Chapter 39 Why was he so bold at this time?
As her scattered consciousness gradually returned to her mind, Hua Lang realized that she had already fallen asleep.
Turn over.
Not in the familiar, warm embrace.
Hua Lang shrank deeper into the blankets, opened her eyes, and was somewhat unable to distinguish whether the scene in her memory was reality or a dream.
Even a slight movement causes a soreness and lingering sensation in the tailbone; perhaps it really is true.
He shrank further under the covers, covering his head, too afraid to face the flood of memories. She might really have some strange fetish; she was actually playing with a wound he was so ashamed of.
There was no smell around, so she must have finished dealing with it a long time ago.
Hua Lang felt inexplicably calm, yawned, and prepared to sleep a little longer.
"Get up quickly, come and have breakfast."
Hua Lang blinked, and a lazy voice came out from under the covers, "General, I'm tired."
"Hmm?" Zhan Yunmei hung the small oil lamp above the head of the bed, and her two cold hands slipped under the covers and pressed against Hua Lang's warm back.
The sudden chill made him shiver, and at the same time, a muffled groan of grievance came from the blankets.
"Hang in there, okay?" Zhan Yunmei knelt on one knee on the bed, lifted the quilt to reveal Hua Lang's head, and stroked it. "Mother will use it with us, don't keep her waiting too long."
Almost the instant he spoke, Hua Lang sat up suspiciously and reached for his clothes to put them on.
Let's hang in there...
Holding hands with Zhan Yunmei and shrouded in a cloak, Hua Lang felt no cold from the snow and wind outside the corridor.
He wished the snow would fall heavier; if it fell heavier, perhaps she would carry him away.
He thought about it again and realized that carrying him would be too strange.
Shake head.
Let's forget about it.
Suddenly it occurred to me, why is Zhan Yunmei in the manor today? Doesn't she always leave early in the morning?
“General,” Hua Lang called to her.
"Yes, I'm here."
"You...didn't you go to the Beijing Garrison today?"
Zhan Yunmei stopped walking, and Hua Lang stopped as well. His heart skipped a beat. Had he asked her too many questions? He shouldn't have interfered in her affairs. He was an official of the manor, not an outsider. What right did he have to ask so many questions?
“I’m gone,” she said, looking up at Hua Lang’s eyes, which were slightly swollen around his eyes and the redness had not completely faded. Following the red teeth marks on his neck, she could see the marks she had left behind.
He probably didn't realize that his collar wasn't pulled up high enough to cover him up.
Zhan Yunmei reached out and straightened his collar, saying calmly, "You're back already. It's 1:15 AM now. Haven't you noticed yet?"
Ah... it's Chen Shi (7-9 AM).
Hua Lang looked down as Zhan Yunmei straightened his collar. After she withdrew her hand, he slowly looked out of the corridor. There was no light on the horizon, and the sky was covered with dark clouds. The thick clouds piled up together, so it looked very early.
What time did he usually get up?
It took Hua Lang a while to remember that she used to get up at about the same time as Zhan Yunmei, and sometimes even earlier.
He can't get up now. All he wants to do is curl up on the bed every day and wait for Zhan Yunmei to come back, to have her rub and pinch him, and then slowly crawl out of bed.
Hua Lang herself didn't realize that she had just been worried, but was immediately distracted by Zhan Yunmei's words.
The chopsticks were stuffed into my hand.
“Eat more,” Zhan Yunmei said.
Looking up, Zhan Yan was sitting opposite me.
He couldn't help but become a little reserved. Zhan Yunmei noticed Hua Lang's subtle change, moved to his side, took his hand in her palm, placed it on his leg, and gently stroked it with her thumb, giving him immense comfort.
The two people were standing so close together, with their hands under the table, not in a way that concealed their presence.
Zhan Yan quietly shifted her gaze and said, "The Emperor just sent an imperial edict, ordering you to accompany her to Fengtian Temple for a sacrificial ceremony. You can go there later."
Zhan Yunmei replied, "Okay, is Mother going?"
