Chapter 110
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To make the hotpot delicious, effort had to be put into both the soup base and the ingredients.
Gu Yuanbai added the simplest spices: star anise, scallion segments, ginger shreds, and peppercorns. Without chili peppers at the moment, he just stir-fried them in the iron pot with vinegar as the base. This created a slightly spicy and sour flavor. Then, he sprinkled some fresh green scallion segments. With the green color contrasting the dark soup, it was ready.
Gu Yuanbai couldn’t handle spicy food, so the spiciness in the hotpot was only for seasoning. The ingredients were tomato-based, so the dipping sauce also had minimal spiciness, or none at all. Xue Yuan’s dipping sauce was a bit stronger in flavor. Since there was no wind at the moment, they set the hotpot in the courtyard to enjoy a different taste.
After a few bites, Xue Yuan began sweating. He devoured all the dishes on the table and exclaimed, “Delicious!”
The dipping sauce was indeed well-made, appetizing, and irresistible even after getting full. Gu Yuanbai had good self-control and stopped when he was eighty percent full. Once he put down his chopsticks, Xue Yuan, who was sweating profusely across from him, glanced up and asked, “Done eating?”
“Full.” Gu Yuanbai took a sip of hot water.
Xue Yuan reached out, took his dipping sauce, and then threw all the meat on the table into the pot. He truly loved meat and didn’t care for vegetables. Gu Yuanbai teased, “Lord Xue, why don’t you eat vegetables?”
Xue Yuan sighed and then picked up a vegetable leaf with his chopsticks.
He had adapted well to the taste of tomato hotpot. Compared to clear soup, he preferred meat and vegetables with a tomato flavor. After they had been eating for a while, the fragrant aroma of the boiling hotpot filled the entire courtyard. The people waiting there couldn’t help swallowing saliva from time to time, lured by the delicious smell. Gu Yuanbai glanced at everyone’s expressions and instructed Tian Fusheng, “After I rest later, take them to have a good meal. Use the leftovers for the ingredients, and you don’t have to serve personally.”
Tian Fusheng joyfully thanked him, “Thank you for your reward, Your Majesty.”
“The iron pot Your Majesty has is quite interesting,” Xue Yuan took off his coat, “and it’s even more interesting to eat with it. I estimate that before long, it will become as popular as that kang bed, sought after by officials and relatives.”
Gu Yuanbai nodded and pointed at the thick soup in the pot, “But this soup base is one of a kind.”
“I’m lucky to share Your Majesty’s blessing,” Xue Yuan kept talking and couldn’t stop, “Speaking of iron pots, Your Majesty, when trading with the nomads at the border, ironware must not be exchanged.”
This was naturally unforgettable. The merchants of Great Heng were not allowed to sell any iron products to the nomads. Even if it was a kitchen blade, the nomads were only allowed to exchange old blades for new ones.
These details had already been meticulously instructed by Gu Yuanbai to Old General Xue during his journey, so there was no rush or panic in his heart at this moment. “It should be so.”
Xue Yuan glanced at him and smiled, “It seems I spoke out of turn.”
Gu Yuanbai smiled without saying anything.
After the meal, Xue Yuan accompanied Gu Yuanbai for a walk to help with digestion. Suddenly, they saw a trembling winter jasmine flower growing in the corner of the railing by the lake. Xue Yuan’s eyes lit up, and he stepped forward, bending down to pick it.
Gu Yuanbai’s gaze inadvertently lingered on the hem of Xue Yuan’s robe. As he bent down, the intricate patterns on his robe shimmered from top to bottom. The emperor looked away and casually said, “Lord Xue, you don’t even spare the roadside wildflowers?”
Xue Yuan couldn’t understand his teasing and handed over the tender yellow winter jasmine. “Your Majesty, I think this color is nice. It’s a unique sight in late winter. Do you like it?”
“I see you quite like it. Since you think it’s nice, Lord Xue, wear a few outfits in this color and change them every day,” Gu Yuanbai ignored his flirtatiousness, “Wearing different colors every day, even on the battlefield, this color will catch people’s attention.”
