CH 29

If Xie Ke was waiting for him, why didn’t he light the lamp?

Before Fu Zhiyu’s eyes had really adjusted to the place, he felt his wrist being caught by someone. Fu Zhiyu was startled and tried to resist but was pulled into the arms of that person.

In the darkness, someone had one hand on his wrist and the other around his waist, breathing close to him.

The next thing he knew, his lips were pried open and he was eagerly kissed.

It was Xie Ke.

It wasn’t a kiss at all. He felt that Xie Ke in the dark was like a hungry wolf, nibbling on his lips as if he was feasting on them. Xie Ke’s lips were very cold, but the hand holding him was hot.

Fu Zhiyu was stunned for a moment but quickly reacted and struggled in Xie Ke’s arms. He had obviously become a lot stronger, but he couldn’t break free from Xie Ke’s embrace for a long time. Xie Ke’s hands were like iron hoops, and only when he had taken advantage enough, did he release Fu Zhiyu.

“Zhiyu has become stronger,” Fu Zhiyu heard Xie Ke chuckle happily, “and still so sweet.”

Fu Zhiyu raised his hand, wiped his lips vigorously and said bitterly: “Are you crazy? You psychopath!”

“Yes, I am a psychopath now.”

Xie Ke stretched out his hand to light the lamp on the table, and Fu Zhiyu saw a small wound on his lip from his own bite just now, as well as a trace of blood.

Xie Ke licked his bleeding lip; the expression on his face was still very happy. He looked at Fu Zhiyu as if looking at a cat who had lost its temper and showed its claws.

Fu Zhiyu didn’t want to talk to Xie Ke anymore, so he turned around and wanted to leave, but the door couldn’t be pushed open. It was very, very heavy, like a block of iron. Fu Zhiyu was about to continue to push hard, but Xie Ke behind him quickly pulled him back.

Nong Yu deliberately locked the door! Is this what people do? Fu Zhiyu had just praised him for being principled!

“Let go,” Fu Zhiyu began to struggle, “Let go of me!”

He was really wrong about Xie Ke. This man wouldn’t give up because Fu Zhiyu remembered everything before. On the contrary, he felt that since Fu Zhiyu had memories anyway, after knowing him for so long, he didn’t need to care about being polite and was even more unscrupulous.

Xie Ke didn’t let go. Enduring the pain, he only held Fu Zhiyu tighter in his arms. This time he didn’t dare to kiss him again, but let him struggle.

The Lord God is also a liar, Fu Zhiyu thought bitterly. Obviously he had mutated, how come he still couldn’t beat Xie Ke, the actor!

What kind of bastard is this man! He should have known better than to come!

“…Just let me hold you for a while, Zhiyu, just for a while.” He heard Xie Ke speak, his arms holding tighter and tighter, as if he was really afraid that Fu Zhiyu would escape, “It’s been almost two months. I only saw you once at the Qionglin Banquet. I wanted to see you every day, every night. I can’t wait…”

Fu Zhiyu didn’t hear the next words, but he could imagine that it wouldn’t be anything good for him.

He was really unable to break free from Xie Ke’s grip. His hands and feet were held tightly and he was pressed on the soft couch. As he was about to be toppled over, the sense of crisis in his heart suddenly rose to the highest level.

“Do you remember?” Fu Zhiyu heard Xie Ke continue to speak in his ear, recalling the past that he didn’t want to remember at all. “We have done it many times here. You were so cute, soft and beautiful at that time. I thought at that time I could just ignore everything and just be with you…”

When Fu Zhiyu heard this, his face flushed, half in shame and half in anger. He felt that Xie Ke was implying something by saying it at this time, and he couldn’t help panicking.

He couldn’t move his arms and legs, only his head could move a little bit. Xie Ke pressed him under his body and Xie Ke’s neck was next to his mouth. Fu Zhiyu’s brain exploded and he bit hard. He used all his force; he wanted to make Xie Ke feel pain and quickly let go of him. But it didn’t seem to be of any use.

Xie Ke let out a hissing sound and still didn’t let go but held tighter, until Fu Zhiyu felt that this method was really useless. Xie Ke’s flesh was thick, his teeth ached and he let go.

