The silence that followed was heavy. Jian Ci’s grip didn’t loosen. He stared into Yu Xi’s eyes, gaze unwavering, as though trying to read the truth etched behind them. His brows furrowed slightly, lips parted, searching for sothing. But before he could speak again, Yu Xi slapped his arm with a sharp thwap.
"Of course nothing happened," Yu Xi snapped. "Do you think I am that horny? That I would do things with the first person who bats their eyes at ?"
Jian Ci winced, rubbing his arm. "Ow... I was just saying. I rember you left for like thirty minutes and didn’t co back early."
Yu Xi rolled his eyes. "Is that thirty minutes in dog years? It was ten. And when I ca back—"
"Oh," Jian Ci interrupted, rubbing the back of his head, sheepish. "It felt longer. I wanted to go look for you, but Alarna said you would be back soon. Then she opened that bottle and... I don’t rember anything after that."
Yu Xi crossed his arms. "Unlike , you were flirting with Alarna when I ca back."
Jian Ci: "..."
His mouth opened, then closed again.
Yu Xi’s voice was laced with bitterness, sharp and unfiltered as he continued to say, "Her hand was on your thigh, and you were giggling like little girls."
He turned abruptly, heading into the walk-in closet, shoulders tense. Jian Ci scrambled after him, barefoot and flustered. "Wait, wait—I was really drunk. I don’t rember doing that."
Yu Xi didn’t turn around. "Then you should never drink unless I am around. Or your brothers. One day, you’re going to wake up with a guide in your arms demanding you take responsibility."
Jian Ci froze. The image hit him like a slap. His status wasn’t just ceremonial, it was political. If word got out, the Celestial High Court would descend like vultures. They would force a marriage, parade it through the dia. Just like the second prince. In the wedding pictures the guide was smiling but the groom was dead-eyed.The prince had looked like he had been sentenced to a lifeti of misery.
"I promise," Jian Ci said quickly. "No more drinking without you around."
Yu Xi hadn’t ant to scare him, but the truth was brutal. If Jian Ci ever acted the way he had last night with soone else, it wouldn’t end in teasing, it would end in a scandal.
Then Jian Ci’s eyes landed on sothing in the closet. A digital poster, glowing softly from the wall.
"Aaaaaahhhhhh! My wife! Why is my wife here?" Jian Ci’s voice echoed through the closet like a siren.
Yu Xi, who had been calmly sorting through his clothes, froze. He turned slowly, eyes narrowing as he followed Jian Ci’s gaze to the digital poster on the wall.
The word ’wife’ and it not directed at him but to others, hit Yu Xi like a slap.
His glare was sharp enough to slice through steel. For once, Jian Ci felt a chill crawl down his spine, the sa kind of dread he used to feel when his mother caught him sneaking sweets before dinner.
"She’s your ex-wife now," Yu Xi said coldly. "You lost a bet, rember?"
Jian Ci blinked. Oh. That. He rembered the bet, but he hadn’t thought Yu Xi would actually go through with it.
"You can pick anything else," Jian Ci offered quickly. "Even my trophy collection."
Yu Xi smiled slow and sinister. Jian Ci’s instincts scread danger. He felt like a cat caught mid-flirt with a stray, only to turn and find his own cat-girlfriend watching from the shadows.
"You said anything I want," Yu Xi said. "So it’s mine now."
"She’s not an it, she’s a she! Can’t we negotiate?"
"No." Yu Xi grabbed his jacket and swept out of the closet.
Jian Ci stood there, stunned. "..."
He felt like he had been robbed.
anwhile, Yu Xi stord down the hallway, fuming. After being called wife so many tis last night, hearing Jian Ci call that poster woman his wife was the final straw.
He paced the estate like a storm bottled in silk. The gardens, usually a balm to his nerves, did nothing to soothe him. His thoughts circled one na—her.
That woman in the poster. The so-called "wife." Irrational or not, Yu Xi vowed to find her soday and settle the score. Not because she had done anything wrong, but because she existed in Jian Ci’s orbit in a way Yu Xi didn’t. And today, that stung.
After an hour, he returned inside, his emotions tightly reined in. The breakfast table was quiet save for the clink of utensils. Jian Wei sat sipping tea, eyes flicking between his sulking younger brother and the empty seat beside him. Jian Ci looked up the mont Yu Xi entered, his voice tentative. "Ah Xi..."
Yu Xi didn’t respond. He sat down, poured out so tea, picked up his mug, and took a slow sip.
Jian Wei blinked. "What’s the weather forecast today?"
Yu Xi, without looking up, said, "Cloudy. Low temperature. Why?"
Jian Wei chuckled. "I thought it was raining cats and dogs. Because there’s no way you are ignoring Ah Ci."
Yu Xi glanced at Jian Ci, who was sulking over his pancakes, mourning the loss of his beloved poster like it was a national tragedy then turned away and reached for his toast.
Jian Wei leaned over and nudged Jian Ci. "Tell what you did. It must have been that bad."
Jian Ci groaned, burying his face in his hands.
"He got drunk last night," Yu Xi said, voice deceptively calm, partially snitching, just enough to stir the pot.
Jian Wei raised a brow. "That will do it."
Just then, Jian Rui strolled in, catching the tail end of the conversation. "Ah Ci, you know you’re a nace when drunk, yet you still did it?"
Jian Ci groaned, face buried in his hands. "I don’t even rember what I did..."
Jian Wei leaned forward, eyeing Yu Xi. "Is that why you have got dark circles?"
Yu Xi nodded solemnly.
Jian Rui poured himself a coffee and sat beside Jian Ci. "Did he do so crazy shit last night?"
Yu Xi’s mind flashed to the mont Jian Ci stripped, leaned in, and asked, "Wife, do you like it?" His head buzzed.
"He was... quite energetic," Yu Xi said, choosing diplomacy.
Jian Wei chuckled. "Last ti, he jumped into the pool naked and refused to co out."
Jian Rui added, "And sang off-key, demanding we watch his naked performance."
Jian Ci: "..."
He looked like he wanted the earth to split open and swallow him whole.
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