eunoia | bl | tgcf

Chapter 6: Part Three

Chapter 6
The Third Son and Beautiful Cloud

Part Three
Like a family

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For Xie Lian, the portrait and the poem are enough to make his following days even brighter than usual.

At once, his smile reflects his joy as he quickly dresses up, rushing out of the shrine to meet the friends he wants to hold in the palm of his hands.

"San Lang! Yunmei! I've seen the portrait and poems!"

He wants to share this happiness with them!

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Xie Lian, who wants to share his happiness, comes to a halt to stare at this bizarre scene. "..."

San Lang, who holds a broom in one hand and pauses midair in a swinging position, as if wielding the broom like a sword. "..."

Yunmei, whose sleeves are tied up and an axe in both hands, arms bare as she pauses mid-swing. "..."

The three of them stare at each other, quiet, not knowing how to react.

Once the breeze picks up, Xie Lian walks over, grabs the axe from Yunmei's hands and the broom from San Lang. "You two... why is Yunmei cutting wood?" The crown prince gives the youth the look. "San Lang, why did you let Yunmei do it on her own?"

San Lang who was actually cutting the wood earlier but got his axe snatched by Yunmei: "..." What is this undeserved injustice???

Yunmei keeps her lips together but despite her expression, San Lang knows that deep inside, she must be laughing at him. Perhaps this is his karma for always teasing her? Under his gege's stare, San Lang's shoulders slump downward in dismay, grabbing the axe from gege's hand.

With slow, almost comical, steps, he exchanges places with Yun-jie.

The pout on his lips is obvious that one does not need to analyze his expression to know that he is sulking while cutting wood. Xie Lian sighs in exasperation before his attention changes targets.

"Yunmei—" unbeknownst to him, San Lang's ears perk up when the crown prince calls Yunmei's name. "—you shouldn't have been doing hard labor." Since there is someone who can do it instead, the lady should have let him do it.

But who told Yunmei to be such a strong-headed woman?

"You're already in charge of feeding us, you should let San Lang do the rest of the chores." After all, with her cooking, both Xie Lian and San Lang can eat a feast on their own. Every time, Yunmei has to cook dishes that can serve a big family just for the three of them.

(Hua Yunlan resists the urge to pull on this crown prince's ear. Then again, he shouldn't have chosen such a delicate looking appearance in the first place! This is him slapping his own face for being thoughtless!)

To change the subject, Xie Lian claps his hands once. "Speaking of the portrait and poem, I've seen them and both are beautiful! Yunmei, you have such a way with words, they flow like the river and as warming as the morning sun. I'm thankful for the poems you made for me— uh, for the Prince of Xianle."