Wang Yibo heard the sound of horseshoes behind him and opened his eyes slightly, only to find that Xiao Zhan was looking at him with his eyes wide open like a vigilant leopard, an inexplicably fierce possessiveness in his gaze.
Wang Yibo was stunned for a moment at this sight, and immediately guessed who was coming from behind. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly and he closed his eyes again, indulging in this unconcealed kiss.
After the people behind gradually drifted away, the two separated in unison. Neither took the initiative to mention who had come, and instead went to catch rabbits.
Their distraction just now had allowed the rabbits to scatter and flee. Wang Yibo didn't have the strength to draw the bow again, and said, "You go."
"What about you?"
"I'll wander around."
Xiao Zhan was worried that a beast would appear and hurt him, so he said, "I'll go around with you."
The two led the horses and unknowingly came upon a small stream. Several deer drinking there hastily fled.
Wang Yibo rubbed the medicine on his hands. It was inconvenient, so he handed the handkerchief to Xiao Zhan.
Xiao Zhan went to the stream to soak the handkerchief, then carefully wiped his face and the back of his hands, saying with a soft smile: "You fellow, you are so fastidious when going out to hunt."
"Is there a problem?"
"There isn't, I want to learn from you."
As Xiao Zhan spoke, he wiped his face with the handkerchief again and then went to the stream to wash it. Suddenly, he paused and looked down at the things in the water.
"What is it?" Wang Yibo bent down to look, and saw a small crab the size of his thumb walking domineeringly in the water.
Xiao Zhan picked it up and put it in his palm: "Isn't this just another prey?"
"......"
The crab was tiny, crawling back and forth in the palm of his hand. It was very ticklish. Wang Yibo didn't know whether to cast it aside or not. While he was struggling, Xiao Zhan actually grabbed a few more and put them in his hand. Then, seeing his helpless look, he backed up and laughed.
From time to time, the roars of tigers and beasts and the cheers of successfully hitting prey sounded in the forest, sending birds fluttering away from the treetops. But the small world here seemed a little childish.
Wang Yibo removed his shoes and went to wade in the creek. Xiao Zhan buried his head in catching crabs, and then put the crabs in a palm-sized pond dug next to him. Wang Yibo was in charge of managing this pond, and when he saw that crabs had escaped the prison, he would bring them back.
Li Yucheng and Fu Qian came here as they chased the same rabbit. They looked at them from a distance, not daring to approach them.
Fu Qian was shocked: "What are they doing? I stopped playing with those when I was five years old."
"I don't know, it's just for fun." Li Yucheng took advantage of his inattention to shoot the rabbit, then proudly picked up the rabbit and ran away. "Don't blame me for not warning you, if you don't leave, you'll be thrashed by them."
Fu Qian glanced at the man with his trousers lifted and a smile on his face. No matter what, it was difficult to reconcile him with the king of Hell who sat in the interrogation room and dug out the prisoner's eyes with his own hands.
How could a person be vicious, yet have such an innocent smile at the same time?
He couldn't figure it out, and simply didn't want to, so he ran away quickly.
After some time, the sun set and then completely sank, leaving only a gray sky.
Xiao Zhan didn't allow him to play anymore. The water became cold, so he pulled him to sit on a rock by the stream. There were some belongings placed on the rock, and Wang Yibo had even brought a short knife with him.
"Allow me." Xiao Zhan picked up the knife with a smile, and was about to put on his shoes, when he suddenly heard the roar of a tiger nearby, followed by loud human voices: "Somebody! His Majesty is gone!"
The two exchanged glances. Wang Yibo quickly put on his shoes: "Let's go have a look."
As soon as they reached the side of the path, several people ran over and said in a hurry: "General Xiao, His Majesty just went to hunt a tiger. He ran too fast and we couldn't catch up. Now we can't find him, what should we do?"
"Where did he go?" Xiao Zhan asked.
"To the southeast of Tiger Mountain."
Xiao Zhan mounted his horse, told Wang Yibo to go to the camp first, and then chased after him.
Watching his back as he left alone, Wang Yibo frowned and said: "You all, go find the other military officials and call them to search."
"Yes."
After a while, the whole hunting grounds were full of shouts, people holding torches and searching high and low. Not only had there been no news of the Emperor, even Xiao Zhan had not returned for a long time.
