Xiao Huaiyan averted his gaze in compliance.
Seeing him being obedient, Shen Chaoqing’s mood improved slightly. No longer looking at him, he pulled his heavy cloak closer around himself.
“Woof!” A sharp canine bark, accompanied by a brownish-yellow shadow, rushed out fiercely and without warning from behind the rockery stones.
It was a hunting dog of considerable size, with coarse fur and a ferocious gaze, lunging straight toward Shen Chaoqing’s lower legs to snap and bite.
Shen Chaoqing’s complexion changed drastically. Almost instinctively, he stepped backward in a violent rush, his footing stumbling as his back crashed unawares into a hard, warm chest.
A faint scent of linden-flower soap mixed with medicinal ointment instantly drilled into his nasal cavity. It was Xiao Huaiyan.
Xiao Huaiyan had been following half a step behind Shen Chaoqing. Seeing the hunting dog charge forward and the Emperor react with such extreme violence, he subconsciously extended his arm, steadily wrapping it around Shen Chaoqing’s suddenly unbalanced shoulder to half-protect and hold him in his embrace. At the same time, his gaze turned sharp, and his right leg swept out with lightning speed, kicking precisely against the hunting dog’s flank.
The dog let out a miserable “Awooo” yelp, sent rolling several paces away by the kick, unable to crawl back up.
Everything happened in the split second of a lightning flash.
Shen Chaoqing’s heart was pounding frantically, his breathing hurried and his complexion frighteningly pale, fine beads of cold sweat even seeping onto his temples.
The terrifying memories from his childhood of being chased, bitten, and having his clothes torn apart by vicious dogs surged forward like a tidal wave. Fear gripped him, causing him for a moment to forget where he was and who the person holding him from behind was.
He leaned against Xiao Huaiyan’s embrace with practically all his strength drained, relying entirely on the support of the other’s arm to barely stand steady. His slender fingers even unconsciously grasped the fabric at Xiao Huaiyan’s chest, his knuckles turning white from the exertion.
Xiao Huaiyan lowered his gaze, looking at the young Emperor in his arms who rarely revealed vulnerability and panic.
Those peach-blossom eyes, which always brimmed with mockery and malice, were currently opened wide, filled with pure, unadorned terror, resembling a startled little fox. Warm body heat transmitted through the thin layers of clothing, alongside that faint, indistinct fragrance.
He could clearly feel the slight trembling of the body within his arms.
The little Emperor… was afraid of dogs? A flash of extremely swift, complex emotion swept through the depths of Xiao Huaiyan’s gaze, but it was quickly covered over.
Maintaining his posture of holding Shen Chaoqing, he neither released him immediately nor made any further movement, merely acting like a silent rock, providing a brief moment of support.
Not until it was confirmed that the white hound could no longer crawl back up did Shen Chaoqing’s frantically pounding heart slowly calm down. With his rationality returning, he abruptly realized whose body he was leaning against and whose lapels he was grasping.
As if scalded, he suddenly released his grip and rapidly broke free from Xiao Huaiyan’s embrace, his footsteps even somewhat unsteady as he backed away half a pace to re-establish distance.
A thin blush rapidly surfaced across his pale face, whether from the lingering aftermath of the earlier fright or from his current anger and embarrassment. He pressed his lips tightly together, his gaze turning sharp once more, though he unusually refrained from immediately shouting out in reprimand or picking a fight. Instead, he quickly straightened his slightly disheveled robes, as if to completely wipe away that brief moment of loss of composure and reliance.
“Oh my, oh my! What is the meaning of this?!” A voice laden with exaggerated astonishment and hypocritical apology rang out.
From not far away, a young man dressed in lavish brocade robes and wearing a golden crown slowly paced forward, escorted by a group of attendants. His facial features could be considered handsome, but a lingering sense of frivolity and unctuousness drifted between his brows—he was none of the others, precisely the eldest son of the Marquis of Jing’an, Li Jingchen.
First, he put on a show of looking at the hunting dog struggling and whining in the snow in the distance, a look of heartache appearing on his face: “My ‘Zhuifeng’! Oh, my good precious darling!” Immediately afterward, his gaze shifted toward Shen Chaoqing, instantly replacing it with an expression of terrified, panicky anxiety as he hurried forward and bowed low in a salute: “This subject, Li Jingchen, pays respects to Your Majesty! Your Majesty, forgive me! This subject truly deserves a thousand deaths!”