Xue Yuan’s eyelids twitched, and he casually tossed the winter jasmine into the lake, “I suddenly find it not so nice.”
After returning from their walk, Gu Yuanbai laid in bed reading while Xue Yuan carved wood nearby, occasionally glancing at Gu Yuanbai before lowering his head to work. Gu Yuanbai turned a page and casually asked, “Xue Jiuyao, have you read any of the books in your room?”
Xue Jiuyao answered candidly, “Not a single word.”
Gu Yuanbai thought as much. He wasn’t surprised. After reading a few lines under the lamplight, he calmly said, “So many books in your room, yet you never read them. It’s quite intimidating. Changyu once told me how amazed he was by the books in your room, thinking you were a talented individual.”
Xue Yuan seemed to hear a joke, “He thinks I’ve read them all?”
“Even if you haven’t read them all, you must have some knowledge,” Gu Yuanbai said. “I truly thought you were well-versed in literature and poetry.”
“It’s not a big deal,” Xue Yuan brushed off some wood shavings, stating matter-of-factly, “The books I bought with silver are naturally mine. Since they are mine, what’s inside is also mine.”
The Emperor made no comment, but after a while, he murmured softly, “Crude.”
Xue Yuan chuckled. Was this what it meant to be crude?
Gu Yuanbai finished reading a book and felt drowsy. Xue Yuan, noticing his condition, politely bid him goodnight.
After Xue Yuan left, Tian Fusheng approached to attend to the Emperor. He had washed off the smell of hotpot from his body and refrained from eating anything that would leave a strong taste in his mouth to avoid offending the Emperor. The old eunuch handled things skillfully, while two young eunuchs busied themselves arranging the bedding.
Gu Yuanbai let them work. When he raised his head from the book, he noticed the chief guard’s hesitant expression.
He raised an eyebrow, “Zhang Xu, come here, talk to me.”
A eunuch was standing by the bed, combing the Emperor’s hair. The polished wooden comb felt comforting against the scalp, relieving the tiredness from the brain. When the chief guard approached the bed, the Emperor had already closed his eyes, leaving a head full of black silk in the hands of the young eunuch, weaving like satin.
The chief guard couldn’t find the words again. The Emperor lazily said, “Speak your mind.”
“Your Majesty,” the chief guard finally said, “Lord Xue, does he really…?” He hesitated, unable to finish his sentence. “Has he truly never read a book?”
Gu Yuanbai chuckled, “He said he hasn’t, so he hasn’t. Otherwise, with Xue Jiuyao’s personality, he would have shown off to me when I asked.”
The chief guard was a good person.
Originally, he only had some intuitive doubts, but when it came to speaking, he couldn’t articulate them. What if everything was just his misunderstanding? What if Lord Xue was truly loyal to the Emperor, and he was pushing him into the fire with his suspicions?
Even Lord Chu, who he still lacks evidence on, he cannot speak plainly to His Majesty, how can he treat Lord Xue this way based on a mere suspicion?
The chief guard felt remorseful. “I have nothing else to say, Your Majesty. I have no doubts in my heart anymore.”
Gu Yuanbai said, “Then you may leave.”
The candles in the room were extinguished one by one, and everyone withdrew to keep watch outside.
***
Gu Yuanbai subconsciously reminded himself to be wary of Xue Yuan’s seduction. So, when there was a movement in the room, his consciousness woke up, maintaining a long breath to sense the movements around him.
Soon, someone approached the bed.
Gu Yuanbai focused, holding his breath. After a moment, his ears felt warm, as someone whispered hot air near them, “Your Majesty?”
It was Xue Yuan.
It was late, and he was sneaking around like this; he definitely wasn’t up to anything noble.
Gu Yuanbai didn’t move a muscle. Xue Yuan called him for a while near his ear, the voice getting lower and closer, until his lips almost touched his earlobe. Then, with a swoosh, his earlobe was flooded with a tingling sensation, as if electrified.
