It was already time for the evening meal. The main gate was wide open, and a line of plainly dressed eunuchs filed into the small courtyard, carrying food boxes. They wore no ornaments, and their steps were so light they seemed to float, only the hems of their robes swaying gently, emitting faint rustling sounds.
Li Qing instructed them to stand at the courtyard entrance while he himself approached the door of the main room. There had been no movement from inside for a long time.
Even if he didn’t want dinner, he should at least ask for hot water or tea, shouldn’t he?
Li Qing called out softly, “Master?”
After another moment, footsteps seemed to approach from within the room. Fu Lie opened the door, wearing only a snow-white undergarment. The inner robe hung loosely, and even his trousers were askew, as if hastily pulled on.
This appearance truly resembled that of a savage, tyrannical ruler.
Li Qing immediately lowered his head. “Master, dinner is ready.”
“I won’t eat,” Fu Lie said. “Bring some hot water.”
Li Qing fetched hot water, both for drinking and washing. To prevent Lord Kuang from being seen, he entered alone, making two trips to place the basin of hot water, towels, and brewed flower tea on the table beside the bed.
Fu Lie was already seated on the couch, having drawn the curtains closed, blocking the view. Through the fabric, Li Qing could hear the emperor’s voice, gentle as a demon’s, saying, “Are you thirsty? Have some water.”
He heard a soft, muffled swallow but couldn’t tell how the water was being offered.
He dared not listen too closely. To be honest, after serving His Majesty for years, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation. Although as a servant, one must be prepared to attend to the master even during intimate moments, he had no experience in this matter and didn’t know whether His Majesty wished for someone to attend to him or not. Glancing at the drawn curtains, he ultimately decided on his own to quietly withdraw, closing the door behind him.
Suddenly, clouds drifted across the sky, blocking the moonlight and plunging the courtyard into darkness. Only the few personal eunuchs remained standing with bowed heads in the courtyard. Li Qing whispered, “All of you, return.”
The eunuchs silently left with the food boxes. Li Qing closed the courtyard gate and ate his dinner by the door of the eastern wing. Up on the gate tower, Da Xi and Xiao Xi cawed twice more.
Fu Lie hooked the curtain aside. The dim light of a single lamp fell upon Kuang Xuexian’s face.
He stared expressionlessly at Kuang Xuexian, his own movements rough as he stroked himself a few times.
But he quickly lost patience. This physical restlessness stirred a familiar emotional agitation within him, a habitual response that was difficult to control. So, he buried his face against Kuang Xuexian’s body.
Why was his scent so captivating?
He felt that Kuang Xuexian’s scent was not merely pleasant but evoked in him a sensation akin to burning pain. Scent is one of the key ways animals seek mates. In the menagerie, aroused beasts like jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards would sniff the scent of females, using it to identify them. Are humans the same?
Could the tongue perceive this scent better than the nose?
Where did they sniff? Could he do the same?
Holding Kuang Xuexian, he sat for a while, then simply blew out the oil lamp.
He then embraced Kuang Xuexian, sinking into that utter darkness. The darkness swallowed everything, as if the world held only the two of them. During a long stretch of his youth, he had often been confined by the eunuchs who oversaw him for various reasons. Staying too long in pitch-black surroundings would numb the senses, leaving only the sounds of waves and wind to be heard. Yet he felt there was no place safer than that dark chamber—better than facing people. He liked it very much.
Now, watching someone vanish into the darkness was not the best either. There was something even better. Kuang Xuexian, drunk and utterly exhausted, had long since fallen asleep. He pulled Kuang Xuexian entirely into his embrace, sitting cross-legged like the figures in the statues of the Joyful Buddha, touching here, kissing there, letting out sighs of contentment.
He didn’t know when he had fallen asleep. An intense, weary pain likely influenced his dreams.
