After breakfast, Hua Cheng asked if Xie Lian was interested in taking a closer look around the garden, which he definitely was. So, Hua Cheng helped him to get up and hop around in the same way he'd done earlier. He showed him the different flowers and they talked about their beauty and meanings, and they ended up strolling through the garden for what felt like hours.

Once they had exhausted the topic of flowers, Hua Cheng proposed to play a round of go, to which Xie Lian agreed very enthusiastically.

Their match took until nightfall, and even then it was still not concluded. However, Xie Lian was growing exhausted from all the strategic thinking he'd done today, and in order to cut it short, he placed a stone in a bad position on purpose. Once he did, Hua Cheng looked at him and crossed his arms.

"Gege, you're not letting me win on purpose now, are you?"

Xie Lian sighed.

"San Lang… if it's the two of us, I have no doubt we could keep going for another five days without determining a winner. The game has to conclude at some point, and I'm growing tired."

"Then we will continue next time, but take that stone back. I don't want to win like this."

Xie Lian sighed once more, fondly, and took his stone back.

"If gege is exhausted, should I carry him to bed, or do you want to hop your way there?", Hua Cheng asked.

"I can hop."

Of course Hua Cheng still helped him with the hopping. However, just as they entered Xie Lian's current room, he realised something.

"San Lang… I already didn't take a bath yesterday. I really need to take one today. Can you help me get over to the pool?"

"Of course, gege."

Only when they arrived at the edge of the pool did Xie Lian remember that he didn't have any garments he could change into.

When he told Hua Cheng the issue, the king bellowed a loud "Yin Yu!", and just a short moment later a man in dark robes appeared.

"Your Majesty?", he asked.

"Fetch me robes", Hua Cheng ordered, before he turned to Xie Lian again.

"I should have thought of that, gege. I'm sorry."

Xie Lian immediately shook his head.

"I didn't even think of it. Uhm… will… will San Lang also take a bath here?"

"If gege wants me to, of course", came Hua Cheng's instant reply.

Xie Lian thought he must've gone insane at some point, but he nodded. It was going against everything that had ever been drilled into his head when it came to the topic of dealing with alphas as an omega, he realised rather belatedly. While it was true that Xian Le had strived for equality between the dynamics, there were still laws and customs in place to protect omegas from alphas' unwanted attention.

One of those customs had been separated communal baths. Xie Lian had bathed with many people in his life, lots of strangers and distant acquaintances as well as close friends, but never with an alpha. Which was why he didn't quite know what to expect, but he felt much less nervous than he felt he should be. Maybe it was because San Lang was great company, or maybe it was because Xie Lian didn't want to be alone.

"If San Lang doesn't mind", he said, but still felt a bit shy.

Xie Lian had never really felt shy about nudity before; after all, there was nothing more normal than to undress before bathing. Everyone did it, and nobody was shy about it. But there had also always been more than just one other person, if Xie Lian did decide to join the army baths, or it had always just been him, if he decided to take a bath in his own private chambers. So maybe this was also a new aspect that was making him just a little bit nervous.

Yin Yu chose that moment to come back into the room, and placed the robes Hua Cheng had asked for on the side table next to the lounge chair, before he immediately disappeared again.

Once he was gone, Hua Cheng didn't hesitate to start undressing himself, and Xie Lian followed his example, taking his top off first, before loosening the strings that kept his pants up. They slid down his legs by themselves, though getting his right, uninjured foot out of the pool of cloth around his ankle proved to be a bit of a hassle.

"Let me help you", Hua Cheng offered, as soon as he was done undressing, and lifted Xie Lian just enough to kick the pants away from them.

Once that was done, Hua Cheng proceeded to help Xie Lian walk down the steps leading into the pool, the temperature of which wasn't as cool as Hua Cheng had led him to believe, but it was a nice temperature nonetheless.

When they arrived at the bottom, Hua Cheng made sure Xie Lian was sitting on the underwater ledge securely, before he sat down next to him. Xie Lian made sure to keep his eyes on Hua Cheng's face the whole time.

In order to distract himself from Hua Cheng's toned chest, Xie Lian decided to breach a rather serious topic.

"San Lang… can I ask you some things about… WuYong?", he started.

"Of course", Hua Cheng immediately agreed with a smile.

Xie Lian took the time to smile back before he continued.

