CH 71

Chapter 71 Liu Qingyuan

Knowing that Liu Zhongming was back today, after dinner, Qu Chenzhou asked the Bai family to set up a carriage so he could return to the courtyard.

He knew that the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was not short. Seeing that it was still early and a little worried about Liu Zhongming’s alcohol intake, he didn’t even untie his clothes and took a nap in the sarong.

Speaking of which, he has been in the palace for more than ten years, and it seems that he has only attended two Mid-Autumn Festival banquets. At that time, everyone was still there. The emperor finally felt that he was presentable on the big stage and announced that he would be present.

With so many people looking at him, he was so frightened that he held his breath and didn’t dare to say a word. It was not until the emperor went to bed and rested that he touched his sweaty palms and breathed a sigh of relief.

But before his breath was over, many people came to toast him.

At first, it was the stubborn bad guys. General Bai pretended to be unfamiliar with him and went with Bai Shiyan. Then Zhongming didn’t save him, but instead came over with a glass of wine.

After Ning Wang joined in the fun, Qi Wang and Huai Wang also came, not to mention the others; he was the moon revered by the stars for a while. He was flattered, and naturally didn’t dare to refuse a glass of wine.

He didn’t know which cup to start with when the wine in his hand was drunk by Liu Zhongming again and again. As a result, after a few cups, Liu Zhongming fell down, unconscious, and was dragged aside by Bai Shiyan.

Qu Chenzhou rolled over in the sarong, opened his eyes and saw the ground was white; the moonlight was like in the past, and he couldn’t help curving his eyebrows.

It was also his first time drinking. He just felt that it was a bit harsh at first, but after the second drink, he became used to it. Compared to candy, the taste was much better.

It was too long that Mid-Autumn Festival that year, he couldn’t remember how many people came to persuade him to drink. He only remembered that when he returned to the Star Gazing Pavilion with the little eunuch at the end, the Taiji Hall was all over the place, and few could still stand.

So much so that in the early morning of the next day, 90% of the courtiers said they were sick at home.

After the second Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, no one dared to drink with him again.

Thinking of it this way, he has been drinking for many years, he didn’t know if he was still the same as before, unable to get drunk.

For many years, he had been thinking about the past like this, and he couldn’t fall asleep when he thought about it.

In the past, the two had been separated for nearly ten years, surviving day by day to get over it. At this time, they had not seen each other for only half a month, yet there was always a thorny tip rubbing against their hearts, which makes a person restless.

Human greed is always dissatisfied.

He waited like this, half-awake and half-sleeping until it was halfway through the night. When he suddenly woke up and heard a commotion outside the door, it must be someone coming back.

Qu Chenzhou went out to greet him, and sure enough he saw Liu Zhongming being supported by two servants, staggering in from the Hanging Flower Gate.

He hurriedly stepped forward to replace one person, and worked together to carry the person into the inner room and laid him down on the bed. Looking for the sobering pills in the cabinet, the servants brought hot water, and they all retreated when they saw that he would be waiting on him.

“Why are you so drunk? Didn’t I tell you to drink less?”

Although he complained in his heart, he still washed his hands, put the sober medicine into Liu Zhongming’s mouth, then swiftly twisted the handkerchief with his hands and wiped his red neck and forehead which would be stained by alcohol.

Liu Zhongming was feeling unbearably hot. After finally being wiped by the handkerchief, he let out a long breath, closed his eyes tightly, and was about to grab his hand indiscriminately.

Qu Chenzhou dodged, pulled the quilt, and stuffed his dishonest hands into the quilt.

The handkerchief-wrapped fingers stopped as they slid down from his brow bone along the corner of his eye.

The handkerchief was still warm, as if such a touch would not be scalded by the heat on his skin.

He held his breath, he could still see his fingers trembling uncontrollably. He stroked his deep eyebrows, scratched the bridge of his high nose, and finally stopped on his lips.

They were too close. Liu Zhongming’s breath brushed against the backs of his hands and cheeks.

In the air, a few inches away, he raised his finger and stroked over and over again in a vain way. He once had that violent longing, yet now that it was in reach, he dare not be rash.

“Zhongming…”

Qu Chenzhou called out softly, looked up at the direction of the door, got up and blew out the lights in the room, leaving none behind.

