Lu Shao had been dragging his feet the whole way to his parent’s courtyard. When he halted at the entrance, Yan Li shoved him roughly from behind.
“Gods, will you get a backbone? I’m embarrassed just watching you.” Yan Li gave him a look of disapproval.
The youngest Huang sibling straightened himself and muttered angrily, “What do you know? Did he drag you around the mountain and torture you? Did he mock you for not fighting, as if I, a child at the time, could do anything useful! What did he want me to do, cry the enemy to death? Now he just torments me to death the moment he sees me, asks if I’ve learned to do anything useful yet--”
Yan Li rolled his eyes at Lu Shao’s complaining, “Aya, yes, yes, yes, we all know that he likes you the best and gives you the most attention, no need to boast.”
“It’s not boasting!”
“And what are you complaining about being tortured all these years later? That was obviously training.”
“What training?! I was seven! SEVEN!” Lu Shao shuddered. “...still have nightmares during the new moon because of him...”
Yan Li wrapped an arm around his younger siblings shoulders and teased, “Wasn’t it just that you were too cute and he couldn’t help being overzealous?”
Lu Shao face blackened at this comment and, throwing off his older brother’s arm, he dusted himself off as if he’d been exposed to something dirty. Yan Li wasn’t offended and simply laughed at him instead.
“You can’t be serious about still having nightmares? Wasn’t it you that practically begged Big Bro to train you?”
“I didn’t think he’d put me through hell! If I’d known he was going to torture me like that I would have never asked.” Lu Shao looked over at Shi Ji, who’d been sensibly quiet the entire way over. “Bro, help me out here!”
“It’s true Shan Hui didn’t know how to train a boy properly, but after he realized his mistake, wasn’t he more careful? He never made you do any kind of martial arts training again and only teased you a little for being weak.” Shi Ji sighed and shook his head. “And anyway, it’s not like you’ve got a right to complain. Of the three of us, the Old man and Shan Hui always doted on you the most.”
Lu Shao wrinkled his nose. “Doted my as--”
“Greetings Younger Brothers.”
“Holy shi--!”
Lu Shao actually jumped sideways and stumbled at the unexpected greeting from behind. Yan Li and Shi Ji whipped around in surprise.
Shan Hui was standing there for who-knows-how-long, young as always, dressed like the “Little” Prince he was, with a pleasant expression on his face.
“I see my Young Brothers are having fun reminiscing about our youthful days.”
The three younger siblings tensed at his polite tone. How much had he heard? Shouldn’t he be putting Lu Shao in a headlock at this point?
“Big Bro,” Yan Li greeted with a cautious smile, “it’s good to see you’ve arrived home safely.”
“Hn, the trip was unpleasant but I managed to arrive in one piece.”
“Did any of my talismans help?” Shi Ji asked, his professional curiosity overcoming the alarm he was feeling.
“Unfortunately not. The ocean still remains our greatest weakness.”
Shi Ji pursed his lips in disappointment and started mumbling to himself, “Was the ratio off or…?”
Shan Hui saw Shi Ji was succumbing to his array-obsession so turned back to Yan Li, giving a bow, “I heard Second Brother got married while I was gone. Congratulations and felicitations to Second Brother.”
The only person Shan Hui ever bowed for was their Mother. Getting a bow unexpectedly made Yan Li forehead break out in a sweat. Had his Older Brother gotten hit too many times on the head in Jianghu?!
He rushed over and forced his brother out of the bowing position. “Hohoho, Big Bro, why are you even bowing? It’s just getting married, no reason to debase yourself!”
A glint of approval flashed in Shan Hui’s eyes. With a bit more sincerity, he smiled at Yan Li.
“What ‘just getting married’? You’re the first to have an official wedding, naturally it’s a big deal. I only regret that I couldn’t have arrived sooner to see it and I’ve only just returned so I’ve no gift to give.” Shan Hui looked appropriately apologetic. “Once I’ve settled, do you think Second Princess would mind if I stopped by and personally handed over the wedding gift and paid my greetings?”
Not to mention Yan Li, Shi Ji and Lu Shao both felt a shiver run down their spines. Since when did Shan Hui ask permission to go anywhere on the mountain? Usually he just barged in like he owned the place! And wasn’t it strange how respectful he was being to his new sister-in-law? There should, at the very least, be quite a lot of teasing going on right now but instead it was just politeness.
Lu Shao was so shocked by this change in behavior, he spoke without thinking, “Big Bro, how many times did you get hit on the head in Jianghu?”
Yan Li reached over and smacked his younger sibling upside the head. Even if he’d been thinking the exact same thing, he knew not to say it out loud.
“Ah… ha ha ha!” Lu Shao knew he’d been stupid and could only laugh akwardly. “Just… just joking Big Bro!”
Shan Hui’s whole face stiffened and for a moment they were sure he was going to lose his temper. But the next second his face relaxed and he grinned in what was likely meant to be a friendly manner. However he failed miserably, leaving them creeped out.
