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"What makes you so sure they\'re false?" Chu Yun asked, trying to act as if this wasn\'t a shocking revelation.

He would be lying if he said the possibility never crossed his mind, or that some of the more pointed remarks he heard from Tan Ruo didn\'t make it seem as if that could have been the case.

Part of him refused to believe it, however. It seemed impossible that someone like Gu Wei had suffered that kind of humiliation. At the hands of his husband\'s son, no less.

It was enough to make his blood curdle. It also made him question all the negative rumours circling around Gu Wei. Or at least see the man himself in a different light. What would a person become, after experiencing something like that, and still being vilified by everyone else?

Fan Jiang looked up pleadingly at him from his kneeling position, his mournful eyes filmed over with tears. He looked pitiful enough to stir the heart, but Chu Yun knew already how good he was at making himself look harmlessly attractive from his earlier display.

It was second nature to him to such an extent that he didn\'t think twice about employing the same strategy even after it failed the first time.

"His First Highness\' feelings for Concubine Gu are genuine, moved only by the most tender admiration," Fan Jiang said, his fingers flexing over the fabric of his neat servant\'s robe. "He has personally swore to me that he has no memory of ever forcing himself on Concubine Gu. He always accepted that his feelings would never be returned, and that they were unnatural. Why, then, would he do something so shameful?"

Fan Jiang\'s voice rose in timbre as he defended Xiao Yuan\'s reputation. Regardless of his intentions in other regards, he actually believed what he was saying. 

Chu Yun nodded thoughtfully, saying nothing -- all the better to keep Fan Jiang talking.

Looking extremely aggrieved, he lowered his head once again. "Even so...even so...the rumours haunt him, my master-his First Highness -- didn\'t use to drink so much, but now it\'s the only way he can cope." A sob wracked through his frame. "So many people criticise him, but he has been nothing but good to me."

That might be so, but Fan Jiang was deluding himself. "He sees someone else whenever he looks at you," Chu Yun said, keeping his words frank but not cruel.

Laughter mixed in with Fan Jiang\'s sobs, his shoulders shaking violently. "So what? At least he looks at me. Someone like his Grace would never understand the pain of being invisible."

Chu Yun cast Fan Jiang a long look, his head lowered once more, dark hair pinned on top of his head in a graceless bun. He didn\'t look like a \'dancer\', or someone skilled in seduction. He looked like a sad young man, who had been dealt a bad fate by the heavens, and was now looking for hope in all the wrong places.

Xiao Yuan might very well have been one of the very few people to show him any tenderness, but he had sublimated it into a hopeless devotion. If that was warranted or not, Chu Yun wouldn\'t know.

"I\'m sorry that this conversation has upset you," Chu Yun said, returning his attention to his correspondence in order not to make Fan Jiang feel more self-conscious. "Please take the rest of the day off and rest up."

Fan Jiang muttered his thanks and left the room without another word.

Chu Yun\'s thoughts were more jumbled than before and his heart heavier.

---

Hours later, after he had posted all his correspondence. Chu Yun was in his quarters, slipping out of his outer robes and making himself comfortable to eat dinner on his own when someone opened his door and slipped inside.

It was obvious that Xiao Zai had just come in from the street, still wearing his black bearskin cloak, his hair sprinkled with snowflakes.

Before Chu Yun could ask him why he was there he was swept up in his embrace and kissed without preamble.

"I missed you," Xiao Zai announced, by way of explanation.

"We saw each other just this morning," Chu Yun sighed, dusting off the snowflakes out of Xiao Zai\'s hair.

Xiao Zai held Chu Yun\'s hands in his and brought them to his lips, kissing his knuckles softly. Chu Yun immediately felt heat climb the back of his neck. Why was he being so clingy? 

Chu Yun shook off his embrace and turned around, putting some distance between them. "What did you do all day, anyway?"

"I spent some time with my dam, and then went to see some masons about some improvements for the estate."

Chu Yun shot him a narrowed look over the shoulder. "I\'m working on the estates\' repairs, you don\'t need to get involved."

Xiao Zai smiled. "Maybe I want to."

Chu Yun ignored him and sat down at the table to eat the food Hua Nanyi had brought him. Xiao Zai sat across from him ready to join in. Chu Yun observed him in silent amusement for a while.

"I\'m sorry, are you inviting yourself into my quarters?" Chu Yun asked, trying to keep his tone serious despite his amusement.

Xiao Zai stole a piece of beef from the plate directly in front of Chu Yun. "These are the master\'s quarters, technically they should be ours."

"Is that so?" Chu Yun leaned towards him across the table.

Xiao Zai smiled around his chopsticks, and then poured Chu Yun a cup of wine. "I think I should start staying here."

Chu Yun narrowed his eyes at him. "What about our plan?"

"Fan Jiang probably reported that our relationship was unsteady, already. He won\'t be in any rush to correct himself and anger my father," Xiao Zai said, grinning, as if he thought this was a battle already won.

Unfortunately, presumption was a good look on him.

Chu Yun narrowed his eyes at him. "Fine, but you\'re coming with me and paying a visit to all the ministers who sent us calling cards."

Xiao Zai\'s smile fell a fraction. "How many ministers are we talking?"

Chu Yun scooted closer to him, and bringing his lips close to Xiao Zai\'s ear, said, "So many."