Ye Mian sat astride Zhuang Xu’s lap, mischievously pinching the soft flesh of his cheeks and pulling outward.

He sounded sour and sarcastic: “The Prince of Rongnan is quite high and mighty! Barely back in the capital and you already have me kowtowing to you!”

“Hiss, you little scoundrel!”

Zhuang Xu shook his head, hugging him with one arm while using the other to swat his hand away. The pages and attendants waiting by the pool saw this and hurriedly retreated.

Ye Mian went back to gnawing on his lips. Zhuang Xu let him make a scene, simply wrapping both arms around his waist to keep him from losing his balance and falling.

In truth, the moment Ye Mian touched him, most of his anger vanished. He had just been putting on a show, and after venting for a while, he pulled back, looking at him with crinkled eyes.

“No patience at all,” Zhuang Xu muttered, chasing after him with a dissatisfied grunt, then coaxing him softly, “Open your mouth… be a good boy.”

After they had made a fuss for a while, Ye Mian turned and leaned against the edge of the pool, sitting side-by-side with Zhuang Xu. Ye Mian smacked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, annoyed, “My tongue is torn again. How am I supposed to eat later? Eunuch Hu said there’s that mustard fish fillet I love today. Can’t you break that dog-biting habit of yours? Every time I tell you to be gentle, you never listen!”

“Let me see.”

Zhuang Xu pinched his chin, leaning in for a closer look, gently brushing his thumb over Ye Mian’s lower lip. “The skin isn’t even broken. It’s perfectly fine—so delicate!”

“It still hurts!”

“Kissing it again tonight will make it better.”

“Do you take me for an idiot?”

Ye Mian was so angry he laughed. After thinking about it, he added, “I’m a Shujishi of this year’s cohort, Shujishi Ye! What kind of official would be an idiot?”

Ye Mian was being super casual, but it sounded incredibly deliberate as he showed off.

Zhuang Xu: “…………”

Ignoring him, Zhuang Xu waved away two attendants who were approaching and took the Wuhe scent balm to wash Ye Mian’s hair himself.

“I calculated the time to leave the palace and pick you up after work. Why did you run away when you saw me?”

Zhuang Xu had been out of the capital for two months, missing him so much he had blisters on his lips. He had rushed to pick him up the moment he returned, even turning down a dinner invitation from his royal grandmother, yet he hadn’t managed to meet him. He had been harboring his own frustration all the way back to the estate.

Ye Mian: “You set up such a grand procession, and officials from every street and alley were watching. Good grief! I had to kowtow to you just to get to you!”

“What’s wrong with kowtowing to me?” Zhuang Xu said flatly. “Why is there anything to be aggrieved about?”

Ye Mian was choked with frustration and gave him a smack on the arm. “If it’s not a big deal, why don’t you kowtow to me? As if your family’s heads are made of gold!”

“Don’t make a scene!” Zhuang Xu pressed him down, annoyed, and picked up a towel to wipe the soapy water off Ye Mian’s face.

Ye Mian rolled his eyes at him. “Last year, your Grand Princess’s estate was at each other’s throats with Noble Consort Jia and the Second Prince, and wasn’t it all for the sake of that ‘noble’ head of yours?”

Last year, Zhuang Xu received an edict elevating him to the rank of Prince, wearing jade and bells—it was a sensation in the capital. That was when everyone finally realized why the Rongnan Commandery Prince’s estate had started construction years ago upon receiving the title, yet until now, only the orientation and central axis had been established, without even the foundation being tamped. It turned out that Grand Princess Rongyi’s blueprint for Zhuang Xu had always been that of a Prince; the mother and son had never looked at the rank of Commandery Prince as anything of note.

Last summer, the Empress Dowager frequently woke up screaming from nightmares, crying to the Emperor that the late Emperor had visited her in dreams, fretting over the Grand Princess in the south, and saying she couldn’t find peace even in the netherworld. Emperor Kangwen quickly summoned the Imperial Board of Astronomy to interpret the omens, cast burial-warding artifacts, wore mourning clothes for the Imperial Tombs with extreme rites, and issued an edict to the Jinling Grand Princess’s estate, adopting Grand Princess Rongyi’s eldest son, Zhuang Xu, as the heir, bestowing upon him the title of Prince Rongnan, and keeping him in the capital to serve the Empress Dowager and fulfill filial duties on behalf of his mother.

The royal family put on a lively show, and the entire capital had to play along, eating vegetarian meals and writing prayers of merit. Even the censors didn’t dare say a word; after all, the “restlessness of the late Emperor in the netherworld” had been invoked. Even if there were slight irregularities in ritual, they could only keep one eye shut and pretend not to see.