“Fourth Brother has such a good sense of humor. Speaking of humorous things, wasn’t Fourth Brother reminiscing about that short time I trained him?”
Lu Shao blanched. So Shan Hui had heard everything! All of it!
“Thinking back on it, he really was much too small and cute to be trained by me. But now… look how big you are, Fourth Brother. I bet you could train together with me just fine now. Ah!” Shan Hui grin widened, his eyes crescenting. “It’s been so long since I spent one-on-one time with you, Fourth Brother! After dinner, how about we train together?”
“B-Big Bro, I’m not-- I’m not really good at bare handed fighting.”
Shan Hui raised his eyebrows, “Does that mean Fourth Brother is good at fighting with a weapon?”
“I--”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“How convenient!” He chuckled. “I’ve learned to fight with a weapon!”
“Wait, Big Bro, I don--”
“Ah, look at the time! We mustn’t keep Mother waiting.” Before Lu Shao could say anything else, Shan Hui was already walking away.
“Big Bro! Don’t be like this!” Lu Shao almost cried.
When they entered, Mei Hua went over to greet them, Jin trailing behind her. Ye, Lu Fan, and Shuya were also there but had remained seated.
“Wah, all my sons are here!” Mei Hua clapped her hands excitedly, her smile filled with genuine joy. “Everyone, come in, come in, the fairies already have everything made and were just waiting for you to arrive to serve dinner.”
As each son came in, she greeted them with a hug and a back pat.
Shan Hui accepted the hug, but released quickly, to the surprise of his younger siblings. Usually this guy would shamelessly cling to their Mother, if for no other reason than to irritate the Old Man.
After Mei Hua hugged her second son, she asked in surprise, “Yan Li, is Jia Ying not coming?”
“Since Big Bro’ just got back, she decided to stay home today to give us all a chance to catch up. She promised to come tomorrow night though.”
“Aw, she didn’t have to do that…”
As Mei Hua continued talking to her sons, her oldest was looking at the table with a confused expression.
Shan Hui saw Lu Fan and was a bit puzzled at why the old-as-dirt leader of the deer was eating dinner with them. That guy liked living in the forest and, what’s more, wasn’t family and shouldn’t be here. Then, the woman he knew only by name, leaned over and draped her arms around Lu Fan’s body, sending him what could only be amorous glances, and whispered something in his ear. The old deer actually blushed.
Seeing this, Shan Hui suddenly understood. He only knew of Shuya from what Xiao Qing and Xiao Ling, formerly his nursemaids now his servants, had reported to him shortly after arriving. Shuya was a Tree Spirit who’d helped speed up the recovery of his Mother, and his Mother had taken her in as a real sister. Thus, she would be allowed at the dinner table. Apparently Lu Fan and Shuya were in “that” kind of a relationship, and that’s why he, Lu Fan, was allowed too.
Since his Father was a Mountain Spirit and his Mother a human, he didn’t think the combination of a tree and a deer all that unusual. More than anything, he was amazed at seeing the usually taciturn and strict Lu Fan get flirted with so audaciously. Even if he was blushing, he didn’t swat her away, so he must actually like it.
Shan Hui turned away, annoyed and disgusted by such public displays of affection. Whether the elder was a grandma or grandpa, they never took the mental health of the younger generation into account when they flirted like this in public.
He then turned his attention to the worst offender of them all: his Old Man. Just knowing how this ancestor flirted so outrageously with his Mother made him frown and want to pick a fight. To stop himself, he simply glared at his Old Man in silence.
Shan Hui’s bitter feelings leaked out as a thin thread of antagonism that Jin could sense. The younger man’s eyes narrowed slightly and, for a moment, Jin wondered if his son was going to start something and tensed in preparation.
Instead Shan Hui cupped his hands, grit his teeth, and bowed respectfully at the waist. In a very low voice, so quite it’d be difficult for even someone standing right next to him to be hear, he said, “This Prince greets Imperial Father.”
Jin looked at his son in wide eyed surprise. Even if no one else heard the greeting, the bow itself was enough to startle him. His other sons saw Shan Hui bowing and gaped speechlessly at Shan Hui’s unexpected politeness. Mei Hua nodded in approval.
In that instant Jin, who’d always been ambivalent about human customs and manners, suddenly felt his wife was a genius. Even though he disliked the idea of humans telling him what to do, if it meant his oldest son would talk to him with respect, he would endure it without complaint!
Jin gave a loud laugh and slapped Shan Hui on the shoulder. “Brat, it’s good to have you here this evening.”
Shan Hui’s eye twitched. Treating this Old Man respectfully for the rest of his life was truly the best punishment his Mother could have devised. The undisguised glee in his Old Man’s face was so irritating Shan Hui couldn’t think of anything polite to say to continue the conversation. Instead he gave a stiff nod and bowed a second time to excuse himself and then headed towards the table.
