After two days of sleepless work and a passionate love affair, Yin Chengyu slept very deeply this time, from early morning till late at night.

When he opened his eyes, the room was dark. Perhaps because they didn't want to disturb him, they didn't even turn on the lights.

Yin Chengyu moved a bit, and felt one of his hands being held, and the other hand was touching a warm body close to him. He moved back, withdrawing from the broad and warm chest, and met Xue Shu's gaze.

In the darkness, Xue Shu's face was covered in shadows, showing his deep features. His narrow and long eyes were dark, but the pupils in the center were like two glowing black jades, staring at him greedily without blinking.

His eyes were very clear, not like he had just woken up. Yin Chengyu raised his hand and touched his eyelashes. The touch was soft, in stark contrast to the coldness he showed.

"Not asleep?" Because he had just woken up, his voice was a little hoarse, like rough sand sliding on the skin, causing a slight itch in people's hearts.

Xue Shu hummed a low “hmm” and smiled a rare smile. He said in a gentle and low voice, “The room is simple. I will keep it warm for Your Highness.”

Yin Chengyu reached into his collar and fumbled around for a while, then squinted his eyes and smiled in praise: "It's quite warm." Then he asked: "What time is it?"

In the shadows, Xue Shu's throat tightened, and his originally relaxed body also tensed up: "One quarter past the hour of Xu."

Having slept for the entire day, Yin Chengyu rubbed his temples and sat up with his elbows propped up: "It's already this late, ask someone to bring us food, I'll take some time off and deal with the rest of the business."

These are busy times, and it's a rare opportunity to relax. I'm afraid a lot of things have piled up.

Xue Shu got off the couch, casually put on a robe, and came to help Yin Chengyu get dressed: "I asked the kitchen to warm up the meat porridge. Your Highness is now..." He paused, afraid that if he said it too clearly, it would make Yin Chengyu angry, so he just vaguely passed it over: "...it's suitable for you to eat something light and easy to digest."

Yin Chengyu was not as angry as he had imagined. Xue Shu used all his patience and care, and he did not suffer much. He was tired later, but undoubtedly happy.

So he just glanced at him and stood up: "No problem."

As soon as he finished speaking, he paused in his attempt to stand up, and his brows furrowed.

Xue Shu immediately showed some nervousness when he saw this: "But are you hurt?"

With the experience of his previous life, he was very careful and tried his best to please the other party. However, it was against the nature of men to have sex, so he would inevitably suffer a little during the first few times.

Noticing his expression, Yin Chengyu's frown relaxed a little and said, "It's just a little uncomfortable." Then he changed the subject and glanced at Xue Shu with a half-smile, "It's much better than the first time."

The first time he mentioned was naturally not today, but in the previous life.

Although he had always been reluctant to admit it, the love affair between him and Xue Shu in his previous life was undoubtedly happy. However, there was always tension between them, and their time on the bed was often filled with primitive conquests and desires. There had never been a moment as warm and affectionate as today.

Thinking of the first time between the two, Xue Shu pursed his lips, wanting to explain but not knowing where to start, he just lowered his eyes and said: "At that time, I was... too happy and had no experience."

Yin Chengyu snorted lightly, but did not dwell on the matter any more. He waved his hand and said, "I'm hungry. Bring me some food."

Yin Chengyu and his group stayed on Phoenix Mountain for five or six days.

With the bandits from Hualin Village leading the way, Heshan's suppression of bandits was quite successful. In just a few days, all the large and small village strongholds in Wangtuoling were wiped out. Excluding some scattered bandits who escaped into the mountains, a total of more than 500 bandits were captured.

This number is considered quite large among the bandits, but it is not much compared to the number discovered by the spies from Dongchang before.

The so-called mountain bandits were actually mostly private soldiers raised by Zhou Zhiling. There was a traitor in the city who informed the enemy, so these private soldiers disguised themselves as mountain bandits to fight the enemy. It was no wonder that the government's suppression of bandits was repeatedly defeated.

Fortunately, this time the problem was solved from the root.

Yin Chengyu ordered his men to pack up the stolen property from the mountain stronghold and transport it back to the city for disaster relief. The captured civilians in the stronghold were all returned after their identities were verified. As for the bandits' private soldiers, Ying Hongxue first asked them to confess their crimes, and then encouraged the bandits to identify each other, so that the details of these captives were clear.

After reading the confession booklet, Yin Chengyu discussed with everyone and decided to put the bandits who had committed less serious crimes into the disaster relief team, and sent them to various counties and towns to clear snow and repair collapsed houses, using work as compensation for their crimes, and after the disaster, they could re-register their household registration documents. As for the bandits who had committed more serious crimes, they were all taken back and convicted according to the law without pardon.

By the time Yin Chengyu returned to the provincial capital, disaster relief efforts in Huguang were already on track. All the counties and towns had received relief supplies and were beginning to carry out disaster relief work in an orderly manner.

There was no need for him to intervene in the remaining matters. Yin Chengyu handed over all power to Jiang Zheng.

Although Jiang Zheng was a bit old-fashioned, he was a fatherly official who cared about the people. When the bandits captured the city, he and other officials integrated the officers and soldiers who were caught off guard and scattered, and fought with the bandits for several rounds. Although they lost a lot of men, they prevented the people of the city from suffering greater damage.

