One week later, Feiyan

“Jie!” Feiyan sighed and ignored the soft pleading voice that was Yizhong perched next to her table in the library, focusing intently instead on the book she had open in front of her. Yizhong sighed and poked Feiyan on the arm.

“Feiyan jie!” He said insistently, “You can’t just sit in here and read all the time!” Feiyan sighed again and finally shut her book to look at the younger boy.

“What else am I supposed to do?” She replied, “Yixing’s attention is fully occupied by his royal duties and taking care of Ruyi. Beyond greeting the khan in the morning, I barely even need to see him. I can’t ride a horse alone, so what else am I supposed to do but read?” The corner of Yizhong’s lips turned up into a slight smile.

“I never mentioned my brother.” He replied teasingly. Feiyan blinked and turned away, clearing .

“What are you trying to get at, Zhong’er?” She asked quietly. Yizhong put his elbows on the table and perched his chin on his hands.

“You have to fight back, jie!” He chirped, “Your husband is about to be stolen away, and you’re just sitting here reading? You can’t do that!” Feiyan laughed dryly and reached out to fix Yizhong’s posture.

“Zhong’er, I think you’re exaggerating.” She replied, “Yixing and I have nothing going on between us besides a legal name. Calling it ‘stealing’ would be too much.” Yizhong shook his head.

“It is only proper that my brother spend time with his wife, not another woman who is supposed to be dead!” He protested, “I saw the way you looked when she first showed up, you didn’t like it either!” Feiyan gulped as she waved Yizhong’s concerns away quickly. It was true; Yixing and Ruyi were completely inseparable, always walking together as Yixing caught her up on all that had happened and how the camp looked now. It made Feiyan’s chest tighten every time she saw it, but she was in no position to protest.

After all, I am a wife in name only.

“What nonsense.” She muttered, “Are you trying to say I was jealous?” Yizhong smiled and placed his hands on his hips.

“Yes!” He declared firmly. Feiyan sighed and ruffled Yizhong’s hair gently.

“Zhong’er, you are still young and so there are things you don’t understand yet.” She said, “Yixing has always only loved Ruyi, even after she supposedly died. Now that it turns out she is alive, it is only proper that they make up for lost time.” Yizhong frowned.

“I know a lot of things already, even though I’m younger!” He pouted, “In fact, I know how you can get my brother’s attention back on you!” Feiyan laughed softly and sipped at her cup of tea.

“How?” She asked, not expecting too much out of the boy’s answer. Yizhong grinned.

“Bear a child for my brother!” He declared, “If you have his baby, he’ll never be able to abandon you for someone else!” Feiyan choked on her tea and immediately started coughing. Yizhong quickly patted her on the back and handed her a handkerchief.

“Was it that surprising of an idea?” He queried innocently. Feiyan slapped him lightly on the leg.

“Zhang Yizhong!” She scolded, “Who gave you those ideas?” Yizhong shrugged.

“I spend a lot of time with the soldiers.” He replied, “I have to be strong one day too after all!” Feiyan groaned.

“Those stupid soldiers…” She muttered, “Teaching a child about these things!”

“It makes sense though!” Yizhong protested, “You two are married anyway. Having a child together is only natural.” Feiyan sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead. Yizhong wasn’t entirely wrong. At the same time though, she and Yixing had yet to even consummate the marriage, much less conceive a child! But of course, she wasn’t about to admit that to Yizhong, or anyone else for that matter. Feiyan thought carefully before responding.

“Zhong’er, you don’t need to worry about your brother and I.” She said at last. Yizhong shook his head.

“But that woman’s presence is making you unhappy!” He protested. Feiyan smiled and patted Yizhong on the hand.

“Yizhong, there is no way I could compete with her, even if I wanted to.” She said quietly, “When she died, the image of her perfection was emblazoned in Yixing’s mind forever. Now that she is back and still alive, that image will naturally stay on the physical person. She is perfect, no matter dead or alive. How can I compete with that?” Yizhong’s gaze softened.

“You like my brother, don’t you?” He asked. Feiyan’s fingers froze in mid page turn before a bitter smile settled on her face.

