Chapter 14: To Think You'd Dare Step on Me
"Count Yuan, Lady Yun."
Xuan Qiao greeted them with a courteous but detached nod. But remembering these were Yuan Jiabai's parents, his expression softened, and he offered them a small smile.
Count Yuan was utterly overwhelmed by the unexpected favor. "G-Greetings, Your Highness."
Lady Yun also offered a graceful curtsy.
Count Yuan swallowed hard. In truth, he desperately wanted to sit down, his knees were practically turning to jelly. but since the Crown Prince remained standing, he naturally didn't dare take a seat. He could only ask with utmost caution, "May I ask what brings Your Highness to our humble abode? Is there some urgent matter?"
As he spoke, he frantically gestured to the servants to serve tea immediately.
"No need," Xuan Qiao replied. "Where is Jiabai's courtyard? If you don't mind, could you lead the way?"
Plucking up his courage, Count Yuan suggested, "Perhaps Your Highness could wait here a moment while this official sends someone to summon my son?"
Xuan Qiao tilted his chin up slightly. "No need. Take me straight there."
Left with no choice, Count Yuan and his wife had to lead the way.
Count Yuan was never a master of social graces, and as a lady, it wasn't proper for Lady Yun to strike up a casual conversation with the Crown Prince.
The rest of the servants were far too terrified to utter a single sound. Consequently, the entire walk was filled with nothing but the rhythmic layering of footsteps and the rustle of silk robes.
Count Yuan secretly wiped the sweat from his forehead. Turning around, he bowed. "Your Highness, this is my son's courtyard."
Yuan Geng, the young gatekeeper servant, jumped to his feet the moment he saw the massive entourage approaching.
Count Yuan asked, "Is the Second Young Master still asleep?"
"Yes, My Lord," Yuan Geng replied.
Count Yuan wailed internally. He urged anxiously, "Go wake him up this instant! Tell him the Crown Prince has arrived..."
Yuan Geng’s eyes widened in sheer shock.
---
Now separated from Yuan Jiabai by only a single door, knowing he would see him the moment he stepped inside, Xuan Qiao’s mood lifted considerably. The corners of his lips quirked upward, but upon hearing Count Yuan's words, his brow furrowed slightly.
"No need to wake him. I will go in and see for myself."
Lady Yun desperately wanted to voice how inappropriate this was. However, the Crown Prince’s demeanor was so casual, as if walking into another man's bedroom while he slept was the most natural thing in the world, that she didn't dare say a word. She could only swallow her objections.
And so, a blissfully sleeping Yuan Jiabai remained entirely oblivious to the small army currently invading his quarters.
The moment he stepped into the bedroom, Xuan Qiao's gaze swiftly and accurately locked onto the figure on the bed.
Yuan Jiabai was not a well-behaved sleeper, and he had one rather peculiar trait: under a normal schedule, he was merely restless. But if he went to bed late, it became a bit... extreme.
For instance, right now, half of Jiabai's body was on the bed, while the other half was practically dangling off the edge. His left arm hung limply toward the floor, his right hand curled under his cheek, and a few stray, messy curls clung to his face. His lips were slightly pouted, his features relaxed, and his breathing light and shallow.
He was, quite literally, unshakably dead to the world.
Count Yuan and Lady Yun both felt a collective wave of dizziness wash over them, glancing at Xuan Qiao in profound embarrassment.
W-w-would the Crown Prince think their Second Son was unreliable because of this?
Seeing such a wild sleeping posture, Xuan Qiao couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. He slowly approached the bed. Count Yuan and Lady Yun tentatively followed, with Count Yuan racking his brains for a way to subtly nudge his son awake.
However, plans could never keep up with reality.
"All of you may leave," Xuan Qiao ordered softly. "I will wait here until Jiabai wakes."
With no options left, Count Yuan and Lady Yun reluctantly retreated. Qi Guangde placed an embroidered stool by the bedside for the Prince before quietly backing out as well.
The bedroom fell into a sudden, deep silence.
---
Xuan Qiao leaned down slightly, gazing intently at the sleeping youth. Caught by the sight of Jiabai's flushed, rosy cheeks, resembling a ripe, juicy peach. Xuan Qiao suddenly felt a strange, itchy sensation in his teeth, a sudden urge to bite down on something.
