It seemed that had also been the first time he met Lou Yun.
"It's all your fault." Pei Qing, always gentle and never one to lose his temper, felt resentment toward someone for the first time.
The little crown prince dared not argue when Pei Qing blamed him and kept apologizing. "I was wrong. I failed to keep an eye on him."
For Pei Qing, who had always been shut away in the palace, Tuantuan was his only playmate. Now that his playmate had disappeared, he was so anxious he nearly cried.
"Y-you mustn't cry. I was wrong, I really was. Little teacher, I promise that from now on, if you say east, I'll never go west. I'll follow your lead in everything. Don't cry, don't cry."
However disrespectfully Lou Ze'an usually treated Pei Qing, he still regarded him as his teacher at heart. If your teacher were sobbing his eyes out in front of you, and you were the culprit, wouldn't you panic?
At any rate, the little crown prince was utterly panicked. He wished he could slap yesterday's version of himself, who had thrown a tantrum and insisted that Pei Qing bring Tuantuan, straight into the mud.
It was also from this incident onward that Lou Ze'an's feelings for Pei Qing went beyond admiration for a teacher, gaining something of the care he would show a younger brother.
So the young imperial tutor famed throughout the capital was only a child about his own age, after all.
"Find him." Pei Qing struggled to hold his emotions in. The imperial palace was unlike other places. One moment's carelessness could offend one of its noble occupants, and offending any of them could get Tuantuan beaten to death on the spot. At the thought of that possibility, Pei Qing could not settle his heart.
"All right, all right. I'll look. I'll look."
The little crown prince led the veiled little imperial tutor around asking questions, finally learning that Tuantuan had run into the rear palace.
The news struck Pei Qing like a bolt from a clear sky. Outside men could not enter the rear palace. Now Tuantuan had only a slim chance of survival.
Lou Ze'an knew that rule too. Precocious as he was, he decided to take the little imperial tutor, who had always obeyed every rule, along to do something outrageously improper.
Leaving Pei Qing in an empty little courtyard, he hurried back to his palace, stripped the clothes off his attending eunuch, and ran out.
The poor little eunuch hugged himself, clad in nothing but his underclothes, and trembled in the crown prince's bedchamber. I don't want to offer up my body yet! Besides, His Highness is only nine. How is he already curious about this sort of thing? And with men! Who taught the crown prince to be bad?
He bit his handkerchief.
Huh? Where did His Highness go?
By then, the little crown prince was racing along, swiftly weaving past the attendants as he dashed toward his teacher.
"Here, put this on. I'll take you inside to look. Nothing will happen." Seeing those plump little fists clenched so tightly, the little crown prince made his promise with all the sincerity he could muster.
The young Pei Qing dubiously accepted the eunuch's uniform. Once dressed, he followed cautiously behind Lou Ze'an.
They searched for several hours, until the sky was nearly dark and he was almost ready to give up hope, slowly accepting the fact that Tuantuan was gone.
At last, a palace maid told them that Tuantuan seemed to have run into the residence up ahead.
"Isn't that Xiao Yun's residence?"
The only person in the palace whom Lou Ze'an would call Xiao Yun was his sickly full sister-Lou Yun.
So this was a princess's residence?
Upon discovering that it was his own sister's residence, the little crown prince lost his earlier apprehension and charged inside, calling, "Xiao Yun, Xiao Yun! Your imperial brother has come to see you!"
Reclining on a chaise longue, Lou Yun languidly raised her eyes at the noise as a bright-yellow dumpling flung himself toward her.
"Imperial brother." In contrast to Lou Ze'an's enthusiasm, Lou Yun was exceedingly cool.
Yet Lou Ze'an showed no disappointment at all. Taking his imperial sister's hand, he launched into a stream of chatter.
Pei Qing's gaze swept hastily over them before settling on the white ball curled docilely in the girl's arms.
He tugged at the delighted little crown prince's hem, signaling for him to look down.
Lou Ze'an looked down as prompted and saw the little white cat sleeping soundly in Lou Yun's arms. "Xiao Yun, how come Tuantuan is so well-behaved with you?" he exclaimed.
"Tuantuan? Is that this cat's name?"
"Yes. He's the cat belonging to the imperial... the young gentleman behind me. I begged him to bring him along, but I didn't watch him properly during lessons and let him escape. We've had quite a search."
Lou Yun's gaze lingered on Pei Qing, who wore an ill-fitting eunuch's uniform and a veil that only made his disguise more conspicuous.
"Since he's yours, take him away."
Despite saying that, she showed no intention of helping. The kitten was in her arms. How could he, a man, take something from another woman's embrace?
"May I trouble... may I trouble Your Highness to hand Tuantuan to me?"
The boy's voice was quiet, even carrying a scarcely perceptible shyness.
But none of that escaped Lou Yun, who had already lived a lifetime.
He gets shy so easily?
Interesting.
Being shut away in the palace was dull. With someone who looked entertaining delivered to her so rarely, it would be a shame not to use him to relieve her boredom.
"Oh? You seem perfectly able-bodied, young gentleman. Why not come and pick him up yourself?"