Zhan Yan shook her head, "I'm not going. I came here mainly to see you."
Zhan Yunmei said "okay" again, then felt the hand in her palm trying to pull away, so she pressed it down.
Looking at Hua Lang, he asked, "Have you finished eating?"
Hua Lang pulled his hand away forcefully. "Yes, General, you can go now."
His hands had just come out of bed and were very warm. Zhan Yunmei had wanted him to warm her hands, but before they were even warm, he ran away.
I simply placed both hands on the sides of Hua Lang's neck; the skin on the sides of his neck had more warm blood, making it even warmer than his hands.
“Come with me,” she commanded.
Zhan Yan rubbed her forehead and called over her attendant, "Help me back to my room to sit down."
.
The icy temperature on the side of her neck, along with the thick calluses on Zhan Yunmei's fingers, felt like a dull knife taken from an ice cellar, repeatedly rubbing against her delicate skin, making her feel strange all over.
The carriage jolted from time to time, and Hua Lang, sitting on Zhan Yunmei's lap, felt even more steep, so he could only bury his face in her neck and lean against her for a sense of security.
Hua Lang couldn't help but mutter to himself.
She gave him a small hand warmer; her hands were cold, so why didn't she just use the hand warmer to warm them up? Why did she have to use him to warm her hands?
Zhan Yunmei saw through Hua Lang's little scheme. How could she not understand him? He wore his heart on his sleeve, even though he thought he wasn't showing it.
The person in her arms buried himself even tighter, but she couldn't feel the weight increase. His knees were on the couch, so she didn't have to bear his weight.
Actually, it doesn't matter if he is confirmed to be pregnant. A person can bear a weight far greater than his frail body, and besides, she is a military general, so this weight is nothing to her.
Zhan Yunmei gently patted her lower back, near her buttocks, and said, "Sit down, your knees hurt from kneeling."
"It hurts whether I kneel or not," Hua Lang muttered to himself, then left the embrace. Even though he was a little reluctant to leave, he didn't want to stay any longer.
He felt he couldn't appear too dependent on her, lest she find him annoying, and he couldn't be like some people who would throw themselves at her or complain about her all the time.
Hua Lang felt safe, and he would hold back any desire to be intimate with her, just like now.
Zhan Yunmei quietly observed Hua Lang move to the window, his head tilted in a daze. He sat upright with his arms crossed, his face as expressionless as ever.
Raise your hand.
She pinched the soft flesh on Hua Lang's cheek, the pain from the squeezing forced him to frown and squint, casting a wronged look at Zhan Yunmei.
She couldn't understand why she had such an urge to bully someone. She remembered that she was never someone who didn't care about other people's feelings, nor was she such a malicious person.
"General, it hurts," Hua Lang frowned, unable to bear Zhan Yunmei's increasingly strong force, and was forced to lie down, finding an angle to make himself feel better.
Whenever he pleaded for mercy, she felt an even stronger urge to destroy him, and she could even imagine him kneeling and begging her.
She let go of her hand.
The pain gradually subsided.
Hua Lang slowly propped himself up, moved to Zhan Yunmei's side, and leaned close to her face to observe her. He noticed that her brows were slightly furrowed, and he pursed his lips.
He hesitated for a moment, wondering if she was unhappy with his reaction. Then he took her hands in his hands, tucked them into his collar, lowered his head, and whispered, "It'll be warmer here. Don't be angry."
Zhan Yunmei snapped out of her daze, lowering her eyes in front of her. Hua Lang obediently knelt to her side, stroking her hands with an extremely obvious intention to please her.
She didn't try to comfort him, suppressing the urge to smile, and let him carefully take her hand.
Fengtian Temple was not far from the General's Mansion. Zhan Yunmei led Hua Lang through a side gate and into a room where she usually stayed.
“Sit for a while and wait for me to come back. We’ll go to the market to see the lantern festival tonight,” Zhan Yunmei said, taking the private order from her waist and placing it in Hua Lang’s palm. “Shuniang will stand guard outside the door and not let anyone come in to bother you. If anyone tries to force their way in, just give the order.”
