"Your Highness tomorrow if you arrive late I'm sure Mizi gongzi will drive you away or ask you to paint all day,"Xue Yao spoke and laughed teasingly afterwards.
"Speaking of being late,why didn't you wake me up early you lazy thing?"Wen Mingye spoke through gritted teeth and shifted to attack mode and grabbed Xue Yao pinning him down against the floor.
Hovering on top of Xue Yao,Wen Mingye clenched his fingers into a fist. With the clenched fist held some centimeters away from Xue Yao, he accurately aimed at Xue Yao's face and was ready to pounce on him.Xue Yao closed his eyes in fear as he awaited the punch to land on his face. After a few minutes ,he squinted his eyes open only to see Wen Mingye looking into his eyes and smiling as if he was teasing him.
Xue Yao laughed awkwardly in embarrassment,"Your Highness I knew you wouldn't punch me."
Wen Mingye snorted in derision,"You think too highly of yourself . You actually don't think I can punish you. Today I'll prove you wrong."
Wen Mingye took a grip of Xue Yao's wrists, tangled them together and pinned them against the floor using one of his hands leaving Xue Yao totally defenseless. With a mischievous glint in his eyes,Wen Mingye unfurled a flurry of pats all over Xue Yao's body. It was a playful assault that challenged Xue Yao's composure. Xue Yao responded in chuckles while begging for Wen Mingye's mercy in between.
"What are you two doing?"Wen Xiang asked with a curious look on her face as she walked in on them. The two boys froze for a moment. As Wen Xiang approached them,Wen Mingye managed to compose himself and got up first.
Wen Mingye dusted his robes and cleared his throat before speaking up,"I'm disciplining my servant."
"Disciplining your servant? I didn't know people can discipline their servants using such a method,"Wen Xiang spoke in a rather sarcastic tone.
"What is that?"Wen Mingye asked changing the topic and focusing on the lacquered food carrier Wen Xiang was carrying.
For a moment Wen Xiang had forgotten her purpose of being there. She carefully placed the food carried on table and opened it taking out two small blue porcelain snack plates;one had mung bean cakes and the other had Water Chestnut cakes. Mizi Yue picked one mung bean cake and took a bite.
"I saw you were in a bad mood because Sir Mizi scolded you so mother Empress suggested I should bring you snacks to lighten up your mood."
"You told her I was late for the lecture?" Wen Mingye asked in disbelief almost spitting out the masticated pieces of cake from his mouth.
"Yes I did tell her,"Wen Xiang replied unbothered by whether it was a big deal she had reported about Wen Mingye's tardiness to Empress Bai.
"What did she say?"
"She said nowadays you act like you have a few loose screws in your head and I also second her in that,"Wen Xiang spoke humorously.
"What do you mean I have a few loose screws in my head?"Wen Mingye asked in a whiny manner feeling offended.
" It means something must be wrong with your head or in simpler terms your brain must be broken.Ask Xue Yao I'm sure he has noticed it as well."
Wen Mingye turned around immediately to ask Xue Yao's opinion. Xue Yao was quick enough to look away to avoid meeting Wen Mingye's questioning look,that way he wouldn't have to answer the question. The sound of the lid being put on to cover the food carrier shifted Wen Mingye's attention back to Wen Xiang.
"Where is the tea?"
"Go get it yourself."
"Is this what you call lightening up my mood?"
"Yeah,or else?" Wen Xiang replied contemptuously , picked up the food carrier by its handle and walked out without the least bit care in the world.
"Xue Yao,go and get two teapots of green tea and oolong tea from the kitchen,"Wen Mingye commanded and Xue Yao left right away. Wen Mingye loved to pair each snack with a compatible tea flavour. For mung bean cakes he paired them with green tea,as for water chestnut cakes he paired them with oolong tea.
When Xue Yao came back with the two teapots,Wen Mingye was seated busy scribbling things on a piece of paper. He seemed so deeply immersed in his own thinking that he didn't notice Xue Yao coming in. Xue Yao gently placed the two teapots on the table and leaned over squinting his eyes to take a look at what Wen Mingye was scribbling. Wen Mingye poked Xue Yao's forehead with his forefinger pushing him away in the process.
"Your Highness what are you writing?"
"Nothing."
"Oh,"Xue Yao replied bluntly,"By the way Your Highness,what were you dreaming about in the morning. I tried to wake up for a long time."
"I dreamt about how I saw a wolf biting your nose off ."
"Your Highness do you know you're so bad at making jokes?"
"Am I?"Wen Mingye questioned back sounding a little disappointed.
The following day Wen Mingye woke up earlier than usual just to be on the safe side and not be punished again. When he arrived the seats hadn't been arranged outside the hall like they usually were during art classes. The learners arrived one by one ,taking out their seats and arranging them in the same pattern Mizi Yue had arranged them the previous week. They settled down for ten minutes before Mizi Yue arrived.
Wen Mingye was so pissed. That one morning he had decided to be punctual is the same morning Mizi Yue chose to be late. Was Mizi Yue deliberately messing with him? He couldn't tell because he couldn't think of a clear reason why Mizi Yue would want to mess with him. Ever since he encountered Mizi Yue his life seemed to have turned upside -down.