Bai Yi shook his head like a rattle-drum. Wrapping himself tightly in the quilt, he said in terror, “If you continue like this, I will not sleep with you anymore. I do not have a preference for men.”
“Oh? Is that so? Then why did you not dodge when I kissed you?” Xiao Shiyun asked, feigning innocence.
He lay down beside Bai Yi and moved closer, inch by inch. When his bare arm touched Bai Yi, Bai Yi suddenly shrieked as if he were a concubine being accosted.
“Do not come any closer! I am straight! My first love was a wonderful girl. Her handwriting was beautiful. I truly cannot accept that kind of intimacy between men.”
At this crucial moment, Bai Yi retreated. Although he was pursuing Xiao Shiyun in order to find a way home, he could not overcome this psychological barrier.
“Heh, straight… You are the most shameless person I have ever met. You racked your brains to crawl into my bed, yet now that you are about to succeed, you put on this act. If that is how you feel, you should not have provoked me in the first place.”
Bai Yi was stung by these words. “The feeling is mutual. You are shameless enough yourself. Forcing someone to change their sexual orientation is a sin for which even lightning would not be punishment enough.”
Xiao Shiyun looked into his eyes and asked, “Have you liked someone else?”
“Of course! Did you expect me to be a loner for the rest of my life?” Bai Yi did have a first love, back when he was in high school.
Although he had never met the girl, she would leave a sticky note on his desk every day and bring him breakfast before class. The handwriting on the notes was elegant yet sharp, and she never left a name, signing off only with the character “Jue.” He had asked everyone in the class who it was, but no one responded.
It was possible she was a girl from another class. Even though he had left a note on the desk asking her to stop, the same breakfast appeared on his desk the next day, right on schedule.
Seeing the handwriting was like seeing the person; it was the first time Bai Yi had ever experienced the sensation of his heart racing and his mind going blank, all because of words on a sticky note. Looking back, that handwriting was somewhat similar to Xiao Shiyun’s in their university days. For him, perhaps that was the feeling of first love.
Xiao Shiyun slapped him awake; a light but crisp slap landed on Bai Yi’s face. He looked up into Xiao Shiyun’s furious eyes. “Who are you thinking about? What wild man is worth your distraction?”
Bai Yi, caught in his thoughts, panicked. He covered up, “I was not thinking about anyone. I was thinking about what time I need to get up for court tomorrow.”
“Liar.” Xiao Shiyun pinned both of Bai Yi’s wrists above his head with one hand and leaned in to deepen the red mark on Bai Yi’s neck. With his other hand, he violently tugged at the sash of Bai Yi’s undergarment, pressing his body against him. Bai Yi felt a chill on his chest and a burning pain on his neck.
Before he could react, he heard Xiao Shiyun say, “Those noble ladies are much more obedient than you.”
Bai Yi suddenly erupted with a burst of strength. He shoved Xiao Shiyun away, grabbed his pillow, and got out of bed. He retied the sash of his undergarment.
He said self-deprecatingly, “That is right. I am just a rough man; how could I compare to those delicate beauties? In a couple of days, they will be here to keep you company.”
“Are you jealous?” Xiao Shiyun asked, lying comfortably in bed.
“Jealous of your father! I am going to sleep on the floor.” Bai Yi walked away with his pillow and laid it down in the corner of the room.
Seeing the empty spot where the other pillow used to be, Xiao Shiyun was surrounded by a low, gloomy pressure. “There is a bed here that you refuse to sleep in, yet you insist on lying on cold floor tiles. Has anyone ever told you that you are stubborn? If you dare to be late for court tomorrow, do not think about ever leaving these palace gates again.”
“Even if the sky falls, I will not be late. It is only five in the morning. By the time I am dressed, you will not even be out of bed yet.” Bai Yi was even more infuriated after hearing the threat.
Xiao Shiyun took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and decided not to say another word to Bai Yi, lest his own intelligence drop to match his.