As a result, an obvious tooth mark was left on Xie Ke’s neck. Fu Zhiyu did bite deeply, and it was bleeding.

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“…Zhiyu, don’t worry, you are still young, I won’t be such a beast,” Xie Ke covered his bitten neck, tracing the bloody tooth marks on it. The expression on his face became more pleasant; he lowered his head and kissed Fu Zhiyu on the cheek again, “But you’d better not make any extra moves.”

He didn’t continue but narrowed his eyes meaningfully.

Fu Zhiyu: “…Trash! Asshole! Let me go!”

Xie Ke saw that he was indeed furious, his eyes red with anger, and he couldn’t bear to continue. He got up but still held Fu Zhiyu’s hand.

He knew in his heart that if he let go at this time, Zhiyu would immediately run away.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was wrong, Zhiyu, don’t be angry,” Xie Ke coaxed, “I just miss you so much, I just… I’ve been waiting for too long.”

In fact, in the previous life, before Fu Zhiyu’s death, the two clearly still maintained an ambiguous and awkward relationship of the lovers, otherwise Fu Zhiyu wouldn’t have easily drunk the wine Xie Ke brought at that time and gotten poisoned.

The two of them had falling-outs in their previous lives, and sometimes very serious ones. After all, Fu Zhiyu also had his dignity, but he was always helpless in front of Xie Ke. Time and time again, Fu Zhiyu lowered his bottom line, and finally had to eat the bitter fruit.

The current Xie Ke made Fu Zhiyu feel as if he had returned to his previous life. Xie Ke always felt that as long as he coaxed him, he would come back obediently. This feeling made him feel angry and aggrieved.

Fu Zhiyu didn’t want to listen to anything Xie Ke said, but he couldn’t leave, so he turned his back to him to show that he didn’t want to communicate at all.

“I’ve always wanted to do this in my previous life,” Xie Ke sighed, “I’m sorry, I had too many scruples at that time and couldn’t tell what was more important, but I didn’t expect to hurt you in the end. Zhiyu, if I could see my heart clearly at that time, the two of us would never become like this.”

Fu Zhiyu turned a deaf ear to his words. He pulled his trapped hand hard, but instead of freeing it, he pulled Xie Ke over.

Xie Ke hugged his waist from behind, refusing to let him go, put his head gently on Fu Zhiyu’s shoulder and said again: “There are some things I don’t know how to explain to you. You don’t know anything at all… If I tell you that this world is fake, you might think I’m crazy. Zhiyu, I really liked you a long time ago, but for certain reasons, I couldn’t be with you for the time being.”

In fact, Fu Zhiyu knew very well about the matter of “this world is fake”, but he was now so angry that he had no intention of pursuing this further. He only felt that this man was hopeless.

“Including the final order to kill me as well?” Fu Zhiyu sneered, “If being liked by you made me live such a miserable life, then I’d rather you hate me. I was blind to have been so good to you in my previous life!”

Xie Ke was taken aback, then let out a bitter chuckle and said, “No, things are really not what they appear to be. At that time, I had some misunderstandings about you, and there were some errors in my judgement of the situation. I thought it would be better for the two of us to do that, that’s why…”

He felt that he couldn’t explain this clearly to Fu Zhiyu; the other party couldn’t understand it anyway. In the end, he lowered his head and apologised seriously: “I’m sorry, Zhiyu, I shouldn’t be so presumptuous. After everything was over, I couldn’t find you… I…”

When Xie Ke said this, his body couldn’t help trembling slightly. Fu Zhiyu felt that he seemed to be scared because of his memories, as if he had encountered a nightmare that he no longer wanted to remember.

“…It’s all in the past,” Xie Ke hugged the person in his arms tightly, as if guarding his treasure, “Zhiyu, I will never let go this time.”

There was only one question in Fu Zhiyu’s mind: how he could escape.

He deeply realised that he had made a mistake, a ridiculous mistake; there was no way to communicate with Xie Ke at all.

