“I am not a candied hawthorn, you cannot eat me.”
Xiao Jinglian held Lin Jiujiu’s hand as they walked back.
Their courtyards were close to each other. Lin Jiujiu was mischievous and often went to Xiao Jinglian’s courtyard to stir up trouble; as time went on, the two of them were practically together every waking moment.
When Xiao Jinglian was studying, Lin Jiujiu would not listen to the grand Confucian scholar, but he insisted on sitting right next to Xiao Jinglian.
When Xiao Jinglian practiced martial arts, Lin Jiujiu had no desire to work up such a sweat. He would stroll by holding a chicken leg, and then stroll back holding the chicken leg, simply refusing to let Xiao Jinglian have a bite.
When Xiao Jinglian practiced swordplay, Lin Jiujiu, acting on 888’s suggestion, took out a dish of melon seeds and began cracking them.
888 told him this was mockery, treating Xiao Jinglian like a dancing girl, and that it was a form of humiliation.
Lin Jiujiu watched with unblinking eyes, even forgetting to crack his melon seeds, yet he still remembered to nod.
Yes, this was bullying, and 099 was the most qualified villain.
He would torment Xiao Jinglian to death, exhaust Xiao Jinglian to death, and infuriate Xiao Jinglian to death.
Snow was fluttering all across the world. Xiao Jinglian walked very slowly; Lin Jiujiu knew his knees hurt, but Xiao Jinglian never let it show on his face. Whether it was pain or bitterness, he never revealed it outwardly.
Lin Jiujiu had no way to slice open his heart to take a look, so he could only pretend not to know.
Xiao Jinglian said, “I am afraid I really am going to end up as this Empress.”
Lin Jiujiu said angrily, “You always just want to steal mine! I hate you the most.”
Xiao Jinglian held Lin Jiujiu’s hand with a pressure that was neither too light nor too heavy. He always managed to control his strength just right, and when he combed Lin Jiujiu’s hair, it never hurt.
Whenever there were tangles, Xiao Jinglian would slowly untangle them, unraveling them bit by bit without hurting him.
However, Xiao Jinglian’s grip was not light enough to let go.
Lin Jiujiu wanted to pull his hand away and run, but he could not pull it free.
Xiao Jinglian’s hand was larger than Lin Jiujiu’s, with clear-cut bones and slender fingers.
He led Lin Jiujiu back into the small courtyard and dismissed all the serving attendants.
With only the two of them left in the room, Lin Jiujiu awkwardly said, “I am all grown up.”
Now that he was grown up, he should not act like a child anymore and still hang around with his Eldest Brother all day.
Eldest Brother was capable of bearing children. Men and ger should maintain a proper distance from each other.
“Jiujiu, do you hope Eldest Brother gets married?”
Xiao Jinglian’s expression remained as usual, and his tone of voice was normal as well, but Lin Jiujiu felt a faint, inexplicable fear.
It felt as though giving the wrong answer would bring about bad consequences, punishments, or getting his palms struck with a ruler.
Lin Jiujiu simply chose not to answer.
Xiao Jinglian said, “I will not truly become the Empress, even if worldly rites and laws are finalized.”
Lin Jiujiu was led over to sit before the vanity mirror. He had a mind to struggle, but Xiao Jinglian placed a hand on his shoulder in a soothing posture.
Lin Jiujiu let out a breath and decided to let it be.
Xiao Jinglian gazed at Lin Jiujiu in the mirror. The most beautiful person in the entire Dayan Dynasty was, in truth, a little fool.
Ever since they were small, Xiao Jinglian had grown accustomed to protecting him, raising him, and forbidding anyone else from getting close to him.
Yet there was a formless entity coaxing Jiujiu, tricking Jiujiu, and making Jiujiu’s heart stray from his own.
Unable to find that person, Xiao Jinglian could only grip Jiujiu even tighter.
Now that he was going to the imperial palace, how could he possibly leave Jiujiu all by himself?
Shi Henzhen would devour him alive. There were those sworn brothers of his, the wealthy nobles of the capital, and the guards and servants in the Prince’s Mansion. There were simply too many living people in this world, so many that any one of them could snatch away Jiujiu’s attention.