The moonlight that penetrated through the window was blocked by the enclosure, and there were only the two of them, and the quiet night.

He took off his shoes and climbed slowly into the quilt with his heart in his hand. He groped around Liu Zhongming’s waist, untied his belt and tether, gently peeled off his outer clothing, then rubbed his arms and laid in them.

The quilt was hot, it was Liu Zhongming’s body temperature.

After hugging together for a while, Qu Chenzhou rolled into a half circle. He draped the quilt behind him, and rubbed his knees against the firm waist of the bed, staring intently at the sleeping person.

Then, inch by inch, he went closer, so close that he could almost feel the heat exhaled by the other party, as well as the faint fragrance of the hangover medicine.

“Zhongming…”

He called again, but didn’t get a response, then he held his breath, licked his dry lips, and lowered his head to touch it very gently.

The moment his lips were touching, Liu Zhongming suddenly opened his eyes.

Qu Chenzhou broke out in a cold sweat, he was about to roll out of the bed as soon as he fell to the side, but before his knees were lifted, he was caught under his armpits, and his legs were caught by a pair of feet.

In a blink of an eye, the world turned upside down, and he was thrown onto his back onto the quilt, with a heavy alcohol smelling body on his chest.

“Shi… Shizi…” Qu Chenzhou shuddered, but the temperature made him weak and unable to struggle: “Sir, it’s me… let me down…”

Liu Zhongming clamped his pair of hands with one hand, fixed on the head of the bed. He used the other hand to raise his chin, and seemed to stop for a moment when he lowered his head. After confirming that it was him, his hot lips were covered.

Qu Chenzhou’s mind exploded like clusters of fireworks, dazzling and confused, his legs trembling pitifully.

The familiar nice smell was overwhelming. At first he tried in vain to push up his knees to resist, but in a blink of an eye, his whole body became soft from the kiss.

It was as if all the strength was sucked away together with his soul.

Just licking the warm tip of his tongue, he could not restrain himself from opening his mouth and gasping for breath, letting the other drive straight in. With no strength to clamp his jaw, he could not close his mouth, and he even involuntarily twisted and fused with the other person in his mouth.

A bright water mark overflowed from the corner of his mouth to his neck.

“No…” 

The weak resistance was devoured by the two, and they kissed in a chaotic state. It seemed that someone was touching his waist that was twitching slightly. He couldn’t help raising his body, naturally catering to it.

In a blink of an eye, his waist loosened, and the loose clothes that had been tossing and turning on the bed suddenly unraveled.

The suffocation in Qu Chenzhou’s mouth disappeared. He raised his head and panted, and was brought back to his senses by the coolness of his chest. He whispered in a low voice: “Shizi…don’t…”

Liu Zhongming looked down at him. As if he didn’t hear it, with a shake of his hand, he took the sweat towel and wrapped it around his wrists several times, then tied it to the bed frame.

“…You are so fragrant…” Liu Zhongming’s voice was ambiguous, and his eyes were also hazy with alcohol: “Little Langhuo*, seducing me again…are you this greedy?”

* a term that usually refers to coquettish woman

A hand gently pressed on the flat surface of his soft lower abdomen. Qu Chenzhou was ashamed and wanted to curl up, but he couldn’t move.

Liu Zhongming was pressing down with his long hands and feet, he couldn’t break free, he could only shout, but before he could say a word, it turned into a low moan like a cat’s meow.

The hand turned to the lower back, torturing him in a circle.

“Such big…courage.” Perhaps it was the alcohol going to his head, but Liu Zhongming’s mouth became more and more vague. Using his knees in the middle as support, he separated them to both sides.

“Dare to sneak up behind me in… Qianqiu Palace, do you really think I can’t do anything to you!”

Qu Chenzhou was so stiff that he couldn’t move anymore – Qianqiu Palace, how could he forget.

At that time, it was his first taste of love, and he had a vigorous youth body. He hadn’t seen him for a few days and was tossing around, feelings in a turmoil. Thus taking advantage of Zhongming entering the palace, he blocked the person at the back of Qianqiu palace.

But after all, it wasn’t a place for love affairs, so he only blushed and rubbed against the person for a while, and then ran away shyly without thinking about how Zhongming was provoked and how he could extinguish the fire. 