Suppressing the bizarre impulse, he couldn't resist gently pinching that soft, rosy cheek instead. The skin felt incredibly smooth. Xuan Qiao doted on the sensation, letting his fingers linger reluctantly before finally pulling his hand away.
Worrying that Jiabai would wake up sore from sleeping in such an awkward position, Xuan Qiao gently took hold of his slender ankle, moved his leg back onto the mattress, straightened out his body, and adjusted the position of his pillow.
Even after being handled and moved around like a ragdoll, Jiabai didn't show the slightest sign of waking up. He was completely out cold.
Xuan Qiao let out a soft laugh, tapped the youth’s forehead, and murmured, "You wouldn't even notice if someone sold you off."
Xuan Qiao sat down on the stool and waited. Another fifteen minutes passed before Jiabai finally mumbled something incoherent, showing signs of stirring.
Yuan Jiabai raised both hands above his head, arching his back in a massive stretch while letting out a series of rather unrefined yawns.
Opening his eyes into a tiny slit, he caught sight of a silhouette sitting right by his bed. Exhausted and groggy, he didn't think twice, assuming it was Ke Zizuo. after all, his friend had crashed in the guest room the night before.
Without a single thought, Yuan Jiabai extended his bare foot and casually propped it right onto the person’s lap.
Keeping his eyes half-closed, he grumbled, "Why are you still at my house? Leeching off me, are you?"
Xuan Qiao looked down at the foot resting squarely on his knee, his eyebrows arching high.
Yuan Jiabai's skin was incredibly pale. His foot was on the slender side, the faint blue trace of veins visible across the instep, his ankle bone prominent, and his toes neatly rounded. Perhaps because his skin was so fair, his toes flushed with a delicate shade of pink.
Receiving no response, Yuan Jiabai gave a firm nudge with his sole. "Why are you staying quiet?"
Xuan Qiao's leg shifted slightly under the pressure, the hem of his luxurious robe rippling like water. Suddenly, he reached out and wrapped his fingers firmly around that slender ankle. The intense warmth of his palm immediately transferred to Yuan Jiabai's skin.
"Today is my very first time visiting your estate," Xuan Qiao said, his voice slow and casual. "How exactly am I 'leeching'?"
Huh?
Yuan Jiabai's eyes snapped wide open. He bolted upright, his voice cracking with shock. "Y-Your Highness?!"
Was he dreaming? He frantically scanned his surroundings. This was definitely his room, but why on earth was the Crown Prince sitting on his bed?!
Yuan Jiabai blinked in a daze. When his brain finally registered that his foot was still firmly planted on the Prince's lap, a cold sweat broke out across his back. He scrambled to pull his leg back.
Yet, the hand gripping his ankle tightened just a fraction. He... couldn't budge.
Xuan Qiao gave a half-smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Jiabai, you certainly have nerve. To think you'd dare step even on me."
Yuan Jiabai: "..."
Injustice! Absolute injustice!
He didn't do it on purpose! Who could have guessed that a dignified Crown Prince, instead of attending to state affairs, would be sitting idly at a subject's bedside?
Xuan Qiao slowly leaned in closer, his deep, dark eyes locking onto Jiabai like a bottomless abyss. "Tell me... should I charge you with offending your sovereign?"
Yuan Jiabai put on his most pitiful expression. "Please don't, Your Highness. I really didn't mean to. I just mistook you for someone else."
Xuan Qiao paused, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Mistook me for someone else?"
"Yes."
"And who did you think I was?"
With a miserable face, Yuan Jiabai confessed, "I thought you were a close friend of mine. Otherwise, even if you gave me a hundred times the courage, I wouldn't dare lay a foot on you, Your Highness."
Xuan Qiao’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. Releasing his grip on the youth's ankle, he relaxed. "I was only teasing. I would never punish you."
His expression was entirely serious, not like someone making a passing joke, but rather delivering a solemn vow.
Yuan Jiabai was slightly taken aback, a reckless question slipping out before he could stop himself: "Even if I stepped on you on purpose?"
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