In the dream, there was a grand wedding. The street seemed to be Golden Crow Avenue, where the Hundred Flavors Pavilion was located. The blaring of suona horns shook the heavens, a fiery red wedding procession filled the road, and crowds of onlookers lined the streets, just as he had seen that day.
Kuang Xuexian wore a red wedding robe, draped diagonally with a golden floral cape, sitting inside a large red bridal sedan.
But the groom was not him. He was merely among the crowd of onlookers, hidden within the clamoring masses, just as he had been when he first saw Kuang Xuexian tossing the embroidered ball.
He detested noise, especially the boisterous kind that accompanied celebrations.
At this moment, the sound of the suona horns was so deafening it gave him a headache, reminding him of when they first met—Kuang Xuexian standing atop the Ruyi Pavilion, a beautiful, ethereal young man, surrounded below by wolves and tigers spewing filthy words.
Had Kuang Xuexian not seen the ravenous looks in those men’s eyes? Or was he deliberately provoking them?
His displeasure was unclear—whether it stemmed from Kuang Xuexian or from the men below. But one thing was certain: he wanted to see the ground littered with corpses, all turned into silent, lifeless bodies.
Now, Kuang Xuexian was marrying someone else.
Perhaps because he was sitting inside the bridal sedan, he appeared even more radiant and tender than usual, playing the part of a bride, holding a green-feathered round fan to cover his face.
He must have found his true beloved.
Unlike him, who was merely pretending, Kuang Xuexian had found a true gentleman—a good, pure-hearted young man who could accompany him for a lifetime, just as sincere and kind as he was. Thus, Kuang Xuexian’s face was flushed with happiness as he said, “You deceived me, so of course I had to find someone else. It’s not like I can’t live without you. Didn’t I tell you that?”
The entire dream had an eerie yet somber opulence.
The bridal sedan moved from the bustling Golden Crow Avenue into a desolate imperial road overgrown with wild grass. A tall phoenix statue with broken wings stood outside the Phoenix Palace. A flock of crows cawed raucously, replacing the music of the suona horns.
The celebratory music turned into the sinister cries of crows.
The bridal sedan was carried into the Phoenix Palace. The vermilion palace walls were dazzlingly high and deep, like an inescapable prison.
Step by step, he walked up to the sedan, lifted the curtain, and saw Kuang Xuexian trembling inside.
In his dreams, he needed no pretense. He stared at Kuang Xuexian with displeasure, yet he enjoyed seeing him tremble with fear, even as he disliked how terrified the other was of him. Raising an eyebrow, he said, “Who else would you want to be with? Even if you married someone else, I’d take you back. Haven’t I already told you that?”
Kuang Xuexian had almost developed a biological clock, waking up at the same time every day.
Due to the lingering effects of last night’s drinking, his mind felt heavy and foggy upon waking. He stared blankly at the drawn bed curtains for a moment before realizing he was being held by Fu Lie.
A jolt of panic shot through him, and he felt a soft, warm heat spread through his body. Fu Lie seemed to have woken up earlier, nuzzling his nose against the back of Kuang Xuexian’s ear and neck.
Memories from the hazy moments of last night suddenly resurfaced, and he felt Fu Lie’s knee pressing against the space between his legs, slightly toward the back.
He almost cried out.
He scrambled out of Fu Lie’s embrace and turned to look at him, only to realize that Fu Lie was still asleep, just now stirring awake because of his movements. Fu Lie squinted his bleary eyes at him.
His phoenix eyes, still heavy with sleep, appeared sharp and intense, with a faint, drowsy ferocity in the dark pupils.
Kuang Xuexian didn’t know what to say. He lifted the bed curtain, and the bright morning light flooded in.
Fu Lie sat up shortly after.
As the curtain was drawn back, the light poured into the room, and the shyness of sharing a bed with someone for the first time completely overshadowed the unease Fu Lie’s intimidating aura had brought him. When he pushed the blanket aside, he noticed that Fu Lie seemed to be wearing no trousers, only an inner robe on his upper body, which was now half-open, revealing his slender, pale collarbone. Propping himself up on one elbow, Fu Lie lay half-reclined on the bed and called out, “Li Qing.”
