The atmosphere was a little ambiguous.

The two looked at each other for a long time before Yan Mingting broke the silence first, saying with a little surprise: “Unexpectedly, a dignified fellow like you also secretly keeps these kinds of books.”

Zhao Yelan was indignant: “What nonsense are you speaking, why would I hide this away? The way I see it, you clearly have evil intentions and prepared this dirty picture book! Get your things and get out!”

Wronged, Yan Mingting said: “If you didn’t hide it away, nor did I prepare it, then where did this thing come from?”

Zhao Yelan looked at him suspiciously, then had second thoughts and said, “Call Housekeeper Qin over here.”

After a while, Housekeeper Qin walked into the room with a puzzled expression: “My lord, are you looking for me?”

“Where did this thing come from?!” Zhao Yelan threw the picture book in front of him.

Housekeeper Qin picked it up and replied: “I prepared it.”

The two looked at each other, and Yan Mingting saw that Zhao Yelan was about to blow up, so he hurried to Housekeeper Qin, pretending to be angry, “Uncle Qin, I didn’t tell you to do this. We don’t need this thing, hurry up and throw it away, go, go!”

Housekeeper Qin was pushed out the door. He considered that the General was prideful and arrogant, obviously not getting the point, and was still unwilling to learn with an open mind. Thinking about it, he still didn’t throw away the picture book. Anyway, the General would regret it sooner or later and come to him to take it back.

Although this matter was not related to Yan Mingting, while he was lying on the ground, he was unable to sleep. The two people in the painting had left an indelible impression on him.

Ai.

“Zhao Yelan, are you asleep?”

“Shut up! Don’t disturb me when I’m sleeping!” Zhao Yelan said angrily.

Yan Mingting laughed. “How about we talk? Since you already know what I’m looking for, can you help me? This matter is of great importance, and it is old business, so it’s a bit difficult to investigate. I have been on the frontier these years and have no influence in Beijing, no trusted colleagues. I need someone to help me.”

This was Yan Mingting’s plan: To test whether Zhao Yelan was the murderer first, and if not, to win him over.

No one was more suitable to be a “Military Advisor” than Zhao Yelan.

The two had become a couple in name, bound together for good or ill. Because of the stakes involved, Zhao Yelan would never let him take risks. Furthermore, Zhao Yelan had a clever mind and had been immersed in officialdom for many years. He was proficient at scheming and knew every official well, so he couldn’t be more suitable.

However, Zhao Yelan ignored him.

Thinking about it, judging by Zhao Yelan’s nature, it was really not that easy to get him to agree. He asked: “What do you want? As long as I can afford it, I will give it to you.”

“I want two elite teams,” Zhao Yelan responded immediately.

“For what?”

“To protect me.”

Zhao Yelan had completely separated the Gold Collar Guard from his camp, but with so many enemies, it was impossible to rely on Gao Tan alone when traveling, so he needed to recruit a new group of people.

But the people he recruited now may not be able to beat the Gold Collar Guard. Before Yan Mingting had returned to the capital, he had wanted to recruit some people from the commander of the Imperial army. But the Imperial army had long since been crippled, a little three-legged cat showing off its power by virtue of its status. He didn’t need these kinds of people.

What he wanted was people who were capable, well-trained, and unshakably obedient to military orders. Yan Mingting had returned to the court with an army of hundreds of thousands, and he had secretly observed them while he was at the training grounds. It was easy to pick dozens of such people from among them.

“And these people can only obey my orders in the future, not yours.”

Yang Mingting thought about it: “Hey, have you wanted someone for a long time before you told me you were innocent?”

Zhao Yelan didn’t answer, and after a while, he said: “You decide for yourself. But I have to remind you that although the Tiger Talisman^[1] is still in your hands, the current situation is stable, and the Emperor will split up your team into various places.”

“Of course I’m aware. The Emperor has told me several times that the Imperial army is short of manpower. But the battle is over. It is useless for me to keep so many people in my hands. If the soldiers can get stable jobs in Beijing, then I will not protest. I hope that the day will never come when I order them to go into battle against the enemy.”

Hearing this, Zhao Yelan’s mind moved slightly and he turned over: “You are a good general.”

“There is no choice, their lives are all at risk. To live and eat the Emperor’s food is already a great happiness.” Yan Mingting looked at him and smiled helplessly. “Okay, I’ll pick someone for you tomorrow, but you can’t treat them harshly.”

“Naturally, I will go tomorrow as well.”

“Afterward, you must help me find out the truth. Whatever you want, I can give it to you,” Yan Mingting repeated. He got up suddenly and lay down beside him on the bed, stretching out a hand. “Come shake hands as a seal of agreement, and to wish us a smooth cooperation.”

“Childish.”

“Hurry up, I won’t leave if you don’t shake it.”

Zhao Yelan frowned, looked at his shameless face, and stretched out his hand impatiently. The next moment, it was held by a big hand, full of strength. Even though he had witnessed countless life-or-death battles and knew that his father had been murdered by a traitor, he still held hands with him with the heart of a child.

The next afternoon, Zhao Yelan’s legs and feet were nimble. When he came to the training grounds with him again, his mood was completely different from the previous time. At least he wouldn’t be forced to do horse stance in front of the soldiers.

Yan Mingting led him onto the stage. There were crowds of people in the audience, and he ordered the groups to fight, then began to pick people.

There were a total of forty-eight people lined up in two rows, all looking at Yan Mingting energetically. Having been specially selected, there must be some kind of reward or task!

“What do you think?” Yan Mingting asked in a low voice.

Zhao Yelan nodded, and suddenly said to the forty-eight people: “You all, go and fight him.”

Everyone stood speechless in astonishment, because he was referring to Yan Mingting. One of the soldiers was puzzled and asked, “Why do you want us to fight the General?”

Zhao Yelan took out a gold ingot and displayed it in his palm, immediately attracting everyone’s attention: “Fight.”

Even the soldiers with no desire for gold or silver still had family members, so who wouldn’t want to add some good things to their homes? These people were very eager to move. It was simply a dream to be able to get rewards and compete against the General, ah.

They looked at Yan Mingting one after another, and he nodded: “Let’s go.”

Immediately, someone rushed up: “General, I have offended you!”

A fight broke out instantly on the stage. Zhao Yelan took two steps back and was escorted by Zhong Yuehong outside of the stage to watch.

These forty-eight people were all good fighters, with strong bodies and nimble legs and feet, and they were not willing to give up easily. Even if they were knocked down, they would jump up again in an instant and continue the next round of fighting.

Yan Mingting was in the center. With one person against a crowd, he was better than each one. As soon as the rabbit got up, the falcon pounced down,^[2] and the group of people were knocked down one after another. He even had time to guide the defeated one by one: “Your weakness is too obvious, your arm is not strong enough, your foot isn’t stable……”

Zhao Yelan was dazzled at the sight. He had known that Yan Mingting was very skilled, but in the previous battles against the Gold Collar Guard, he either didn’t see it or had been passed out, unable to witness Yan Mingting’s strength with his own eyes.

The current contest was truly eye-opening. Even Zhao Yelan, who had always only preferred cultured things, also noticed his blood flow accelerating at this moment.

The surrounding soldiers were even more enthusiastic, and the cheers and shouts pierced the sky.

Zhong Yuehong was not her usual calm self, yelling unrestrainedly beside him, and Zhao Yelan had to move away from her.

About fifteen minutes later, after a high-intensity battle, forty-eight people were defeated one after another, but were extremely exhilarated.

Yan Mingting held his scabbard calmly, having never drawn his sword: “Not bad, you’re making progress fast.”

Zhao Yelan received Yan Mingting’s glance and nodded in affirmation.

This group of people had been able to fight against Yan Mingting for so long without using weapons. Their strength could at least compete with the Gold Collar Guard.

Zhong Yuehong stepped forward and said, “General, can we fight you?”

He Cuizhang: “That’s right, let’s try it too!”

Yan Mingting beckoned, and several lieutenants all jumped onto the stage.

This time the number of people was not as large as before, but they were a little more ruthless. They all used their weapons, and Yan Mingting’s sword was also unsheathed as they went heartily back and forth.

The soldiers were ashamed to see it, and bluntly said that they must practice more attentively in the future and not slack off.

It took a little longer this time, and at the end, the group of subordinates submitted cheerfully. They hadn’t fought like this for a long time, and it was very enjoyable. They gathered together to recount the process of the battle just now.

Yan Mingting did not join them, but came to Zhao Yelan’s side and asked: “How was it?”

Zhao Yelan looked at his sweaty face and said: “Wipe your sweat first.”

“It doesn’t matter, I’m used to it” As soon as Yan Mingting refused, he saw that the other’s face was a bit serious, and remembered that this person disliked bad smells. Just as he raised his hand to wipe it, Zhao Yelan stopped him, then took out a clean handkerchief from his pocket and stuffed it into his hand.

“Use this to wipe.”

Yan Mingting examined the handkerchief repeatedly, returning it awkwardly: “I’m not used to this.”

“I told you to wipe, so wipe.” Zhao Yelan took the handkerchief and wiped hard across his forehead.

The soft, soothing handkerchief rubbed against his skin, and with a different feeling, Yan Mingting eagerly lowered his head and pointed to the side of his face: “Here too.”

Zhao Yelan wiped the sweat off his face impatiently with a stern expression.

Unexpectedly, there was the sound of jeering nearby, and when he looked to the side, he found that the soldiers were all looking at them and laughing.

“……”

Zhao Yelan threw the handkerchief at Yan Mingting: “It stinks to death, take it and throw it away.”

Yan Mingting caught the handkerchief on his chest and turned around to gesture to everyone, signaling them not to jeer again, but the noise became louder.

Yan Mingting called the forty-eight people into a corner to instruct them. Zhao Yelan stood watching from a distance, noticing that those people wore doubt on their faces and seemed reluctant to take the job. He didn’t know what Yan Mingting told them, but the group of people suddenly looked serious, nodding in agreement.

After a short while, Yan Mingting came back and said: “Okay, these people will be yours from now on. Treat them well.”

“What did you tell them?” 

Zhao Yelan knew that it would not be easy for these people to follow him wholeheartedly, especially for his orders to override Yan Mingting’s.

“It’s a secret.” Yan Mingting raised his head proudly. “This is an agreement between us men.”

“……” Zhao Yelan stopped asking, and turned to ask Gao Tan to give those forty-eight people a large sum of money.

Others were envious, and everyone was dumbfounded.

Seeing this, Zhao Yelan murmured a few words to Yan Mingting. Yan Mingting gave him a surprised look, and the corners of his mouth curled up: “Brothers, let us go to Huichun Tower for a drink tonight, Zhao-daren will be the host!”

“Zhao-daren is mighty! ! !” All the soldiers shouted in unison.

The corners of Zhao Yelan’s mouth raised slightly. He returned to his indifferent look in an instant, but Yan Mingting caught that moment without pointing it out, just looking at him with a smile.

As the sun set, everyone finished their practice and rushed to the restaurant.

Zhao Yelan was riding in the sedan chair, a step behind them. When he arrived, the restaurant was full and they were already drinking.

“Zhao-daren, this cup of wine is a toast to you,” a soldier in the hall said. The others also raised their wine cups and drank.

Zhao Yelan nodded, and walked slowly to the number one room. After a while, Yan Mingting also came in and said: “They want to come and drink with you, okay?”

“No, our lord cannot drink alcohol,” Gao Tan immediately refused. His family’s lord had a very poor capacity for alcohol, and would exhibit strange behavior after drinking, so he never indulged in front of outsiders.

“Oh, of course.” Yan Mingting thought it was because of his weak body. Looking at the food on his table again, he salivated and simply sat down to eat with him.

Zhao Yelan pointed to a certain place, and Yan Mingting saw that there was a water basin there. Understanding immediately, he walked over obediently to wash his hands. Thinking of something, he took out the handkerchief in his pocket to wash it, and set it aside to dry.

Zhao Yelan chewed and ate slowly, and glanced at Yan Mingting halfway: “Go drink with them after eating.”

“I should really go?”

“Get out, you’re an eyesore sitting here.”

After Zhao Yelan finished his meal, he opened the door and took a look downstairs. Among the forty-eight people, he picked a fellow who seemed to have a decent brain and called him into the room for questioning.

“What are you called?”

“Yu Dali!”

“Yan Mingting ordered that you will follow me from now on.”

“Yes!”

Zhao Yelan rubbed his temples: “In the future, you don’t need to speak so loud while talking to me, I’m not deaf.”

“Yes!”

Zhao Yelan looked up, his eyes cold.

Yu Dali immediately cowered: “Yes……”

“What did he tell you?”

“This……the General won’t let me tell you.”

Zhao Yelan knocked on the table: “Who do you take orders from now?”

“You……”

“Then tell me, what did he say to you?” Zhao Yelan asked.

Yu Dali glanced at him cautiously, and a subtle blush appeared on his dark face: “The General said that a man must protect his family. Zhao-daren is his wife, and the General adores him very much, so we must protect you and put you first in everything. If you are gone, my lord, he will not be able to live. So don’t worry, my lord, for the sake of the General being able to live well, we will definitely protect and listen to you.”

Zhao Yelan’s temples twitched: “……He adores me?”

Yu Dali: “En, don’t you love the General, my lord?”

“……” This really stumped Zhao Yelan.

Speaking of adoration, his conscience really gave him trouble. If he said he didn’t love him, would the group of soldiers he just recruited throw him into the moat to feed the fish?

The good thing was that Yu Dali’s brain didn’t seem to be working very well, so he directly changed the subject: “What else did he say?”

Yu Dali rubbed his hands shyly, showing an honest smile: “The General also said, my lord, that you are……very rich.”

Zhao Yelan: “……”

---

[1] The Tiger Talisman (虎符) was used in ancient China as proof of military authority. ⮐

[2] A metaphor for quick movements. ⮐

---

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Chapter Twenty-One <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty-Three

Since the military training at the beginning of school, Ye Ci was no longer an invisible person at school. The communication skills of those little Omega boys were comparable to a battalion of machine guns. A dozen people together were noisier than a dozen chicken farms, and getting to know them was equivalent to getting to know the whole school.

After being chattered around by those little Omegas,  Ye Ci’s soft temper and athletic talent for beating Alphas was undoubtedly exposed in one day – – there was an Omega in the next class who secretly brought a mobile phone during training. During Ye Ci’s 400-meter obstacle course, he recorded a section and spread it widely, and accompanied it with passionate and dynamic background music. At the end, he typed, “Glory of Omegas” in a strawberry marshmallow font, which made Ye Ci cover his face with embarrassment.

The handsome boy who put on a face like a coffin board every day was actually shy and timid. In fact, after teasing him for a few times, he was softer than glutinous rice cakes in front of his friendly classmates, but was so good at sports that it was scary……

It was not just the dozen or so little Omega boys, the girls also found him so cute that their motherly love was almost overflowing. Among other things, Ye Ci didn’t need Huo Tinglan to explain when he was stuck on a topic. Their average age was one year younger than Ye Ci, but still stubbornly called themselves his “older sister fans” and “auntie fans.” The girls worked together to raise this single-minded primary school slag who was dedicated to learning.

Of course, it wasn’t just Omega and Beta girls who were attracted by Ye Ci after his surge in popularity, but quite a few Alphas. They had previously been afraid to make a move, for fear of hitting a wall, but now that they found out he was a paper tiger,^[1] they were all ready to try.

But facing the flirtatious Alphas, Ye Ci still maintained his cold face from before.

Wearing a wedding ring or announcing his marriage status was still too high-profile for the current Ye Ci. If he couldn’t come clean, he had to be mentally prepared.

But he knew it himself.

He was a married man……

He needed to keep a lookout.

An Alpha’s possessiveness was unreasonable. Huo Tinglan even drank vinegar over Omegas, let alone Alphas who were the same age as Ye Ci. Therefore, Ye Ci concealed the fact that a large number of Alpha suitors had suddenly appeared after the military training. In addition, he took the initiative to share with Huo Tinglan all the big and small things that happened at school: In physical education class, he taught the little Omegas how to do a three-step layup, and one after another, the ones who learned shouted, “Ye Ci is so cool, wu wu!” During the lunch break, they taught him how to play games in turn and even teamed up with him to have a match……

Although they teamed up for a game about dressing up the Omega protagonist.

It touched all the blind spots in his knowledge……

Ye Ci’s year-round aesthetic of hoodies, sneakers, and jeans made record lows for the team one after another, and he was finally kicked off the team by the tearful little Omegas. Ye Ci was dumbfounded: “I dressed her up, doesn’t it look good? Why is it F-level?”

The little Omegas collectively mourned Ye Ci’s aesthetics.

Ye Ci licked his lips anxiously: “I’ll give her pink, pink lipstick, doesn’t she look like a kind of doll?”

Everyone continued to mourn.

Ye Ci was dying, and asked in a low voice, “Isn’t it pretty, ah……?”

“That’s called death to Barbie fans! ! !” All the little Omegas spoke in unison and burst into tears.

The campus life of youthful vigor, laughter, quarrels, and friends came a bit late, but it came after all.

Ye Ci’s high school life left no regrets.

After autumn that year, the temperature dropped rapidly, getting colder with each autumn rain. The rubber track on the sports field seemed to be covered with gold and red fallen leaves overnight. And then, on a night of self-study, it was quietly covered with a layer of frosty snow.

Although there was no scientific research to prove it, based on Ye Ci’s own experience, he felt that the time in his third year of high school had passed much faster than before.

The crisp sound of firecrackers and the cool smell of gunpowder smoke seemed like it was just yesterday, but the snow at the edges of the road had already melted in the warm spring.

Half a month, then a month, all flew by in the blink of an eye, as they had never passed before.

Perhaps it was also because life was so regimented.

Huo Tinglan didn’t dare to delay Ye Ci’s studies even if he didn’t behave like a human being. He was ridiculous while taking advantage of the summer vacation before, but after Ye Ci entered the third year of high school, he resumed his behavioral pattern of restraint as the mainstay and hooliganism as the supplement. After the permanent marking, Ye Ci had two to three days of fever every month, which was very regular. He would only be presumptuous in these two or three days, and the rest of the time was spent teasing at most, and letting his desires remain unsatisfied.

In this way, Ye Ci lived a life of endless repetition back and forth between two places, submerged in a sea of books and learning, hand in hand with his classmates. Aside from the important study topics and exercises, every day was like a copy of the previous one. Although enriching, it was inevitable to feel that time passed quickly.

However, during these months of copy-and-paste routine, a few unusual things happened, stirring up waves.

The old man of the Chu family fell ill a year ago and was admitted to the hospital. He was saved, but his body collapsed completely. For the past year, he had been hanging on by a thread. For some unknown reason, this old man Chu, who may pass on at any time, had been stubbornly refusing to make a will. The inheritance battle between the branches of the Chu family and the heirs of each house had been fought intermittently for a year. Compared with the second son who used test tube technology to “create a human” in order to get more property, and got twins with his wife three months ago, the eldest son of the third house, Chu Wenlin, recognized his illegitimate son who had been adrift for many years and forced him to marry in order to cling to the Huo family.

