Chapter 34 The Wedding Night, Making Up for It Now

Chapter 34: The Wedding Night, Making Up for Lost Time

Noticing Xie Xiao seemed even angrier, Yan Weichu looked bewildered, unsure what he had said wrong this time: "Cousin—"

"None of that cute act," Xie Xiao snapped. "I'm not done settling scores with you yet."

Yan Weichu sighed helplessly: "...Then go ahead."

Xie Xiao asked: "That night at Fumeng Lodge, was it all your plan?"

Yan Weichu protested: "How could it be? How could I have known someone would drug you? It was sheer coincidence that I happened to be there to help you."

"What about at Zhanyun Garden?" Xie Xiao pressed on. "Since you're His Majesty's cousin, and the one hosting that party that day was your other cousin, how could you have been so easily bullied? Were you faking it for my benefit?"

Yan Weichu: "..."

Should he admit it?

The Zhanyun Garden incident was one thing, but if Xie Xiao found out that the time Xie Laosan kidnapped him was also intentional, would he throw me out right now?

Better not risk it...

"I don’t usually call them cousins; you’re the only one I call Cousin," Yan Weichu deliberately deflected, saying whatever sounded sweet.

But Xie Xiao wasn’t buying it: "Tell the truth."

"..." Yan Weichu muttered, "Your third brother bullied me—did I force him with a knife to his throat? Cousin, you’re being so unreasonable."

Of course, it wasn’t forced, but it was very likely exploiting the situation—Xie Xiao guessed as much, and his expression grew even darker.

This little lord never spoke a truthful word; every incident was a calculated move against him.

He reached out and pinched the little scoundrel’s cheek: "What’s your goal? To tie me to you so I’ll serve His Majesty?"

Yan Weichu hissed lightly: "As a subject, isn’t it right to be loyal to His Majesty? I’m helping you ease your doubts."

"So I should thank you?" Xie Xiao was almost laughing in anger. "You sell me out, and I should thank you for getting a good price? Then kneel together with you to thank Heaven's grace?"

Yan Weichu’s face scrunched up in pain: "Cousin, why are your words so harsh? I’ve told you my admiration for you is genuine, and I agreed to marry you willingly. Why won’t you believe me?"

Xie Xiao released him, his gaze turning complex, and suddenly asked: "How can you prove it?"

...What? This needs proof too?

Yan Weichu thought for a moment, then pulled a small porcelain jar from his sleeve: "Let me show you something special."

He opened his palm and held the jar out to Xie Xiao: "Look at this."

Xie Xiao glanced down and asked expressionlessly: "What is it?"

Yan Weichu pouted: "You asked me to prove it—this is it. This ointment is for anal use during sex. I’ve prepared myself to give myself to you. Isn’t that proof enough of my sincerity?"

Xie Xiao’s eyes returned to his face, the complexity in them mingling with something even more subtle and inscrutable. Yan Weichu pushed the jar forward a little more: "Really."

After a moment’s pause, Xie Xiao finally took the jar, casually flicked open the lid. Inside was a snow-white, soft-textured balm with a faint, pleasant fragrance.

He asked: "Where did this ointment come from?"

Yan Weichu naturally couldn’t say it was from the notorious Superintendent of the Eastern Depot, Superintendent Wan, so he pulled out a scapegoat without hesitation: "Cousin Zheng gave it to me. He has plenty of such good stuff."

Xie Xiao’s face visibly darkened even more.

It was unclear whether it was because of the term "Cousin Zheng" or the matter itself.

"Didn’t you just say you don’t usually call them cousins?" Xie Xiao finally spat out after a long pause.

Yan Weichu was speechless: "...You’re going to quibble over that too?"

Xie Xiao asked in a low voice: "What I said before, about keeping your distance from him—did you take it seriously?"

Yan Weichu felt even more at a loss for words: "You already know my relationship with him..."

"What relationship?" Xie Xiao’s expression was cold. "From now on, don’t ask him for these inappropriate things. Don’t let him lead you astray."

Fine, fine, no need then. You’re so overbearing.

"Cousin," Yan Weichu complained, "last night during our wedding, you left me alone in the bridal chamber and ran off. I was so embarrassed; if word gets out, I’ll be the laughingstock."

"You made a fool out of me; did that give me face?" Xie Xiao retorted bluntly.

Yan Weichu: "..."

Forget it, I’m done talking.

He slid off the desk and turned to leave, but Xie Xiao grabbed him firmly and pulled him back.

Caught off guard, Yan Weichu was hoisted over Xie Xiao’s shoulder with brute force. Dangling upside down, he cried out: "What are you doing? Put me down—"

"Stop fussing." Xie Xiao, true to his military background, had astonishing arm strength. Even as Yan Weichu kicked and struggled, he held him firmly, carrying him to the canopy bed on the other side in a few strides and tossing him onto it.

