When Mu Yuanwen was led by the servants through the main gate of the Prince Su Mansion, his mood was still a bit complicated.

His good friend who had played together with him for many years was actually married... He had previously guessed, with his friend's picky temperament, which family's young lady he would marry in the future.

After returning from the wedding, Mu Yuanwen was dazed for a long time.

Although the Wen Dynasty had always had laws regarding male spouses, those young masters from aristocratic families like them were raised as heirs from the moment they were born. The education they received was always that they would marry a wife and have children to carry on the family line after growing up. Even if some liked men, at most they would take a few male concubines. The thought of marrying a man had almost never crossed their minds.

So when his good friend's relationship with Prince Su was unclear, Mu Yuanwen had tactfully reminded him to be careful, after all, Prince Su looked like the bullying type. But at the time his friend only said he had his own plans and told him not to worry. Seeing his friend looking so happy, not appearing to be forced by Prince Su as the rumors said, he temporarily put his heart at ease.

Although it was really hard to understand why his friend would be willing to get along with a rough man like Prince Su, the type he used to hate the most, as long as his friend was happy, that's all that mattered.

Anyway, with their status, they would each marry a wife in the future. At most this would just be a romantic past event from their youth to laugh about later. Among those nobles in the capital, how many didn't have some gossip in their pasts?

But who knew, his heart had just settled down not long ago when the imperial palace directly bestowed a marriage edict on the two, directly scaring Mu Yuanwen so much that he rushed to the Marquis Xinyuan's mansion that day and started sighing with a lost soul while pulling on his good friend.

Marrying Prince Su... that was becoming a male spouse ah, how could that be the same as just playing around with men?

Unlike him, a second legitimate son with an elder brother above him and no major inheritance rights, Xie Ming was the eldest legitimate son of the Marquis Xinyuan's family and would inherit the entire Marquis Mansion in the future.

Once he married out as a male spouse, this inheritance right would automatically be lost.

What idiot would give up the inheritance of a major family and instead go to the rear court to be a male spouse revolving around a man?

So after hearing this news, Mu Yuanwen had always firmly believed that his friend must have been forced to marry Prince Su.

But who knew, after Mu Yuanwen pulled on his friend's sleeve and spent a long time denouncing Prince Su with a pained heart, his friend actually said calmly that this matter was something he agreed to himself.

So Mu Yuanwen instantly got stuck and after staring blankly at his composed friend for a long time, he quietly slipped back to his manor and started pondering life.

He really couldn't understand!

Why would Xie Ming give up such good prospects and agree to marry a man?

Even if that man was the most noble prince in the entire Wen Dynasty, it was still not worth it!

Could something as fickle as love and affection be more important than the inheritance of a Marquis Mansion?

Moreover, even if Prince Su loved and valued him a lot now, he himself was a man and of course knew that men found it hard to be faithful. Growing tired of the old and chasing pretty new faces was the common fault of almost all men. As time passed and his friend's looks faded, sooner or later Prince Su would have a change of heart.

So Mu Yuanwen spent several months at home in complete confusion. He didn't even dare to approach his friend and Prince Su's wedding, quietly shrinking in a corner to watch this shockingly grand wedding.

After the wedding, Mu Yuanwen slowly accepted this matter and wanted to find his friend for a chat. But his friend was already someone else's male spouse after all, and his husband had a difficult temperament. If he, an outsider man now, visited, it was possible Prince Su might overthink.

His family also advised him to temporarily stop associating with Xie Ming and first observe the situation. Not to mention anything else, if he caused unhappiness in someone else's family, the fault would be his.

So out of fear of causing trouble for his friend, he had been hesitating and didn't dare send an invitation to Prince Su Mansion.

He didn't expect that in the end, it was his friend who took the initiative to send him an invitation.

Mu Yuanwen was led by the servants, passing through exquisite and grand pavilions and buildings. After walking for a long time, they circled around a rockery. Behind it was a tree garden. The leaves of the autumn trees had already started turning yellow, giving it a sense of clear elegance. In the center of the garden was a small octagonal pavilion with a round table inside, on which were placed some fruits and pastries in a welcoming manner.

Of course, what attracted Mu Yuanwen's attention at a glance was not these things, but that handsome figure in neat, light blue clothes sitting by the table.

After not seeing each other for a long time, Xie Ming seemed to be in much better condition than he imagined. The pride between his brows had not been worn down at all by life in the rear court. His complexion was fair with a hint of red, presumably quite satisfied with married life with Prince Su.

And most importantly, judging from his figure... he seemed to have gotten a bit fatter compared to before?

