Chapter 47: Fengtai County (5)
If Lin Zikui hadn’t already known that Doctor Liu was a quack, he really would’ve been fooled this time.
Xiao Fu instinctively glanced down at his own stomach. “?”
“You felt a slippery pulse?” Mo Liu was overjoyed. “Young Master! Miss….Madam is pregnant! Our Lin family has an heir now!”
After confirming his diagnosis, Doctor Liu stood up and clasped his hands together. “Congratulations, Graduate Lin, congratulations! Your bride got pregnant the very day she entered the house—Graduate Lin, you’re truly something else.”
Lin Zikui couldn’t even force a smile.
His “bride” was a man. He had touched him himself last night.
“That’s enough, Doctor Liu…” Lin Zikui, helpless, stuffed some silver into his hand. “Please go ahead and tend to your other patients.”
Doctor Liu said, “No rush—I still need to prescribe some medicine to help with the pregnancy. The pulse is smooth and round like pearls rolling across a jade plate, though slightly erratic. I’ll write a prescription to calm the nerves. Judging by the look of her, she must’ve been frightened, no?”
Xiao Fu leaned weakly into Lin Zikui’s arms and gave a delicate nod.
To Doctor Liu, it looked like Lin Zikui had landed himself a treasure of a wife. Once the doctor left, Lin Zikui told Mo Liu to fetch a real doctor from another reputable clinic. But Xiao Fu stopped him: “Call him back.”
He looked at Lin Zikui. “Lin Lang, I think I knelt too long—I can’t get up.”
Even though Lin Zikui knew the previous diagnosis was nonsense, he still couldn’t bear it. Zhao Ling had knelt so long that dampness had soaked his clothes and seeped into Lin Zikui’s own. He helped him up. “Come back to the room and lie down to rest. I’ll make you a bowl of tangyuan.”
Xiao Fu nodded, asking in a low voice, “Then… have you forgiven me?”
Lin Zikui didn’t answer that question. Thinking of the old injury to his knees, he had Mo Liu go find a well-known physician nearby to get some salve for external wounds.
There was no sound from the teacher’s room. Oddly enough, the maids and older servants from the Xue household had all seemed to vanish overnight. Jinzun sat on the mossy green-tiled wall dusted with fallen peach blossom powder. No one knew how long he’d been sitting there or how much he had seen.
While cooking the tangyuan, Lin Zikui poked his head out of the kitchen and asked, “Jinzun, how many do you want?”
“Twenty.”
Jinzun had seen the marquis kneeling since the middle of the night, truly getting rained on. He didn’t understand and asked Xiao Fu, “Didn’t you once teach me that we shouldn’t kneel? That a man’s knees are worth their weight in gold?”
Xiao Fu replied, “That’s for enemies, for tyrants. A man’s knees can kneel to his parents, to heaven and earth, to the one he loves.”
If kneeling made Lin Lang soften his heart, then why not?
Jinzun watched Lin Zikui bring out a bowl of tangyuan and offer it to him first. “Come down and eat.”
“I’m not eating. That’s for my master.” He sat on the wall, shaking his head.
“I already made a separate bowl for your master. Take this one. I’ll go bring his.”
“Oh.” He jumped down.
Lin Zikui set the bowl and chopsticks on the table and reminded him, “Eat at the table, not on the wall. Eat slowly. It’s hot.”
Lin Zikui’s care and thoughtfulness extended to everyone around him.
He brought a bowl to his teacher and saw that Prime Minister Xue was already up. The older man was sitting in his room wiping down his Ai Dai. When he saw Lin Zikui, he wore a complicated expression, as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t.
Lin Zikui said, “Teacher, have some tangyuan.”
Prime Minister Xue said, “Alright, alright, you can put that down. I… I want to ask you—your bride, is he really pregnant?”
Lin Zikui replied, “Doctor Liu is a quack. My bride and I have only been married for one day. How could he possibly be pregnant?”
“That’s good, that’s good…” Prime Minister Xue muttered, already having doubted his entire worldview once. Could it be that Xiao Fu was actually a woman? Had she been dressing as a man since childhood and was now married? The more he thought about it, the more it seemed plausible. His face really didn’t look like a man’s at all.
The tangyuan was served to Xiao Fu last. He had watched Lin Zikui serve everyone else first, even though he hadn’t eaten yet himself.
Xiao Fu didn’t take a bite at first. Instead, he scooped one up, blew on it gently, tested the temperature with his lips, and once it seemed just right, raised the spoon to feed Lin Zikui. “Husband, you eat first.”
Hearing him call him “husband” over and over again made Lin Zikui feel strange inside. It softened him a little, but it was also a mix of complicated emotions.