Some people began to worry, suspecting that this tiger was the mother of the tiger who was hunted last time and had come to seek revenge. This was a ferocious beast after all, with a huge body and sharp claws. A casual bite would cost half of one's life.
The more they talked, the more flustered they became, and everyone started to fidget with their hands and feet. While searching tremblingly, they also hoped that they would not encounter a tiger.
Many people searched around Tiger Mountain. Wang Yibo was among them, followed by Li Yucheng and his entourage, who happened to meet him.
Knowing that Xiao Zhan was looking for that person, Li Yucheng looked very relaxed and chatted with him: "I won a big victory today. You didn't see Fu Qian's face, it was as black as charcoal, hahaha."
The sky was completely dark. The sounds of prey sounded from time to time in the woods, and the path ahead could not be seen clearly. A little wind through the grass could easily put fear in people's hearts.
Li Yucheng was faint-hearted, and any time there was movement around, he would be so frightened that he hugged the arms of his entourage. He wanted to go back quickly, but everyone was looking for the Emperor. He didn't dare to leave the group without authorization, so he could only continue prattling. Seeing that Wang Yibo still didn't respond, he couldn't help but reach out and tug his arm: "Hey, why are you not afraid at all?"
"Shut up!" Wang Yibo sullenly tossed his sleeve and turned to look at him. His tone was stiff, and his eyes were so cold that they could freeze people to death. "One more word, and I will destroy you."
Li Yucheng was so frightened by his sudden anger that he didn't dare to make a sound, following him quietly. Looking at his lonely and solitary back, he suddenly thought that this was the original Wang Yibo.
How did he dare to approach the formed Wang Yibo so carelessly? It was out of the question, he really disliked the original Wang Yibo, who was selfish, heartless, and unkind.
When did he feel that he could get close?
That's right, when Xiao Zhan was by his side, although he was still mean, he wouldn't really get angry. Like a cat that had been provoked, he would scratch you a few times, but he wouldn't really kill you.
Li Yucheng was used to the Wang Yibo who was accompanied by Xiao Zhan. He was lively, interesting, and down-to-earth. To put it bluntly, it was like he was a person.
Now that Xiao Zhan was gone, he had gone back to his old ways.
So terrible.
Li Yucheng rubbed his arms and whispered: "I was just trying to distract you, you look worried about him. Don't worry, he'll be fine. No one can hurt him, not even a tiger."
Wang Yibo's expression softened a little, but he still ignored him.
The group of people came to the vicinity of Tiger Mountain. Wang Yibo looked at the tiger tracks on the ground and led his people to follow them. In the end, they came to the edge of a cliff surrounded by ropes, indicating that this was the boundary of the hunting grounds. But one section was broken.
Wang Yibo ordered someone to find the commander of the Imperial army. This time, it depended on the Imperial army to deploy defenses.
When the commander saw this situation, he was nearly terrified, and said that the grass around here was all gone and there was no place to hide. Normally, a tiger would never come here, and he didn't know why it rushed over today.
Wang Yibo walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down, breaking into a cold sweat. Then he heard someone beside him say: "There is a sword dropped here."
Wang Yibo walked over and saw that it was the one worn by Xiao Zhan, and looked at the commander in a towering rage: "Hurry up and take people down with you to search!"
. . . . . .
"Are you all right?" Wang Xuan asked.
"I'm fine." Xiao Zhan sat up, took out a bottle of medicine from his sleeve and wiped it on his knee a few times, then tore off a piece of cloth from his clothes and wrapped it around it while gritting his teeth. But his right arm was also bleeding from scraping a rock, so it was not easy to apply the bandage.
Wang Xuan took the cloth strip from his hand and silently helped him tie it on his arm.
"Many thanks."
"I should thank you, you saved my life."
Half an hour ago, he had seen those two people kissing under the tree. For some reason, he felt a fire in his heart, but he didn't explode. Instead, he left silently and came to Tiger Mountain without knowing it. He wanted to vent, so he tried to hunt and kill this fierce tiger just like last time.
Who knew that this one was much more difficult to deal with, and first turned around to run away. He held his breath and chased after it, not even noticing that the people behind him weren't following. He shot a few poisoned arrows, but the tiger turned around and rushed toward him, opening its mouth to bite down hard.