Li Qing’s service was truly impeccable. It seemed he had been waiting outside the door for quite some time, for as soon as Fu Lie spoke, he pushed the door open and entered.
The bright light streamed into the room. Li Qing bowed slightly. “Master.”
Kuang Xuexian was already sitting on the bed, putting on his shoes.
Li Qing greeted him as well. “Good morning, Young Master.”
Kuang Xuexian suddenly noticed a crumpled pair of white inner trousers lying on the floor. Then he realized that the inner trousers he was wearing were much longer than his usual ones, pooling around his ankles.
A shock ran through him as he realized that the trousers on the floor were his. And the ones he was wearing now were almost certainly Fu Lie’s.
He hurriedly picked up the trousers from the floor, his face slightly flushed. “Good morning.”
Fu Lie leaned in from behind, resting his chin on Kuang Xuexian’s shoulder, and said to Li Qing, “Bring me a pair of trousers.”
“Yes.”
Li Qing turned and left the room. Kuang Xuexian had just straightened up when Fu Lie wrapped his arms around him from behind.
He stiffened, feeling intensely embarrassed.
He didn’t know if others felt this shy after their wedding night, but Fu Lie clearly didn’t. He pressed close to the back of Kuang Xuexian’s neck, sniffing softly, his voice low and slightly hoarse. “You smell so nice.”
Kuang Xuexian thought to himself—wasn’t this too much for so early in the morning? Sitting naked in bed, being so intimate!
Where had his gentle, refined Zhang Ji gone?
It felt as though he had glimpsed a hidden side of Fu Lie. But he couldn’t tell whether it was his own issue or Fu Lie’s, because when he looked back at Fu Lie’s sleepy face, it was still as elegant and handsome as ever, with an intimate weariness. His fair complexion made him look like a gentle, unassuming husband, entirely without any sense of aggression.
Kuang Xuexian’s mouth felt parched and dry. He said, “I should get up first.”
Only then did Fu Li release him. He draped on his outer robe, picked up the long trousers he had taken off, and headed to the bathhouse. He no longer had the courage to ask Fu Li why he had changed his clothes for him.
Nor did he need to ask—once he reached the bathhouse, everything became clear.
He had lived too ascetically these past years, and Fu Li’s kisses had been too fervent and lingering. Last night, he had actually been kissed into such a state.
His face flushed as he began washing the clothes, but before he could finish, Fu Li entered.
Wrapped in a cloak with his hair loose, Fu Li looked astonishingly handsome and elegant in the morning light. Seeing him washing clothes, he said, “I was afraid you’d be uncomfortable sleeping in wet clothes, so I changed them for you.”
Kuang Xuexian hummed in acknowledgment and said, “I really drank too much yesterday.”
Fu Li asked, “Don’t you remember anything?”
Kuang Xuexian didn’t want to be the kind of scoundrel who forgets everything after pulling up his trousers. Though embarrassed, he nodded honestly. “I remember.”
Fu Li embraced him again. The bathhouse was somewhat cramped. Though Fu Li wore a cloak, it was left open, revealing the pristine white inner garment beneath, giving him a somewhat unrestrained appearance. He kissed him again, but thankfully, it wasn’t as intense as the night before—gentle, to the point where Kuang Xuexian began to doubt whether the memory of being kissed breathless last night was real.
The hangover was terrifying, and he grew dizzy again as his tongue was gently sucked. The world seemed filled with the sound of sticky, wet kisses.
Fu Li watched Kuang Xuexian’s inexperienced reactions with open eyes, as if wanting to devour every trace of redness on his skin. Yet more redness kept surfacing, impossible to consume entirely.