“I don't know.” She admitted, “But whether I do or not, does that really matter anymore? Yixing’s heart is fully occupied.” Yizhong sighed and patted Feiyan on the shoulder.

“I’m always on your side, jie.” He said with a smile. Feiyan smiled and patted him on the hand.

“Thank you, Zhong’er.” She replied.

____________________________________________________________________________

Yixing

“You’re going to hurt her.” Yixing looked up as he heard the sound of Yifan’s voice. He frowned in confusion.

“Hurt who?” He asked. Yifan rolled his eyes.

“Who else besides your wife?” He replied. Yixing scoffed.

“Don’t be silly, she’s fine. She knows her place.” He replied. Yifan scoffed in return and plucked the document Yixing had been reading out of his hands.

“It’s because she knows her place that she isn’t saying anything.” He answered, “Feiyan knows her position is to play peacekeeper. Whoever you want to love is your own business. But that will not stop her from getting hurt.” The older prince slapped a hand down as Yixing attempted to pull out a different document.

“Perhaps you were too lovestruck to notice, but her expression revealed it all when Ruyi suddenly appeared.” Yifan warned, “And I can tell you she didn’t seem pleased at all. Then you had to go and drive her out of your tent?” Yixing sighed and gave up on his attempt to continue reading.

“Feiyan knows about my past with Ruyi.” He said, “She understands that I will most likely never love her. Why would she be hurt?” Yifan sighed and slapped a hand to his forehead.

“My silly, silly brother.” He said, “You haven’t even noticed, have you?” Yixing frowned.

“Notice what?” He asked. Yifan sighed.

“Do not make me spell it out for you.” He replied, “But I sincerely hope you think over my warning before it’s too late. If you go overboard, Feiyan might just leave you.” Yixing sighed and picked up a sweet from the plate in front of him.

“I really wish you would stop being so mysterious.” He grumbled as he nibbled on it, “Besides, Feiyan wouldn’t leave. Her role is to be my wife and keep our countries at peace. She has nowhere else to go.” He frowned as the taste of the sweet settled onto his tongue. The taste was different from usual; the red bean paste was too hard, the level of sweetness too light for his palate.

“Who made this?” He asked. Yifan raised an eyebrow.

“Your little lover did.” He replied, “Do you miss Feiyan’s cooking already?” Yixing scoffed and tossed the sweet back down onto the plate.

“Don’t be silly. As long as Ruyi makes it, I will eat it.” He answered, “But it does seem so quiet around here. Why is that?” Yifan chuckled dryly.

“Because you’re used to having Feiyan around, either chattering away to you or playing the zither or doing something else to make noise.” He replied, crossing his arms. Yixing frowned and thought for a moment. It was true; for the past month, Feiyan had always been there keeping him company in one way or another. Yixing quickly shook the thought away.

“I have Ruyi now, and that is all that is important to me.” He said firmly, “Where is she anyway?” Yifan sighed in exasperation but seemed to give up on the topic for now.

“I think she was going to visit Feiyan.” He replied. Yixing rose from his seat and headed for the exit.

“In that case, so will I.”

____________________________________________________________________________

Feiyan

Feiyan was surprised to see a girl standing in her tent as she returned later that night.

“Who…?” The girl turned and Feiyan fought to keep her gaze neutral as she recognized Ruyi.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, unconsciously straightening her back to make herself look taller and more regal. Ruyi bowed politely.

“Hello Princess.” She said with a smile, “I remembered that I have yet to greet you properly yet, so I came today. Please forgive me, Xing gege and I had a lot to catch up on.” Feiyan twitched at the warm endearment, but cleared and forced a polite smile to her lips.

“That’s alright, I…” Her voice trailed off as she looked over at the table in the center of the tent, and saw her rabbit cage. Unlike the way she had left it earlier, the little cage door was open, and the rabbit from Yixing nowhere to be seen. Ruyi must have seen her expression change, and immediately looked sheepish.

“I’m sorry, Princess.” She said quickly, “I came in and saw the rabbit and thought it was cute. But then the door came loose and the bunny escaped before I could even process what was happening! I don’t know where it went.” Feiyan took a deep breath, barely suppressing the rising fury in her chest.