Gu Yuanbai’s five fingers involuntarily curled up, fearing to alert the snake, forcibly keeping himself still.
Xue Yuan seemed to sense that Gu Yuanbai wasn’t asleep, yet acted as if he hadn’t noticed. He chuckled softly a few times, his laughter trembling with warmth in Gu Yuanbai’s ear. Gu Yuanbai wondered, what was he laughing at?
Was he laughing at me?
Before the displeasure in his heart could rise, Xue Yuan lightly bit his earlobe. Since the skin was delicate, he didn’t dare to exert force. Reluctantly, he sucked on it a few times before releasing it. By then, the earlobe was swollen and red, as if it was about to bleed.
“Your Majesty,” Xue Yuan said steadily, then jokingly asked, “How does that feel?”
Gu Yuanbai struggled to maintain his breath. In the darkness, his long breaths rose and fell, and he was sure Xue Yuan hadn’t realized he was awake. Just from an earlobe, just to what extent, did Gu Yuanbai have to tense his legs?
A mix of anticipation and annoyance flooded the Emperor’s mind. He almost doubted himself.
But when Xue Yuan asked, Gu Yuanbai couldn’t help but answer in his mind: Comfortable, extremely comfortable.
Continue?
Xue Yuan seemed to hear Gu Yuanbai’s inner thoughts. He kissed Gu Yuanbai’s earlobe again, his voice low, fluttering like a butterfly’s wings, “When you sat on the swing, at dinner, Your Majesty always teases me.”
Gu Yuanbai sneered inwardly, thinking, Shameless Xue Yuan, what are you talking about?
He thought for a moment and suddenly remembered, oh, right. During dinner, he sweated a little, and annoyed by his long hair, he tucked a strand behind his ear before picking out a piece of beef from the pot.
At that time, Xue Yuan seemed to be choked. Could it be because he tucked his hair behind his ear?
Shameless.
Gu Yuanbai wanted to burst into laughter, but he held it in. Because he remembered the hot spring trip Xue Yuan made all the way back to the capital, remembered the taste of Xue Yuan’s gentle kisses on his face and neck. He relaxed his body, thinking that if he pretended not to know and enjoyed being attended to for a while, it wouldn’t be bad.
Does this count as soliciting?
It doesn’t.
But even if it did, Gu Yuanbai didn’t care. Late at night, with Xue Yuan sneaking around like a thief, who would know?
Gu Yuanbai wasn’t the least bit guilty.
Just as he thought so, Xue Yuan leaned down and left a mark behind Gu Yuanbai’s ear. His touch was just right, causing a tense tingling sensation, impossible to scratch. And his hands—Xue Yuan’s hands remained obediently by the bed, except for those lips that kept kissing Gu Yuanbai’s ear, he seemed like a gentleman with manners ingrained in him. Even though he was by someone’s bed, he didn’t dare to touch anything else.
Gu Yuanbai thought he only dared to linger by his ear, so he no longer suppressed himself. His knuckles gripped the bedsheet, releasing all the tingling sensations and itchiness onto the bedding.
The panting by his ear grew heavier, and suddenly, Xue Yuan’s hand reached out and grabbed Gu Yuanbai’s hand, forcefully intertwining their fingers. Gu Yuanbai thought he had figured something out and was startled, his eyelids jumping.
But it turned out that Xue Yuan’s panting only intensified, and after some time, he suddenly tightened his grip on Gu Yuanbai’s fingers and let out a muffled groan. After a moment, Xue Yuan’s breathing gradually calmed down, his firm grip loosened, the bedding was tucked neatly in front of him, and Gu Yuanbai thought, intermission?
Just as he thought so, there was a faint sound at the window, and the room fell completely silent. Xue Yuan had left.
Gu Yuanbai’s fingers still felt the sourness from being forcefully penetrated by larger fingers. His facial expression changed constantly, and he suddenly opened his eyes, gritting his teeth as he looked at the window, “Xue Jiuyao—”
You b*stard, where did you learn that trick?
Late at night, climbing through the window, and then pretending to be innocent?
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