“Come into the palace with me,” Xiao Jinglian said. “Without your brother, Jiujiu will not be able to sleep. You are particular about who you recognize.”
“No!” Lin Jiujiu glared angrily, staring at Eldest Brother in the mirror. “You are sharing the bridal chamber with someone else and want me to act as a night-watch maid? You are truly too terrible.”
Xiao Jinglian laughed.
This time, he truly laughed.
Night-blooming cereus. 099 told 888, “I saw a night-blooming cereus.”
888 said, “Pay constant attention; you are the villain.”
099 said, “Oh.”
Once Xiao Jinglian finished laughing, there was a flash of sinister cruelty between his brows. It must have been the dim lighting; Lin Jiujiu must have seen wrong.
“His Majesty is an intelligent man,” Xiao Jinglian said. “He is probably even more terrified of the bridal chamber than I am.”
“You are scared?” Ignoring the so-called Majesty entirely, Lin Jiujiu asked Eldest Brother, “Why are you scared?”
Nannies had given him specific instructions about marital matters. Lin Jiujiu had studied them, and Eldest Brother had studied them too.
Was it not just doing this and that? Lin Jiujiu did not understand how this was any different from writing a few extra lines of code.
Xiao Jinglian’s long hair fell down, and a few strands brushed against Lin Jiujiu’s shoulder, making his earlobes tickle.
He wanted to scratch them, but Xiao Jinglian restrained his hand.
“I am particular about who I recognize,” Xiao Jinglian said. “And I do not nurse babies either.”
Recognize who? Who is Eldest Brother recognizing?
Nursing babies? Why would he not nurse a baby? Lin Jiujiu was a child, and he should be the one getting nursed!
Lin Jiujiu suddenly blurted out, “Will Eldest Brother have breast milk? Will there be little babies drinking it in the future?”
“What about me?” Lin Jiujiu asked. “What do I drink?”
Xiao Jinglian covered Lin Jiujiu’s mouth.
Mm-mm-mm-mm! I want to say it, I have to say it, I am going to say it!
Xiao Jinglian said, “What kind of books have you been reading? Your head is stuffed with things you should not be thinking about.”
Lin Jiujiu made a motion to bite, but only ended up licking Xiao Jinglian’s palm wet.
Xiao Jinglian lowered his gaze. Lin Jiujiu felt as though something was about to surge inward, but then Xiao Jinglian slowly relaxed his hand.
Lin Jiujiu vexedly said, “Annoying, truly annoying.”
[Why do I not want Xiao Jinglian to get married? It is not out of pity, 888,] Lin Jiujiu did not understand. [I feel like it is not pity.]
888 said, [It is fine, you have encountered a bug. As long as it still runs, you do not need to worry about it.]
099 said, [Oh.]
Xiao Jinglian used a handkerchief to slowly wipe his hand clean.
Lin Jiujiu thought that meant he was disgusted.
Lin Jiujiu lowered his face and covered both ears, refusing to listen or look any further.
Xiao Jinglian half-crouched down, looking up at him from below.
There was no way he could lick it clean right in front of Jiujiu.
Lin Jiujiu’s face suddenly turned red. He did not understand; he just felt that Eldest Brother’s gaze was not clean or clear-cut.
It was tangled up with him like they were caught in a spider’s web, leaving Lin Jiujiu unable to move.
He had thought Eldest Brother was also a pitiful prey about to be devoured, but the way Eldest Brother looked at him made him seem like he had turned into the spider.
Lin Jiujiu panicked and said, “I am not a candied hawthorn, I cannot be eaten.”
Xiao Jinglian raised his hand and slowly stroked his face. Lin Jiujiu almost thought he was going to pinch him, pinching his face into a candied hawthorn.
Yet Xiao Jinglian stopped a single inch away, refusing to press closer.
Seeing that he was about to lower his hand, Lin Jiujiu did not know what to do, and actually took the initiative to press his face forward against it.
Eldest Brother’s palm was warm, even though he had just walked through the falling snow, and even though the snowflakes on his head were slowly melting.
Yet whenever Xiao Jinglian faced Lin Jiujiu, he was always warm.
Xiao Jinglian slowly wrapped his arms around Lin Jiujiu, pulling him into his embrace. The two of them tumbled to the floor as the round stool overturned, looking like a two-headed snake.
