The first morning had come, from now on he was responsible for the prince his own survival in the court. The obsidian dragon court was no place for the weak so he had to grow his strength. Being in the Essence qi first realm would be far from enough to protect him and the prince, but were would he get such resources?
Yeyan stood infront for the nine graces palace. He looked upon its neglected form, it was in literal shambles. Vines of shadow - ivy coiled through shattered lattice windows their leaves edged in faint bioluminescence hinting at poison and pulsed strengely like dying breath, such a plant should never have been found in a palace once belonging to an imperial consort.
The central courtyard path, paved with beautiful moon reflecting white jade was now dim and cracked with weeds growing freely in the opened earth. He walked on this path now because he was here to make this courtyard as livable as possible.
The prince may have slept somewhat comfortable in the main hall but that could only be temporary. He was too weak at the moment and yeyan was unwilling to let him keep sleeping there. The main courtyard had to be cleaned up and the prince moved.
The nine graces palace maybe full of should length weeds ( to yeyan's current height) now but it used to be a hidden cove of the most favored first consort, consort Bai Xiaolin. The mother of the seventh prince. Due to the favor shown her by his majesty, this cove of a palace was built for her. It had all the luxury or used to have, that favored consort should, especially were she would spend most of her time.
So although the palace was falling apart, this place was mostly intact. Yeyan spent an hour making sure the artifacts that were there were still usable and only then did he start extensively cleaning the place, giving special attention to the bathhouse and water systems connected to it.
The lavender courtyard was closed shut for too long and had a lot of old qi-residue left in it after it was the exorcism rituals to erase bad luck was done, after all, the seventh prince was born here.
The residual qi would have been a problem not easily solved except for the meager supplies dumped by someone at the gate of the palace. It didn't consist of much: some brooms made of dried reeds, rages bleached thin from ritual washing, pots bowls spoons and chapsticks, buckets and a polo, some knives of various lengths, daily necessities and some food.
Yeyan did not know who brought those things and why but he was thankful. He checked the food for signs of poisoning but found non thankfully.
So here he was, using those things that came at the right time to fix a better place for the prince to live. This place we're his mother used to live will be the new den of the tiny cat of a prince maybe he will find comfort in his mother's residual presence.
Yeyan scrubbed until the floors gleamed faintly, a testament to his hard work. Every where was dusted and wiped, dirty bedding and drapes alike removed and trashed if it could not be saved.
His small body had been working from four hours before dawn and it was almost midday. The place was not perfect, but it was clean. All broken, damaged and those that could potentially harm the prince were removed from the palace. Starshed if useful, thrown away if useless and some made good firewood.
Yeyan was beyond tired at this point as his small body could surport him in doing so much. Yet he picked himself up and went to check on the prince.
He was still asleep, it seemed his body was much weaker than expected. The medicine was not much yet he had been knocked out for so long.
But he couldn't be left like he currently was for long, it won't be beneficial to his health. Thankfully the supplies had clean medicine, scissors and combs or he would really be helpless.
" I will make this place and our lives here as comfortable as possible but please don't expect much." yeyan said as he softly brushed his hand on the prince's hair an unfamiliar affection tugging on his chest.
" I will care for you as much as my strength will allow. I will never leave you alone again. "
As yeyan whispered these words, the sleeping prince's eyelids trembled.