Seeing how relaxed Mu Xueshi looked, the Third Prince’s movements softened and he became more patient. He continued preparing Mu Xueshi carefully, but Mu Xueshi’s body was so tense that even this slow approach was difficult.
“Relax…” The Third Prince gave his backside another light pat, producing a crisp sound.
Mu Xueshi could feel his body resisting, but the discomfort was still within what he could bear, so he did not complain. He still believed the Third Prince was only applying medicine. To distract himself, he picked up a small brocade box beside the pillow and turned it over in his hands.
As the preparation continued, Mu Xueshi finally realized something was wrong. The familiar pain returned, reminding him sharply of how he had felt after waking the previous morning, and it became worse as his injury was disturbed again. When the Third Prince pressed farther, Mu Xueshi could not help crying out.
“Quick, stop! If you keep doing that, my injury will get worse…” Mu Xueshi told him seriously.
The Third Prince nearly laughed at his expression. Leaning close, he kissed Mu Xueshi’s earlobe and told him that this was not medicine. It was part of making love.
Mu Xueshi froze. He suddenly remembered some explicit films he had seen before. They had involved men and women, but he understood the basic idea perfectly well. Looking at what the Third Prince was doing and then at the obvious difference in their bodies, he finally understood.
“No, no, absolutely not. This… this will kill me. I’ll definitely die…” Mu Xueshi panicked and tried to scramble off the bed, his face changing color.
Unfortunately, the two silk ties at his wrists held him fast. The more desperately he tried to escape, the tighter they pulled. Before long his wrists were bruised, while the Third Prince only drew closer.
“Don’t come any closer! If you really dare do that to me, I’ll…” Mu Xueshi frantically searched for something he could use as a weapon, finally seizing the jade handle and threatening, “I’ll crack your head open with this!”
In the next instant, the jade handle disappeared from Mu Xueshi’s hand and he was firmly restrained across the Third Prince’s lap. The prince now held the very object Mu Xueshi had intended to use as a weapon.
Mu Xueshi kept struggling. The thought of the Third Prince’s size terrified him, and he shouted from the prince’s lap, “I regret it! I regret everything! I’d rather be vulgar than noble!”
“Too late,” the Third Prince said with a soft snort, then calmly prepared the jade handle.
Mu Xueshi stared at it more closely and suddenly understood where the pain and discomfort after his drunken night had come from. Gritting his teeth, he turned toward the Third Prince. “You took advantage of me when I was drunk the night before last! Xi… that is not something an honorable man should do!”
Mu Xueshi had expected the accusation to embarrass the Third Prince enough to make him retreat. Instead, the prince answered calmly, “You were the one who initiated it. I did not force you.”
“Uh…” Mu Xueshi’s face turned red. He looked away and muttered from the prince’s lap, “Drunken recklessness… it was all the wine’s fault…”
Just as the Third Prince resumed what he was doing, Mu Xueshi shouted again.
“Wait! If you already knew that was how I got injured, why didn’t you tell me? You deliberately let me go to Imperial Physician Li so you could use it as an excuse to punish me afterward, didn’t you? Good thing I’m smart, or I would’ve fallen into your trap again.”
A proud curve appeared at the Third Prince’s lips. He answered without the slightest shame, “And if I did?”
That only made Mu Xueshi angrier. Still fearless, he complained, “Then Imperial Physician Li knows how I got hurt too? That’s… that’s humiliating! Xi, I regret it. Let me go.”
The Third Prince’s expression darkened. He could not understand how Mu Xueshi always had so much to say. Sometimes he loved that frankness; at other times, Mu Xueshi’s ability to destroy the mood regardless of the occasion drove him mad.
The Third Prince stopped listening to the complaints and continued the intimate preparation while keeping Mu Xueshi still.
Feeling the cool object enter his body, Mu Xueshi immediately shouted with theatrical outrage, “Help! Help! The Third Prince is abusing his authority to bully an innocent citizen! Where is justice? Where is justice?”
Su Ruhan stood on a hill not far away, tall and solitary, his handsome features cold and severe. The sounds from the room rose one after another and reached him clearly. Images of Mu Xueshi’s usual grinning face and the Third Prince’s cold eyes crossed his mind, and an inexplicable chill entered his heart.
Su Ruhan drew his long sword and began practicing wildly on the hill. Leaves fell from the surrounding trees and scattered over his feet and clothes. Sword raised beneath the sky, his hair lifted in the wind as the peerless blade traced a lonely, austere arc.
“The person inside sounds pitiful,” Gu Master Mo Ru said while pretending to reflect on his mistakes, all the while straining his ears toward the room. He deliberately directed the remark at Sun Ye.
Sun Ye raised an eyebrow and gave Mo Ru a sidelong look. “What business is it of yours?”
Mo Ru swallowed and put on a wounded expression. “Why are you always so cold to me?”
In the next instant, Sun Ye’s sword was already at his throat. Mo Ru immediately raised both hands in surrender. “Mercy, my lord. I spoke too much just now…”
After that, Mo Ru continued eavesdropping while secretly glancing at Sun Ye. Sun Ye might not possess the Third Prince’s incomparable beauty, but he was still exceptionally handsome, tall and well built. Mo Ru could not help wondering what he might be like in bed.