversation, it didn’t sound like a servant. Who on earth was the visitor?
Before he could knock, Bo Ruofeng’s voice came from inside: “What is it?”
Ayuan replied, “The hot tea and fruit are ready. Why did the young master go back inside?”
Bo Ruofeng’s voice passed through the doorway, carrying a hint of impatience: “Ayuan, go fetch a bucket of hot water for me first, and prepare a set of clothes. I have a friend here who is completely soaked.”
The servant outside acknowledged the order and stepped back.
Looking at the soaked-to-the-bone fellow in front of him, Bo Ruofeng had a massive headache. “As a dignified crown prince, why on earth do you climb walls instead of taking the front door!”
As it turned out, when Fang Youcheng climbed over the wall, Bo Ruofeng had been admiring the rain in the garden pavilion in the corner. Thinking that daytime burglars were getting way too arrogant, he didn’t say a word before launching a surprise attack. It wasn’t until the mud-covered figure rolling on the ground shouted his name that Bo Ruofeng recognized who this mud-monkey was.
“I sneaked out!” Fang Youcheng said righteously. “If I took the front door, wouldn’t other people see me?”
“If that’s the case, then why did you sneak out of the palace in the first place!”
Fang Youcheng plopped down onto a chair, and streams of muddy water dripped down the wooden chair, pooling into a small puddle on the floor. Looking at that troublesome stain, the veins on Bo Ruofeng’s forehead twitched.
Swinging his legs back and forth lazily, Fang Youcheng said, “You haven’t been to the Imperial Study for a whole day, and you even asked for leave today. Tomorrow is a day off. Counting it up that way, that’s three whole days! You haven’t gone to the Imperial Study for three full days, and you won’t even let me come find you?” Right as he finished speaking, he suddenly shivered and sneezed, droplets of water cascading down his long hair.
Exhausted in spirit, Bo Ruofeng rubbed his temples and sighed, “You could have chosen not to come.” He had only enjoyed one day of peace, and the bruises on his face hadn’t even faded yet. He felt that it was truly a pity Fang Youcheng hadn’t been born into the martial arts world, as he clearly possessed the soul of a martial arts fanatic.
“That won’t do.” Fang Youcheng thought for a moment and came up with a solid reason: “It’s about time for the little white tiger to go home. I’m here specifically to pick it up.”
Right on cue, Ayuan brought over the hot water. Giving up on arguing in circles with Fang Youcheng, Bo Ruofeng had Ayuan help scrub and wash the mud-monkey clean. However, Ayuan, who was holding a scrubbing brush, was promptly pushed out of the room.
Standing against a pillar, Bo Ruofeng looked up at the gloomy, overcast sky. The rain was still falling, though it had lightened considerably. He instructed, “Getting caught in the rain in this weather makes it easy to catch a cold. Ayuan, go to the kitchen and tell them to brew a bowl of ginger tea.”
Ayuan left quickly. Bo Ruofeng waited by the door for a bit, feeling utterly bored, so he went to fetch Little Flower.
Along the railing of the covered corridor, there were narrow wooden boards one could lean against. Holding the slightly grown Little Flower, he bounced it up and down. Seeing its innocent expression and azure pupils, he couldn’t help teasing it. When Little Flower angrily raised its fleshy paw to slap him, he mischievously pinched its paw pads instead.
Thus, man and beast played until they completely lost track of time.
“It really has been raised exceptionally well by you. Let me check how much weight it’s put on.”
Hearing this, Bo Ruofeng remembered Fang Youcheng bathing inside. Having been having too much fun playing with Little Flower, he had completely forgotten he was waiting for someone. Lifting his gaze now, he saw Fang Youcheng approaching enveloped in a mist of moisture, his hair half-wet yet completely unconcerned, wearing Bo Ruofeng’s old clothes that fit him surprisingly well.
At a quick glance, the crown prince looked no different from any ordinary person.
Fang Youcheng took Little Flower, balanced it in the palm of one hand, weighed it, raised an eyebrow, and muttered thoughtfully, “Let’s stop calling it a little white tiger from now on, call it a little pig instead. A little white pig.”