"I've been living here for so many months now, but I still don't know anything about this country, at least… not really…", he began slowly, not quite sure how to breach the subject tactfully.

"Well, if there's anyone in this whole country that can answer your questions, it should be me. So ask away, gege. I'll tell you everything you want to know."

"Stop flirting", Xie Lian blushed, and elbowed Hua Cheng in the side, which only got a laugh out of the king.

"What do you want to know, gege?", he asked, after he calmed down again.

"Life inside the palace walls is always very different from the reality outside and I was wondering if that was the reason why I haven't run into any problems related to my dynamic yet. I remember visiting WuYong before, when JunWu used to be the ruler, and the behaviour towards omegas was… really vastly different, even inside the palace."

Hua Cheng had turned very still while Xie Lian was talking, but he didn't hesitate to reply.

"I didn't agree with how my predecessor handled a lot of things; the treatment of omegas being one of them. So I changed the laws and enforced strict punishments on misbehavior. I know a lot of people of the older generation resent me for it, but what do I care about the opinion of those fossils?"

"San Lang… don't be so disrespectful", Xie Lian chided gently, not knowing whether to laugh or cry at the way Hua Cheng had with words.

The king snickered.

"So you didn't like JunWu?", Xie Lian asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"I absolutely despised him. He was the most greedy, egocentric, manipulative, vindictive, predatory asshole I ever encountered. He's not even worth talking about. History will be better off if his name is forgotten entirely."

"You sound like you had a personal grudge against him", Xie Lian prodded gently.

"Oh I most definitely did. He treated the person I've always looked up to the most as if he was nothing more than dirt under his shoes, simply because he was an omega. Until that person turned 15. Then he suddenly decided that this person was beautiful, and wanted to marry him. Despicable trash like him didn't deserve to live."

Xie Lian felt extremely disturbed at hearing that detail.

"Is that why you killed him?", he asked quietly.

Hua Cheng looked at him a little surprised, before he shook his head and smiled.

"I should've known that gege already knew about that. It wasn't the whole reason, but it was the last straw, and what sped up my plan to overthrow him. I originally intended to get the whole court on my side first. However, by the time that trash decided he wanted to marry him, I only had four people of it on my side. But it was a risk I was willing to take in order to protect him.

"So it's true that you usurped the throne…", Xie Lian thought out loud.

"I don't mind sharing my secrets with gege, but I'm really curious how you already knew about this. I thought it was a well guarded secret", Hua Cheng said, looking a bit displeased when he said the last part.

"San Lang? I really want to know just how you managed to do something like this to the king of such a huge country… especially without any of us neighboring countries even so much as hearing about it", Xie Lian pretended not to have heard him.

Hua Cheng grinned at him sharply.

"I'll tell you all about my master plan if you tell me who told you I usurped the throne."

Xie Lian firmly pressed his lips together, and looked away from the king. He could only imagine the punishment Mei NianQing would receive for spilling secrets like this.

Hua Cheng was silent for a while, before he sighed.

"If gege doesn't want to tell me, that's fine, too. It is true that I don't mind gege knowing those things, but it's not something I need the whole world to know about. So please tell me at least this. Do you think that person will spill my secrets to other people as well?"

Xie Lian took a while to properly think about this.

"I don't think that person would do that. That person has been working here for a long time, and I think if he wanted to use that secret to harm you, he would've already done so years ago. I think the reason why that person told me was out of concern for me, once that person got to know of the fact that I would be seeing you rather regularly", Xie Lian said, and eventually looked back to Hua Cheng.

The king was grinning at him wolfishly.

"It was Mei NianQing, wasn't it?"

Xie Lian very carefully tried not to show any reaction to that question at all.

"That old Guoshi is such a blabbermouth", Hua Cheng snickered, and it sounded a bit dangerous in Xie Lian's ears. "Don't worry, gege. I won't do anything to him. He just made good on his threat towards me. It was fair game. Come here, let me scrub your back."

Too baffled by the sudden change of topic, Xie Lian could do nothing but be pliant when Hua Cheng turned him around so that his back was facing the king.

"What do you mean he threatened you?", Xie Lian asked, once Hua Cheng had started scrubbing him.

The king sighed.

