"That's pretty vague," Minlian said, taking a sip from her teacup.
The pretty face before her was clearly not listening, fiddling gleefully with the plate of candied winter melons he had successfully taken all for himself. It was hard to believe that he was the one who had sought her out in the first place, considering how little attention he was now paying her.
"Isn't it?" Xianyu gave a languid sigh. "No one's been any help; not even gege."
"I wonder why," Minlian mumbled to herself.
The princess was indeed very knowledgeable in the arts of finding out about attractive men. She was the type of person who was very interested in all forms of gossip that floated through the palace halls. Even with the lack of information, she was more than willing to try and help, if only for her own benefit. After all, someone who could even garner the attention of a boy as beautiful as Xianyu must certainly be someone incredibly handsome!
Despite being a flirt, Xianyu had almost never truly described anyone as being extraordinarily beautiful before, even after all the men and women Minlian had heard stories of him chasing. The only person who had been described in such a way was a certain elder prince, one who Xianyu was certainly very biased toward; that wasn't to say His Highness wasn't astoundingly handsome — he was — but Xianyu very nearly came close to worshipping his ge as one would the Moon Spirit herself.
"Alright, I can ask around," she finally said. "I'm not promising anything though."
"Mm, but jie will always succeed in the end, won't she?," Xianyu grinned.
Minlian narrowed her eyes at this, a smile forming. "Flattery will get you nowhere."
It was hard to comprehend what the boy was thinking. If she didn't know better, she might even have thought he were trying to sweet-talk her into putting in more effort.
"Anyhow, what else has been happening in the palace," he changed the subject before she could say anything else. "It would be boring if I came all this was to see you without getting any good stories as a reward."
"A reward for what?" his half-sister shot back.
"Coming to visit," Xianyu batted his lashes in reply, twirling a loose strand of hair as he spoke. How could she turn down someone so adorable? "I came all this way just to see you."
"How sweet," Minlian wrinkled her nose lightly before tilting her head in thought. She'd never miss the opportunity to share some interesting stories with anyone, even if they were a no-good little prince.
"Let's see… Lord Feng's eldest son has grown awfully infatuated with a certain woman. Strange thing really. I doubt she'd even spare him a second glance."
"A certain woman?" Xianyu asked. He was quite sure he knew who she meant.
"Yuehua, of course. The little dancer who performs at tea parties somedays and then royal ceremonies the next."
"Who's Lord Feng again?" the young prince asked. He wasn't entirely sure if he'd done anything to provoke the young lord or if the noble's son had simply fallen in love with the idea of the mysterious dancer by himself.
"You wouldn't know him, but his son is quite handsome, so I hear.
"The important part is that the boy is obsessed with the woman. Imagine that, the son of a nobleman chasing after a lowly court dancer."
"You fancy him?" Xianyu teased, wanting to know why his sister had brought this story up in particular. If Lord Feng's son was truly no one important, then surely this wouldn't be the stroy Minlian brought up first.
"Of course not!"
"Fine, fine," Xianyu let it go quickly, not wanting to be kicked out. "Why Yuehua anyways? She's not that fascinating."
"You know how men are," his half-sister replied with a sigh. "A pretty woman they can't have is practically gold. And Yuehua is especially pretty, even I can admit that."
Xianyu tilted his head at the words. "I'm a man, aren't I? She's not nearly that pretty or interesting. She's just like any other court dancer, no?"
He didn't say it to be mean, really. After all, he was Yuehua, and Xianyu certainly found himself beautiful. It was only that he found it hard to believe anyone found Yuehua that outstanding. He'd only ever created the persona because he wanted to perform, not to attract men. As Yuehua, he had never gone out of his way to try and interact with others in that way at all!
"You wouldn't get it," Minlian replied. "You seem a bigger fan of pretty men and cute girls. Yuehua has a more mature presence."
"Well you certainly seem to be a fan," Xianyu muttered. He didn't really understand why his half-sister seemed so defensive of a woman who didn't even really exist.
Eventually, the conversation moved away from the topic of the mysterious dancer and instead toward the other happenings within the Inner Palace. This was a topic Xianyu was much more interested in, since he couldn't personally enter the Inner Palace most of the time. These were all stories he'd never heard of before!
Toward the end of the visit, the topic shifted to one that Xianyu found himself familiar with again.
"Right, I was going to tell you, Xiuying has been receiving gifts from a secret admirer," Minlian spoke almost like a challenge, waiting to see how the prince would respond.