He held the quiver and used all his strength to hold it against its upper jaw. Before long, the quiver was bitten through. As he saw the teeth through the gap that were about to sink into his body, an epee suddenly crashed into its head and it rolled to the ground.
Xiao Zhan arrived just in time and helped him up. As they tried to leave, the tiger crawled to its feet and stalked around them, as if looking for an opportunity.
Wang Xuan was dripping with cold sweat, and subconsciously glanced at Xiao Zhan, but saw that Xiao Zhan's eyes were calm. He was watching the tiger's movements closely, as if looking for an opening, but his sword was no longer in his hand.
Suddenly, the tiger rushed towards them.
Wang Xuan's vision went dark, and he noticed that someone was holding his waist as they flashed to the side. Then Xiao Zhan released him and leaped into the air onto the tiger's back, drew out a short knife, and pierced it into its eye.
The tiger roared ferociously, twisting violently on the ground. Xiao Zhan held down its head and poked its other eye blind, then quickly jumped off its back.
The blind tiger crawled on the ground aimlessly and accidentally pushed Wang Xuan to the edge of the cliff. Wang Xuan screamed, but was caught and fell down together.
Xiao Zhan stepped on several broken crags and trees before rolling into the valley. Not far away was the dead tiger, its blood flowing down a small stream.
There was a small cave next to it, which could provide shelter from the wind and rain.
Wang Xuan was scratched in a few places, but his wounds were not as serious as Xiao Zhan's. He glanced at the other's injuries and said worriedly: "Can you still stand?"
"I can, ah." Xiao Zhan stood up while leaning against the wall, and walked outside again.
"Where are you going?" Wang Xuan asked.
"To get this tiger skin, I didn't kill it for nothing." Xiao Zhan limped towards the tiger, took the short knife in his hand again, and made a cut, beginning to skin it.
Wang Xuan felt dizzy at the sight of the tiger and couldn't look anymore, so he sat back in the cave, recalling the thrilling scene just now. It could be regarded as being a step away from death.
At the moment he fell from the cliff and the blurred scenery passed before his eyes, he found that in his short life, Wang Yibo had participated in half of the important things.
The last scene that he couldn't shake from his mind was actually Wang Yibo wearing a red outfit and veil. There was only a pair of white hands with distinct joints holding a big red ribbon, and at the other end was the heroic Xiao Zhan.
Wearing the same red outfit and standing with Wang Yibo, he was not inferior. The grit of the battlefield had not ruined him, and his eyes were still clear and bright, with the vigor of a young man and the maturity and stability of having experienced the world. He smiled and thanked everyone who had come to drink the wedding wine.
And he, sitting on the main seat, watched the two people bow and wondered what would happen to them in the future.
Unexpectedly, after only half a year, they were drawn to each other.
Heavy footsteps sounded outside. Xiao Zhan walked in carrying the tiger skin covered in blood, and took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from it.
It was impossible for Xiao Zhan to carry a handkerchief with him, so Wang Xuan could tell at a glance that it belonged to Wang Yibo.
"Take a break first, why are you in such a hurry to get the tiger skin?" Wang Xuan asked.
"Winter will come soon, it's just the right time to make him a blanket." Xiao Zhan smiled.
The person he was referring to was self-evident. Thinking about it, Wang Yibo was afraid of the cold, and he was half to blame. He sighed: "If he hadn't blocked an arrow for me back then, he wouldn't be so affected by the cold."
Xiao Zhan paused, did not speak, and continued to wipe.
Wang Xuan was keenly aware of the moment when he paused. There was a strange, despicable pleasure, as if no matter how powerful Xiao Zhan was, he could not take away their childhood, and the things they experienced together could not be changed or reversed.
"The doctor worked to save him for a few days before he woke up," Wang Xuan said, and suddenly gave an inexplicable laugh. "He also called a person's name in a dream."
He didn't say who the name belonged to, but Xiao Zhan knew it couldn't be him. He said: "En, I know."
"You know?" For a moment, Wang Xuan couldn't control his expression. How could he even tell him such a private matter?
Wang Yibo did mention it to him when the two of them were sitting on the roof in Jiangnan. He had asked Wang Yibo why he blocked the opponent's arrow, and after the other party finished explaining the reason, he hesitated to mention this matter.