"Mei NianQing is one of only a handful of people inside this palace who is allowed to speak to me more or less on eye level. He takes full advantage of the fact, and doesn't hesitate to let me know at every opportunity that I'm the worst person he's ever met. According to him, I could just as well be a demon in human disguise. However I think that, if he really hated me, he wouldn't have been working for me for so many years. Either way, when I ordered him to teach you dance, he told me he'd make sure to turn you against me if I behave out of line… according to his standards. Just to spite me. I never agreed to listen to him in the first place, but he likes to ignore that detail."

Xie Lian took the opportunity to turn around and face Hua Cheng again.

"Your turn", he said, and took the washing cloth from him.

Hua Cheng smiled, and obediently turned around.

"So you trust him?", Xie Lian asked when he started scrubbing the king's back.

"I do. Mei NianQing is difficult to deal with, but he is not really an unreasonable man. Him liking or disliking someone doesn't affect the way he treats that person when it comes down to it. He's rather professional in that regard. He also doesn't have anything to gain from going against me. After all, he's living better now, than he did under that previous trash king. I'm not worried about him spilling my secrets to anyone else. I know the reason why he told you was because he already that, as long as it's you, I wouldn't mind you knowing."

Xie Lian smiled, glad to have confirmed for himself that Hua Cheng was indeed reasonable, and not quite as whimsical as he'd been led to believe.

"You're done. Let's get out of the water", Xie Lian decided.

Hua Cheng helped him to hop out of the pool, and all the way to the side table of the lounge chair, seemingly not at all bothered by the physical closeness it put them in, despite their nudity. Somehow the king's lax attitude caused Xie Lian to feel much more comfortable as well.

By the time they arrived at that side table, their body's weren't dripping wet anymore, and there was no reason to wait with putting on the robes.

Xie Lian was surprised to find that it had indeed been proper robes that Yin Yu had brought them, though there was only one set of underwear, one inner robe, and one outer robe.

Hua Cheng sighed in irritation, and looked like he was about to call for Yin Yu again, before he stopped himself, and looked at Xie Lian.

"You get dressed first, gege", he said, and grabbed the underwear, before holding it out for Xie Lian.

However…

"It's just for sleeping anyway, isn't it? I got so used to only wearing one layer over the last few months, so I don't mind wearing only the inner robe. At least, as long as I stay in this room", he added hastily. He still very much preferred wearing pants as a part of his garb when he was outside a private environment.

Hua Cheng was silent for a short moment, before he agreed, and started dressing himself in the underwear. Only then did Xie Lian also pull the inner robe on. It was much too big on him, about 1 or 2 chi of the hem even touching the floor.

When Hua Cheng was done dressing himself, he chuckled as soon as he saw Xie Lian dressed in his red inner robe.

"It's too difficult to hop around like this. I'll carry you to the bed", he decided, and heaved Xie Lian into his arms without any further preamble.

"San Lang", Xie Lian sighed. "The bed is only a few steps away. I could've just walked normally", he argued, but tried to inconspicuously snuggle just a little bit closer into Hua Cheng's chest.

Hua Cheng readjusted his hold on him, and snickered.

"Your mouth says that, but your actions suggest that you actually like me carrying you. Which one is the truth, gege?"

Xie Lian blushed at having been caught, and refused to answer.

Hua Cheng kept snickering, obviously knowing the answer himself. The king proceeded to gently drop him onto the bed, before he sat down on the edge, and looked like he was about to tuck Xie Lian in again.

"Wait", he said, and grabbed Hua Cheng's wrist in an attempt to stop him. "You know that it was Mei NianQing who told me your secret. It's your turn to answer my question."

Hua Cheng paused.

"It's a bit of a long story, gege. Aren't you tired at all? I promise I'll tell you tomorrow; it's not worth it to exhaust yourself over it."

Xie Lian grinned at him playfully, and scooted over before patting the space beside him.

"You can just tell it to me as a bedtime story then. Come, come, make yourself comfortable. San Lang can't keep sitting like that if the story is indeed so long."

Hua Cheng smiled indulgently, but also somewhat exasperatedly, before he listened to Xie Lian and laid down next to him. Xie Lian immediately turned to his side to face Hua Cheng, looking at him expectantly.

"Hmm… where to start", Hua Cheng contemplated, and grabbed a strand of Xie Lian's hair to play with absentmindedly.

However, Xie Lian had underestimated how tired he really was, and before Hua Cheng could even start with his story, he'd already fallen asleep.