Last night, his “bride” had used an oily, slick ointment on his hands and reached toward that place.
Lin Zikui had been completely shocked and pushed him away with all his might. Xiao Fu’s figure was tall and slender, with long, powerful limbs and lean, defined muscles—every part of him constantly reminded Lin Zikui that this was not what he had expected.
With the porcelain spoon at his lips, Lin Zikui slowly opened his mouth and took a bite.
When Xiao Fu smiled, his eyes curved gently. “Husband ate my tangyuan—are you happier now?”
Lin Zikui, “I cooked the tangyuan.”
“But I’m feeding you. Have another one.”
“Alright… alright. You eat too. The filling’s really sweet.” As he spoke, Lin Zikui suddenly thought of something and looked toward Xiao Fu.
“Go on, eat! I don’t usually like sweets—you know that. If I want something sweet, I can only get it from your mouth.”
“In the morning… broad daylight… you can’t say things like that,” Lin Zikui said, slightly blushing.
“I’m just saying. Then can I kiss you tonight?”
Lin Zikui shut his mouth and said nothing.
To be honest, when it came to kissing, he didn’t exactly resist… He actually quite liked the way Zhao Ling kissed him.
But anything more than that—he just couldn’t accept it.
Seeing this, Xiao Fu focused his efforts on feeding him tangyuan.
Lin Zikui was force-fed more than ten of them before Xiao Fu finally started eating himself. He didn’t know whether they tasted good or not, but since Lin Zikui had made them, he was going to finish every last one.
Once finished, that meant they’d have a lifetime of reunion and harmony ahead.
Before long, Mo Liu came running back with the medicine. Lin Zikui had also made him tangyuan. While Mo Liu went to eat, Lin Zikui handed the salve to Xiao Fu. “The old injury in your knee—what happened?”
“My leg was broken once. I’m not supposed to kneel.”
Lin Zikui was stunned and immediately crouched down. “When did it break? Then why did you kneel?”
“It was a few years ago. An accident. It was set back in place,” Xiao Fu said as he lifted his skirt and trouser legs, revealing two smooth, hairless calves that gleamed like polished jade.
“There’s still a scar here. Lin Lang, you don’t mind all my scars, do you?”
“How could I…” Lin Zikui shook his head. When he saw the long scar from the break, his eyes filled with pain and sympathy.
Xiao Fu’s knees hadn’t even bruised, but in Lin Zikui’s eyes, they might as well have.
Xiao Fu rolled his pants up to his thighs and noticed the look on Lin Zikui’s face.
He bent down and said, “It doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s all healed.”
Lin Zikui said nothing as he applied the salve for bruises and injuries to Xiao Fu’s knees. The dark green herbal paste had a pungent smell, but he spread it evenly. Having dealt with long-term ailments, Lin Zikui had picked up the technique from doctors. He applied it slowly and carefully. “This medicine was prescribed by Doctor Hu from the Jishi Medical Hall—he’s the best physician in Fengtai County. Why do you have so many injuries on your body? They’re all weapon wounds. What did you used to do?”
Xiao Fu, “I commanded soldiers. I’ve been on military campaigns. These are just old battlefield injuries.”
Lin Zikui lifted his gaze. “Are you still hiding a lot from me?”
Xiao Fu lowered his eyes and looked into Lin Zikui’s clear gaze. He nodded and gently caressed his face, tracing his finger along the bridge of his nose. “There are things I’ve hidden from you. I was afraid I’d scare my Little Husband. About concealing my gender—can you forgive me for that?”
The mood between them had softened. Lin Zikui stared at him for a while before saying, “I don’t blame you for being a man. It’s just… I can’t really accept that part.”
Lin Zikui had read romantic novels and knew how it worked—Zhao Ling would have to use his rear.
Even just imagining it made him feel he couldn’t accept it.
Xiao Fu’s voice grew gentle. “If Lin Lang doesn’t like that, then we won’t do it—for now. But if I use my hand instead, would that be alright?”
Lin Zikui couldn’t help but recall last night… That’s what Xiao Fu had done, and they had resolved things together.
Lin Zikui didn’t respond immediately. He seemed to hesitate.
Xiao Fu continued, “I’m so much older than you, and now you want me to suffer the hardship of sleeping separately? Before long, I’ll be old and in the grave. When that time comes, would you still not let me consummate with my husband?”
“Don’t.” Lin Zikui covered his mouth. “How can you say something like that so casually?”
Xiao Fu’s mouth was smeared with the pungent herbal salve. He looked at him. “So, do you agree?”
“…Your hand—your hand is fine. But not that other thing.” Lin Zikui compromised. Thinking about it, it didn’t seem like such a big deal.
