Chapter 114
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Although they put on a show of being spiritualists and used some superstitious methods… cough, but after explaining the situation to their trusted confidants, Yuan Li felt as relaxed as when he successfully came out of the closet. He couldn’t contain his joyous smile and even had an extra bowl of rice during lunch. Chu Hechao was no different. After finishing their meal, Chu Hechao suddenly lifted Yuan Li and carried him back to the room, throwing him onto the bed.
Feeling dizzy from being thrown, Yuan Li hadn’t even reacted before Chu Hechao pounced on him.
A torrent of passionate kisses rained down, as if Chu Hechao wanted to devour Yuan Li entirely. The kisses were intense, fiery, and ignited their desire like a spark igniting dry tinder, effortlessly setting their longing ablaze.
Yuan Li tightly gripped Chu Hechao’s back with his fingers, and a restless hand made its way into Chu Hechao’s clothes. After a while, Chu Hechao finally pulled away.
Yuan Li’s clothes were disheveled, his eyes were reddened from the fervent kisses, and his lips were flushed, making him look pitiful and adorable.
Chu Hechao stared at him with unwavering intensity, his eyes burning with desire. He quickly removed his own clothes, revealing his strong and muscular figure, with bulging muscles on his back rising and falling like mountains.
Kneeling on the edge of the bed, his pants accentuated the toned muscles of his thighs, and his posture was imposing, somewhat intimidating.
Returning to his senses from the passionate kisses that had overwhelmed him, Yuan Li saw Chu Hechao undressing and blinked in surprise. “Why are you taking off your clothes?”
Chu Hechao, shirtless, started to unfasten his belt and replied with a smirk, “To do you.”
The abruptness of these two words rendered Yuan Li completely frozen. “What?”
Chu Hechao looked up, his eyes glinting playfully. “Didn’t you say we are already a married couple?”
Suddenly, Yuan Li became nervous, wanting to crawl down from the bed immediately. But as he placed his hands on the bed, he remembered that Chu Hechao was still in his mourning period, so… could they do it?
He realized that Chu Hechao was just teasing him. Chu Hechao was just a paper tiger, and he had nothing to fear.
Feeling amused, Yuan Li chuckled inwardly and decided not to avoid it anymore. He simply laid back and said, “Sure, why not.”
“…” Chu Hechao, who was pulling at his belt, raised his head and stared at him strangely. “What did you say?”
With a smile, Yuan Li sat up and pretended to take off his own clothes. “I said, sure.”
Chu Hechao stared at his shoulders, squinting but not moving.
Extending his foot, Yuan Li’s ankle accidentally got entangled with Chu Hechao’s gray belt. It then dangled on Chu Hechao’s thigh.
“Brother,” Yuan Li lowered his voice, lying sideways on the bed and propping his head up with an innocent expression, “why don’t you continue undressing?”
Chu Hechao lowered his head, slowly tracing his foot from the tip upward, eventually seeing the exposed collarbone of Yuan Li.
His fair and healthy skin revealed a large expanse, firm and supple, with a deep collarbone adorned by a few rebellious black hairs.
Unknowingly, the youth had grown into an incredibly attractive young man.
He was beautiful, charismatic, and brave. In Chu Hechao’s eyes, he was irresistibly charming.
Chu Hechao’s arm muscles tensed, his Adam’s apple rolling noticeably, and beads of sweat rolled down from his face.
He was restraining himself.
But the more Chu Hechao restrained, the more Yuan Li went overboard. With a cunning smile on his face, he spun his foot on Chu Hechao’s waist and abdomen, then landed it on the man’s chest.
He stepped on a foot full of sticky sweat.
Chu Hechao suddenly reached up and grabbed Yuan Li’s ankle, startling him. In the next moment, Chu Hechao swiftly and forcefully pulled off Yuan Li’s pants.
His two long and fair legs were suddenly exposed.