“Yixing gave me that rabbit.” She informed her coldly, forcing herself to stay calm. Ruyi looked down, ashamed.

“I’m sorry…” She mumbled, “I will pour you some tea in apology.” Feiyan sighed and turned away.

“The teapot is too hot to touch right now-” She began, knowing when the maids changed teapots, but a loud crash and a cry reached her ears before she could finish. Feiyan turned to see the teapot shattered on the ground, steam still rising from the hot water that had been inside. Feiyan sighed as Ruyi mumbled more apologies and knelt down to clean up the mess.

“Forget it!” She said, “You’ll cut your fingers!”

“No no, I should clean it up!” Ruyi insisted, but yelped and pulled back immediately after touching the broken porcelain shards, blood welling up from a cut on her fingers. Feiyan sighed in exasperation and leaned down to look at her hand.

“See, I told you-” Her voice cut off as she caught a whiff of perfume coming from Ruyi. The light flower scent seemed innocent enough, but as Feiyan breathed it in, her head grew slightly dizzy, and she immediately stood back up as lights flashes across her vision.

“What are you doing?” Yixing’s voice stopped her from asking about the perfume smell, and Feiyan looked up to see the prince standing in the entrance, his eyes narrowed as he took in the scene in front of him. Ruyi jumped to her feet and hurried over to Yixing.

“Xing gege, it’s my fault!” She blurted quickly, “I accidentally let the princess’s rabbit go, and now it’s missing. I was going to pour her some tea in apology, but the teapot was so hot I dropped it!” Yixing grabbed Ruyi’s hand and quickly surveyed the cut with a worried expression on his face.

“You dummy.” He said softly, “You should have let the servants deal with it!” His expression changed to anger as he looked up at Feiyan.

“Xu Feiyan!” Yixing snapped, “It is only a rabbit! Do you need to get so angry as to make a weak girl pick up sharp shards of porcelain?” Feiyan’s jaw nearly dropped.

“She insisted on picking it up and moved before I could stop her!” She replied incredulously, “I warned her it was sharp but she wouldn’t listen!” Ruyi tugged on Yixing’s sleeve.

“Xing gege, don’t blame her! I was the one who wanted to pick it up!” She insisted. Yixing shook his head and patted Ruyi’s hand gently.

“I know you are kind, Ruyi, but you don’t need to follow her orders just because she is a princess!” He said.

“I didn’t make her do it!” Feiyan protested, but she could already tell that Yixing was not going to believe a single word she said. She knew what it sounded like. Thanks to Ruyi’s insistence, it seemed like Feiyan had made her pick up the pieces on purpose in an attempt to bully her. Ruyi, in her innocent kindness, had chosen to follow the orders of the princess. Ruyi was the victim, Feiyan was the aggressor. Yixing looked back towards Feiyan with a deep glare.

“Just because you are a Ming princess does not mean you can order others to get hurt.” He said coldly. Feiyan stared at him incredulously, but shut as she bit back futile defenses. She took a shuddering breath as she leveled her gaze at the prince.

“I thought you would have more trust in me than this, Zhang Yixing.” She said coolly, “Isn’t it unfair to fully believe one side of the story without even considering the other side?” Yixing’s gaze was cold as ice as he looked at her.

“When you love someone as deeply as I love her,” He answered, “You will fully trust whatever they say.” Feiyan’s hands clenched into fists as she felt herself reel slightly and watched him turn to go, one arm around Ruyi’s waist.

“Zhang Yixing.” She said quietly. Yixing turned slightly in her direction, but stayed silent. Feiyan swallowed hard.

“Perhaps it is just a rabbit.” She said, “But to me, it is the rabbit that you gave me. And furthermore, it is the only present that you have ever given to me. That is why it is so precious.” To her mortification, Feiyan felt tears start to bubble up in her eyes and quickly raised a hand to scrub them away. A faint hint of shock flitted across Yixing’s face, but he quickly turned away again.

“It is only an animal.” He said firmly, before leading Ruyi away.

____________________________________________________________________________

Yixing

After bandaging Ruyi’s fingers and sending her to bed, Yixing sat at his desk, idly flipping through documents. His eyes scanned the page, but he couldn’t help but think back to the incident from earlier.