At four in the morning, the bedchamber was lit only by a few faint candles. Xiao Shiyun did not even light a lamp, so as not to wake Bai Yi. Once he was dressed, he looked down at Bai Yi lying on the floor. Not only was he sleeping with his arms and legs splayed out, but he was also snoring loudly. Xiao Shiyun gave a contemptuous smile, lifted his hem, stepped over Bai Yi’s leg, and left.
You are late.
When Xiao Shiyun walked out of the Jinggan Palace, the sky was still dark. The attendant, Guofu, returning from the latrine, thought he had seen a ghost when he saw Xiao Shiyun standing at the door. He hurried over and asked cautiously, “Your Majesty, are you going for a walk? Shall I accompany you?”
“To court,” Xiao Shiyun said concisely.
How could a person utter such cold words so early? Guofu was not yet fully awake, so he immediately replied, “Yes, yes, yes. This servant overslept; I will go find the carriage now.”
“By the way, Your Majesty, Young Master Bai does not seem to be up yet. Shall I go wake him?”
“Do not wake him. The only thing a pig is good at is sleeping. Let us go.” Xiao Shiyun boarded the carriage.
Guofu prayed for Young Master Bai in his heart, wishing him a wonderful day.
The morning court, usually held at seven, gathered its usual crowd at six for the first time in history. Every minister arrived early to wait for Xiao Shiyun. When they stepped into the hall today and saw Xiao Shiyun already there, they broke out in cold sweat, thinking they were late.
Only two people were missing: the Prime Minister, who usually arrived right on the dot, and Bai Yi, who was sleeping like the dead on the floor.
Xiao Shiyun sat on the dragon chair, staring at the gray morning light outside the hall doors, rubbing the bridge of his nose in exhaustion. As the guards were about to close the doors, they heard two voices approaching from outside, shouting in unison, “Wait a moment!”
The closing doors were reopened, and all the ministers turned their heads to see who it was.
Two dusty figures appeared before Xiao Shiyun’s eyes: Bai Yi, who had come running after hearing the news from somewhere, and the Prime Minister, who was standing beside him with one shoe missing.
The guard opening the door looked at Xiao Shiyun hesitatingly. Xiao Shiyun said, “Crawl in.”
Bai Yi gasped for air as he stepped into the hall before the ministers. Xiao Shiyun, you bastard, we are not finished! He really had woken up at the correct time; for the first time in his life he had risen so early, only to be schemed against.
The Prime Minister put his shoe back on and knelt in the center of the hall. “This subject is late. Please punish me, Your Majesty.”
Hearing him volunteer for punishment, Bai Yi was afraid of being implicated. He knelt down beside him and said, “Your Majesty, I did not arrive late. Please verify this. I arrived before the Prime Minister, so I am not late, right?”
Guofu mouthed at him to stop talking. Oh, this ancestor, is there nothing you could wait until after court to discuss privately with the Emperor? The bird that sticks its head out gets shot.
Bai Yi, the “bird,” was full of grievances. He heard Xiao Shiyun say, “Let this be the only time for both of you. Since the Prime Minister is often late and lacks a sense of punctuality, he is fined half a year’s salary and must arrive half an hour early every day. As for you… come to the Jinggan Palace after court for a private talk.”
Bai Yi, holding the lowly ninth-rank title of Secretary of the Hanlin Academy, was very dissatisfied. The evils of the feudal system! We were born from the same root, why are you so eager to persecute me?
Regardless, the result was that he was punished and forbidden from leaving the palace. He might as well go through with it and see what Xiao Shiyun could really do to him. After court, he would sneak out of the palace. Everyone has a rebellious streak; the less they let him do something, the more he had to do it.
On the surface, Bai Yi was obedient to Xiao Shiyun’s arrangements, but in his heart, he had already mapped out an escape route. When Xiao Shiyun could not find him, he would be worried to death.