Chapter 121
Maybe it was due to the wind on the road, Xie Chen was a little drunk, as soon as he entered the room, he pressed Lin Shuge against the door and didn't move.
"Are you drunk?" Lin Shuge tried to push him but failed. He then looked at him carefully in the moonlight. He could only see Xie Chen's clear eyes. "He doesn't look like he's drunk." Lin Shuge murmured.
The next moment, Xie Chen lowered his head and sniffed his neck, as if he was looking for a good place to bite. Lin Shuge suddenly remembered that he had been bitten by him several times, and quickly pushed Xie Chen's head away, saying as he pushed, "Don't mess around. Didn't we have to go to the Duwei Mansion tomorrow?"
Xie Chen hummed, and kept getting closer and closer, "Brother, are you serious? Sometimes I wonder if all this is just a dream. Will brother disappear one day and then tell me that in fact..."
Before he could finish his words, Lin Shuge slapped him on the head, "You were just imagining things. Is it true now?"
Xie Chen was stunned by the beating, and said aggrievedly: "Brother, you hit me so hard."
"Pretend, I didn't use any force." Although Lin Shuge said this, he still raised his hand to help him rub, "It's late, go to bed quickly, I'm afraid you haven't had a good sleep in this period of time."
"Marching and fighting, I have..." He changed the subject, "It's really hard work, brother, please compensate me. Besides, today is a celebration, shouldn't I also be rewarded?" His eyes darkened, and his fingers slid down Lin Shuge's back suggestively.
The night was as cool as water, the moon was setting in the west, and a ray of light shone in through the window. Lin Shuge saw that half of his face was hidden in the darkness, and in the semi-darkness, only a hint of his emotions could be revealed.
Xie Chen got closer and closer, and Lin Shuge raised his hand to touch his deep and cold brow, high nose bridge, and finally his warm lips.
Xie Chen's breathing became more and more rapid. Feeling the movement of his fingertips, he hurriedly chased after his hand, his voice unbearable, and he shouted, "Brother, don't do this."
Lin Shuge chuckled, with some seduction in his voice, just like he put his arms around his neck during the day, and raised his head to kiss him in Xie Chen's expectant gaze.
At first, it was gentle and affectionate. Lin Shuge slowly relaxed his body. Xie Chen rubbed his lips again and again. Lin Shuge stroked Xie Chen's back and wanted to say something, but he turned around and pressed against the door, "Zhongxuan, you..."
The unspoken words were swallowed by Xie Chen. Xie Chen stroked his neck with one hand and used the other hand to forcefully press his head down and kiss him hard and fiercely.
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Shuge couldn't help but slide down, and was held by Xie Chen's hips and bounced up. Xie Chen's laughter was heard in his ears, "Brother, your reaction is so big."
Lin Shuge glared at him, and Xie Chen felt itchy under his watery eyes, "Brother, can I help you?"
"No, just stay away from me...it'll be fine on your own."
Lin Shuge pushed him away and walked towards the bed, saying, "I'm so tired, I need to rest, you can handle it yourself."
He hadn't taken a few steps when he was picked up by someone. "Brother, are you really so cruel?" Xie Chen put him on the bed, looked at him with amusement as he hid from him, then quickly lay down on the bed and sighed helplessly.
"Okay, then you take a rest, brother." Xie Chen thought that Lin Shuge had just recovered from his injury these days and had been running around with him. He was not stronger than himself, so he really needed a rest.
Lin Shuge heard him open the door and go out, and lay on the bed without moving. The restlessness in his chest had subsided, but he didn't see Xie Chen come in, so he thought he might have gone back to his room to sleep, so he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
He felt a chill in his half-awake state. He reached out and touched it in a daze, and was instantly awakened by the cold, "You..."
"Brother, it's me. Did I wake you up?" Xie Chen was about to spread out another quilt when Lin Shuge quickly got up and touched him, only to find that he was cold. "Where have you been?"
"I just took a shower, go to sleep, brother," he said softly, reaching out to pull Lin Shuge to lie down with him, but he didn't expect Lin Shuge to directly cover him with his quilt and squeeze in.
