It really turned out as her elder brother had predicted. If Hu Shen had arrived any later, she would indeed have been too late.
When she reached Xie Xixiao’s tent, she saw that the tent flap was not fully closed. Light spilled out from inside, and faint Xianbei curses could be heard, as if someone was being scolded.
Hu Shen’s heart skipped a beat. She hurriedly rushed inside. As she lifted the flap, the warmth from within greeted her, along with the outrageous scene on the low couch.
Xie Xixiao had pinned Naye down on the couch, his knee pressing hard against her back. Meanwhile, Guzi had her forearm locked around Xie Xixiao’s neck, pulling him backward fiercely while cursing him in Xianbei, demanding he let go.
Hu Shen quickly ran over and pushed Guzi. “Let him go! He’s still injured—what if he dies? Don’t forget the Khan’s orders!”
Guzi was clearly caught off guard, giving Hu Shen an opening. With a burst of strength, Hu Shen shoved her aside, then immediately wrapped her arms tightly around Xie Xixiao’s arm. Avoiding the wound on his back, she instead used her strength to yell at him in Zhongyuan dialect: “Are you insane? Do you know whose daughter she is? If you don’t care about your own life, think about your five brothers! Do you want to drag them down to die with you? They’ve held out and refused to surrender until now!”
Xie Xixiao’s cold, sharp gaze swept toward her. His rough, heavy breaths and slightly trembling hands betrayed that he was already at the end of his strength.
Hu Shen shouted again, “Let go!”
Xie Xixiao didn’t want to listen to her, but her words did give him a moment’s hesitation. Hu Shen simply turned and wrapped her arms around his waist, hooking one hand behind his leg, and threw herself backward, pulling him down with her.
The low couch was already padded with soft cushions, but with the wound on his back, the combined weight of both of them pressing down made his brows furrow sharply. A muffled groan escaped his lips, and his body tensed instantly against the intense pain.
The two braids hanging over her shoulders brushed lightly against his thin lips and neck, and the ornaments on her forehead jingled softly. Naye, freed from the choking hold, was about to retaliate, but Hu Shen quickly rose to stop her, speaking in Xianbei: “What are you two fooling around for? If I hadn’t arrived in time, would you really have killed him?”
“This is none of your business!”
“How is it none of my business? This is the man my elder brother captured—I’m the one who should be looking after him!”
Hu Shen pushed herself up, glaring at the two of them. Partly angry and partly out of breath from the exertion, her breathing was somewhat rapid. She then lowered her gaze to Xie Xixiao beneath her.
His face was tense, his deep eyes filled with anger. When she had wrapped her arms around him earlier, she had also felt the strength in his body, which had genuinely startled her.
He was still injured, yet neither of the two women could subdue him. How was she supposed to force the wine down his throat alone?
In her urgency, an idea came to her. She quickly said to Guzi and Naye, “Hurry and tie him up! If he escapes, which of you can bear the consequences?”
Naye was simple-minded and easily frightened. After just a few words of intimidation, she immediately picked up a rope nearby. Guzi, however, refused, shoving Hu Shen aside. “Why should we listen to you?”
“Fine, then don’t tie him up. I’ll go report to the Khan right now that you nearly strangled the valuable general he values, ruining a year’s worth of his plans.”
With that, she stood up to leave. Guzi finally panicked and reluctantly went to fetch the rope, though her mouth remained defiant. “Go ahead, I’m not afraid of you!”
Hu Shen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then got up from the couch and stepped aside to make room.
Xie Xixiao’s back wound was pressed down, and having just exerted all his strength, even if he wanted to resist now, he could not withstand the combined force of the two working from head to tail.
When roasting a lamb, all four legs must be spread and tied so the fire can reach every part—the same principle applied when tying a person.
Xie Xixiao’s hands and legs were bound separately to the four corners of the low couch. The veins in his neck bulged, red marks from struggling marked his wrists, and his dark hair was scattered. Whether from pain or exhaustion, a thin sweat beaded at his temples. His fair skin, under the flickering firelight, took on a faint pink hue.
After finishing their work, Guzi and Naye exchanged glances, unsure of what to do next.
Hu Shen forced herself to appear calm. “Go back now. Act as if nothing happened today, and I won’t speak of it to anyone.”
The two hesitated, still processing the situation, so Hu Shen quickly added, “Hurry and leave! The commotion was so loud just now—do you want someone to come and catch you in the act?”
Sometimes, when faced with a greater danger, one instinctively forgets matters that were originally of concern.
Conscious of their wrongdoing and fearing the Khan’s discovery, they now only wanted to distance themselves as quickly as possible, forgetting entirely why they had come in the first place.
Hu Shen held her ground, afraid they might see through her intentions. Only when they hurriedly pushed each other out of the tent did she finally relax. She quickly went to secure the tent flap with something, and when she turned back, Xie Xixiao was staring at her.
Her heart skipped a beat. Her hand resting at her waist tightened around the wine pot. Xie Xixiao’s gaze felt terrifying, like being watched by a pack of wolves in the dead of night, with the next moment bringing the threat of being torn apart.
He was the first to speak.
“You lured them away—what are you planning to do?”
Hu Shen’s heart raced, but she feigned composure as she slowly approached him. “You understand Xianbei language?”
“I can grasp the gist.”
Xie Xixiao’s voice grew colder. “So, you didn’t come here to save me, did you, Tuoba girl?”
His hands and legs were bound tightly—Guzi and Naye were straightforward and had tied him securely. She was certain he could not break free.
Yet, faced with his calm questioning, Hu Shen felt a flicker of uncertainty.
But she had already reached the edge of the couch. The wine pot in her hand was lifted from her waist, and she gripped it so tightly that the veins on her wrist stood out dark green.
