That night, whether it was because Su Ce was truly feeling unwell or because of the night’s earlier events, he completely retracted his usual sharp edges, becoming uncharacteristically docile.
A-Huai gazed at the crescent moon peering through the clouds outside the window, then lowered his head, trying to pull his arm which had gone numb and lost all sensation from being held so tightly by Su Ce from his embrace.
However, the moment he moved even slightly, Su Ce furrowed his brows, his expression full of discontent.
A-Huai could only sigh and give up, settling back into the bedding.
By noon, when Su Ce awoke, he felt sticky and uncomfortable. Just as he was about to call for someone to help him bathe and dress, his gaze wandered carelessly to the corner of the room, where hot water was slowly steaming. It was water A-Huai had prepared for him, though he didn’t know when.
He called out “A-Huai” twice, but there was no response.
In a moment he didn’t even notice himself, Su Ce’s complexion darkened. Thinking of A-Huai’s connection to Fu Huaizhi the previous night, he felt as if there was a bone stuck in his throat.
Fortunately, it wasn’t long before the door was pushed open, and Su Ce heard the sound of dishes and bowls being placed on the table.
A-Huai walked over to Su Ce’s bedside. Su Ce, looking at him with a casual, indifferent gaze, smelled the lingering, greasy scent that drifted from A-Huai with every slight movement. He scolded coldly, “Did you run off to Fu Huaizhi’s courtyard again this morning to rush to cook for someone else? You ungrateful, two-faced thing!”
A-Huai lowered his eyes and replied, “No… no, I didn’t.”
There was a splash of water. Su Ce had one foot on the floor, and A-Huai picked up a towel prepared nearby to wipe him down.
But the next instant, Su Ce grabbed A-Huai’s arm the very one that had been painful from being compressed all night and gasped in a sharp breath.
Su Ce knew that A-Huai was usually thick-skinned and could withstand a lot of abuse, but he was acting so strangely today that Su Ce felt even more displeased.
He shoved him away with force, and A-Huai collided with the side of the wooden bathtub.
Su Ce took the opportunity to press A-Huai’s head into the tub. Watching A-Huai struggle fiercely, Su Ce said with agitated intensity, “You usually love sticking by my side, acting like a shadow I can’t shake off. What’s wrong? Does Fu Huaizhi offer you better benefits now? Is that why you’re acting like a stray dog, rushing to find yourself a new master? Have you forgotten how you ended up living the life you have now?”
The more A-Huai struggled, the deeper Su Ce pushed his head into the water, until the constant bubbling in the tub began to fade.
It was only then that Su Ce seemed to wake from a dream. He pulled A-Huai’s head out of the water and watched him collapse to the floor, face flushed red from violent coughing, his eyes tightly shut.
Su Ce kicked him with his foot. Seeing no reaction, he crouched down and tapped A-Huai’s cheek. “Hey, what are you playing dead for? Get up!”
But no matter how Su Ce tapped him, A-Huai remained motionless.
Panic suddenly gripped Su Ce. He had only wanted to teach A-Huai a small lesson—how could it have ended like this? He had never intended to take A-Huai’s life. He slowly raised his hands and stared at them.
In an instant, he slumped to the floor, crawling backward on his hands and feet, his mind racing.
Tentatively, he knelt three steps away from A-Huai, eyes closed, and cautiously extended a hand that was trembling uncontrollably. He hovered it beneath A-Huai’s nose, waiting for an eternity until, just as Su Ce’s heart felt as though it had stopped, he felt a faint breath.
A-Huai abruptly sat up and vomited a puddle of water.
The heavy weight on Su Ce’s heart dropped instantly. Feeling guilty, he stood up and threw a dry towel at A-Huai. He didn’t dare turn his head to look at A-Huai’s expression, holding his own clothes tightly; though he was terrified, he didn’t let his mouth soften: “Who knew you were so fragile, fainting away like that.”
After his violent coughing fit, A-Huai’s neck veins were clearly visible. He looked up at Su Ce’s back, then at the white towel, and picked it up in silence. He did not use it to dry his wet hair but instead stood up, his voice hoarse as he replied: “A-Huai has disappointed the Young Master. I hope the Young Master can forgive me.”
Hearing A-Huai’s neither humble nor overbearing tone, and seeing him clutching the white towel as he walked past, Su Ce felt stunned into silence. He genuinely wondered if A-Huai had suffered brain damage from being held underwater for too long—how could anyone be so blindly devoted to serving someone after being tortured like that?
Suddenly, Su Ce felt a pang of guilt toward A-Huai.
But quickly, he pushed that feeling away.
He was the noble Su Gongzi of the capital; for someone like A-Huai, even just carrying his shoes would be a supreme honor. If he wanted to, the line of men waiting to be his concubine would stretch from the palace gates to the edge of the city. Why should he feel guilty for a person like this?
This must be another one of A-Huai’s schemes!
That afternoon, an urgent imperial decree arrived stating that the old Emperor was feeling unwell.
The hunting trip ended earlier than scheduled.
Su Ce was happy to be free.
On the day of the return journey, A-Huai shared the carriage with Su Ce.