Li Jingchen? The legitimate son of the Marquis of Jing’an.
Shen Chaoqing stared at Li Jingchen, his brows furrowing slightly. He had almost forgotten that it was now time for Li Jingchen’s plot involving the unleashing of dogs.
In the original work, the Empress had been checked by him and was currently fretting over how to retaliate. Li Jingchen had unintentionally unleashed a dog in the Imperial Garden, coincidentally and mistakenly exposing his fear of dogs.
The Empress directly seized upon the pretext, first spreading rumors among the common people of the sovereign being tyrannical to ruin his reputation, followed by releasing well-trained, ferocious hunting dogs to pounce upon the sacrificial offerings at the most crucial moment of the ancestral worship, manufacturing the illusion of “wild beasts causing chaos.” When that time came, the ritual officials would immediately interpret it as “heavenly warnings and imperial moral failure.”
Shen Chaoqing had not lost his composure and stepped backward at that time; he had merely turned pale, but the moment was infinitely magnified to become ironclad proof of “virtue unworthy of the position, unable to hold down the scene.” Taking advantage of the name “pacifying the heavenly will,” Li Miaorong smoothly proposed having Li Jingchen assist in managing state affairs, thus hollowing out the imperial power.
Kneeling in the snow, Li Jingchen kept his head buried very low, his tone filled to the extreme with terror: “This subject truly did not know Your Majesty was here! This beast… this beast is normally very docile, but today, goodness knows how it went mad and disturbed the imperial carriage! And… and also disturbed Your Majesty and… this lord’s refined leisure, which is a truly massive offense! This subject failed to govern properly; please subject Your Majesty to severe punishment!”
Every single sentence he uttered was pleading guilty, yet every single word emphasized “disturbing your refined leisure.” Especially that deliberately paused “this lord…”, coupled with the insinuation of binding Xiao Huaiyan’s presence together with Shen Chaoqing’s “refined leisure,” carried a vicious intent that was glaringly obvious.
Not only did he attempt to lightly brush aside the crime of unleashing a dog to shock the imperial carriage onto “a beast going mad,” but he also seized the opportunity to nail Xiao Huaiyan firmly to the pillar of shame as a “male favorite.”
Subjected to such humiliation, Xiao Huaiyan remained entirely unperturbed.
Having provoked Shen Chaoqing, the Heir of the Marquis of Jing’an would not be leaving without getting a layer of skin peeled off.
“Lord Li’s hound is truly ‘loyal in protecting its master,’ it’s just a pity that a beast is a beast—wild and untamed, failing to recognize its master, let alone what heavenly majesty is,” Shen Chaoqing said with a light laugh. “How about adding a pot of dog meat to the Prince of Jing’an’s Manor tonight?”
His words carried pointed meaning, scolding both the dog and, even more so, the man!
The fake smile on Li Jingchen’s face instantly stiffened as he hurriedly said, “Your Majesty!”
“Men, have the cook prepare it and send it to the Prince of Jing’an,” Shen Chaoqing stated indifferently, directly cutting off any possibility of them substituting a civet cat for a crown prince.
Since you wish to scheme against me, I shall reward you with a dish of dog meat to savor slowly.
“Understood.” A few young eunuchs hoisted the dog up and turned around to retreat.
Li Jingchen’s Adam’s apple rolled up and down, swallowing back the words that had reached his lips.
“As for you…” Shen Chaoqing swept his gaze toward Li Jingchen, assuming a thoughtful posture.
Shen Chaoqing’s gaze lingered for a moment upon Li Jingchen’s face, which forced composure yet struggled to conceal panic and humiliation, before a playful smile slowly curved across his lips.
As though finally arriving at a brilliant idea, he said, “Kneel right here until the snow stops.”
That dog had frightened him into breaking out in a full sweat that clung to his back, causing extreme discomfort.
Li Jingchen jerked his head up, his eyes filled with incredulous shock and humiliation! Kneel until the snow stops?! In this freezing winter month with heavy snow flying, when would it ever stop?! This was clearly claiming his life!
He opened his mouth, wanting to beg for mercy, but upon meeting Shen Chaoqing’s eyes, which held no room for negotiation, all the words jammed in his throat, leaving behind only bone-chilling cold. He let his head drop despondently, his body trembling uncontrollably within the cold wind, whether from the freezing cold or from anger, remains unknown.