Fu Zhiyu didn’t believe the hardships he had just mentioned, especially Xie Ke’s words that he had long liked him. He had done all those vicious things to him and now he opened his mouth and said that he liked him. Facts speak louder than words. Xie Ke was just talking nonsense hypocritically.

“Come at me whatever way you want but don’t touch the Yuan family!” Fu Zhiyu warned him, “Otherwise, I will die with you.”

Xie Ke didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry: “Didn’t you listen to what I just said? Why would I touch the Yuan family? I can’t be nice enough to them…”

“No!” Fu Zhiyu’s vigilance increased, “The farther away you are from them, the better!”

“Okay, it’s all up to you.”

“Then you stay as far away from me as possible too.”

“…Baby, this is not okay.” Xie Ke couldn’t help but kiss him on the cheek again, “I just came back for you only.”

In the end, Fu Zhiyu and Xie Ke’s conversation collapsed. The process was a mess, the two finally broke up unhappily, and Fu Zhiyu left in anger.

Of course, maybe it was just a unilateral unhappy breakup; at least Xie Ke had taken enough advantage and was still a little happy in his heart.

Seeing Fu Zhiyu’s expression of displeasure, Nong Yu estimated that it would be difficult for his master to trick people into coming here again.

He walked into the room to see Xie Ke, but was taken aback by his appearance.

There was a cut on his lip that was still bleeding and an obvious tooth mark on his neck. Xie Ke was rubbing his chest. Nong Yu knew that Fu Zhiyu was angry before he left and slammed Xie Ke with his elbow quite cruelly.

“…It’s not the way of courting someone,” Nong Yu couldn’t help but comment on his master’s private life, “Be nice and gentle at the beginning, and take your time. How can anyone use such a method at once?”

Xie Ke smiled wryly and said, “You don’t understand. I used to think like you, but then I realised that it was useless to take my time. He doesn’t have me in his eyes now, and he can’t wait to treat me as a stranger. When he was angry with me, I felt better than before. At least he could still see me.”

Nong Yu stopped talking. He had never been in a relationship and he couldn’t evaluate the love life of others.

He walked to the shelf, took the medicine powder, walked to Xie Ke’s side and said, “At least let me put the medicine on it. You will go to the emperor tomorrow. This is not a good look.”

Xie Ke touched the corner of his mouth, took the medicine and said, “I’ll do it myself.”

“What about the neck?” Nong Yu pointed to his neck, “Master can’t see there, do you need me to apply it?”

“No,” Xie Ke shook his head, groped and touched the tooth marks on his neck, and even smirked, “If I wear a dress with a higher collar, others won’t be able to see it. I want to keep this.”

Nong Yu: “…As you wish.”

For a moment, he really felt that his master was a bit perverted. Wang Zhao was so pitiful that he actually caught the eye of a person like him. Nong Yu knew Xie Ke’s character very well. He would never let go of what he wanted. He would wrap around like a snake and hold on until the opponent went soft.

…Although it was a bit wrong to evaluate one’s master in this way, it was a fact, Nong Yu thought honestly.

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After Nong Yu left, Xie Ke casually sprinkled some powder on the wound on his face, and then spoke softly, as if talking to himself.

“027, are you there?”

After a while, a voice sounded, a mechanical voice that could never appear in this period of time.

“Yes, can I help you? Three minutes at most, I need to hibernate for a long time before I can recover.”

“I know,” Xie Ke said, “But I think Zhiyu is a little strange. He has become very strong. It can’t be explained by the internal strength of the martial arts of this dynasty. I am worried about whether this will cause him any harm.”

“This is the world that was forcefully rebooted. It stands to reason that any unexpected situation can happen, and certain data abnormalities in this process will not be corrected. After all, this world is no longer under the supervision of the Lord God,” the mechanical voice explained. “Relying on your description alone, I can’t judge whether this is good or bad.”

Xie Ke said helplessly: “Okay. I have found several abnormal data that have come back together. Zhiyu… unfortunately, is also in this group.”

“Fu Zhiyu’s data should be particularly abnormal, and it can no longer be counted as a coincidence,” the mechanical voice said. “Sorry, I made a mistake in judgement last time. I have worked for so many years and I have never seen anyone so abnormal.” 