Xiao Fu beamed. He had been too hasty and frightened him, but after some coaxing, Lin Lang gave in. Lin Lang really did have a soft heart.
On the second day of their marriage, Prime Minister Xue returned to his estate. Before leaving, he pulled Lin Zikui aside to the back of the carriage and said, “I know you’re newly married and lost in romance, but the results for the imperial exam might be announced again soon. You must come to my estate to study by early April.”
Xiao Fu was the Prince Regent—he had left a seven-year-old emperor unattended. If he didn’t return soon, the court would fall into chaos.
And Lin Zikui still had to prepare for the exam. The two of them entangled like this was unfair to all the scholars waiting in Jinling.
Barely over twenty days into the marriage, Lin Zikui had to pack up his books and belongings to move to Prime Minister Xue’s residence and study. He couldn’t stay to accompany his “bride.” Feeling guilty, he took care of everything before leaving. He visited the ancestral tomb, then returned the untouched dowry chests to Xiao Fu. “I told you I couldn’t accept your dowry. Take it back. Once I’m gone, you’ll be home alone, so I bought you a parrot for company.”
He had picked out the parrot early that morning. It could mimic speech. Lin Zikui had spent the entire morning trying to teach it to say, “Wife, remember to eat,” but so far, it hadn’t learned.
Xiao Fu also had to return to the capital, so Lin Zikui leaving for his studies actually worked out. Still, Xiao Fu was reluctant to part with him. He wished he could go to Prime Minister Xue’s estate with him.
Lin Zikui said, “But I already told Teacher I’d come back once a month to see you.”
Holding the parrot, Xiao Fu sat with him in the carriage to see him off to Xue’s estate. Knowing this separation would last a full month, Xiao Fu grew restless in the bumpy ride. He suddenly pinned Lin Zikui against the side of the carriage. His movements were gentle, but his kiss was fierce and aggressive. Lin Zikui was kissed until he couldn’t speak. His face turned red like a cooked shrimp. Saliva slipped from the corner of his mouth and dripped down to his neck, which Xiao Zhaoling followed with kisses, licking along his throat and Adam’s apple like he was savoring a rare delicacy—his gentleman tasted so sweet.
Lin Zikui clutched the brocade seat cushions with five fingers, and then all of a sudden, he felt it. “Wife… why are you, again…”
His “wife” always drew his dagger at the drop of a hat.
And he always dragged him into it. Lin Zikui had a soft heart and little resistance, so he quickly gave in.
But this wasn’t home—it was a carriage, and they were almost at Prime Minister Xue’s estate. Lin Zikui eventually gathered himself and lifted the curtain to let in some air. “I’m about to meet my teacher. You can’t kiss me anymore.”
“I know, no more kisses…” Xiao Fu looked at his expression, couldn’t resist, and leaned over to plant one last kiss by his ear. Holding his palm, he said, “Just one last kiss. I’ll have Jinzun accompany you. I’ll stop by Jinling on my way back. When your school break comes, I’ll come pick you up at Xue’s estate, alright?”
“…Alright.” Lin Zikui tugged at the collar of his scholar’s robe.
Prime Minister Xue’s old residence in Huainan wasn’t very large. It couldn’t be called a lavish estate, but there were a lot of women and maidservants in the household.
Xiao Fu remembered the incident with the young miss of the Xue family. When seeing him off from the carriage, he reminded Lin Zikui specifically, “There are many women at Xue’s residence. You’re handsome and intelligent. If one of them fancies you, make sure to let them know you already have a spouse. You won’t be taking concubines.”
“I know.” Lin Zikui firmly believed in monogamy. If he ever became a high-ranking official, he intended to revise that law.
Xiao Fu couldn’t be blamed for worrying. If Lin Zikui had always preferred men, then there was no issue—after all, what man could compare to himself?
In the end, he couldn’t hold back and asked, “My Little Husband, do you prefer women more now, or men?”
What kind of question was that?
Lin Zikui replied, “I’ve already married you. Whether I like men or women… they’re still not Zhao Ling.”
Xiao Fu stared deeply into his eyes. He knew this wasn’t just a sweet lie—Lin Zikui truly meant it. He had a soft heart and an open one too. How could Xiao Fu not fall for him?
He watched as Lin Zikui entered Xue’s estate, followed only by an attendant and Jinzun, the guard. Then Xiao Fu told the coachman, “Change course to Jinling.”
The carriage shook violently. Inside was a trunk of Lin Zikui’s clothes he had forgotten to take. Xiao Fu opened it and found they were all garments worn close to the body. He brought one to his nose. Though his sense of smell was weak, he could vaguely make out Lin Zikui’s scent.
After a moment’s thought, Xiao Fu decided not to send it back. These clothes—he would keep them close. They’d still be useful.
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