When Jiang Suizhou woke up that day, it was already past noon. Sunlight filtered softly through the curtains and drapes, gently illuminating his bed.

Opening his eyes, he frowned slightly at the brightness. As he shifted, he felt a strong arm wrapped tightly around his waist, holding him firmly in place.

Then he heard Huo Wujiu’s voice.

“You’re awake?” Huo Wujiu said with a satisfied smile, his tone casual, like a wolf basking lazily at his side.

Jiang Suizhou murmured a response, about to speak, but realized his throat was very dry.

He raised his eyes to glare coldly at Huo Wujiu.

Seeing his expression, Huo Wujiu chuckled, his laugh unusually cheeky, the vibrations of his amusement rumbling through his chest and reaching Jiang Suizhou.

…This bastard!

Why hadn’t he stopped last night when Jiang Suizhou had told him to? Acting like a hungry wolf, was it because of the wine from Huo Yuyan, or was it just Huo Wujiu being particularly relentless?

Either way, it was pure torment.

Hearing Huo Wujiu laugh, Jiang Suizhou’s ears grew hot involuntarily, and the warmth of Huo Wujiu’s solid chest pressed against his side made him both flustered and annoyed. He raised a hand to push him away.

But as soon as he moved, a certain sore spot throbbed painfully. The sharp ache along his meridians forced him to stop, and his hand dropped helplessly.

Huo Wujiu’s laughter grew even more unrestrained. Imperiously, he moved closer, pulling Jiang Suizhou into his arms. Lowering his head, he kissed him in a way that felt more like biting into a bone.

This time, Jiang Suizhou couldn’t care about his hoarse voice anymore.

“Stop fooling around! You’re not allowed to tease me again!” he demanded hastily.

Huo Wujiu held him tightly, leaving Jiang Suizhou with nowhere to escape. He heard Huo Wujiu reassuring him, “I’m not joking, I’m not joking,” all the while holding him firmly around the waist, kissing him along the way, and burying his head in his neck.

For the first time, Jiang Suizhou truly understood what it meant to be entirely at someone else’s mercy.

He couldn’t break free and instead found himself swept up in the desires that Huo Wujiu ignited. Once one tasted the pleasures of the flesh, human nature only craved more; otherwise, no one would indulge in devouring large pieces of meat.

Huo Wujiu had a young, vigorous body hardened by years of battle. Clearly, he wouldn’t suffer any consequences, but Jiang Suizhou wasn’t so certain about his own body.

Finally, he had to raise his voice slightly, whispering, “Huo Wujiu!”

Huo Wujiu’s actions paused for a moment.

A happy dog is often overbearing toward the one who spoils it, but if it truly sees its master frown, that big dog won’t dare act out anymore, even wagging its tail to show it means no harm.

Huo Wujiu stopped, raised his head, and kissed Jiang Suizhou’s lips with a hint of gentleness.

“I’m teasing you,” he said. “I won’t bother you anymore.”

Had he not been holding Jiang Suizhou firmly beneath him at that moment, his words might have sounded a bit more believable.

Jiang Suizhou stared at him quietly for a moment before watching Huo Wujiu pull back slightly, only to immediately nestle into his arms again.

“Alright, I won’t disturb you anymore,” Huo Wujiu conceded.

Jiang Suizhou averted his gaze and added softly, “You can’t go drinking at Huo Yuyan’s place anymore.”

At those words, Huo Wujiu thought to himself, At this point, what difference would it make whether I drank or not in the future?

Obviously, he couldn’t say that aloud.

He nodded obediently in response to Jiang Suizhou. “Of course, I won’t drink again. Yesterday, I didn’t know what I was getting into. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have touched a single drop.”

Jiang Suizhou didn’t respond but raised his hand to remove the mischievous one caressing his waist.

“Why haven’t you left yet?” he asked again.

Huo Wujiu thought it was naturally because he simply wanted to stay with him. But he couldn’t say such sentimental words aloud. Instead, he adjusted his expression and replied briefly, “There wasn’t much to do in the army today. Early this morning, I went to the imperial office to review some documents. I had Lou Yue deliver them, then I came back.”

Jiang Suizhou was surprised. “The documents have already been sent?”

Huo Wujiu nodded. “Yesterday, you said it was almost done, didn’t you? I finalized some details, organized the files, and finished everything up.”

Jiang Suizhou raised his gaze to look at Huo Wujiu.

He saw Huo Wujiu looking back at him, a trace of pride in his demeanor, as though waiting to be praised.

At that moment, Huo Wujiu was sitting there, the sunlight filtering through the curtains, warming his bare chest.

Scars, both old and new, were etched across his solid torso. The most prominent one stretched from his collarbone to his shoulder blade. It appeared to be an old injury, long healed and leaving only scar tissue behind, but it seemed deep, as though it had reached and damaged the bone.

Jiang Suizhou had seen that scar before, especially last night. In the darkness, the sweat shining on Huo Wujiu’s body had made the scar in the hollow of his collarbone especially striking.

Particularly when droplets of sweat trailed along it, it looked like a fierce beast’s mark branded onto Huo Wujiu’s body.

Huo Wujiu waited for a moment without receiving any praise. Lowering his gaze, he noticed that Jiang Suizhou was staring at the scar.

Huo Wujiu followed his gaze to the scar and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Suizhou hesitated for a moment but didn’t say anything.

