Except Xiaochuan didn't expect the retaliation to begin the second he walked out on Wei, back to the room assigned to him.
When the heavy wooden doors swung open, he froze at his surroundings, at what he was seeing. In the middle of the room, where the bed was supposed to be, was just a constructed body of wood.
Surely, Xiaochuan hasn't been exposed to luxury all his life, but he has seen the way they lived and he was quite sure it wasn't supposed to be like this. Or was it normal?
There were no plush furs, no scented candles, or even the curtains to block the cold at night and sun during the day. Instead, the room was a hollow shell, and the windows had been left wide open without curtains. His couldn't even find his traveling bag.
"Why is the room like this?" He asked the attendant that had been following him around.
"I-it's the Head omega's order. The servants would usually be on standby to clean the room if you obeyed him and did the welcome ritual as told, but since you didn't…."
"I see," Xiaochuan whispered into the dark room.
So this is how it's going to be huh?
Fine, he's lived in a place worse than this, he can manage, he wouldn't let Wei win by showing emotions. Xiaochuan was pretty sure that's what he wanted.
He walked over to the washbasin, hoping for at least a splash of water to clean the dirt of all the dusts during the travel from his face, only to find it filled with gray, stagnant slush. It was a clear message, more than he needed to know.
For a moment, the exhaustion of the journey and the sting of Chengyuan's abandonment threatened to break him. He wanted to sink onto the cold floor and cry, but then he couldn't give up, at least definitely not this early
If they thought a cold room and a missing blanket would make him crawl back to the West Wing courtyard to beg for Wei's forgiveness, they had picked the wrong omega.
You know what? To hell with this!
He thought and turned right back around and marched out of the room. He didn't go back toward the omegas' courtyard, no, that's was not the destination he had in mind. Instead, he headed toward the bridge that led to the Main Palace. So far he hadn't learnt much about the rules of the palace, but with the way the Harem was located a little far away from the main palace, he was sure there was going to be some kind of prohibition, but he didn't care.
The moment he passed the bridge and turned a corner, leading straight to the entrance of the South wing, where the Emperor resided as he was told when he asked the attendant. The guards at the entrance noticed him immediately and their eyes widened at the sight of a small, pink-haired omega marching toward them with the fury of a storm.
Though they were in a trance, one of them were quick enough to stop him.
"Halt! The Emperor's Omegas are not permitted in the King's private space after sunset," he barked, though his voice wavered as he took in Xiaochuan's fierce expression.
"Then you had better go tell the Emperor that one of his omegas is currently being housed like a dog, and I will not accept such disrespectf." Xiaochuan snapped, stepping right up to the guard and meeting him deadly in the eye. There was a short silence before Xiaochuan let out a loud scoff.
"If all you're going to do is just look at me and not do anything to help, it's either you move aside and let me find a guard who actually knows what to do, or I'll start screaming loud enough to wake every wolf in this city. I doubt the Emperor would appreciate the noise." Xiaochuan said, not so quietly.
The guards exchanged a panicked look, contemplating on what to do. But before they could decide or say anything at all, a deep, familiar voice came from behind them.
"Is there a reason my halls sound like a marketplace?"