This big family searched and searched but couldn’t pick out a few normal people.

After all, the old man’s property was a fixed amount. Whoever got more, the others would get less, and a group of misfit half-brothers and sisters looked at each other covetously. They all wished they could tear each other’s flesh and chew it raw, but the battle line was stretched too long, and the situation gradually reached a stalemate, entering a state of balance, and no one could deal with each other.

At this moment, Huo Tinglan threw a few pebbles into the backwater of the Chu family, breaking the balance.

He first repaid Ye Ci’s huge medical expenses that Chu Wenlin had paid for Ye Hongjun. The debt was cleared, and the father and son had nothing to do with each other except for the blood relationship on a biological level.

Chu Wenlin was a slick person. After recognizing Ye Ci, he didn’t speak ill of him to his face. Without saying a word, the coercion was half-hidden and half-exposed. There were a few rounds of confession drama in the beginning, such as: Dad is willing to make it up to you and your mother, Alphas inevitably make mistakes when they are young. Seeing that Ye Ci didn’t buy it, he stopped all the drama.

In short, during those few months of getting along with Ye Ci, he didn’t have much trouble with Ye Ci and was a repulsive person with a knife in his smile. If Huo Tinglan only used Ye Ci as a medicine jar, he naturally wouldn’t have to be afraid. Huo Tinglan really liked Ye Ci, so no matter what mistakes he made when he was young, he was their matchmaker and Ye Ci’s biological father. He would make up for his mistakes so that Huo Tinglan wouldn’t bear a grudge against him.

– – The abacus clacked.

However, Huo Tinglan already knew that this person was rotten to the bone. There had been no serious consequences yet, but that was just because Ye Ci entered the Huo family’s door early this time, and there was no time for them to occur.

In the previous life, Huo Tinglan also attacked Chu Wenlin in order to vent his anger for Ye Ci. At that time, he started with Chu Wenlin’s wife, Ruan Jiayi – – this couple had lived in harmony for many years, and Ruan Jiayi, as the daughter of a renowned family, had always been arrogant. She always had to compare herself to others and be better than them in every way. However, her husband’s private life was corrupt. Not only did he have an illegitimate child, but he also treated her more and more indifferently and rudely, and even caused her to catch a sexually trasmitted disease. She had no one to confide in. Although glamorous on the surface, she was miserable in reality. Coupled with the fact that the Ruan family business had been declining over the years, she had no natal family to rely on, so she had to swallow her anger.

Huo Tinglan saw this and promised to give her some benefits, then tried to comfort and provoke her in a seemingly gentle manner. Ruan Jiayi really couldn’t bear it anymore, and shook out all the dirty things that Chu Wenlin had done over the years at him……

Chu Wenlin was greedy, but Mr. Chu had been clinging to power all this time. The father and son were the same in this respect. 

Chu Wenlin was ruthlessly suppressed. A bottomless pit of greed and desire, his hands and feet had always been dirty in terms of economic issues, and he was severely punished by Ruan Jiaji and Huo Tinglan in his last life.

But in this life, since returning to the age of thirty, Huo Tinglan’s maneuvers never stopped. With the information given by Ruan Jiayi in the previous life, he had done many things with half the effort this time. As if opening his third eye, he didn’t need to check in order to know which direction to exert his strength.

So at the beginning of this year, just after the Spring Festival, a detailed, comprehensive, and well-documented report was submitted to the inspection department. 

Chu Wenlin was inexplicably shaken out of the sky. Bribery, tax evasion……after this case was settled, he would have to squat in jail for a few years. Not to mention the years of squatting, his messy affairs also involved several government cooperation projects signed by Mr. Chu himself and implemented by him, and the entire Chu family was taken over and inspected. Mr. Chu, who was originally in stable condition, was so stimulated that he was sent to the ICU, where he almost died.

Chu Wenlin didn’t care about the life and death of Mr. Chu, and he would not die if he was imprisoned for a few years, but in the future inheritance, it was hard to say how many leftovers could be picked up from those shark-like brothers and sisters.

For a villain like him who was greedy for money and profit, this was more painful than dying after ten years in prison.

Naturally, Huo Tinglan confirmed Ye Ci’s opinion before submitting the materials.

Ye Ci was kind-hearted and honest, but he also made a clear distinction between love and hate. Chu Wenlin had harmed his mother and also regarded him as a tool for forced marriage. As far as Huo Tinglan’s methods were concerned, he didn’t think they were too much, and could even be regarded as light.

Moreover, those materials were really not false or slanderous. It was nothing more than uncovering what Chu Wenlin had done with his own hands. Chu Wenlin got what he deserved, and couldn’t blame anyone but himself.

This incident turned the Chu family upside down, but Ye Ci only glanced at the materials Huo Tinglan handed him while working on questions.

……This could be regarded as taking revenge on that scumbag on behalf of his mother, right?

In fact, Ye Ci’s heart was not very troubled. Even thinking about it for a minute more would be a waste of his life. The college entrance examination was coming up, and all he could think about was brushing up on questions.

There was one other thing that stirred his heart – –

Ye Hongjun came back from San Francisco with the medical team sent by Huo Tinglan before the Spring Festival.

With a healthy body, free from sickness.

The phase III clinical trial of that biotech company had achieved relatively gratifying success. Not all volunteers participating in the trial achieved such a good therapeutic effect, which was probably related to the specific type of gland structure, but all the members of Ye Hongjun’s group had improved to varying degrees. Before returning to China, she had undergone repeated tests. All indicators were normal, and she had fully recovered to her previous state before she fell ill. She still needed regular checkups and reports on her physical condition in the follow-up, but the project team was quite optimistic about her prognosis and believed that her probability of recurrence was theoretically very low.

The old house had been sold, and she temporarily lived in the Huo Residence after returning to China.

In the past six months, Huo Tinglan had traveled between the two countries several times due to business reasons, and no matter how busy he was, he would make a special trip to San Francisco to visit her. She also often made video calls with Ye Ci, and with more contact, the relationship between the two naturally and gradually got through to her. She already had a good impression of Huo Tinglan, and when she heard the good news, she was of course happy for her child.

Seeing that Ye Ci not only did not fall behind in his studies, but also improved by leaps and bounds under Huo Tinglan’s encouragement and guidance, she felt even more at ease in her heart – – it was completely different from Chu Wenlin, who persuaded her to give up her studies and elope to have a baby. Huo Tinglan cherished Ye Ci’s wings in every possible way.

He really loved him, and would help him soar into the sky wholeheartedly.

After Ye Hongjun returned to China, Huo Tinglan bought her a small two-storey western-style house only a few minutes’ drive from the Huo residence.

The inside of the western-style building was not too big. It was suitable for Ye Hongjun to live in by herself, and could be properly taken care of by hiring a housekeeper and a gardener. There was a garden on the first floor, with scattered flowers and trees, and vines hanging on the walls that faced the sun. After spring, the branches and leaves were full of vitality, and when the wind blew, the leaves fluttered green and silver alternately. Light yellow flowers were dotted in the gaps, lining the white bricks and stones, as beautiful as a fairytale.

It would take some time to renovate the house after purchasing it, and the mother and son had not seen each other for half a year. Therefore, Ye Hongjun lived in the Huo residence first, and it happened that she could personally accompany Ye Ci through the difficult second semester of senior high school.

Her culinary skills were not as good as those chefs hired by the Huo family, but she was the only one who could cook Laohuo^[2] soup. It was learned from her mother many years ago, and was a unique secret recipe. No matter how good a chef was, they couldn’t recreate that unique taste. Before she got sick, she would cook the health-improving food for Ye Ci once a week. After her body collapsed, she didn’t go into the kitchen for two years and Ye Ci never drank such delicious soup again.

At nine o’clock that night, Ye Ci was in the study as usual, immersed in writing questions.

Huo Tinglan had finished his work for the day and stayed in the study simply to accompany him. In his hand was a book with a black leather cover and bronze inscriptions, its title difficult to read.

The study door was ajar, and Ye Hongjun stood at the door, calling out in a warm voice: “Tinglan, Xiao Ci, I brought you some supper.”

Huo Tinglan got up quickly to meet her. Taking the tray in Ye Hongjun’s hands, he smiled gratefully and said: “It’s so late, and you still worked so hard to cook……”

“It’s okay, Xiao Ci likes to drink this.” Ye Hongjun smiled gently. Her body had healed and she had recovered a bit in the past six months, but her body was still overall thin. However, her cheeks were much rounder and her complexion was also pink, with a healthy appearance.

Ye Ci’s calculations on a problem had reached a critical point, and he was reluctant to stop writing, but he still took time out of his busy schedule to complain in a distressed tone: “You told me yesterday that you would have a good rest today, shouldn’t promises be kept?”

“Aiya,” Ye Hongjun retorted, caught out by her son. “It’s not tiring to make soup. I just sat there and watched the fire, and the chicken was prepared by others……”

Huo Tinglan smiled and, like a tall and handsome waiter, bent over to put the two soup cups on the tray onto the table, persuading: “Take a break first and drink while it’s hot.”

Ye Ci swallowed, scribbled out a few lines of calculations and hurriedly filled in the answer, then put down the pen.

It was already the end of the third year of high school, and there was still a small gap between him and the top 50 in his class that he had promised Lin Yao he would reach, so he didn’t dare relax.

“Mmm……it smells so good.” He had eaten a lot of dinner, but perhaps he had used his brains too much, because after three hours of writing and calculations, he was hungry again. Ye Ci rubbed his slightly concave belly and lifted the lid of the soup pot.

Steam mixed with a fresh fragrance rose up, making his red lips and white teeth half hidden behind the mist extra vivid.

The light brown soup was very clear, and all impurities were filtered out, but it didn’t look bland. When scooped with a spoon, the soup was thick and had a jelly-like texture.

It was simply at a professional level.

Ye Ci drank vigorously, and Ye Hongjun dragged the swivel chair over to sit down, looking at the child drinking soup with a smile on her face – – Since Ye Hongjun moved in, the chairs in this study had never been “missing.” It seemed that even Huo Tinglan still had to save some face in front of his elders.

“By the way, Xiao Ci……” Ye Hongjun wiped her hands on her apron. Looking at Huo Tinglan, she was a little embarrassed, but she still asked, “It will be your birthday in a few days. Is there any gift you want? Mom will buy it for you.”

After she returned to China, Huo Tinglan opened an account for her and transferred money into it every month, which was essentially alimony – – It was a matter of course to support the mother of one’s spouse. But he was afraid that she would lose face and refuse to accept it, so when he saw her cook soup for Ye Ci from time to time, he said it was “vegetable money.”

In fact, Ye Hongjun didn’t need to buy vegetables. The ingredients used in the Huo residence were all delivered by special personnel every day. What’s more, such a large amount of money was more than enough to buy a few fresh supermarkets, let alone vegetables.

However, Ye Hongjun knew that Huo Tinglan only wanted to treat Ye Ci’s family well, and it would be petty to just blindly evade it, so she thanked him and accepted it.

She took it but didn’t waste the money in it. She was used to hard times, and her spending habits wouldn’t change for a while, so she wanted to save it for her child, just in case.

“It seems……there is nothing I want.” Ye Ci hesitated before telling the truth.

“You can just say a few things casually.” Ye Hongjun stroked the hair at his temple and said with emotion, “I haven’t given you a real birthday in the past two years since I was sick. Can’t Mom try to make it up to you……”

“Uh……”

Ye Ci was in a bind.

Huo Tinglan had taken care of him well this year and he really didn’t need anything. What else could he want besides getting into the top 50 in his class?

At this time, Huo Tinglan gave a small smile, turning to Ye Hongjun to say: “You don’t have to worry about Xiao Ci’s birthday celebration. I’ve pretty much prepared everything.”

Ye Hongjun’s eyes lit up, and she said curiously on behalf of Ye Ci: “It’s all been done? How did you prepare? Can I be of use?”

Huo Tinglan lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment: “It really has……I will discuss this in private with you later. Ye Ci shouldn’t know, so that it’s a surprise when the time comes.”

If you wanted to surprise people, how could you say that in front of them?

Didn’t it hurt people if you don’t tell the whole story? !

“What?” Ye Ci stopped, tugging on Huo Tinglan’s cuff. “Don’t just say something halfway……”

“What kind of surprise would that be?” Huo Tinglan immediate Ye Ci’s tone leisurely with a half smile, and gently scratched the tip of his nose with his fingers. “I won’t tell you.”

Ye Hongjun couldn’t hold down the corners of her lips, so she hurriedly left the study and closed the door, so as not to disturb the young couple.

The door shut softly, and there were only the two of them left in the study.

“Be coquettish,” Huo Tinglan said softly.

Ye Ci hesitated for a moment, leaned forward, and hugged Huo Tinglan. He buried his face in his chest, rubbing left and right, soft and slightly jerky: “Say a little bit, ba, just a little bit. You’re the best, I, I like you the most.”

“Baby is so cute.” Huo Tinglan kissed that glowing red face, then sat back as if nothing had happened, picking up the half-read book and continuing to flip through it.

“ ? ”

Ye Ci stood in amazement.

“You’re not……”

“No.” Huo Tinglan expressed a smile.

“You know what I’m asking……”

“I know.” 

This was just blatantly bullying a child.

– – He only said to “act coquettish,” but didn’t say “I will tell you if you act coquettish.”

Falling in love with an old scoundrel was so hard.

Ye Ci had no choice but to nurse a grievance and continue to solve problems.

In this way, Ye Ci was in a dilemma for a few days. It was almost all he thought about during the study break, and his expectations were high.

Finally, it was March 17th, just in time for Saturday, when the school was on a half-day holiday, and he returned from school with two big bags of birthday presents from his classmates. The car drove to the courtyard of the Huo residence, where Uncle He was already waiting. Ye Ci got out of the car, and Uncle He asked someone to take the two bags of presents. Instead of letting him into the main house, he led him to the banquet hall next to the auxiliary building.

Huo Tinglan did not have Lin Yao’s sociable and lively character. This banquet hall was only used a few times a year, and Ye Ci had never been inside at all. Uncle He opened the door for him, and the afternoon sun poured warm light into the hall. The glacier-white marble floor was polished to a bright sheen and there were no lights on in the hall. The scarlet curtains hanging to the floor had an excellent shading effect, and distant objects were hidden in darkness. Ye Ci stepped in, and only had time to glimpse some vague outlines before Uncle He hastily closed the door behind him with speed like a black shop owner trying to abduct someone.

As soon as the door closed, the huge banquet hall was so dark that you couldn’t see your fingers.

“Huo-shushu?” Ye Ci called out, his voice fluttering with nervousness.

His heart beat wildly.

Suddenly, there was a light “click” in the darkness, as if a switch had been flipped.

Then, something not far away was illuminated.

It was a small exhibition stand, square, slender, and tall. A bit like the ones used to display cultural relics in museums, it had an ebony countertop and soft, shiny silk, just without the glass cover. The beam of light was very narrow, like the stage light in a play. It only illuminated this one area, and the things in the distance were still unclear.

……What was on it should be Huo Tinglan’s birthday present to him, right?

The corners of Ye Ci’s lips raised, and he walked over quickly and excitedly.

There was a letter on the silk surface along with a silver longevity lock.^[3] The letter paper was folded, and the words “Zero Years Old” was written on the back of it.

Ye Ci was impatient about the gift, so he picked up the longevity lock and rubbed it. The lock was silver-gray, with an engraving of a child riding a horse, and the silver chain was decorated with four small bells. The engraving was ancient and quaint, the gilt was light, and there was a sense of wear and tear, as if it were an antique that had been passed down for more than a hundred years.

Ye Ci unfolded the letter.

On the paper was Huo Tinglan’s sharp, eloquent handwriting.

“……19 years ago today, you were born. I was 12 years old. If I had been in your life then, I couldn’t be ‘Huo-shushu,’ but ‘the neighbor’s big brother.’……

“……I heard from your mother that you seldom cried at night, and you were already so well-behaved after only being a few months old. She also said that among the rubber toys for exercising your fingers, your favorite pony had been lost……

“……I happen to have a zero-years-old birthday gift for you, a longevity lock with a boy riding a horse. This lock was worn by my great-grandfather when he was a child, and he was a hundred and twelve years old when he died. No disease and no pain, a happy death. So I think this lock must be very effective……

“…..A longevity lock, a lock for a hundred years, a lock for a prosperous life. May my baby live a long life and be free from disaster and diseases. This is a gift from Huo Tinglan, who was 12 years old at the time.”

Ye Ci clutched the silver lock. It was metal, but it wasn’t cold and hard, and his palm was filled with a soft warmth.

His eyes suddenly turned red, and he read the letter several times, as if he wanted to engrave the words and sentences into his heart. Then he folded the paper carefully and put it back in its original place for the time being – –

The second beam had come on.

With the help of the two lights, he could just barely see into the distance.

There were about a dozen similar gifts and letters in the shadows, but he couldn’t pick up another until he put the previous one back.

On the next letter, it said “One Year Old.”

The next letter said, “Two Years Old.”

Another and another……

Huo Tinglan made up every birthday gift to him from birth to eighteen years old, and they were not given indiscriminately. Like the longevity lock, they were each related to the corresponding age and had profound meanings. The effort this must have taken was unimaginable.

“……15 years ago today, you were still in kindergarten, listen to what your mother said……”

“……This is a gift from Big Brother Huo Tinglan, who was sixteen at the time……”

“It’s a pity that I didn’t appear in your life earlier, I can only make up for it in this way.”

“……….”

Not only were there gifts, but he also assumed what would have happened to the two of them if he had appeared in Ye Ci’s life at that time.

“……3 years ago today, you were sixteen years old and completed your transformation from a child into a teenager. I think that at 28, I would have given you a real, beautiful horse when you were an Alpha and liked speed and excitement. I would have liked to respect your hobbies under the premise of ensuring your safety. I heard from your mother that you secretly learned to ride a motorcycle with others. This is no good. A horse would be more suitable. I would teach you how to ride, and until you learned, I would have to choose to ride with you……”

“……A young Friesian horse, intelligent, easy to control, and gentle, suitable for beginners in horsemanship. Here is a pedigree certificate, it is already in the backyard, and you can play with it later……”

“……This is a gift from Mr. Huo, who was 28 years old at the time.”

Ye Ci wiped away tears as he walked.

Afraid that his tears would wet the precious letters, he wiped his face with his sleeve, and the cuff was full of dark wet marks.

He cried so hard that when he saw Huo Tinglan, who was waiting at the end of the row of display stands, he couldn’t even speak.

“Baby.” Huo Tinglan opened his arms to him, smiled softly and handsomely, and said with understanding, “Don’t talk, give me a hug.”

Ye Ci rushed forward and desperately hugged him as if trying to strangle someone to death, his throat choked up.

How fortunate he was to have met him.

Huo Tinglan’s warm palm rested on the back of his head, hugging him in a very possessive posture. After he calmed down a while later, he dropped the last “blockbuster.”

“You haven’t been given your nineteenth birthday present yet……from this year, I won’t ever miss another one again. Will you accept it?”

Ye Ci straightened up, and in a strong, nasally voice, he said: “Okay.”

