Not as so eager to stand night-vigil as he was to finally see his family under more comfortable circumstances, Dragon made to the the Teng manor with haste, voluntarily skipping on the royal carriage and outrunning his small entourage of eunuchs and elite soldiers.
"Lord Emperor, when did you learn to climb walls?" the panting eunuch wheezed out in newfound concern. "Please get down! Even if you get a scratch, my lowly life cannot afford it!"
"No need for twenty people to participate in one man's courtship!" Dragon yelled down at the group still on the ground. "Head to Teng manor at your leisure! State you're with me and my family will show you their hospitality!"
'Your Majesty is so cool…already treating the Tengs like his own family and sharing his joys with us' the bowing servants thought as Dragon disappeared like a shadow into the night.
[Is little Tai Yang well? Surely she will recognize me!]
Dragon stopped in his tracks upon recognizing the angelic face of his sister from her bedroom room window. How he missed her so and she him for she looked thinner than he remembered.
"Little Su-" he opened his mouth but was interrupted.
"I do NOT want to marry the useless doll of a prince!" Sunny complained futilely.
"He is not a puppet by choice my daughter," the older General Teng spoke gravely. "This marriage alliance will guarantee our family with more power and stability while granting him his first big ally. This will do both parties good," he ended before leaving a reasonably upset Tai Yang crossing her arms.
Not long after her father exited her room, a thump sounded from the wood outfit of her window.
'My room is on a higher floor, how can someone be there?' Sunny thought before pulling out her sharpest butterfly hairpin as protection. 'Is there a burglar?'
Approaching ever so slowly, the girl jumped back at the reverberation of a few more little knocks.
'This cannot be…are there people planning my assassination already? I'm not even being crowned queen, just concubine! What awful luck this emperor brings my family,' Sunny internally sighed before inching her way to the window.
A second prior to bursting out of her room and launching a live-or-die attack, a tiny pebble rolled into her room.
'This is no assassin, must be a silly child idiotic enough to disturb me.'
At the disappointing realization, the dose of excitement and fear stirring in Sunny who was expecting a good fight, seemed to lose steam.
'Elder brother was the only one who ever dared bother me because only he can survive from my punishments. Who would've guessed that he would die by a mere fall?' Sunny shook her head. 'What a waste of good talent. In light of his passing, I will forgive this ignorant fool,' she justified.
That was until a few more little pebbles trickled into the room like a taunting joke. That was it.
"Fight fire with fire!" Sunny yelled before dropping the pebbles back down on the culprit.
As the sky rained stones, their eyes met for a second—a strangely special second.
"You…"
[I knew Little Sun would recognize me!]
"You…a grown man! How dare you throw stones at my window!"
Dragon blinked once.
"Little Sun-"
"State your name and status and I will decide if I want to spare you!"
"Sunny, it's me," Dragon answered confidently, putting one hand to his chest like pledging allegiance.
Little Sun eyed the man up and down. On further analysis, he was arguably no older than her late brother. Perhaps even younger.
His skin was light and smooth, with the right elasticity and texture of a fresh flower petal. Aside from good stature, he possessed slight effeminate features, with his lean fit body and pretty face.
Dragon knew their sibling telepathy disconnected when a weird expression appeared on her face. Worse, the weird expression was directed at him.
"Don't tell me you're that emperor…"
"I am-"
"Oh Heavens! So the rumors that you're standing night vigil for me are true?"
Knowing that she won't let him talk unless she was willing to listen, Dragon nodded.
"Forget the three-night vigil. I will marry you. Please leave," she responded lifelessly before shutting the window.
[Is it because everyone thinks the emperor is powerless that I get such treatment by even my sister?]
"Why don't you like me?" Dragon shouted shamelessly, loud enough for the residents in the other wing to hear.
No response.
[The "real" Dragon is certainly not the definition of manly, but certainly…not hideous. But maybe women think differently?]
"Is it my looks?" Dragon tried this time.
