“His Wife, Ah-Xu.” (KexingZhishu)
Ep1
The royal chambers were silent. except for the sound of shoving.
Zhao Zhi Shu yanked open his wardrobe, throwing silk robes over his shoulder like they were dirty laundry.
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“Too heavy. Too fancy. Too… boring.” He grabbed his worn travel coat instead and stuffed it into a half-empty bag already bulging with gold coins, bread, and something suspiciously shaped like a roasted chicken.
Behind him, a small voice piped up.
Cao Wen Ning
“P-Prince…? What are you… doing…?”
Zhao froze.
And then he sighed.
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“…Cao Wen Ning, go back to bed.”
But Cao Wen Ning, his ever-loyal guard, eternal headache, and the cry baby champion of the palace was already waddling in, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
Cao Wen Ning
“It’s midnight… why are you stealing chickens?”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“I’m not stealing.” Zhao tugged the bag closed. “It’s mine. Royal chicken. I’m just… relocating it.”
Cao Wen Ning
Cao Wen Ning blinked. “…Relocating it… where?”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“To my new home.” Zhao slung the bag over his shoulder dramatically. “Anywhere that isn’t here.”
It took Cao Wen Ning precisely three seconds to process this. Then-
Cao Wen Ning
“Whaaaaaaat?!”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao winced. “Shhh! Do you want the guards to-”
Cao Wen Ning
“Are you running away?! You can’t! What about your breakfast tomorrow?! What about me?!”
Wen Ning’s voice cracked like he was about to burst into tears, which was, in fact, his signature move.
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“You’ll survive. You always do.” Zhao started for the window, but Wen Ning scrambled after him.
Cao Wen Ning
“B-but! You’ll get lost! You don’t even know how to-”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“I do know how to survive, Wen Ning.”
Cao Wen Ning
“You thought the kitchen was on the north last week!”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao groaned. “That was one time.”
Cao Wen Ning
Wen Ning clung to his arm like a toddler refusing to let go of a candy stick. “If you leave, I’m coming with you.”
A moment of silence. Then Zhao sighed heavily, already regretting his entire plan.
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“Fine. But if you cry, I’m leaving you in a ditch.”
Cao Wen Ning
“Deal!” Wen Ning sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve and then immediately tripped over his own foot while trying to pack his tiny satchel.
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao watched him struggle and muttered, “This is going to be a disaster.”
And just like that, the runaway prince and his crybaby guard stumbled into the night… with far too much roasted chicken and far too little sense.
The night was cold. The streets were darker than Zhao Zhi Shu expected, and every creak or rustle made Cao Wen Ning squeak like a frightened mouse.
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“Wen Ning,” Zhao muttered, pulling his hood lower.
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“stop looking behind us every three seconds. You look suspicious.”
Cao Wen Ning
“I am suspicious!” Wen Ning whisper-yelled.
Cao Wen Ning
“We’re literally running away from the palace! What if your parents send soldiers? Or worse-” his voice dropped into a shiver, “your step-sister finds us.”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao gave him a flat look. “You’re afraid of a teenage girl.”
Cao Wen Ning
“She’s terrifying! Remember when she smiled at me? I had nightmares for a week!”
Zhao rolled his eyes and kept walking. They had one goal: find a place where no royal spy, no palace guard, and definitely no scary step-sister could find them.
Ep2
Cao Wen Ning
“So,” Wen Ning asked, hopping over a puddle, “what’s your genius plan for hiding?”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao hesitated. “…I was thinking… an inn?”
Cao Wen Ning
“An inn?! That’s the first place they’ll check! That’s like hiding from a cat by jumping into a box labeled ‘cat snacks.’”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“Fine, then you think of something.”
Cao Wen Ning
Wen Ning’s face lit up. “Okay! First, we dig a hole. Then we live in the hole. No one will find us!”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao stared at him. “You mean… like moles.”
Cao Wen Ning
“Exactly!” Wen Ning puffed his chest. “Moles never get caught.”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“Do you have a shovel?”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“Then next idea.”
Cao Wen Ning
Wen Ning tapped his chin. “What if we disguise ourselves? I can be a traveling poet. You can be… my mute bodyguard.”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“I’m the prince. I should be the poet.”
Cao Wen Ning
“You can’t be the poet. You don’t know any poems.”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao gasped. “Excuse me!-”
Cao Wen Ning
“Name one poem that isn’t about wine.”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“…That’s not fair.”
They bickered for a solid ten minutes, walking aimlessly through the city until Wen Ning suddenly stopped in front of a shabby little tea house squeezed between two tall buildings. The sign was crooked, the windows were dusty, and a sleepy old man was sweeping the doorstep.
