5. Chapter 5

Normally, being trapped in the palace ensuring the safety of the royal family is exactly where Meng Zhi wants to be in an emergency. When the explosion of the fireworks factory first rocks the city and reports of the devastation flood into the palace, he is in fact glad to be there, and glad that his husband and the boys are safe at home, far away from danger.

For a couple of hours, at least, Meng Zhi has peace of mind.

“Sir.” A soldier — not one of his — steps up to where Meng Zhi is consulting with his lieutenants.

“Yes? What is it?”

The soldier breaks his bow and stands up. “I was told to report to you, sir.”

He’s one of Prince Jing’s men. He’s very young and does not look happy to be there. Meng Zhi has a bad feeling about this.

“By who?”

“General Lie.”

Even worse. Meng Zhi waves for him to continue.

“I was told to report that your husband Sir Mei has arrived at the site of the explosion—”

“WHAT?”

The poor guy takes a step backward. “He’s—he’s at the site of the explosion.”

“Doing what? Why?”

“He is conferring with— with Princess Nihuang?” The soldier tries to hold his posture but he’s quickly crumbling under Meng Zhi’s glare.

Meng Zhi turns to his own men and tells them to hold things down until he gets back. None of them look the least bit surprised.

He could, perhaps, be accused of committing dereliction of duty by leaving the palace at all but it is not unheard of for him to go examine something like this for himself. As he storms out of the palace he’s already drafting a report in his head listing all the very valid reasons he has to visit the site of the explosion.

The most valid reason is in fact standing right there in the midst of the smoking ruins talking leisurely to Princess Nihuang when Meng Zhi shows up. Prince Jing is even nearby, although remaining at a polite distance while ordering relief efforts.

“Husband!” Meng Zhi hollars across the whole street. Everyone and everything comes to screeching halt to watch him stomp straight through some still-smoldering debris, kicking it out of his way.

Mei Changsu looks up from where he is talking to Nihaung, his eyes wide with surprise and displeasure. “What are you doing here? You should be in the palace!” He waves a dismissive hand at him.

Meng Zhi’s jaw drops. His husband is scolding him? This cannot stand.

“Where I should be? And where should you be?” He’s yelling, and Prince Jing is not very subtly headed their way with backup.

“Commander Meng! You need to calm down!” General Mu steps forward.

“I will calm down when my husband is far away from this disaster zone!” He points up at Mei Changsu, who is a hand span taller than he is. It is not usually an obvious height difference, given the way Mei Changsu slouches and otherwise appears so frail, but right now his husband is standing tall and defiant with his shoulders pulled back. Meng Zhi is not having it. “There is fire! Gunpowder smoke! And...and ash!”

“Commander Meng, I assure you the fire is under control,” Prince Jing inserts, his voice loud and firm next to him. His men are spread out in standard formation around them, hands held gently on their weapons.

“Your Highness.” Meng Zhi has the wherewithal to give the prince a low but quick bow. “I am sure you have the situation handled. My concern is for my precious husband’s precious health.” He turns back to Mei Changsu, who is now looking like a startled cat. “Your lungs are weak! You stay up half the night coughing! Some days you can barely draw enough air to walk! What in the blasted hell made you think coming to the smoking ruins of a fireworks factory was a good idea?” He’s yelling again but he doesn’t give a damn about propriety at this point. “We have three sons! How will you care for them if you drive yourself to your sickbed? How do you expect me to live without you?”

With that, the tide has turned. Li Gang, Nihuang and even Prince Jing are all staring at Mei Changsu with various expressions of dismay. Even the soldiers and complete strangers watching the scene are glaring at Mei Changsu judgmentally. Mei Changsu looks between all of them, shocked by the realization that he’s lost the battle before even getting the chance to engage. He tries to stutter out some defensive words but Meng Zhi slashes his hand through the air to shut him up.

“No. I don’t want to hear it. We are leaving right now. Li Gang, where is our carriage?”

Li Gang points, reconsiders, then runs off to pull the carriage up to them.

“I assure you this is unnecessary. I am feeling aaaAAAAH!” Mei Changsu squawks as Meng Zhi picks him up in a bridal carry and heads for where Li Gang is maneuvering the carriage around for a quick exit.

“General Lie, arrange an escort home for Commander Meng’s help-meet, please.” Prince Jing gives the order with what sounds like amusement in his voice and Meng hears soldiers scrambling to sort themselves out. Li Gang barely has time to get the door open before Meng Zhi is tossing Mei Changsu into the carriage as gently as he can, which isn’t very. Despite appearances, his husband is not exactly a lightweight damsel in summer robes.

