That morning, Guo Hanru set off.
Now that the matter was settled, Shu Changyu finally had some free time. After finishing his meal, he sat in the reception hall and drank tea.
It was not until midmorning that the officials of Zhili belatedly learned that something had happened to the Governor-General. Before long, people came to the Zhili Governor-General’s residence, bringing over the important matters that required the Governor-General’s approval.
Jing Mu dragged Shu Changyu along with him to the study.
But there truly were not many matters sent over, and with Jing Mu sitting there, he could finish dealing with all of them in less than half an hour.
However, Jing Mu dismissed all the attendants, leaving only Shu Changyu behind. Holding one of the memorials in his hands, he scooted over to Shu Changyu.
“Grand Mentor, how do you read these reported tax revenues?” Jing Mu leaned against his side. When he spoke, he practically wanted his lips to stick to Shu Changyu’s ear.
Shu Changyu glanced at him and lightly tapped him on the head.
“You don’t even know how to read this? Jing Mu, it seems all my teaching in my previous life was wasted.”
Jing Mu gave a rather dissatisfied hum.
“But in my previous life, Grand Mentor always read them for me.”
Shu Changyu tapped him on the head again and threatened him without much force.
“If you keep acting like this foolish emperor, then I won’t bother with you anymore.”
And so Jing Mu held the memorial in one hand while using the other to pull Shu Changyu into his arms, kissing the side of his face lightly and repeatedly.
“There’s nothing I can do about that… Whether I’m a foolish emperor or a wise emperor, if I really have such a devastating beauty by my side, what’s the point of having an empire?”
The powerful Chancellor Shu Changyu, who held great authority and was decisive and ruthless in handling affairs, had never known that he was actually capable of throwing the entire court into chaos simply through his beauty.
Shu Changyu’s neck and ears grew hot. He pressed against Jing Mu’s overly affectionate face and pushed him away.
But Jing Mu seemed determined to stick to him and reached out to wrap his arms around Shu Changyu’s waist again.
Exasperated, Shu Changyu snatched the memorial from his hand and began smacking him with it.
The paper was completely incapable of causing any pain. Jing Mu deliberately seemed to want to make him laugh, dodging from side to side as he was hit, lowering his voice and begging for mercy.
Shu Changyu immediately saw that he was putting on an act, but after a few swats, he stopped.
“Do you know what you did wrong?”
Jing Mu instead smiled and leaned closer.
“Grand Mentor is really vicious. Looks like after resting properly for more than a day, your waist has already recovered.”
As he spoke, he gently stroked Shu Changyu’s waist, his brows and eyes filled with an unmistakably suggestive expression.
Shu Changyu could tell at a glance what this scoundrel was thinking.
He raised his hand to hit him again, but Jing Mu snatched the memorial away. Then he wrapped Shu Changyu in his arms and opened the memorial in front of them with both hands.
“How do you read these tax figures? Grand Mentor, teach me.”
Shu Changyu turned his head slightly, and Jing Mu’s face was suddenly right beside his.
His ears were a little hot.
“Stop fooling around.”
“Grand Mentor won’t let me be a foolish emperor, but he won’t teach me how to read memorials either. That’s really unfair.”
Jing Mu hugged him and whispered against his ear, deliberately acting spoiled.
His voice still retained some of the sound of youth, but it had already taken on the deep, steady weight of an adult man’s voice. That magnetic, somber voice brushed against Shu Changyu’s ear, bringing a tingling sensation with it.
And yet precisely because such a voice now carried a hint of playfulness and seductiveness, it made Shu Changyu even more uncomfortable.
Then he heard Jing Mu whisper beside his ear:
“If Grand Mentor won’t teach me how to read memorials, then I’ll have no choice but to become a foolish emperor in the future. And a foolish emperor will naturally be one who indulges in beauty and loses himself in pleasure during the daytime.”
As he spoke, one of his hands became increasingly unruly, slipping toward Shu Changyu’s waist. He even brushed his tongue teasingly against the edge of Shu Changyu’s ear.
