Su Shiyu, the imperial censor, always maintained a commendable routine, but this time, despite waking up as usual, he found himself unable to get out of bed. He felt sore all over, and most of his body was tightly embraced by the person next to him, rendering him immobile. Casting a glance at the suggestive marks on his shoulder and chest, Su silently pulled the quilt further up, ensuring both he and Chu Mingyun were well-covered.
The faint morning light filtered through the window, illuminating the room. Chu Mingyun seemed to be deep in sleep, his head buried in Su Shiyu's shoulder, half of his face hidden in the shadows. His raven-black hair was a disheveled mess in front of his forehead, his eyebrows and eyes serene, and his warm breaths steadily fell on Su's neck.
Su Shiyu turned his head to look at him, silent and focused.
After a while, Chu Mingyun's lips slightly curved upward, "I can't wait any longer, Shiyu." He suddenly spoke in a low voice, eyes still closed, "Have you been looking for so long without intending to kiss me?"
Caught off guard, Su Shiyu froze as Chu Mingyun opened his eyes to meet his gaze, his eyes brimming with laughter, "Then let me do it." He didn't wait for a response before leaning in for a kiss, their lips and tongues entangling passionately, the temperature rising until, during a break for breath, Su promptly pressed against Chu Mingyun's chest.
Chu Mingyun, his tongue lightly grazing over his lips, looked at him with slight dissatisfaction, "What's wrong?"
Su Shiyu caught his breath, "It's time to get up."
"Why the hurry?" Chu Mingyun laughed, his hand slipping to Su's waist and pinching gently, "Does this not hurt anymore?"
At his touch, a tender sensation instantly permeated Su's bones. Su swiftly pulled away his hand, "We need to disembark after entering Huainan territory today. How much longer do you plan to stay?"
"It won't hurt to stay a bit longer." Chu Mingyun grasped his hand in return.
Su Shiyu chuckled softly, "Skipping breakfast then?"
Chu Mingyun, pulling his hand to his face to rub it gently, bit his lip upon hearing this and then turned to stare at Su, his eyes full of affection and laughter, "Su brother, you can come eat me instead."
This scene, with his bare shoulders and neck, and raven hair scattered over his pale, delicate skin, made Su Shiyu turn his face away, taking a deep breath to calm his agitation. He pushed Chu's head gently but firmly, "Get up."
Getting dressed and eating was a bit of a fuss, but fortunately, Chu Mingyun hadn't completely forgotten about the important stuff. He pestered Su Shiyu to play several games of chess with him before settling down quietly in front of a low table, spreading out paper and ink. Su Shiyu, idly tapping on a chess piece, turned to carefully examine Chi's handwriting, sharp and forceful. As he looked over each character, he suddenly realized, "Are you copying a military strategy book by memory?"
"Yep," Chu Mingyun replied, "It's the one I gave to Luo Xin before. I'm writing it down first. If he uses any strategies from it, it'll be easier to check later."
Su Shiyu nodded, continuing to watch him write.
Chu Mingyun dipped his sleeve in ink, glanced at him, and smiled, "Have you read this book?"
"I've seen it before, still have some impressions of it."
"Before?" Chu Mingyun raised an eyebrow, "When you were fifteen and went with your father to campaign against the Xiongnu?"
Su Shiyu slightly narrowed his eyes, responding lightly, "That was the time."
"...Did you ever go to Liangzhou?" Chu Mingyun asked.
"My father sent me to campaign in Liangzhou City," Su Shiyu said. Seeing Chu nod but not ask further, he hesitated slightly before continuing warmly, "After the Xiongnu retreated, Liangzhou became empty because of Yuwen Shao's massacre, but we had the soldiers bury the bodies."
Chu Mingyun looked down at the paper, his emotions unclear, his pen movements never stopping. Suddenly, he asked, "Was there really a woman hanging from the city tower?"
Su Shiyu understood something at that moment, looked at him silently for a brief second, and nodded, "Yes, even my father said she was a remarkable woman. We tried to find her family to take care of her remains, but it was too late to recognize her face. In the end, I personally took care of her burial."