"Really?"
"Mhm," she nodded. "Gold, jade, silk accessories. I thought you'd want to know."
It wasn't a secret that Xianyu and Xiuying were full siblings. For one thing, the pair shared western blood, making their appearances rather stand-out among their local siblings. And with how loud a personality Xianyu had, it was hard for people to not notice the similarities.
"From who?" Xianyu asked rather detachedly. It wasn't that he didn't care for his sister, but he wasn't exactly sure how to react either. He'd never been close with his younger sister, not enough that he'd consider himself her protector, but it was still enough that he couldn't just treat the story like he would any other gossip.
"Beats me," Minlian smirked. "Must be someone she fancies though; she's been awfully cheery since they started arriving for her."
…
"Right," the young prince replied, a smile sitting stiffly on his face. At the very least, he thought, Xiuying must be happy with the gifts then.
A short silence passed as Minlian continued to look him up and down, as though expecting some kind of reaction. None came as the prince before her only continued to poke at the snacks that had been laid out for them.
Finally, Minlian gave a disappointed sigh and pushed another plate of pastries to the prince sat before her.
"Whatever then. Eat, and leave soon. Unless you want your sister to walk in on your visit."
"How do you know I'm not planning to visit her?" Xianyu huffed, grabbing a small handful of candied fruits off the newly delivered plate. "What makes you think I wouldn't be pleased to see my little sister?"
A single raised eyebrow shut him up pretty quick.
Not long later, Xianyu did indeed leave — or maybe flee — the Inner Palace, Jiang in tow close behind.
His half-sister had chased him off with the promise of telling him the results of her investigations the next time they met a party or feast. That or she'd send him a letter telling him to pay her another visit — if he was willing to risk bumping into a certain other princess, of course.
Now, Xianyu had of course not run from his sister. That wasn't the case at all! It wasn't as though they were on bad terms. He might even consider himself a fairly decent older brother. At the very least, he had been when they were younger. And it certainly wasn't his fault that they'd grown distant. Had they been raised together into their teens, then Xianyu was certain he would be much closer to his baby sister.
However, they had not been.
Instead, Xianyu had been carted off to be raised by hands which did not belong to that of a concubine, while Xiuying did not follow. And with that, by the time they were twelve and nine respectively, Xianyu's memory of his sister had largely faded to a distant blur.
He wasn't entirely sure how much of him his sister still remembered, though he didn't imagine it could be much. They had both been very young when they were separated.
Before he could think about it any further, and drag himself into a bad mood, Xianyu decided to move on to something different. No point lingering on things that couldn't be fixed! Why waste effort on complicated things when you could use that same energy to enjoy yourself?
***
Even by the time Xianyu left the Inner Palace, the sun was still burning quite brightly in the sky above.
On a normal day, the prince would have only woken up not long ago and would be eating breakfast at this time. Because of this, even Xianyu, ever energetic as he was, wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to do.
Part of him was still hung up on what he'd heard about Xiuying; he certainly didn't want his little sister being chased after by a strange man he knew nothing about. At the same time, he hated to admit that perhaps he did not care as much as he wanted to. On most days, he wouldn't have given her a single thought at all. That fact filled Xianyu with a certain guilt he couldn't quite make sense of.
Instead, he turned his attention to the other thought that was currently occupying his mind: the mysterious man with a face of beauty!
Even after his recent visit, Xianyu still hadn't gleaned a single bit of new information about him. It almost made him feel quite dejected, that after all his efforts, nothing new had been learned. He simply wasn't used to having to wait for rewards to come his way. As a prince, and a beloved one at that, Xianyu had rarely ever found himself struggling for anything, no matter how ridiculous the request.
After all this, part of him maybe even wondered if it was worth the trouble. Jingrui gege would probably scold him if he really tried to flirt with such a powerful man. And perhaps the man wouldn't even be receptive at all!
Wouldn't that then make all this just a waste of effort?
That was a risk Xianyu didn't like at all! Everything he did had to come with immediate rewards. At the very least, someone should praise his efforts an give him a sweet treat. If it weren't for his own curiousity, the little prince may have long abandoned the mini-investigation already.
Even a full day of work toward a goal could be considered monumental for someone like Xianyu!
With that, Xianyu decided to reward himself for his efforts, if the Moon Spirit would not.
There was plenty of fun to be had!