The Rules

There were countless rules that must be followed as a servant in the royal palace, whether it being to not touch certain antiques, bringing dirt from the outside to the inside, etc.

Of course some servants of the Palace of Xianle only had to pay attention to certain rules. Doing much, much simpler jobs which wouldn't require them actually inside the palace or gardens. There were few that actually are relevant to most.

The few servants that cared for the royal family and relatives were the ones who had to follow every rule, without fail. Such as; be courteous, never touch anything you aren't required to, be able to tell the date and time at any moment, care for the person you're assigned to every hour they're awake or asleep and many more.

During Mu Qing's time, working at the palace he's seen many of people be dismissed or executed for many of things. Such as waking them up to early, taking too long to change them, snooping, stealing, threatening, attacking and many more. He'd broken a few rules before but lucky for him. The person he had to serve didn't think of it as much importance. Such as when he took too long changing him or hadn't completed cleaning his room before he'd come back. Many people he had known had been dismissed purely because they were walking to slow, fast or to close. When he'd first started he'd thought he'd last a week, a month maybe at most but here he was, almost a year.

He'd done countless things that could of gotten him executed for. Such as sitting on the Crown Prince's bed, allowing the Crown Prince to do his hair, HUGGING the Crown Prince. Yeah he'd be executed immediately if anyone found out. Lucky for him though, neither of them plan to tell anyone about it.

It was turning dark, the curtains were being shut while the crown prince, who currently was wearing a simple nightgown, was kneeling on top of his mattress. ''Mu Qing?'' He mutters.

Mu Qing turns around, still having a few more curtains to close and tired. ''Yes your highness?'' He responds, trying to wake himself up a bit more.

''Come, sit! I want to speak to you.'' He exclaims, smiling.

''Uh- your highness, the rules are against me sitting on your bed-'' He begins before being cut off.

''Don't worry about that! Has anyone ever tried to come into my room? Without my permission?'' Xie Lian explains smirking before patting the space next to him.

Reluctantly Mu Qing gave in.

''What did you need?'' Mu Qing asks, in his usually polite tone.

''Nothing, I just wanted to thank you.'' Xie Lian smiles, cupping the other's hands in his hands.

Mu Qing was stunned for a moment. ''Thank me? What do you mean thank me?''

''Well, you do all this hard work, you stay up late and wake up early many days, you also deal with me every single day so I think you deserve a thank you for that.'' Xie Lian responds, squeezing his hands.

''I- It's all just part of my job your highness!'' He exclaims, putting his head in a slight bow.

''Even so, thank you. For just listening to me ramble, or having to get me into those really itchy clothes that would take like 10 times longer than other days.'' Xie Lian smiles. ''Now I won't keep you any longer, I can tell you're exhausted.''

''I-... Okay.'' Mu Qing says, standing up from the bed, looking back at it to make sure he didn't ruin it, before closing the remaining curtains and blowing out the candle places on the side of the princes bed. ''Goodnight your highness.''

''Hmm. Goodnight Mu Qing.''

''Mu Qing!'' Xie Lian yells out from the bathroom. Mu Qing instantly rushes in, performing a bow before speaking.