Huo Tinglan handed him a thick stack of documents. There was also a key made of unknown material in the file, and he said with a smile: “Happy nineteenth birthday.”

Ye Ci wiped his eyes and opened the documents.

……He couldn’t understand half a word.

“What is this?” He flipped through them in a daze, and it was all in the same unknown language.

Huo Tinglan smirked and said unhurriedly: “You can read it after you learn it……you just need to remember that this is very important and take good care of it.” He reminded him, “It can be put together with the jadeite bracelet.”

The documents came from a city in Central Europe, where more than 120 banks worldwide were headquartered, known as the “Billionaire Capital.” What Ye Ci had in his hands was documentation provided by one of the established financial service providers. Their official common language was German, so of course Ye Ci couldn’t even understand half a word. With this certificate, the key, and Ye Ci’s own fingerprints, Ye Ci would be able to open a private vault that Huo Tinglan had purchased for a 100-year service period, within which were piles of gold that ordinary people would not be able to squander within dozens of lifetimes. This was an astronomical level of wealth. Huo Tinglan didn’t intend to tell him directly at the moment, but Ye Ci would know sooner or later.

“Huo-shushu, I think I’ve probably guessed……what this is.” Ye Ci pondered for a moment before making a vague guess.

He didn’t entirely understand, but it looked like some kind of document related to assets. If it could be given away as a gift, it must be expensive.

“Guess, just guess, I won’t take it back.” Huo Tinglan finally used his scoundrel tendencies in the right place. “It’s nothing to me…….it is my lifetime guarantee to you.”

In the first eighteen years of Ye Ci’s life, he suffered so much due to poverty. He only hoped that he would never be in such a predicament for the rest of his life, no matter what.

Not for one second.

He just wanted him to fly high.

May he soar through the sky, free and light.

May his wings be free from the dust of the world.

“I understand.” Ye Ci gripped the documents and didn’t evade the issue. He just raised his head, kissed Huo Tinglan lightly on the lips, and whispered, “Thank you, this is the best birthday I’ve ever had.”

He had already become calm, accepting love and kindness without resistance.

He was loved and in love.

There was nothing better.

Looking back, the nineteen beams of light behind him formed a bright road full of love and warmth.

And as the lights in the banquet hall gradually turned on, the road ahead became clear.

It was a smooth road.

Radiant and splendid.

In this way, full of love and warmth, he would go forward down that road, running all the way.

【The End】

T/N: There are several extras after this, and I’ll have those posted soon!

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[1] A paper tiger, 纸老虎, is someone who looks tough and intimidating but is actually the opposite. ⮐

[2] Laohuo soup (老火汤) directly translates to ‘old fire soup.’ It is made by boiling various ingredients for several hours in a pot or pressure cooker. ⮐

[3] A longevity lock is an ancient Chinese tradition. These ornaments are given to children as sort of a ward against disaster and evil spirits. ⮐

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Chapter Forty-Four << Table of Contents >> Extra One: Sports Competition

The two people in the room were stunned by Housekeeper Qin’s cry.

Zhao Yelan lowered his head, looked at the ointment on Yan Mingting’s hand, and pushed it away: “I just said not to give me medicine casually, are you a doctor?”

Yan Mingting knew that he was in the wrong, so he turned around and asked Housekeeper Qin: “Where should this medicine be used? Does rubbing it into the wound help?”

Housekeeper Qin also didn’t know the whys and where-fores. He wasn’t sure if it would be useful, but it should be harmless.

“Go and call the doctor,” Zhao Yelan said regretfully.

“I’ll go right away!” Housekeeper Qin felt relieved. Knocking on the doctor’s door in the middle of the night, he dragged him to the General’s Mansion.

After such tossing and fuss, it was already past bedtime. Zhao Yelan, who was unable to take a bath due to his injury, was a little displeased, and lay on the bed sullenly for a while before going to sleep.

The next day was the anniversary of the death of Old General Yan. Yan Mingting took a leave of absence from the Imperial court, and Zhao Yelan was just an idler in the Imperial Academy. With so much staff, he was not needed at all, but the Emperor had arranged such a position to appease him, and he was happy to be at leisure.

Housekeeper Qin and the staff prepared all the things needed for worship. After being urged several times to go out the door, Zhao Yelan slowly……was helped out by Yan Mingting.

“Why don’t you not go, it’s rather far away. You can rest your legs at home,” Yan Mingting fretted.

Zhao Yelan insisted: “It’s fine, Old General Yan still deserves to be paid homage.” Yan Mingting glanced at him in surprise and agreed.

The General’s tomb was on a mountain outside the north of the city, facing the capital from a distance.

The sedan chair stopped at the bottom of the mountain about an hour later, and several other military officials had already arrived.

“General, Zhao-daren,” Several people clasped their hands and shouted.

Yan Mingting nodded: “All right, let’s go, ba.”

The group of people climbed up the steps but didn’t see the General’s figure among them. When they looked back, they saw Yan Mingting crouching in front of Zhao Yelan and were shocked.

Zhao Yelan was also slightly surprised: “What are you doing?”

“Climb on, with your leg it will definitely be hard to go up. I can’t take responsibility for you being hurt again,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan looked down at his knees. He was not someone who would wrong himself, so he got on.

Yan Mingting stood up with him on his back, walked to the front of his subordinates with ease, and led the way: “What are you doing standing there in a daze, hurry up, the old man is still waiting for you to toast to him.”

A group of military officials walked briskly and left the servants behind in a short while. Housekeeper Qin rubbed his legs and called out to Gao Tan: “Xiao Gao, you know martial arts, don’t you? Help deliver these things to the military officials, so that they won’t be anxious later.”

Gao Tan was walking beside Zhao Yelan, bored, and suddenly said: “My lord, let me carry you instead.”

The others were taken aback, but Zhao Yelan had no objections. Just as he was about to change over, He Cuizhang said, “That’s right, the General has carried him for so long, how about me instead?”

“I’m also willing.” 

“Me too.”

Everyone expressed their willingness to carry the wounded, and finally even Zhong Yuehong said: “Let me do it.”

Zhao Yelan: “……”

He originally would have rather enjoyed it if the matter hadn’t become so awkward.

Yan Mingting turned his head to look at his subordinates, suddenly aware that Zhao Yelan had a stranglehold on his neck, as if secretly unwilling to let go. He said with a smile: “What are you thinking, is it your turn to carry my wife?”

The subordinates laughed simply and honestly. Gao Tan no longer insisted, was soon distracted by the wild flowers and fruits on the road, and turned his head and disappeared.

Zhao Yelan wasn’t worried about his safety. He only felt that his body was slightly hot. It was still March, but with his chest against the other’s back, their body temperatures would inevitably rise. This broad back inexplicably made him feel at ease, and he almost fell asleep.

When they reached the top of the mountain, the sun was almost at its zenith. Zhao Yelan stood feebly on the ground, and Yan Mingting helped him to rest under the shade of a nearby tree, then prepared to worship with his subordinates.

Zhao Yelan looked at the mausoleum. It was very large, and besides the main tomb, there were two other tombs beside it.

After a while, incense smoke rose from the censer in front of the tombstone.

Zhao Yelan walked over with a limp. Yan Mingting brought him three sticks of incense and then stood beside him.

“Father, mother, younger brother, this is the new master of the General’s Mansion. He came with me to see you.”

Zhao Yelan had no words to say, and only stared at the characters on the tombstone, solemnly bowing three times with him.

After burning the incense, Yang Mingting fell silent. Rather, it was the subordinates who went to the grave to chatter, talking about the unforgettable battles they had experienced.

Zhao Yelan listened for a while, and found that Yan Mingting had gone to the shade of the tree at some point, watching quietly like a wooden sculpture.

He walked over slowly and stood beside him. Only then did Yan Mingting react, pointing to the two side tombs and saying playfully: “There is my mother, and my brother. When I die, I will be buried here too.”

Zhao Yelan said coldly: “Saying this, are you not afraid that your parents will rise from their coffins in anger?”

Yan Mingting smiled, saying abruptly: “My mother took me out to ride horses and died of a sudden illness within a few days of returning. My younger brother was very weak, completely different from me. He died of a serious illness when he was only a few years old. Tell me, am I really an evil star? Will I kill everyone close to me?”

Zhao Yelan looked at him in surprise: “I thought you wouldn’t believe such nonsense.”

“There will always be times when people are afraid, when their hearts are fragile,” Yan Mingting said softly.

“Then you must not let others become your weakness. It would only be a burden and a hindrance,” Zhao Yelan said decisively.

“Is that why you keep yourself closed away?” 

“Is that not good?” Zhao Yelan smiled faintly. “In this way, nothing can harm me again, and my life is in my own hands.”

Yan Mingting was noncommittal, but he felt intuitively that this sentence contained many things. Zhao Yelan must have had extremely painful experiences. Just now, he said, “nothing can harm me again,” words that caused him to be completely afraid of showing his weakness.

“Have you ever thought that the successive deaths of so many people around you was caused by a person?” Zhao Yelan prompted.

As expected, Yan Mingting regained his spirit: “What do you mean?”

“The tallest trees in the forest are the first to be blown down by strong wind. Although your Yan family has been at the border all year round, the most dreadful existence is the presence of a large army. Perhaps your father’s death was not that simple,” Zhao Yelan said.

“Are you guessing wildly, or do you have evidence?”

“Guessing.” Zhao Yelan observed his expression, and could see that the other party was very cautious about this matter. He continued seamlessly, “I am suspicious by nature, which is why I asked this question. If it is intrusive, I won’t ask any more.”

Yan Mingting shook his head and asked: “Then who do you think would want my father to die?”

“I don’t know, but anyway, it wouldn’t be me.”

Yan Mingting was taken aback.

Zhao Yelan said: “I have no grievances or enmities with your father, and would not harm him. Do you believe me?”

“I believe you.”

“……” Zhao Yelan, who had been mentally compiling a lot of arguments, was suddenly blocked with a single sentence.

“You truly believe me?”

“En.”

“Why?”

“Because you are Zhao Yelan.”

Zhao Yelan looked at him doubtfully.

“Did you guess what I have been looking for?” Yan Mingting said, “After Xiao Gao was rescued, he would definitely tell you what questions he was asked, and with your intelligence, it should have been easy to guess that I ordered people to kidnap him. If you had a guilty conscience, you would have definitely struck first. At this time, it would have been impossible for me and my subordinates to come to worship at the General’s tomb unscathed.”

“So you deliberately asked Xiao Gao those leading questions? To see if I would tip my hand?” Zhao Yelan glanced at him appreciatively. Unfortunately, the other party still didn’t guess that even Gao Tan’s kidnapping was arranged by him.

Yan Mingting did not deny it: “I just wanted to confirm.”

Zhao Yelan narrowed his eyes slightly: “Then asking about what my attitude is towards you was also intentional?”

“That was on a whim,” Yan Mingting blurted out, then paused and looked at him with some embarrassment. “Is what he said true?”

Zhao Yelan pondered for a moment, thinking about whether to tell him the truth of the abduction or not. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gao Tan coming back, and immediately diverted his attention: “Xiao Gao, what are you holding?”

Yan Mingting did not wait for an answer, having received it from his tangled expression. He didn’t deny it! According to Zhao Yelan’s temperament, if he didn’t like someone, he just didn’t like them, so how could he be so tangled!

Not denying it was tantamount to acquiescing.

Yan Mingting’s peripheral vision kept falling on Zhao Yelan, and he saw Zhao Yelan taking a bouquet of wild flowers from Gao Tan.

“I picked them just now, do you like them, my lord?” Gao Tan asked.

Zhao Yelan lowered his head and fiddled with the colorful mountain flowers: “Where did you pick them all?”

“On the way.”

For some reason, when Yan Mingting looked at this scene, he was inexplicably depressed. Snatching the flowers from his hand, he said righteously: “These flowers are nice, my mother likes them the most, can you give them to her?”

Zhao Yelan said generously: “Take them.”

Yan Mingting gave Gao Tan a haughty look and took the flowers, placing them in front of the tomb. Turning around, he saw Gao Tan take some wild fruits out of his pocket and offer them to Zhao Yelan.

He stepped forward quickly and snatched the fruit away, saying, “This fruit is good, my brother likes it very much, can you give it to my brother?”

“……Take them.” Zhao Yelan said, “Unexpectedly, your family is quite easy to provide for.”

Gao Tan saw that the flowers and fruits given to his lord were gone, and felt aggrieved and frustrated. He said, “My lord, those were all for you……”

“It’s fine.” Zhao Yelan patted his head. “I’m sure there are still a lot of flowers on the side of the road. You can pick some more.”

“Okay!” Gao Tan hurriedly ran down to pick flowers.

After the worship was over, the group went down the mountain. Zhao Yelan was still lying on Yan Mingting’s back, and had the leisure to slowly appreciate the spring flowers and mountain scenery on both sides.

“My lord, I’m back!” Halfway up the mountain, Gao Tan chased after him, his arms full of wildflowers. When he was about to catch up with Zhao Yelan, Yan Mingting suddenly accelerated to a pace that was like flying.

Gao Tan: “ ? ”

“Yan Mingting, slow down!” Zhao Yelan let out a cry of surprise, caught off guard, and hugged his neck tightly. The surrounding scenery sped by before him, and he buried his head in terror.

Yan Mingting hesitated for a moment, then ran even faster.

“General, wait a moment, let me hand over the flowers to my lord!” Gao Tan continued to chase after him.

The other military officials didn’t understand, but they used qinggong to catch up. The poor group of servants looked at their backs, which disappeared in the blink of an eye, and continued down the mountain bitterly.

After finally arriving at the city, Housekeeper Qin remembered another matter, tremblingly came to the balm shop, and asked the shopkeeper, “Do you have any picture books or the like?”

When the shopkeeper saw it was him, he immediately understood, mysteriously taking a book out of a hidden compartment: “This is a treasure, a good thing that is hard to buy outside. It also depends on if you are old in age but young in mind, so I will show you.”

“What do you mean, old of age but young of mind?” Housekeeper Qin felt wronged but was unable to appeal, so he simply didn’t explain. He opened the picture book and glanced at it. There was both text and pictures, and he paid the money before leaving in satisfaction.

Since the General had actually used the ointment to rub Zhao-daren’s knees, he was sure that the two of them didn’t know how to have sex properly.

Fortunately, before the big wedding, the General was not in the mansion when the nanny from the palace came to teach some instructions, so he had to write down some pointers. At first he thought he would never need it in his life, but he didn’t expect the General to be so fast……

After running around for much of the day, Zhao Yelan went to the study to lie down and read after finishing his meal. Gao Tan crouched at the door, still mourning the wildflowers that were blown away in the wind while running.

Yan Mingting had gone to discuss matters with his subordinates, and returned around midnight. Zhao Yelan had already briefly washed up and lay down to sleep.

Perhaps due to going to the tomb that day, not long after Zhao Yelan closed his eyes, the figures of his parents appeared in his mind. Waking up in a cold sweat, he heard Yan Mingting whispering instructions to Gao Tan at the door. “Your lord is asleep, why don’t you go back and rest? By the way, tomorrow morning, you can go to Ming Ji Restaurant to buy some of his favorite stuffed steamed buns and come back.”

There was the sound of the door closing. If Yan Mingting stepped lightly, no one would be able to detect his footsteps.

Zhao Yelan turned over curiously. Seeing Yan Mingting standing beside the bed, he was startled: “Must you be so creepy?”

“I’m just seeing if you’re asleep.” Yan Mingting smiled shamefacedly and turned to lay on the floor.

Zhao Yelan supported his head with one hand, looked at him for a while, and said, “I can’t sleep.”

“Why?”

“I just can’t sleep, does there need to be a reason?”

“Then I’ll tell you a bedtime story?”

“……” Zhao Yelan said, “A different story, I don’t want to hear the one about Wang-gongzi.”

“Then how about I tell you how He Cuizhang caught a sword with his bare hands?”

“Not interested.”

Yan Mingting guessed that he was only interested in literary anecdotes. Thinking that Zhao Yelan also kept a lot of books in this room, he planned to find one and read it to him.

Walking to the drawer beside the bed, he opened it and saw a book sitting on top. Taking it out in a dignified way, he sat down by the bed, opened it to the first page, and said very articulately: “A god came down to earth, dressed in women’s clothes. Because of his beauty, he was favored by the prince and brought back to the palace for a night of romance. Only then did he know that this person was the rabbit god who had descended to the world……”

Yan Mingting was taken aback for a moment. “Ah, this……the rabbit god?”

Zhao Yelan gave a slight frown and sat up suspiciously to look at the book. He saw the painting on the other side was of two men entangled together, with a line of small characters attached below: Backyard flowers are very delicate, and need to be picked carefully.

Only now did Yan Mingting notice the painting, and looked at him in surprise.

The two looked at each other with strange and complicated expressions – because they each thought that the picture book had been prepared by the other party.

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Chapter Twenty <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty-Two

The room was full of fragrance, rich and potent.

Zhao Yelan lit a dozen or so incense sticks in one go, and Yan Mingting was smoked so thoroughly that physical tears began to form in his eyes, so he had to beg for mercy: “I’m sorry, I was wrong, Zhao-daren, achoo……Zhao-daren, you let me go, ba!”

Zhao Yelan leaned in front of him, staring at his wet, red eyes, and felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction: “The great General was actually made to cry because of a little incense?”

Yan Mingting: “Achoo! Yes, yes, let me go, wuwuwuwuwuwu, I beg you!”

“……” So spineless.

Seeing that he never broke free of the rope and was willing to be tossed to such an extent, Zhao Yelan undid the rope and let him go.

Yan Mingting, who had regained his freedom, ran to the courtyard and opened his mouth, taking a big gulp of fresh air.

“Someone come and get some hot water ready,” Zhao Yelan stood at the door and shouted.

As soon as these words fell, Housekeeper Qin brought some servants to deliver the water.

Zhao Yelan looked at the old housekeeper suspiciously: “You’ve been quite vigilant lately.”

“I ought to, I ought to. After all, I have experience,” Housekeeper Qin said with a smile.

After delivering the water, Housekeeper Qin approached Yan Mingting and saw him wiping tears from the corners of his red eyes. He said worriedly: “General, what is wrong with you?”

“I was bullied by Zhao Yelan,” Yan Mingting complained.

“Then he……bullied pretty hard, ah.” Housekeeper Qin was very surprised, and patted him on the back reassuringly, “However, this may be my lord showing favor to you.”

Yan Mingting was stunned: “Ah? This is a show of favor?”

“Yes, ah. Otherwise, has he done this to any other people?” 

“I don’t know……” Yan Mingting wasn’t sure if Zhao Yelan would burn incense for others if they made a mistake.

It happened that Gao Tan was passing by, so he grabbed him and asked: “If someone speaks taboo words, how will your family’s lord deal with it?”

“Kill them,” Gao Tan said innocently.

Housekeeper Qin was inwardly taken aback, but he saw Yan Mingting’s expression relax slightly: “You’re right, he really treats me differently.”

