There was some distance between the Summer Resort and the imperial palace, about half a day’s journey by carriage.
By the time Wen Qingci regained consciousness, he was already seated in the carriage.
Xie Bufeng didn’t care about others’ opinions of him, but Wen Qingci was someone who preferred to keep a low profile.
Considering this, when leaving the city, Xie Bufeng deliberately chose an understated carriage.
The wooden wheels slowly rolled along the long streets of Yongdu, continuously making soft “creaking” sounds.
Like a lullaby.
Using a monotonous tune to urge people to quickly fall into peaceful sleep.
“Sleep a bit more, it’s still early,” just as Wen Qingci opened his eyes, Xie Bufeng lowered his head and gently placed a kiss on his forehead, “The carriage has just left Yongdu, it will take a few more hours to reach the resort.”
After speaking, he put down the memorial he was holding.
-Xie Bufeng had been holding it for over half an hour, attempting to distract himself.
But from beginning to end, he hadn’t been able to focus on more than a few words.
Wen Qingci noticed that Xie Bufeng’s voice was particularly hoarse.
His lips had also become hotter than usual.
After speaking, he somewhat painfully closed his eyes slowly.
Xie Bufeng had long since come of age…
A Qianyuan in his rut period was not comfortable.
Powerful pheromones rampaged within his body, constantly eroding his brain and reason.
Xie Bufeng’s blood also seemed to have become hotter than usual.
A voice in his ear constantly urged him: mark the person beside you, mark Wen Qingci.
No, he couldn’t do that.
Under the cover of his wide sleeves, Xie Bufeng slowly clenched his palm.
Attempting to awaken his reason through pain.
Wen Qingci wasn’t a Kunze; he couldn’t do this to him.
It was the height of summer, but the carriage had left the city early, and the temperature hadn’t yet risen.
With the two of them crowded together in the carriage, Wen Qingci didn’t feel particularly hot.
But he could feel that Xie Bufeng’s body temperature was noticeably higher than his own…
Wen Qingci paused, slowly extended his hand, and placed the back of his hand on Xie Bufeng’s forehead.
“…It’s quite hot.” His tone was particularly worried.
In this era, Qianyuan were undoubtedly at the top of the social pyramid in terms of gender.
In his more than twenty years, Wen Qingci had never heard of any Qianyuan in their rut period enduring without marking a Kunze.
Therefore, even in the Valley of Divine Physicians, there were no medications to alleviate the rut period.
Although last night they had… for Xie Bufeng in his special state, it had no effect whatsoever.
“I’ll quickly research in the next few days to see if there are any herbs that can alleviate these symptoms.” As he spoke, Wen Qingci was already formulating ideas in his mind.
Countless names of familiar and unfamiliar medicinal herbs flashed through his mind in that instant.
Xie Bufeng slowly gripped Wen Qingci’s hand, kissed his fingertips, but didn’t speak.
After last night, Wen Qingci’s body was covered with Xie Bufeng’s scent, but this didn’t relax the Qianyuan; instead, it made him frown in the shadows…
The events of previous years had already made him tense.
And now, due to Wen Qingci’s special constitution, Xie Bufeng had never been able to confirm through biological instinct whether he truly possessed the person beside him.
He hadn’t told Wen Qingci that when he woke from dreams at midnight, he often felt that everything happening now was just a beautiful dream.
In his rut period, Xie Bufeng carefully rested his head on Wen Qingci’s shoulder.
And the person sitting beside him also gently placed his hand on the other’s long hair at this moment, casually stroking it.
A breeze blew open the bamboo curtain.
Sunlight penetrated through the gaps and fell into the carriage.
Wen Qingci couldn’t help but narrow his eyes, softly trying to distract the person beside him.
“The temperature at the resort is much lower than in Yongdu, somewhat like in the valley…” Having just woken up, Wen Qingci’s voice had a touch of laziness, along with hoarseness from the previous night.
Intent on helping Xie Bufeng divert his attention, he didn’t realize that his words had the opposite effect.
Xie Bufeng used almost all his strength to barely maintain his reason.
Though there were no medications in the world to resolve the rut period, there were pills that could make one quickly fall asleep.
Before Wen Qingci awoke, Xie Bufeng had already taken such medicine.
Therefore, before long, he fell into a deep sleep.
After a while longer, the carriage slowly came to a stop, and a sound came from outside: “Master Wen, would you like to have breakfast now?”
Wen Qingci paused, looked back to confirm that Xie Bufeng was still sound asleep, then lifted the carriage curtain and walked out.
The interior of the royal carriage was very spacious, like a small mobile bedchamber.
But Wen Qingci had never been comfortable dining in the carriage he was riding in.
“This way, Master Wen.”
“Alright.” Wen Qingci smiled gently, nodded to the palace maid, and went with her toward the carriage behind.
At the same time, the Qianyuan who had been sleeping in the carriage suddenly opened his eyes.
Though somewhat worried about Xie Bufeng staying alone in the carriage, Wen Qingci always ate slowly.