Now Yuan Li had nothing on except for a robe and his undergarments, and he looked at Chu Hechao in disbelief, feeling a sense of unease.
Chu Hechao tossed his pants aside and reached out towards him. Yuan Li quickly rolled away, attempting to run off the bed.
But soon, Chu Hechao caught him from behind and turned him around, lifting him up and carrying him towards the door. “You want to go out? Fine, I’ll take you out.”
Nervously, Yuan Li held onto Chu Hechao’s neck with both hands and wrapped his legs around his waist, his face darkened. “You’re shirtless, and I’m pantsless. How can we go out like this?”
A hint of amusement flashed in Chu Hechao’s eyes, as if he hadn’t heard Yuan Li’s words. He continued to walk towards the door, expressionless.
The closer they got to the door, the more anxious Yuan Li became. When he saw Chu Hechao was about to open the door, he quickly grabbed his hand. “Don’t open it! I don’t want to go out, really, I don’t want to tease you anymore. I promise, I won’t tease you anymore.”
Chu Hechao glanced at him and asked, “Then, will you let me do it or not?”
Embarrassed, Yuan Li’s ears turned red as he closed his eyes. “Y-Yes!”
Chu Hechao indeed carried him away from the door and brought him to the window, opening it.
As a young man, being held like a child made Yuan Li feel ashamed and uncomfortable. He didn’t want to speak anymore at this point. He tried to console himself, thinking that only his upper body was visible through the window, and he was still wearing a shirt. So, even if they were seen, it would only be Chu Hechao’s embarrassment, not his.
Chu Hechao didn’t think it was embarrassing to be shirtless. He raised Yuan Li slightly and gestured for him to look outside. Yuan Li turned his head and looked out the window.
A gingko tree had been planted by the window. Its lush green leaves almost covered half of the window.
Last spring, when Yuan Li had chickenpox, Chu Hechao personally brought this old tree from the mountains and transplanted it here. He just wanted Yuan Li to have something to look at when he opened the window, so he wouldn’t feel too bored.
The courtyard was filled with luxuriant vegetation, and butterflies fluttered around. There was no one outside the window.
Yuan Li’s view was obstructed by the large ginkgo leaves, which made him less nervous. He let out a sigh of relief from the bottom of his heart.
This way, even if a servant passed by the window, they probably wouldn’t be seen.
Chu Hechao loosened his hold on Yuan Li’s hand suddenly.
Yuan Li quickly moved his hand down and tightly hugged Chu Hechao, his eyes widening in disbelief, and his face blushing instantly.
What just came in through the shorts…
Chu Hechao glanced at him, his eyes deepening. He lifted Yuan Li up again, and then seemingly accidentally loosened his grip, letting Yuan Li slide down once more.
Yuan Li frowned, moaning softly as he buried his face in Chu Hechao’s neck. His whole body stiffened, and his ears turned red.
Chu Hechao remained expressionless, as if nothing happened. He repeated the motion several times, not actually going inside, just teasing from outside. His breathing gradually became heavier, and he tickled Yuan Li’s ear.
Yuan Li stayed still, allowing Chu Hechao to hold and tease him. A strange and subtle tingling sensation spread up his spine, making him unable to resist grabbing Chu Hechao’s back, leaving deep red marks with his fingernails.
Both of them remained silent, listening to the rustling sound of the gingko tree outside the window in a rough yet calm and obscene atmosphere.
The sound from Yuan Li’s throat was chaotic, “Close the window…”
“It’s much better this way,” sweat beads the size of beans formed on Chu Hechao’s arm, and he chuckled, “When someone passes by, they can see us so boldly…”
Yuan Li immediately straightened his back nervously.
“…”, Chu Hechao cursed softly, and veins popped on his forehead instantly.
Now, it was clear to Yuan Li what had happened. He looked at Chu Hechao blankly.
Chu Hechao kissed his forehead and whispered, “There’s no one outside. I’ve sent everyone away, and it’s just the two of us in the entire courtyard.”
