Coming back to the present.

Wang Yiheng sat in a chamber that looked like an office room for officials of higher rank. The room was spacious and had about ten to twelve bookshelves made from the finest woods, filled with scrolls and books from every field of knowledge. There were wall hangings, paintings and sculptures made by the top artists of the empire. Wang Yiheng pushed aside the last paper of imperial court matters after putting on a seal at the end of the scroll. It meant, it got approved by the Emperor.

Wang Yiheng stood up from his seat after keeping the ink pen on its stand and walked out of the room to go to his chamber. He was passing by a beautiful garden and suddenly came to stop under a big oak tree.

"How long do you plan to follow me, Xue Ying?"

A man appeared behind him as soon as his name was called. Xue Ying was his bodyguard and informer that very few people knew about. He was like Wang Yiheng's shadow, well trained and very good at hiding his presence. He was also the one who delivered the 'rumour' of Bai Yuan attending the hunt.

"Master, your humble servant greets you." Xue Ying bowed.

"Did you find out what I sent you to know about?" Wang Yiheng stood with his hands behind him, his sight hovering over the dancing flowers.

Xue Ying nodded and spoke in a calm tone, "Master, as you had expected, almost all of the letters that were sent to you in the name of his Highness, consort Bai, were fake and fabricated. This servant has been keeping an eye on all of the servants and tried to interrogate a few secretly. What I heard was really-"

"Don't stop in the middle. Report all of it" Wang Yiheng ordered, not looking at Xue Ying at all.

"I beg pardon, master. That night what consort Bai said in his fatigue state was not wrong, in your absence, he was maltreated and his enemies went so far as to make his murder look like an accident. They knew his Highness didn't know how to swim, took advantage and finding the chance pushed him in the pond, a few weeks ago. But it was not only pushing in the water, he was being poisoned with a slow poison that leads to hallucinations and weakens the core of the body, slowly leading to death."

Hearing all these Wang Yiheng's complexions darkened and his hands clenched together in tight fists behind him.

Xue Ying continued, "Master, when I went to confirm the poisoning case the royal physician denied it completely and told me that I was mistaken, but His Highness's personal physician who has been taking care of him since the crown prince has been born, told me otherwise. Both of their reports are conflicting."

"Xue Ying, it's very simple, someone from the inside is involved in this crime and they're not even trying to hide properly." Wang Yiheng replied with a cold voice, "They took it that far."

One thing Wang Yiheng caught on quickly, some people didn't want Bai Yuan to live and so manipulated every action of his to finish Bai Yuan off, before he could return to the palace. These were those overly-ambitious people who had been trying to impose marriages on him with the name of 'Increasing power and territory Strategy' since the day he ascended the throne. He knew that they didn't like the fact that he married a General's son, not a princess from another country or the eldest daughter of Ministry Lu. But marrying Bai Yuan was something his Queen mother suggested him to do, how could he not listen to her? She never did anything that would harm him.

"This betrayal is unforgivable. Find every possible information, Xue Ying, as soon as possible." Wang Yiheng commanded with a deep, menacing tone that sent chills down Xue Ying's back.

Suddenly something moved in the bushes inside the garden. Wang Yiheng looked carefully in that direction and meanwhile, Xue Ying disappeared into thin air like he never stood there.

A small head popped up and ran around restlessly. With all focus, a pair of bright blue eyes scanned the whole area. The small boy kept changing places and looked behind as if someone was after him. Finally, he seemed to spot someone under the big oak tree.

Yeye took a finger to his lips and gestured to Wang Yiheng telling him not to reveal Yeye's whereabouts. Wang Yiheng felt amused. Then he heard a male voice trailing behind from the other side of the garden.

"Yeye~Where are you?"

Yiheng's golden eyes fell on the youth who was wearing a yellow hanfu with soft white patterns on it. Bai Yuan's hair was styled with a yellow zade crown, revealing a slender neck behind. He never wore makeup unless he had to go to meet someone. He didn't need it anyways. His pale skin dazzled under the bright sun and his cheeks looked pinkish because of the heat.