Annoyed by the puppet emperor's frivolous attitude, Sunny opened the window to see the stranger still standing in the same spot.
"It's because you are a murderer!" little Tai Yang accused before wiping tears rolling down her rosy cheeks. "You killed my brother! I hate you, but I still agreed to marry you! Why don't you leave me alone?"
Dragon froze.
He always had a soft spot for when his sister cried, even if for the majority of the time, she was just acting to fool him or win father's sympathy.
"I don't want this half-hearted three-night show! You think you can stand here for three nights in exchange for my entire eternity living in your harem? Even if this is how it is, don't take these last days of freedom from me!" Sunny shouted in between a few hiccups. "Leave!" she ordered before slamming her window.
Seeing his sister in pain hurt him more than the stones she threw at him earlier.
Back then, he'd easily apologize whether he was right or wrong. But this time, he couldn't even manage any words. Besides, what would he apologize for?
[Elder Brother didn't think his death would affect you this much?]
Thus, Dragon simply stood guard the entire night until the break of dawn, making sure that in the least, his precious little sister could sleep in peace.
…..
"Do you know why I called you here?" Dragon asked in a most authoritative tone whilst looking at the bright scholar.
"I know not, sire. Please do enlighten me," Pan Yue responded in his soothing voice that could win over anyone—man or woman—with ease.
[Sly handsome devil. Of course you know.]
Dragon cleared his throat, knowing full well the skills of this ambiguous friend or foe.
"Certain words have reached my ears. Were you the one who spread rumors about me standing night vigil for little Su- no…General Teng's daughter?"
"Indeed Your Majesty," Pan Yue replied calmly.
[Shameless bastard. Still smiling when you put me through hell.]
"Why?"
"For several reasons. First, to demonstrate your masculinity through your ability to take responsibility in front of those who still doubt you. Second, to show respect to the Tengs which will forge more amiable relations with your potential allies. Third, to prove that you can and will make your own choice," the handsome scholar presented eloquently.
Despite it benefitting mostly the king, irony lies in the fact that it was Pan Yue's rumors that forced the king's actions this time around.
"What are your motives in helping the Tengs?"
"I am not purposely helping them; however, I cannot deny that I highly favor them above the alternatives. I follow my own philosophy and coincidentally we are not on too far of wavelengths," Pan Yue said with clear eyes.
"Then do not mind my asking, why are you endangering yourself to help me, the puppet emperor?" Dragon asked nonchalantly, much to the amusement of his counterpart.
"To be frank Your Highness, when I saw you standing in front of the throne yesterday, I've never wanted someone to sit down so badly in my life. And nothing felt more right than when you did."
With that distractingly beautiful unreadable face, Dragon didn't know to take it as a joke or a serious response. But something in Pan Yue's passionate eyes reminded him of himself.
[Seems he is on my side for now. But still, I must proceed with caution around this man.]
"I will be counting on your guidance from now on," the emperor said unexpectedly.
"The honor is all mine," Pan Yue replied with a graceful bow. "I was meaning to ask, how did the first night of night-vigil go?"
Dragon's sudden break from composure gave it away. Rather than letting him assume anything wrong and starting baseless rumors again, might as well tell him directly.
After listening to the emperor's slightly edited version of the previous evening, Pan Yue remained as composed as ever.
"Should I just drop this vigil or perform it at a temple or something?" Dragon asked, sounding defeated already.
Whipping out a fan hidden in his sleeve, Pan Yue spread it dramatically, revealing three words written in incomparable calligraphy.
"Persistency. Sincerity. Creativity. That is the famous 'Handsome Courtship Strategy.'"
[What the…]
"Guaranteed to swoon even the stubbornness of attractive women," Pan Yue added confidently.
[How can he say that with such a straight face…]
"Your Majesty, why do you look so shocked? Have you…never courted a woman before?"
[Yes, Pan Yue. Go ahead. Continue poking at all my insecurities.]
"Never had the need to. Women flock to me." Dragon didn't even want to meet the womanizer's eyes while saying that.
