Fu Yuanchuan said, “The room is all cleaned up, let’s go back.”

Some of the damage had been repaired and cleaned up; he had come to pick him up.

“You’re finished with work?” Jun Qingyu observed that there was no one following him, then in all likelihood, he must have settled the aftermath.

He nodded and said, “There’s something I want to ask you, let’s go.”

Although the issue with authority was minor, Jun Qingyu still wanted to make everything clear.

Fu Yuanchuan paused when he heard the words and silently glanced up at Shi Kaixin without batting an eyelid.

Shi Kaixin’s eyes abruptly widened. He stood behind Jun Qingyu, shaking his head frantically, and his hands waving rapidly. He didn’t say anything that he shouldn’t have and what Jun Qingyu possibly wanted to ask most likely had nothing to do with him.

“What are you looking at him for?” Jun Qingyu distinctly sensed something. He arched his brow, looked up at him and asked, “Is there a problem?”

“No.” Fu Yuanchuan felt a pang of unusual guilt when he was observed with such a look.

Shi Kaixin exhaled in relief after he was let off the hook. He saluted Fu Yuanchuan and then withdrew in silence.

As Jun Qingyu observed this situation, the strange feeling he had grew. He smiled. His eyes curved up into crescents and the corner of his lips lifted soon after. He muttered with a straight face, “You’d better not.”

Fu Yuanchuan: “……”

—

The snow never stopped. Fu Yuanchuan wrapped one arm around the little fish’s waist and held an umbrella with the other.

The snow would soon fall on the cleared pathway, but it was less in comparison to the snow on either side of the path.

Their way back was absolutely silent; neither of them spoke.

The more Jun Qingyu thought about it, the more he found it abnormal; whether it was from Fu Yuanchuan’s reaction earlier, or the matter of decentralising his authority, he inevitably thought for the worst.

When he harboured uncertainty in his mind, he would make wild speculations. The more he speculated, the more uncertainties formed in his mind–it was an endless cycle.

As he pondered, he unexpectedly stumbled.

Fu Yuanchuan tightened his grip, and the little fish, who had a narrow escape from falling onto the ground, was pulled into his embrace, “Be careful.”

Jun Qingyu blinked. He noticed the snow on Fu Yuanchuan’s shoulder. “Carry me.”

“Did you sprain your ankle?”

Jun Qingyu shook his head, patted the snow off his shoulder, and walked around the back, “Hand over the umbrella.”

""

“All right.”

Jun Qingyu held the umbrella in such a way that it would cover them both. His mind slowly began to settle as he took in the tranquilly of the scene before him: the world covered in a blanket of white snow.

After some thought, he poked Fu Yuanchuan on the cheek, “Do you have anything to tell me?”

“Hm?” Fu Yuanchuan walked slowly, and after a moment’s thought on this question, he said, “What did Shi Kaixin say to upset you?”

It wasn’t a matter of being upset or not, Jun Qingyu just could not figure it out, “The thing about your authority, is my current scope of authority higher than yours?”

“Yes.” The matter was more or less known by little fish, so there was no point in Fu Yuanchuan saying anything else.

Fu Yuanchuan admitted to it so readily that Jun Qingyu didn’t know what to ask and he muttered after a pause, “I feel like you’re hiding something from me.”

“How could that be? Don’t scare yourself.”

“You mean it?” Jun Qingyu questioned, “Then why did you raise my authority that much all of a sudden?”

“It wasn’t all of a sudden. I have always wanted to do this before. When the war occurred and you stayed behind in the Empire, I was afraid it would be hard for you to do things, so I adjusted your authority to the highest.”

Jun Qingyu nodded. It made a bit of sense.

It was easier for him to solve the affairs of the Empire if he had the highest authority.

Otherwise, he would have to report to Fu Yuanchuan to get permission before he could do anything of importance.

However, he hadn’t run into any trouble and he had been busy with his experiments in the Empire, so it was only natural for him not to have an opportunity to use this authority.

In that case, Jun Qingyu was truly relieved.

The layout of the furnishings in the room seemed to have changed slightly and the place where the experimental equipment was originally placed was empty.

It should be an order from Fu Yuanchuan. Anyway, the reagents have been produced now, and the reagents distributed should not be used up yet.

There was no need to experiment with these in the short term.

After the little fish was placed on the bed, Fu Yuanchuan adjusted the constant temperature in the room, found thicker pyjamas and handed them to the little fish, “Put them on.”

Jun Qingyu wore it as he was told to, but the material was shaggy, “It’s a bit thick.”

“Cover yourself up with more layers, we don’t want you catching a cold.”

The time the little fish stayed outdoors this time was slightly longer; on top of that, he had been playing with snow. By wearing more layers, it would prevent a cold.

Jun Qingyu took a sip of iced water and vowed, “A mermaid won’t catch a cold.”

“Mhm.” Fu Yuanchuan responded but did not allow him to change out of his pyjamas.

The issues between the Federation and the planet that needed to be dealt with had been settled. Fu Yuanchuan sat in front of the virtual computer to deal with some of the Empire’s miscellaneous tasks.

By the time Jun Qingyu finished his drink, hot water had been boiled, and he made a cup of tea, “Yuanchuan, are you in a meeting?”

“I’m taking a look at some documents.”

Jun Qingyu nodded his head, as long as he was not in a meeting.

He came over with the cup of brewed tea, placed it by Fu Yuanchuan’s hand, and sat on his lap after that.

Fu Yuanchuan subconsciously raised his hand to facilitate the little fish’s movements when he sensed him approaching, and when he came to his senses, his hand was already on the little fish’s waist to protect him from falling over.