Hua Lang stared at the sandalwood token in her hand and suddenly said, "I want to be with you."
An unusual silence.
It wasn't that he was unwilling, but... it surprised Zhan Yunmei. Since the fall of the previous dynasty, Hua Lang had basically never appeared in public. Even if she gave him tasks to handle, he would just follow the rules and leave after finishing them.
“Okay,” Zhan Yunmei replied without hesitation after her initial surprise.
The sacrificial ceremony was rather tedious for her; it was simply a matter of standing in a crowd, showing piety, watching the emperor recite the words he had memorized, and watching the three sacrificial animals being slaughtered on the platform.
But this time, standing behind the crowd, Zhan Yunmei felt a sense of novelty.
When she visited Fengtian Temple before, she found it boring to watch the previous emperor recite his words. So she switched to staring at Hua Lang, who was beside the emperor. At that time, Hua Lang did not show much emotion. Only when facing the emperor did he show some loyalty.
Now, Hua Lang is beside her, head bowed, gazing at her tightly clasped hands. He seems to have loyalty, but it is not the loyalty between a ruler and his subject.
While the priest was speaking, the officials stood up straight, and Zhan Yunmei grabbed Hua Lang by the wolf fang on his collar and bent him over.
She kissed his cool lips, gesturing for him to touch the crevice of his lips. He immediately obediently opened his lips, accepting her intrusion.
There were too many people, and he was struggling to breathe, but she noticed his trembling body under his cloak, placed her hand on his waist, and gently caressed him with her fingertips.
Zhan Yunmei doesn't consider herself a reckless person who doesn't know the occasion, but for some reason, she really wants to pull the person into the dormitory right now.
Perhaps it was Hua Lang responding to her.
His tongue was cautiously probing inside her lips, the movements subtle, yet the entanglement was deep enough that she could feel even the smallest action.
How could he be so bold at this time...?
It's like I've encountered a ghost.
After the sacrificial rites were finished, the officials gradually relaxed and resumed their standing postures, and Zhan Yunmei also released Hua Lang.
But he kept moving closer to her, taking her hand and placing it on his collar.
"General, the belt is loose."
She certainly wouldn't refuse such a small request.
Zhan Yunmei nodded and began to re-tie Hua Lang's collar tie, her expression focused and full of patience.
Hua Lang couldn't help but want to laugh.
He slowly raised his head, his eyelids lifted, and his gaze swept over Zhan Yunmei's shoulder, landing at the very back of the crowd, where several servants were supporting the injured Liang Rong.
His eyes were filled with mockery, piercing through the crowd and into Liang Rong's eyes. Liang Rong gritted his teeth and took a half step back. Several servants thought he had lost his balance and quickly crowded together to help him up.
Liang Rong bit his lip, his resentment about to burst forth. After the sacrificial ceremony ended, he walked angrily toward the room where Zhan Yunmei usually stayed.
With Zhan Yunmei's personal maid Yao Shuniang absent, Liang Rong shook off the servants who were helping him and limped to the door of his quarters.
Through the thin wooden door, he could hear suppressed, rapid breathing.
There were also low, hoarse moans, and beneath that, he could hear a soft call for Zhan Yunmei.
Liang Rong was confused.
Realizing what it was, he blinked helplessly, then turned and fled in panic.
Zhan Yunmei covered Hua Lang's mouth and bit his raised neck. "Bear with it, the soundproofing here isn't good."
Hua Lang curled her lips and obediently agreed, turning her head away to look at the crack in the door, where the shadow had already disappeared.
He reached out and hugged Zhan Yunmei's neck, hanging loosely on her.
Zhan Yunmei took out her finger and pressed it against Hua Lang's lips, trying to probe inside.
“Dirty,” he shook his head.
Zhan Yunmei said, "How could I possibly feel disgusted by my own dirtiness?"
After a brief pause, he revealed his sordid scheme: "Using someone and then discarding them, Eunuch Hua Lang is truly cunning."
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