“Li Guangzong… Li Guangzong, touch me.”
Jingzhao followed Li Guangzong into the Li residence.
Along the way, the cold wind howled like howling ghosts, and the withered branches looked like demons.
His heart was filled with deep unease, unsure of what awaited him ahead. Looking at Li Guangzong’s tall and stalwart back, he looked sometimes like an imposing immortal and other times like an evil demon. Jingzhao could not figure him out and felt a mixture of awe and fear.
Before long, they arrived at Xiyun Hall.
Li Guangzong likewise had Li Si lead Jingzhao to the servants’ quarters to change clothes first. However, what he was given to change into was not the coarse cotton clothes worn by common servants, but rather a French maid’s dress.
When Jingzhao had once accompanied his father to meet French nobles at the French legation, he had seen the clothes worn by those French maids. A long black dress was wrapped with a white apron, and a white lace-trimmed headpiece was worn upon the head.
He was extremely reluctant. He was a man; how could he wear a woman’s clothes, let alone those worn by foreign women! As a proud noble of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner, this was utterly humiliating, a supreme disgrace. He hugged the bundle of clothes to his chest, stubbornly standing in place and refusing to change.
Seeing this, Li Si coldly spat out, “If you don’t wear it, the Prince can leave right now.”
“You!” Jingzhao clenched his fists in fury. Dog of a servant!
With the New Year fast approaching and the entire household of the prince’s mansion on the verge of sleeping on the streets, he took a deep breath, his heart sinking once more.
“I don’t know how to put this on!”
Of course, Li Si knew that a pampered young prince accustomed to having food brought to his mouth and clothes handed to him would not know how to dress himself. He called over two little maid girls to help him.
The two little maids were clever and cute, handling Jingzhao with nimble, highly practiced hands. The dress fit him exceptionally well, as if it had been custom-made specifically for him.
However, the worst part was that Jingzhao wanted to keep his own underpants, not even to preserve a shred of dignity, but simply for a bit of warmth, only to be ruthlessly rejected by Li Si. With just four words: “The master forbids it,” Li Si had the little maids strip them right off him.
Beneath the hem of his dress, Jingzhao was completely bare, left with only a tiny pair of modesty shorts. His face flushed bright red with anger, but daring not to act out, he lowered his head to stare at the ground, desperately wishing he could drill into a crack in the floor.
He understood now. Li Guangzong wanted to freeze him to death to avenge the humiliation of years past.
Yet he could not afford to die; his family was still waiting for him.
Silently pumping himself up, he thought: Seven days, I just need to hold out for seven days. Find a warm place to work, and everything will get better. He tugged the vine-patterned jade pendant off his original clothes, stuffed it into his white apron pocket, and forced a smile. “Brother Li Si, let me go work in the kitchen.”
Li Si crossed his arms, standing like a block of wood. “Go to the master’s bedroom.”
“What am I going to his bedroom for?”
Like master, like servant, Li Guangzong was a man of few words. Li Si was the same, he hated talking, and once he said a sentence, he wouldn’t say another.
This family was truly insufferable.
Jingzhao was led to the main chambers, and Li Si tactfully withdrew.
The room was scented with pleasant agarwood, and against the western wall stood a Western-style fireplace, its dancing flames radiating waves of heat. The moment Jingzhao stepped inside, it felt like bathing in a gentle spring breeze, and his mood involuntarily improved. If I could just stay here all the time, he thought, I wouldn’t have to worry about freezing to death.
Li Guangzong had changed into a bathrobe, exposing a broad expanse of solid chest as he lounged lazily on the sofa, smoking a cigarette.
Wreathing wisps of smoke blurred his features.
Jingzhao crept toward him on tiptoe, stopping across the Western-style coffee table like a child who had done something wrong. He wrung his fingers tightly together, his head nearly touching the floor.
Li Guangzong remained expressionless, his appraising gaze sweeping over him from head to toe. When his eyes landed on his slender waist, cinched by a belt so tightly it could be spanned by a single hand, dark flickers surged within his black pupils, their underlying meaning impossible to fathom.
Taking a puff of his cigarette, Li Guangzong said blandly, “Very pretty.”
Those three words were like three poisonous needles piercing straight into Jingzhao’s heart.
His expression soured instantly. This pervert Li Guangzong not only has a foot-licking fetish, but he also likes watching men wear dresses! Who on earth said he was a Bodhisattva?
Jingzhao secretly drew in a breath, forcibly suppressing the little fire of anger in his heart. He knew very well that if he lost his temper now and displeased Li Guangzong, his chances of securing a loan would go down the drain. Therefore, he chose silence, playing the mute.
Li Guangzong flicked his ash. “Can you make coffee?”
Jingzhao felt a sense of aversion, his brows knitting together as he shook his head.
“Can you wash feet?”
Those words made Jingzhao’s heart leap into his throat.
