Bairen was stunned for a moment, then chuckled dryly: "What's wrong... why are you suddenly asking this."

Qi Xiao laughed at himself: "It's nothing." With that, he turned and left.

Bairen's heart sank. He put the little rabbit he was holding back into the basket and followed out. Bairen signaled with his eyes, and the maids standing outside the corridor withdrew. Bairen approached and asked in a low voice, "Is something the matter? Why did you suddenly bring this up?"

Qi Xiao turned around to look at Bairen, smiling faintly: "It's nothing, I just suddenly thought of it when I was talking to Jiang Deqing about something else... It's been almost a year since you came to the imperial city, right? Do you miss home?"

Bairen shook his head: "I don't miss home, only... only my mother consort."

Qi Xiao's heart felt like it had been suddenly scratched by a kitten, aching in wisps.

Bairen's heart was in tune with Qi Xiao's, knowing he was feeling distressed. He quickly smiled and said, "Now thanks to Your Highness's grace, I can exchange one or two letters with my mother consort every month, so it's not a big deal. Roujia and I are both doing very well here. My royal father is somewhat wary, so he treats my mother consort much better than before."

Qi Xiao took Bairen's hand and pulled him into his arms, sighing lightly. He kissed him on the forehead. Bairen's heart was still uneasy. He looked up and said softly, "What exactly happened? What did Your Highness say to Steward Jiang? How did it lead to mentioning me?"

That matter had just been ordered, and before it was carried out, Qi Xiao didn't want to say too much to Bairen. He smiled and said, "What's so strange about this? When have I not mentioned you to him every day? If your mother consort knew that there is now such an attentive person like me accompanying you all day in the capital, she probably wouldn't have any more worries."

Bairen smiled, turned his head to look around, and seeing no one around, he slightly raised his head and kissed Qi Xiao on the lips, whispering: "It's a pity we can't tell mother consort directly. If mother consort knew I found her such a good daughter-in-law, she probably wouldn't have any more worries."

The corners of Qi Xiao's brows lifted slightly, and the hand around Bairen's waist moved down a few inches, pinching playfully as he said in a low voice, "What did you just say? Say it again."

Bairen's face instantly flushed red. Just as he was about to run, both his hands were grabbed by Qi Xiao's left hand and twisted behind his back. Qi Xiao's right hand became even more wanton, his long fingers clasping Bairen's buttock cleft through his clothes. He smiled with hooked lips: "I'm asking you, what did you just say, say it again."

In broad daylight, and outside at that, although there was no one else around, Bairen still couldn't bear it. His handsome face was flushed bright red. Qi Xiao deliberately lowered his head to closely examine his expression, teasing in a soft voice: "Say it, what am I to your mother consort?"

Bairen knew Qi Xiao's temperament best. If he didn't go along with his wishes, there was no telling what Qi Xiao might do to him right here if he got in the mood. Bairen had no choice but to say in a small, embarrassed voice "Son-in-law".

But Qi Xiao was still not satisfied. While "torturing" him, he continued: "Oh... son-in-law, then what am I to you? Hmm?"

Hearing these words, Bairen simply wanted to die of shame. He struggled to leave, but in terms of martial arts, the two of them were no match for Qi Xiao. The more Bairen struggled, the more Qi Xiao's desire grew.

Qi Xiao was not some gentleman. Although he had not experienced much in bed, when he was younger, he had frequented the pleasure quarters with other young lords. At that time, he found the prostitutes and entertainers unclean and had never really done anything, but even if he hadn't eaten pork, he had still seen pigs run. Compared to Bairen, Qi Xiao was an old hand.

Qi Xiao deliberately teased him. How could Bairen endure it? He could only beg for mercy: "Your Highness... let's go back inside first. What if someone comes in a moment... Mmm..."

As if he hadn't heard, Qi Xiao asked with a smile in a low voice, "I'm asking you, since I'm your mother consort's son-in-law, what am I to you?"

Bairen's legs went weak and his face flushed from Qi Xiao's fondling. He was also afraid that the servants would come at any time, so he could only relent and say with humiliation: "You're my... my husband..."

After hearing these two words, Qi Xiao's phoenix eyes nearly burst into flames. He didn't know why, but now he was getting more and more fond of teasing Bairen like this, deliberately forcing him to say things he couldn't say and do things he couldn't do. The more Bairen accommodated Qi Xiao, the more Qi Xiao wanted to torment him severely.

Who was Bairen? Just because of a word from Qi Hua humiliating him, he was willing to risk Qi Hua scratching his neck to take revenge. But facing himself, Bairen could yield in a hundred ways. Especially after the two had bared their hearts to each other, Bairen was even more accommodating to his every request, no matter how Qi Xiao "tortured" him, he would never get angry, at most he would only beg for mercy, never knowing to resist.

Qi Xiao understood in his heart that Bairen was only like this with him.

Unfortunately, Qi Xiao had never been one to be content. Bairen's docility could only make Qi Xiao more and more presumptuous. Qi Xiao looked fixedly at Bairen's eyes and said in a deep voice, "Louder, call me that again."