As one of the culprits, the Zhou family was confiscated afterwards. Most of the Zhou family members were unaware of what Zhou Zhiling had done, so not many people were implicated, but all of the Zhou family's assets were used to pay for disaster relief. The chief criminal, Zhou Zhiling, implicated Shao Tian and was to be taken back to the capital for further punishment.

In mid-February, Yin Chengyu ordered preparations to return to Beijing.

On the eve of departure, Xue Shu and Yin Chengyu resigned.

"I still have to go to Mount Wudang, so I can no longer travel with Your Highness."

The two were in the prime of their passion. Ever since the hot spring experience, Yin Chengyu had been very busy. Xue Shu was afraid that he was too tired so he did not dare to indulge himself. He just tried his best to suppress his desire. At most they would comfort each other at bedtime at night as a solace.

When he proposed to say goodbye at this time, he showed obvious reluctance. He rested his elbows on both sides of Yin Chengyu, leaned down and kissed him closely and intensively, his eager movements seemed as if he wanted to swallow him whole.

Yin Chengyu raised his head to cooperate, hooked his hands around his neck and pressed down, panting softly; "Isn't the old immortal from Mount Wudang an excuse to fool my father?"

As soon as he left the capital, Xue Shu caught up with him. He thought that the old immortal in Wudang Mountain was Xue Shu who deceived the emperor.

Xue Shu left a shallow tooth mark on his chin, and unsatisfiedly tried to pick up his tongue, making a tiny sound of water as their lips and tongues intertwined. "The old immortal is real, but he is not the one your majesty is looking for."

"You still believe this?" Yin Chengyu pressed his face and pushed him away in surprise. He took the opportunity to take a deep breath, with red eyes.

Xue Shu stared at him and said calmly, "I didn't believe it before, but I did later."

The few words seemed commonplace, but Yin Chengyu saw an indescribable sadness in them.

He had never asked in detail what happened after his death in his previous life, but from Xue Shu's few words, he knew that the years that followed must have been dark and difficult to describe.

"I'll go with you." Yin Chengyu raised his head and licked his bulging Adam's apple.

Xue Shu's eyes turned red as he could no longer control himself. He hugged him tightly, with such force that he almost embedded him into his body.

After a long while, he said in a hoarse voice: "Okay."

A day later, after everything was arranged, Yin Chengyu ordered He Shan and Ying Hongxue to lead the group ahead, while he himself and Xue Shu went towards Wudang Mountain with a small group.

Emperor Longfeng was a devout believer in Taoism and had built many Taoist temples in recent years.

Mount Wudang is revered as the "royal family temple" and is located above the Five Sacred Mountains. There is a saying that "the four famous mountains all bow to it, and the five immortal mountains all pay homage to it."

Therefore, the incense in Wudang Mountain is very prosperous.

It is because of the snowstorm in Huguang that the mountain roads are difficult to travel, so the place has become deserted.

The two horses neighed as they trod on the vast expanse of snow, and stopped at the foot of the mountain. Yin Chengyu looked up and saw that the top of Wudang Mountain was covered with snow, and the mountain had a strange shape, like a black tortoise. The majestic temple was hidden among the rugged mountains, and dots of vermilion could be vaguely seen.

The mountain road was not suitable for riding horses, so the two men dismounted, tied the horses to a tree at the foot of the mountain, and then walked up the mountain.

The mountain path is quiet, with only an occasional bird startled to fly up.

The two walked side by side up the stone steps. Yin Chengyu's body, which had been chilled by the mountain wind, warmed up and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. In comparison, Xue Shu was much more relaxed and didn't even breathe heavily all the way.

After arriving at the Purple Sky Palace on the top of the mountain, he took out a brocade handkerchief to wipe the sweat off Yin Chengyu's face and asked, "I am going to the Purple Sky Palace to burn incense. Your Highness, do you want to rest your feet and drink a cup of hot tea, or... go with me?"

There was obvious hesitation in his tone, and it was hard to tell whether he wanted Yin Chengyu to go or not.

After spending so much effort to climb the mountain, Yin Chengyu didn't do it to rest his feet and drink tea in the side room. His eyes flickered and he said, "I'll go to burn incense with you."

The Taoists on the peak had obviously made arrangements in advance. Although Yin Chengyu did not reveal his identity, the young Taoist who came to receive him was very respectful. He performed a Taoist ceremony and said, "Please follow me, my two benefactors."

The young Taoist priest led the two into the hall and brought some incense.

Xue Shu took it, lit it, and then handed it to Yin Chengyu.

The Taoist priest who led the way quietly retreated, leaving the hall to the two of them.

Xue Shuping held up three incense sticks and bowed three times with very skilled Taoist etiquette. Only then did he stand up and carefully inserted the incense into the incense burner.

Yin Chengyu imitated him and bowed, and also lit the incense. He glanced at Xue Shu and suddenly asked, "Did you achieve what you asked for?"

In his previous life, Xue Shu did not believe in gods and Buddhas. Even though he always searched for eminent monks and famous Taoists for Emperor Longfeng, he did not show any respect for them. Until his death, he had never seen him believe in them so firmly.

Now you are so pious, I think you have something to ask for.

Xue Shu glanced at him from the side, and there was only his reflection in his dark pupils.

"It's done." He raised his hand and gently touched Yin Chengyu's cheek, his fingertips carrying a fiery temperature: "I persevered and finally found the old immortal and fulfilled my wish."