Yan Weichu’s back hit the mattress, knocking the breath out of him. As he tried to struggle up, Xie Xiao’s tall frame loomed over him, pinning his wrists above his head and using his long legs to press down on Yan Weichu’s knees, rendering him completely immobile.

Yan Weichu was on the verge of tears now, hurt and wronged. You’re insubordinate; I’ll have you executed...

But it was just a thought. All he could do was gasp in pain, tears welling in his eyes, looking utterly pitiful.

Xie Xiao looked down at him deeply, his breathing heavy, his eyes dark with turbulent emotions, concealing what lay buried within.

"What are you going to do..." Yan Weichu swallowed, instinctively sensing danger.

Yan Weichu asked involuntarily: "M-make up for what?"

"What do you think?" Xie Xiao’s free hand slid down from his cheek, past his quivering throat, further down, pressing against his chest until he untied the jade belt at his waist.

The jade pendant above slipped down. Xie Xiao also removed his own and tossed it aside with Yan Weichu’s.

The tenderness and sweetness from yesterday’s wedding ceremony were now replaced by a fierce desire to punish this little rascal.

Xie Xiao finally realized he shouldn’t have been so gentle with this little bastard.

Yan Weichu was genuinely apprehensive now. Although he had brought the ointment with the intention of offering himself to patch things up... but Cousin was so fierce, as if he wanted to consume him whole. Should he run for it?

Yan Weichu tried to delay: "Let’s change locations..."

"No." Xie Xiao gave him no room to negotiate, quickly loosening his robes and slipping a hand under his inner garment, touching and groping him without any barriers.

Yan Weichu’s body shrank back, his lips bitten tight. Xie Xiao pinched him, watching his fluttering eyelashes and nearly bloodied lips, then reached up to brush his thumb forcefully over Yan Weichu’s mouth, forcing him to stop biting.

For a moment, Xie Xiao almost impulsively leaned in to seize those trembling red lips.

He leaned down but pulled back at the last second, biting Yan Weichu's chin instead, then moving lower to clamp down on his bobbing Adam's apple.

Broken sounds spilled from Yan Weichu's lips as Xie Xiao's bites grew fiercer than before, carrying a teasing edge.

Yan Weichu's undone collar revealed a pale stretch of chest, and Xie Xiao's kisses trailed downward, leaving behind a series of vivid marks.

When one rosy nipple was captured, Yan Weichu stiffened, his mind going blank. Apart from his fluttering lashes trembling more violently, he couldn't respond otherwise.

Xie Xiao suckled him, fingers pinching the other side and giving a firm twist. Yan Weichu couldn't suppress a muffled groan. Feeling both ashamed and resentful, he kicked out. "You're going too far..."

Somehow, he still had the energy to fight back. Xie Xiao rose to pin him down, tilting his head to punish him by biting his earlobe.

Yan Weichu's voice shifted pitch again, soon turning into incoherent mumbles.

Garments were cast aside one by one in their entanglement. Yan Weichu, feeling vulnerable, pleaded, "Turn off the light..."

Xie Xiao ignored him, intent on watching Yan Weichu's tormented, flustered expression in the throes of desire.

He wasn't faring much better himself—or rather, he was even more turned on than Yan Weichu, merely restraining himself with great effort.

From the very beginning, it was Yan Weichu who had meticulously seduced him, and now he had to take responsibility for it.

So what if he accepted the favor His Majesty granted?

The lubricant was eventually used, and it worked remarkably well.

Xie Xiao lifted one of Yan Weichu's legs, thrusting in deep and hard from the very start.

Yan Weichu moaned, cried out, cursed, sobbed, and wept, yet he cooperated all the while—lifting when needed, tightening when required, pliant and yielding in every way.

When it became too much, he would cling to Xie Xiao, nuzzling against him and begging pitifully—now pleading for him to be gentler, then faster. In such a state, even the hardest heart would soften.

Yan Weichu soon reached his climax first.

Xie Xiao paused, flipped him over, and embraced him from behind, biting and kissing his nape with relentless intensity, claiming him with a fiercer, more dominant rhythm than before.

A general on the battlefield, seizing his conquest for the first time in this manner.

The Young Emperor struggled to rise, knees barely propped on the bedding, in a position almost like kneeling.

His pride was utterly shattered in that moment, but when Xie Xiao turned his head, showering his temples and cheeks with soothing kisses, those resentful thoughts dissolved into the overwhelming tide of passion, no longer mattering.

