The palace halls were empty when Yue Zihan returned after sunset.
He'd promised himself he wouldn't stay this late just reading again.
He lied to himself a lot lately.
Ruo Jin stood outside his room quite as always, waiting.
" Your highness, it's past midnight," he said while opening his door," the Empress says you require rest."
"Relax," he said, rolling up his sleeves. "she won't even notice, unless you tell her."
[ System] Mama's boy.
He went and stood Infront of the mirror looking at his appearance. Ruo Jin came behind him removing his crown letting his white silk hair flow down past his waist.
Ruo Jin helped him remove his clothes and change into his sleep wear.
" You've grown taller," yue zihan said to him vexed by their height difference. At fifteen he was still growing.
Yue zihan sat at the table holding a cup of tea looking at it.
A mortal trinket. Harmless, perfect.
He inhaled, calling to the Chaotic Qi sleeping inside him.
It came lazily, like a beast stretching after a long nap — silver lines shot with threads of red and blue coiling around his body.
The air quivered. The candle flames leaned away from him.
[Warning:] Power output rising.
Suggestion: Stop pretending you're calm.
He ignored it. The jade cup trembled, cracked then turned to dust.
"Beautiful," he whispered. "Physics just cried."
[Correction:] Physics screamed. Loudly.
"Zihan?"
His mother's voice froze him mid-breath.
He turned slowly. Empress chu milan stood at the doorway, her husband behind her, both framed by candlelight.
"Mother, Father." He smiled faintly. "I was just… testing"
The room was still vibrating, chaotic qi that had escaped.
His fathers gaze hardened. "You call this testing?"
Zihan raised a hand, and the dust floating away as the lines in his body disappearing as if dissolving into his body.
[Note:] One more second and the table would've turned to dust.
The looked at Ruo Jin who stood quietly behind him then his parents.
He coughed.
His mother stepped closer, tears welling.
The faint glow from his skin reflected in her eyes — blue on one side, red on the other. Even through the blindfold, the colors bled faintly through the fabric.
"Your power… it feels alive," she whispered.
"It is," Zihan said softly. "Chaotic Qi doesn't like to be tamed. It's more of a—"
He searched for the word. "—partnership. Like keeping a tiger as a pet that occasionally lectures you."
[Clarification:] I don't lecture. I educate under duress.
Zihan's mouth twitched. "See?"
Yue chenxi stepped forward, studying him with a mix of pride and unease. "You've gone beyond mortal comprehension."
"Not really," Zihan replied. "Just mortal patience."
He raised a hand again, showing them something gentler this time: small shimmers of red-blue runes moving around his arm .
Each one shimmered with infinite depth, a mark to show his body strengthening, step by step .
For a moment, even chaos looked beautiful.
Chu milan's voice trembled. "Zihan… will this power consume you?"
He paused. "It might," he admitted.
Then he smiled, that familiar crooked smirk. "But if it does, I'll make sure it has indigestion."
[Humor detected: morbid.]
His mother laughed despite her tears, covering her mouth.
His father placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Whatever you've become… you are still our child."
Zihan tilted his head. "I wouldn't bet on that, Father. But I'll take the compliment."
The Chaotic Qi pulsed faintly in agreement — or amusement.
Even it seemed to enjoy the family drama.
As the night settled, Zihan dismissed the energy, letting silence fill the room again.
A new jade cup sat perfectly still — ordinary, unbroken, almost giving the illusion nothing had happened.
He faced his parents one last time.
"I'll master it," he said. "All of it. So you won't have to worry about me."
His majesty voice was quiet. "We will always worry, zihan. We fear the world's will, once it sees you."
He nodded once. "Then I'll just have to make the world polite."
[Statistically improbable.]
[Morally questionable.]
[Fully approved.]
He chuckled and turned away, the blindfold catching the last flicker of light — like a veil hiding a storm that smiled.