CH 26

After Huo Feng got out of bed, Yi Chongren opened his eyes to glance at him and went right back to sleep. Huo Feng also wanted to go back to sleep, but he was the emperor. A group of officials were already waiting for him in the imperial study waiting to discuss official matters with him. With a satisfied body and mind, Huo Feng casually ate breakfast and went straight to the imperial study. His majesty spent another night at Ningshen palace, so the atmosphere in the imperial study naturally wasn’t very relaxed.

Yi Chongren didn’t get up until after dawn. Enduring his discomfort in a certain area, he went to the “inner court”. Guo An and Zhuang Ye were both startled when they saw him. They thought his excellency wouldn’t be able to attend. They both knew what happened between his excellency and his majesty, and the news had spread across the capital. They never imagined that the terrifying former Lord Qianhu of the Hu An guards would become his majesty’s person. They’re jaws dropped to the ground when they heard this news, it was too shocking. Yi Chongren appeared as usual, and Guo An and Zhuang Ye could only suppress their raging thoughts under his sharp watch, trying to keep their calm.

“Your excellency, this subordinate has already investigated the origins of that eunuch you drove out of the palace.” Guo An reported, “You excellency said that you saw him by Noble Consort Ru’s side before, so this subordinate used that clue for the investigation. As expected, we found that that eunuch used to take care of the flowers in Noble Consort Ru’s palace. He and a palace maid by Noble Consort Ru’s side were in a relationship[1] That palace maid accidentally broke a jade vase so Noble Consort Ru had her flogged to death.”

Zhang Ye continued with a deeper meaning: “Your excellency gave that jade vase to Noble Consort Ru.”

Yi Chongren appeared to not understand what Zhuang Ye meant, coldly saying: “He wants to get revenge on me?” He had seen countless similar cases, so no matter how much that person masked his hatred, it couldn’t escape his eyes.

Zhang Ye said: “I’m afraid so. This subordinate found that this person went to see someone after being driven out of the palace. That person must know that person, it’s Sun Changshu. This subordinate already sent someone to monitor him. There are some remnants of the Sun clan by Sun Changshu’s side.”

“Sun Changshu? I didn’t expect him to survive.” Yi Chongren coldly scoffed. Sun Changshu was Sun Jiyu’s adopted son.

Zhuang Ye said with shame: “This subordinate is incompetant.” 

Yi Chongren raised his hand: “Don’t blame yourself. Back then, I asked you to weaken the imperial guards, not exterminate the entire Sun clan.” Then, a cold clarity appeared in his eyes, “Since the Sun clan still refuses to be silent, then don’t blame me for being discourteous. Spread the news that I’m going to the Buddhist temple to pay respect to my parents and clansmen soon[2]. I’ll wait for them to find me.”

Guo An and Zhuang Ye immediately disagreed: “Your excellency, this is too dangerous. We still haven’t confirmed how many remnants of the Sun clan there are or how much power they still have.”

Yi Chongren raised the corners of his lips: “The ones growing restless in the dark aren’t just the remnants of the Sun clan. I want them to tremble in fear just thinking of me.”

Guo An and Zhuang Ye saw the cold smile on his excellency’s face, suddenly pitying the people who offended him. Even his majesty was once beaten by his excellency with no way to counter. Other people……they couldn’t help but admire his majesty. Only his majesty could obtain his excellency.

After Huo Feng learned that Yi Chongren wanted to go to the Buddhist temple to pay respects to his unjustly killed relatives, he immediately ordered the Ministry of Rites to arrange this matter. He didn’t know that Yi Chongren made this trip for other purposes. After the two closed their relationship, Huo Feng completely stopped managing the inner court. Even when Yi Chongren reported to him, he didn’t bother to listen. He wasn’t afraid of Yi Chongren taking advantage of his powers. If asked who he trusted most in the world, it could only be Yi Chongren. They had shared children, so what if Yi Chongren monopolized his power? Wasn’t he just planning for the three children? Huo Feng put his whole heart into implementing new policies. The new monarch was open-minded, the crown prince was industrious, and the court officials were dedicated to the country. Yue swept away the dejection of the end of Southern Chu, gradually emerging as a new scene.

Huo Feng still spent the night at Ningshen palace from time to time, but he spent most of his time alone in the imperial study, rarely staying in his own bedchamber. Huo Feng’s actions made the officials’ heads foggy. He didn’t show Yi Chongren the favor of three thousand in one, but he and Yi Chongren did become closer. Every time Huo Feng spent the night in Ningshen palace, his neck would be covered in hickeys or bite marks the next day, and in comparison, there were even more marks on Yi Chongren’s neck. Even a blind person could tell what the two did. But Huo Feng didn’t let Yi Chongren sleep in his own palace, nor did he linger everyday. Every ten days, he would go to Ningshen palace around two or three times. For an emperor, a man, this wasn’t considered frequent.