After breathing the fresh air in the courtyard for a long time, Yan Mingting felt that his nose and throat were much more comfortable. Pushing open the door lightly, a faint fragrance could still be smelled in the room. He heard a rustling sound and turned his head to see Zhao Yelan stretching out a wet hand from behind the screen. He tried to grab the clothes hanging on the side, but it seemed that he couldn’t reach them. The man stood up with the sound of splashing water, and his slender fingers touched the air a few times.

“Do you need help?” Yan Mingting asked loudly, walking up to the screen.

Perhaps because he didn’t expect him to enter the room without permission, Zhao Yelan exclaimed in surprise.

Yan Mingting heard his voice and went over, and was stupefied. He had just wanted to come help, but that white upper body was presented in front of his eyes, and his heart beat noticeably faster.

Something wasn’t right.

Not only was his heartbeat wrong, but the scars on Zhao Yelan’s body were also wrong. There were two short scars beneath the beautiful collarbones, and one on his waist and abdomen that sloped around to his back.

These were not things that should be present on a pampered body. Yan Mingting finally understood why Zhao Yelan was so angry when he asked about the past.

“Who told you to come in!” Zhao Yelan immediately sat back in the basin. Water splashed onto his hair, and there was animosity in his eyes.

“Sorry, I just thought you needed someone to lend a hand.” Yan Mingting immediately turned his back, thought for a moment, and then picked up the clothes behind him, passing them over without looking back.

“Put on your clothes first, the water is cold and you might catch an illness.”

After a long time, Zhao Yelan grabbed the clothes.

Yan Mingting heard the sound of lapping water and the sound of a towel being rubbed. Holding his breath, he didn’t dare to look back at all, until he heard the sound of a sharp sword piercing the air. A long sword pressed against his back.

“What did you see?” Zhao Yelan asked coldly.

“I saw……a beauty who fell into the water?” Yan Mingting said cautiously.

The sword poked in again.

Yan Mingting raised his hands and surrendered: “I admit it, I saw the scars.”

Zhao Yelan’s eyes went cold, and he was about to poke in again, but Yan Mingting dodged and turned to look at him.

The two confronted each other for a short while, and Yan Mingting suddenly and outrageously pulled open the lapel of his clothes, saying righteously, “Isn’t it just a few scars? Come, let me show you mine.”

Zhao Yelan paused. His eyes fell to the scars on his chest, which were much more serious than his own.

“This is only the chest. Do you want to see? There’s more on the back, ba.” Yan Mingting turned around and was about to take off his clothes.

“Enough.” Zhao Yelan threw the sword on the floor indifferently, took a deep breath, and walked to the side to dry his hair with a towel.

Yan Mingting sighed, straightened his clothes, and called someone to carry the basin out. Then he looked at the person sitting on the bed and said: “Don’t be flustered, scars are the symbol of  a man!”

“From your point of view, it is indeed symbolic.” Zhao Yelan sneered. “For others, it is only shameful.”

“I don’t think so. Perhaps it is because of these scars that you are who you are today?”

“Who I am today?” Zhao Yelan raised his head with a false smile on his face. His voice was cold. “A courtier whom everyone detests, a colleague hated by the court, a pawn feared by the Emperor, a man who married into the back house, which identity can be worthy of my rejoicing and gratitude?”

Yan Mingting watched him in silence, then sat down beside him and said, “Have you ever thought about changing your path and becoming a good official praised by everyone?”

Zhao Yelan scoffed and said: “I only know that there are two roads in the world, toward life and toward death. There is no middle road for me to take.”

“There is,” Yan Mingting said softly. “It’s just that you dare not.”

Zhao Yelan threw the wet towel at him, then turned over on the bed to go to sleep.

“Your hair isn’t completely dry yet, if you fall asleep, you might get a headache,” Yan Mingting reminded him.

However, the other party turned his back to him, remained motionless, and didn’t intend to speak to him.

Yan Mingting took a dry towel and continued to wipe his wet hair for him, saying: “Forget it, let’s not talk about this. Let’s talk about something interesting……en, do you still want to hear bedtime stories?”

“Get lost,” Zhao Yelan said without looking back.

“Then I could tell you how the soldiers’ drills went?” Yan Mingting remembered another thing. “By the way, I have been going to morning court these days and haven’t had time to supervise your horse stance. How about we set a new time and practice hard?”

“Get lost.”

“Don’t you want to live a long life? Having a good foundation is better than taking too many medicines and eating delicacies. You know He Cuizhang, when he first joined the army, he was as thin as a monkey, and like you, he could have been blown away by the wind. Look at his appearance now, isn’t he very……”

“Ugly.”

“……” Yan Mingting coughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell him that.”

In this way, Yan Mingting continued talking to him in a low voice and Zhao Yelan occasionally responded, relaxing his vigilance.

Dazed, he was a little at a loss, aware that his anger seemed to inexplicably disappear at some point.

Maybe it was because his scalp felt slightly relaxed when his hair was wiped, or maybe because Yan Mingting had never expressed strong hostility toward him, making him forgive the other’s lack of propriety again and again.

But too many things had happened today, and he couldn’t be bothered to waste his thoughts anymore. He closed his eyes, even forgetting to cover himself with a blanket.

Waking up the next day, Zhao Yelan found that he was tightly wrapped in a blanket. He sat up slowly and looked at the bedding and pillows on the floor, which were neatly folded.

The corners of his mouth curved slightly, and after breakfast, he went to the Imperial Academy. The gazes of his colleagues were extremely strange. Because the news of him snatching the beauty at the brothel had been publicized last night, everyone had remarkable expressions on their faces when they saw him.

Zhao Yelan even wanted to make a painting of each of them in order to study the changes of human expressions.

Ruan Xian didn’t show any extra sentiments, and after greeting him familiarly, he went to attend to his own business.

In the afternoon, the Emperor came to the Imperial Academy to play chess again and got straight to the point: “It was very lively outside. Did you really go to a brothel last night?”

Zhao Yelan nodded: “Yes, I had a conflict with Yan Mingting on the street and rushed in impulsively.”

Zhao Xuan didn’t expect such an answer, and laughed out loud: “So that is the case. I didn’t expect you to display such a temper and catch Liu-daren from the Ministry of Rites in the courtesan’s room.”

“This official didn’t know that Liu-daren was there.” Zhao Yelan looked slightly embarrassed. “If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have said anything.”

“It doesn’t matter. If you hadn’t inadvertently barged in, I wouldn’t have known that Liu-daren, who has always kept himself clean, would go to the red-light district in private.” Zhao Xuan said coldly, “It seems that we need to change out the Chief Examiner.”

The Imperial exams were just around the corner, and in the Xuan Dynasty, people from the Ministry of Rights were in charge of this matter every year. If there was a problem with the examiner’s conduct, he would likely be criticized, making people doubt whether he could take up the position. What’s more, Zhao Xuan had only been on the throne for one year, and was thirsty for talents. He urgently needed a large number of talents to fill his decaying Imperial court.

“Do you have any recommendations for the position of Chief Examiner?”

Zhao Yelan looked up from playing chess: “This official has no intentions of going to court, and can only hope that this person will be fair and upright, without unhealthy tendencies, and be an example for students.”

“En, I think so too,” Zhao Xuan said with satisfaction.

Seeing that he looked confident, Zhao Yelan knew that he had someone he favored, so he didn’t ask any further questions and just smiled lightly for show.

After returning to the mansion, he saw servants rushing in and out, and went to the inner courtyard. Seeing that Yan Mingting was discussing with Housekeeper Qin, he casually asked in passing: “What are you talking about?”

“Answering Furen, tomorrow is the anniversary of the death of the old general. We are discussing what preparations need to be done. Furen, will you go together?” Housekeeper Qin asked.

In previous years, Housekeeper Qin took all his servants to the grave to pay homage on the anniversary of his death. The General was back this year and married a new wife, so he still needed to confirm it.

Yan Mingting originally thought that Zhao Yelan would refuse, but who knew that Zhao Yelan would consider it for a moment, his thoughts obscure, and then readily agree.

Housekeeper Qin beamed with joy, and then immediately retreated to start making purchases. When he passed a balm shop, he suddenly stopped, thinking that the General and his wife were often noisy at night. Furen was already in poor health, and if he was a little careless, he could easily encounter trouble.

He asked the others to bring some things home first, then walked into the shop and whispered to the shopkeeper: “Is there any ointment for the boudoir?”

The shopkeeper was about to fetch it, but was stopped by Housekeeper Qin again: “Ei, that is……the kind for men.”

The shopkeeper looked at Housekeeper Qin’s old appearance in surprise, smirked suggestively, then went to a dark case on the other side to rummage through it.

Knowing that he was misunderstood, Housekeeper Qin waved his hands again and again: “No, it’s not for me.”

“I understand, you have a friend?” The shopkeeper gave him a meaningful glance.

“Aiya, you don’t care who it is, just get me some boxes!”

After dinner in the evening, Yan Mingting saw Zhao Yelan go to the study to lie down and read a book again, and stopped him: “Don’t read, come and exercise with me.”

“Won’t go. Leave.”

“How about a walk to aid digestion? Take a walk after dinner and live to ninety-nine.”

Zhao Yelan refused again, but was forced to take a walk in the back courtyard. Yan Mingting persuaded him persistently: “It’s such an auspicious time, a dark and windy night^[1]……”

Zhao Yelan gave him a sidelong glance.

Yan Mingting coughed twice and reorganized his language: “It is an auspicious time, the moon is bright and the wind is quiet, which makes you look elegant and refined. If you could make a few horse stances under this bright moonlight, Chang’e^[2] will be put to shame when she sees you.”

“Get lost.”

To prevent Yan Mingting from dragging him forcefully again, Zhao Yelan decided to run away first.

He turned around and started to run, but couldn’t see clearly in the dark. Accidentally stepping on an uneven stone, he fell hard on the cobblestone path.

“……”

Zhao Yelan lay on the ground, made a fist in slight annoyance, and thumped the ground.

What extraordinary shame and humiliation!

In the next moment, he was carried into Yan Mingting’s arms. “See, when you don’t exercise when you are told to exercise, you fall after running only a few steps. Will your left foot trip over your right foot when you are walking another day?” Yan Mingting laughed happily and wantonly.

Zhao Yelan continuously beat his chest in anger: “It’s none of your business, let me down!”

“You are the one who said it, ba.” Yan Mingting put him down. “Come on, take two steps.”

Zhao Yelan took two unwilling steps and looked back at him angrily.

“Not bad. Let’s not go for a walk tonight, and make an appointment for another day.” Yan Mingting walked to his side, and then kept going. As soon as he took another step, his sleeve was grabbed by someone.

He looked back to see Zhao Yelan staring at the ground, gritting his teeth as he said: “……Bring me back.”

“You’ll stop showing off?”

Zhao Yelan was quiet for a moment, and then nodded, enduring the humiliation.

The corners of Yan Mingting’s mouth curved up silently, and then he lifted him horizontally into his arms.

When Housekeeper Qin was cleaning the corridor, he saw General Yan carrying Zhao-daren back to the room and couldn’t help but blush, quickly lowering his head and pretending not to see. He only inwardly hoped that the General would quietly figure out what he had done.

When Yan Mingting brought him back to the room and lifted his trouser leg to check the wound, Zhao Yelan frowned tightly.

He moved as gingerly as possible and rolled it up above his knee. It was visibly scraped and bruised, with a little blood oozing out.

It was so late, too late to find a doctor. Yan Mingting rummaged through the boxes and cabinets, looking for medicine, but found several bottles of new ointment in the cabinet next to the bed. As soon as he opened one, he smelled a faint fragrance, which Zhao Yelan should like.

While cleaning all the way to the side room, Housekeeper Qin saw that the door to the masters’ bedroom was open. Suspiciously looking inside, he saw Yan Mingting taking the ointment he had specially prepared and rubbing it on Zhao Yelan’s knee.

Housekeeper Qin said in horror: “General Yan, that stuff is not used there!”

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[1] A dark and windy night (月黑风高) is a metaphor for a dangerous environment. ⮐

[2] Cháng’e: The lady in the moon in Chinese mythology. ⮐

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Chapter Nineteen <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty-One

In the end, Uncle He sent someone to deliver the food.

It was still the exquisite little dining cart delivered to the door, and Huo Tinglan pushed it in himself.

The bedroom was filled with Ye Ci’s pheromones, which were extremely rich.

The sweet smell had changed after the permanent marking. It still smelled of vanilla, but just like delicate and tender flower buds were swollen, red, and fully bloomed under the irrigation of fertilizers, Ye Ci’s glands also exuded a sweet and fragrant smell after the marking, very infectious. Huo Tinglan, who was at the peak of possessiveness, was so grudging that he even refused to open the window, let alone allow outsiders to smell the ambiguous atmosphere.

During the last few days of the holiday, in order to satisfy his unreasonable possessiveness, Huo Tinglan simply installed a bed table and coaxed Ye Ci to do his homework like this.

Sometimes even while holding Ye Ci……at the same time, he let him sit at the desk to do problems, calling it “convenient tutoring.”

Ye Ci knew that Huo-shushu was no longer the good Huo-shushu he had known in the past, but never thought that he would do such a ridiculous thing.

It was simply……unreasonable!

The twenty-day holiday ended quickly.

According to Tiancheng’s tradition, in order to temper the perseverance of the college entrance exam candidates, the school would arrange a week-long military training every year at the beginning of the first semester of the third year of senior high school. This tradition had been followed for many years, evolving to this day. It was more a formality than anything, and they wouldn’t really try their best to make these high school seniors suffer. Some training programs were even quite interesting, but the process of isolation was the real deal.

Not being able to see each other for seven days, but also enduring the jealousy that fermented as his Omega ate and slept with classmates and trained together……

For Huo Tinglan, not wanting Ye Ci to go to the military training was just a matter of telling his assistant to take care of it, but he didn’t want to disturb Ye Ci’s normal high school life because of his selfish desires. Besides, Ye Ci’s temperament was so introverted. He hadn’t made any friends in Tiangcheng for nearly half a year, and probably didn’t have much chance to socialize with others. These several days of communal living was an opportunity for Ye Ci to build good relationships with his classmates and integrate into the class, so he shouldn’t deprive him of it.

Young eaglets could not be raised into canaries.

Reason eventually triumphed over irrationality.

Before delivering Ye Ci to the training base, Huo Tinglan packed his suitcase with his own hands, going through all the items, big and small, to make them all smell of his own pheromones. There were two full packs of scent-blocking patches, and the words “Strong Lemon Mint Fragrance” were printed on them. After they were applied, an Alpha with a keen sense of smell could only smell a soulless chemical scent.

“……How many changes of clothes do you want to bring?” Huo Tinglan opened a drawer in the cloakroom.

Ye Ci’s frequently used items were moved to the master bedroom despite the fact that they had separate rooms.

There were rows of neatly folded “small square parcels” in the long, flat drawer. They were mainly pure white cotton, with the occasional black and fine silk ones, brand new as if just purchased, probably because Ye Ci was too embarrassed to wear them.

Out of an illogical desire for monopoly, Huo Tinglan folded these underwear by himself.

He entrusted the housekeeper and the staff to be responsible for all the trivial matters of his own life. When it was Ye Ci’s turn, especially after the permanent mark, he was itching to do these things without the help of others.

“Those……I’ll pack those myself.” Ye Ci hurried over and grabbed three of them.

It was definitely enough to bring three for seven days. He washed them every day, and the climate in early autumn was dry, so it was more than adequate to rotate them.

Huo Tinglan held him back and fiddled with the clothes in his hands unhurriedly, saying with disapproval: “Just three pairs? You’re going for seven days.”

“I wash them every day,” Ye Ci explained, “While training and sweating, these personal things can’t be hoarded……otherwise bacteria will grow.”

“Where will you hang them after washing?” Huo Tinglan chuckled, pestering him quite unreasonably and making no secret of his jealousy, otherwise he would have a hard time these days. “Hanging them out in the dormitory……won’t all your classmates see them?”

“It’s nothing.” Ye Ci stared. “Those who live together……must all be Omegas, so it doesn’t matter.”

He had a point.

Normal people would think so.

“……Sorry, baby.” Huo Tinglan was silent for a moment, laughed at himself, and said with sincere apology, “Am I being unreasonable?”

Huo-shushu was here again! It was that expression again!

Ye Ci looked at him from the corner of his eyes. That face was honest, but was in fact secretly improper. He muttered in a low voice: “As long as you know, remember not to do it next time.”

After saying so, he just slipped away.

“What?” Huo Tinglan laughed in surprise.

The little gentleman had learned to be wicked.

Which bastard did he learn it from?

His little mouth still stuttered, but would he stop stuttering in the future? Would he still obediently let him bully?

If the soft method didn’t work, he could only use harder means. He reacted quickly, and Ye Ci had only taken two steps before Huo Tinglan grabbed him like a cat by the neck.

“You’ve revealed your true face again!” Ye Ci quickly accused.

Huo Tinglan laughed out loud and stopped pretending. He picked Ye Ci up and put him on the sofa, pressing him firmly down and even poking his ribs to profit at his expense. This made Ye Ci laugh and beg for mercy, and then reluctantly agree to bring seven pairs.

……He was bringing so many, like some kind of underwear maniac. Ye Ci was so tortured that his eyes filled with physical tears, and he had no choice but to pray that the desire for exclusiveness brought by the permanent mark would subside as soon as possible.

On the first day of the third year of high school, more than a dozen buses drove the group of seniors to the training base.

Male Omegas were rare in the population. Including him, there were only three in Ye Ci’s class. For the entire grade, they could barely even fill three six-person dormitories.

Although the dozen or so people were scattered in different classes, many of them knew each other, and they chatted enthusiastically in twos and threes from gathering to sleeping. The two cute little Omegas who were in the same class as Ye Ci put their heads together to watch a dance video of a certain Alpha internet idol, shrieking and clutching each other from time to time. Ye Ci didn’t understand, and maintained his usual silence. The other strange Omega who shared the dormitory with him saw that he was 1.8 meters tall and had a cold appearance, and was a little fearful of him. Ye Ci glanced at them inadvertently, and the chirping chatter of those several people dropped down, like a nest of chickens with a hawk hovering above their heads.

The training intensity of the first day was approximately equal to zero. After dividing the dormitories and tidying up, the students who had changed into camouflage uniforms went downstairs to gather for a half-hour meeting. They listened to the school leaders’ speeches, had a face-to-face meeting with the instructors, and then got to know the common area and training ground, and this half day was over. When everyone went back to the dormitories, a delivery car was parked at the entrance of the building. The use of high-power electrical appliances was prohibited in the dormitory building, and there was no place to boil water. Therefore, the school was responsible for distributing drinking water to the students. Each dormitory was allocated a lot of boxes of mineral water, and everyone was busily transporting them into the building.

Those male Omegas were petite and tender, with slender arms and legs, and they were all young masters who had grown up spoiled. A box of water weighed more than 20 kilograms, and they had to climb to the fourth floor, so they couldn’t move them at all. But this dormitory was full of Omega and Beta girls, and they didn’t know where to start to catch a strong man. While they were discussing amongst each other, Ye Ci had already picked up a box and stacked it on top of another. With a weight of nearly fifty catties, he picked it up lightly and deftly, and slipped upstairs in a hurry.