Shu Changyu shuddered all over and immediately caught Jing Mu’s hand.
“I’ll only explain it once. This time, you’d better listen carefully.”
Although he spoke sternly, he still could not completely suppress the slight tremor in his voice.
Hearing this, Jing Mu held the memorial in front of him with one hand and firmly wrapped the other around Shu Changyu’s waist, resting his chin on Shu Changyu’s shoulder as he answered with a laugh.
The windows were closed, and the bright spring sunlight filtered through the paper windows, scattering warm, luminous light throughout the room.
—
The several matters that seemed trivial and simple in Shu Changyu’s eyes somehow became an excuse for Jing Mu to keep him sitting in the Zhili Governor-General’s study for the entire day.
By the time dusk descended, Jing Mu finally placed the last memorial back on the desk.
Shu Changyu had been held in his arms for most of the day. By then he was somewhat dazed, and Jing Mu half-carried, half-embraced him onto the couch, where they began kissing again.
From the day he was born, Shu Changyu had never lived a single day without restraining himself. There had never been a day when he was not immersed in arduous study and discussions of statecraft, all so that one day he could become a pillar of the nation.
Yet ever since he had gotten together with Jing Mu the previous day, it seemed he had suddenly lost all his ambitions and ideals.
Even the task of inspecting the river channels, which should originally have been his own responsibility, had been pushed onto the officials under him under the excuse of other matters, while he himself stayed here shamelessly fooling around with this brat.
Shu Changyu felt that this really was unacceptable.
Jing Mu was an immature child who did not know when to stop. How could Shu Changyu also lose all restraint along with him?
But even as he thought this, his hands no longer seemed willing to obey him.
His mind wanted him to push Jing Mu away, yet his hands had already wrapped themselves around Jing Mu’s back.
“Grand Mentor.”
At that moment, Jing Mu stopped. One hand rested against Shu Changyu’s shoulder, their noses nearly touching.
“Mm?”
Only after Shu Changyu spoke did he realize that his own voice had already become hoarse, carrying an unexpected softness and suggestiveness.
When Shu Changyu saw the already-deep look in Jing Mu’s eyes become even darker, he quickly closed his mouth.
“Indulging in pleasure during the daytime may indeed be inappropriate,” Jing Mu said, gently stroking his face. “But the sun is about to set now. Surely I can indulge myself with Grand Mentor?”
Shu Changyu: “…”
Though Jing Mu said it as though asking for permission, he clearly did not mean to negotiate.
Before he had even finished speaking, his hand had already slipped beneath Shu Changyu’s clothes and lightly squeezed his waist.
When it came to falling in love with someone, one really had to proceed step by step and could not force things too quickly.
It was the same with intimacy between lovers. Once it had begun too early, afterward it simply became impossible to stop.
That day, it was not until the sky had gone completely dark that Assistant Minister Shu and Prince Dunqin finally finished dealing with the complicated affairs of Zhili and came out of the study.
Assistant Minister Shu had always been in poor health. He must have been sitting in the study for too long, because when he came out, his steps were unsteady, and anyone could see that his waist and legs had been overworked.
The two of them had apparently disagreed over some important matter. Shu Daren’s expression was unpleasant the entire time, while Prince Dunqin wore an expression of sincere repentance, following beside him with an ingratiating smile.
He must have offended his Grand Mentor just now.
As for exactly how Prince Dunqin had “offended” his Grand Mentor, only the two of them knew.
When night finally fell, Jing Mu repeated his old trick and stealthily slipped into Shu Changyu’s bedroom beneath the cover of darkness.
The lamps had not yet been lit, leaving the bedroom very dim.
Jing Mu, already familiar with the place, felt his way to the edge of the bed, took off his boots, and rolled onto it.
Only to end up hugging a cold, empty quilt.
Jing Mu: “…”
Shu Changyu, who had just bathed and was sitting at the table drinking tea while drying his hair, had seen the entire scene.