Outsiders only thought it was easy for the Prince of Rongnan to be elevated, but Ye Mian knew some of the inside story. Before the edict came down, Noble Consort Jia and the Second Prince had caused no end of trouble. Among the current princes, excluding the Crown Prince, only the Second Prince had been elevated to Prince—a unique honor among the princes—and his title happened to contain the character “Rong” (Glory).

“Rong” meant prosperous; it displayed virtue and royal favor—an excellent character for a title. Noble Consort Jia had had her eye on it for a long time. Now, there was another “Rong” title, and she felt instantly overshadowed. Noble Consort Jia was so angry she couldn’t sleep for days. Years ago, when the Grand Princess chose the Commandery Prince title “Rongnan” for Zhuang Xu, she had been extremely unhappy, but eventually swallowed the insult thinking the ranks were different.

Now that Zhuang Xu was to be a Prince and keep that “Rong” character, wasn’t that intentionally setting out to cross her? Noble Consort Jia was sick and crying, and Emperor Kangwen coaxed her with patience but had no intention of backing down. Adopting Zhuang Xu and making him a Prince involved朝堂 (the royal court) and the Jiangnan salt administration; it was a move he and his trusted old ministers had deliberated over—there was no possibility of interference from the harem.

Grand Princess Rongyi had always been spoiled and uninhibited. She turned around and held a flower banquet in the capital, saying quite nonchalantly in the middle of it: “This Princess will not allow my son to be half an inch lower than anyone irrelevant.”

Her attitude was haughty and arrogant. Since that banquet, the noblewomen of the capital were all stirred up, running between relatives, sisters-in-law, and friends’ estates. It was simply too juicy of a gossip: the Emperor’s favorite Consort was at war with the late Empress Dowager’s favorite Princess! That month, the famous snack shops in the capital sold out before noon.

Seeing the faint anger on Ye Mian’s face, Zhuang Xu asked, confused: “You can’t lower your head to outsiders, but what does it matter between us? When you were naughty and wanted to ride me like a horse two years ago, didn’t I let you?”

“…” Ye Mian was rendered speechless, his face flushing deep red. He scooped up a handful of water and splashed it on his face. “Get lost! Is that the same thing?”

The two of them messed around in the Zhuoying Hall for a while, and by the time they came out, the sky was just turning dark. Ye Mian had just ordered dinner when an attendant came in to relay a message: “Master Wen from the Court of Imperial Entertainments is here; he’s in the flower hall.”

“Oh? Why is Wen Xun here at this hour?” Ye Mian wondered. “Is something the matter? I’ll go see.”

Zhuang Xu nodded. “Go. Don’t be too long.”

In the flower hall, Wen Xun was sitting with his legs crossed, sipping guest tea. Ye Mian wasn’t slow; on the way to the hall, he had already figured it out. Seeing him, he asked, “You didn’t come looking for me, did you? Is there something you need Zhuang Xu’s help with?”

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have held it in for so many days, only to rush to the Princess’s estate the very first day Zhuang Xu returned.

Wen Xun gave a sneaky, roguish laugh.

Ye Mian was amused. “What are you giggling about? Out with it.”

Wen Xun touched his head, feeling quite embarrassed. Back in school, Prince Rongnan had attended the Imperial Academy with them, and he and his brothers had been jealous that he had “stolen” Ye Mian. They had never been on good terms with him, often whispering behind his back or making snide remarks to his face.

After spending a year out of the Imperial Academy, encountering only the ways of the world and patriarchal laws, they realized it wasn’t that they couldn’t be touched, but that Zhuang Xu had been sparing their feelings for Ye Mian’s sake.

And now, having to ask for a favor…

Wen Xun felt quite miserable. He had grown up pampered and golden, but after entering the bureaucracy, the trivialities had worn him down, leading him to shamelessly come to the Princess’s estate during dinner time.

“I want to ask to borrow Zhuang Xu’s private courier routes,” Wen Xun started. “The segment from Jiangnan to the capital.”

Ye Mian was stunned. “What are you using that for?”

“Transporting shad.”

“Huh?”

Wen Xun laughed out of frustration at himself. “Next month, the eldest Prince of Northern Yan is coming to our Great Wen to pay tribute. In his letter from a few days ago, he specifically asked to eat Jiangnan shad, saying he had tasted it years ago and still remembers the flavor fondly.”

Ye Mian clicked his tongue. “What a gluttonous kid…”

Wen Xun: “Jiangnan only presents shad to the capital in mid-May. The Court of Imperial Entertainments wants to transport a batch by boat ahead of time, but the trip takes at least a month and a half. By the time the fish arrives, that greedy Prince will have already left the capital.”

“You want to transport it by land?” Ye Mian asked. “Then why not use the official courier stations?”

Wen Xun had a headache. “Shad is incredibly delicate and dies the moment it leaves the water. It needs to be iced in boxes along the way, with the ice changed every hundred miles. How could the official stations possibly have that many ice cellars?”