It is the only present that you have ever given to me. That is why it is so precious.

Feiyan’s voice echoed in his head, and Yixing felt guilt welling up in his chest as he remembered the frustrated tears that had begun to glimmer in the princess’s eyes. He clenched his hand tightly and shook his head.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so harsh.

But at the same time, it was still only a rabbit. He expected Feiyan to handle situations in a mature fashion, not like an immature concubine in the inner harem. Still though, the guilt wouldn’t go away.

“Brother.” Yixing looked up as Luhan placed a stack of papers in front of him.

“These are the performance reports for the soldiers for this month.” Luhan said. Yixing nodded absently, but looked back up as Luhan didn’t leave.

“Do you have something else to report?” He asked. Luhan frowned.

“How about a report about a princess who spent the entire night in the surrounding forest looking for a rabbit and came back with no rabbit and scratched up arms?” He replied, crossing his arms, “Who then not only refused treatment but then went to sleep without even eating dinner?” Yixing groaned.

“That stubborn idiot…” He muttered. It was just like Feiyan to go out searching for the rabbit alone. There were thousands of places a small animal could have gone. How could she have thought she could ever find it?

“I’m surprised you heard about this so soon.” Yixing only said as he looked up at Luhan. The younger prince gave his brother a look.

“Gossip travels quickly around here, you know that.” He said, “By now, I’m sure the entire main camp knows that the crown prince argued and yelled at his wife for a girl who only showed up a few days ago and convinced everyone of her identity.”

“I was only pointing out the obvious!” Yixing protested, "Besides, I didn't yell." Luhan shook his head.

“No, you were being ridiculous.” He replied.

“You weren’t even there.” Yixing muttered, looking away as his guilt returned in full force. Luhan raised an eyebrow.

“Perhaps I wasn't.” He replied, “But at least I know who my real sister in law is, and how to rationally analyze a situation.” He poked Yixing on the forehead.

“Use you brain, dear brother.” Luhan said before leaving. Yixing sighed and walked over to sit down next to where Ruyi was sleeping to check on her bandages. Her soft peach blossom perfume wafted up as he gently picked up her hand to examine it, easing the knot in his chest that had begun to form.

Women are so complicated.

____________________________________________________________________________

A few days later, Feiyan

Feiyan flinched as Yizhong patted some medicine onto her cuts.

“Not so hard!” She protested. Yizhong shook his head.

“Who told you to wait for treatment?” He replied, “Of course it will hurt more than usual.” Feiyan huffed.

“Are you scolding me now, Zhong’er?” She asked, poking the boy on the nose.

“I will if I have to, jie.” He replied. Feiyan sighed and ruffled Yizhong’s hair affectionately.

“If only your brother was as patient and kind as you are.” She said wistfully.

“He won’t be if that girl is around all the time.” A new voice said, and Feiyan looked up to see Yifan come in. The elder prince did not look pleased.

“He is completely obsessed with her.” Yifan commented, “He even took her to his bi-monthly meeting with the merchant association today. At this rate, everyone is going to think that Ruyi is the crown princess.” Feiyan sighed.

“Well, he has loved her for this many years.” She replied, “I’m not surprised.” Yifan shook his head.

“You do not intend to do anything about this?” He asked, “You are his rightful wife.” Feiyan sighed again.

“Anything I say goes right through him.” She replied, “What use is there in trying?” Yifan frowned.

“It’s not like you to give up so easily.” He commented. Feiyan smiled faintly up at him.

“I’m just...so tired, Yifan.” She replied softly, “So many things have happened since I came here, one after the other. I am only one person, there is only so much that I can bear.” Yifan sighed and patted Feiyan on the shoulder.

“Well, perhaps there is one thing you would like to know.” He said. Feiyan looked up curiously.

“What?” She queried. Yifan looked around carefully before leaning down and speaking softly to Feiyan and Yizhong.

“I suspect that Ruyi is a fake.”

_______________________________________________________________________________

Author's note: I'm going to try my best not to overdo the angst or make it cliche while still hitting the emotions right, please bear with me!