He ran fast, and when he went downstairs to move more, he bumped into his temporary roommates who were working together to carry the water up the stairs. The little faces of the Omegas were flushed with exhaustion, and they sighed in despair while climbing the stairs.

“……Give it to me, ba.” Ye Ci slowed on the steps and coughed uncomfortably, glancing at the few people and looking away shyly.

He had rarely taken the initiative to communicate with people like this before.

On the one hand, he was too introverted, and on the other, he felt inferior because of his speech impediment, fearful of being ridiculed.

A stutter was often the object of teasing by those badly behaved students in class.

After seeing experts several times during the summer vacation and actively cooperating with the training, he could pretty much speak coherently in short sentences of four to five characters. At home, he often took the initiative to talk to Huo Tinglan, and could sometimes joke around naturally. The changes were subtle, and only when he came back to his senses did he realize that the matter of “speaking up” had unconsciously become less difficult.

“Then……thank you for your hard work, la.” The little Omega who was in the same class as Ye Ci raised his face and smiled kindly at him.

“Forget it.” Ye Ci turned his head away, his face suddenly flushed, and rushed upstairs with two boxes of water.

“……pff.”

“Why do I think that he’s so cute……”

“He blushed when he said that.”

“I remember he was in your class, right?”

They were all the same age and lived in the same dorm. With such a good starting opportunity, and knowing that Ye Ci was soft-tempered and not as cold as he looked, communication became natural.

Although the little Omegas couldn’t chat with Ye Ci, this didn’t prevent them from taking Ye Ci to the cafeteria for a meal after training.

The table was full of classmates, and there was also a place for him. There was a lot of noise in his ears. From time to time, someone would be afraid of neglecting him and would simply say a word to him in the middle of the lively chat.

Ye Ci often put his chopsticks down and responded earnestly.

It was really nice to not feel so alone anymore.

These days, Ye Ci had not been able to find a chance to be alone. There was a curfew in the dormitory building, and you couldn’t come and go at night. He and Huo Tinglan mainly communicated with each other by sending messages.

At eight o’clock in the evening, Huo Tinglan sent a series of messages. Ye Ci climbed to the upper bunk and sat against the wall so that no one could see his phone screen.

[Huo Tinglan]: [picture]

[Huo Tinglan]: [picture]

… …

The chat box was brushed with the honey-gold color of flesh.

None of them showed a face.

But Ye Ci could recognize them based on the outline of the pectoral muscles.

Ye Ci’s blood vessels almost exploded upon seeing it, and he hurriedly locked the screen. No one in the dormitory noticed him, but he was more nervous than a thief.

“……….”

How did Huo-shushu look like an erotic male model ! ! !

After calming down for a while, Ye Ci unlocked the screen.

[Huo Tinglan]: Do you like it, baby?

[Ye Ci]: Be careful of being banned.

[Ye Ci]: I’m still a student, so you can’t have an intimate chat with me.

After condemning him, he saved the pictures one by one with a blushing face.

Who could he possibly have learned that sanctimonious energy from.

Huo Tinglan could guess what Ye Ci was doing there, and to match him, he smiled and pretended to be serious, typing with his eyes down.

[Huo Tinglan]: Okay, no intimate talk.

[Huo Tinglan]: How are you getting along with your classmates? Are you tired from training?

The corners of Ye Ci’s lips curled up in a soft arc, and he typed a lot of words quickly.

[Ye Ci]: Very good, I went to the cafeteria with them these two days. I didn’t stutter much, and they didn’t seem to notice.

[Ye Ci]: In fact, I feel that the students in our school are quite nice.

[Ye Ci]: The training was very easy. In the 400-meter obstacle race this afternoon, I was faster than many Alphas, and brought back a lot of points for our group.

He was implicitly proud and shared his joy with Huo Tinglan.

The dozen or so little Omega boys were fascinated by him, and they almost regarded him as the glory of Omegas.

Ladders, high board walls, single-plank bridges, deep jumping pits……every time Ye Ci overcame an obstacle, they were screaming on the sidelines, more excited than when supporting their idols. They rushed up to hug Ye Ci, who was out of breath, and jumped up and down together.

Ye Ci had no choice but to politely dance with them a bit in embarrassment.

……This couldn’t be told to Huo-shushu.

Otherwise, he would definitely go crazy with jealousy.

As they chatted and chatted, it would soon be time to turn off the lights.

Huo Tinglan was afraid that he would damage his eyes if he looked at his phone in the dark, so he urged him to put the phone down, take a shower, and rest.

Ye Ci hesitated for a while, then poked his head out and looked around. The five roommates who had been chatting and gossiping so much that they forgot lights-out time were all panicking and preparing to go to the bathroom with their washbasins and toothbrushes, and no one noticed him.

He had received so many generous pictures from Huo-shushu, so out of consideration for reciprocity……

Ye Ci blushed, took a photo of himself, and quickly sent it.

He knew that Huo Tinglan would definitely like to see him, but hadn’t mentioned anything because he feared that it would be inconvenient for him in the dormitory.

[Ye Ci]: [picture]

[Ye Ci]: I’m going to sleep. Good night, Huo-shushu.

From his head to his toes, he wondered what Huo Tinglan’s next reaction would be.

He didn’t dare to look anymore, put his phone on silent, stuffed it under the pillow, then propped himself up on the bed rail and jumped down to wash.

……Reserving countless off-color remarks for the innocent pillow.

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Chapter Forty-Three << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Five

Zhao Yelan clenched his fists and then loosened them. Picking up the teacup on the table, and seeing that there was no more tea to pour, he set it back down heavily and abruptly raised his voice: “You sober up!”

“Look, you’re embarrassed to the point of anger.”

“……”

Yan Mingting reached out and patted his back: “Okay, don’t worry, I understand, you’re right. Let’s pretend we don’t know about this, you don’t like me at all.”

Zhao Yelan couldn’t bear it anymore and kicked him: “Get the hell out!”

Yan Mingting went to the door, then turned around with a smile: “It’s time for breakfast, no matter how shy you are, you can’t starve yourself.”

“Scram!”

Breakfast was eaten separately. Yan Mingting waited in the hall for a while, until Gao Tan came to serve the dishes and said that his lord would eat in the room.

Yan Mingting assented, but asked another question: “Were you seriously injured yesterday?”

“Not seriously,” Gao Tan said. “Thank you, General, for coming to rescue me.”

With a guilty conscience, Yan Mingting turned back to his food.

Zhao Yelan finished his meal in the room. Looking at the time, it was time to go to the Imperial Academy.

The new official uniform was a green robe, and there was no need to wear an identification talisman. Although it was all a single piece, it was difficult to hide his elegance.

Gao Tan watched in amazement: “My lord, you look the best in whatever clothes you wear.”

“Now your tongue is nimble again?” Zhao Yelan glanced at him coldly, picked up the sachet in his hand, and smacked him on the head with it. “Do you know how much trouble you have caused me?”

Gao Tan covered his head and asked blankly: “Am I in trouble again?”

“En, big trouble.” Zhao Yelan put the sachet on and handed him a piece of silver: “Go see the doctor yourself, ba.”

“Thank you, my lord!” Gao Tan took the silver and sent him to the door, then turned around and took the silver to buy snacks.

The Imperial Academy did not need to go to morning court, and used a shift system for when the Emperor called. Today was a day that Zhao Yelan was on duty. He stood at the courtyard gate and looked up at the plaque, his thoughts inscrutable.

After stepping through the gate, he saw that his colleagues had arrived and were compiling classics. There were many people, but it was a little quiet. Those who became scholars were addicted to it, and didn’t care about worldly affairs.

“Isn’t this Zhao Yelan, Zhao-daren?” A Bachelor^[1] took the lead to identify him, greeted him with a forced smile, and then went about his business.

Others looked over one after another with varied expressions, but it was obvious that nobody welcomed him. 

Most likely it was scholarly contempt, or their dislike of Zhao Yelan’s intrigue in court, which made them look down on him.

Although the Imperial Academy was the place many students aspired to, it was a big joke that Zhao Yelan was transferred from a first-rank minister to the Imperial Academy.

Everyone nodded their heads in embarrassment, not knowing what trouble Zhao Yelan would cause the Imperial Academy in the future.

“Zhao-daren, excuse me for not going out to meet you. I hope you will forgive this Ruan Xian.” A young man in his prime came to greet him generously. “I am also an editor, so how about I give you a tour first?”

“Ruan Xian?” Zhao Yelan smiled slightly. “I have admired you for a long time.”

“My lord knows me?”

“The talented and elegant previous third place scholar in the Imperial examinations, who doesn’t know your name?”

Never thinking that Zhao Yelan would remember him when he was a mere third place, Ruan Xian smiled shyly and led him inside, saying, “It was just a little bit of luck. If I were to take the Imperial examinations with Zharo-daren, in which round would I be able to make third? What’s more, the first and second place scholars are more talented than me, I can only do some small errands and try my best to solve problems for the Emperor and the people.”

Zhao Yelan smiled but said nothing.

When the people around saw the two talking and smiling together, their faces became a bit strange, especially the previous first and second place scholars, whose brows never loosened.

The top three in each Imperial examination would enter the Imperial Academy, starting as editors. Seeing that this year’s spring was coming soon, and a new batch of talents was about to enter the Imperial Academy, it would be difficult if they wanted to stand out.

They usually couldn’t go to court, and the Emperor didn’t like people who flattered and curried favor, so they could only follow orders diligently and steadfastly. But how many gray-haired people in the Imperial Academy had yet to achieve success?

This Ruan Xian immediately got involved with Zhao Yelan. Even if Zhao Yelan would never return to court in this life, if he could find out the Emperor’s preferences through him, the road to promotion would be much smoother.

After they circled around, Zhao Yelan was brought to Jingshi Pavilion, where he would compile and write historical records in the future. 

Others saw him pick up the annals of the late Emperor and read it quietly. He didn’t make trouble, so they each breathed a sigh of relief and got busy.

Not long after, someone outside shouted that the Emperor was coming, and everyone put down their work one after another, getting up to go and pay respects.

Zhao Yelan fell in at the back of the line.

There was a group of court ladies and eunuchs standing in front, with Zhao Xuan at the head. He asked, “Where are the chess players?”

The Imperial Academies also recruited some chess players and musicians for entertainment when the Emperor had leisure time. 

As soon as the chess players stood up, Zhao Xuan heard a familiar coughing sound and looked at the person in the back. Kneeling on the ground with everyone, he coughed until his face turned pale, but refused to raise his head.

“You got down first.” After giving orders to the chess players, he walked to Zhao Yelan’s side and said, “Come and play with me.”

“Yes.” When Zhao Yelan stood up, he was dizzy for a moment after kneeling for so long. His blood supply was insufficient, and he almost lost his footing.

Zhao Xuan subconsciously tried to reach out, but the other party had already taken two steps back while pressing his head, then cupped his hands respectfully: “Your Majesty, this way, please.”

Everyone looked at these familiar yet slightly estranged people and were a little uncertain about the Emperor’s attitude toward Zhao Yelan.

The chess room was not large. Usually if the Emperor wanted to play chess, he could just call someone into the palace, and he rarely came to the Imperial Academy in person.

Zhao Yelan coughed hard a few more times before feeling better, pressed his throat, and walked to the chessboard to sit down.

“You’ve lost weight.” Zhao Xuan examined his figure. “How are you these days?”

“Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am very well,” Zhao Yelan said.

The two looked at each other silently, and after a moment, Zhao Xuan abruptly said: “Three teams of Gold Collar Guards all died at the hands of Yan Mingting.”

Zhao Yelan sighed deeply: “It was only when I checked the corpses that I found out that they were our Gold Collar Guard. Yan Mingting was very vigilant, and as soon as he found that someone was following us, he took action. Without His Majesty’s order, I dared not inform him of the existence of our Gold Collar Guard.”

“En.” Zhao Xuan nodded, inexplicably pleased with the phrase “our Gold Collar Guard,” and was even more convinced that this was not arranged by him. He said with a smile, “If that is the case, then I will take back the Gold Collar Guard and you will be more careful in the future. If you are in danger……”

“This official will be careful.”

“En……” Zhao Xuan placed a black chess piece and asked, “How is the Imperial Academy?”

“Fair,” Zhao Yelan said vaguely.

“Is there anyone who is impressive?”

“Ruan Xian.” Zhao Yelan set a white chess piece down leisurely. “He treats others comprehensively. It is difficult to guarantee that he possesses tact and sophistication, but further observation can be made.”

“En, continue to help me look. Let us see if we can find another Zhao Yelan from here,” Zhao Xuan joked.

Zhao Yelan played with his chess piece, the corners of his mouth curling slightly: “Your Majesty, it is your turn.”

While Zhao Xuan played chess, he thought about the sophisticated and tactful person and asked: “In the Imperial examination last year, Ruan Xian’s literature was indeed not as good as the first place scholar, but he found new ways to answer the questions and won in wit.”

“Exactly.”

“Then I’ll listen to you, and observe for a while longer. There are many vacancies in the court now……” Zhao Xuan felt as if he had returned to the past, chatting with him about the affairs of the court and almost forgetting that the most sought-after vacancy in the court today was the position of Deputy Prime Minister. He stiffly brought a halt to the topic and continued to ask, “Does Ruan Xian have other strengths?”

“He is very good-looking.”

Zhao Xuan was slightly taken aback: “Good-looking?”

“En.” 

“……” Zhao Xuan looked at him meaningfully. “When did you learn to judge others by their appearance?”

Zhao Yelan smiled back: “I have only known Ruan Xian for half an hour, so how could I know his nature well? Of course I can only judge him by his appearance.”

Only then did Zhao Xuan nod, wondering: “Is he really so good-looking that you are full of praise?”

“Hasn’t His Majesty seen him?”

“Of course I’ve seen him, he’s obviously not half as good as you……” Zhao Xuan stopped abruptly and looked up at the other party.

“Your Majesty jokes, how can this sick and weak official compare to him?” Zhao Yelan set down a chess piece calmly. “There are many men in the world, each with their own advantages. Ruan Xian and this official are not of the same kind.”

“What about Yan Mingting? Is he the same kind as you?”

“Why did His Majesty bring him up?” Zhao Yelan made no secret of his distaste. “He is wretched.”

Zhao Xuan laughed loudly, lost two games in a row, and said with a smile: “It is still the most comfortable to play against you. You will never let me win. The chess players will only try to let me get ahead.”

After playing chess in the Imperial Academy for half a day, Zhao Yelan rested for a while after returning to the General’s Mansion. When he woke up, the sun was already positioned in the west.

Not long after, Yan Mingting also returned. When he returned to his room, he saw that Xiao Gao was massaging Zhao Yelan’s legs. He walked over to pat Xiao Gao: “You’re still injured, why are you still attending to him? Go back and rest properly.”

“But my lord’s legs are uncomfortable,” Gao Tan muttered, unwilling to go.

“I’ll do it, you go back first.” Yan Mingting pushed him to the door, then sat next to Zhao Yelan. As soon as he touched his calf, his hand was slapped away. “You don’t need to do it, you’re clumsy. Get me a different person,” Zhao Yelan said indifferently.

“I haven’t massaged it yet, how do you know I’m clumsy?” Yan Mingting was unconvinced. “This kneading bones and pressing tendons, I’m good at it.”

Zhao Yelan put on a stern face and was about to push him away, when his calf suddenly hurt. He let out a muffled grunt. Immediately afterward, the painful place was relieved. The feeling of soreness and swelling faded, and his expression eased. He even enjoyed it a little.

“How about that, my technique isn’t bad, right?” Yan Mingting was like a dog showing affection to its master, smiling and wagging his tail straight at him.

“So obedient.” Zhao Yelan took a piece of sugarcane from the table and ate it, then smiled and patted Yan Mingting’s face. “Wāng^[2] twice if you’re listening?” (T/N: please read the footnote or this is not going to make any sense.)

“Wāng what?”

“Wāng Wāng.”

“Hey, I heard that, very cute.” Yan Mingting patted his head triumphantly

Zhao Yelan reacted belatedly. With a surge of energy and blood, he picked up a sugarcane and smacked him with it: “Yan Mingting! Don’t go too far!”

“I’m a fool and you curse me, ai, it’s so hard for me,” Yan Mingting complained to himself.

Zhao Yelan scoffed coldly, watching him patiently massage his legs in silence. The strength was even and the tension was moderate, causing him to let down his guard and speak with a rare good temper: “Today I read the annals of the late Emperor when he was alive. Only then did I find out that your first marriage was granted by the late Emperor himself.”

Yan Mingting wore an “as expected” expression. This fellow had already started to inquire about his early marriage, and he said he wasn’t drinking vinegar?

But he didn’t say this, so as not to annoy the other again, just pretending to be calm as he said: “Yes, ah, these royal children have a habit of giving marriages to others.”

Zhao Yelan nodded in agreement, feeling the same way.

However, for that first marriage, the late Emperor was only the matchmaker, and that woman was the eldest daughter of the current Prime Minister. At that time, the Prime Minister was a second-rank official whose daughter was well-read in poetry and books, both knowledgeable and reasonable.

The late Emperor decided to discuss with the two elders, and both parties had no objection, so the matter was settled.

Yan Mingting didn’t know anything about love affairs, and just felt that it was better to go into battle to kill the enemy. When he had returned to Beijing to recuperate, he didn’t have the face to see anyone, so the two of them had never met.

Unexpectedly, within two months of returning to the frontier, the capital sent a letter saying that his fiance had died of illness, and the matter was left alone.

“As far as I can remember, her name was Li Yanran,” Yan Mingting said.

“Did she really just die of illness?”

Yan Mingting was taken aback: “What do you mean?”

Zhao Yelan observed his expression and narrowed his eyes slightly: “You didn’t have any doubts about her death?”

“We had never met each other, not to mention that I had been at the border. If the letter from Beijing said she died of illness, then she died of illness. What else could I do? Perform a ritual to bring her back to life?” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan understood. Since he wasn’t investigating the cause of his fiance’s death, then it could only be another, more important person.

It was only that the whole nation knew that the old general died on the battlefield for the country. Could there be more to it?

Even the always-scheming Zhao Yelan couldn’t help but feel alarm in his heart. 

With years of war at the border, and the Yan family army living and dying to avert disaster, who acutally murdered old General Yan regardless of the safety of the common people?

It was fine if Yan Mingting succeeded in taking over the army. If it was a good-for-nothing waste who shouldered this responsibility, the entire Xuan Dynasty would experience disaster.

Zhao Yelan was immersed in his own thoughts when he suddenly felt a warm fingertip pressing on his brow, gently kneading twice. The eyebrows that had been squeezed together gradually loosened.

He raised his eyes to look at the other party, and Yan Mingting smiled: “Why were you frowning so hard?”

Zhao Yelan looked at him gravely.

Yan Mingting asked: “Is there really something strange about Li Yanran’s death?”

“I’m just skeptical. According to the annals, three days before she died of illness, she attended the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet. If she was seriously ill, how could she attend? However, it is also possible that she suffered from a sudden illness, and only the Li family knew the details.” After Zhao Yelan finished speaking, he stared at his hand again.

