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He was not willing to show just how uncomfortable he was now that the flames of arousal had been banked, so he leaned over the edge of the tub, lifted up a washbasin and washcloth and started bathing himself, as if Xiao Zai wasn\'t sitting across from him, red-faced and hazy-eyed.

"I won," Xiao Zai said, dragging his own washcloth from the back of his neck towards the front of his chest.

Chu Yun wrenched his eyes away from the sight of the rough cloth drawing red angry lines across Xiao Zai\'s hard chest in the shape of his fingers.

"I won, you came first," Chu Yun said, trying to finish his bath as soon as possible and put some distance between the two of them,

"That wasn\'t the deal. The point was to see who had the biggest sword."

Chu Yun opened his mouth to retort but then remembered he was the one to blame for everything that followed, and closed it with a loud click.

He still wasn\'t going to admit defeat.

He finished his bath and silence, and climbed out of the tub, all the while feeling Xiao Zai\'s gaze on his naked back.

Chu Yun dried himself roughly and got dressed back into clean inner robes. With a muttered "goodnight," he slipped into the far corner of the bed, turning his back to Xiao Zai, his shoulders drawn up against his ears.

---

Xiao Zai had a terrible night. Filled with restless tossing and turning, along with the usual discomfort of sleeping in an unfamiliar bed. Which was compounded by the fact that his bed back at the estate still counted as unfamiliar.

Chu Yun was incredibly subdued since the previous night, something Xiao Zai would feel glad for, if it didn\'t leave him so disconcerted himself.

He had not idea what possessed him to go along with Chu Yun\'s stupid challenge -- the first one, let alone the second.

He could only write it off as the ill-advised exploits that young alphas sometimes got themselves into -- daring each other to see who\'d take the biggest risks, and possibly get injured the most.

Except he and Chu Yun were grown men, and the humiliation Xiao Zai was feeling was a testament to just how juvenile the whole thing had been.

They barely spoke to each other for the rest of the journey, each keeping to their side of the carriage and saying very little outside of comments about the weather and vague comments when Xiao Zai asked him if they should stop to eat.

All other inns they stayed at on their way to Xin had rooms to spare which was a relief for Xiao Zai.

At night his dreams were plagued by visions of Chu Yun\'s flushed face and angry fox eyes that Xiao Zai couldn\'t make sense of in the morning.

Their arrival in Lanzhou couldn\'t come fast enough.

---

Chu Yun\'s spirits lifted the moment they crossed the border, but as they drew nearer to Lanzhou he began making a nuisance of himself again.

He was well aware that his constant comments were grating on Xiao Zai but he had no intention of stopping.

"The weather is so much nicer now that we\'re in Xin."

"Even the air smells better in Xin."

"I think the journey has become a lot smoother since we\'ve crossed the border."

"Have you spent any time in Lanzhou at all? It\'s a beautiful city, and all our streets are cobbled, even the ones outside the estates of disgraced nobles."

Eventually, Xiao Zai couldn\'t take it anymore. "It\'s a shame about the terrible infrastructure in the south."

Chu Yun shot him a warning look, but Xiao Zai was determined to shut him up. "Another drought in the south and Xin will have something much worse than uncobbled streets on its hands."

The worst part was the he was right, and Chu Yun\'s incompetent uncle was likely to keep throwing money at all the local princes and dukes who came up with \'solutions\' but actually just appropriated the royal purse\'s funds and carried on as usual.

"Well, there\'s nothing I can do about it now, is there?" Chu Yun said, sliding the carriage\'s window open and looking out at the greenery moving past them.

Xiao Zai snorted. "Don\'t pretend you were going to do anything about it before marrying me."

"What about you?" Chu Yun snapped. "The tales of Zui\'s prohibitive grain taxes on its beta population are legendary. Don\'t you think it\'s a bad idea to single out an alienate such a large percentage of your own people?" He smirked. "Kings have been killed over less."

"And I would be throwing the gates wide open and welcoming them in" Xiao Zai said.

Finally, Chu Yun fell silent, retreating to his side of the carriage in sulky contemplation.

---

Xiao Zai was exhausted by the time they arrived at the Prince of Jing\'s estate. Everything had been prepared for their arrival. The main gates were cheerfully decorated with flower garlands and silk banners.

Despite his sour mood, Xiao Zai plastered on a smile to greet his father and mother-in-law, despite both being partly to blame for raising such a contrarian and difficult son.

Madam Jing broke out in tears the moment Chu Yun stepped out of the carriage and rushed to wrap him in a tight hug.

"My child, you\'ve lost weight!" she exclaimed, lowering her arms from Chu Yun\'s shoulders to wrap them around his waist and take his measure.

Chu Yun sighed dramatically, returning his mother\'s embrace. "I\'m afraid the food in Zui isn\'t to my liking."

Xiao Zai balled his hands into fists to prevent himself from rolling his eyes.. It was going to be a long couple of days.