Even though they had ridden together several times before, and A-Huai was sitting at his usual distance, Su Ce felt incredibly restless. When exactly had A-Huai’s presence in his life become so intense?
Su Ce could not say.
The next morning, A-Huai was sitting on the steps in front of the house, touching the bruise on his body from the previous day’s collision, wondering what to do, when he saw the estate manager appear at the courtyard gate and walk toward him.
A-Huai knew this manager was the right-hand man of Su Ce’s father. Su Ce and his father were not close, so all daily affairs were meticulously reported to the father by the manager.
Ever since A-Huai had entered the household, the already controversial Su estate had become a focal point of gossip, and naturally, the manager did not treat him with kindness.
A-Huai said coldly, “The Young Master is still sleeping.”
The manager remained expressionless, standing at a distance where he could be heard clearly, and said politely but with distance: “The Master asks for you.”
This took A-Huai by surprise. He sat where he was, hesitating for a moment without a word.
The manager was not in a hurry to urge him.
After a silent confrontation, A-Huai finally stood up and walked down the steps. The manager smiled with an “as expected” expression: “Please follow me, sir.”
This was A-Huai’s first time stepping into another courtyard of the Su estate.
He observed the father’s courtyard calmly; exotic flowers, rare herbs, water pavilions, and towers were all present. To an untrained eye, they looked like ordinary plants, and hearing the occasional noise of children playing nearby added a sense of domestic life.
In comparison, Su Ce’s courtyard felt only like a place of luxury and loneliness.
The manager stopped at the door and knocked: “Master, the person is here.”
A response came from within.
The manager opened the door, and A-Huai stepped inside. He saw a man with slightly graying hair but an outstanding appearance, sitting behind a desk holding a cup of hot tea. The man didn’t even lift his eyelids, only saying: “A-Huai, is it? You are the concubine that Ce-er has taken in.”
Although it was a question, A-Huai only heard a tone of certainty. He hadn’t even done anything, yet the man carried an air of absolute superiority.
Su Ce’s dismissive, arrogant demeanor was exactly the same as his.
When the father placed his tea cup on the table, A-Huai stepped forward to refill it for him.
Only then did the father look up at A-Huai, sizing up his expression, his eyes smiling yet cold: “You are different from what I imagined. Also, if it were someone else, they might not have been able to serve Ce-er’s temper for so long. Xiao Huai, I called you here today for other matters.”
Xiao Huai’s pupils trembled. His lifeless eyes looked at the father: “Master, since you have already investigated my real name, you must already know my background. You might as well speak plainly.”
This time, the father’s smile reached his eyes: “Talking to a smart person is always easy. Ce-er is my eldest son, and he has reached the age where he should know better. In the future, he will have to manage the affairs of this household, so…”
“So you want me to leave?” A-Huai interrupted, his face gloomy.
The father stood up, walked around the desk, and patted A-Huai on the shoulder: “I am not a man who makes things difficult for others. As long as your affair with Ce-er doesn’t go too far, I will respect his preferences and turn a blind eye, including the fact that you lied to him about your background; I can keep that secret as well. However, he needs to learn to do serious work. There happens to be a matter in Suzhou that would be a good experience for him. Your task is to persuade him and ensure he completes it successfully.”
Xiao Huai replied: “Su Ce will not like me interfering with him. It is possible that what you want will have the opposite effect.”
The father, seeing Xiao Huai refusing again and again, lost his patience and wanted to settle it quickly: “But if Ce-er knows that everything you have done by his side is to calculate against him? Do you think he will still be willing to live like this with you? You are a smart man; you have your own plans, but what I am asking you to do is for your own good in the future.”
As soon as the father finished speaking, Su Ce pushed the door open, his face dark as thunder. He glared fiercely at his father: “I don’t know where my person offended you in my own courtyard this morning, father, that it required you to lecture him yourself.”
The father gave a dry laugh: “Ce-er, that’s a bit serious. I only wanted to ask if you needed anything for your courtyard so the manager could purchase it together.”
“No need, father, you should manage your own affairs.” Su Ce grabbed A-Huai’s hand and hurried out.
The father’s voice came from behind: “Think it over carefully. If you have anything to say, tell the manager before tomorrow.”
Xiao Huai understood that this was not meant for Su Ce, but for him.
On their way back to the courtyard, both were lost in their own thoughts.
Su Ce had heard upon waking that A-Huai had been called by his father. He had finally found a servant who was so convenient to use; if his father drove him away, where would he find another? He had been so anxious that he had fallen on the floor getting out of bed, looking completely disheveled.
But seeing A-Huai standing blankly before his father, he breathed a sigh of relief. Yet, thinking that A-Huai hadn’t notified him and had left on his own, he felt a surge of anger: “Are you an idiot?”
Xiao Huai looked at the hand tightly gripped by Su Ce and said heavily, “The Master asked me to come; how could I dare not to?”
Su Ce stopped dead in his tracks, turned to look at Xiao Huai’s cowardly, “can’t-offend-anyone” expression, and jabbed his finger at his stubborn head: “Are you a pig? What on earth is inside your head?”