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That was not possible, so he contented himself with brushing his hand through his hair, and pulling the comforter over his shoulders.

He walked out into the deck overlooking the courtyard outside Chu Yun\'s bedroom. He rested his elbows on the wooden railing and looked out at the mist draped over the lotus flowers on the decorative pond like a shroud. 

Everything about Xin was manicured to perfection. The courtyards didn\'t have a leaf out of place, all the flowers matched each other in colour and symbolism. Nothing was left to chance, it was a land that valued beauty above everything else, the study of it, the creation of it.

But it valued order too. Much like this courtyard, and all the sprawling gardens of Lanzhou -- there was an almost symmetrical precision to all of it.

Chu Yun\'s parents were scrambling for a box to fit their beautiful, perfect, alpha son.

In the cold, harsh light of dawn, and with all of his anger banked by tiredness, Xiao Zai thought they could come around still.

Everything was silent around the Prince of Jing\'s estate, only the distant cry of a bluethroat bird cut through the eerie stillness.

He went down down the stairs and into the courtyard, deciding that a walk would help him get his thoughts in order. He\'d promised Chu Yun that they would leave right away, but now he was wondering if doing that wouldn\'t cause irreparable damage to his relationship with his parents.

Xiao Zai hadn\'t been walking for long, winding from one courtyard into the next, when he bumped into the Prince of Jing. Chu Yun\'s father looked startled to see him, the thin skin under his eyes looked bruised as if he too had spent the entire night chasing sleep with little success.

"His Highness," he said in greeting, nodding towards Xiao Zai.

His shoulders were drawn tight, he looked like a plucked string, vibrating with tension.

"I want father-in-law to know that while Chu Yun has my full support, the past couple of months haven\'t been easy for him."

The Prince of Jing\'s lips pulled into a thin line. "I can imagine."

Xiao Zai eyed him critically. The Prince was a tall man, almost as tall as Chu Yun, with a scholarly posture that while also resembling Chu Yun was a lot more reserved, more squirrely. Being firm with him was probably the best course of action.

"Then, father-in-law must know how unfair it is to blame him for something that is not his fault."

The Prince of Jing hummed. His gaze distant. "It\'s a lot to take in, at once."

"It is, but even more so for him." Xiao Zai met the Prince\'s evasive gaze, holding it. "Chu Yun holds both his Highness and the Madam his mother in high regard. He entered into our marriage determined to make the two proud, and bring honour to his family." 

The Prince opened his mouth as if to say something else, but Xiao Zai\'s gaze hardened, cutting him short. "It would be unspeakably cruel to throw all that back in his face."

The two of them were silent for some time. The Prince of Jing sighed deeply and looked out at the manicured expanse of the east courtyard, his right fist pressed primly against the small of his back.

"Parents have certain expectations about how their children\'s lives should pan out...," the Prince of Jing started, his tone halting.

Xiao Zai nodded. "I know that." Intimately.

"I expected that when Chu Yun returned to us, that he would have tales of how he\'d gotten the entire Zui court under his thumb."

One corner of Xiao Zai\'s quirked up. "He did that too."

The Prince of Jing shot him an annoyed look. "And now he\'s pregnant! What will become of him? He\'s not an omega, he won\'t be happy to take on the duties and role of one. But how will the other alphas look at him? He\'s already a foreign in Zui, this is just another thing to mark him as different."

The Prince of Jing\'s eyes looked red with panic when they met Xiao Zai\'s, who became sure then, that his reaction the day before was due to extreme fear for his son, and not rejection.

He took on a steadying breath and said. "I want father-in-law to know that I will do everything in my power to ensure that no one will ever disrespect Chu Yun. I won\'t allow anyone to speak even a single word against him, and I will severely punish everyone who tries." His heart beat violently inside his chest, making him feel dizzy with an overwhelming swell of emotion. "I swear it, in my eyes no one compares to him. In my heart he is the standard by which all others are measured."

The Prince of Jing gave him a long look. Peering into Xiao Zai\'s eyes in search of any signs of deception.

"I believe you," the Prince said after a prolonged silence. "But there\'s only so much a Prince can do." He smiled sadly. "I know it better than anyone. I couldn\'t even prevent my oldest son, my heir, from being married off in a foreign land."

He didn\'t ment it as an insult, but Xiao Zai knew that he considered their marriage to be  beneath Chu Yun. 

Their union was intended as an humiliation to them both. A reminder to Gu Wei that the King of Zui was all-powerful, and that he would do as he wanted with his son;  and that no matter how accomplished, how talented Chu Yun was, he was still only the son of a Second Prince, and his King would use him in whichever way was more convenient for him.

Xiao Zai was happy to prove everyone what terrible mistake they had made. 

"I will be King, and Chu Yun will be King Consort," he said, seeing the truth of his words take shape.

The Prince of Jing chuckled humorlessly. "I don\'t think he\'ll get much comfort from that."

"I will have only him, no harem, when I am King, only Chu Yun will stand by my side.. Our child will inherit the Zui throne, this I swear."