"That's not too bad," Chu Mingyun said with a smile, but his pen suddenly stopped, the dense ink slowly spreading on the white paper. After a moment, he couldn't help but laugh, "I remember when I was little, I used to fight with my sister. She always threatened to hang me from the city tower. Ironically, she ended up being the one hanging. She deserved it."
His tone was almost carelessly nonchalant. Su Shiyu frowned slightly, saying softly, "I still remember where her grave is. If you want, you can go see her."
"Taking you to see your sister is definitely something I'd do," Chu Mingyun looked up at him, smiling with curved eyebrows, his eyes deep, "But now is not yet the time for me to see her."
The words were loaded with meaning. Su Shiyu didn't ask further, merely smiled faintly and looked away, placing a chess piece down.
At dusk, the boat arrived at the border of Huainan, where they switched roads to sneak across the border, and decided to stay overnight in Fengtai County as it was getting late. Roughly estimating, the capital city of Shou Chun in Huainan was only a few days' journey away.
The inn was bustling with business. Chu Mingyun left the room fee and glanced over the laughing and chatting patrons before turning to ask the innkeeper, "Wasn't Huainan just recently troubled by a rebel uprising? How come it's still so lively here?"
"You just said it was a while ago, didn't you? The turmoil has settled down now," the innkeeper replied with a smile while taking the money. "Thanks to the Prince of Xiling's good defense, the battles were fought around a few cities near Shou Chun, which didn't affect Fengtai at all. Who cares about it now?"
Chu Mingyun frowned slightly and exchanged a glance with Su Shiyu.
The innkeeper gestured for a servant to lead them, "Come, take these two guests to those two vacant upper rooms upstairs."
Su Shiyu opened the window to look out. The night had fallen, with a crescent moon barely illuminating the brightly lit long street and the distant sound of fishermen singing at dusk, presenting a scene of harmony without any signs of unrest.
Suddenly, a soft knock on the door was heard. The maidservant who came with the boat kneeled down as he opened the door, speaking in a low voice, "My lord, please follow me."
Su Shiyu glanced at the neighboring room, quietly closed the door, and left.
A tree with slanting growth obscured most of the moonlight in the cobblestone alley, making the end of the alley dim, but the small house was brightly lit with candlelight, with several subordinates already waiting inside, kneeling down to greet him.
On the table in the center of the room was a cage covered with black cloth, from which a weak and eerie bird chirping could be faintly heard. The maidservant approached and pulled off the cloth, revealing an inconspicuous black-feathered bird in the cage, its feet tied to a bamboo tube for sending messages, agitatedly hitting against the cage.
"These specially bred birds are very clever. Our subordinates have never seen them before. Unable to remove the message according to your instructions, we dared not act rashly and had to ask for your decision," the maidservant said apologetically.
"Why can't the message be removed?" Su Shiyu asked.
"It seems the bird can identify people by their scent. It struggles when touched, and if pressured too much, it even tries to destroy the message. We really couldn't manage," she explained.
Su Shiyu nodded, observed the black-feathered bird for a moment, then opened the cage door and reached in. The maidservant quickly warned, "Be careful, my lord, it can peck very hard!"
Su Shiyu slowly extended his hand, and just as he was about to grab the bird's neck, the black-feathered bird suddenly stopped chirping, turned its head, and rubbed affectionately against his fingers.
In the room, everyone else was panic-stricken, hastily kneeling down, fearing Su Shiyu's interrogation. They hurried to speak, "The young master has keen insight; there's absolutely no intention of deception on our part! It's probably because it had been confused from knocking around for too long, mistaking the young master for its owner..."
Su Shiyu retracted his hand with a subtly expressive look, sniffing at his sleeve, but detecting no unusual scent. Suddenly, something crossed his mind, causing a fleeting blush across his fair complexion. He then composed himself, saying indifferently, "I understand. It's not your fault."
Everyone sighed in relief and stood up.