Jun Qingyu had processed some similar documents and the sight of them just cause him a migraine. He simply turned his head and leaned into his warmth, “I’ll leave you to your work.”

With the little fish in his arms, Fu Yuanchuan was in no mood to handle other matters. Most of these documents were just the sickly crap of the nobility and had been in the inbox for a long time without being processed.

After reading a few emails in a row, Fu Yuanchuan thought for a while and asked, “Are you bored?”

Jun Qingyu smiled and said, “Nope, I’m good.”

In any case, apart from reading the news on the internet, or going out for a walk, there was no other form of activity. Rather than doing such things, it was better to quietly look at Fu Yuanchuan like this right now.

A marshal who was working hard was very seductive.

""

“But I don’t think it’s good.”

“Hmm?”

Jun Qingyu looked up in confusion, then saw Fu Yuanchuan reach out and brush away some of the documents on his desk, and put him on the table.

“……?”

After the deed was done, Jun Qingyu covered his upper body with Fu Yuanchuan’s coat and calmed his breath in Fu Yuanchuan’s arms.

Fu Yuanchuan took a piece of wet wipe and gently wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. Since he couldn’t clean up some of the pearls scattered on the floor, he gathered the ones on the table and put them in a drawer.

He hadn’t brought the box of pearls at home with him but when he counted the quantity, it should be time to prepare a few new ones.

As Jun Qingyu watched Fu Yuanchuan clean up the pearls, he inexplicably got a little hot in the face. The pearls fell on the table with a subtle plop. Whenever he thought of that, he would think of the situation in which the pearls fell.

Jun Qingyu buried his head in his embrace and hid as if to escape but the next moment, Jun Qingyu suddenly raised his head and grabbed Fu Yuanchuan’s wrist behind his body, “Wait, wait a second…”

“Hmm?”

The little fish didn’t use much strength and he could easily break free from him if he wanted to. Fu Yuanchuan coaxed him instead, “Be good.”

Jun Qingyu’s grip on his collar suddenly tightened, “Mmm…”

He lowered his head and pressed his forehead against his shoulder; the sensation of him cleaning him up was extremely clear.

The was a subtle sound of water. Jun Qingyu pursed his lips, and he practically could not sit up, “Are…you done yet?”

“It’s done.” With that said, he had used a warm wet wipe to wipe him clean and straightened the hem of his shirt in the passing.

—

The time to finalise the agreement with the Federation was nearing. Jun Qingyu hadn’t gone anywhere in the past few days and had been staying in the lounge.

They were simply waiting for the agreement to be signed before they could go home.

A person would take more notice when some events were approaching. Jun Qingyu crossed out the day on the calendar just as Fu Yuanchuan came in with breakfast.

Fu Yuanchuan served their breakfast on the table and said, “Let’s eat. The day when the agreement is signed is ahead of schedule. We’ll go straight there later and I’ll take you to meet someone.”

“Ahead of schedule?” Jun Qingyu sat at the table, peeled an egg and fed it to Fu Yuanchuan, “Can an important day like this be changed when it has already been set?”

Fu Yuanchuan said, “It’s usually not possible to postpone it, but it’s possible to advance it.”

Both parties had to provide their consent. Fu Yuanchuan thought that the little fish had most recently been bored here, so it would be better to shift to an earlier date, even if it was only a few days.

Jun Qingyu nodded. It was naturally good for it to be ahead of schedule. It had taken a long time before. The time required for the head of the Federation to arrive had to be considered. At the present, they should have arrived ahead of time. The sooner they signed, the sooner the problem could be solved.

Fu Yuanchuan bought steamed stuffed buns for breakfast. Jun Qingyu took a bite. It was stuffed with minced fish meat, and this should not have been served at the garrison, Fu Yuanchuan should have gone out to buy it himself.

Jun Qingyu ate the buns and asked, “Who did you just say you wanted to see?”

Fu Yuanchuan said, “Fu Qingheng.”

Jun Qingyu was taken aback. He had never heard of this name. It was foreign to him, but the surname of Fu gave him some guesses.

“The head of the Federation.” After a pause, Fu Yuanchuan continued, “It’s temporary.”

It was only a matter of time before he became the real head of the Federation, but he had to be more rigorous.

“Is he the one you’re talking about in the Federation?” For them to be in that position, and to be able to sign the agreement with the Empire on behalf of the Federation, nothing made sense unless he was on Fu Yuanchuan’s side.

“He’s my younger brother.” Fu Yuanchuan opened a pack of juice and put it in the little fish’s hand, and he explained, “It was only recently confirmed.”

During the interstellar war, a person claiming to be his brother appeared at the Federation and contacted him; Fu Yuanchuan would certainly check everything carefully before confirming the identity of the other party.

Jun Qingyu’s fingers stopped in their position. He knew that Fu Yuanchuan had a younger brother, but he had disappeared during the war.

In such a situation, the young child had no chance of surviving. In addition, the Fu family was badly hit at the time and no one was spared except for Fu Yuanchuan.

It was impossible for Fu Chengyu to have helped find to find his body, so his corpse was never recovered.

""

And yet he was still alive? He’d gone to the Federation…

Jun Qingyu pondered over it. It was unlikely that Fu Qingheng had gone to the Federation on his own, perhaps some kind-hearted Federation soldier had taken him back.

Either way, it was good he was still alive.

As he thought about it, Jun Qingyu suddenly remembered the day Fu Yuanchuan went back, “Is that why you suddenly went back that day?”

A matter that could only be tested by Fu Yuanchuan himself, a matter of great importance, there should only be a DNA test.

“Mhm.”