He instantly recalled the scene back at the prince’s mansion where he had made Li Guangzong wipe his feet with his mouth, and his scalp prickled with goosebumps. Could he possibly want to do it?
He dared not think further and simply shook his head vigorously.
Li Guangzong’s expression remained completely unchanged, his tone cold, “If you can’t, go outside and keep watch for the night.”
Hearing this, Jingzhao panicked. He shook and nodded his head simultaneously. “I can, I can! I can do all of it.” In this freezing weather, with bare legs underneath, going outside to keep watch meant he would surely freeze to death!
“Your Highness, do not force yourself.”
“I’m not forcing myself, I really can do it.”
He comforted himself mentally: How hard is washing feet? I’ve had my feet washed for me every day; even if I haven’t eaten pork, I’ve seen pigs run. Just as long as he didn’t have to lick them, otherwise he would rather yield to fate. As for brewing coffee, he had even more confidence.
Back when he was grounded, the Prince often stayed up late handling official business, and his eldest sister used to brew coffee late at night to help their father refresh his mind. To lift his grounding, Jingzhao had once asked his sister for pointers and had brewed it for his father several times.
Jingzhao took two steps forward and knelt upon the soft cushion.
He pulled the siphon pot on the coffee table toward himself, picked up the small kettle beside it, and poured water into the lower chamber of the siphon. Once filled, he grabbed a match and struck it lightly. With a swoosh, a flame sprang to life, and he ignited the alcohol lamp underneath.
The blue flame licked the bottom of the pot, and soon, as the temperature rose, pressure gradually pushed the water up into the upper chamber. Jingzhao hurriedly opened a nearby glass jar labeled “coffee,” scooped two spoonfuls of coffee grounds into the chamber, and immediately picked up the stirring rod to gently stir the mixture.
The coffee was brewed, and a rich, intoxicating aroma filled the air. Jingzhao poured a cup, cupped it in his hands, and offered it toward Li Guangzong. That little expression of his looked as though he were presenting a precious treasure, his eyes filled with a hint of expectation.
Li Guangzong looked at Jingzhao with a hint of surprise, seemingly not expecting that this former imperial young prince actually knew how to brew coffee.
Li Guangzong did not take it, merely saying, “You drink it.”
“Huh?” Jingzhao froze for a moment, puzzled, but obediently took a sip before handing the cup back to Li Guangzong. “I didn’t poison it.”
“Drink it all.”
“I really didn’t poison it.” Jingzhao muttered, throwing his head back and draining the entire cup of bitter coffee in one breath.
He hurriedly swapped for another cup, poured a fresh one for Li Guangzong, and offered it up with both hands once again.
Still refusing to take it, Li Guangzong stood up and walked toward the bed. “I don’t drink coffee at night.”
“Then you…” Before Jingzhao could finish, Li Guangzong interrupted him, “Before I change my mind, you had better go outside and keep watch right now.”
No foot washing?
Wonderful.
Jingzhao let out a silent sigh of relief.
Just as he stood up and prepared to walk out, a sudden thought struck him. “Li Guangzong, it’s cold outside, I won’t keep watch.” His voice carried a trace of pleading.
At that moment, seeing that Li Guangzong was about to untie his bathrobe sash, Jingzhao blurted out, “I’m good at dressing people.” He eagerly scrambled over, helping Li Guangzong untie his sash while flattering him with an ingratiating smile. “Master Li, look at how little cloth I’m wearing. With the New Year right around the corner, freezing to death in your mansion would be terribly inauspicious. Just let me stay inside, won’t you?”
“Stay inside to serve in bed?”
“Ah!”
The bathrobe had just been slipped off by Jingzhao, and Li Guangzong was completely naked underneath! He was too large, and terrified out of his wits, Jingzhao let out a shrill shriek and threw his hands over his mouth.
What broad shoulders, vigorous pectoral muscles, taut waist, and long legs; he didn’t look at any of it. His gaze instantly locked onto a place it shouldn’t have gone, leaving him both mortified and exasperated. He couldn’t help cursing inwardly: Dog of a servant, you pervert, why aren’t you wearing underwear!
With a flushed, burning little face, he bolted toward the door in a hurried, flustered panic, nearly tripping over the threshold of the outer hall.
The biting cold wind howled fiercely, lashing against Jingzhao’s face like a whip of knives, instantly shocking him into absolute alertness.
Fortunately, he was clever; as he came out, he had snatched Li Guangzong’s marten-fur overcoat from the coat rack by the door.
He hurriedly pulled the overcoat on. Residual warmth from Li Guangzong still lingered inside the lining, heating up his body and easing the chill in his heart.
Though the weather was bitter, Li Guangzong’s fur coat was long and thick. Wearing it, he was covered all the way down to his ankles; aside from his feet being a bit cold, the rest of him was quite comfortable.
He wrapped the coat tightly around himself, slowly squatted down, and curled up against the base of the wall, tucking his feet inside the coat as well. Truly pitiful, he looked like a little beggar fallen on hard times.