“I can’t blame you. It was my mistake in judgement and my own decision. Now Zhiyu refuses to forgive me and I deserve it,” Xie Ke sighed. “Go ahead and sleep, I won’t bother you.”

“Goodbye.” The mechanical voice finally admonished, “You have to be more careful in this world.”

Xie Ke didn’t say anything; he stretched out his hand and touched the tooth mark that Fu Zhiyu had left on his neck.

It was painful, and it hurt when he touched it, but this was the trace left by Zhiyu. For Xie Ke, even the pain had a hint of sweetness in it.

It was already quite late when Fu Zhiyu returned to Liuli Palace. Consort Yun slept well recently and went to bed early but Yuan Mingdao couldn’t sleep and kept waiting.

“Master!”

When Yuan Mingdao heard the movement, he stood up and ran out, relieved to see that Fu Zhiyu was okay.

Fu Zhiyu was taken aback, quickened his steps, walked forward, picked up the child and said, “Mingdao? Why are you still awake so late?”

“I can’t sleep if you don’t come back,” Yuan Mingdao hugged his neck with both arms and asked a series of questions, “Why did you come back so late? I thought something happened and wanted to go out and look for you, but the maid wouldn’t let me go out. Didn’t you say you’d come back in a while?”

Fu Zhiyu didn’t tell him about going to see Xie Ke. He knew that if he told Mingdao about it, the kid would definitely do everything he could to stop him from going.

However, he admitted that this trip was a mistake; Mingdao was right, he shouldn’t have gone to see Xie Ke. This man was unreasonable, and there was really no point in talking to him.

“There was a little delay, it’s all right now,” Fu Zhiyu said soothingly, “I’ll take you with me whenever I go out in future.”

Yuan Mingdao was now happy and much relieved, and hugged him without letting go.

Only when Fu Zhiyu was with him did he feel that his mood slowly calmed down.

If Fu Zhiyu had learned anything in the Lord God’s space, it was probably how to better control his temper. He could let go of those things that made him unhappy faster and wouldn’t let himself sulk.

It was late, and he was a little tired now. After washing up casually, he lay on the bed and fell asleep quickly.

After sleeping until the next morning, Fu Zhiyu stretched out. The spring sun was very comfortable, as if the unpleasantness in his heart last night had passed.

Today was his birthday, so there was no need to feel unhappy over some Xie Ke.

Just think about it as if about being bitten by a dog. Fu Zhiyu thought that when he saw Xie Ke in the future, he would walk past without saying a word to him. Anyway, Xie Ke couldn’t fight against the imperial power now and when he could, Fu Zhiyu would have already run away. This continent was so big. When he escaped with his mother and Mingdao, Xie ke wouldn’t be able to find him.

This man didn’t make sense. Fu Zhiyu really didn’t want to bother to deal with him. The more he dealt with him, the more motivated Xie Ke was. Instead of talking to him, he would better spend time with Mingdao and his mother. In time, Xie Ke should realise that this path was really unworkable, so he would give up.

If Xie Ke was still so stubborn by then, then there was nothing Fu Zhiyu could do. Xie Ke could toss and turn as he liked; anyway, Fu Zhiyu would already escape.

Now in Fu Zhiyu’s eyes, Xie Ke was actually no different from the Third Prince and Shen Yang and belonged to a group he didn’t have to pay attention to until he absolutely had to.

In this fake data world, it was not easy to grasp the people you cared about. Why bother to spend time with these unfortunate people and make yourself feel bad? It was pointless.

Now the safest place was in the palace. After all, Xie Ke and the others didn’t dare to mess around here, and the guards were still very strict. Fu Zhiyu stayed at home without any psychological burden. Today, on his seventeenth birthday, he didn’t make a big deal out of it, just as he wished. The ceremony took only an hour to complete routinely. Emperor Qingyuan had been very busy recently and only visited during lunch. After lunch together, he praised Fu Zhiyu for his diligence and gentleness and then hurried back to the imperial study to approve the memorials.

So, Fu Zhiyu stayed with his mother and Mingdao for an afternoon, roasting meat and chestnuts in the pavilion of Liuli Palace, feeling extremely happy.