"As expected of men like us!" Pan Yue boasted proudly.
Dragon sent him a strange look. Certainly he wasn't grouping them together based on looks?
"Anyways my king. The last two nights of vigil is more than enough to win your maiden!"
[Please…this is my sister…]
"Say, Pan Yue. Does this um…secret "technique" of yours…work on all girls?"
Handsome nodded most assuringly.
"Of course! I have performed this strategy on my mother, sister, girl-next-door, neighboring aunties, palace maids, princesses, and concubines—of course not yours Your Highness—and never failed."
Dragon looked upon Pan Yue with a newfound respect.
Truly a man who has seen the world.
"Do you think…it will work for me?" Dragon asked, completely willing to believe whatever this love expert advised.
"I will be honest. This strategy does not work for everyone. However, Your Majesty, handsome men always get the girls," Pan Yue assured, completely believing the emperor's initial bluff.
However, Dragon's dignity only allowed for him to smile and pat Pan Yue on the back before escorting his teacher out.
That night, Dragon showed up again at the Teng manor, bringing a flute. Like the old times, he casually perched himself on the high wall across from little Sun's bedroom. Blowing the only tune he knew, the melody slowly drifted into the bedroom of his dear sister, who he knew was only pretending to be asleep.
"Brother!" Tai Yang called excitedly as she pushed open the window.
In the near distance, she could make out a lean figure sitting on the wall, one leg pulled forward and the other stretched out. That pose, that tune, that vibe…there's no mistaking it.
An imitation of her beloved brother.
"Why are you back?" Tai Yang raised her voice with the intention of interrupting his playing.
"Night-vigil," the imitator answered before continuing his flute.
"When are you going to leave?" she asked impatiently.
"Same time as yesterday. When my people fetch me at dawn."
Dragon turned his focus back on the flute and the slightly annoyed Sun retreated back into her room.
"Is this the only song you know?" little Sun couldn't help but ask fifteen minutes later.
"I wanted to present you with a hundred, but I only know one. So I intend to play the only song I know one hundred times for you."
There was a brief softening of an expression on little Sun's face in which she covered up quickly, but unfortunately couldn't be kept from the sharp eyes of the dragon.
[This tune that I learned during my time at the battlefield while yearning for my family…has not failed me!]
"What if you die of thirst?"
"So be it. A man keeps his word," Dragon stated courageously. "But before that, I want to make clear one thing."
Little Sun hated to admit, but despite his meek appearance, he wasn't like any suitor that she had in the past. This emperor, unlike the rumors, possessed a charismatic character that in some instances, resembled Brother Teng.
"When you move in to the palace, I promise you as much freedom as I can afford. I swear on my life, I will protect you and the Tengs. What's mine is yours, and what's yours is yours."
"And what do you expect in return?" Tai Yang questioned with skeptical curiosity.
"Your forgiveness."
There was a long silence with a few moments when Dragon contemplated on adding a few more words, but thankfully didn't.
"…I don't think I'm ready to give you that. Good night."
With that, the sun went to rest with a heavy heart. How can such a proposal cause her to feel so many emotions. Why did it feel so much like meeting her brother again?
"Little Sun," Dragon called outside, knowing that she was still listening. "Don't think too much about me."
'Sheesh! This narcissistic man is definitely not like my brother at all!' was the last thought little Sun had before letting the promised flute melody lull her to sleep.
...…
On the third night of vigil, Dragonfly routinely went to fix the emperor's bed to appease her slight obsessive compulsive disorder despite no one sleeping there for the past two nights.
However, her good intentions were repaid with a scare upon realizing a man's body was laying still as a corpse on the emperor's bed.
"Emperor Dragon…what are you doing in bed on the last night of vigil?"
A chilling grin appeared on his face, much to the slight distaste of Dragonfly who was more accustomed to the gentle smiles of the innocent 17th Prince before the dramatic personality shift.
"Being creative," Dragon answered before chuckling to himself.
'Dear lord, it might be best that Lady Teng doesn't see him tonight.'