Xiao Changqi did not leave the palace until after lunch.
The prince's carriage was parked in front of the palace gate. Xiao Changqi turned around expressionlessly and glanced at the imperial study, which was already quite far away, before walking towards the carriage.
Just as he was about to board the carriage, a voice suddenly came from the side: "Your Highness, please wait."
Xiao Changqi looked over upon hearing the sound, only to be met with Yuan Qing's rather frivolous smile.
Thus, there was one more person on the carriage returning to the Prince's Mansion.
Two cups of steaming tea sat on a square table. The carriage moved so smoothly that not a single drop of tea was spilled.
Yuan Qing sat with an unseemly slouching posture, looking at the indifferent and aloof man opposite him with a half-smile.
"I heard that the prince keeps a bird and even went to great lengths to summon the imperial physician for its sake."
Yuan Qing slowly picked up the tea from the small table and took a sip: "Not only that, Your Highness, you also acted out of anger for a little bird and injured the young master of the Earl's Mansion."
Xiao Changqi glanced lightly at his friend across the table, his expression calm and unwavering.
"Your Highness, what you're raising isn't some little bird, but a beautiful woman, isn't it?" Yuan Qing said with a teasing smile.
"You woke up on New Year's Day?" Xiao Changqi asked casually.
Yuan Qing's lips stiffened, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, and even his voice turned icy: "No."
Xiao Changqi felt no guilt whatsoever for reopening old wounds; on the contrary, he felt that his ears were finally at peace.
But when the birds used to chirp around him, he didn't find it noisy at all.
This is arguably a very double standard.
Thinking of the little bird, Xiao Changqi's deep and cold eyes darkened, and he recalled what Yuan Qing had just said.
It seems that rumors have already spread that he dotes on a single bird and is neglecting his duties because of it.
This isn't a bad thing for him either.
At least it can help lower the emperor's and crown prince's guard.
So that these people wouldn't be watching him all the time.
Yuan Qing had obviously thought of this as well, which is why he told him about it as a joke.
Yuan Qing, whose sore spot was touched by Xiao Changqi, only slumped for a moment before regaining his carefree demeanor: "The little bird that Your Highness cares about so much, I must see it."
Xiao Changqi didn't respond to his question, but instead asked a seemingly unrelated question: "Did you save a little pink bird on New Year's Day?"
"A pink bird?" Yuan Qing frowned. "I don't know."
Yuan Qing reached out and lifted the carriage curtain to look outside: "Your Highness, as you know, Yuan Yuan has been raised by his grandfather since he was a child, and he hasn't spent much time with his older brother, me."
So much so that he wasn't the first to know when he fell off his horse on New Year's Day.
Yuan Qing slowly clenched his hands on his knees, his eyes churning with overwhelming rage.
The atmosphere inside the carriage instantly fell silent.
Xiao Changqi sipped his tea leisurely, his thin lips slightly parted in a nonchalant manner: "Yuan Yuan?"
What a coincidence?
The little bird is also called Yuanyuan.
The little bird said that it had been saved by New Year's Day. Could it be that New Year's Day also gave it this name?
Thinking of this, Xiao Changqi's brows furrowed deeply as he began to ponder giving the little bird a nicer name.
However, before Xiao Changqi could come up with a new name for the little bird, the carriage arrived at the Prince's Mansion.
Yuan Qing stubbornly insisted on going to see Xiao Changqi's pet birds, and no amount of chasing him away could shoo him away, so Xiao Changqi let him go.
After a brief silence, Xiao Changqi followed them to Qique Courtyard.
Yuan Qing glanced at the man with a flirtatious smile, her curiosity about the little bird growing even stronger.
What kind of creature is this little bird that it could make the aloof and unapproachable Gan Wang so nervous?
Could it be some kind of little demon?
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