Lin Jiujiu pressed against his chest, listening to his heartbeat and counting his breaths.
Inopportune as it was, Lin Jiujiu lifted his head and looked at him: “Will there really be milk?”
A trace of warmth, too late to be pulled back, lingered at the corner of Xiao Jinglian’s lips, layered with a hint of mockery.
“You are too impatient.”
How wicked. For Xiao Jinglian to make an expression like that was too wicked, wicked to the point of bordering on eroticism.
Lin Jiujiu’s mind ought to have been churning with a stormy spring-palace painting, but try as he might, it was filled only with Xiao Jinglian.
He tumbled onto the intricate carpet brought as tribute from the Western Regions, his dark hair scattering loose.
Only toward Lin Jiujiu alone did he bare such an expression.
“Impatient,” Lin Jiujiu stammered, “impatient people cannot eat hot tofu.”
“A-Jiu, what should you call me?” Xiao Jinglian asked playfully.
What should I call him? What on earth should I call him? Lin Jiujiu did not ask 888, and 888 could not bear to watch either.
Lin Jiujiu said, “Older Brother.”
When he was little, very small, that was how he used to call him.
He said again, “Lian-ge.”
When he was a bit older, Lin Jiujiu called him that.
“Eldest Brother.” Now that he was grown up, Lin Jiujiu knew the rules of propriety and that he should not be overly affectionate, so it was: “Eldest Brother.”
The strength gradually drained from Xiao Jinglian’s entire body. Gazing up at the roof beams, he sighed, “So this is the bridal chamber.”
Lin Jiujiu’s Eldest Brother had melted into a pool of water.
The frozen snow of the world outside was, within this tiny square inch of space, filled with warmth.
Lin Jiujiu clambered over him, grabbing his hair and messing Eldest Brother’s hair up completely.
Tangles, he is going to tie lots of tangles, and until Eldest Brother untangles them, he is not allowed to leave.
The snow outside the window had stopped.
Lin Jiujiu was still sprawled across Eldest Brother, his hair a complete mess, and he slowly began to untangle it.
Xiao Jinglian continuously spoiled him, acting like a clay doll in his hands. No matter how Lin Jiujiu molded him, he was his Nüwa.
Xiao Jinglian was destined to be created by Lin Jiujiu, and equally destined to nurture Lin Jiujiu for a lifetime.
Even if there was no breast milk, fresh blood would do just as well.
Clearly already grown up, Jiujiu’s cheeks still carried a childish air, the slight baby fat not yet completely faded. A pair of eyes as black as magic stirred people’s hearts into chaos, yet just like always, they remained shining black like an untamed beast deep in the mountains.
Xiao Jinglian ruffled his hair; Jiujiu would nod, lean forward, sniff around to test the waters, yet fail to learn how to actively crawl into the cage.
Is Eldest Brother trying to seduce me? Jiujiu thought to himself.
Jiujiu could not come up with an answer.
Jiujiu was a villain, so he should do some things villains do.
Take a bite, or hurl a few curses.
The atmosphere was too nice; he could not bear to ruin it. A few dirty words would make the wind outside the window and the hair before his eyes turn muddy.
Jiujiu clamped his teeth onto Xiao Jinglian’s sleeve.
He could not even bear to punch a hole in Eldest Brother’s sleeve.
Xiao Jinglian stroked Jiujiu’s face. Eldest Brother’s hands were not as smooth as they looked; they had calluses on them, calluses from practicing martial arts and swordsmanship, calluses from playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
Those rough calluses scraped against Jiujiu’s egg-smooth face, making it tickle.
Eldest Brother is not a mother hen, so he cannot hatch Jiujiu this big egg.
Yet Eldest Brother is a bad egg, definitely. Who knows when he might want to eat up Jiujiu this big egg.
Should Jiujiu let him eat it or not?
This was a brand-new question, and Jiujiu would need to think about it for a long time.
“If His Majesty wants Eldest Brother,” Lin Jiujiu said, “I will go and warn His Majesty.”
“If I cannot make him an Empress, then from now on, he can forget about ever having an Empress again.” Uttering this villainous speech, Lin Jiujiu got up from Eldest Brother’s embrace.