Mei Changsu is still looking like a cat who got dumped in pail of cold water, ready to fight. Meng Zhi holds up a finger. “No. You can fuss at me tonight when I come home. Until then you will let Dr. Yan examine you and then get some bed rest. No arguments!” He slaps the door closed so hard it rattles. He waves at Li Gang who sets the carriage off at a fast pace, a squad of Prince Jing’s men on horseback clearing the way.

He turns around to see Prince Jing and Nihuang smirking at him. He thinks some uncharitable thoughts as he gives them both perfunctory bows and stalks back to the palace to do his damn job.

---

He pauses outside of his husband’s study and straightens his robes. He does the same mental exercise he practices before competitions and battles. He takes a deep breath. He takes another deep breath—

“Come in already, or leave,” Mei Changsu snaps from behind the closed door.

Meng Zhi slides open the door, steps in, and goes to his knees in prostration. “This husband asks your forgiveness.”

It is a long and agonizing silence that follows his declaration.

“I have made us tea. Please join me,” Mei Changsu says.

Meng Zhi peeks up at him, but only sees Mei Changsu fastidiously pouring them cups of tea. He is not even discounting poison at this point, as Lin Shu is Consort Jing’s nephew after all. He hopes his husband might just make him ghastly ill as punishment as opposed to killing him outright, though, so with that comforting thought he gets up, sits across from Mei Changsu and accepts the cup offered to him with steady hands.

“Your behavior was abominable. You made a spectacle of us.” Mei Changsu sips his tea without looking at him.

“For which I ask forgiveness. I was led by my temper.”

“Why?”

“Why...what? Why?” Meng Zhi turns the question over, and Mei Changsu lets him. “Why did I lose my temper?”

Mei Changsu actually slams his cup down on the table. “ Yes ! I was perfectly safe, and—”

“I was worried.” Meng Zhi shrugs and sips at the tea again. It is excellent tea. He is so lucky to have such a cultured help-meet.

“Worried.” Mei Changsu raises one incredulous eyebrow at him.

Meng Zhi sighs.

Mei Changsu also sighs, and fiddles with the sleeves of his outer robe. “I know we are officially married, and you know why that was necessary, but you do not need to put on such a charade for my sake. Everyone knows we are married. There is no need to—”

“Yes there is need! You are sickly and careless about it! I worry! All the time!” Meng Zhi falls back into a more relaxed sitting position and crosses his arms over his chest. “You are indifferent to your own well being, which is unacceptable.”

“...Unacceptable?”

“Mei Changsu, I am your husband. I am the master of this house. You are my help-meet. It would be a bigger scandal for me not to care that you are endangering yourself! Who would believe that of me? That I wouldn’t care if the father of my sons — my beloved husband! — wanders around, risking his health? I hope no one!”

Mei Changsu frowns at the space between them. “I suppose you are correct about that. Your protectiveness is well known.”

“Hmph.” Meng Zhi slaps his thighs. “I apologized for causing a scene. Now! You apologize for endangering your health.” He waits.

Mei Changsu looks up at him sharply, then blinks several times. “What?”

“You heard me.” Meng Zhi flaps a hand at him to get him to hurry up.

For a moment he opens and closes his mouth like a fish (it’s adorable and Meng Zhi could watch him all day) before he rallies. “Meng Zhi, your concern is—”

“My wife always said that married couples are not allowed to go to bed angry at each other. No matter what I did or what she broke, we had to apologize before retiring for the night. And let me tell you, she broke very many things, Mei Changsu, so many. Yin Yin was beautiful and smart but not graceful.” He points at himself. “I was young and stubborn and thoughtless! There was a lot of apologizing in that marriage. I expect the same in ours. We can start now! So again, I apologize for acting like a barbarian in front of Prince Jing and embarrassing you.” He sketches a small bow from where he’s seated, then looks expectantly at Mei Changsu.

Who looks like he’s been hit with a board. He stares at Meng Zhi for a long moment as if he is trying to figure out a puzzle. He then slowly clasps his hands out in front of himself and bows in return. “I apologize for worrying you, Meng Zhi. In the future I will not be so careless as to visit a disaster area without your escort.”

It is obvious that Mei Changsu has never been married before, because there are a lot of holes in that apology. But, it is a start. Meng Zhi smiles and pours his beautiful gentleman scholar husband more tea.