Yan Mingting continued to rub his brow for him.

“After rubbing my legs with your hands, you touch my face?” Zhao Yelan asked coldly.

Yan Mingting immediately retracted it and smiled mischievously: “You are disgusted by your own legs?”

Zhao Yelan turned his head, put one arm on the table, and rested his chin in his hand, falling deep into thought. Even Yan Mingting couldn’t read his eyes.

Yan Mingting stared at his profile, just admiring it quietly. It was worthy of being a famous painting. It would be great if this painting could not make any noise, but when it opened its mouth, it was full of sarcasm and cynicism.

Ai.

After a long silence, Yan Mingting dropped his legs and asked: “How about I tell you about my second marriage?”

“Get lost.”

See, ba, just don’t open your mouth, you ruin everything when you open your mouth.

After dinner, Zhao Yelan was a little bored. He suddenly didn’t have to go to court or think about the opinions of officials for the Emperor, let alone exhaust his thoughts and ingenuity to calculate benefits. He was still not used to this kind of life.

It happened that Yan Mingting was about to leave the mansion at this time, so he asked casually, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going out for a while, why, do you want to go together?” 

“Since you have sincerely invited me, then I will go.”

Yan Mingting was confused. Seeing him neatly get into the sedan chair, he lifted his heels and followed him in, saying: “I’m going to Zhong Yuehong’s house for a drink.”

“You’re a real man, going to drink at the house of an unmarried girl in the middle of the night. What are you thinking?” Zhao Yelan cast a mocking glance at him. “If you want to take her as a concubine, just welcome her openly, why bother to be sneaky?”

“Don’t talk nonsense, if Zhong Yuehong hears you, I will be beaten,” Yan Mingting said with a smile. “Today is her mother’s birthday, and she just invited us to have a drink at home, why do you have such a strong smell of vinegar?”

“……” Zhao Yelan finally knew what it meant to play an instrument for a cow.^[3]

Moreover, this cow was just obstinate, and it seemed that nothing could make him bend.

Zhong Yuehong’s house was a little far away, and the sedan chair stopped after half an hour. Yan Mingting stepped out first and waited for a moment.

“I don’t know if you’ve been here before, but the road is not easy to walk on, so be careful.” As Yan Mingting spoke, he led the way with familiarity.

It was not bustling here, and there were only sporadic candles peeking out from the windows of each house, occasionally accompanied by spouses talking about trivial matters at home.

Zhao Yelan concentrated on looking at the surrounding environment. When he coughed, his voice echoed. He didn’t notice the hole that he stepped in, his whole body swayed, and he instinctively grabbed the person next to him to stabilize himself.

Yan Mingting laughed.

Zhao Yelan withdrew his hand in embarrassment, and the next moment, Yan Mingting took the initiative to grab his wrist.

“This section of the road is dark and narrow, and the sedan chair can’t get in, so just follow me,” Yan Mingting said.

A wise man knew better than to fight when the odds were against him. In order to avoid a shameful stumble, Zhao Yelan followed him carefully all the way inside without shaking off his hand.

After passing through the dark alley, he heard a commotion, which was caused by the group of lieutenant generals.

When the two appeared at the door, the laughter stopped abruptly. The people who were drinking and playing a finger-guessing game stiffened and paused, looking dumbfoundedly at the two. They couldn’t help looking at hands being held together by the two of them, and someone lost their grip on a bowl, dropping it to shatter on the ground.

Zhao Yelan looked down in bewilderment and quickly freed his wrist. Pretending to be composed, he put his hands behind his back and leisurely met the eyes of the group of people.

On the contrary, this group of people didn’t dare to look him in the eyes anymore.

“General, you’re here.” Zhong Yuehong was the first to break the silence, greeting, “Zhao-daren, come and sit down. We didn’t know you were coming, so we started drinking first.”

“Right, right, we didn’t know,” He Cuizhang immediately said. “General, you’re late, you will be fined a drink!”

Yan Mingting walked over and proudly drank a cup. At this time, an old woman came out with food and drink. Yan Mingting stepped forward to say hello and let her open the gift box.

Zhao Yelan looked over curiously, and saw a kitchen knife inside.

“……” Was this a reasonable birthday gift?

“Oh, General, thank you for the great gift, I like it so much.” The old woman took it cheerfully. “Your gift is the one I like the most!”

“……” Zhao Yelan was speechless. He found an empty seat to sit down, and He Cuizhang happened to be on his left.

As if guessing that he was confused, He Cuizhang took the initiative to explain: “My lord doesn’t know that Zhong Yuehong’s mother is a butcher who kills pigs for a living, so the General gave her a butcher’s knife.”

Zhao Yelan paused: “Butcher? Where is her father?”

He Cuizhang hurriedly motioned for him to keep his voice down, but Zhang Yuehong, who had very good hearing, heard him. She took a few bottles of unopened wine, put them on the table, and sat down on the other side: “He ran away with a woman of unknown origin. In order to support me, my mother had no choice but to take over the job at the stall.”

Zhao Yelan glanced at Mother Zhong again. She was slightly fat and her hands were covered in thick calluses, but she had a cheerful face and kept adding food and wine for everyone, busy at work.

Mother Zhong pushed Yan Mingting to sit down to drink and eat food. Seeing Zhao Yelan next to him, she said happily: “This is Zhao Yelan, Zhao-daren, right?”

Zhao Yelan nodded.

“You girl, isn’t this just a small birthday party? Why did you bring the General and Zhao-daren?” Mother Zhong said a few words to Zhong Yuehong as if to cast blame, but she couldn’t hide the smile on her face. So many great people came to celebrate a small butcher’s birthday, it was an honor.

“Yuehong is popular, and everyone was willing to come, but I am afraid Auntie will think we eat too much,” Yan Mingting said with a smile.

“That’s right, that’s right, Yuehong is very powerful in our military camp, and everyone likes her, so why would we not come to eat and drink on your birthday?” He Cuizhang said.

The others echoed this as well, drinking again after saying a few words.

The table was full of people, and Zhao Yelan sat for a long time, watching this group of rustic fellows exchanging toasts and making a lot of noise. Getting up impatiently, he went to the courtyard alone and couldn’t figure out how he had ended up here. 

The moonlight was strong, and it would be a long walk to find the sedan chair from here. The road was not easy to walk, and it would be easy to encounter enemies. After much deliberation, he could only wait for Yan Mingting and go back together.

“Zhao-daren, I feel embarrassed, there is nothing good to eat and drink in my home, I’ve neglected you,” Mother Zhong said, suddenly appearing behind him.

He turned and said lightly, “It’s nothing.”

“You are so handsome and well-dressed, no wonder Yuehong always says that you are prettier than the people in paintings.” Mother Zhong smiled simply and honestly.

Zhao Yelan smiled slightly: “She doesn’t know me well.”

Mother Zhong nodded and sighed: “This girl was not well-liked by the neighbors when she was a child. She jumped up and down all day, dominating the streets and alleys, never regarding herself as a daughter of the family. These years’ salaries are either sent home or just used to buy swords and spears. I thought she had already raised herself as a man, but I saw her washing her hands with soap recently, and she always says that Zhao-daren in the General’s Mansion dresses like a fairy in the sky and looks exceedingly beautiful in whatever clothes he wears……”

Zhao Yelan looked at her in silence.

Mother Zhong took out an old purse from her bosom, poured out the fine silver inside, and held it in front of him with both hands: “Zhao-daren, I don’t know much about the world, and I don’t know where you buy your clothes. Can you help me use this silver to buy a beautiful dress for Yuehong?”

Zhao Yelan lowered his eyes to look at the pile of broken silver which had passed through the hands of many people, stained with oil and stench from the pork stall.

“Is it not enough?” Mother Zhong was a little embarrassed. “I’ll get some more……”

“It’s enough.” Zhao Yelan reached out to take the silver, weighed it, and said without batting an eye, “With this much, it is enough to buy several pieces.”

Mother Zhong was dubious, but seeing that he had only a mild expression on his face, he shouldn’t be lying. So, feeling relieved, she said with a smile: “That is good. Thank you for your help, my lord, you are such a good person.”

“I am not a good person.” Zhao Yelan pocketed the silver and heard a slight laugh. When he looked up, Yan Mingting had come to stand at the door at some point, folding his arms and looking at him with a slight smile.

He looked away.

“Auntie, we still have something to do, so we’ll take our leave.” Yan Mingting came over and bid farewell to Mother Zhong.

“Eh, alright, come back next time to play at home, I’ll cook for you.” Mother Zhong knew that these bigshots had a lot to do, so she didn’t keep them and sent them to the gate.

When Zhao Yelan turned his head, he could still see a figure waving their hands in the distance. He turned his head expressionlessly, not knowing what he was thinking, and didn’t even notice that Yan Mingting had grabbed his wrist.

Sitting back in the sedan chair again, his wrist was bare, the slight heat vanishing suddenly. Yan Mingting had already withdrawn his hand when he looked down. He didn’t pursue it further, and asked, “Going back so early? Why don’t you have a few more drinks with them?”

“I’m going to court tomorrow,” Yan Mingting replied. “Besides, it’s getting so late. Don’t you go to bed early?”

Zhao Yelan: “When do I go to bed early?”

“Last night.” Yan Mingting looked at him. “I thought you would be worried about Gao Tan’s safety and not be able to fall asleep, but I didn’t expect that you would already be asleep when I came back.”

Zhao Yelan had pretended to be asleep in order to avoid confronting Yan Mingting face-to-face, and he had to wait for Gao Tan’s report before he could figure out how to face the other party. He said calmly: “It is because I trust in your martial arts, and I knew you would definitely be able to bring Gao Tan back.”

Yan Mingting immediately beamed with joy: “I knew it!”

“……”

Zhao Yelan deeply suspected that this person’s brain pathways were developing in a strange direction again. Maybe he had already started to imagine that he loved him so much that he couldn’t extricate himself, and even started to practice martial arts for him.

“I give up, ba. I won’t practice martial arts,” Zhao Yelan said abruptly.

Yan Mingting was startled, and his smile froze: “How do you know what I’m thinking?!”

Zhao Yelan: “…………” You really thought so?!

The two of them looked at each other for a moment and then glanced away, each with their own thoughts. Zhao Yelan couldn’t be bothered to talk to the fool. He opened a corner of the curtain and ordered the bearers to stop when they were almost at the tailor shop.

He put the money in his pocket on the countertop. Looking at these dirty pieces of broken silver with some surprise, in disbelief that they had been taken out of Zhao Yelan’s purse, the shopkeeper cautiously said: “Zhao-daren, do you want to buy a few handkerchiefs?”

“Take out your newest clothes and let’s have a look.” Zhao Yelan paused, coughed slightly, and subconsciously lowered his voice. “It is for a young lady.”

“My lord, you want to buy clothes for a girl? Are you not afraid that General Yan will find out?” After the shopkeeper finished speaking, he saw General Yan appear from behind him with a grin.

The shopkeeper immediately covered his mouth, nodding again and again, and led them to the side, introducing: “These are the dresses for girls. As far as patterns and styles are concerned, our household is the best in the entire capital. I don’t know which one you two want, ah?”

Yan Mingting didn’t know anything about this business. After looking at the clothes hanging all over the walls, he only felt that his eyes were a little dazzled, and then looked at Zhao Yelan.

Zhao Yelan browsed casually and didn’t select anything ready-to-wear, but touched the fabric on the tables and finally selected three silks and satins, ordering: “Customize this and replace the inner shin coat with trousers.”

“What?” The shopkeeper suspected that he hadn’t heard clearly. “My lord, this is a dress. I have never heard of any lady who wears trousers under a dress. It’s not meant to be worn by men, aren’t you embarrassing me?”

“Then I’ll just embarrass you. I’ll come to pick it up in a few days. If you can’t even fulfill these requirements, then you won’t be able to do business with my household in the future.” Zhao Yelan took out a few more silver ingots, put them on the table, and turned to leave.

Yan Mingting followed and said with a smile: “Our Zhao-daren is rather considerate. Knowing that Yuehong is used to being armed, even the clothes have to be custom-made for her.”

Zhao Yelan gave him a sideways glance: “Will you die if you don’t talk?”

“Why are you so anxious? I’m complimenting you.” Yan Mingting smiled even more happily. “I would like to thank you on behalf of Yuehong and Auntie.”

“Since you want to give thanks, just don’t talk.” 

“What do you want?”

“Money, manpower, one of the two, you choose it yourself.”

“Zhao-daren really does not trade at a loss.” Yan Mingting looked around, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he dragged him to the other side of the street. “I know what to give you.”

A moment later, Zhao Yelan was standing by a small river, looking at the blurry reflection in the water and stiffly holding tanghulu. Turning to look at the person eating tanghulu beside him, his face was gloomy: “This is your thank-you gift?”

“Yes, how delicious this is!” Yan Mingting bit down on another hawthorn berry as if he was eating some kind of delicacy. With a smile on his face, he ate a bunch in a few bites and looked helplessly at the one in Zhao Yelan’s hand. “Do you not like to eat them? How about I help you out?”

“…….”

If the other party didn’t take the initiative to ask, he might have thrown it at him in disgust, but when Yan Mingting asked this, he immediately bit into one. “You can’t have it.”

Yan Mingting saw that he had sucked it down in a hurry, his cheeks bulging. There was some childishness hidden under that indifferent skin, and he couldn’t help laughing: “You are a strange and interesting person.”

Zhao Yelan didn’t think that was high praise, so he turned his back and didn’t look at him anymore. It was a shame that after eating three, he got a little tired of them, which was discovered by Yan Mingting.

“Come on, leave the rest to me.” Yan Mingting rubbed his hands eagerly.

“I won’t give it to you even if I have to throw it away.” Zhao Yelan walked past him, but Yan Mingting took the things in his hands first and quickly bit off two sugar-coated hawthorns.

“Have you not eaten for hundreds of years?” Zhao Yelan frowned.

“Ai, I’ve been craving this stuff since I was a child, and haven’t eaten it but a few times,” Yan Mingting said carelessly. “Those few times, they were all eaten in the capital. People like you who have lived in the capital since childhood and grew up carefree and without worries wouldn’t understand.”

Zhao Yelan scoffed coldly: “Carefree and without worries?”

Yan Mingting paused and looked at him uncertainly.

“Do you think everyone in the capital grew up carefree and without worries?”

“It was a slip of the tongue. Naturally, there are some unfortunate children, such as He Cuizhang and Zhong Yuehong……” Yan Mingting looked at him unhurriedly. “How about you? Were you carefree and without worries?”

“What concern is it of yours?” Zhao Yelan finished speaking with a half smile, then turned and left the small river.

“I’m just asking……by the way, there is something I’m curious about. How did you meet the Emperor? He was powerless at the time, how could you work for him?” Yan Mingting followed him all the way and didn’t stop talking at all.

There were many people coming and going on the streets. Among them were many successful Imperial examination candidates with foreign accents, who had come to the capital with great ambition to participate in the exams.

When passing Hongxiu House, girls with tulle shawls could be seen at the gates, luring guests inside. Some clever girls would specially select from the examination candidates passing by in order to make a fortune from them.

Looking at the scenes of women recruiting all around, and the thin-skinned young men at the doors, Yan Mingting asked with emotion: “Why don’t you take the Imperial examination directly? With your talent, winning top marks would be easy, right?”

“Yan Mingting, you are trying to cause trouble!” Zhao Yelan had endured all the way, and finally couldn’t help but yell, “When is it your responsibility to take care of my business? !”

Yan Mingting went quiet. Clearly he was angry, and not just a little. He quickly apologized: “Forgive me, I was talking too much.”

“Yo, did you two young masters come together?” An attractive beauty walked over with her slender and supple waist swaying. “Would you like to come in and have some wine? Our girls will keep you satisfied ~”

“No need, we’re just passing by……eh, Zhao Yelan, where are you going! Is that a place you can go into!” Yan Mingting called to Zhao Yelan in a panic, but Zhao Yelan turned his head and ran toward the brothel so decisively that he had no choice but to grit his teeth and follow.

As soon as Zhao Yelan entered, he attracted the attention of many of the girls. As soon as the girls saw his clothing, they knew that he simply must be rich. Looking at that face again, a lot of them immediately jumped on the opportunity.

“Call the most beautiful girls you have here for me.”

After speaking, Zhao Yelan tossed out a purse so skillfully that Yan Mingting suspected that he was a regular customer. He secretly asked the girl next to him: “Do you know him?”

“I know him, ah.”

“Who is he?”

“My future husband~” The girl held her face and smiled shyly, and in the next moment rushed forward as well.

Yan Mingting: “……”

With such a big commotion, everyone upstairs and downstairs glanced over. Yan Mingting still saved face and lowered his head, but the smell of cosmetics in this building made his nose start to itch again.

“Yo, who is this young man?” The Madam brought a few girls down from the second floor, dismissed all the girls around Zhao Yelan, and looked at him with a smile. These here are all pretty girls. The best one already has a customer, I truly apologize, but you can pick a few here, young master, and take them with you, ah.”

Yan Mingting was stunned for a moment. This Madam was quite different from what he had imagined. Dressed in red clothing, with gold beads and silver hairpins, her features were very beautiful and her bearing was elegant. She was not like commonplace women, even better than these girls in front of him.

But as it happened, nothing could be perfect. There was a scar stretching from the brow to the cheek on that beautiful face, and it was like adding a bit of bitter water to fine wine.

Just when Yan Mingting was feeling sorry, he heard Zhao Yelan say: “I just want the most beautiful girl, bring her down quickly.”

“I truly dare not, Qingyan is accompanying Liu-daren from the Ministry of Rituals.” The Madam fluttered her round fan. “I don’t know if the young master dares to offend Liu-daren?”

“That’s Zhao Yelan!” Someone from upstairs said.

Everyone was shocked, and the girls also looked at him in surprise.

Now Yan Mingting was sure it was Zhao Yelan’s first time coming to the brothel, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Is it really Zhao-daren?” The Madam immediately changed her expression and told the people next to her, “Go, bring Qingyan down from the room.”

Seeing the situation getting worse and worse, Yan Mingting finally stood forward: “Zhao Yelan, follow me back.”

“Is this General Yan?” The Madam’s eyes lit up. “So handsome, do you want to stay and play together?”

Yan Mingting’s face darkened. Seeing Zhao Yelan standing still and staring at the room upstairs, he simply lifted him up.

“What are you doing? !” Zhao Yelan exclaimed, and was taken away amongst the jeering and laughter of the crowd.

He could only imagine what kinds of rumors there would be in Beijing tomorrow.

– – Shocking! Zhao Yelan lived up to his infamy and snatched a brothel’s famous beauty; Yan Mingting was furious and carried him back in public!

Yan Mingting brought Zhao Yelan back to the mansion without stopping, and put him on a chair. Seeing that he was about to resist, he pressed his arms firmly: “If you move again, I will draw my sword.”

Zhao Yelan looked at him sullenly, but took no other action, so Yan Mingting tried to persuade him: “I know it was me who spoke out of proportion just now, and you were angry. Don’t go to that kind of place to play, it’s not good for your health.”