“Brother, I feel cold, don’t come over here…” Before he could finish, Lin Shuge had already squeezed into his arms, “Brother, you’ll catch a cold if you get wet.”
With the warmth and softness of the jade in his arms, Xie Chen's breath surged. He felt somewhat helpless and angry at his body. He resigned himself to his fate and said in his heart: Besides, I can't sleep with you like this.
There was a rustling sound in the quilt, and Xie Chen suddenly let out a muffled groan, "Brother, don't," and then he gasped heavily, closing his eyes and enduring it again and again, stretching out one hand and hugging Lin Shuge tightly, with such force that he almost wanted to break his waist in his hand.
Outside, the moon moved and the stars flickered, as if there was a wind, but inside the house it was damp and stuffy. Xie Chen used a handkerchief to wipe Lin Shuge's hands, with an obvious smile on his lips, and kicked away the other quilt that he had brought up.
Lin Shuge was very close to him, looking at him sideways. The more he looked at him, the more he felt that the smile on the corner of his lips revealed a sense of complacency and evil, so he pulled the quilt over himself and lay down.
Xie Chen looked helplessly at the person who had curled up like a silkworm pupa, and coaxed him softly, "Brother, I don't have a quilt anymore."
"What did you kick just now?" The voice coming from under the quilt was not very clear.
"The quilt of that bed is not warm. I feel a little cold." He sneezed as he spoke. The person in the quilt moved. Xie Chen chuckled and immediately pulled open the quilt, pulled the person out and held him in his arms. "Brother's quilt is really warm."
Lin Shuge snorted, and just as he closed his eyes, he felt Xie Chen kiss the corner of his lips, his voice full of laughter, "Brother, go to sleep."
Lin Shuge cursed him silently and fell asleep with his eyes closed.
When he woke up in the morning, Xie Chen was gone. Lin Shuge thought that he must have left for the Duwei Mansion early in the morning.
As soon as he entered the county government, Lu Yuechuan said, "Sir, according to the imperial edict that just came from Yandu, a group of prisoners will be exiled to Dingyuan County, and there are also a group in Qingquan. They were supposed to go to Zhonggu Tunnel, but it happened that we subdued the Qiang people, so they were exiled to our side."
Lin Shuge thought that the river valley he saw was indeed suitable for land reclamation. Most of the exiled prisoners did hard labor such as building the Great Wall and reclaiming wasteland. If there was a war, they would have to go to the battlefield with swords.
"When will it arrive?"
"It should be in the next few days." Lu Yuechuan replied.
"Let Yang Yan and Chu Xu take the county officials to arrange the people. Let them settle down first, and then assign them to Pingxiang to build defensive fortifications after Zhongxuan comes back." Lin Shuge arranged.
"But since this is Yandu's order, which family committed the crime this time?"
Lu Yuechuan handed him the official document. Lin Shuge took a look and asked in surprise, "It's from the Supreme Court?"
"Your Excellency may not know that after His Majesty took power, he had several clashes with the Ding family. I heard that several members of the Ding party were eliminated on the grounds of accepting bribes some time ago. This time it was the Ding party's return fire. It is estimated that Lord Chief Justice Zhang Xun was one of the emperor's party members eliminated by Ding Yanhe. Not only did he die and his family was destroyed, but many people were also implicated." Lu Yuechuan said in a low voice with disgust in his eyes.
"Achuan, you are well-informed." Lin Shuge was thinking about the treacherous struggles in the court. It was really a cycle of one person taking the stage after another. Today I see you hosting a banquet with many guests, but who would have thought that tomorrow you would end up with your property confiscated and your clan exterminated.
It seems that it would be better to do something beneficial to the people in this small border town.
"Although the Lu family is in decline, we still know this kind of news." Lu Yuechuan said with a smile on his face, somewhat disapprovingly.
"It's a pity that the wealthy and powerful family in Yandu ended up being exiled to the northwest. They've come all the way here, it's good enough that they could survive, not to mention that they have to do hard labor here." Lu Yuechuan felt a little sympathetic and sighed a few times.
"At least you're still alive. As long as you're alive, there's hope." Lin Shuge patted his shoulder and said, "Let Yang Yan come over later."