Mu Yuanwen circled the person and looked him over, finally determining he wasn't seeing things. His good friend had indeed put on weight in the short half month after getting married!

As one of the few good friends who could dine together with Xie Ming, he had a deep understanding of Xie Ming's picky eating habits. Because he didn't eat well, and had a delicate body, over time, this led to Xie Ming's figure being a bit too thin. Gaining some weight like this actually gave him more color compared to before.

Thinking this, he couldn't help but ask the question in his heart: "Is the food at Prince Su Mansion that good?"

He Yan paused upon hearing this, put down the almond cake in his hand, picked up a handkerchief to wipe his hands, and said coldly: "You'll know if it's good or not when you try it later."

Mu Yuanwen realized he misspoke and rubbed his nose, muttering: "You're going to have me stay for a meal too..."

He Yan: "Oh, if you're ungrateful then forget it, I'll have someone throw you out right now."

Mu Yuanwen immediately sat down on the stool across from his good friend, poured himself a cup of wine, and said with a smile: "I'm joking, I'm joking, our Young Master Xie has already spoken, how dare I not appreciate it?"

With these few words, the grudge that had silently built up between the two over the past two months seemed to dissipate without a trace.

Seeing Mu Yuanwen had already drank two cups of wine while talking, He Yan frowned slightly and reminded: "This wine was just dug out from the manor's stores, don't drink too much, lest you collapse in my manor later and I have to send someone to carry you back."

Upon hearing those words, Mu Yuanwen obediently pushed the wine jug to the side. He glanced left and right, rubbed his hands together, leaned close to He Yan, and whispered, "Well, I... have something I want to say to you."

He Yan knew that he wanted to speak with him privately, so he waved his hand, dismissing the attendants around them.

Mu Yuanwen dragged his stool closer to him, swallowed, and asked softly, "Does Prince Su treat you well?"

Looking at that somewhat guilty face, He Yan didn't have the heart to tell him that since the security loopholes in the prince's manor were exposed last time, the newly replaced guards were all personally selected by Prince Su from his own close guard. Their martial arts skills were unparalleled, so even if Mu Yuanwen kept his voice low, there was no way to escape their keen ears.

After a few seconds of contemplation, He Yan decided to let him remain blissfully ignorant. He went along with his words and replied, "Yes, very well. The prince is quite obedient."

Upon hearing the word "obedient", Mu Yuanwen's expression became a bit strange. No matter how you looked at it, Prince Su's face always seemed like he was about to hit someone at any moment, which didn't seem to have anything to do with being obedient.

However... since his good friend was willing to give up his bright future for the sake of love, it might not be impossible for Prince Su to be very obedient at home.

Although he really couldn't imagine what a "obedient" Prince Su would look like...

After letting his thoughts wander for a while, urged by his friend's gaze, Mu Yuanwen quickly pulled his mind back and continued to ask hesitantly, "So... has Prince Su mentioned anything to you about taking concubines?"

In the Wen Dynasty, when a male spouse got married, the maternal family would usually select a few good-looking maids to accompany the male spouse to the husband's family as concubines, in order to bear children for the husband's family in the future.

But obviously, the Marquis Xinyuan's family didn't seem to remember this rule and didn't prepare any accompanying maids for Xie Ming.

Not only that, but it was also said that as soon as Xie Ming entered Prince Su's manor, he dealt with the beauties the emperor had previously given to Prince Su, locking them all up in a side courtyard and explicitly forbidding them from appearing in front of Prince Su, not hiding his jealous attitude at all!

In large families, as the principal wife, the most taboo thing was to have excessive jealousy, suppress the concubines, and hinder the husband's family from having offspring. Usually, a principal wife who did this would quickly be despised by the husband's family, and what awaited them was often scolding and punishment from the elders in the manor. In more serious cases, they would be directly deposed.

However, the situation in Prince Su's manor was a bit special.

Firstly, Xie Ming had a noble status. Even though he had lost his inheritance rights in the Marquis Xinyuan's family after marrying as a male spouse, the Marquis Xinyuan's family would always be a bargaining chip in his hands.

Even if he went a bit too far, Prince Su was unlikely to divorce him. After all, divorcing a spouse was different from a forced marriage. A forced marriage could still be tolerated on the surface, but if you forcibly married someone and then divorced them, that would be truly tearing off the pretense and making an enemy of the Marquis Xinyuan's family.

Secondly, as the master of the prince's manor, Prince Su didn't care about his own male spouse's behaviour at all! Not only did this prince have no objection to his male spouse not bringing any accompanying maids, but he also watched as Xie Ming dealt with the people in his rear courtyard without saying a word!

