AYM Chapter 45

“What are we going back for?”

 

Thinking the emperor was about to tease him again, Yan Yihuan’s lips instantly drooped. But the next words left him staring, dumbfounded.

 

“We can do it here, without going back.”

 

“Th-this is…”

 

Yan Yihuan was so startled that he started stammering. He quickly glanced around, only to realize that Han Zhen had slipped away at some unknown point. The stillness of the surroundings made him shiver, 

 

“This isn’t proper! What could I possibly write if someone asks me for the record of every word and deed of Your Majesty during the hunt after we’ve returned?”

 

For once, Yan Yihuan managed to suppress the fire burning in his chest and put on a serious face. But it didn’t last long, soon he lowered his voice and ventured, “Shouldn’t we just go back?”

 

“You think you’ll be able to write it down if we go back?” Li Xuanming found it secretly amusing. His hand, however, slid lower from that slender waist, and the man in his arms sharply drew in a breath, his face flushing all the way to the tips of his ears.

 

“Then I’ll just write that His Majesty was taking a midday rest.”

 

“Tsk, falsifying records is a grave crime for a historian. You’ve got quite the nerve.” At his words, the jade-like neck under his palm tensed up. Li Xuanming brushed his thumb along the back of it and said in a low voice,

 

“As Grand Historian, you ought to record every last detail. What it feels like, what it tastes like, all of it as it truly is.”

 

Feel… taste…?

 

He didn’t hear the rest, only those two words kept circling in his mind, echoing again and again until he couldn’t help but savor them.

 

The breeze brushing over his skin from time to time carried a faint chill, reminding Yan Yihuan, lost in the heat and haze, that they were still out in the wild. He wanted to make that hand stop, but each time the man behind him noticed his intention, he would deliberately make him go weak all over again.

 

Li Xuanming tightened his hold on Yan Yihuan’s body, which kept sliding lower, while teasing the most sensitive of his nerves. His earlobe, full and glistening, was as tender as a cherry blossom. Lowering his head, Li Xuanming tasted it, gathering every shiver into his embrace.

 

But then Yan Yihuan’s half-lowered eyes suddenly lifted, the haze in them clearing at once. Li Xuanming had let go of the earlobe that had reddened as if it would bleed, and his hand slowed.

 

“Ah…?”

 

Not again, surely?

 

Yan Yihuan couldn’t help but arch his waist, offering himself up. “Why did you stop moving?”

 

“Moving what?”

 

“Want…” The mix of frustration and craving drove him to recklessness. He reached out himself, only for his wrists to be caught and pulled behind him in a firm grip.

 

“Say it yourself. What exactly do you want?” The whisper against his ear was almost inaudible, warm enough to melt. Yan Yihuan’s lashes fluttered, his lips parted a few times, yet no words came out.

 

“Say it, and I’ll give it to you.”

 

Really?

 

Yan Yihuan forced his clouded eyes open, only for the last shred of clarity to be swallowed by the chaos in his mind. Even knowing they were out in the wild, the desire drowned out everything else, 

 

“I want you…”

 

His brows flushed with heat, his gaze wavering between shame and desperate need. Although his wrists were pinned, he still nuzzled against the chest behind him like a pleading cat.

 

“Inside me…”

 

Li Xuanming’s breath turned rough. He released Yan Yihuan’s wrists and supported his back, 

 

“Turn around. Hold me tight.”

 

Yan Yihuan’s eyes lit up at once. He twisted to face him, clutching him close, and before he could even catch his breath, his lips were seized in a hungry kiss.

 

With one hand gripping the reins and the other slipping beneath Yan Yihuan’s arm to cradle his head, Li Xuanming kissed him deep and hard. A glint flickered in his eyes as he cast a sidelong glance behind them. He pressed his legs to the horse’s belly, and the animal snorted, lifted its hooves, and carried them forward at an unhurried pace. In no time, their figures were swallowed by the shadows of the forest.

 

Silence returned to the surroundings, until a voice suddenly came from the distance, 

 

“Has the Heir Apparent lost his way?”

 

This sentence struck like an ice pick, jolting Li Xuanjing from his frozen daze. His eyes slowly closed, then opened again, and his face returned to its usual calm composure.

 

Turning his horse around, Li Xuanjing fixed his gaze straight on the newcomer.

 

“Has Lord Ming also lost his way?”