"Yes, sir."
Autumn in the northwest is sometimes particularly short. It feels like winter is coming these days. Lin Shuge had just finished writing a document to the county governor's office when he heard a commotion outside. He stood up and said to the door, "What happened?"
An officer replied, "Sir, today's exiled prisoners have arrived. County Magistrate Yang has led people to receive and make arrangements. It seems that there was a conflict with someone, and the officers are rushing over there."
Conflict with others? Yang Yan is a steady and cautious person, so how could he easily conflict with others?
"Take me to see it."
"Yes, sir."
When they arrived at the city gate, they saw several officers arrogantly beating and scolding a ragged young man, whipping him hard. A man next to him with an angry look on his face was being held tightly by the officers. The rest of the prisoners were all silent.
The Qingquan County constable glared at him, but Yang Yan stretched out his hand to stop the officer holding the whip. The constable became arrogant and loudly scolded Yang Yan for meddling in other people's business.
"Stop it," Lin Shuge shouted.
"Sir." Yang Yan and others immediately saluted when they saw Lin Shuge.
"What happened?" Lin Shuge asked.
"Your Excellency, we were following your orders to hand over the prisoner to this gentleman. We didn't expect that he would insult and beat the prisoner at will. His attacks were extremely severe, and it seemed that he wanted to take the prisoner's life." Yang Yan said angrily.
"Lin County Magistrate, please don't be too gullible. This criminal is unruly and I am only giving him a slight punishment." The officer put away the whip and said with disdain in his eyes.
"Since these prisoners have arrived in Qingquan, they are naturally under the jurisdiction of our county. It is not your turn to discipline them. Besides, seeing how badly he is injured, he is unlikely to survive. By the way, Yang Yan, how many exiled prisoners did the official document from Yandu say have arrived in Qingquan County?"
Yang Yan agreed and said, "Your Excellency, there are a total of one hundred and five people."
"Oh, really? I think these people are no more than 50 or 60 years old. In addition, I saw this prisoner being beaten to death by you with my own eyes. I don't think the other prisoners died at your hands. I will write a letter immediately and ask the officer who escorted the prisoner, what is your name?"
Yang Yan said: "Wang Qi."
"Wang Qi, the officer escorting the prisoners, abused the prisoners wantonly on the way, resulting in casualties among the exiled prisoners..." Lin Shuge looked at him coldly and spoke word by word.
Wang Qi gritted his teeth and said, "My Lord, I have never treated other prisoners like this before. It is this prisoner who has repeatedly provoked me..."
"Oh? So you're targeting him specifically?"
"I...I didn't..." Wang Qi's face was covered with cold sweat and he lowered his head and said in a submissive manner.
"Since you don't have it, why don't you retreat quickly? This is my Qingquan territory, and you won't be allowed to act so presumptuously." Lin Shuge said sternly.
"Yes... yes," Wang Qi and his servants went to the post station in shame.
"Yang Yan, find a doctor to see them, and take the others to Pingxiang first."
"Yes, sir."
Seeing that the matter was over, Lin Shuge turned around to leave, but was stopped by someone.
"Mu Yuanzhou thanks you very much for saving me and my younger brother." He knelt down towards Lin Shuge.
Seeing that he was polite, Lin Shuge thought that he must be from an official family that was implicated. "No need, I didn't do anything."
There was a sound of horse hooves in the distance, and Lin Shuge saw someone riding a horse towards him. His hair was tied up high, and his scarlet cloak fluttered in the wind. He had a handsome face and a graceful posture. It was Xie Chen.
Seeing him dismount and walk towards him, Lin Shuge smiled and asked, "Are you back? Was this trip hard?"
"It's not hard. I just came back and saw that my brother was not in the county government office. I asked people and found out that he was here." While speaking, Xie Chen took off his cloak and put it on Lin Shuge.
The two of them stood side by side, both of them had the same outstanding demeanor. It should have been a very pleasing scene, and everyone was staring at them intently. No one noticed that when Mu Yuanzhou saw Xie Chen, his eyes trembled and there was disbelief in his eyes.
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