Understanding human speech, Little Flower let out loud, mournful yelps as it struggled in his hands.
Yet these two pitch-black-hearted fellows simply watched Little Flower struggle, with Bo Ruofeng adding fuel to the fire: “A little white pig? Splendid. Raise it like a litter pig from now on, and once it gets fat, we can butcher it.”
“Aroo!” Furious, Little Flower swiped a paw across Fang Youcheng’s clothes closest to it, snagging a thread loose.
Pressing down its four struggling paws with one hand, Fang Youcheng chuckled, “Stop making a fuss, I have to return these clothes later anyway.”
“Return what?” Bo Ruofeng waved a hand grandly and generously declared, “Keep it.”
“It’s rare for you to give me something.” Fang Youcheng lowered his head to look at his deep-crimson attire. “I’m genuinely curious why all your clothes are such vibrant colors. Usually, people in red are either grooms taking their brides or top scholars taking the imperial exams. You’re neither, so why do you dress so conspicuously?”
Observing him closely and seeing that the question was asked in genuine curiosity as if he truly didn’t know, Bo Ruofeng explained, “The Crown Prince must be a noble person with a forgetful mind. The military flag of the Bo Family Army features the divine beast Bifang, and our uniforms are uniformly brownish-red.” He rubbed his chin. “Besides, my mother said it’s a pity to wear dull colors when one is this young. One should wear vibrant shades, so most of my clothes are this color.”
Of course, unlike his older brother who was currently going through a rebellious phase and hated red while favoring black, white, and gray, Bo Ruofeng had long outgrown his rebellious years and deeply loved this color.
“Your mother is really good to you,” Fang Youcheng sighed with a wistful tone, looking deeply envious. Before Bo Ruofeng could find it strange, Fang Youcheng looked back at him and said, “Your manor is quite free as well. The whole Marquis Manor only has a few servants, keeping it very peaceful.”
“Is Your Highness being sarcastic? There’s only one master in this manor, and there are only that many chores to do, so adding more servants would just be for show. Compared to my humble abode,” Bo Ruofeng crossed his arms, leaning against the corridor with a lazy lift of his eyelids, “the palace is filled with luxury and delicacies where everywhere surpasses my crude Marquis Manor. I should be the one envying Your Highness.”
“Do you really think that?” Fang Youcheng set Little Flower down from his arm, and the traitorous cub immediately lunged at Bo Ruofeng, grabbing the hem of his lapel and fiercely biting a hole into it.
Seeing it attempt to take revenge on both of them, Fang Youcheng couldn’t help laughing. Letting Bo Ruofeng raise it for a few days had actually brought out some wildness in it. “The palace is indeed luxurious and full of delicacies, and there are plenty of servants, but the servants don’t listen to me, which inevitably makes me feel restricted everywhere. When I ascend the throne, that will be true freedom!”
Bo Ruofeng raised an eyebrow at him without showing much surprise on his face, though he calmly replied, “Your Highness should choose your words carefully.”
Laughing softly under his breath, Fang Youcheng leaned in closer, propping his arm beside Bo Ruofeng with a deep gaze. “Don’t you think the same? By then, you’ll be a close minister of the Son of Heaven, just like your father and my father, no, if you’re willing, your future achievements will only surpass those of your heir brother and your Northern Suppression Marquis father.”
The distance between them grew extremely close, their breaths swirling and echoing between the two. The two figures in deep crimson, one seated and one standing, nearly overlapped. Bo Ruofeng tilted his head up slightly to look at Fang Youcheng hovering over him. On this rainy day, in this manor, in a corner housing only the two of them, he was clearly intrigued by Fang Youcheng’s words, putting on a posture of eager attention. “I’m all ears.”
“In the past, the Yuwen family followed our ancestors to build an empire, making names for themselves. Nowadays, the Southern Yao state is strong, and it doesn’t lack founding soldiers; rather, it lacks fierce generals capable of uniting the world alongside the emperor. The old emperor of Northern Yue is gravely ill, and his six sons are fighting among themselves, yet not a single one is competent. If not for Your Majesty favoring civil officials over military ones, leaving the court short of military generals today, your Bo Family Army wouldn’t need to stay cooped up in the northern frontier, and could have long since established battlefield glory.” Fang Youcheng’s eyes shone brightly, every word carrying the intoxicating allure of founding an enterprise, stimulating and provoking Bo Ruofeng. “But it doesn’t matter, days like that won’t last much longer.”