Bairen felt both aggrieved and humiliated, tears involuntarily welling up in his eyes. In desperation, he buried his face in Qi Xiao's chest, whimpering softly: "Husband, please spare me..."

Qi Xiao closed his eyes for a moment, then picked him up and carried him into the inner room.

...

Jiang Deqing wrote a secret letter according to Qi Xiao's instructions and had a trusted subordinate deliver it to the Confucius Temple. After finishing, he made another trip to the kitchen.

There were black-boned chickens here at the estate. Qi Xiao had previously instructed to stew black-boned chicken soup for Bairen to drink. Jiang Deqing was afraid that the people below wouldn't be clear, so he went to instruct them personally.

"Rest assured, Steward. This is a young hen that just laid eggs, very tender." The cook wiped her hands on her apron and said with a flattering smile, "All the utensils here have been replaced with new ones, only allowing my daughter to keep them. No one else can touch them, they're very clean."

Jiang Deqing nodded and handed a wooden box held by the young eunuch to the cook, saying, "This is white ginseng. Put some in when stewing the soup later, don't use the old ginseng here."

The cook quickly agreed. Jiang Deqing turned to go find Qi Xiao. Entering the inner courtyard, he saw from a distance that the maids were all guarding outside and understood what was going on in his heart. He didn't want the servants to know too much, so he waved his hand to dismiss the people following him.

He slowly went around the moon gate. Just as he was about to go in, he saw two maids standing under the flower trellis inside the moon gate. Jiang Deqing stopped and asked in a low voice, "Is His Highness talking with the young prince?"

A maid in red blushed slightly and nodded, saying softly, "They've been in there for a while. We were just thinking about whether we should go in and check. Last time when the crown prince got up, the water in the room had gone cold. The crown prince nearly got angry. Fortunately, the young prince put in many good words for us before it passed."

Jiang Deqing paused and said, "I'll just go over and take a look."

Most of the maids were afraid of Qi Xiao, so when they saw Jiang Deqing willing to go, they thanked him profusely. One maid, seeing Jiang Deqing walk away, couldn't help but whisper, "His Highness really cares about the young prince, spending day after day together, and even inquiring about his food and daily life. Did you see those black-boned chickens in the backyard? I heard they were specially transported from Jiangxi before the New Year to nourish the young prince's body, and have been kept here."

Another maid stuck out her tongue, "That's nothing. Last time, when Physician Zhang changed the young prince's medicinal diet recipe and added a dose of donkey-hide gelatin, His Highness insisted that the gelatin here was mostly fake. He sent someone to Shandong to find the best old shop and collected a batch of freshly made gelatin, just for one ingredient in a tonic. No need to mention anything else, but..."

The young maid lowered her voice and chuckled, "After His Highness has been taking care of the young prince for a year, his complexion has indeed become better and better. When he first arrived, his little face was so pale and pitiful. Now there's some color in his cheeks, making him look so much better. His Highness really knows how to take care of people..."

In the inner room of the main house, Bairen, whose body had been well-conditioned by Qi Xiao, was lying on the bed, sobbing softly, "I really can't anymore..."

Qi Xiao turned over and hugged Bairen in his arms, laughing softly, "What's wrong? Did it hurt just now?"

Bairen hid his face in Qi Xiao's embrace, and after a while, shook his head. Qi Xiao smiled faintly, "Take it slow... in the future, you'll be able to handle me."

Bairen's cheeks flushed red as he said hoarsely, "You... your temper is a bit too much now. Just because I said something that upset you, you punished me for half a day..."

Qi Xiao couldn't help but laugh. He lowered his head and kissed Bairen's lips, chuckling, "Is this punishing you? I'm cherishing you."

Bairen whimpered softly, "Then I beg Your Highness to cherish me less in the future."

Qi Xiao couldn't hold back his laughter. He patted Bairen's body and teased in a low voice, "Really? Then I'll go cherish someone else in the future. Don't cry."

Bairen nestled his head in Qi Xiao's embrace without saying a word. Qi Xiao gently massaged his waist and coaxed softly, "Alright, is your waist sore? We couldn't go to the hot spring yesterday. Shall we go now? We'll soak for a while without delaying lunch."

Qi Xiao knew he had bullied Bairen too much just now, so he became even more gentle. He turned over, pulled a willow basket next to the couch, reached in and took out a little rabbit that was eating grass, placing it in the crook of Bairen's arm. He laughed softly, "Look... your eyes are almost bigger than this rabbit's now."

The little rabbit stood up on its front legs and stared blankly at Bairen. Bairen couldn't help but reach out and touch it. Qi Xiao smiled, "If you like the spring water, let's have lunch there. We'll set up a short table by the hot spring and warm up a pot of plum wine. How about that?"

Hearing this, Bairen raised his head and hesitated for a moment before saying in a low voice, "Then... later in the hot spring, Your Highness, don't do what you did just now..."

Qi Xiao laughed and nodded, "Alright."