Faced with Mu Xueshi’s frightened expression, the darkness in the Third Prince’s eyes suddenly eased. He gently rubbed Mu Xueshi’s hair and said, “It’s fine. Linhan Palace is damp and cold. It is not strange for your face to react. Just stop touching it with your hands.”
Mu Xueshi’s good mood had completely disappeared. He had hoped to enjoy at least one happy moment before confessing the truth about his identity. Clearing the name of this body’s original owner had felt like a small repayment. Instead, this accident only brought him closer to the cruelty of reality.
Seeing the dimness in Mu Xueshi’s eyes and the forced smile on his face, the Third Prince’s mood darkened as well. Mu Xueshi had already been slapped twenty times that morning, and now his entire face was damaged too. It was far too obvious.
The Third Prince carried Mu Xueshi back inside, carefully laid him on the bed, and covered him with a quilt. Once a fresh layer of disguise was applied, Mu Xueshi’s face looked normal again, with no sign of what lay beneath.
“Sleep. You’re tired.” The Third Prince stroked Mu Xueshi’s long lashes and coaxed him gently.
That rare tenderness only made Mu Xueshi more uneasy. The better the Third Prince treated him, the more selfishly Mu Xueshi wanted to keep this face and identity for himself. He hated his own hypocrisy and greed. He knew he would never truly steal them, yet he could not stop wanting to.
“Xi, if my face never heals, will you dislike me?”
The Third Prince had been about to go find the Emperor, but the question stopped him. At last he understood what Mu Xueshi was worried about. Seeing sorrow in those beautiful eyes, the Third Prince even felt a faint, secret pleasure.
Mu Xueshi had begun to care about how the prince saw him. He had begun to fear that some flaw might make the prince abandon him. Neither the cold Mu Xueshi of the past nor the laughing, foolish one of recent days had ever seemed this vulnerable.
Fresh from the bath, even Mu Xueshi’s chest was flushed pink, smooth and pale like a newborn’s skin. No wonder so many ministers in the hall had stared. Remembering their greedy expressions filled the Third Prince with disgust.
Without hesitation, the Third Prince kissed Mu Xueshi’s soft lips. It was almost as though he did not care what face Mu Xueshi wore at all. He simply wanted to comfort him without words. Even if no cure could be found, the Third Prince would not cast him aside.
Their kiss deepened. Mu Xueshi’s body had already begun reacting, and he rubbed against the Third Prince’s smooth chest with an openly desirous expression.
The Third Prince found the expression amusing but kept his own face calm. Mu Xueshi seemed dissatisfied with the lack of visible reaction, pulled his hand back, huffed twice, and wriggled out of the prince’s arms.
Seeing Mu Xueshi pretend to be angry, the Third Prince deliberately teased him. Before long, Mu Xueshi was panting under the prince’s touch. His face still looked stubborn, but his body had already betrayed him.
In the end, the Third Prince stripped Mu Xueshi and pressed him beneath him. Mu Xueshi refused to accept the disadvantage quietly and tugged at the prince’s clothes, even trying to reverse their positions. One hand from the Third Prince was enough to subdue him, and every attempt Mu Xueshi made to seal the prince’s acupoints failed.
When the Third Prince reached for the scented lubricant again, Mu Xueshi became nervous. Burying his face in the quilt, he muttered, “Don’t use that. It’s been sitting around so long it might have gone bad. What if it doesn’t work and I end up hurting again?”
The Third Prince showed no intention of compromising and even ordered Qing Ya to bring it in personally. The instant Mu Xueshi saw her enter, he hurriedly covered himself with the quilt, blushing like a boiled shrimp.
Doesn’t that mean everyone in the courtyard will know the Third Prince and I… The more Mu Xueshi thought about it, the hotter his face became. Then a soft touch reached his most sensitive place. He instinctively tried to move from the pleasure, but the Third Prince held him still. The prince’s mouth worked gently against him, and Mu Xueshi felt close to losing himself, unable to suppress the muffled sounds escaping him.
“Mm… no…”
At the same time, one of the Third Prince’s fingers slipped inside Mu Xueshi, spreading the scented lubricant and carefully exploring. When the finger found a particularly sensitive spot and pressed, Mu Xueshi shuddered.
Once the Third Prince found that place, he continued stimulating it. Mu Xueshi’s broken sounds mixed with pleading resistance, filling the gauze-curtained bed with heat.
Why did God design people with so many weak points? Mu Xueshi thought miserably. A moment later the Third Prince added another finger, and Mu Xueshi felt as though even his breathing had fallen under the prince’s control.
“Sit on me yourself,” the Third Prince ordered, seated in front of him.