The man before her grew even more guarded. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and his chest rose and fell. Hu Shen gritted her teeth, grabbed the front of his robe, and pulled him up. With her other hand, she popped open the stopper of the wine pot and forced it against his thin lips.
A faint scent of blood spread, carrying an oddly sweet fragrance.
Xie Xixiao struggled, tilting his head back. The crimson wine spilled from his lips, trickling down his chin, over his pale neck, and disappearing into the collar of his robe.
His chest heaved violently, his narrow waist twitched, and a muffled groan escaped his lips. His long limbs were utterly useless now.
Only when the wine pot was nearly empty did she release him.
Xie Xixiao coughed violently a few times, but what had entered his mouth could not be expelled. He glared at her fiercely, his voice no longer the clear, composed tone of someone well-rested but now sharp with cold fury. “What did you make me drink? Wine?”
Hu Shen's expression was somewhat complicated. It seemed that in Zhongyuan, they didn't drink much deer-blood wine. On the grasslands, a boy his age would have long grown tired of it.
She lowered her gaze to the wine pot in her hand, hesitated for a moment, and drank the remainder herself.
The taste was sweet with a hint of blood, not too strong… and quite pleasant.
"Don't worry, it's not poisoned."
She spoke, feeling her own voice grow hoarse.
Xie Xixiao was still staring at her, but having drunk far more, the effects took hold faster. In just a moment, his breathing grew rapid.
His chest heaved as he gasped for air, a belated look of surprise spreading across his face. His usually deep, somber eyes now held clear shock and panic: "You actually—"
His neck began to flush red, the color slowly spreading to the tips of his ears. Hu Shen's heart raced faster and faster, and as she watched him like this, her own throat felt dry.
She pressed her lips together, noticing the telltale sign of his arousal, and could only manage a stiff remark: "Don't be afraid, I'll be gentle."
Xie Xixiao tried to rise, but the ropes binding him only allowed him to prop himself up halfway. Unable to move, all his ferocity lost its threatening edge: "How dare you! How dare you humiliate me like this!"
Hu Shen could no longer concern herself with such protests. She reached out and tore open the front of his robe, revealing his flushed chest.
He was indeed handsome, but in this moment, that handsome face only made her want to go even further.
Her hand rested on his chest—it was warm.
Zhuo Li's advice didn't seem entirely accurate either. There was no need to seek out someone plump or sturdy; this felt warm enough.
Moving lower, she undid the loosely tied sash around his waist, ignoring Xie Xixiao's muffled protests. Only two thoughts crossed her mind:
First, humans and hunting dogs were indeed different in this regard, but perhaps… they shared the same purpose?
Second, was this… too large? Was everyone like this, or was he the only one?
At this critical moment, she finally felt a flicker of unease, but there was no turning back now.
She untied her own animal-skin skirt and climbed onto the low couch. As he propped himself up halfway, she steadied herself by gripping his shoulders.
It hurt a little. Though she was no stranger to pain—even accustomed to it—this unfamiliar ache in such an unusual place still made her frown.
At some point, her vision blurred. Blinking, she saw Xie Xixiao's lips slightly parted as he gasped for air, his pupils seemingly unfocused, a hint of red tingeing the corners of his eyes.
They remained frozen in this position, and just as she hesitated whether to proceed—
Then, she felt him twitch twice, as if urging her on.
Hu Shen felt somewhat at a loss in the face of his reactions. Instinctively, she reached out to wipe the corner of his eye: "Don't rush."
"Get off!"
Xie Xixiao mustered the last of his rationality, his voice strained with all the hatred and fury he could muster.
He tried to push her away, but his wrists were bound. Even as the rough ropes dug into his flesh, they showed no sign of breaking.
His struggles were utterly futile. Worse still, all his sensations began shifting toward a place he had never experienced before.
A mix of sensations intertwined, even the pain from his wounds fading into the background.
No matter how ignorant he was, he now understood what that wine truly was.
He hated it—hated everything about this moment, hated everyone from Beiwei.
Yet, the urgency of the pain was soothed by her unfamiliar methods, and the most primal, fundamental unfamiliar sensation began to spread.
He felt his stomach churning; everything at this moment made him nauseous, and immense humiliation enveloped him.
Yet, he found it difficult to control the urge to continue.
Seeing the person above him frown and purse his lips slightly, he only regretted not having killed her earlier, leaving him with lingering resentment in this moment. He wished his gaze could cut her apart like a knife.
But even as his lips were bitten until they nearly bled, he still couldn’t suppress a muffled groan.
He tilted his head back, and everything before his eyes began to blur. His rationality teetered on the brink of collapse. He wanted to endure, but he couldn’t escape his instincts.
At this moment, he began to hate being a man. Why, in such a humiliating situation, couldn’t he restrain himself and still let her succeed? All the sensations he shouldn’t be feeling shattered his self-respect and trampled it repeatedly.
He raised his head, a mix of helplessness and despair swirling within him, the corners of his eyes growing even redder.
Hu Shen grew somewhat panicked seeing him like this, but she seemed… unable to stop.
The more she followed her instincts, the more forceful and urgent she became, the harder it was to stop.
She forced herself to lift a hand and brush the corner of his eye. "Don’t cry…"
Her breathing grew quicker, whether from exertion or something else, she couldn’t tell. It wasn’t until she instinctively tightened her grip on his wrist that even her ears seemed to buzz.
As her breathing gradually steadied and the haze before her eyes cleared, she savored the unfamiliar sensation.
She thought, this should be enough, right?
Author’s Note:
(Note: Hu Lang corresponds to Amugulang, meaning peace. I’ve directly used Hu Lang, as the pronunciation resembles the original term and aligns with the female lead’s name. All other names are randomly chosen and carry no original meaning.)