Even though he tried to speed up, in the end it still took more than the time it takes to burn an incense stick before he returned to the carriage.
“Be careful, Master Wen-” A young eunuch extended his hand, extremely carefully supporting Wen Qingci as he stepped onto the mounting stool to enter the carriage.
“That’s fine,” before entering the compartment, Wen Qingci turned back and smiled at him, saying, “You may withdraw.”
“Yes, Master Wen.”
Wen Qingci, as usual, gently lifted the carriage curtain and entered. Just as his vision was plunged into darkness, he suddenly felt a pain in his wrist.
“Ah-”
The carriage stood steady on the road, the breeze unable to lift its curtains.
And the person inside didn’t give Wen Qingci time to adjust to the darkness.
He couldn’t see what was happening around him, only vaguely sensing that-Xie Bufeng gently lifted his wrist and brought it to his nose to smell.
“We dislike this scent.” His voice was even hoarser than before.
Scent?
Wen Qingci paused for a moment before realizing that Xie Bufeng was probably referring to the fragrance worn by the young eunuch just now.
Though the eunuchs in the palace were all Zhongyong, the custom of wearing fragrances was prevalent throughout Wei Dynasty.
-This trend had originally become popular among nobles who were Zhongyong.
It was meant to imitate pheromones.
Though eunuchs had no need for this, being closest to the nobles, they naturally wouldn’t miss the opportunity to emulate refinement.
Xie Bufeng held Wen Qingci’s hand tightly.
His heart was beating frantically with anxiety at this moment.
Almost the instant Wen Qingci left the carriage, Xie Bufeng had awakened.
He knew the other had gone to have breakfast, so he had to force himself to stay in the carriage.
But a Qianyuan in his rut period had a stronger possessiveness than usual.
Xie Bufeng instinctively searched through the carriage compartment and finally picked up the moon-white outer robe that had covered Wen Qingci when they left the palace that morning, holding it tightly in his arms.
But what angered him was that this outer robe, apart from a slight herbal scent, was filled with his own scent.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the carriage was somewhat strange.
If there were other Qianyuan or Kunze present, they would certainly be affected by Xie Bufeng’s pheromones.
But the Zhongyong responsible for driving the carriage didn’t know what was happening inside.
Not long after Wen Qingci boarded, the carriage wheels turned again, heading forward.
At some point, the carriage had reached the outskirts.
Having left Yongdu far behind, the official road in the suburbs was no longer as smooth as in the city.
There were often ditches and potholes, causing the carriage to bounce.
At this time, Wen Qingci was kneeling in the carriage in a somewhat awkward posture.
Just when he was completely unprepared, the carriage suddenly rolled over a rock, jolting heavily.
Wen Qingci’s center of gravity shifted forward.
He instinctively reached out to support himself, but only then realized that his wrist was still being held by Xie Bufeng.
In just a brief moment,
Wen Qingci finally fell forward.
“Be careful.”
After being silent for a long while, Xie Bufeng finally embraced him tightly, then said by Wen Qingci’s ear: “I thought you didn’t want me, and had left again…”
Though he clearly knew that Wen Qingci had only gone to have breakfast.
But the scene of him slowly closing his eyes in his arms, gradually losing consciousness and breath, once again appeared in Xie Bufeng’s mind at that moment.
Thinking of this, Xie Bufeng’s voice unexpectedly carried a rare hint of grievance.
Xie Bufeng had always been someone who refused to bow his head or yield.
But during his rut period, he was particularly different.
Wen Qingci’s breathing became irregular for a moment because of Xie Bufeng’s words.
At the same time, he suddenly realized that Xie Bufeng’s voice sounded strange.
It was slurred, like someone who had drunk too much.
Being a physician, though accustomed to a world without pheromones, Wen Qingci naturally understood some basic physiological knowledge.
He knew that a Qianyuan in his rut period, from a certain perspective, was indeed like someone drunk: more dependent on his partner, and no longer as rational as usual.
Just as Wen Qingci thought of this, the next second, Xie Bufeng suddenly released the person in his arms, moved back, and fixed his gaze on Wen Qingci’s neck.
Having finally adjusted to the darkness, Wen Qingci noticed Xie Bufeng’s gaze.
“Qingci…” Xie Bufeng’s finger gently slid across the back of Wen Qingci’s neck.
“What, what is it?”
As Wen Qingci spoke, he realized that his tone had somehow become tense.
Pheromones constantly impacting his brain, at one moment Xie Bufeng could barely distinguish whether what was before him was reality or his own dream.
Xie Bufeng, who had always tried to maintain his rationality in front of Wen Qingci, finally, during his rut period, expressed the deepest desire in his heart.
A hoarse voice sounded by Wen Qingci’s ear: “Do you know what I want to do?”
Without waiting for his answer, Xie Bufeng gave the answer himself: “I want to mark you.”
Mark?
But he didn’t even have…
These words made Wen Qingci instinctively sense danger.
But before he could voice his refusal,
The Qianyuan’s sharp teeth, obeying the command of instinct, had already bitten down hard in that instant.
##