What on earth did his highness mean with his treatment towards Yi Chongren? What was he planning? These doubts lingered in every officials’ heart, including those who were close to Yi Chongren. Zhang Deyuan and the other old officials who already stopped participating in court politics worried, but Yi CHongren didn’t want them to overthink, so they could only suppress the worry in their hearts.

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Pushing open the door, Zhang Huaiqiu, who didn’t return to the mansion until late at night, reeked of alcohol. Entering the room with slightly unsteady footsteps, he picked up a teapot on the table, brought it to his lips, and drank. The water in the pot had long turned cold, but he didn’t care. A person followed behind him, entered, and closed the door, carefully lighting the oil lamp on the table. The room brightened, and the person’s face became clearer. Unexpectedly, it was Ruan Xingtian!

After drinking enough, Zhang Huaiqiu put down the teapot, wiped his mouth, and sat down on the chair, asking Ruan Xingtian: “Should you return?”

Ruan Xingtian also reeked of alcohol. He put his hands by Zhang Huaiqiu’s side and bent over: “I’m staying here tonight.”

An unnatural look flashed through Zhang Huaiqiu’s eyes and he pushed away Ruan Xingtian: “I already said I’m not interested in men.”

“You are!” Ruan Xingtian grabbed Zhang Huaiqiu, the imperiousness of a military general bursting forth, “Don’t tell me you forgot that night.”

“We didn’t do anything that night!” Zhang Huaiqiu made a move.

Ruan Xingtian used his body to easily repress Zhang Huaiqiu on the chair, not letting him escape.

“Didn’t do anything?” Appearing angry, he grabbed Zhang Huaiqiu’s trousers, “I still clearly remember the shape of this place. Don’t forget who provoked me first!”

Zhang Huaiqiu gritted his teeth: “We only touched each other a bit. You didn’t lose out!”

“I suffered a great loss!” Ruan Xingtian didn’t say another word and kissed Zhang Huaiqiu’ lips, palm madly rubbing Zhang Huaiqiu’s lower body. Zhang Huaiqiu forcefully struggled, but after a while, he turned weak.

Ruan Xingtian’s kiss became gentler, lightly kissing from the corner of Zhang Huaiqiu’s lips to his earlobe. He hoarsely said: “See, you’re already hard. You still dare to say you don’t like it? Huaiqiu, is it really that hard to admit that you have feelings for me? I know you’re the only son in your family and you can’t break the Zhang clan’s incense. I had a wife and a daughter, so I won’t force you. No matter how painful it’d be, I’ll let you get married. I want your heart, want your heart to only belong to me, is that ok?”

Zhang Huaiqiu breathed heavily, eyes blank. He never thought about such things happening with men. Yi Chongren and Huo Feng’s relationship gave him quite a blow. Chongren, was actually willing to lay under a man. Zhang Huaiqiu blanked out, but at the same time, he still felt a thick loss and sadness. He thought he could always stand by Chongren’s side……now, it seemed that Chongren didn’t need him anymore……

“Huaiqiu……” Ruan Xingtian affectionately kissed Zhang Huaiqiu’s neck, leaving a faint mark, “I love you……I love you……”

Zhang Huaiqiu’s body trembled, and Ruan Xingtian reached into his pants, directly touching his hardness. Why? He clearly didn’t have affection but why did he have feelings? Men really couldn’t be provoked.

“Ahem.”

A faint voice sounded from the shadows of the room. Ruan Xingtian and Zhang Huaiqiu instantly sobered up from their desire. Ruan Xingtian leapt up and stood in front of Zhang Huaiqiu. Zhang Huaiqiu hurriedly sorted out his clothes, taking out the dagger hidden underneath the table. Shit! There was someone else in the room!

“Come out!”

Zhang Huaiqiu walked beside Ruan Xingtian with a murderous look on his face.

A dark figure walked out of the shadows, and once a crimson hem appeared in the light, Ruan Xingtian and Zhang Huaiqiu only felt their scalps turn numb, especially Zhang Huaiqiu, who broke out in cold sweat.

“Chongren?!” Zhang Huaiqiu nearly dropped the dagger in his hand, “Why are you here!”