Zhao Yelan: “……”

“Your fountain is originally poor, what kind of tricks can you play? You don’t want to be clever all your life just to end up dying under the peonies, do you?”

In the end, Zhao Yelan couldn’t hold back and kicked him hard.

Yan Mingting laughed: “Yes, that’s it, just let it out on me if you’re angry. What were you doing running off to the red-light district?”

Zhao Yelan: “If I vent my anger on you, you will threaten me with a sword.”

“It’s just to scare you, come on, just kick me.” Yan Mingting stood up straight with a heroic look on his face.

“Then you sit down and don’t resist.”

“No problem.” Yan Mingting immediately changed seats with him and sat obediently in the chair.

“What should I do if you resist?”

“I swear, if I resist, I will be your grandson!” 

After Yan Mingting spoke these firm words, he saw that Zhao Yelan didn’t do anything, but went to the room to fetch the rope, saying in surprise, “You, you, what are you going to do?”

When Housekeeper Qin heard that the two masters had returned to the mansion, he brought Xiao Gao and a group of servants to the courtyard. He had originally wanted to discuss the anniversary of the death of the old general, but as soon as he arrived at the door, he saw the General tied to a chair with his chin being pinched by Zhao Yelan: “Stay obediently and don’t move around.”

Just as Gao Tan was about to speak, Housekeeper Qin covered his mouth and made a gesture to everyone, slipping away bent at the waist.

Xiao Gao: “Wuwuwu, why are you stopping me?”

“You almost spoiled the General and his wife’s happy occasion!” Housekeeper Qin said bitterly. Seeing that he was so stupefied, he only waved his hand and said, “You all go and boil some hot water.”

Xiao Gao thought that the General’s Mansion was no good at all! There was nowhere to display his skills, and he was always dragged off to boil hot water!

The two people in the room naturally heard the footsteps of the servants. Zhao Yelan turned around and closed the doors and windows without leaving a single gap.

“What do you intend to do?” Yan Mingting looked down at the ropes on his body, his face flushed and his heart beating hard. “You shouldn’t be making advances and forcing me to submit, ba?”

Zhao Yelan circled the table. Hearing this, he looked back at him with his lips curled up: “You’re always saying I like you, but when you mentioned it, you smiled so happily. Is it me who likes you, or you who likes me?”

Yan Mingting smiled once, as if stunned by this question. His brain stopped working for a moment, and his body even felt slightly numb. When Zhao Yelan walked towards him slowly, he heard the sound of his heart beating again, much faster than his opponent’s footsteps.

Zhao Yelan’s facial features gradually and clearly appeared before his eyes. Yan Mingting’s Adam’s apple moved slightly and he subconsciously swallowed. His expression was at a loss and mixed with indescribable expectations. When he was about to speak, he saw what the other was holding in his hand and was shocked: “What are you doing with the incense! Put that thing down! Don’t use it, don’t use it, ah!”

Yan Mingting struggled on the chair. Zhao Yelan smiled slightly, lit several incense sticks, and placed them in a circle around him: “Dare to resist and you are my grandson.”

“Achoo! Zhao Ye……achoo! Let me tell you……achoo! I’m going to pull out…..achoo, my sword!”

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[1] A Bachelor here is an accomplished scholar with a degree. ⮐

[2] Wāng (汪) can mean several things, and can also be used as an onomatopoeia for a dog barking. So wāng wāng = bark bark. I couldn’t come up with an English equivalent for this wordplay. ⮐

[3] To play an instrument for a cow is to play to the wrong audience/reason with stubborn people. ⮐

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Chapter Eighteen <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty

Ye Ci struggled through the cycle of falling into a coma-like sleep – waking up – being physically exhausted, and then comatose again for an unknown amount of time.

This time when he opened his eyes, it was noon on an unspecified day. The Omega glands at the nape of his neck throbbed from depletion and over-extraction.

His whole body was warm and dry, smelling of light citrus shampoo, and his scalp was slightly hot, as if had been blown with a hair dryer just a moment ago.

Ye Ci finally understood where the rumbling noise in his dreams came from.

“Are you awake, baby?”

A finger brushed the tip of his nose affectionately. Ye Ci’s eyes, which were sluggish due to exhaustion, suddenly came to life, and he followed that finger to look at Huo Tinglan.

The nightgown on his body had been changed a few times. The silk was fragile, and some of them had been scratched by Ye Ci. After being scratched, there were some red and white spots like blood and sweat, and Huo Tinglan threw them directly into the trash.

The light silk fit snugly like waves on water. The opening at the neckline was suspicious, revealing full, thick chest muscles.

He exercised properly, and his form was excellent. The shape of each muscle was just right, and there was a shallow and narrow line down the middle.

Ye Ci’s fair skin was already painted with green and red, and Huo Tinglan was not much better, with scabbed-over scratches, somewhat comical teeth marks, reddish fingerprints……

Especially the chest.

Followed by the easily scratchable back.

Like some sort of crazy little cat had wrecked him.

No wonder some people said that the permanent mark between an Alpha and an Omega was like a battle that lasted for several days.

Feeling guilty, Ye Ci hurriedly lowered his eyes. After a little while, he asked with a hoarse voice: “What, what date is it today?”

Huo Tinglan smiled and said a date.

“Ah……” Ye Ci counted the days in a daze. It had been four days, and the first thought that crossed his mind was that his summer study schedule was now completely invalid, and school was about to start soon. What followed was four rounds of memory playback from these days and nights. Aside from drinking water, replenishing his energy with energy bars and sleeping in a semi-conscious state, the rest of the time……

Insanity.

Was that really him?

Hot blood suddenly filled his head and face, and his eardrums buzzed with embarrassment.

Huo Tinglan was extremely wicked, trying to figure out Ye Ci’s thoughts through his micro-expressions. Knowing what he was recalling, he lost no time in taking the shot and said in a satisfied tone: “I thought you would be shy, you cried so aggrievedly at first……” Then with a low smile, “I didn’t expect you to be so enthusiastic later.”

Very different from the previous life.

“ ! ”

“Huo-shushu ! ! ! ”

The innocent male high school student’s pupils trembled violently, his face flushed, and he wanted to kill someone on the spot!

It wasn’t his fault, after all.

It was Huo Tinglan who saw through his proclivities. Deliberately using his big chest was not right. It should be said that those pectoral muscles……seduced him.

He had already been forcibly stimulated into a fever period, and his will was strangely unstable. Every time Huo Tinglan said, “Just until the mark is finished,” Huo Tinglan would just, just……

Huo-shushu was shameless!

Ye Ci was as anxious as a little ant on an iron plate. After going round and round for a while, he suddenly approached, red-faced, and grabbed the collar of Huo Tinglan’s nightgown to pull it tightly closed, saying with slight annoyance, “Don’t, don’t show it anymore……”

He really couldn’t go again. His whole body was about to be wrecked by Huo Tinglan.

Beauty was misleading.

Ye Ci gritted his teeth, imitating Huo Tinglan by putting the blame on others.

– – He had a distinctly soft temper, and at the moment he actually showed a bit of a princely appearance.

Huo Tinglan embraced him with a suppressed smile, pressed his lips against his citrus-scented hair, and said softly, “Alright, baby, I’ll stop teasing you.”

Warmth flowed silently in the small world between them. Ye Ci remained silent and rested his chin on Huo Tinglan’s collarbone like a kitten. A permanent mark would make the spiritual connection between an Alpha and an Omega closer, and Ye Ci felt as if a fruit had grown out of thin air in his chest, full and swollen. The sweet and sour juice was pounded by his heartbeat, splashing in the atrium again and again, throbbing happily. He turned his head unconsciously and rubbed his cheek against Huo Tinglan’s neck, as if he was so happy that he didn’t know what to do.

“Are you hungry?” After snuggling for a while, Huo Tinglan broke the silence and rubbed Ye Ci’s slightly concave abdomen.

For the past four days, they hadn’t eaten anything substantial, relying on energy drinks and energy bars to maintain their strength.

That little stomach was already empty, except for……

Huo Tinglan smirked, reluctantly dismissing those colorful thoughts: “Let’s go downstairs and get something to eat.”

“En.” Ye Ci nodded obediently, stepped into some slippers, and got up. As a result, his buttocks were only five centimeters away from the mattress when Huo Tinglan fiercely grabbed him around the waist and he staggered back to sit on his lap. The strength of that embrace was downright ungentlemanly.

Immediately afterwards, Huo Tinglan’s heavy, fiery breath blew on the back of his neck – – he pressed the tip of his nose against Ye Ci’s glands and took a few eager, intoxicated breaths without warning, looking like a carnivorous animal that had suddenly gone berserk at the sight of blood.

Ye Ci shrank his neck in shock.

“……Sorry.” Huo Tinglan still hugged him without letting go, his eyes dark as his desire surged, dense and fiery. “I only just finished the mark, and I can’t quite contain myself.”

After the initial establishment of the permanent mark, an Omega would develop a heightened attachment to the Alpha for a period of time. Even an Omega who was usually cold and introverted tended to become soft and sticky. The unusually strong warmth and sweetness that Ye Ci felt before was because of this change. Correspondingly, an Alpha’s possessiveness and desire for the Omega would reach its peak during this period. Even the most calm and stable Alpha would inevitably do all kinds of illogical things, and Ye Ci’s act of “getting up and leaving” just now had stimulated Huo Tinglan, who was currently extremely sensitive, tearing away his presence of “normality” a moment ago.

The duration of this period varied from person to person, and it was positively correlated with the depth of the relationship between Alpha and Omega. The deeper the bond, the longer it lasted, which could be weeks to months as the intensity continued to decrease.

Ye Ci’s physiological knowledge class was not in vain during this time, so he immediately remembered this phase.

“I’m just, just hungry. I’ll go to the first floor and eat, I won’t, won’t go outside.” He tried to appease Huo Tinglan with the “talking skills” from the book.

“I know.” Huo Tinglan closed his eyes and said helplessly, “What can I do, baby……I don’t want you to leave my bed.”

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Chapter Forty-Two << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Four

Ye Ci, who claimed to be “not the kind of person who cries often,” actually had his defenses broken down faster than any Omega.

The Alpha portion of his glands had shrunk and lost their function, replaced by the brand new Omega glands.

But the sort of personality they formed was difficult to erase.

When the arrow was on the string and he realized that he was going to be marked by a stronger Alpha, Ye Ci struggled like a small silver fish out of water.

The scales were stained with water droplets, dragging thick and bright traces of different shades across the graphite silk.

It smelled like sea water.

His pajamas were also damp with sweat.

The omega glands at the nape of his neck had received a temporary mark.

The young skin was as tight as a drum, covering the sharp, bony part of the spine. Huo Tinglan pierced it with the tips of his teeth, leaving two shallow round holes, which were oozing blood. 

Huo Tinglan pushed down the collar of Ye Ci’s pajamas and gently wiped away the blood on the back of his neck with a disinfectant wipe.

Immediately throwing away the wet wipe, he put his dry fingertips to the corners of Ye Ci’s eyes and touched his tears.

Ye Ci was crying.

He had said hours ago, “I’m not the kind of person who cries often.” Fearing that Huo Tinglan would see, he had buried his face deep in the soft goose down pillow. A mouthful of small white teeth bit the corner of the pillowcase tightly, and his eyes were soaked with tears, shining extremely brightly as he cried secretly and quietly.

How pitiful.

It was a shame that an Alpha in his susceptible period, only a step away from a permanent mark, was no different from a tiger or a wolf.

A few hours had passed, and his humanity had long since perished.

“Baby, be obedient……” Huo Tinglan comforted him gently, wiping Ye Ci’s flushed and wet face with the back of his hand, and said without conscience, “Why are you crying, I haven’t done anything yet……don’t be afraid.”

He lowered his dark eyes and stared at Ye Ci intently. The corners of his lips were straight, and the warmth of his usual smile was gone, but his voice was still soft, coaxing his Omega intimately.

But for some reason, that tone of voice was inexplicably like a villain coaxing a child in an empty house to open the door……Baby, open the door, Huo-shushu is not a bad person, don’t be afraid……saying that, he waved the sweet, bright candy in his hand behind the peephole of the door as bait – – a bag of candy called pleasure. But once Ye Ci in the empty house opened the door for him in order to get the candy, he rushed in and did evil, even seizing the house. On the walls, the furniture, the floor, he used white graffiti to mark every corner with his message.

“Huo-shushu, I don’t, don’t want to be marked……” Ye Ci buried his face aggrievedly so that he couldn’t see the Alpha’s sly and vicious expression. He thought that since he was coaxed by Huo-shushu, Huo Tinglan still had some reason left.

This misunderstanding caused his defenses to collapse, and he suffered a catastrophe. The sense of invasion brought on by temporary marks and permanent marks were not of the same order at all, especially for someone who had been an Alpha. He thought about this matter too simply, bursting into tears as he stammered and begged: “Can, can we change it to another day and, and you can mark me then, Huo-shushu, please……”

“……Okay.” Huo Tinglan grinned, revealing the carnivore-like tips of his teeth.

His nightgown was slightly unbuttoned, and his shoulders were elegant and straight. Even with this almost evil expression, he still looked like a gentleman.

Ye Ci didn’t expect him to agree so happily, and his eyes lit up as if he had been saved.

The beautiful Omega who stammered and begged him for mercy, his eyes as clear as frozen ice melting into ripples of water, his clear voice slightly hoarse as he shyly called “shushu” over and over again……

All of these elements were provoking his dark side as an Alpha.

“……Say it again, baby.”

After a moment of silence, he gave conditions.

Let him stammer that long sentence while unstable with emotion.

Truly, this was not something this person could do.

Ye Ci knew he was bullying, but he could only curl up, sobbing, and repeat that sentence in a plaintive voice.

“Can we change, change……”

He stuttered again.

“Can, can……”

“Can……”

The more anxious that clumsy little tongue was, the more difficult it was for him to speak.

“Can we change it to another day and you can mark me then……”

– – When trying for the tenth time, he finally had a hint of being able to speak fluently, but before the last two words could come out, his lips were blocked.

“ ! ”

What a scoundrel!

Ye Ci tried to resist, but the last barrier was lifted, and the marking had officially begun.

The feeling of being possessed, seized, conquered, mixed with unbelievable pleasure ran through his nerves and veins, eroding every cell.

He had the illusion that he was going to melt into red tears like a candle from the inside out. Shock and fear interweaved, and he tugged on Huo Tinglan’s cuffs and pulled at his shoulders, wanting to escape far away. But out of Omega instinct, he hid shyly in Huo Tinglan’s arms, scratching the lake blue silk with his fingertips and dragging a few long, bright red marks on Huo Tinglan’s back.

“Scratch, baby, scratch me to death……” Huo Tinglan was elated at his aggressiveness, and didn’t care about this little injury at all.

The marking process continued – –

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Chapter Forty-One << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Three

Zhao Yelan examined the corpses on the spot. There was gold thread on the collars, so there was no doubt that they were Gold Collar Guards.

There were twelve people in total, exactly one team, and all of them were cut down by Yan Mingting. As for the group of people that Gao Tan went after, they should be others creating difficulties. 

He covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief and walked to the sedan chair. Looking at the group of trembling bearers, he asked: “Are you certain it was the men in black who escaped?”

“Yes, yes,” one of the more courageous ones replied: “Then your servant chased after them, my lord. They are all, all very powerful…..”

Zhao Yelan said: “Go home.”

Some of the bearers were so frightened that they had collapsed on the ground. When they heard the order, they got up unsteadily and hurried back, carrying the sedan chair with pale faces.

The mansion was preparing dinner. Housekeeper Qin saw him return and asked cautiously: “Is there anything that you want to eat tonight?”

“I won’t eat.”

“One must eat to live, how can you not eat?” Housekeeper Qin followed behind him, earnestly explaining the importance of sustenance.

“Yan Mingting went to rescue Gao Tan,” Zhao Yelan said suddenly.

“Ha?”

“Still want me to eat?” Zhao Yelan turned around and asked.

Housekeeper Qin sucked in a deep breath and immediately went to summon the people in the mansion, rushing out of the gate in a grandiose manner and a short while later turning back again: “My lord, may I ask where our General is now?”

“How would I know?” Zhao Yelan went to the study room and picked up a book to read. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the trembling servants at the door. “What are you doing here, don’t you have work that needs to be done?”

Housekeeper Qin waved his hand to drive the others back, and asked: “My lord, are you not worried about the General at all?”

“There is nothing to worry about, isn’t he a master of martial arts?” Zhao Yelan said calmly.

Housekeeper Qin had no choice but to go back to the front courtyard, standing at the gate and looking around from time to time.

It wasn’t until late at night, when the moon and stars were scarce, that Housekeeper Qin sat on the threshold and dozed off. Hearing the sound of hoofbeats, he stood up in a panic and saw Yan Mingting returning with Gao Tan.

“Aiya, General, you’re back. Nothing happened, did it?” 

“It’s fine.” Yan Mingting handed his horse over to the servants. “Where is Zhao Yelan?”

“Furen has been worrying about you, he didn’t even eat dinner.” Housekeeper Qin thought for a moment and added, “But Furen has confidence in you, he firmly believes that you are strong in martial arts and will bring Xiao Gao back, so he has been reading in the study. Perhaps he has fallen asleep.”

“I see, you go get a doctor.” Yan Mingting took Gao Tan to the bedroom, but Zhao Yelan was already asleep.

“My lord always goes to bed early,” Gao Tan whispered.

“Okay, you go back to your room to rest first, and let the doctor check on you later,” Yan Mingting said.

“Many thanks, General, for saving my life.” Gao Tan stepped back obediently.

Yan Mingting stood in the room for a long time, staring at the figure’s back, and quietly prepared to go to bed.

After everything returned to silence and darkness, Yan Mingting called softly: “Zhao Yelan, I have something to tell you.”

No response.

“Are you really asleep?”

The person on the bed remained motionless.

Yan Mingting sighed lightly, thinking of all that had happened today, and fell asleep with complicated emotions.

After hearing the sound of even breathing, Zhao Yelan opened his eyes, stared into the dark for a while, and then fell asleep peacefully.

The sky was slightly bright the next day, and when Zhao Yelan woke up, Yan Mingting had already gone to court.

Hearing a brief knock on the door, he responded, “Come in.”

“My lord, I’m back.” Gao Tan pushed the door open and entered. Seeing him sitting up, he stepped forward to gather clothes for him to change into.

“Hmm.” Zhao Yelan looked sideways at him. “Are you injured?’

“A little flesh wound.” Gao Tan patted his chest. “The group of people whipped me, then took out money to tempt me, and I recruited.”

“What did you recruit for?”

“According to your orders, if one is kidnapped and questioned, one should just pretend to confess, mixing the true with the false,” Gao Tan said. “It’s just that this group of people was a bit strange.”

Yesterday Gao Tan was guarding beside the sedan chair, and saw Yan Mingting suddenly rush into the bamboo forest and start fighting with the men in black. Just when he was debating whether to reveal his skills and help, another group of men in black slowly appeared, clearly running towards him, and he couldn’t avoid it even if he tried. 