After that, Liu Zhongming went to the Star Gazing Pavilion to find him for a divination, and he really taught him a lesson.

It was the first time he fled in a hurry when he saw Zhongming, but the Star Gazing Pavilion was limited in size and after a few steps he was fiercely caught and pressed down on the flower frame.

It was also the first time that Zhongming had punished him by tying him up like this.

Outside the Star Gazing Pavilion were the golden hidden huards. He didn’t dare to make a sound, and he was afraid of shaking the flower frame, so he could only be soft between Zhongming’s arms and was rubbed into a puddle of water.

But he never imagined that he would hear “Qianqiu Palace” from Liu Zhongming’s mouth at this time.

The terrifying question that Bai Shiyan had asked once again rumbled through his mind.

That thought was not Zhongming’s whim, there must be something wrong, and Zhongming must know something!

“Zhongming…” His previous tenderness was frightened to the point of disappearing, he suppressed his heart beating wildly. He looked at Liu Zhongming’s half-opened eyes, and said softly, “Next time…I don’t dare…”

“Be good, we’ll talk about it next time, this time I’ll make sure you have a good memory.”

Liu Zhongming smiled, scratched his chin with two fingers, leaned down, and tasted his slightly parted lips. The hands that have become familiar with the way lightly picked at the belt.

Qu Chenzhou’s whole body had begun to twitch uncontrollably. He wanted to curl up, but was pressed and unfolded, unable to move.

The nimble fingertips carried a string of shudders on the skin, like a wandering snake.

The snake seemed to devour him in the next moment.

He tried hard to suppress the urge to twist. He raised his neck and uttered three words hoarsely.

“Liu, Qing, Yuan.”

Liu Zhongming’s movements stopped abruptly. Thinking in a dazed trance and biting his tongue lightly, he retracted his hand and brushed the sweat-soaked hair on his sideburns for him. His eyes were lost for a moment and he bent into the socket of his neck and closed his eyes.

“I’ll let you go this time.”

Qu Chenzhou heard a whisper.

“Chenzhou Er…” 

The call sounded like thunder.

He was sluggish for a long time, listening to the even and sweet breathing in his ears, then moved his lips and murmured: “Liu Qingyuan.” 

It’s been too long since he uttered these three words.

This was Liu Zhongming’s former name. Zhongming should be of the “Qing” generation. The children of the Liu family were treated equally, and even Liu Guifei was also listed in the “Qing” generation.

It’s just that since Zhongming was seriously ill as a child, the abbot of Nanlu Chanyuan said that “Qingyuan” was not suitable. Because Zhongming’s birthday was on the ninth day of September, he changed his name to Liu Zhongming.

Since the time they had become intimate, Zhongming told him that name, saying that he wanted to mess around with him, to tease and bully him, but he was afraid that he would not have any restraint.

If he was really reluctant, he only needed to call this name and no matter if the arrow is on the string, it will stop.

Liu Zhongming actually knows! He actually remembers!

Qu Chenzhou looked up at the drapery above his head, his eyes were sour and astringent. Only when the moon was getting darker, the dark before dawn, did he fall asleep in a daze.

Naturally, he couldn’t sleep soundly that night, with a fiery body clinging to him. He always dreamed of those fragments from the past, scattered everywhere, and the nightmares came one after another, and his body was always sweaty.

When the cock crowed twice, he was awakened by a strange feeling.

Their bodies were close to each other, separated only by a layer of fabric. He didn’t notice anything at first, but at some point something started to hop, rubbing against his legs, making his heart distracted.

Qu Chenzhou was suddenly completely awake and understood what it was.

When he moved, he found that half of his body was numb from the pressure. He could only take a deep breath, close his eyes, and try to curl up his right leg, trying to push the person on top down with his knee.

But Liu Zhongming was lying in an awkward position, he couldn’t exert his strength, and he couldn’t push the person even half a point after raising his knees several times.

The person around him seemed to have been shaken unsteadily by him and moved.

When he opened his eyes out of breath, he saw a pair of eyes looking at him thoughtfully.

“In the early morning,” Liu Zhongming asked him, “Is it comfortable rubbing like that?”