“Greetings Imperial Uncle,” Shan Hui bowed again and then hesitated before turning to Shuya and Lu Fan. “Greeting Imperial Aunt and Respected Elder.”
Lu Fan immediately stood up and bowed back, hastily saying, “No need Young Master, no need! It’s an honor for this old deer to be here!”
Ye and Shuya, on the other hand, snickered openly.
“No need to be polite Nephew,” Ye said even while he chortled, waving the young man to sit down across from them. “We’re all family here after all.”
As Shan Hui sat down, Shuya tucked her hands under her chin and leaned her elbows on the table and blinked innocently at him. “Lil’ Nephew must want to vomit from being so nice to Jin. Isn’t Little Sister ruthless? I too was forced to bow my head and get along, you have my sympathy.”
Shan Hui narrowed his eyes. He didn’t know where to start with being offended. First, he was no one’s “Lil’ Nephew”! If Ye had said that, he’d have definitely choked him to death! Secondly, his Mother was a beautiful human being and how dare this skanky woman call her ruthless?! Third, even if the words sounded sympathetic, the glitter of mischief in this woman’s eyes was obvious!
Though Shan Hui managed to refrain from saying anything out loud, the glacer look he was giving Shuya made it obvious he wasn’t happy. Shuya acted scared and grabbed Lu Fan’s arm, squishing her whole body against him.
“Oh my, Darling Lu Fan, your Little Master is glaring at me like he wants to chop me to bits!”
Lu Fan gave a bone weary sigh. This was both a minor act of revenge on her part for him being gone so long while at the same time just being her way of finding an excuse to touch him. Since he’d really been in the wrong for leaving her alone so long he didn’t have the heart to be truly upset.
But, after all, this was the Young Master. Even though the boy wasn’t stupid enough to pick a fight with his Father’s deer, Lu Fan didn’t live this long by making enemies needlessly.
“It’s Young Master, Beloved, not Little Master. And isn’t he your first and most previous Nephew? Give him some face for his Mother’s sake if no other reason.”
She pursed her lips, but Lu Fan simply raised an eyebrow in response. Huffing, she muttered, “Oh alright! Since you asked so nicely and it’s Little Sister’s boy, well...”
She abruptly stood up and gave a surprisingly graceful curtsy. “This Imperial Aunt returns Imperial Nephew’s greeting.”
Shan Hui nodded rigidly, but he was relieved of having to say anything because both his Mother, Father, and Young Brothers had all returned. Fairies began bringing dinner and drinks out as everyone settled.
Everyone talked while eating, breaking with a common tradition of “eating not speaking” that was common in many elite households. Fortunately, silence during meals wasn’t a requirement in the book, only that people keep their volume moderated and give everyone a chance to speak. Thus, Shan Hui was able to join the conversation without things getting too awkward.
Though Shan Hui started the dinner in a foul mood thanks to his Old Man and Shuya, he steadily cheered up as dinner progressed. It had been years since he last ate with his family, and many more years since he heard the laughter and scolding of his Mother at the dinner table. Hearing the mix of chattering voices of so many familiar voices left him feeling moved.
It almost made him want to cry. But only almost. Like he’d cry in front of his Old Man!
When dinner was finished and the desserts and a fresh pot of tea were brought out, Mei Hua announced to her sons, “Boys, now that your Father has created a proper nation to rule over, it’s time for all of us to act like real leaders.”
The twins and Lu Shao glanced at each other, all uniformly wondering what she was getting at.
“Bring them in please.” Mei Hua instructed to a nearby fairy.
A moment later another fairy walked came into the room, carrying three thick books and handed them to each son. The sons all looked down at the book and read the words neatly written on the cover: ‘Lanhua Imperial Family Rules: Etiquette & Protocol for Princes’.
They’d been wondering why their Elder Brother had been so polite all evening and they now understood. It was this manual. If it had been just Shan Hui forced to follow it, they wouldn’t have minded. But it seemed like Mother intended on having them do it too.
Their hearts were instantly filled with all kinds of complaints. Why should they follow someone else’s protocol for how princes behave? If they behaved a certain way, wasn’t that by definition, how princes should behave? And it’s not like they were terrible people, what did they need extra instruction for anyway? They were very well behaved! Why should they follow this?
Without knowing what the other was thinking, they all thought individually they’d only follow this book when Mother was around. If they did that, she’d be happy and they’d be free to live life as they liked.
Even though they were doing a good job keeping their thoughts from showing on their faces, Mei Hua knew them too well. She smiled very sweetly and explained further, “I know it’s hard to change. To help you, I’ve had Shan Hui read this book too. With him as your guide, I’m sure you’ll all get the hang of it in no time.”
They gaped at her announcement and immediately looked towards Shan Hui as their self-preservation instinct kicked in. He was smiling at them so brightly he could set their faces on fire.
All three son’s innards quivered in unison.