Shu Changyu: “…”
Jing Mu awkwardly sat up from the quilt.
He saw Shu Changyu place his teacup on the table and walk over to the bed.
The window was behind Shu Changyu, and with the light behind him, Jing Mu could not clearly see his expression.
But in the moonlight, Shu Changyu could clearly see Jing Mu’s dazed, bewildered expression. His hair was slightly disheveled from his earlier antics, making him look like a large dog that had broken something after running around excitedly.
Shu Changyu stood beside the bed, looking down at Jing Mu, who had raised his head, and reached out to smooth his hair.
Jing Mu immediately broke into a grin.
His canine teeth were slightly longer than his other teeth, sharp at the tips and gleaming cold white in the moonlight.
He rubbed his cheek against Shu Changyu’s palm.
The next moment, Shu Changyu’s hand suddenly pressed hard to the side.
Caught completely off guard, Jing Mu was pushed headfirst into the quilt.
…So fierce.
Jing Mu lifted his head and saw that Shu Changyu’s expression was rather stern. From the look of him, it was obvious that he intended to press Jing Mu down and lecture him again.
Jing Mu awkwardly pursed his lips, climbed out of the quilt, and sat properly on the edge of the bed. Looking up obediently at him, he called softly,
“Grand Mentor.”
Shu Changyu stood before him with a very serious expression.
“You haven’t behaved properly for the entire day. Have I spoiled you too much?”
Jing Mu pleasingly raised his arm and tried to wrap it around Shu Changyu’s waist, only to have it slapped away.
“Originally, you and I came to Zhili on official business. Even now that we’re staying in Zhili, there are still proper matters to attend to.”
Shu Changyu frowned.
“You’ve spent the entire day behaving shamelessly, and now you’re acting like this again at night… What kind of behavior is this?”
“Grand Mentor, we’ve already finished all the proper things we needed to do.”
Jing Mu looked up at him with a smile.
“That still doesn’t mean…”
“It does.”
Jing Mu interrupted before he could finish. Then he reached out, wrapped his arms around Shu Changyu’s waist, and pulled him into his embrace.
“Grand Mentor… For so many years, I never even dared dream that I could have today.”
He pressed his cheek against Shu Changyu’s abdomen and spoke quietly.
“I’m just too happy, so I couldn’t control myself.”
Seeing him like this, Shu Changyu’s intention to properly scold him mysteriously disappeared.
He lowered his eyes, looked at Jing Mu, sighed softly, and gently stroked his black hair.
“Anyway, I’ve already been an emperor once in my previous life. That throne was empty and cold, and I don’t want to sit on it again.”
Jing Mu scooped Shu Changyu up and carried him onto the couch, letting him fall into his embrace. Then he whispered against his ear.
“This life, I’ll stay by Grand Mentor’s side forever and spend every day like this. Whoever wants to be emperor can go be emperor. Grand Mentor, don’t you think that’s good?”
Shu Changyu quietly muttered that he was being ridiculous, but his lips nevertheless landed at the corner of Jing Mu’s mouth.
Jing Mu smiled and pulled him close, kissing him deeply.
Shu Changyu had not yet changed clothes. The piece of jade hanging at his side became caught between the two of them and the edge of the bed. With Jing Mu’s movement, the cord snapped, and the white jade pendant immediately fell to the floor and shattered into several pieces.
Hearing the sound, Shu Changyu started to sit up and look, but Jing Mu turned over and pushed him back onto the bed.
And so neither of them checked the jade.
Naturally, neither noticed the dark figure standing outside the window.
The person outside was clearly one of the Shu family’s guards. He had only just been assigned that day to accompany Guo Hanru in inspecting the river embankment.
He was holding a letter that Guo Hanru had sent back.
Standing by the window, he stared in disbelief through the narrow gap at the two people entangled inside the room.
The envelope in his hand was crumpled into a ball.
At that moment, there was only one thought in the guard’s mind—
He had to tell the Old Madam.
Right now.
Immediately.
He absolutely had to tell the Old Madam.