As soon as Bai Yuan looked in the direction of the oak tree, his eyes got locked with a pair of golden eyes. As if he was in a daze, he kept staring at Wang Yiheng. After that morning, Bai Yuan unconsciously tried to avoid meeting this handsome man who for some unknown reason, softly pulled on his heartstrings. He even blamed his heart multiple times,

'Stop being like that! So what if he's handsome, has nice, silky hair, a chiselled body and has abs that can be guessed even from the top of his thick layers of robes? Then again, that honey-coloured skin…and those blazing golden irises…God…that's really unfair to put all the best features in one man at once…Stop it, Ah-Yuan! Don't end up falling for this guy who doesn't like you at all!'

However, he noticed something else which had an advantage for him. He realised that there was a good change in everyone's behaviour after Wang Yiheng returned to the palace and left his room that morning (Though he was the one to left Wang Yiheng behind, but whatever)

That's when a good plan knocked on his brain.

*Mr. Plan knocking at the door of Bai Yuan's brain*

Mr.Plan pulls out a paper: Ah-Yuan, why not both of you appear a harmonious couple in front of everyone and silently declare that they shouldn't mess with the person whom the Emperor likes.

Bai Yuan's brain: (processing) not a bad idea, but there are no risks, right?

Mr. Plan: Not at all, just form that contract you wanted to sign with Wang Yiheng and convince him to act with you.

Bai Yuan's brain: Will he agree?

Mr. Plan: If he doesn't, scare him with weapon 007.

Bai Yuan's brain: What's that?!

Mr. Plan: Divorce. Either he acts or he frees you from this loveless marriage.

Bai Yuan's brain: …. I don't wanna leave Yeye and this wealthy life, so he better agree to act.

Mr. Plan: Well decided. I'm done with sharing my plan.

Bai Yuan's brain: Thank you.

*Mr. Plan left the chat*

Coming back to the scene…

Bai Yuan slapped his face with both of his hands to come back to reality and again started to look for Yeye.

"Yeye, where are you hiding?"

Yiheng's eyes never left him though.

The garden was enormous and Yeye was so small that Bai Yuan thought ' If this continues, it'd take the whole day to find him. How do I get him out?"

Suddenly something came to his mind, he spoke in the most dramatic way possible, so loud that it wouldn't be considered as screaming but Yeye could hear him clearly, "Wow! The crane looks so fabulous! I wish Yeye could meet this crane!"

Yeye loved cranes. He would always request Bai Yuan to make him paper cranes since they didn't have them inside their palace, and real cranes only came into the palace as migratory birds, so none was allowed to catch them.

As expected, hearing about cranes, Yeye dashed out of the bush, "Where??"

No sooner had he come out than Bai Yuan picked him up in a tight embrace, "Caught you, little pumpkin!"

Yeye became sad instantly, "Bad mommy! You cheated, there is no crane!"

Bai Yuan rubbed his puffed cheeks and apologized, "Ahh, too bad. They flew away as soon as you came.haha."

Seeing Bai Yuan and Yeye being playful, Yiheng finally came to them and stood beside Bai Yuan. He didn't know what to do, so he chose to stand with them silently. As soon as Bai Yuan noticed that, he was having a hard time, not smirking in front of the Emperor.

He greeted him politely, "Have you been well, your majesty?"

Wang Yiheng paused before nodding in response.

'This is awkward. But he can be cute, too. Damn, Ah-Yuan, what are you thinking?'

Bai Yuan poked Yeye's cheeks and asked in a cute voice, "Does Yeye want to go to Papa ?"

Yiheng and Yeye both looked equally surprised. Even though he loved being in his mommy's arms, Yeye didn't dislike being held by this new person too, that other night. Thus, he gave a small nod and stretched out his arms towards Yiheng.

Yiheng looked at Bai Yuan and getting a small nod of approval, he also moved to carry Yeye. Again, this new feeling of warmth hit him. Bai Yuan gestured as he took some steps ahead, "Come on, let's take a walk together."

And with that, Wang Yiheng went on a lovely afternoon walk with his lovely wife and adorable son, making all the spectators cheer with joy and shed tears of happiness.

*****

A.N: ಥ⁠_⁠ಥ Are the updates not to your liking? Why don't I see responses like before? Please don't scare me. (⁠ ⁠⚈̥̥̥̥̥́⁠⌢⁠⚈̥̥̥̥̥̀⁠)

I'll try to do better and write loonnnggg chapter! Don't abandon this poor human being.

Forgot to add, let me know if you find any spelling/ grammatical errors while reading, I'll edit it asap.

Till then, Adios, keep me in your prayers. Muah(⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠³⁠˘⁠)⁠♥