Eldest Brother had been messed up into a complete mess by him, and just as Lin Jiujiu wanted to go grab a comb, Eldest Brother directly took a pair of scissors and snipped off a small lock of their tied hair.
Once Eldest Brother finished cutting his, he insisted that Lin Jiujiu cut a lock too.
What on earth is he doing? Has Eldest Brother lost his mind with anger? Is he going to play at witchcraft and use soup to curse Jiujiu to death?
Lin Jiujiu carefully protected his own head of fine hair.
His sleek hair was the fur of a wild beast used to cover itself; he could not let outsiders strip it away.
Xiao Jinglian tossed his own small lock of hair into the charcoal brazier, where the fire blazed and burned it into scattered ash.
Only belatedly did Lin Jiujiu realize: Was Eldest Brother trying to bind him and himself together?
Bound-hair husband and wife.
No. That is not right. Lin Jiujiu shook his head.
It is just Lin Jiujiu overthinking things, it has to be. Eldest Brother is just trying to get revenge on me.
Lin Jiujiu threw away the scissors in Eldest Brother’s hands and leaped back into Eldest Brother’s embrace.
Eldest Brother did not throw him away.
He held him securely in his arms.
The charcoal in the brazier glowed red. Lin Jiujiu was baked by the heat, and he pressed his lips together to keep his face from flushing red.
888 warned, [In the original plot, Shi Henzhen and Xiao Jinglian have a deep, tragic romance. Shi Henzhen marries Xiao Jinglian off to the imperial family. Xiao Jinglian’s heart turns cold, and he cooperates with the Emperor, from then on standing in a completely different camp from the Regent.]
888 felt something was slightly off. Although he was a system and not a human, he could not see any romantic affection between men in Shi Henzhen and Xiao Jinglian’s relationship at all.
Instead, the Host and Xiao Jinglian, no matter how one looked at it, were not clean.
[The Gong and Shou are fighting their wits out, while the Host is merely an insignificant cannon-fodder villain in the story. Host, your level of participation in the plot has become too deep.]
099 did not answer.
099 escaped.
888 said, [The Host is not a real human, but a tasker created by the Main God. You just need to play the villain and do some bad things.]
[If you participate too deeply in the plot and develop all kinds of complicated, redundant emotions that cause the Host’s program to crash, the Main God will not recycle you; he will only let the Host be destroyed.]
[The love of those people is poisonous,] 888 cajoled. [Only I will always stand with you and accompany you forever.]
That formless entity had come again.
Xiao Jinglian cupped Jiujiu’s face, forbidding him from lowering his head.
Look at me.
The one in front of your eyes is me. The one embracing you is me.
The one with warmth is me.
Lin Jiujiu furrowed his brows slightly and awkwardly pushed Xiao Jinglian away.
That is right, he had become a human, yet he was not truly a human.
What on earth was he doing?
Stubbornly, Lin Jiujiu walked away and out the door.
Xiao Jinglian did not call out to him.
Lin Jiujiu did not look back either.
The snow outside the window had stopped, and Xiao Jinglian’s knees began to ache sluggishly.
Inside the charcoal brazier, the lock of bound hair belonging to two people had long since burned to ashes.
Calmly, Xiao Jinglian picked up the scissors from the floor and returned them to their proper place.
Returning to his own small courtyard, Lin Jiujiu still felt somewhat unfamiliar with it.
Even though this place belonged to him, he rarely lived here.
The serving attendants hurried forward to greet him, but among them were several unfamiliar faces.
Cao Xing said, “These are good, pretty, and pure ger bestowed upon the Young Master by the Prince. The Prince said that the Young Master is all grown up now and can no longer hang around with the Eldest Brother.”
“With the Eldest Brother’s wedding imminent, his reputation is of the utmost importance.”
Cao Xing was an old servant sent by the Regent to stay by Lin Jiujiu’s side. Although this old servant henceforth recognized Lin Jiujiu as his master and served him carefully, he was ultimately keeping watch over him on behalf of the Regent.
Lin Jiujiu’s gaze swept over those three ger.
His heart suddenly gave a sharp ache.
He could not find the reason, and he could not be bothered to look for one either.
He said, “Fine.”