Red Sleeves and Fragrant Nights of Study

The candles flickered within the Hall of Literary Brilliance. The tightly shut window suddenly creaked open, and the wind that slipped in sent the pages on the desk rustling.

Shen Tingjue nimbly climbed in through the window and casually shut it tight behind him.

Xiao Hanye: "..."

What was wrong with him?

There was a perfectly good door, yet he always insisted on climbing through windows.

Xiao Hanye was currently seated beside the desk in a white outer robe, reading memorials. It made him seem less sharp and domineering, more gentle and refined. Having just bathed, he also smelled rather nice.

As expected, handsome men were pleasing to look at.

Shen Tingjue walked toward him, rubbing his hands together with a grin. Before he even reached him, he frivolously called, "Beauty," looking every bit like a debauched young master about to tease a respectable handsome man.

Xiao Hanye narrowed his eyes. Just as Shen Tingjue's hand touched his collar, he pinned him to the desk and reached out to tickle his waist. Shen Tingjue burst into giggles, half itchy and half tingling as he struggled and begged for mercy, all dignity instantly gone.

Xiao Hanye tilted his chin straight and recalled what the shadow guards had reported today. Frowning, he asked, "I heard you refused to take your medicine?"

Shen Tingjue wiped away the tears of laughter and held his fingertips. "Why should I take medicine?"

Xiao Hanye pulled back his hand. "Why not?"

Shen Tingjue opened his eyes wide, feigning bewilderment. "Why should I?"

Xiao Hanye said, "It can cure your brain ailment."

Shen Tingjue continued to look at him as though he understood yet did not understand. "Why should I cure my brain ailment?"

A vein throbbed at Xiao Hanye's temple. Suppressing his temper, he stared him down. "You don't want to be cured?"

Shen Tingjue replied, "Why would I want to be cured?"

"You..."

His Highness the Crown Prince clenched his fists and took a deep breath. He wavered between "teach him a lesson with his fists" and "give up talking to him," before helplessly choosing the latter. Expressionless, he returned to his seat and continued reading the memorials.

Forget it. Any more of this would hurt his liver.

Seeing that Xiao Hanye could do nothing to him, Shen Tingjue chuckled and threw himself into his arms. "Red sleeves and fragrant nights of study—this is the sort of scene scholars in storybooks love most."

Xiao Hanye gave a derisive laugh, fixing his eyes on the memorials as he tried to be an upright gentleman unswayed by beauty. "I am not a scholar, and you are not red sleeves."

Shen Tingjue blocked the memorials, forcing him to look at him. Then he pulled a bulging oil-paper packet from his wide sleeve and offered it to him as if presenting a treasure.

"These beef pies are for you. The common folk all say they're good, so I specifically took a detour to East City Avenue to buy them for you. I stood in line for ages."

What a load of nonsense. Xiao Hanye glanced at it casually. There were about five or six inside the oil-paper packet, and they looked completely cold.

Xiao Hanye said disdainfully, "You're giving me your leftovers?"

Caught out at once, Shen Tingjue did not blush or skip a beat as he calmly argued, "No. I bought ten. I ate four myself and gave you six. Does Your Highness know what that's called?"

Xiao Hanye looked at him without saying a word.

Shen Tingjue shoved the oil-paper packet toward him, his eyes fervent and his expression overflowing with feeling. "Not forgetting the hardships we shared."

Xiao Hanye's face darkened. "..."

To hell with you.

If he did not know how to use idioms, he should not use them!

Xiao Hanye kindly reminded him, "When you're outside, never speak so pedantically, especially not in front of scholars. Don't keep blurting out four-character phrases."

Otherwise, he would make people laugh themselves to death.

Shen Tingjue squeezed out a perfunctory "Mm" through his nose. Looking at Xiao Hanye's handsome features, the frustration in his heart immediately vanished. He could not resist leaning over to kiss him.

He was so good-looking.