Mu Xueshi looked down and shivered. “Maybe… maybe not. I can help you with my hand instead…”
In the next instant, the Third Prince grabbed his hand. Mu Xueshi thought he had been granted mercy, only for the prince to pull him onto his lap.
Mu Xueshi could only accept his fate. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to lower his body. A man should be able to bend when necessary; crying like a wronged woman would be even more humiliating.
He had barely taken half when he felt as though he might split apart. Sweat appeared on his forehead, and he could not move any farther.
Mu Xueshi noticed that every small movement seemed to deepen the satisfaction on the Third Prince’s face. Finally, he steeled himself, clenched his teeth, and forced himself all the way down.
“Mm…” Mu Xueshi could not hold back. He bit the Third Prince’s shoulder on instinct to endure the pain, leaving two clear rows of teeth marks on the smooth skin.
Mu Xueshi’s pained expression stirred both pity and a darker desire in the Third Prince. The prince began to move slowly, and Mu Xueshi’s clear pleas accompanied every motion.
“Please… wait a little… I’m not ready yet…”
“What do you need to prepare? Shall I call over a few singers from Changxin Courtyard?”
“Mm… no…”
“Or should I bring your master here so he can admire how tempting you look right now?” The Third Prince moved more forcefully.
“Ah… don’t say that… you’re… taking revenge…”
“Move by yourself.”
“I don’t want this position… mm…”
“Why not? It goes deeper this way. Haven’t you always wanted to be on top?”
“…”
Two shadows stretched across a corner of the courtyard as the setting sun cast long light over the walls.
“Tsk, tsk… It’s been a long time since I heard anything this exciting. The Third Prince looks so cold normally, but he certainly doesn’t lack passion in bed…”
“Who told you to stand up? Squat back down.”
Sun Ye pointed his sword at Gu Master Mo Ru’s head with obvious disgust. He was even angrier about the man’s shameless commentary. It was bad enough to eavesdrop on someone else’s bedroom affairs; saying it aloud was worse.
Seeing Sun Ye’s irritated expression put Mo Ru in an excellent mood. He crouched with his hands over his head and still wore the face of someone happily watching a show.
Ever since Mu Xueshi punished Mo Ru by ordering him to come here every night, the Gu Master had arrived even more reliably than a rooster at dawn, delighted to “receive punishment.” Qinyi Courtyard contained plenty of strange things and many Gu insects, enough to occupy him for quite some time. At first he only came at night. Later he stayed all day as well and could not be driven away. The man who once wandered the jianghu freely and appeared wherever he pleased now refused to go anywhere except Qinyi Courtyard.
Sun Ye had just raised the hilt of his sword to smack the unruly Gu Master when a dark shadow flashed through the trees. He vaulted over the wall and chased after it. Mo Ru immediately followed.
The shadow moved extremely quickly. Sun Ye’s qinggong was already excellent, yet he still struggled to keep up. The figure suddenly flipped around and leapt back into the courtyard, running as though deliberately teasing him.
Once they reentered the courtyard, Sun Ye’s familiarity with the terrain let him close the distance. He caught up on the rear mountain and confronted the intruder.
The black-clad figure was agile, with his hair tied high and a sharp gleam at the corner of his eyes. He carried a long staff that looked ordinary. Yet when he swung it at Sun Ye, Sun Ye dodged nimbly and the stone beside him shattered under the blow.
Sun Ye used a sword while the other man wielded the staff. They exchanged dozens of moves on the rear mountain without a clear winner. Mo Ru watched from the side without intervening, his dark brows drawn together as though thinking.
Sun Ye’s attacks were fast and sharp. The stranger’s techniques were brutal and extraordinarily powerful. Each had strengths and weaknesses, and as the battle dragged on without pause, endurance became increasingly important.
After hundreds of exchanges, sweat had appeared on Sun Ye’s forehead, while his opponent’s momentum had not weakened. Taking advantage of Sun Ye’s momentary breath, the black-clad man unleashed several rapid strikes and briefly caught him off guard.
A staff suddenly came down toward Sun Ye’s shoulder. He had barely avoided the previous attack and his footing was already unstable. Mo Ru silently cried that the opportunity had come, rushed forward, and used his own back to block the blow. He screamed and collapsed.
Sun Ye stared at Mo Ru in disbelief, complicated feelings rushing through him.
The black-clad man moved to finish the attack, but a sudden current of air struck him. Realizing it carried Gu poison, he immediately threw a letter toward Sun Ye, held his breath, and said, “My master ordered me to deliver that to the Third Prince.”
With that, the man leapt away and vanished from sight.
Sun Ye held the letter and looked at Mo Ru curled on the ground. In a helpless tone, he said, “I’ll deliver this to the Third Prince first, then come back and save you.”
Mo Ru weakly nodded in pretense. The instant Sun Ye disappeared, a satisfied smile spread across his face.