Huo Wujiu smiled. “You pity me? It’s nothing. Look, it healed a long time ago.”

He took Jiang Suizhou’s hand and placed it on his collarbone, guiding him to feel the scar.

“When did this happen?” Jiang Suizhou asked involuntarily.

Huo Wujiu answered lightly, "It was during the Battle of Xunyang. A brutal blow, but luckily, it happened just before we secured victory. Otherwise, it would have been troublesome."

Jiang Suizhou’s fingertips traced the raised texture of the scar. At that moment, all he felt was warm, supple skin, but he could imagine the blood that had once poured from this wound, soaking through Huo Wujiu’s clothing.

"How did you end up getting injured when victory was so close?" Jiang Suizhou asked, puzzled.

Huo Wujiu paused, not responding immediately.

Jiang Suizhou looked up at him, seeing Huo Wujiu lower his gaze and say quietly, "It’s nothing. I had just found Huo Yuyan at that time. He was seriously injured and unconscious. Someone from the enemy ranks rose up from the corpses to attack him. I didn’t have time to react, so I blocked the blow for him."

Jiang Suizhou was somewhat startled by this explanation.

He looked at Huo Wujiu, who smiled faintly, as if it were no big deal. "If I had known how everything else would turn out later, I wouldn’t have blocked it. It would’ve saved me a lot of trouble."

Although he spoke lightly, Jiang Suizhou knew he was hiding his true emotions.

Not knowing how to comfort him, Jiang Suizhou remained silent for a moment before gently caressing the scar on Huo Wujiu’s body.

“It doesn’t matter,” Jiang Suizhou said softly. "At the time, he was your closest kin. There’s nothing wrong with saving him. And besides... it’s not all bad."

Huo Wujiu’s gaze darkened slightly.

Jiang Suizhou wasn’t sure, but he guessed that freshly healed scar tissue might be more sensitive than the original skin.

The next moment, Huo Wujiu firmly grabbed his hand.

“This time, you’re the one causing trouble for me,” Huo Wujiu murmured, lowering his head.

Jiang Suizhou was taken aback. "What?"

However, Huo Wujiu didn’t answer with words.

His response came in the form of a sudden whirl of the world and a weight of warmth pressing down on Jiang Suizhou.

Jiang Suizhou could distinctly feel a certain familiar heat and hardness—one he wouldn’t mention—pressed against him.

The next second, the kisses abruptly stopped.

At that moment, the outer door was violently pushed open, slamming against the wall. Layers of bed curtains blocked the view, obscuring who was outside. However, amidst a flurry of hurried footsteps, Wei Kai’s voice rang out urgently.

"General, something’s wrong! A major issue!"

The kiss stopped abruptly.

Jiang Suizhou felt Huo Wujiu freeze. He said nothing but was breathing heavily.

A second later, a low, furious voice, muffled by the curtains, carried out to Wei Kai.

"What? Who died?"

The voice was brimming with barely restrained anger.

Wei Kai shuddered from head to toe, standing stiffly. His mind went blank, leaving him with a single thought.

This is bad.

*

The sun hung high in the sky, with not a single cloud in sight. It was a rare sunny day in Lin’an.

Past noon, it was the hottest part of the day. The sound of cicadas echoed everywhere, and even under the cool shade of the trees, the heat seemed more oppressive because of their incessant noise.

In an alley adjacent to Lin’an’s western market, faint sounds of a fight could be heard.

A modest house in the alley stood with its doors wide open, the source of the commotion. Soon, someone emerged, carrying a bundle of miscellaneous items wrapped in old sheets. The bundle was thrown onto the dirt path in front of the house.

The sheets came undone, revealing a collection of rudimentary belongings. Among them were two old earthen jars, which shattered immediately upon hitting the ground, scattering fragments everywhere.

Moments later, two people were shoved roughly out of the house.

The first was a tall, slender figure wearing an old, coarse cloth shirt. Surprisingly, it was the scholar who had caused trouble at the western market that day—Nie Cong.

He quickly steadied himself, turning to help an elderly woman who had almost fallen.

Looking back, Nie Cong saw the seven or eight ruffians who had vandalized his home pouring out of the house, followed by their leader.

"Officers, I don’t know what crime I’ve committed. Please forgive me..." The elderly woman, her eyes clouded and vacant, continued to bow in the direction of the voices.

The leader of the thugs spat on the ground.

"Officers? Old woman, the little guy in your house didn’t just offend some officers." He stepped forward and shoved Nie Cong.

Nie Cong stumbled back a step, then turned to see the blind elderly woman beside him trying to steady him. It was only then that Nie Cong, who had been silent all this time, softly said, "I’m fine, Grandma."

The thug leader spoke again.

"Kid, listen carefully. You can be sure you’ll never set foot in the western market again. And you can’t stay in this house anymore either. The word’s already come down from above: if we see you in Lin’an again, you and the old woman won’t live to see another day."

The old woman panicked and hurriedly stepped forward. "Officers, this is our ancestral home, where we’ve lived for generations. This..."

But the thug ignored her, stepping closer to Nie Cong with a mocking grin.

"Kid, you can’t afford to court just any girl."

With a sinister smirk, he raised his hand and motioned for the gang to follow him. They turned and left.

 

Translator : DarNan