Cao Wen Ning
“Perfect,” Wen Ning whispered. “It’s ugly. No one will ever look for a prince in an ugly place.”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao gave him a side-eye. “…Thanks for the compliment.”
Cao Wen Ning
Before he could argue, Wen Ning had already marched up to the old man and blurted, “Do you have a room for two… forever?”
The old man squinted. “Forever?”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao stepped in quickly. “He means… for a long time. We’re… travelers.”
The man shrugged. “As long as you can pay, I don’t care if you’re a circus or a cabbage.”
And just like that, they had their hideout — a tiny upstairs room that smelled faintly of tea leaves and dust. Zhao sat on the creaky bed, Wen Ning sprawled on the floor with their bag of chicken, and for the first time all night… they felt almost safe.
The young man biting on an apple, he happened to be sitting on top of the roof, he heard all that bickering like a circus drama. “hiding from who, zhao?”
His face lightened up before he flee down, standing on the ground, “you be a poet i'll be a writer.” he looks at the window which's light turned off before walking away.
Ep3
The market was loud, messy, and wonderful.
For Zhao Zhi Shu, it was the first time in years he’d been able to walk among normal people without guards trailing behind him. For Cao Wen Ning, it was the first time he’d seen this many food stalls in one place.. and it showed
Cao Wen Ning
“Should we get dumplings? Or those sugar cakes? Or maybe-” Wen Ning stopped mid-sentence, his mouth already full of something fried.
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao sighed. “You were supposed to help me shop, not eat everything in sight.”
Cao Wen Ning
“I am helping,” Wen Ning mumbled through a mouthful. “I’m testing for poison.”
Zhao ignored him and crouched at a stall selling small carved pendants. He was about to ask the price when-
Something- no, someone- slammed into his back so hard he stumbled forward, nearly face-planting into the merchant’s table
“Ah-! Sorry!” a voice gasped.
Zhao turned sharply, ready to scold whoever it was, only to find himself looking at a man about his age, with windswept hair, quick eyes, and the slightly disheveled look of someone who had been running for his life.
The stranger glanced over his shoulder. “Do me a favor and pretend you didn’t see me.”
Before Zhao could even respond, a loud shout came from down the street.
“There he is! Don’t let him get away!”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao blinked. “Are you-”
The man grabbed Zhao’s wrist without warning. “Yes, I’m running from someone. No, I’m not explaining right now.”
Cao Wen Ning
Cao Wen Ning gawked. “Why are we running with you?!”
“Because,” the stranger said, weaving them into a narrow alley, “if they catch me, they’ll question you too. And you don’t look like you want that.”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
When they finally stopped behind a stack of crates, Zhao yanked his arm free. “Who exactly are you?”
Wen Ke Xing/Lao Wen
The man smirked, not at all out of breath. “You can call me Lao Wen. I’m… just a humble traveler enjoying the market.”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao gave him a flat look. “Travelers don’t usually have palace soldiers chasing them.”
Wen Ke Xing/Lao Wen
Wen Ke Xing only grinned wider. “Maybe I’m not that humble.”
Cao Wen Ning
Wen Ning leaned in and whispered, far too loudly.“He’s suspicious.”
Zhao agreed, but one thing was certain: this Lao Wen was trouble… the kind of trouble that had a very bad habit of showing up exactly where Zhao didn’t want it.
The three of them slipped through the market’s side streets until Wen Ke Xing spotted an old, abandoned storehouse tucked between two buildings. Its doors were crooked, the windows broken, and the only company was a fat, sleepy cat on the doorstep.
Wen Ke Xing/Lao Wen
“Perfect,” Wen Ke Xing whispered.
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“Perfect for tetanus,” Zhao Zhi Shu muttered, but he still pushed Wen Ke Xing inside, dragging a confused Cao Wen Ning with him.
The air inside smelled like dust and old wood, but it was hidden, and for now, that was enough.
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
“You stay here,” Zhao ordered. “We’ll wait until-”
BANG! BANG!
Someone pounded on the door so hard the cat outside bolted.
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao’s eyes widened.
Wen Ke Xing/Lao Wen
Wen Ke Xing mouthed: Soldiers.
The pounding came again, followed by a deep voice.
“Open up! We’re looking for a suspicious man, black hair, about six feet tall. Have you seen him?”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao cracked the door slightly, forcing his calmest face. “No. No one like that here.”
The soldier narrowed his eyes. “Mind if we have a look inside?”
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Zhao froze. Inside, Wen Ke Xing was standing in the shadows, very much exactly what they’d described.
Zhao Zhi Shu/Ah Xu
Thinking fast, Zhao stepped back and said loudly, “Ah… well… there is someone here, but… it’s just my… uh… pregnant wife.”
Cao Wen Ning
Cao Wen Ning’s head whipped around. “Your WHAT?!”
Zhao stomped on his foot.
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