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"My dam is worth a thousand of you," Xiao Zai spit out. He felt as if his insides were bubbling with acid and he needed to let it out before it choked him.

"He has poisoned you against me," the King said, obviously to the benefit of the guards listening in, and the servants passing through the courtyard in hurried steps, because both Xiao Zai and the King knew that wasn\'t true.

Gu Wei didn\'t need to poison him, because Xiao Zai hated his father from the moment he saw him lay a hand on his dam. 

The King gave his son a disappointed look and clasped his hands behind his back. "If you weren\'t so blind you\'d see what is right in front of you. No matter how much you delight in it, an alpha being pregnant is not natural. It will be dangerous to him."

Xiao Zai bared his teeth. "Because you want to-"

He was cut off with a loud snort. "I don\'t need to do anything but let nature run its course. A pregnancy is already dangerous for women and omegas. Can you imagine how it will be for him?"

"He\'s fine," Xiao Zai said, but his tone was much lower. Chu Yun was doing better since he started taking the medicine, he wasn\'t getting nauseous as often and he could keep food down again.

He was doing better. He was. Nothing would happen to him.

The King chuckled, shaking his head. "And how can you be so sure? Have you been told so by all the other alphas who got pregnant?" his lips curled in a mocking sneer. "Don\'t be foolish boy. Even if the pregnancy doesn\'t kill him, what about the birth?"

"That\'s--"

The King interrupted him. "You know omega males already risk the most because the child needs to be cut out of them," he smiled, "but what surgeon has performed a birth on an alpha?" 

Xiao Zai grit his teeth. "We will find one, they will train before the--"

The King\'s laughter was like knifes being dug into Xiao Zai\'s ribs. A few scant hours ago the possibility of Chu Yun coming to any harm as a consequence of the pregnancy wasn\'t even a speck on his mind. They had dealt with that, the medicine kept him stable. That was all that mattered.

But now doubt gnawed at his bones like a hungry dog.

"Train on what? In the scores of other pregnant alphas?" The King\'s disdain was palpable. "There is only one person who stood to benefit from this. Only one person would do anything to see you on the throne at all costs. And as ambitious as that little fox is, I doubt he wanted any of this."

"My dam had nothing to do with it, it was..." Xiao Zai cut himself off. He didn\'t know what he was going to say. It was a gift from the heavens? A sign that he and Chu Yun were made for each other? Soulmates?

He believed all of those things, but his father didn\'t deserve to hear any of them.

"But he was the first person who came to your mind, wasn\'t he?" the King grinned as if he\'d already won. "Bailiu wouldn\'t shed a single tear if your husband died. If it ever came down to a choice between saving his life, or the child\'s life, Bailiu would cut the baby out himself and leave your husband to bleed like a pig."

"Shut up, shut up! You are not worthy." Tears of anger were clouding Xiao Zai\'s eyes, but he couldn\'t go on listening to a single word. 

He refused to believe his father\'s hateful insinuations. He would ignore everything he said.

As if on cue, the doors of the main hall opened, letting all the light spill out. Gu Wei stepped outside, his form unmistakable in the darkness, even when wearing a bulky fur coat.

He looked between father and son, and noted the guard\'s alert stances. He came to a stop between the two and turned to the King. "We should go."

The King grunted in acknowledgement but didn\'t look in his direction.  He left Xiao Zai with one last warning, "Think on what I said, boy," before walking towards the carriage.

Gu Wei shot him a half-smile, his eyes filled with sadness. Xiao Zai tried to return the gesture but found that he couldn\'t quite do it.

---

He went back inside the hall and found Chu Yun alone, draped over the low table. Xiao Zai came up behind him and sat down at his back, drawing him into his embrace.

Chu Yun let himself be hugged, and slipped down into Xiao Zai\'s lap, pillowing his head sideways on his thighs.

"Did my dam tell you something?" Xiao Zai asked, running his fingers through Chu Yun\'s long, silky hair.

"He said we have to depose your father."

Xiao Zai\'s hand stilled on Chu Yun\'s hair. He had dreamt about the King\'s death so often it felt more like a memory. But his dam knew as well as he did, that wasn\'t something easily accomplished.

"What did he suggest?"

Chu Yun sighed, making himself more comfortable on Xiao Zai\'s lap. "Well, obviously we can\'t kill him ourselves. How would that look? Do you want murdering your father to be the thing that puts you on the throne? What an inauspicious start to your rule."

Some of the tension drained out of Xiao Zai at his words. "Then what?"

"Hopefully someone else does it for us," he paused, "Gu Wei\'s suggestion was to find proof he was involved in the concubine\'s miscarriage. Force even the most complacent ministers to have him tried, and then ensure the judges aren\'t bribed, or at least give them higher bribes."

That wouldn\'t be easy to do, ministers were creatures of habit. And for the most part, the King had kept them all comfortably fat. Even the ones who supported Xiao Zai as a Crown Prince instead of Xiao Yuan, weren\'t expecting him to replace his father right away. They just wanted someone more \'dignified\' to have the title.

"I\'m sure you\'ll think of something," Xiao Zai said, pulling on Chu Yun\'s earlobe.

Chu Yun turned around on his lap until he was looking up at Xiao Zai. "What about you think of something too? Why do I have to do everything around here?"

Xiao Zai smiled, he loved seeing Chu Yun\'s resentful look. "Because you look so beautiful and proud when all your grand plans work out. I would never take that away from you."

Chu Yun scoffed. He fisted one hand into the collar of Xiao Zai\'s robes and pulled him down into a messy kiss. "Don\'t think I\'m that easily seduced," he said, sounding very seduced from where Xiao Zai was standing.

He kept petting Chu Yun\'s head with one hand, and trailed the other down his waist and over his abdomen. Chu Yun only allowed the touch for a brief moment before batting his hand away. His whispered curses made Xiao Zai smile. He would do anything for Chu Yun. Anything, to keep him tempestuous and difficult, to keep him safe.

He would do anything for their family.