But at night, when he returned to his house and lay on the bed, he felt something under his waist, pricking him. He panicked and pushed away the quilt to see that someone had put a small box on his bed.

The box was precious at first glance. It was carved from a whole piece of bloodstone. He opened it suspiciously and saw a small note inside.

The note said: Zhiyu, happy birthday. I will always love you.

Although there was no signature, Fu Zhiyu quickly recognised that this was Xie Ke’s handwriting.

He felt so angry that he immediately burned the note. But there was nothing in this box except the note.

What did Xie Ke want? Fu Zhiyu was puzzled for a while. Did he have so much money that he could get such a box just to drop him a note?

Fu Zhiyu originally wanted to throw away the bloodstone box, but this box seemed very special. Not to mention the precious material, the pattern engraved on it was a bit like the style of the Western regions. Such a thing was rare in the capital and very different from the decoration style in the palace. Even if it was broken and thrown away, the pattern and material could be noticed.

He was worried that if it was discovered, there might be some additional rumours.

There were many spies in Liuli Palace.

Although he was very reluctant to keep Xie Ke’s things, for safety reasons, Fu Zhiyu opened the hidden compartment at the head of the bed and quickly threw the box in, swearing that he would never open it again and would pretend as if nothing had happened.

His mood for the day was a little imperfect because of this thing, but fortunately, he quickly put this unpleasantness behind him.

Soon after, Fu Zhiyu received the news that made him feel good again. It was a letter from the Yuan family that his two uncles would return to the capital soon.

When the news was delivered to Liuli Palace, even Consort Yun and Yuan Mingdao were in a good mood, especially Yuan Mingdao.

“Yuan Lu is coming back too, right? And Sister Yuan Xi.” The two Yuan Mingdao mentioned were the children of the two uncles of the Yuan family. They were Fu Zhiyu’s cousins. Both of them were kind-hearted people, but unfortunately…

Yuan Mingdao sighed again at the thought and said, “Alas, by all accounts it’s been a long time since we have seen each other…”

Fu Zhiyu smiled and said nothing.

He knew very well in his heart that in his previous life, the Yuan family’s disaster had happened entirely because of him. In this life, he had already kept a low profile, and the Crown Prince had neither the reason nor the ability to make a move against them at present. If they retreated in advance before the chaos, the Yuan family would probably be able to avoid this tragedy.

It was Xie Ke who became the most unstable factor. Fu Zhiyu couldn’t believe his promise. Although Xie Ke was known as a man of his word outside, the lessons of blood and tears told Fu Zhiyu that this person had no integrity as far as he was concerned.

No matter what, he still needed to communicate with the Yuan family. Fu Zhiyu didn’t tell Old Master Yuan and Old Mrs. Yuan about many things. They were old and this would only put a strain on their hearts and minds if they had to hide a secret. But the two uncles of the Yuan family were different.

Fu Zhiyu and his mother had also discussed this matter; some things still had to be revealed, but the specific information to be revealed depended on the situation.

“It’s not that I don’t trust my brothers, but it’s not a good thing for them to know too much.” Consort Yun sighed and said, “At that time, when my eldest brother heard about my miscarriage, he lost his temper on the spot. In front of many people, he scolded that man, who was already the emperor at the time, for his treachery and forgetfulness and being worse than an animal, and the family didn’t stop him.

The eldest brother lay in ambush for several days and actually found an opportunity to put a sack on the emperor and beat him up. Although it was to relieve his anger, it was too impulsive. Fortunately, the emperor still had some conscience at that time. He remembered the kindness of the Yuan family to him in the past, or maybe he was too concerned about his face. Anyway, he didn’t want to talk about this matter and didn’t take revenge. He just appointed my eldest brother to the frontier. Although the official position is not low, there has been little opportunity to return to the capital for many years.”

When Consort Yun said this, her face was very sad, and she added: “Although I also think that my eldest brother did the right thing and he is dedicated to me, the world is complicated, and many things are not that simple. I’m afraid if he thinks that you and I have suffered some grievances this time, he will do something reckless.”