The dark figure became entirely visible. If it wasn’t Yi Chongren, who else could it be? He indifferently looked at the two. Arms over his chest, Yi Chongren said to Zhang Huaiqiu: “I need the imperial army to be secretly arranged for my trip to the temple tomorrow. This matter can’t be made public. I need to ‘go fishing’.” As if he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Zhang Huaiqiu forced himself to calm down and asked: “Fish who?”

Yi Chongren took a letter out of his sleeve and threw it over. Zhang Huaiqiu calmly caught and opened it. After reading it, he frowned: “You want to be the bait? Does his majesty know?”

“He knows. That’s why I’ve come to find you. Only you can make sure it’s absolutely safe. I’m leaving the palace at 7:30 tomorrow.”

Once he heard that his majesty knew, Zhang Huaiqiu didn’t argue. Consistent with his trust in Yi Chongren, he nodded: “I will make the necessary arrangements before 7. Should we exterminate them or leave some survivors?”

“Your choice.”

“Understood.”

Yi Chongren slowly walked away. As he walked into the darkness, he suddenly said like a ghost: “Huaiqiu, I’m under his majesty out of helplessness as I have the heart but not the power. You can’t be considered powerless right?” For the first time, he admitted his relationship with Huo Feng in front of another person.

Ruan Xingtian’s expression changed. The wind blew through, and Yi Chongren was gone from the room. He strode into the darkness and found an open gap between the windows. Ruan Xingtian feared Yi Chongren’s strong martial arts, but was especially angered by the other party’s instigating words! He turned his head to see Zhang Huaiqiu’s eyes turn dark. Ruan Xingtian silently called out “Oh no”!

Yi Chongren actually suspected he “had the heart but not the power”! Zhang Huaiqiu stared at Ruan Xingtian like a wolf. Was he destined to be pressed down just because he wasn’t as strong as the other party? His lips curved up into a cold smile similar to Yi Chongren’s, and Zhang Huaiqiu walked towards Ruan Xingtian.

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Yi Chongren was in a pretty good mood when he quietly returned to the palace. He was eaten cleanly by Huo Feng, but he couldn’t get revenge even if he wanted to. Huaiqiu was his closest friend. If he couldn’t fight back, how could he let his closest friend be “subjected” to one of Huo Feng’s men? Ruan Xingtian wanted Huaiqiu, but it wouldn’t be that easy. Yi Chongren didn’t deny that he was taking his anger out on someone. Who told Ruan Xingtian to run into him? Ruan Xingtian could only be blamed for coming at the wrong time. However, Yi Chongren was very surprised that he actually never suspected that Huaiqiu and Ruan Xingtian would end up together. Yi Chongren reflected in his heart. He must be more careless now, otherwise he wouldn’t be so easily eaten by Huo Feng.

As he took a step into the room, Yi Chongren heard a person’s voice: “Where’d you go?”

Huo Feng? Yi Chongren walked into the room, looked at the person, and asked: “Why are you here? I thought you wouldn’t come tonight.”

“I haven’t seen you in so many days.” Naturally holding Yi Chongren’s hand, Huo Feng once again asked: “Where’d you go?”

Yi Chongren closed the door and whispered: “Went to find Huaiqiu. The crown prince is going to the temple with me tomorrow so I wanted to personally take care of the guards. Where are Baozi and Douzi?”

“I let Lu Tao take them to my palace. Tomorrow, take Baozi and Douzi too. You’re paying respects to your relatives, and they’re your sons, so it makes sense. Why don’t I go with you?”

Not caring about his position, Huo Feng thought he should go too. Yi Chongren didn’t actually tell Huo Feng that he wasn’t just going to pay respect to relatives. Once he heard Huo Feng’s words, he immediately said: “The site could scare Baozi and Douzi. Wait for them to grow older or want to go themselves and we can go offer sacrifices later. You can’t go. I don’t want to lose the tranquility of my future days.”

“Ha ha ha……” Huo Feng broke into laughter and wrapped his arms around Yi Chongren’s waist to walk into the bedroom, “When did you become so cowardly? I thought you didn’t care about what others said.”

“Could it be that you want to read accounts about me all day?” Yi Chongren raised his brow and asked.

With one smooth action, Huo Feng held Yi Chongren to his chest, and he sat on the bed, making Yi Chongren sit on his lap. Yi Chongren didn’t blush, and he naturally caught Huo Feng’s neck. The sex between the two could be considered to be getting better and better. Whether Yi Chongren admitted it or not, his and Huo Feng’s relationship was becoming closer with each instance of physical intimacy.