He removed the secret message from the black-feathered bird's leg. The bird then hopped onto his shoulder, affectionately chirping twice.
As he unfolded the letter, recognizing the familiar sharp handwriting, Su Shiyu's brows furrowed slightly, his usually present smile fading.
The maidservant, observing his expression, felt it was minutely detailed yet extremely complex, ultimately unable to fathom it.
Finally, Su Shiyu put down the secret message, sighing after a long while, "Ambition of a wolf," his emotions indecipherable.
Su Shiyu picked up the pen set aside, allowing the maidservant to spread out the letter. After pondering for a moment, he imitated Chu Mingyun's handwriting and penned a reply. He sealed the letter in a bamboo tube, returned the black-feathered bird to its cage, and then turned to instruct, "Clean up a bit later and let it fly away. Intercept any future messages and report them to me."
"Understood," came the reply.
A gentle breeze rose at midnight, sneaking through the window with a hint of chill. Su Shiyu closed his eyes for a long while, but sleep eluded him. He was lost in thought, listening to the sound of the watchmen outside.
Suddenly, a rustling sound broke the silence, and someone slipped under the covers and embraced him. Su Shiyu was startled, opening his eyes to meet Chu Mingyun's smiling gaze. The moonlight, soft like gauze, brushed past his temples, casting a hazy light over his eyelashes, "What's the matter?"
"I want to sleep with you," Chu Mingyun said, looking at him.
Su Shiyu was about to pull away the hand wrapped around his waist, "We have to travel tomorrow..."
"I won't do anything," Chu Mingyun quickly added, "just holding you is enough."
Su Shiyu paused, puzzled, "Why?"
"I can't sleep by myself," Chu Mingyun admitted honestly.
"Is that so?" Su Shiyu couldn't help but smile, "How did you sleep before then?"
Chu Mingyun's expression grew serious, his voice softer, "Before, I didn't really sleep. I always had nightmares, had to be wary of my surroundings, couldn't settle down."
Su Shiyu fell silent for a moment before reaching out to gently guide the other to lie properly on the pillow. "What nightmare did you have?"
Chu Mingyun furrowed his brows, taking a serious moment to think before responding, "I dreamt that the sweet dumplings turned salty. It was truly awful to taste."
Su Shiyu, somewhat bewildered, responded, "Go back to your room."
But Chu Mingyun laughed, holding Su Shiyu close, their foreheads touching, his eyes bright and clear, "I won't." Anticipating Su Shiyu's response, he gently rubbed his face against Su Shiyu's, his voice teasing and breath warm against Su Shiyu's ear, "Shiyu, Shiyu..."
"Chu..."
"Big brother Su." Chu Mingyun kissed his neck gently.
Su Shiyu tensed up, his scalp tightening with a controlled patience that spoke of deep resignation, "Fine, I won't send you away."
Chu Mingyun chuckled softly, the sound vibrating from his chest. After a moment, his laughter turned into a long sigh as he began to speak softly and quietly, "I dream of running away from Liangzhou City, the ground covered in clots of blood and lumps of flesh. My boots would slip on them, making it impossible to run fast. But the cavalry behind us kept slaughtering and trampling forward, and I couldn't slow down."
"There was a child who kept pulling at my sleeve, dragging me down. I really wished I could just kick her away," Chu Mingyun confessed, buried in Su Shiyu's embrace. "Then her head was cut off, splattering blood on me, and her hand still clung to my sleeve. It was so annoying. I regret not kicking her away sooner."
"I never looked back," he tightened his hold, his voice low, "I've had that dream countless times, and I've never looked back."
"Because I can't die, I must survive."
Su Shiyu remained silent, his fingers tightening slowly before finally letting go, reaching to touch Chu Mingyun's head gently.
Chu Mingyun looked up at him, his eyes deep and eventually breaking into a small smile, "Shiyu, every time you look at me, I really want to kiss you."
Su Shiyu met his gaze, silent.
"Just for a moment," Chu Mingyun said with a smile, leaning in for a kiss, then closing his eyes, "Let's sleep."