CH 164

Jiang Suizhou’s heart skipped a beat when he heard the words, and then his mind went blank.

For a spell, he panicked. He opened his mouth, but did not utter a single word.

After a long time, he explained somewhat flustered, “No, I was just…”

He realized that Huo Wujiu was smiling and staring straight at him.

“I see,” he said. “So merely in a moment of desperation, you told the truth.”

“I…”

Jiang Suizhou was about to speak when Huo Wujiu interrupted him.

He stretched his hand into Jiang Suizhou’s blanket and took his hand underneath the blanket.

Huo Wujiu certainly held his wrists a lot, but in the past, he had held them through a sleeve. This time, however, Huo Wujiu directly covered the back of Jiang Suizhou’s hand, clasping his entire hand into his palm.

Jiang Suizhou was rather stunned.

Gradually, his consciousness returned, and only then did he react to what Huo Wujiu’s action meant.

Huo Wujiu’s palm was quite rough. At a glance, he could tell that they were traces left by years of martial arts practice. The hand was not as calm as its owner’s expression. On the contrary, it was tightly clenched, as if the owner could not find an outlet to vent his surging emotions. His grip painfully shook his finger bones.

After that, Huo Wujiu thought it wasn’t enough, so he pulled his hand out of the quilt, wrapped his other hand around it, and held his hand tightly in his hands.

Jiang Suizhou stared at him blankly.

Going by his reaction, could it be that he was also…

In that instant, the look in Huo Wujiu’s eyes, his smile, and even his inexplicable displeasure at times finally had an explanation.

Jiang Suizhou felt as if he was hallucinating.

No way in hell… how could someone like him also silently like him in that way…?

The impact of this response was so strong that he forgot to celebrate for a while.

Meanwhile, Huo Wujiu, who was kneeling by the bed, pulled his hand forward and pressed it to his face.

“Why didn’t you get desperate earlier?” His tone was very low, as if talking to himself. At once, he revealed a trace of foolishness. As soon as he said these words, he immediately overturned his question, and then muttered to himself, “No, blame me for wanting you to say it first.”

Speaking of which, he abruptly frowned and said, “But I didn’t notice it at all.”

Jiang Suizhou whispered an answer, “… I did not notice anything either.”

Huo Wujiu didn’t even think about it and reasoned rightfully, “Of course, I can’t let you notice anything. You have told me that you are not a cut sleeve. What if you caught wind of it and were scared away? I couldn’t tie you back by then.”

“Of course, I’m not.” Jiang Suizhou blurted out. “I just…”

It was just that when he reached this point, he realized what he was saying. He shut his mouth in time and swallowed back all the words that followed.

It was really strange. In order to prevent Pang Shao’s suspicions before, what unpleasant words did he not say in front of the crowd? He had always been calm and relaxed, and could even act flamboyantly. But now, he couldn’t express even the simplest heartfelt words.

Though his hand that Huo Wujiu was holding felt heart, his heart was burning even hotter.

But Huo Wujiu, in front of him, seemed to have understood it.

He looked at Jiang Suizhou with searing eyes, and laughed for a moment.

His laughter was so pleasant to the ears, that it brought a dull tremor in Jiang Suizhou’s chest, and it spread inch by inch to his hand.

Then, Huo Wujiu seemed to think it was not enough. He squeezed the hand he was holding a few times, then pulled it from the side of his face to his lips. He kissed his fingers deeply, and pressed them tightly against his lips.

He passed his sigh accompanied with a smile and wrapped his knuckles with his warm breath.

That breath instantly set Jiang Suizhou’s ears on fire.

He jerked his hand, but did not pull away. On the contrary, Huo Wujiu’s grip got tighter.

The searing gaze that was brimming with laughter was so aggressive that Jiang Suizhou could not help but instinctively avert his eyes and hastily look down, like an ostrich burying its head into the sand.

This self-deceiving evasive gesture, however, made the aggressor more excited.

His muffled laughter passed along his warm lips, over his knuckles, down his arms, and sent the meridians all over his body into tingles.

——

Huo Wujiu’s soldiers were very efficient.

This was also attributed to Huo Yuyan’s arrangements. From the onset, he turned against Wu Qianfan, who was under Huo Wujiu’s command, leaving Huo Wujiu isolated. Thereafter, he killed Wu Qianfan to silence him. The number of Huo Wujiu’s men was several times more than Huo Yuyan’s. What was more, Huo Yuyan’s troops were mostly deployed around Ye City, so he couldn’t allot his men to replace the soldiers in Jiangbei.

Therefore, except for the dead Li Sheng and his cronies, the 200,000 army that Huo Wujiu brought to the city today, were all his direct army.

In one day, they had the imperial palace and Lin’an firmly under control. Heavily armored soldiers also guarded all the residences of the officials in the capital. After Pang Wei’s death, Huo Wujiu divided the army outside the city into several units and deployed them out to control the counties in Southern Jing.

Late at night, peace had already settled in all directions.

Li Changning decocted medicine and sent it to Jiang Suizhou, instructing him to take more rest in the following days and not to exert himself. Otherwise, it would be detrimental to the recovery of his wounds. So not long after drinking the medicine, Huo Wujiu forcefully had him sleep. He himself waited for Jiang Suizhou to fall asleep before heading straight out of the palace.