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Xiao Zai sat up straighter. What his grandmother meant was that it pleased her to see them both so flustered.

He chanced a sideways look at his dam, who was sitting across from him and Chu Yun, drinking a cup of tea leisurely.

The Queen Dowager was sitting at the head of the table, inspecting all of them like a weiqi(1) player, considering where to put down her stones next.

His dam had said he invited the Queen Dowager, but it was more likely that she had invited herself.

She was never as antagonistic towards Gu Wei and Xiao Zai as the king, but it was hard to tell what she was thinking. She gave the impression of someone who amused herself with everyone else\'s bad decisions.

There was also the mystery of her past -- how she came to marry the late king, and of course, her odd scent, that belied years of trying to live as something other than an omega.

Xiao Zai couldn\'t say he was happy to see the Queen Dowager, but he was curious about what her presence meant.

She also made Chu Yun deeply uncomfortable, which was a nice plus.

"Let\'s eat, Bailiu went to all the trouble to prepare this meal, it would be a terrible waste for us to let the food get colder," she said, holding back one of the sleeves of her intricate travel robe, as she reached for a cut of meat.

His dam tensed, as he always did when someone used his courtesy name. He had never told Xiao Zai the reason behind his distaste, beyond that the king had given it to him. Gu Wei was so young when he became the king\'s concubine that Xiao Zai was already born by the time he came of age and got his courtesy name.

Chu Yun started filling up his bowl slowly, with the same apprehension of always when it came to Zui food. Xiao Zai ate with gusto, hungry for the taste of home after such a long time on the road. The food in Xin was much lighter and milder than what they preferred in Zui -- where every meal was hearty, especially when the weather started turning colder.

"Child, aren\'t you cold wearing so little?" the Queen Dowager asked, looking straight at Chu Yun, as if she had picked the thoughts right out of Xiao Zai\'s mind.

Chu Yun insisted on wearing his thin Xin robes, and beyond the concession of a travel robe, which he had taken off when seating down to eat, was wearing nothing but it.

"The room is sufficiently warm, please don\'t worry, your royal highness."

He was lying. Xiao Zai could see his fingers trembling around the chopsticks.

Xiao Zai signalled one of the servants stationed by the door. "Go add more kindling to the braziers."

The servant nodded and left to do as Xiao Zai commanded.

The Queen Dowager let out a throaty laugh. "My, what a dedicated husband, that\'s very good to see, very good." She grinned, Xiao Zai felt a shiver run down his spine. "I suppose that would explain the interesting tales that have reached us all the way here in Zui."

Oh no.

Chu Yun\'s sharp eyebrows knitted in confusion at the Queen Dowager\'s cryptic words. "What tales?"

The old dowager\'s eyes glinted. "It\'s to be expected when a young couple is especially well matched that they won\'t be able to contain their passion..."

Oh no.

Xiao Zai could feel the colour draining from his face. Chu Yun still looked oblivious. Gu Wei looked resigned to this turn of events.

"Although, I have to say it is surprising that the fires of passion would lead the two of you to seek out a brothel room, when I\'m sure the Prince of Jing\'s estate had more than enough rooms."

Finally, realisation dawned on Chu Yun. He kept smiling at the Queen and then turned towards Xiao Zai, moving his neck really slowly, as if it was being kept in place by some rusty mechanism.

"Is that so? Where would her royal highness have gotten that notion?"

Gu Wei put down his teacup with a subdued clink, but that still saved Xiao Zai from Chu Yun\'s intense scrutiny.

"I\'m afraid gossip travels faster than horses," Gu Wei said. Ignoring his teacup to pour himself a cup of wine instead.

The old Queen laughed, loud and unbecoming for someone of her station -- but who was going to tell her that?

"It\'s because of the carrier pigeons dear," she told the still livid Chu Yun. "Don\'t look so shocked. We must keep ourselves informed about what goes on in Xin, I would be surprised if Xin didn\'t do the same."

Chu Yun tilted his head in acquiescence, his lips still pressed into a bloodless line -- the rictus of a polite smile.

She raised her own wine cup towards Xiao Zai and Chu Yun. "But this is cause for celebration, no? Certainly it\'s better than any unsavoury rumours that the two of you haven\'t consummated your union."

Both Chu Yun and Xiao Zai went very still.

"Of course," Xiao Zai said, diplomatically.

The Queen Dowager hummed. "Otherwise the legitimacy of your marriage would be put into question, and we wouldn\'t want that, would we?"

"No, we wouldn\'t," Chu Yun agreed.

It was obvious to Xiao Zai now why these sordid news brought his grandmother so much pleasure. She had a vested interest in his and Chu Yun\'s marriage working, but why?

Was she moved by the same desire as her son, to see Xiao Zai as far away from the throne as possible?

Or did she have some plan that he couldn\'t quite make sense of?

Gu Wei cleared his throat. "It\'s not only in Lanzhou that interesting events take place, we have some news from Haolin, as well."

His clear eyes met Xiao Zai\'s. He was about to tell them the reason behind this hastily organised reception.

"The First Prince will take a Principal wife." His tone was casual and agreeable for the Queen Dowager\'s benefit, if she wasn\'t present his words would have been far harsher. The words, "dog" and "bitch" would probably have been involved.

The Queen Dowager nodded. "The engagement will be announced tomorrow, the entire royal family is expected to attend."

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(1) weiqi, is sometimes translated as "go", but that\'s a japanese word, or simply as "chess", because it was the inspiration for the western chess game.. The rules are simpler than western chess, but weiqi itself is more complex.