He tilted his head back, gazing at the full moon in the sky, and his thoughts began to drift. Having left home for barely half an hour, he already missed it. Though his home was now down-and-out, it held his mother and sister who cherished him. Their good quilts had been seized, so his eldest sister had pawned her jewelry, bought cotton and cloth, and led the maids in stitching thick new bedding for him needle by needle. Slipping into that quilt, it had been warm and full of the scent of home.
As he thought about it, a yawn escaped him. He instinctively tucked his head into the furry collar and closed his eyes. Wanting to sleep but unable to do so, his eyelids felt heavy while his brain remained hyperactive, so he squinted, forcing himself to doze off.
Lost in wandering thoughts, he still hadn’t fallen asleep when, after an unknown amount of time, he abruptly jerked his head up and began to gasp heavily for air. A scalding-hot wave of heat had somehow burrowed into the back of his neck, spreading from that spot through all four limbs and bones, ultimately setting his entire body completely ablaze.
Despite it being a bone-chilling winter night, he felt an unbearable feverish heat. It was a heat that burned straight to the marrow, growing increasingly intense as if trying to incinerate him to ashes. The high-hanging moon felt to him now like a scorching summer sun in the open sky, ruthlessly roasting him. Before long, he was drenched in sweat.
His forehead was densely packed with beads of sweat; with no more room to hold them, they rolled down continuously, dripping onto the overcoat.
The burning sensation at the nape of his neck grew increasingly fierce, as though something inside was writhing, feeding on his vitality, gradually expanding and growing. At the same time, a rich, intoxicating exotic fragrance spilled out from his pores, permeating the air.
He smelled the dense fragrance radiating from his own body. Previously, he knew he had a slight scent, much like mint, but now this scent was suffocatingly sweet, definitely not mint, carrying a heavy, pungent spice mixed with coolness that he couldn’t quite put a name to.
His hand instinctively reached toward the back of his neck. The moment his fingertips brushed the skin, he hissed and pulled his hand back, finding it both scorching hot and painful. He couldn’t understand why a fiery bump had suddenly formed on the back of his neck, but he had no mental capacity left to ponder it. He was too hot; instinctively, he threw open the front lapels of the overcoat to let the cold wind cool him down.
Lifting his gaze to look at the moon once more, he felt the moonlight seemed eerie in its brightness, and an inexplicable terror enveloped him.
He hugged his knees tightly, desperately shrinking back against the wall as if trying to hide inside the brickwork, but he couldn’t squeeze in. The wave of heat was not dispersed by the cold wind; instead, it grew fiercer. The cold wind blowing toward him didn’t feel cold at all, it felt searingly hot.
So hot that his consciousness drifted, his skin feeling as though it were being pricked by countless tiny fiery needles, growing extraordinarily sensitive. Even the slightest friction of his clothing made him shudder uncontrollably.
An indescribable emotion and a shameful bodily reaction assaulted him. At this moment, his mind was entirely filled with images of Li Guangzong washing his feet, that soft tongue, those warm palms, and those deep, fathomless eyes.
Those images seemed branded into his brain, impossible to shake off. He was like a cracked, dry riverbed yearning for dew, or a fish out of water, panting in agony against the base of the wall.
Suddenly, he caught the scent of Li Guangzong’s lingering aura on the overcoat, that cold, masculine scent resembling saltpeter, carrying a faint trace of tobacco. This scent unexpectedly made him feel supremely comfortable. At this moment, he was like an addict in an opium den who had caught a whiff of his dreamed-of drug, losing all reason. Like a fierce tiger, he clutched the collar of the overcoat, buried his face into it, and breathed in the scent desperately.
As he inhaled, he lost control.
At that moment, humiliation, grievance, helplessness, and all kinds of negative emotions came crashing down one after another, and tears welled up in his eyes. He had to admit it: he was a cut-sleeve; he liked men, he wanted a man, he wanted a man’s touch.
He didn’t know why he suddenly harbored such an intense craving; he only knew that he couldn’t die, couldn’t be burned alive by this scorching wave of heat.
He impatiently stripped off the overcoat, braced himself against the wall, and with great effort forced himself to stand up. His steps were as weightless as if he were drunk, stumbling blindly toward the bedroom door.
Pushing the door open with both hands, he slipped into the bedroom. The interior was pitch-black with the curtains drawn. Relying on hazy memory, he fumbled around until he finally reached the edge of the bed and, treating it as if it were his own, climbed up naturally.
Li Guangzong on the bed was woken up by his commotion and reached out to turn on the bedside lamp.
In the dim, yellowish light, Jingzhao was crouched over him like a starved little beast. His eyes were bloodshot, his pretty face hazy with intoxication and beaded with sweat, the stray locks of hair on his forehead plastered into strands. Panting heavily, he wheezed, “Li Guangzong… Li Guangzong, touch me.”