“So in Your Highness’s eyes, having the Bo Family Army guard the northern frontier is talent going to waste.” Seeing the crown prince earnestly trying to pitch a grand vision to him, Bo Ruofeng couldn’t help laughing. “To think Your Highness holds the Bo family in such high regard.”
He closed his eyes, blocking out all those overt and covert recruitment and promise offers. When he opened them again, his clear eyes were clean and bright. Changing the subject, he said, “Your Highness is so young, yet you’ve already considered things to this level. Ruofeng is impressed.”
“Is that all?” Fang Youcheng stared into his face, missing not a single trace of his emotions. Though his tone was light, it carried an oppressive edge.
Bo Ruofeng raised his head to meet his gaze, his eyes filled with nothing but confusion and sincerity, as if he completely failed to catch the subtext, let alone express immediate loyalty. After all, the Emperor was still alive, and no matter how favored the prince was, he was still just the crown prince.
“Of course not. Whenever Your Highness has a use for Ruofeng, just give the word.” However, wanting the Bo family was taking a step far too big. Bo Ruofeng thought that a crown prince possessing such ambition at such a young age would certainly not remain confined to a pond in the future.
Yet what he couldn’t figure out was why an emperor and empress rumored to be deeply affectionate had raised a crown prince with such a strange personality, and why an emperor who favored civil arts over military affairs would tolerate raising his successor to be martial-arts obsessed.
Even if he voiced these questions, the Fang Youcheng before him clearly wouldn’t answer them.
Fang Youcheng let out a cold snort and straightened his back. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly looked down and gently nudged away Little Flower, which had been rubbing against him and licking its paws. When he spoke, he also changed the subject: “Bo Ruofeng, you truly are a strange person. Even though you’re younger than me, you always carry this mature air. Sometimes I feel like the way you look at the people in the Imperial Study is like watching children play house, far too perfunctory and careless. In your eyes, am I just some child not worth taking seriously either?”
This unexpected remark hit right at Bo Ruofeng’s inner thoughts. Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he faced imminent danger and instantly puffed up his fur: “That’s not it!”
Glancing at him, Fang Youcheng lowered his head again to push away the returning Little Flower with his boot. “Since that’s the case, I’m a year older than you, so from now on you should call me older brother.”
Sworn brotherhood with the crown prince, anyone else would jump at such a lucrative opportunity without hesitation. Bo Ruofeng’s expression stiffened slightly, and raising a finger to scratch the side of his face, he quietly shifted his gaze. Narrowing his eyes, Fang Youcheng added a hint of probing threat, “What? Does it wrong you?”
Of course it wronged him! Bo Ruofeng grumbled internally: Added together, my two lifetimes mean I could be your father. Calling you son would be more like it.
Having already realized that the crown prince before him possessed extremely sharp instincts, Bo Ruofeng had no wish to burn bridges and make an enemy of him, leaving him with no choice but to offer a polite refusal. “Your Highness must be joking. This subject already has an elder brother.”
The implication was clear: He already had a biological older brother.
Relentless, Fang Youcheng pressed on, “A biological brother is one thing, I can be your other kind of brother. If you follow me, your big brother will be happy too.”
“What kind of twisted logic is that?”
“Are you going to call me that or not?” Finding it amusing, Fang Youcheng tilted his head to look at him, stubbornly refusing to let the matter go.
Lacking the thick skin required, Bo Ruofeng’s gaze drifted as he frantically searched his mind for a topic to divert Fang Youcheng’s attention. Just in time, he spotted Ayuan walking over with a bowl and hastily stood up to wave. “Here, hurry up, how long does it take to brew ginger tea?”
Before Ayuan could even trot up to him, Bo Ruofeng avoided looking at Fang Youcheng and began nagging Ayuan instead: “How can you be so slow? Any slower and this gentleman’s potential cold would have cured itself.”