 

Ming Zhang smiled with perfect courtesy, “I know my limits. To bring down a hare would already be a stroke of luck for me. But Your Highness the Crown Prince is a favorite for the hunt’s prize, you ought to be headed that way instead.”

 

Li Xuanjing let out a quiet scoff and urged his horse forward at a measured pace until he was right before Ming Zhang, his eyes filled with scorn that cut right through. Then he spoke suddenly,

 

“Lord Ming, hearing and witnessing all this, you must find it rather unpleasant.”

 

A flicker passed through Ming Zhang’s gaze, yet he still gave a bright, unruffled smile, meeting Li Xuanjing’s eyes without the slightest hint of evasion, “Is that so? I am rather curious how the rumors are spreading, to reach even the Residence of King Qin.”

 

“Ming Zhang, whether those rumors are true or false, your feelings are certainly true.” Li Xuanjing leaned forward slightly, his voice low. “You and I have known each other since youth. I may be a few years older, yet I was never as quick to awaken as you. Looking back on certain things now, one cannot help but find them meaningful.”

 

“Strange, even I was unaware of such things, yet the Heir Apparent seems to know them by heart.” Ming Zhang’s tone remained calm, unruffled. “Still, if Your Highness does not hurry, Prince Wei may well seize the advantage first.”

 

“Ke, no need to provoke me.” Realizing Ming Zhang had already witnessed his moment of distraction, he no longer bothered to conceal it. “I have my own discontent, and so do you. What we seek may differ, but in the end, our paths lead to the same place.”

 

He straightened his back and pulled the reins. “If Lord Ming has any thoughts about this, you may come to me at any time. You know the location of the Residence of King Qin’s mansion in the capital.”

 

With that, Li Xuanjing spurred his horse forward. Once his back was turned, his expression darkened, one hand closing slowly around his bow, nearly crushing it with such force.

 

Upon reaching thirteen or fourteen, all heirs of the feudal kings were required to enter the palace for a year of study in the Wenhua Hall alongside the imperial princes. Li Xuanjing had been no exception.

 

In those days, still young and untouched by the troubles and precautions of adulthood, his relations with Li Xuanming could not be called close. Yet this prince, whose beauty was uncommonly striking, had nonetheless drawn his gaze. Not only his gaze, but everyone else’s.

 

A boy’s heart could not hide what it felt. Watching often enough, Li Xuanjing naturally began to notice the oddity of Ming Zhang, the attendant ever at his side. At the time he had been too young to understand, only later did he piece together what it might mean.

 

And then came the rumors. From that point on, Li Xuanjing had been certain Ming Zhang and Li Xuanming shared some unspoken secret. However, he had never imagined that Yan Yihuan would be drawn into it!

 

Just now, he dared not get too close and could not make out what Li Xuanming was saying. But he had heard Yan Yihuan’s syrup-sweet pleas with piercing clarity.

 

What he had kept buried all these years, what he cherished as though it were his own, what he believed would one day belong to him, so he had never been in a rush for, never pressed to claim.

 

Yet never had he imagined that Yan Yihuan would use a voice he had never known before, soft and laden with desire, pleading and begging for that man.

 

Li Xuanjing dared not let himself think further. The shadow clouding his eyes was so dark that even the blazing sun above could not pierce it. His body began to tremble beyond control, and if not for reason forcing him to turn away, he would have already loosed an arrow then and there to end Li Xuanming’s life.

 

Ming Zhang remained motionless. He watched Li Xuanjing’s figure disappear from sight, until Han Zhen arrived.

 

“Lord Ming, you’re still here?”

 

“I was just leaving,” Ming Zhang said coolly. “The Qin heir has already left. Seal this place off. No one must come through.”

 

Han Zhen glanced at Ming Zhang’s lips, pale and drained of blood, and frowned slightly, “Allow me to escort you back.”

 

“No need.”

 

The refusal came so quickly that Han Zhen froze for a moment. He hesitated as if to speak, but in the end only nodded.

 

The sound of hooves rang out once more, then faded into silence. Yet Han Zhen’s eyes never shifted from that direction, until a sudden flurry of birds took off, startled from the forest behind. He turned sharply at the commotion, then, as though something had just dawned on him, turned his head back and summoned his deputy, 

 

“Clear the road back to the main hall. No one must appear along the way.”