"Men and women must not touch when passing things."
So he was a bookworm who restrained himself and observed propriety? Lou Yun abruptly lost interest.
"Do you know, young gentleman, that your own things can only..."
Be held securely if you fight for them yourself.
The girl's words stopped short, for the boy she had thought rigidly bound by convention did something improper right before her eyes.
"Forgive my offense."
The boy offered only that apology before actually reaching out and taking the cat from her arms.
He looked so well-behaved, yet unexpectedly, he was brazen to the bone.
Even in his dreams, the cat seemed to sense his owner's presence and nuzzled docilely into the crook of the boy's arm.
Who knew which of the boy's actions had pleased her, but Lou Yun glanced at the sky and kindly reminded him, "If you don't leave now, young gentleman, it will be dark."
Once darkness fell, he would no longer be able to leave through the palace gates.
The boy had only just recovered his treasure. The love and tenderness in his eyes had yet to fade when they met Lou Yun's gaze head-on.
She could not explain what sort of feeling it was. She only knew that even someone like her, who had seen countless people, would stare blankly at such utterly untainted eyes, unable to react.
"Thank you, Your Highness. I will certainly repay your kindness today."
It was clearly nothing more than a casual promise from a boy who did not understand its weight, yet for an instant, those eyes made Lou Yun want to believe him.
She watched the two figures, one quiet and one lively, walk away as they teased the cat.
Only then did Lou Yun come back to herself. She laughed despite herself and sighed. "A liar who didn't even leave his name, yet he talks of repaying kindness?"
The liar Pei Qing was waiting joyfully for the figure who had promised to appear at the Imperial Academy's entrance.
When the figure he had long awaited truly appeared where he had imagined, Pei Qing wished he could fly straight to Lou Yun's side. His body felt impossibly light, yet because he was at the Imperial Academy, in his capacity as a teacher, he deliberately maintained his composure.
For once, Lou Yun behaved with dignity before so many people, displaying something of her imperial nobility. At the sight of Pei Qing, outwardly calm but walking so fast that his feet almost stirred a breeze, she broke into a smile.
She subtly opened her arms a little to welcome the butterfly fluttering toward her.
Unfortunately, upon reaching her, Pei Qing halted
his steps. How wonderful it would have been if he had collided with her instead. Then she could have openly gathered him into her arms and proclaimed her dominance to those watching, openly or in secret.
Whatever their purpose in watching Pei Qing, she wanted to proclaim to the world that this man was hers. Any desire anyone other than her harbored for him was coveting and theft.
Chapter 14
"Your Highness." The young man's voice was delighted.
"Hmm?"
"I've finished my official duties." The young man phrased it cleverly, neither stating his true meaning nor making it difficult to guess.
Unwilling to grant the young man his wish so easily, Lou Yun asked instead:
"Hungry?"
"Huh?" Pei Qing was puzzled.
Lou Yun raised the food box in her hand. "I brought you some hibiscus cakes."
Looking at the young man's eyes, which shone even brighter than before,
Lou Yun thought, Oh no. I seem to have pleased him even more.
Nearby, some officials who had come to collect their children watched the pair enter the carriage one after the other. Coming back to themselves, they exchanged remarks:
"The imperial tutor and His Highness the Crown Prince are so close. It reminds me of when they were both still at the Imperial Academy."
"Really? Why does something about it seem a little off to me?" one man countered.
"What's off about it? Overthinking again. Lord Fan, you should keep your mind on official business. How long has it been since you were supposed to send me last week's case?"
"I know, I know. You do go on. Hurry up and take your youngest home."
Inside the carriage, Pei Qing held the hibiscus cakes and ate like a hamster.
Lou Yun had her head turned to the side, watching, as the carriage headed toward Li An's residence.
As they passed the entrance to a certain alley, both their expressions changed.
Pei Qing put down his cake, leaned close to Lou Yun, and whispered, "Your Highness."
"Mm."
That presence outside had followed them all the way from the Imperial Academy's entrance. Were they afraid the two of them would uncover something?
She lifted the window curtain. Great Yan had night markets, and it was not yet curfew, so the streets were still bustling.
"The streets look lively right now. Would you care to take a stroll with me, Imperial Tutor?"
Shopping? Though he had left the palace years ago, he almost never left his residence except on official business.
Apart from Mo Chi, he had never gone shopping with anyone.
At that thought, some anticipation rose in his heart. Then he remembered that Lou Yun had been raised in the palace since childhood and probably had even less experience. Thus, he absolutely must not lose his nerve. He had to give Lou Yun a perfect experience.
With considerable ambition, he nodded his agreement. "All right."
Finding the young man even more excited than usual, Lou Yun thought, Has he been cooped up too long and can't wait?
Still...
"Your face draws too much attention, Imperial Tutor. Why don't we find something to cover it?"
As she spoke, she opened a hidden compartment inside the carriage. Two masks engraved with crow-feather markings lay quietly within.
Pei Qing had no objection either way, but wasn't Lou Yun a little too practiced at taking out masks to conceal their faces?
"Choose one, Imperial Tutor?"