Dance Of The Dragons

Huh?

"Oh? Zhang Fengxi, the heir to Longjing Palace?"

"Yes."

Xie Jianshen chuckled.

"Oh, Little Yu. I never knew that you were so considerate of other alphas."

"That's not it," Xie Jianyu argued. "He likes him so much, I am sure that they will be happy together."

"Little Yu, why do you care so much?" his elder brother asked. "The matters of Longjing Palace do not concern you."

A soft sigh was heard, and then Xie Jianyu said in the tiniest voice possible, "I like him."

"..."

"..."

Zhang Fengxi did not know when he tightened his fists. They quickly turned purplish from too much force, his fingernails digging into his own palms.

But at the moment, Zhang Fengxi did not care about all that.

Wait, what?

"Excuse me, Xie Jianyu, can you please repeat your last words?" was what Zhang Fengxi wanted to cry out. I did not hear it clearly! Did you not just say something atrocious???

Thankfully, Xie Jianshen was there to quench Zhang Fengxi's curiosity.

"Like whom? Zhang Fengxi?"

"Yes."

A tormenting silence descended upon the chamber. Zhang Fengxi was pretty sure that Xie Jianshen was about to drag Xie Jianyu off the bed to beat him up.

Luckily for Xie Jianyu, his elder brother doted on him.

"Oh, Little Yu," Xie Jianshen sighed. "You know that the two of you are impossible, right?"

"I know," Xie Jianyu answered. "That's why I want him to be happy with Liu Wenyuan. Big Brother, I will not stray from our plan at all."

Xie Jianshen hummed in approval.

"Very well. Then let me send Liu Wenyuan away at once."

Zhang Fengxi had never been more confused in his life.

He liked Liu Wenyuan. He loved Liu Wenyuan.

But Xie Jianyu... Xie Jianyu actually liked him?

Jiang Muchen said nothing of this matter!

Wait, did he know? Maybe he didn't know!

So when Xie Jianyu decided to carry their baby to full term and give birth to Zhang Fengxi's son, he did it out of love?

Jiang Muchen's words reverberated in Zhang Fengxi's mind again.

"Zhang Fengxi, you are the worst... the worst..."

"Big Brother, one more thing."

"What is it?"

"There were some circulating rumors in the Golden Dragon Palace today. The Empress summoned a royal physician to take her pulse. Could it be...?"

Oh?

When they were speaking about the Empress, they were referring to the Emperor's second wife. His first wife, the biological mother of Xie Jianshen and Xie Jianyu, unfortunately, passed away not long after Xie Jianyu was born.

Xie Jianshen responded with a chuckle. He shook his head at his younger brother, acting as if these rumors could not be more ridiculous."

"I don't think so. That woman mistakes every symptom as a sign of pregnancy. Did you not know that she started dropping hints a few months after she married Imperial Father? Something about swollen legs, bulging belly, nausea."

Xie Jianshen scoffed full of disgust.

"One cannot accuse her of lacking ambitions."

"This time, it seems to be the truth," Xie Jianyu argued. "The royal physician came a few times already. If that's the case, maybe Imperial Father..."

"Shhhhhhh..."

Xie Jianshen leaned forward and wrapped his younger brother in a hug.

His voice was barely louder than a whisper, but Zhang Fengxi heard what he said.

"Imperial Father wants you to inherit this throne. He never planned to sire a child with that vile woman, let alone let the child sit on the Dragon Throne."

"Big Brother..."

"You just focus on the treatments. I will handle the rest."

".... Mmm. Alright, Big Brother."

"Good boy."

Xie Jianyu then closed his eyes to sleep.

Xie Jianshen gave his brother a kiss on the forehead before he rose to his feet and lowered the bed curtain.

Not long after he left, Zhang Fengxi too escaped from the chamber.