Ye Mian looked at Wen Xun suspiciously. “Zhuang Xu has them?”

Wen Xun’s eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously. “He does, he does! If he tells you he doesn’t, he’s lying to you—he must be holding a grudge, don’t believe him!”

Ye Mian: “…”

Wen Xun hadn’t been wasting his time at the Court of Imperial Entertainments these past six months; he had gotten a clear grasp of how things worked. The imperial courier stations were watched by censors and couldn’t be extravagant, but the private couriers of the Princess’s estate used their own money—even if they spent it like water, no one dared to criticize them. Over the years, the private stations on the road from Jiangnan to the capital were densely packed. Not only were they equipped with ice cellars, but some larger stations even had fresh-produce greenhouses and live-fish ponds.

Outsiders thought it was for the sake of filial piety to the palace, but Wen Xun knew the tricks behind it. Before those fresh goods entered the palace, they had to be selected and graded by the Court of Imperial Entertainments. He had tasted them a few times, and neither the presentation nor the taste was as good as what he ate here at Ye Mian’s.

While the ladies of the harem were busy preening over who got the first fresh loquats or bayberries of the year, they had no idea that the “first share” was the leftovers others had picked through.

Wen Xun was crafty. He knew perfectly well who Zhuang Xu’s private courier routes were really set up for. That was why he thought of asking Ye Mian to speak to the Prince of Rongnan; otherwise, who else could move such a “Great Buddha”?

Ye Mian nodded. “I’ll mention it to him in a bit. Look at how anxious you are…”

Ye Mian rubbed Wen Xun’s head. “Is this worth missing dinner for, rushing over here with a flushed face? Go on, we’ve just set the table. Come eat with us. There’s some exceptionally fresh mustard fish fillet tonight; I don’t care for it, so it’s perfect—you’re here, so you can have it all.”

Wen Xun quickly waved his hand. “I’m not going.”

Ye Mian paused. “Why?”

Wen Xun gestured toward the rear hall, looking a bit aggrieved. “He just got back. You two are like newlyweds reuniting after being apart; I’m not going to cause a nuisance. If I provoke his annoyance, the next time I come, he’ll have me drinking tea at the gatehouse.”

Having just begged the Prince of Rongnan for a favor, he had to be tactful. When he had entered the estate, the gatehouse lobby was full of officials of all ranks waiting to deliver their calling cards, all blocked there drinking tea, unable to even enter the ceremonial gate. That he was politely invited in by the gatekeeper was only because of Ye Mian.

Ye Mian glared at him. “Cut the nonsense!” He pulled him toward the inside. “If I don’t let you in, you can climb the wall or dig through a dog hole—could a little thing like that stop you?”

Wen Xun laughed and bickered with him. “I wouldn’t dare; that’s a crime punishable by the extermination of the nine clans!”

After the Grand Princess’s wedding, she lived in Jinling, so the Princess’s estate in the capital had been managed by the Imperial Palace’s Palace Secretariat since it was built, including guards and security. Anyone entering or leaving to petition the court followed palace protocol. Trespassing on the Grand Princess’s estate was the same as breaking into the palace forbidden grounds—handled as the high crime of treason!

Wen Xun was pulled in to dine, and Zhuang Xu wasn’t in the slightest bit surprised. Even before the two arrived, three bowls and pairs of chopsticks were already set on the table.

Since entering the bureaucracy, Wen Xun had learned when to advance and retreat. He stood up to offer the Prince of Rongnan a glass of wine first.

Ye Mian looked at his boyfriend and his good brother, feeling quite touched and gratified. It’s truly miraculous. Once a person starts working, it really is different. Who knew that in just a few months, he’d actually become so sensible…

Ye Mian had been the “sandwich cookie” for so many years that he was already sick of it. Logically speaking, there was a vast gap in status between him and Zhuang Xu. Since they were together, the obstacles should have been greater on Zhuang Xu’s side. The Princess’s estate shouldn’t have been whispering sweet nothings; they should have been slapping him with ten thousand taels of silver and telling him to get lost.

Who would have thought that Zhuang Xu’s side was all green lights, while his own side was a pit of fire? It was bad enough that his parents and eldest brother had jumped three feet high upon finding out, but even his brothers had been bickering with him one after another.

For all these years, Ye Mian had been like a mouse in a bellows, getting pressured from all sides, soothing one end after the other until he was absolutely frazzled.

He couldn’t help but think of his two cousins from his previous life. Whenever they met, they would complain about how their best friends and boyfriends just couldn’t get along, constantly urging them to break up, which caused them no end of trouble.

Back then, Ye Mian didn’t understand, but now, he wanted to join them and talk through the night.

He had a belly full of bitterness, too…