Surely no one in the world could refuse such a handsome and imposing Crown Prince, skilled in both letters and arms, and the future ruler besides.

Unfortunately, he was mine.

It did not matter who coveted him.

A warm thumb brushed over the corner of his mouth. Xiao Hanye had been kissed and gazed at tenderly for so long that his heart grew itchy, and his face inexplicably warmed.

Shen Tingjue kissed the corner of his lips, his face plainly saying, "Come do bad things—the kind where we don't wear clothes."

Xiao Hanye reached out with two fingers and pinched the back of his neck as though handling a small animal, pulling him a little farther away. He flicked his forehead, his eyes carrying an indulgence even he had not noticed. "Stop fooling around. I still have memorials to review. If you're bored, I'll have the attendants bring White Dragon and White Tiger over to play with you."

Shen Tingjue wrapped his arms around his waist. "No."

What was so fun about wolves?

They could not compare to curling up in a handsome man's arms for a nap.

Shen Tingjue shifted into a comfortable position on his own. Leaning against that broad chest made him feel overwhelmingly safe, and he could not help reaching out to stroke it a few times to satisfy himself. "Your Highness didn't chase me away tonight. Could it be that you're not used to sleeping alone anymore?"

Xiao Hanye pointed at the window, his expression icy. "Get out."

Shen Tingjue immediately closed his eyes. I'm asleep. What did you say? I can't hear you.

Now and then, a wisp of wind slipped through the crack in the window, making the candle flames sway faintly. Their glow filled the hall with warmth, leaving even this winter night without loneliness.

There was someone curled up in his arms whose heart and eyes were filled with him, obedient and dependent, constantly drawing the Crown Prince's thoughts astray.

Knowing Xiao Hanye was still occupied with state affairs, Wu Dequan feared he would overtax his mind and specially brewed some ginseng tea to bring in. Yet he found that the Crown Prince was not working at all. Instead, he was staring absently at the person in his arms, as though some devastating enchantress had stolen his soul and left him with no mind for affairs of state.

The East Palace steward was somewhat distressed. "Ahem, Your Highness..."

Xiao Hanye raised a finger to his lips.

Wu Dequan fell silent at once. He quietly walked over and set the ginseng tea on the desk. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that one of Shen Tingjue's hands had actually slipped inside the Crown Prince's robe. He did not know whether it was because Shen Tingjue's hand was cold or for some other reason.

This, this, this... What sort of propriety was that!

Outrageous. It was truly outrageous!

Wu Dequan puffed out his beard and glared, but seeing that Xiao Hanye did not care in the slightest, he could hardly step forward and pull that hand out. He could only silently rub his temples before bowing and withdrawing.

Alas.

If this indulgence continued, even someone who was not an ancestor would become one. He wondered whether Lin Zhao would still be so wild and uninhibited once he recovered his memories.

But His Highness seemed to like him this way.

After all, he had become much more human than before, and he smiled more often too.

So that Shen Tingjue would not affect his work, Xiao Hanye carried him to the bed, pulled the quilt over him securely, and blew out the candles in the hall, leaving only a glazed lamp beside the desk, its light dim and hazy.

Another half hour passed. The wind and snow outside seemed to grow louder. Shen Tingjue slept restlessly, even his eyelashes trembling faintly as he tossed and turned in bed, making soft rustling sounds. Unable to work in peace because of him, Xiao Hanye set down the memorials and went over to lift the bed curtains.

As if sensing his presence, Shen Tingjue immediately hugged the quilt and rolled from the corner of the bed to his side. He opened his eyes groggily, and it seemed a misty spring rain had melted into their depths. He rubbed his head against Xiao Hanye, his gesture full of spoiled affection.

Cold-hearted devils were most susceptible to this.

Even the hardest heart would melt into a mess.

The Crown Prince was no exception.

"Sleep."

Xiao Hanye gently patted his back, his movements light and slow, as though soothing a child to sleep.