When Shu Changyu and Jing Mu returned to the entrance of the Governor-General’s Residence in Zhili that afternoon, quite a number of people were already kneeling outside.
The moment Shu Changyu stepped down from the carriage, the man kneeling at the front shuffled forward on his knees several steps before throwing himself at Shu Changyu’s feet and wrapping his arms around his leg.
After the previous night’s exertions, every inch of Shu Changyu’s waist and legs ached. The force of the collision nearly knocked him off balance.
“Lord Shu, spare my life!”
Startled, Shu Changyu frowned and looked down.
The man clinging to him was none other than Sun Dazhi.
His face was haggard, clearly showing that he had spent the entire night waiting there without sleep.
Before he could say another word, Jing Mu strode forward and, without hesitation, drove a vicious kick into him.
He used at least half his strength.
Sun Dazhi was sent sprawling across the ground and lay there for quite a while before he could get back up.
“Where is Guo Hanru?” Jing Mu demanded through gritted teeth, his voice icy. “Wasn’t he ordered to escort this man back to the capital last night and throw him into the Ministry of Justice’s prison?”
Shu Changyu thought to himself, Well now… I’d never realized this little pup could be so fierce.
Off to the side, Guo Hanru stepped forward, trembling.
“Your Highness… Lord Sun refused. He insisted on waiting until Lord Shu returned before making a decision. This official…” Since his rank was lower than Sun Dazhi’s, even as a capital official, he had not dared act on his own.
“Now that I have returned, what are you still standing there for?”
Before Guo Hanru could finish speaking, Jing Mu interrupted coldly.
“Take him away. Escort him back to the capital immediately. There will be no delays.”
The guards hurried forward and dragged away the crying, pleading Sun Dazhi.
Although Jing Mu was still dressed in the uniform of an ordinary attendant from the capital, everyone present knew that he was Prince Dun, Jing Mu—the prince greatly favored by the Emperor.
Sun Dazhi himself had never expected this outcome.
He had dared set a trap for Shu Changyu because he had calculated that no one in the inspection party besides Shu Changyu had the authority to deal with him.
As long as he could control Shu Changyu, he could do as he pleased.
He had never imagined that the guard who had been traveling alongside Shu Changyu…
was actually Prince Dun.
Once Sun Dazhi had been dragged away, Jing Mu lowered his gaze toward Shu Changyu.
Shu Changyu looked up at him.
Just one glance.
Then, without drawing attention to it, he calmly looked away.
Yet somehow, that brief, indifferent exchange of glances tasted sweet to Jing Mu.
The instant their eyes met, the corners of his lips lifted into a smile.
Shu Changyu looked away as though nothing had happened, quietly suppressing the smile that threatened to appear on his own lips.
With Sun Dazhi gone, the Governor-General’s Residence of Zhili was temporarily without a master.
Attempting to bribe an imperial inspector in order to fraudulently obtain funds for repairing the river dikes was a capital crime. Once Sun Dazhi returned to the capital, execution awaited him.
Leaderless, the officials of Zhili no longer dared resist.
As soon as Jing Mu arrived, they respectfully presented the Governor-General’s official seal to him.
In Shu Changyu’s previous life, given his position, even if Jing Mu had been present, the seal would have been handed to Shu Changyu first.
But in this life, he was no longer the Grand Chancellor.
Although he was the official leading this inspection, there now stood a prince behind him.
Naturally, the official holding the seal bypassed Shu Changyu entirely and placed it into Jing Mu’s hands.
Everyone considered it perfectly appropriate.
Shu Changyu, however, found it rather amusing and cast Jing Mu a sidelong glance.
Jing Mu didn’t even look at him as he accepted the seal.
“We’re not going anywhere today,” he instructed Guo Hanru.
“We’ll reorganize and continue the inspection at first light tomorrow.”
Guo Hanru acknowledged the order.
Jing Mu then naturally reached out to support Shu Changyu.
“Shifu, this student will escort you back to rest.”
The gesture was rather intimate, but his expression and tone remained perfectly respectful, making him appear every bit the devoted student dutifully caring for his teacher.
Even so, the tips of Shu Changyu’s ears turned red.
The people around them hurriedly stepped aside.
Supporting Shu Changyu, Jing Mu added,
“None of you need follow us.”
Then he escorted him back to his quarters.
Once they reached a deserted stretch of the path, Jing Mu glanced around before swiftly pulling the official seal from his sleeve.
Like a thief hiding stolen goods, he stuffed it into Shu Changyu’s sleeve.
The sudden weight startled Shu Changyu.
He immediately took the seal back out and tried to return it.
“What are you doing?”
Grinning, Jing Mu dodged without accepting it.
“Shifu, this is for you. It may not be a very important office, but I hope you won’t look down on it.”
Then, lowering his voice, he added,
“Whatever I can obtain… I’ll give it all to you.”
Shu Changyu frowned.
Looking at him as though he were a child proudly offering up a treasured possession, he sighed helplessly and tried once more to stuff the seal back into Jing Mu’s hands.
“Stop fooling around. You’re His Majesty’s son. Aside from you, no one here is qualified to temporarily hold this seal.”
But Jing Mu refused to take it, twisting away to avoid him.
“Shifu, there’s no one else around anyway. What’s mine is yours. Just keep it.”
Whenever Jing Mu acquired something, giving it to Shu Changyu had long since become second nature.
More than that, he knew Shu Changyu had once held immense power for years.
