Wolf King And His Fox Consort [BL]

After Chu Yun laid out his challenge the room fell once again into an uneasy silence.

Xiao Zai wasn't going to try and force a mark on him when he was so openly hostile to the idea. If anything, that would only result in his body rejecting the bond and making him sick, something that was already likely to happen since they were both alphas.

Any bond could be rejected if the omega was too disgusted by the idea of being marked by a specific alpha, and while they would still fall sick as their body got rid of the invading pheromones, it wouldn't be anything major. The risk of spontaneous rejection was very low between most alphas and omegas, but it increased exponentially if the one being marked was a beta, for instance.

Xiao Zai had never heard of an alpha successfully marking another, and forming a bond without rejection, but he supposed it was possible. His marriage was hardly the first political union between two alphas.

Although he supposed two alphas could stay married without a bond, living no differently than two betas, suppressing their instincts indefinitely.

It seemed like an unfulfilling life to Xiao Zai. Something he'd only consider as a last resort, even without the express orders he received from the Ministry of Rites to mark Chu Yun.

He fell into a restless, uneasy sleep, plagued by a fox's sharp grin and a pair of mocking yellow eyes.

---

In the morning, Chu Yun woke up alone in the marital bed. His wedding robes had fallen to the floor in a heap, and his hair was a messy tangle, the golden hairpins had somehow slid off his haircrown during the night and were twisting his hair in knots.

Despite his poor night of sleep, he was still glad that Xiao Zai wasn't there.

It would be a short-lived relief, since they would have to go together when Chu Yun greeted the king for the first time as his son-in-law. If the Queen Consort had still been alive, he would be greeting her as well. Since she wasn't, he'd have to try his best to make a good impression on the Queen Dowager, instead.

He got up from the bed and walked outside the room to call the servants in.

Hua Nanyi was the first to walk inside, a smirk playing at her lips. "I trust his Grace had a good night?"

Chu Yun would never be as stupid as to talk about Xiao Zai in front of the palace servants, who owed him no loyalty, and said only. "It was refreshing," which was about as vague as he could get away with.

Hua Nanyi and the rest of the servants brought in a tub for him and combed his hair while he soaked.

They dressed him in soft turquoise robes, the silk double-layered unlike what they would have worn in Xin, on account of Zui's colder climate.

"These robes match the Second Prince's, the two will make a stunning pair when greeting his Majesty," one of the servants said, sounding genuine even.

Chu Yun looked himself in the full-length golden mirror the servants had brought in with the tub and hoped being good-looking was good enough to earn him some goodwill in the Zui court.

---

Xiao Zai was already waiting for Chu Yun outside the throne room when he arrived.

His robes were a deeper shade of green, with more blue in them, but as the servant had said, they were a good match for Chu Yun's own. However, Xiao Zai didn't look particularly comfortable in them.

Privately, Chu Yun thought darker, deeper colours suited him better. His brooding good looks didn't suit such light colours. If it was up to Chu Yun he would have dressed Xiao Zai in dark blue robes, so blue they almost looked black, like a raven's wing.

For his part, Xiao Zai thought of how unfortunate it was that Chu Yun looked so energised and well-rested when he himself felt like three-day-old prey left out in the sun to rot. It was almost insulting how good he looked after the terrible night they had.

A steward opened the doors for him and announced their presence loudly to everyone in the throne room.

Xiao Zai was only expecting to see his father and grandmother. The sight of his older brother in his apricot robes, the shade only a few tones lighter than the king's royal gold, signalling his status as the crown prince, made him falter in his steps.

Chu Yun noticed, but his only reaction was to match his pace to Xiao Zai's. His polite smile remained in place.

Together, the two of them approached the dais where the king was seated, with his firstborn standing to his right, and the Queen Dowager behind them hidden from view by the beaded curtain.

"Miaoyan greets father-in-law, brother-in-law and grandmother," Chu Yun said, kowtowing deeply, Xiao Zai following his lead.

The king bid them to rise with a curt word and a nod.

It was Chu Yun's first time seeing him so closely. He was surprised by how little he resembled Xiao Zai. While there was a frosty haughtiness to Xiao Zai's good looks, it was tempered by an inner warmth that shined through his keen phoenix eyes. The king, on the other hand, was all arrogance, his dark eyes seemed flinty and mistrustful, devoid of any inner light.

He cut an impressive figure in his golden robes, still handsome despite the white dusting his temples and the frown lines around his mouth and eyes.

"This King welcomes Miaoyan, and wishes that his marriage to Zilang is a happy and prosperous one."

Chu Yun lowered his head in obsequiousness all the while thinking that was a very unlikely wish. At the same time, he felt Xiao Zai tense at his side.

When he raised his eyes, Chu Yun saw the First Prince coming down the dais, a smirk pulling at his thin lips.. His dark eyes, so much like his father's, were glued on his brother.