From his daily actions, it was completely impossible to see that Prince Su was so afraid of his spouse at home...

It was truly perplexing.

However, even if Prince Su was afraid of his spouse and didn't dare to take concubines under Xie Ming's pressure, the issue of offspring was still a big problem. Just considering Emperor Wen Xiao alone, it was unlikely that he would allow Prince Su's manor to remain without offspring for long.

So after receiving the invitation, Mu Yuanwen nervously discussed with his mother, the Marchioness of Anyuan, and planned to persuade his good friend to prepare a few controllable concubines for Prince Su according to his mother's suggestions. If they waited for Emperor Wen Xiao to intervene and arrange concubines for Prince Su, who knew what trouble those people might cause with the backing of the palace.

In order to prevent his good friend from being bullied in the future, Mu Yuanwen, who had hardened his resolve to consult his mother about the matters of the rear courtyard, had worked very hard today.

But he didn't expect his friend to directly reply with indifference upon hearing his question, "No, he doesn't have the guts."

Seeing his appearance, Mu Yuanwen felt a bit worried and sighed, saying in a low voice, "Even if the prince doesn't dare, if the palace wants to... ahem, you still have to plan ahead. The people in your own hands are very different from those arranged by others."

Upon hearing this, He Yan's eyes turned cold. He sneered, "That's something for the prince to consider. If he can't handle it well, I... can just divorce him at worst."

Anyway, after the divorce, he could just go back and continue being the young master of the marquis' manor. Although a male spouse was considered to have automatically given up his inheritance rights in his family after marriage, he could still return to his family to marry a wife, have children, and inherit the family business after divorcing his husband's family.

In order to be together with his lover openly and rightfully, he had already voluntarily given up everything in the Marquis Xinyuan's family to marry over as a male spouse. If Prince Su still couldn't handle things on Emperor Wen Xiao's side, what use did he have for this idiot of a man?

Mu Yuanwen was so frightened by his words of "divorce" that he gasped and coughed a few times, stammering, "Master Xie, little ancestor, please don't get agitated. Let's talk it over calmly..." How could divorce be something to mention so lightly?

It seemed that even after getting married, his good friend's temperament hadn't mellowed at all. He was still full of thorns, willful to the point of giving people a headache.

No, that's not right... it seemed that due to Prince Su's indulgence, his temperament had become even more willful?

It was truly worrying.

But before Mu Yuanwen could finish worrying, he suddenly heard He Yan begin to ask him in return, "Let's not talk about me for now. You should worry about yourself instead. Has the Second Prince been harassing you again recently?"

Although He Yan had stayed at home since his marriage, as long as he needed it, the servants in the prince's manor would automatically report to him, so even though he had stayed in the manor for so long, he was not cut off from information.

Mu Yuanwen was stunned for a moment by the sudden change of topic. After a while, he nodded and replied blankly, "So you knew about it too... Anyway, it's just like that. My family is blocking him, so he doesn't dare to do anything real. At worst, I'll just avoid him a bit."

Actually, before becoming obsessed with Xie Ming, the Second Prince's original target was Mu Yuanwen. After all, Mu Yuanwen was also a famous handsome man in the capital. However, the moment the Second Prince laid eyes on Xie Ming, who was far more outstanding than Mu Yuanwen, he directly tossed Mu Yuanwen to the back of his mind, favoring the new and loathing the old.

It wasn't until He Yan was intercepted by Prince Su that the Second Prince remembered that besides Xie Ming, he still had another beauty he hadn't won over. So he turned around and began to pester Mu Yuanwen incessantly again.

He Yan originally wanted to pour himself a cup of wine, but when he thought of Prince Su's worried and foolish appearance, frowning every time he got drunk, he instead picked up the teapot beside him and poured a cup of tea.

He shook the small and exquisite blue and white porcelain cup in his hand and said casually, "Who knows what kind of stupid things that idiot Second Prince will do? You'd better be careful and bring more people with you."

That gutless coward Second Prince indeed didn't dare, but even if he didn't dare, there were people who would push him to dare.

Author's Note: Today, my tentacle monster bestie complained to me, "I feel like this novel of mine has no appeal at all!"

I comforted her with a silly sweet smile, "How could that be? Look at how many little angels have left comments."

Tentacle Monster: "Of course they left comments because I'm the cutest in the world, are you stupid?"

Me: Indifferent.jpg

I was going to tease her, but the internet was lagging like crazy when I updated today. Considering she just helped me upload the chapter and saved my perfect attendance streak, I decided to agree with her for once, haha!

I'll grudgingly admit that she's the second cutest in her world, because I'm the cutest in the world, humph! ╭(╯^╰)╮