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"His Grace is in a mood most foul this morning," he said, grimacing slightly. "He has threatened to scalp the kitten, \'Little Monster\' twice."

Xiao Zai chuckled. "Just twice? That means his mood is improving."

Little Pan gave him a look that conveyed just how deeply he worried for his mental health, and how glad he was to be a servant that wasn\'t at liberty to voice those concerns in front of his master.

The time of the man\'s arrival eventually came, and as expected, Chu Yun was nowhere to be seen.

It fell to Xiao Zai to welcome the First Prince\'s carriage. Who was delivering his favourite to Xiao Zai\'s doorstep himself.

It left Xiao Zai to stand awkwardly in the courtyard, in front of the carriage as his brother fussed with the quiet servant\'s robes. It was obvious that \'Jiang-er\' had never performed a servant\'s duties in Xiao Yuan\'s estate. His status as manservant served only to try and sidestep the more vocal rumours about the nature of Xiao Yuan\'s attachment to him, which Xiao Zai couldn\'t think about without wanting to pummel his face into a bloody pulp.

Finally, Xiao Yuan turned to address Xiao Zai, having the good grace to look contrite.

"I\'m not sure what father intends with this," he said, clearing his throat awkwardly. "But, I am entrusting Jiang-er into your care."

Their father wanted to punish Xiao Zai for being Gu Wei\'s son, and Xiao Yuan for ever having looked in his direction. It wasn\'t a difficult conclusion to draw. Xiao Yuan would see it too, if he hadn\'t spent the past half decade pickling his brain in wine.

The servant was just another of the King\'s tools in his newest punishment scheme.

The man in question bowed deeply to Xiao Zai. "This one is called Fan Jiang and will endeavour serve his Second Highness to the best of his abilities."

Xiao Zai was glad that he could finally stop calling the man \'Jiang-er\' in his head, and for little else.

Fan Jiang and Xiao Yuan said their goodbyes, while Xiao Zai stood awkwardly off to the side.

He turned to face Xiao Zai as soon as his brother had left. "I understand that his Highness never intended to have this one as a servant, but Fan Jiang will do his best to serve his Highness and his Grace to the best of his ability."

He bowed deeply once again. A small chest with his possessions lay at his feet, resting on the unpaved road that gave Chu Yun fits and hadn\'t yet been covered with the blanket of white Xiao Zai had promised him.

Looking at Fan Jiang\'s face gave Xiao Zai the impression of looking at a painting of his dam created by an artist of subpar skill. He averted his eyes and pointed to a building on the far right. "The servant quarters are that way. You\'ll find all the senior servants in the kitchen, they\'ll put you to work."

Xiao Zai watched him go, dragging his chest by one of the handles, with little remorse. He didn\'t know what Chu Yun thought of the whole thing, but in Xiao Zai\'s opinion, only one person could have told his father about Chu Yun\'s comment to Xiao Yuan, and he was staring him right in the back.

---

Chu Yun was fuming. He\'d spent the entire day locked inside his quarters, only allowing Hua Nanyi\'s company.

"He\'s here already, the head servant got him settled and then told him his job would be to muck the stables," she said, after returning from a brief incursion outside the room. "His name is Fan Jiang."

Chu Yun was perfectly content with that. At least he could expect the servants he had personally hired to run the little weasel ragged.

He hoped Fan Jiang was happy with himself. He hoped that running to tell the King what Chu Yun had told the First Prince was worth his demotion from bed warmer to stablehand. 

There was no doubt in Chu Yun\'s mind that it was him who had reported the contents of his conversation with Xiao Yuan to the King. 

Xiao Yuan wouldn\'t have done it himself, as attracting attention to his own dependency on a lowly servant wouldn\'t be good for him.

His ambitious concubine would have been thrilled at the prospect of getting rid of his favourite. Absolutely riveted. Obviously the only thing she would have done was burn some incense at the nearest temple hoping it would come to pass soon.

Xiao Zai would never.

Chu Yun obviously hadn\'t.

So that left Fan Jiang, who, for all Chu Yun knew, had been planted at Xiao Yuan\'s side by the King himself in a vain attempt to get him to let go of his unhealthy obsession for Gu Wei.

Or, if that wasn\'t the case, had at the very lest been threatened by him into obeying his orders.

Before their little conversation, Chu Yun wouldn\'t think the King of Zui was the kind to have someone killed because their existence was inconvenient. Now he wasn\'t so sure.

Whether Fan Jiang had acted of his own volition or under the King\'s orders, now he was a threat to Chu Yun.

Hua Nanyi had just sat down and was pouring herself a cup of tea when Chu Yun said, "Go out into the city, see what you can dig up about Fan Jiang, his past, family, anything."

She put down her cup with a groan. "Really? I just got back."

Chu Yun grumbled under his breath. "Fine, have your tea first, I don\'t even know what I\'m paying you for."

Her lips split into a huge, delighted, grin. "Technically, it\'s your husband who pays me."

Chu Yun threw a chestnut at her head for the impertinence but it only made her laugh harder.