Fu Li’s transformation was strikingly obvious. Kuang Xuexian felt as though the other had suddenly become like… a husband.
As if they had skipped the boyfriend stage overnight.
What he wanted was a partner with whom he could live as an ordinary married couple, and Zhang Ji likely felt the same.
From the perspective of an ordinary married couple, it was somewhat akin to how, in ancient times, only husband and wife would share a bed.
They had shared a bed, even if they hadn’t taken the final step. But given the conservative and feudal mindset of the ancients, they were practically already married.
The awkwardness and shyness of this newfound intimacy diluted the impact of Fu Li’s other side, leaving Kuang Xuexian too embarrassed to look at him all morning. Yet he also felt that this was how things should be, and he shouldn’t be overly shy, so he tried his best to feign composure.
If he were to back out now, saying, “You’re a bit more lustful than I expected,” it would make him seem like a scoundrel.
Li Qing had already prepared the meal again.
“This servant thought the young master might have little appetite this morning after drinking yesterday, so I only made some plain porridge and light dishes,” Li Qing said.
Kuang Xuexian replied, “Thank you for your hard work.”
Li Qing noticed faint bite marks on Kuang Xuexian’s neck, collar, and fingers but dared not look too closely. Instead, he felt even more pity for him, while also feeling horrified by the emperor’s peculiar habits. He said softly, “You’re too kind, young master.”
But the emperor had changed quite noticeably. After washing up and sitting down, he seemed to exude a smug, wicked aura, no longer as convincingly gentle and refined as he had pretended to be in the past.
Once the emperor had tasted desire, he was truly different.
Amitabha.
“By the way, when I went out this morning, I noticed the curfew has been lifted,” Li Qing said, glancing at Fu Li.
The curfew had been imposed by Prince Fu and the others. Given the severity of the incident, the curfew was understandable. But now that the curfew had been lifted without the culprit being found, it would likely become even harder to investigate.
Perhaps this bombing case was impossible to investigate from the very beginning. Looking at how Xie Xiang is now remotely managing the political affairs of Xijing, it’s likely just as the emperor suspected—this was a conspiracy from the start.
The court is now filled with undercurrents. Li Qing is only responsible for taking care of Fu Yi and has only a superficial understanding of court politics, yet he can sense the impending tension, which inevitably makes him somewhat nervous.
But Fu Yi just sipped his porridge quietly, showing no reaction.
Instead, Kuang Xuexian said, “Then we can open for business today.”
“I won’t accompany you to the shop today,” Fu Yi said. “The bed at home is too small. I’ll go look at furniture, pick out a few styles, and then take you to choose later. Let’s buy a larger wedding bed.”
He was tall, and the narrow bed not only felt cramped but was also too short for him—his feet would end up propped on the bed frame.
Kuang Xuexian wondered, is this what marriage feels like?
“Let’s,” “wedding bed.”
These words reverberated through Kuang Xuexian’s ears and heart.
After the meal, he stepped out alone, his emotions ablaze and his mind in a daze. The boundless spring sunlight shone upon him, so bright it felt almost blinding. He thought, no wonder so many people throughout history have been unable to resist the pull of love and desire. Even an old hand like him, thinking about wedding beds and wedding nights, felt his entire body aflame with passion, his rationality nearly gone. Yet, for some reason, beneath the tremors of happiness, there was also a sense of unease and fear, though he couldn’t pinpoint where it came from. Suddenly, he remembered Fu Yi from the night before, gripping his chin and kissing him fiercely. At that moment, a crow swooped low over his head. Startled, he flinched slightly and looked up to see two crows, their feathers shimmering with golden hues in the sunlight. They cawed, glanced back at him, and then flew toward the imperial palace.
Why hasn’t that tyrant left yet? Thinking of the emperor in the palace, compared to the tyrant, it seemed that even a passionate kiss wasn’t such a big deal.
He thought, touching the faint bite marks on his body.
Well, he’d get used to it!