Yan Weichu opened his eyes glazed with pleasure and, in his unfocused gaze, caught sight of the pair of jade pendants fallen by the bedside. He hooked Xie Xiao's pendant, took it into his mouth, and stifled the shameful sounds threatening to escape.

Xie Xiao's eyes darkened, his breathing grew heavier, his chest pressed against Yan Weichu's back, holding him tightly as he thrust even deeper.

Their hair intertwined, bodies merged, hidden tides of passion rising as they ascended to bliss together.

*

Bath.

Xie Xiao brushed Yan Weichu's damp hair forward, tilting his head to place another kiss on the mark he had left on his nape.

Yan Weichu lay half-submerged in the water, leaning against the edge of the bath, his voice hoarse. "No more..."

Xie Xiao had no plans to go further, even though the heat inside him had yet to subside, and suppressed desires stirred restlessly.

In the past, he hadn't thought much about it, but having tasted it today, he understood why everyone became so obsessed.

He gently stroked the hair at Yan Weichu's temple. After a long while, Yan Weichu turned his head, still resting against the edge, and glanced at him. "Cousin, today we've really become husband and wife."

"Mm." Xie Xiao's tone was flat, betraying none of his turbulent emotions.

Yan Weichu chuckled. "From now on, you have to listen to me."

Xie Xiao asked, "Listen to you, or listen to His Majesty?"

...You really know how to kill the mood. Why bring up His Majesty now?

"Is there a difference?" Yan Weichu asked.

Xie Xiao stared intensely at Yan Weichu's eyes, then suddenly leaned in and bit his Adam's apple fiercely once more.

Yan Weichu let out a muffled sound, his hands gripping Xie Xiao's shoulders, fingers tightening as he shifted from pushing away to wrapping his arms around Xie Xiao's neck, tilting his head back in surrender.

Xie Xiao's hand slid down his back—ultimately, he couldn't resist.

Soon, the water began rippling outward in rhythmic waves.

Such matters become familiar with practice—once clumsy, twice skilled, thrice addictive.

The sensation, indeed, was beyond description.

After another round, Yan Weichu was completely drained, lying still without any desire to move, still panting. "Really, no more."

Xie Xiao drew back slightly and returned to their earlier topic. "I can listen to you, but don’t foolishly take all of His Majesty’s promises at face value."

Yan Weichu paused, awkwardly replying, "How can you say that? His Majesty is the Son of Heaven, his word is law..."

Xie Xiao’s expression was dismissive. "Do you believe that? It only fools someone as naive as you."

"..."

Who’s fooling whom? Say that again.

"Cousin, if others heard you speaking so disrespectfully of His Majesty, what would they think?"

"Then will you report me to the emperor?"

As he spoke, Xie Xiao suddenly asked, "Which cousin do you prefer?"

Yan Weichu choked—why did that sound so familiar?

You’re stealing my lines.

"...Why must you even compare with His Majesty?"

Xie Xiao’s eyes held mockery. "You can compare, but I cannot?"

You’re so jealous, Yan Weichu thought, speechless.

Xie Xiao insisted, "Since you said you and I are husband and wife, we are family. Even if His Majesty is your blood cousin, he is an outsider."

Yan Weichu: "Oh."

Xie Xiao added, "The emperor’s heart is unpredictable. Don’t be so foolishly swayed by His Majesty’s coaxing into agreeing to everything he asks. Be careful he doesn’t betray you. I am your husband—only I would never harm you. In your heart, I must come first."

It wasn’t about comparison—he simply disapproved of the emperor’s actions. If the emperor truly cared for this fool, why would he push him into such disgraceful, unspeakable affairs without any regard for his future?

In the end, they were all merely pawns in the emperor’s schemes. The so-called kinship between them and the Son of Heaven was nothing but a joke—only this fool took it seriously.

Yan Weichu thought to himself, *You're the one trying to fool a simpleton*. He straightened up solemnly: "Cousin, as the saying goes, 'heaven, earth, sovereign, parents, and teacher'—loyalty to the sovereign is the duty of a subject. How dare you speak such treasonous words?"

"Loyalty to the sovereign does not mean blind loyalty," Xie Xiao said earnestly. "Since we are husband and wife, from today onward, I will also put you first in everything. In all matters, I will protect you first."

He spoke so solemnly that Yan Weichu was momentarily speechless: "...Understood."

Xie Xiao stared at him intently: "Truly understood?"

What more was there to not understand? As long as his cousin was happy, anything was fine.

Yan Weichu slowly leaned in, wrapped his arms around Xie Xiao, pressing their necks together: "Don't be so serious. I really do understand."

Xie Xiao was finally satisfied and pulled him into an embrace: "Mm, there's my good boy."