After chasing him out of the bamboo forest, these men tied him up, blindfolded him, and took him to a woodshed.

The group covered their faces and threatened him to tell the truth. He refused, so they lashed him with a whip. He refused again, and these people looked at each other, but after a long time, didn’t give him a second lash.

It made him a little depressed. It was written in books that there would be many kinds of torture and he would be beaten to confess. He was ready to beg for mercy, but the group of people stopped beating him.

“A man came from behind and stood outside the door. He threw a large bag of silver ingots through it and told me to be obedient, and that I could get more treasures in the future, so I at once seized the opportunity to be recruited.” After Gao Tan finished speaking he asked with a smile, “My lord, am I not clever?”

Zhao Yelan shook his head helplessly and smiled. It was only because he met these particular kidnappers that he didn’t suffer. He got dressed, sat down at the table, and asked, “Tell me carefully, what did they ask you?’

“They asked me how long I’ve been with you.”

“How did you answer?”

“I told the truth, that I’ve followed you since I was twelve. Then they asked me who your enemies were. I told them all the officials I knew the names of, some true and some false, making them confused,” Gao Tan said proudly.

Zhao Yelan nodded.

“They also asked me if I knew a boy named Bao Lun.”

“Bao Lun?” Zhao Yelan frowned slightly.

“En, I didn’t know who that was, so I just said I didn’t know. Then they asked me if twelve years ago, you had ever been in a military camp or were proficient with poisons.” Gao Tan said, “I told them I was not your servant at the time, so I didn’t know.”

“Twelve years ago……” Zhao Yelan’s eyes narrowed. Recalling the major events that had happened twelve years ago, he took out a brush and paper and started to record everything that had left an impression.

In the end, there were only two points that could be connected with the General’s Mansion.

One was that General Yan died for his country, and his body was sent back to the capital for a state funeral. 

The second was the death of Yan Mingting’s first fiance, and the rumors that began to spread in the capital.

It seemed that what Yan Mingting wanted to investigate was related to these two matters. Zhao Yelan poured a cup of tea, moistened his throat, and continued to inquire: “Did they ask you anything else?”

“Oh yes, they asked another question,” Gao Tan said. “The leader asked me through the door, ‘what is your lord’s attitude toward General Yan?’”

“Childish.” The corner of Zhao Yelan’s mouth twitched. He picked up the teacup as if nothing had happened, sneered, and drank tea leisurely. “So what did you say?”

“Of course I said that my lord likes General Yan the most!”

“Pfft –”

“My lord, what’s wrong!” Gao Tan took the teacup in a panic. “It’s not even hot.”

Zhao Yelan stiffly took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the liquid from the corners of his mouth, looking at him coldly: “Who told you to say that?”

“Was it not my lord who wanted me to give a half-true answer?” Gao Tan looked innocent. “I was worried that it was someone seeking revenge, so I spoke about your good relationship with the General. That should make them a little apprehensive, right? The General is very good, and I like him very much.”

Zhao Yelan raised his eyebrows: “Do you know that the person who kidnapped you is……never mind. When you said that, did he believe it?”

“He didn’t believe it at first, but the man asked me what evidence I had that you like General Yan.”

Zhao Yelan gazed at him, motionless.

Gao Tan said honestly: “I lied to him and said that although you have a sharp mouth, my lord, you have a tofu heart. Every time the General goes to morning court, you can’t sleep. The General likes to wield swords and spears, and you are worried and tense. The General loves to raise chickens and fish, and you happen to like to eat the chicken and fish that he butchers with his own hands. Such a good man as the General, so handsome, isn’t it natural for you to like such a man?”

“……………..” Zhao Yelan clenched his fists slowly. “Did he believe it?”

“He believed it, he said I was right.” Gao Tan glanced at him and asked curiously, “My lord, is the mastermind truly looking for revenge?”

Zhao Yelan slapped the table and looked at him with a complicated expression. While he was thinking about how to educate this kid, he heard the servants say that the General had returned to the mansion.

Yan Mingting headed straight toward the bedroom in high spirits, walking with ease and humming a little tune. As soon as he walked to the door, he saw Zhao Yelan sitting at the table, only having time to change his clothes but not put up his hair. He smiled and blurted out: “You couldn’t sleep, so you got up and waited for me?”

“…….”

Zhao Yelan had nothing to say, so with a straight face, he ordered a maid to come over and tie up his hair.

“Gao Tan is back, did you know?” Yan Mingting asked.

Zhao Yelan nodded: “He just came back and went to his room to apply medicine. His back is injured, and it is inconvenient for him to apply medicine himself. Why don’t you go help him?”

I’m afraid I can’t help but sprinkle salt on the wound,  Zhao Yelan silently condemned.

“I’ll ask Uncle Qin to go over and help.” Yan Mingting went out for a while, and when he returned, Zhao Yelan had already tied up his hair and was bending over to pick up a sachet in front of the bronze mirror. His waist was slender, as if Yan Mingting could wrap his hands around it.

Yan Mingting stepped forward curiously, raised his hands, and measured his waist in the air.

As soon as Zhao Yelan turned around, he saw that he seemed to be trying to grasp him, and asked angrily: “What are you doing?”

Yan Mingting smiled guiltily and put his hands behind his back. Pretending to be coquettish, he walked to the table, opened the collar of his robes dashingly, and sat down confidently with his back straight: “So, I have something to tell you……I know that I am handsome and humble, as well as meticulous and thoughtful, which naturally causes people to admire me. You don’t have to be shy, let alone pretend to be strong……”

“You’re not awake yet, ba.” Zhao Yelan grabbed a sachet and threw it at his forehead.

After Yan Mingting took the sachet, the corners of his mouth turned up and he said meaningfully: “Do you know what it means to give a sachet?”

“……” Zhao Yelan’s expression froze. He walked over and snatched the sachet back.

Yan Mingting was all smiles, and couldn’t help but turn his head to look into the bronze mirror not far away.

Zhao Yelan sat opposite him, and said slowly: “What did you mean just now? Are you saying I have feelings toward you? Why do you have this illusion?”

Yan Mingting paused, then said with a guilty conscience: “I just guessed.”

“Then stop guessing, I don’t like you,” Zhao Yelan said.

Yan Mingting raised his eyebrows with an expression of, “you continue to pretend.”

Zhao Yelan: “……”

He truly couldn’t wash himself clean even if he jumped into the Yellow River.^[1] At this time, he couldn’t directly say that Gao Tan was the person he deliberately sent to be kidnapped in order to gather information.

After thinking for a moment, he asked lightly: “By the way, how did your first fiance die? Did you have a close relationship with her? Were there feelings involved?”

“Vinegar, isn’t this just vinegar!”^[2] Yan Mingting had a sudden realization and couldn’t help smiling. “You say you don’t like me and then start to drink old vinegar, ba.”

Zhao Yelan: “……”

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[1] This idiom means that he has already been labeled and is unable to remove the stigma from his name. ⮐

[2] Drinking vinegar means “being jealous.” ⮐

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Chapter Seventeen <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Nineteen

Huo Tinglan’s eyes showed a rare astonishment, and he almost laughed out loud.

What kind of strange image did Ye Ci have of him in his head……

He quickly suppressed his leaking emotions and held that silkworm chrysalis wrapped in a thin quilt in his arms.

“It’s not because of that.” He pretended to be self-deprecating, “It’s just that sometimes it feels like you may……not like me that much?”

“I, I like you so much, ah!” Ye Ci seemed to have been extremely wronged, and he straightened up in his arms. Huo Tinglan looked down and lowered his head, eagerly chasing those forlorn eyes. “Why, why do you think that?”

Even though Huo Tinglan had long been “notorious for his misdeeds,” the cool, wet tears on his cheeks were real. A top Alpha secretly crying at night was the epitome of sadness.

……It was impossible for him to have used eye drops.

Huo-shushu should still have his bottom line.

……….

Right, ba?!

Ye Ci hesitated for half a second, then resolutely put aside that dark speculation and said cautiously: “What am I doing, doing wrong? Just say it and I, I will change.” He held Huo Tinglan’s hand, sincere and flattering, as if coaxing a sad little girlfriend. “Point, point out what needs to change.”

Huo Tinglan shamelessly savored the wonderful taste of being coaxed and pampered by a young lover, and smiled helplessly: “Do I have to make it so clear?” He didn’t seem too embarrassed, saying in a low voice, “I want to get close to you, but you always hide, so I just……”

It turned out to be the case, just as he suspected.

He was also worried about whether the two people’s incongruity would lead to similar misunderstandings, so he had guessed right this time.

Flustered, Ye Ci licked his lower lip as his throat tightened. In order to clear up the misunderstanding, he forced himself to explain: “It’s not that I don’t like you, I’m just, just embarrassed……because you’re kind of……” He stammered, trying to pick a good word, but was unable to. So he could only whisper, “Too, too……”

“Too what?” Huo Tinglan laughed. He really didn’t hear clearly this time, and turned his head to put his ear towards him, repeating, “Am I too amorous?”

Ye Ci blushed and said nothing, looking at Huo Tinglan with a hint of horror as he said those words aloud.

Too amorous – there was a naivety in this complaint, a taste of innocence. Huo Tinglan was so excited that it was like a ball of fire burned from his tailbone to the back of his neck. He turned over and held down the whining and complaining little thing, and the corners of his lips could not be pressed down as he tortured him with a smile. As if his innocence had been stained by Ye Ci, and he wanted to ask for an explanation: “What’s wrong with me, what did I do, huh?”

“Not, not to mention ordinary times, even during the, the health lessons, your hands……are not honest,” Ye Ci complained, and when he got to the crucial point, his volume dropped again, “All the time.”

Huo Tinglan smiled and repeated in a straight voice: “I always touch you?”

The clumsy wording was just too cute.

Why did he have to repeat it so loudly?!

Ye Ci’s eyes rolled and he almost passed out.

“That’s called a physical examination. Physical examination, what kind of hooliganism……” Huo Tinglan chased him and kissed him while saying unreasonable things. The kisses made Ye Ci’s cheeks pink and his lips bright red. Sweat formed and both bodies were hot with excitement, the pheromones ambiguously blended.

The mood was just right, the moon was full, and the enchanting atmosphere was heavy……everything was ready, and if he pushed the boat along the way, he could mark him permanently, but Huo Tinglan resisted the impulse – – a misunderstanding was a misunderstanding. He stroked his hair and straightened to prop himself on top of Ye Ci with a smile. “Just kidding, it wasn’t because of that……”

“……Huh?” Ye Ci’s blurred eyes slowly focused. When he understood what Huo Tinglan meant, he knew that he was probably being self-indulgent just now and had also taken the initiative to mention the permanent mark. His expression gradually changed until it looked like he had nothing left to live for. “What was it……you said it, it was an emotional matter……”

That was all he could think of.

Huo Tinglan pondered for a moment, then said softly: “I had a dream.”

“About going back to the past and living it again.” If Huo Tinglan told Ye Ci about this kind of thing seriously, Ye Ci might not believe it.

Even if he was on the verge of credit bankruptcy with Ye Ci, Ye Ci would trust him no matter what.

However……

Huo Tinglan privately didn’t want Ye Ci to know what a terrible and hopeless situation he was in during his previous life. How he had been trampled and bullied, and died young.

Besides, that gloomy past could no longer even be called “the past.” That entire space-time had ceased to exist, so why mention it?

It would just add unhappiness.

So he substituted it for a dream.

“A nightmare?” Those few tears became the gold medal for avoiding death. Ye Ci didn’t care to pursue the matter of being teased a moment ago, and shakily stroked Huo Tinglan’s head.

The hair that brushed against his palm was thick and smooth. Without the setting spray, the elitist feeling of being in control of the situation was a bit less, and he looked real and fragile.

“Tell me, once the nightmare is said, it will be broken and it won’t come true.”

Ye Ci got up and turned on the night light. The warm light was like a thin layer of floating mist, tempting people to be honest.

“I dreamed of you……” He began.

Regarding the accident, he tried to describe it concisely, as he was afraid that his voice would reveal something abnormal.

But Ye Ci could still feel the deep, intense pain hidden in the forbearing narrative. Not like a frightening dream moments ago, but like years of mourning were seeping through, overflowing at the slightest touch.

He was at a loss, becoming panicked. He didn’t know how to coax people in the first place, but now he could only stroke Huo Tinglan’s back and repeat awkwardly, “But aren’t I okay? Huo-shushu, I’m okay.”

“Sorry, the dream was too real.” Huo Tinglan cleared his hoarse voice and smiled. “Maybe it’s because I care so much about you……that I can’t accept this possibility.”

Ye Ci was so anxious that his palms were sweaty. He squeezed Huo Tinglan’s hand with all his strength, turned over his palm, and slotted his five fingers between the other man’s. Holding it tightly again, he wished to exchange all the strength he had nowhere to use for words of comfort – – he had guessed right, Huo-shushu was indeed an insecure person.

“There……there was no such possibility to begin with.” He desperately manipulated his tongue, “I am very careful to, to protect myself. I’ve been racing all, all my life……I won’t do it, don’t worry. Anyway, it’s just a hobby……actually, it can’t even count as a hobby, I just do it when, when I’m in a bad mood, and after a few laps, I feel comfortable……”

That depression needed a place to go.

But he didn’t need it now.

“I will never do anything that, that you think is dangerous.” Ye Ci fought with himself for a while, then suddenly turned over and stood on the ground. “I’m not, not going to that shooting club either……” He thought that this was what Huo Tinglan was worrying about. He didn’t want to make his lover worry about an insignificant hobby, so he wanted to fetch his membership card and shred it in front of him.

“Come back.” Huo Tinglan was amused, and he grabbed that strong, thin waist and dragged him back. Cuddling at the head of the bed, he closed his eyes and sincerely said, “It’s okay to play with guns, as long as I’m with you. Racing cars……really scares me.”

He was unwilling to restrict Ye Ci’s freedom in the name of so-called love, but in this matter alone, he would rather be an unreasonable person.

“I understand, I really do.” Ye Ci solemnly nodded. “You don’t have to think that, that this is……restricting my freedom. I’m an……” He swallowed the ‘Alpha’ that slipped to the tip of his tongue, and awkwardly changed the word, “……a man, married, and should let you have a sense of security.”

This Alpha burden couldn’t be set aside.

Huo Tinglan smiled, enjoying the moment of being forcibly enveloped by Ye Ci’s boyfriend power. So instead of destroying Ye Ci’s Alpha illusion, he just said softly, “Okay.”

Ye Ci scrutinized his expression, still uneasy, and organized his words for a while. Using the way the psychiatrist taught him to speak, he slowed down his speaking speed, lowered his tone, and said word by word: “Huo-shushu, don’t you think that my fate with you……is particularly deep? With a physique like yours, the degree of matching with other people’s genes is so low, but it is higher than mine. And I also, by chance, secondary differentiated into an Omega, as if just to meet you.”

“You and I are not from the same world, not to mention……we got married, and even if there was an intersection, it would have been difficult. But not only do we match, but, but there are so many good and bad……combinations of factors, like the Butterfly Effect just pinched us together.” He had never said such lovey-dovey words to anyone, and his cheeks were pink with embarrassment, but those clear black and white eyes were full of resolve. “The fate between me and you must be very deep. Even if we are separated, it cannot be taken apart. If, if I didn’t meet you, I can’t even imagine what my, my future would be like……Luckily, I met you early and was protected by you early on. I feel that these are all things that were arranged by the heavens.”

“I was born for, for you, to cure your illness in this life,” he concluded. “You, too, were born for me, to protect me. God can’t bear to let us separate……don’t be afraid, don’t worry anymore.”

Huo Tinglan stared at his thin, moving lips without taking his eyes off them, his ears roaring and his blood rushing.

– – Maybe you will meet again in your next life……

– – Fate so deep that it cannot be broken apart……

– – Meet him earlier, protect him earlier……

– – It’s all arranged by the heavens……

Lin Yao’s gentle words in the dream lingered in his ears and gradually merged with the syllables that dropped from Ye Ci’s mouth. There was a high degree of overlap, and some sentences were even exactly the same.

Was it a coincidence?

Or were they really destined in this life?

His feeling at that moment was impossible to put into words. He abruptly hugged Ye Ci, who was trying to coax him with his face up, his voice trembling slightly.

“I know, baby……”

The melancholy and regret in the depths of his heart were like the ice of a lake frozen for a long time, then suddenly cracking in the spring.

Spring water gurgled and gradually became turbulent, melting and soothing the black and blue frostbite in his heart, and his chest was filled with a warm and wonderful emotion. He hugged Ye Ci tightly. A small piece of frozen soil was about to come back to life, and spring grass burst densely out of the ground, making his heart itch unbearably. In order to relieve the piercing itch, he had no choice but to hold Ye Ci’s face and kiss him messily, passionately, and sincerely, holding him tightly and recklessly.

He was going to mark him forever, tonight, right now, right now.

“Baby……” A bit later, he pressed against Ye Ci, who was about to turn into a puddle of water, and inspected the learning results of recent days. “Do you remember the process of permanent marking?”

Ye Ci nodded lightly.

“Even if you know, I still need to remind you again.” Huo Tinglan touched his forehead, rubbed the tip of his nose affectionately, then immediately got up. While talking, he took out a small bottle of capsules from the small drawer of the bedside table, swallowing two capsules with water. It was a drug that reduced the activity of a certain reproductive cell to achieve a contraceptive effect, and it could only be taken by an Alpha – – this drug was the only method of contraception he could use when giving a permanent mark……He couldn’t let Ye Ci delay his studies because of his kind of accident, but he didn’t want Ye Ci to take medicine either, so he had to take it himself. This bottle of medicine had been placed in this small drawer for several months.

“Permanent marking is not a 100% pleasant process for the Omega……” After swallowing the capsules, he continued to give a science lesson.

At first, it was purely pleasurable.

But that was just a trick of the vile laws of nature.

After the real marking phase started, the Omega’s deep cavity needed to be opened for the first time. This process was often accompanied by pain and a strong sense of being violated and conquered at the psychological level. This was the inevitable consequence of the deep fusion of Alpha pheromones, and had nothing to do with whether the Alpha’s performance was gentle and considerate.

Therefore, for some Omegas whose temperaments were comparatively proud, the mental discomfort could even outweigh the physical pain.

“……Especially for an Omega like you whose initial differentiation result was an Alpha, you may suddenly feel resistance at a certain moment.” The arrow was on the string, but Huo Tinglan calmed down and gave Ye Ci a warning, “At that time, I may completely lose my mind. Even if you cry and beg me, hit me, it will be difficult for me to stop the marking……and a secure mark needs to be repeated many times, lasting for a few days on and off. Are you afraid?”

Ye Ci turned his head in embarrassment, opened a pair of almond eyes filled with tears from being kissed, and fibbed: “I’m not, not afraid. Besides, I’m not, not the kind of person who cries often……”

With this matter being imminent, he was still clinging to his Alpha baggage.

It was really cute.

Huo Tinglan’s lips twitched, and he leaned over to silence the lingering sound of his words.

… …

… …

… …

When it was all over, it was four days later.

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Chapter Forty << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty-Two