Yuan Li wiped the sweat off his face and muttered, “So, you planned this all along.”
“Soon,” Chu Hechao reached out and touched the corner of his eye, smiling with deeper meaning, “only half a year left.”
Yuan Li’s mouth twitched as he understood his meaning.
Chu Hechao closed the window and took him back into the room. As soon as he placed Yuan Li on the bed, Yuan Li wore a serious expression and handed him his shorts, “Hurry and wash it. Look at what’s on it; I feel embarrassed to ask a servant to clean it.”
Chu Hechao was rough and fierce during their intimate moments, but once they were off the bed, he was an obedient husband. He good-naturedly agreed and went to wash Yuan Li’s shorts.
However, he applied too much force while washing, and he ended up tearing the small, soft fabric.
Chu Hechao was dumbfounded. He quickly looked around and realized that no one had witnessed the scene.
But the shorts were damaged, how could he explain this to his wife?
Chu Hechao was worried and furrowed his brows tightly. He squatted by the basin for a long time before standing up with a serious face and asking a servant to bring him needle and thread.
The servant quickly brought the items, but Chu Hechao was clumsy and didn’t know how to use them. Should he ask the servant to fix it? He didn’t feel like it. After poking his fingers more than a dozen times with the needle, Chu Hechao awkwardly sewed the tear shut.
Feeling guilty about what he did, he was afraid that Yuan Li would notice, so he didn’t dare mention anything about the shorts.
When Yuan Li saw him return, he casually asked, “Did you wash it?”
Chu Hechao replied nonchalantly, “Yeah, it’s hanging outside to dry.”
Yuan Li didn’t notice anything wrong and nodded in response. He then asked, “Did you wear the shorts I had made for you?”
Chu Hechao said, “I did. Honestly, it was uncomfortable at first, but I felt uncomfortable without them later on.”
Yuan Li raised an eyebrow proudly, “If it was uncomfortable, would I make you wear them?”
Chu Hechao snorted with a smile, “Look at you, so proud of yourself.”
After dealing with this troublesome matter, they both had a good night’s sleep. The next day, Yuan Li finally had the time to win over the scholars and literati from the south.
Those scholars who had already decided to stay in Youzhou for a longer period had somewhat developed the idea of following him. When they truly came into contact with Yuan Li, they were even more impressed by his charismatic personality.
This matter progressed quite smoothly for Yuan Li. He left a portion of the scholars in Youzhou to handle the documents, while he sent others to various counties in Bingzhou to assist Zhang Liangdong and Xiang Hongyun, filling the vacancies.
Of course, those he sent were talented people whom he believed could be trusted and were eager to make a difference and help the people.
These scholars reduced Yuan Li’s problem of having a lack of personnel by seventy percent. Two months later, Zhang Liangdong’s five disciples also struggled to arrive in Ji County.
Knowing that their teacher had been appointed as a county magistrate in Bingzhou, these five filial disciples only rested for a day before quickly rushing to Bingzhou to assist Zhang Liangdong.
At this point, Yuan Li’s personnel was barely sufficient. However, he still felt that he had too few trusted aides.
After Guo Lin and the others went to Bingzhou, Yuan Li lost half of the people he could rely on. He promoted several clever boys among his personal guards and trained them together with Ding Zongguang to take over the responsibilities of those who left.
If possible, Yuan Li would like to replace all officials in Youzhou and Bingzhou from county magistrates upward with his own people. But this was not realistic, as they lacked personnel, and some county magistrates were actually conscientious. Just like Yuan Song, due to his humble background, he could only be a county magistrate his whole life. But because of this, he was extremely serious in his duties, remaining loyal and devoted.
However, there were more corrupt officials who were greedy bugs. They understood that no matter how hard they tried, there was no way for them to advance. As a result, they turned their frustration into a desire for pleasure and exploited the people for everything they had.
To distinguish between the good and bad county magistrates, time was needed.
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