What Wang Yibo said back then, oh, he remembered —
"I also did an outrageous thing at that time. When I was half asleep and half awake, I heard Wang Xuan's voice, and suddenly thought of another way. Since I had already made him feel guilty, why not make him feel completely at ease with me? I pretended to call his name in my dreams."
"He was the son of the royal family, and the Xuan Dynasty's laws did not allow the sons of the royal family to marry men, so he would definitely choose the country. What's more, he didn't like men, but he needed me to advise him, so he would rest assured leaving me alone. He might fear a man who coveted power, but if it was someone who adored him, he could use him with confidence."
Xiao Zhan's mood at that time was exactly the same as now – fortunately, it was Wang Yibo who took the initiative to speak out, otherwise he would have been ashamed to death if he had learned about it from Wang Xuan.
He could understand that in a desperate situation, Wang Yibo would do anything by fair means or foul to save his own quality of life. In fact, it was exactly as Wang Yibo judged. After the ascension to the throne, those staff members like him were more or less transferred from the capital, and some were even executed. But he remained in the capital because Wang Xuan felt that he still adored him and would not have any resentment toward him.
Naturally, he would not tell Wang Xuan these reasons. After saying, "I know," the two fell into silence again.
Xiao Zhan continued to clean the tiger skin, being careful not to get any in the fur.
Wang Xuan sat nearby watching him, and suddenly asked: "Do you also know his origin?"
"En." Xiao Zhan abruptly stopped what he was doing, looked up at him, and said solemnly, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for saving his life back then."
His tone was sincere, and they were words from a qualified family member. Wang Xuan's throat rolled, but he couldn't refuse his thanks, and just smiled self-deprecatingly: "Why did he tell you all these things, ah......"
Wasn't this his biggest taboo? Why had they only known each other for half a year, and everything had been confessed?
"Because we are joined in marriage, there will be no secrets," Xiao Zhan said, and thanked him again, "I also want to thank Your Majesty for granting us a marriage, otherwise how could we fall in love so quickly?"
Fall in love 'so quickly', rather than fall in love.
Xiao Zhan felt that even if they weren't conferred a marriage, but were just colleagues, he would definitely have been drawn to Wang Yibo and pursued him hard. Even if it took a little longer, they would still end up together.
Wang Xuan thoroughly choked. He had really taken the initiative to draw them a red string that could not be cut.
But seeing him so proud, Wang Xuan was a little upset again and said: "In the past, do you know what his favorite thing to do was?"
Xiao Zhan wanted to know what Wang Yibo was like as a child, but he would rather listen to Wang Yibo tell it himself, rather than learn it from Wang Xuan.
He stood up and walked toward Wang Xuan, intending to strike him unconscious when he wasn't paying attention, but when he passed by him and raised his hand, he heard the sound of disordered footsteps outside.
"Your Majesty! General! We finally found you, are you all right?" The leader led a group of people to appear at the entrance of the cave, and shouted back, "We found them!"
The group of people rushed in, helped Wang Xuan up, and saw to his injuries.
Xiao Zhan took a few steps back to make room for them. At this time, a figure appeared at the entrance, struggling to push past the person standing in front of him: "Xiao Zhan!"
Xiao Zhan immediately looked up, and when he saw Wang Yibo, he smiled with relief: "I'm here."
Wang Xuan also looked over and found that his hair was disheveled, his jade crown had been lost, and there were grass stains on his clothes. He was completely different from the neat and tidy Wang Yibo.
The next moment, he watched that person approach in a hurry, and only noticed that the other's eyes were bloodshot. Then he passed him by without even looking at him, running toward the figure in front. He tripped and almost fell, but luckily Xiao Zhan caught him in time.
"Are you okay?" Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo said in unison.
"I'm fine." Xiao Zhan smiled at him.
Wang Yibo quickly stood up and noticed that his arms and knees were wrapped in cloth. There was still a lot of blood, so he hurriedly took him and looked him over carefully, finding that his whole body was covered in blood. His eyes reddened again from fear: "You say you're fine?!"
Xiao Zhan wanted to explain to him that the blood was from the tiger, but from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Wang Xuan staring at them and immediately changed his words: "Ah, it hurts."
"Where does it hurt?" Wang Yibo asked hastily.
"My whole body hurts." Xiao Zhan put his hands on the other's shoulders and leaned fully against him, weak and unable to take care of himself. "Let's go home first, or you can blow on it first for me, or kiss it."
Wang Xuan: "......"