Expecting to be scolded, Ayuan couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.
Fang Youcheng shot a glare at the pair of master and servant, picked up the ginger tea, and gulped it straight down. Immediately afterward, he lifted Little Flower with one hand and placed it into Ayuan’s arms. “I’m taking your young master out for a spring outing, take good care of Little Flower.”
Hearing this, Bo Ruofeng was startled by how quickly they had supposedly agreed to go out. Recalling the events of two days ago, he thought to himself that Fang Youcheng really was persistent and somewhat stubbornly domineering, he had mentioned a spring outing last time, and now he insisted on going even while it was raining. He protested, “It’s still raining, how can anyone go on a spring outing?”
Mentioning the rain, the three of them looked outside. The pattering sound was simply water sliding down the black tiles of the roof, outside, the gloomy clouds had cleared away entirely, leaving the air fresh and crisp.
“Even the heavens are helping me,” Fang Youcheng said triumphantly, grabbing Bo Ruofeng’s wrist and dragging him outward.
Looking utterly listless, Bo Ruofeng clearly preferred staying cooped up in his manor.
Watching the two depart, Ayuan grinned soundlessly, grabbed Little Flower’s paw, and waved it at them. “The young master really should go out for a walk, lest his bones get stiff.”
Little Flower let out a soft meow. Remembering something, Bo Ruofeng tried to dig his heels in and turn back. “Little Flower hasn’t had lunch yet! I need to go feed it!”
Fang Youcheng clicked his tongue, quick-handed and fast-footed as he locked an arm around Bo Ruofeng’s neck from behind. “What’s your rush? I haven’t eaten either, why aren’t you worried about me?”
“You have endless energy and could beat up a tiger bare-handed,” Bo Ruofeng retorted while maintaining the posture of being dragged backward, “why would I worry about you!”
Fang Youcheng argued, “So you’d rather go feed the little tiger that I beat up?”
Without denying the feed part of the first sentence, Bo Ruofeng countered, “That’s your pet, I’m clearly raising it on your behalf.”
Completely unbothered, Fang Youcheng replied, “Oh. When you asked me for it you called it love and fought over naming it, but now you pass the buck and call it my pet. Surname Bo, I came all this way to find you not to watch you feed pets, I have several places I want to go, and you’re coming with me. Hm, I heard there is a rather famous Drunken Immortal Restaurant in the capital, and I haven’t been there yet. We’ll head there first today.”
“Why don’t you ever pick the most expensive ones! Who’s paying?”
The more Bo Ruofeng resisted the title, the more intoxicating pleasure Fang Youcheng derived from forcing his hand. Generously, he offered, “Call me older brother, and I’ll pay.”
Having lived for so long, where would he possibly find the shamelessness to call someone younger than him older brother? Bo Ruofeng grabbed the arm slung across his neck, pivoted to stand face-to-face with him, and raised a fist. Although the bruises on his face had yet to fade, his eyes burned with spirit. “Let’s fight a round. Whoever loses pays.”
Once or twice was one thing, but using this trick again? Having learned his lesson from the past few days, Fang Youcheng had thoroughly accepted his own inferior skills and resolved to practice martial arts in secret until he could shock everyone another day. Thus, he rejected Bo Ruofeng’s proposal and asked, “Do I look like a sucker to you?”
“You’re the one who wants to eat, and the Drunken Immortal Restaurant is somewhere you insisted on going.” Bo Ruofeng punched him lightly on the shoulder, smiling brightly as he used the formal honorific: “You tell me, Your Highness, do you choose being a sucker or washing dishes in the back of the restaurant? It’s all the same to me, being poor isn’t a disgrace, and once I head back to the northern frontier, nobody will ever see me again. But when your ministers go to court in the future, the moment they see your face they’ll probably remember the time you squatted in the back kitchen scrubbing pots with all your might. Oh my, just thinking about it is so fascinating.”
Fang Youcheng: …
He truly couldn’t afford to lose that face! Gritting his teeth, Fang Youcheng muttered, “You’re ruthless!”