Now, because of him, Shu Changyu had returned to more than a decade earlier and had to start everything over from scratch.
The more Jing Mu thought about it, the more he felt he owed him.
After several failed attempts to force the seal back into Jing Mu’s hands, Shu Changyu frowned at the prince’s playful grin.
“Jing Mu, if you keep fooling around like this, I’ll…”
He stopped midway.
For some reason, he couldn’t finish the sentence.
Jing Mu wasn’t afraid in the slightest.
Gone was the pitiful young man who had cried so miserably that morning.
Instead, smiling, he leaned closer.
“What will you do?”
Shu Changyu found himself speechless.
Looking at Jing Mu’s smiling face and burning gaze, his heart began pounding.
With a flick of his sleeve, he turned and walked away.
Seeing the bright red tips of his ears, Jing Mu followed him all the way back to his residence.
The maids originally assigned there had all been arranged by Sun Dazhi and had been dismissed the previous night.
Not a single one remained.
Shu Changyu walked straight into his room.
Jing Mu followed, closing the door behind him.
The next moment, he grabbed Shu Changyu by the arm and gently pressed him back against the door.
Bracing one hand beside him, he caged Shu Changyu between himself and the wooden door.
Shu Changyu’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Shifu still hasn’t answered my question.”
Their noses were less than half an inch apart as their eyes met.
“What exactly were you going to do?”
The room immediately filled with an unmistakably intimate atmosphere.
It was as though Shu Changyu had fallen under a spell.
He stared fixedly into Jing Mu’s eyes, unable to say a single word.
It was a strange feeling.
The moment their eyes met, language itself seemed to lose all meaning.
Time itself appeared to stop.
Pressed against the door, Shu Changyu remained silent for a long while before belatedly realizing how hot his neck had become.
“You’re fooling around with me again…”
Lowering his eyes, he reached up to push Jing Mu away.
The next instant, an arm wrapped firmly around his waist.
Before he could react, Jing Mu lifted him into the air.
Instinctively, Shu Changyu grabbed onto Jing Mu’s shoulders.
Jing Mu carried him several long strides into the inner room before gently tossing him onto the bed.
Shu Changyu landed amid the warm blankets.
Before he could gather himself, Jing Mu was already above him, leaning down to kiss him.
Startled, Shu Changyu found himself lifting his arms almost unconsciously to loop them around Jing Mu’s neck.
Closing his eyes, he returned the kiss.
Jing Mu’s hands slid smoothly down the elegant line of Shu Changyu’s back before tightening around his slim waist, holding him firmly in his embrace.
Before long, Shu Changyu became aware of Jing Mu’s unmistakable arousal pressing against him, along with the hand slowly caressing his waist.
Shu Changyu: …
A wave of soreness spread through his lower back.
The previous night, under the effects of the drug, Jing Mu had undoubtedly behaved like a little madman, utterly without restraint.
His waist, back, and legs truly couldn’t take another round.
With great determination, Shu Changyu lifted a hand and pushed Jing Mu’s face away.
Jing Mu had been kissing him with his eyes closed.
Now he opened them.
Those damp, puppy-like eyes looked utterly harmless as he gazed pitifully at Shu Changyu.
Though a trace of tenderness stirred in Shu Changyu’s heart, he forcibly suppressed it.
Resolutely, he refused.
“We’re dining with Lord Guo later.”
“And we depart early tomorrow morning.”
The corners of Jing Mu’s mouth slowly drooped.
He looked even more pitiful.
“Shifu…”
he whined softly, calling to him while still shamelessly pressing himself closer.
For the first time, Shu Changyu truly felt the difference in their ages.
…Except that he himself was not even twenty in this lifetime.
So why…
Why was the gap in stamina so enormous?
Shu Changyu added,
“…My waist still hurts.”
This time, Jing Mu stopped insisting.
Looking thoroughly defeated, he bit Shu Changyu’s lips hard once before burying his face in the hollow of his shoulder.
Holding him tightly, he remained still.
The two of them lay together like that for a long time.
“Shifu.”
After a while, Jing Mu spoke quietly.
“Hm?”
Shu Changyu lowered his eyes to look at him.
“Do you like me?”
Jing Mu raised his head, his bright eyes shining as he stared directly at him.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Shu Changyu answered,
“No.”
Jing Mu froze.
“If I didn’t,” Shu Changyu continued calmly, “why would I be holding you right now?”
“In my previous life, I even found cats and dogs too clingy.”
Jing Mu was incredibly easy to comfort.
The moment he heard those words, his eyes lit up again.
Then Shu Changyu felt Jing Mu take hold of his hand and guide it downward until it rested against a certain hard, burning part of him.
Startled, Shu Changyu instinctively tried to pull away.
Jing Mu caught his hand before he could.
“Whenever I see Shifu, I can’t control myself.”
Jing Mu smiled.
His voice was low and husky, carrying an indescribably magnetic sensuality.
“And then Shifu says things about liking me.”
“Since all of this began because of Shifu…”
“…then please help me.”
“You…”
“Shifu used to teach me what to do whenever my thoughts became blocked and reason failed me.”
Jing Mu’s low voice brushed against Shu Changyu’s ear, stirring an unsettling warmth inside him.
Still holding his hand, Jing Mu guided it beneath the fabric of his robes.
“Right now, this part of your student is rather… blocked as well.”
“I humbly ask Shifu to share his wisdom…”
“…and teach Jing Mu how to find relief.”