Huo Feng habitually pulled out Yi Chongren’s hairpin. He liked how Yi Chongren appeared with his hair down, and Yi Chongren would only allow himself to reveal this bearing at times like these. He lost much of his unapproachable coldness and gained much seductive charm. Every time, Huo Feng felt his mouth and tongue turn dry, wanting to swallow this person into his stomach with one bite. The intimacy between the two made Huo Feng fall deeper and deeper into the charm of being with Yi Chongren. This was a dangerous signal for this emperor, but for a man, a relationship of mutual affection wasn’t far away, and he, endured this hardship gladly.

Not replying to Yi Chongren’s question, Huo Feng kissed Yi Chongren’s eye—clean, enchanting eye. He hadn’t not seen accounts about Yi Chongren. To avoid arousing suspicion, Xie Ming and the others gave all these accounts to him, and Huo Feng suppressed them all. Now wasn’t the time to confront the ministers, otherwise, one misstep could trigger the court officials to accuse Yi Chongren of misconduct, and the gains wouldn’t make up for the losses.

Holding down Huo Feng’s hand which was untying his belt, Yi Chongren reminded him with unstable breathing: “I’m leaving the palace tomorrow morning. I don’t want to be unable to ride a horse.” Tomorrow would likely be the scene of foul wind and bloody rain. He couldn’t be immobilized.

Huo Feng pulled Yi Chongren’s hand to his certain place and said roughly: ‘I’ve held back for so many days. If I don’t come tonight, both of us can’t even think about sleeping.”

Under his palm, Yi Chongren could feel Huo Feng’s scorching heat through the cloth. Overcome with desire, Yi Chongren couldn’t help but feel his heart pound, but they definitely couldn’t do it tonight.

After thinking for a while, Yi Chongren said: “I’ll use my hand.” Seeing his resolute attitude, Huo Feng could only accept reluctantly.

This wasn’t his first time seeing Huo Feng naked, but it was the first time touching that part of Huo Feng. Once Yi Chongren’s hands held Huo Feng’s heat, a strong shock swept through his heart. So true men had these feelings. Compared to Huo Feng’s mass, his own was as immature as a child’s and carried the obvious scars of damage. Yi Chongren used both hands to surround Huo Feng’s masculinity with envy, wishing his own was also so normal.

“Chongren……” Huo Feng’s voice was incredibly hoarse. Yi Chongren’s slightly cold hands comforted his place that needed release, and the other party’s completely naked body gave him a certain inexpressible satisfaction.

“Lick……Chongren……” Huo Feng longed for Yi Chongren’s beautiful lips to hold him.

Yi Chongren wrapped Huo Feng’s full cock with one hand, wondering if the fate of his family changed, would he also have such an imposing length? Rough big hands forced between his legs, covering his entire organ, and Yi Chongren comfortably groaned a few times. Unexpectedly, he bent down, lips aimed at Huo Feng’s dick which was dripping precum.

“Chongren!”

Huo Feng called out, body instantly stretching taut. This moment, Huo Feng seemed like a lamb for slaughter, losing the strength to turn over. Huo Feng’s reaction gave Yi Chongren a sort of delusion. He seemed to also be capable of pushing Huo Feng under himself and doing whatever he pleased, and could also show off his masculinity on top of Huo Feng.

Sitting across Huo Feng’s legs, Yi Chongren used his mouth and tongue to control Huo Feng. Seeing Huo Feng’s enduring expression, hearing Huo Feng’s intolerable low pants, Yi Chongren grabbed Huo Feng’s hands, not letting him obstruct himself.

“Chongren……Chongren……”

Huo Feng felt dead from desire, as if his soul was sucked out of his body. Who would have thought, the cold, ruthless Lord Qianhu of the Hu An guards would use his mouth to serve another man one day, even so pleasurably.

No! He also had to eat! Forcefully withdrawing his hand and pulling up Yi Chongren, Huo Feng turned and pressed him down, accurately finding the other party’s vulnerability and swallowed it.

“Wu!”

Huo Feng didn’t know that what Yi Chongren liked most was when Huo Feng sucked and licked him like this. Every time, he would think he wasn’t a castrate, wasn’t a eunuch.

Although unable to enter, Huo Feng and Yi Chongren became more invested than any previous time. The two untiringly tasted each other’s bodies, explored the secrets of each other’s bodies. Once the two ejected their own desires, the two’s lips were still inseparably entangled with each other.

Hearts feeling bouts of soreness and numbness, maybe, these ten years wouldn’t be so hard to endure.

[1]  对食 refers to palace maid and eunuch becoming a couple. Could also refer to lesbianism in the palace.

[2] 超渡 Free the souls of the dead from the sufferings of hell in Buddhism and Taoism. Cross over; pass ove