Qiang Jin Jiu (Author : Tang Jiuqing 唐酒卿)

Chapter 76 : Casting The Net

All votes and comments are much appreciated :)

—————

The night rain had just stopped, but the sensual dampness between the beddings lingered.

The hot springs had been renovated anew; although it was small, it was completed. With his clothes draped over him, Xiao Chiye fed the horse and gyrfalcon. All that could be heard on Mount Feng at the third quarter of the hour of mao was the sound of water dripping from the eaves. He soaked in the mountain breeze for a moment with the front of his clothes opened. The chill of early spring gradually calmed the stimulation and excitement that had lasted all night. He had sobered up, but his passion had become all the more thick and viscous, followed by a kind of post-indulgence relaxation and tenderness. 

This was the pleasure of indulging in desire. 
Xiao Chiye removed the saddle on Lang Tao Xue Jin’s back and gestured to Meng. Meng promptly spread its wings and flew out of the eaves into the forest. 

Xiao Chiye turned around to enter the room, where the heat and dampness had not receded. Shen Zechuan was sprawled over the pillow with the blanket over him. There was no way to tell if he was asleep or not. His half-exposed right ear was still wearing the earring. Xiao Chiye lowered his hand to take it off for him and, in passing, rubbed his ear that had gone red from being clasped by the earring. 

Shen Zechuan let loose a sound. He had yet to fall into a sound sleep. He laid there for a moment, then slightly opened his eyes to look at Xiao Chiye and said in a hoarse voice, “… It’s time we leave.” 

Xiao Chiye rolled over and lay down beside Shen Zechuan. He looked at him in the eye and said, “It’s the day off today. It’s still early.” 

Shen Zechuan uttered a sound of acknowledgment and said, “There is still work to be done in the imperial prison.” 

“A busy man.” Xiao Chiye grasped his fingertips and pulled him towards himself. “In just one day, you rose to the position of Northern Judge, and you were also promoted to Vice Commander. The people you have to deal with now are all noble descendants of hereditary ranks. It’s going to be hard for you to manage them; there’s bound to be someone who wants to trip you up with underhand means.” 

Shen Zechuan said, “It’s not easy to be the Son of Heaven and the officials in his inner ministerial circle.”   

It was in this way Shen Zechuan lay, with the word ‘satiated’ written all over his expression. Both men looked at each other for a moment. Like the gentleness after a rainstorm, their kiss was both light and slow. In this humble thatched cottage, they wholeheartedly bared themselves to one another. It was as if in these few hours they left Qudu, they could cast aside all the so-called maturity and prudence to become young men of similar ages. 

Xiao Chiye whispered, “This place is too small, with the view of the sky all blocked by vermilion walls, and the mountains and plains all surrounded by cities. Lang Tao Xue Jin can’t run to its heart’s content… When we return to Libei someday in the future, I’ll take you galloping all over Hongyan Mountains.” 

Shen Zechuan pressed against his chest and asked, “Is the moon in Libei as round as the moon in Duanzhou?”    

Xiao Chiye thought for a long while before he said, “I’ve already forgotten… Is the grass in Duanzhou as tall as the grass in Libei?” 

Shen Zechuan also said, “I’ve already forgotten.”

They suddenly burst out into laughter, dispelling that bit of melancholy. Shen Zechuan took in Xiao Chiye’s scent as Xiao Chiye pressed his chin against the top of Shen Zechuan’s head.