Chapter 66 Is It Because of Me

Chapter 66: Is It Because of Me

"You're back."

The big boss who had dozed off on the sofa opened his eyes and saw Gu Zhen leaning down, about to carry him to bed.

"Why are you sleeping here?" Gu Zhen was very close, so close that Zhu Shinian could smell the faint scent of cigar on him. "Why didn't you go to the bedroom to sleep?"

Gu Zhen must have just changed his suppressant patch not long ago; not a trace of his cypress wood pheromone was leaking.

"I was just watching TV," Zhu Shinian answered dazedly.

He seemed to have just woken up, still in a daze, having forgotten the unpleasantness between them before Gu Zhen left. He gently wrapped his arms around Gu Zhen's neck, tilted his head, and rested it in the crook of Gu Zhen's neck, just like they used to.

The TV must have been paused by Xiao Zhou. Gu Zhen turned to glance at it—it seemed to be a popular soap opera from a few years ago.

"What are you watching? Is it good?"

"I think it's called 'The Omega's Way of Survival,'" Zhu Shinian was being carried like a child, with Gu Zhen supporting him under his thighs. "Nie Hang used to really like it."

Even though he was tall and slender, he still looked thin because of his frame, so carrying him was almost effortless.

Gu Zhen lowered his head and let out a very soft laugh. He remembered now—it was supposed to be a trashy feel-good drama that was popular when it aired. The female lead's alpha cheated on her with her younger sister and even caused her death. The female lead faked her death and came back to take fierce revenge on the scumbag alpha and the sister.

"If you want to watch a movie currently in theaters, just tell me. I'll find a source for you. There's been a shoot-'em-up movie that's pretty popular recently..."

Zhu Shinian seemed very sleepy, letting out a soft "mm" in a breathy voice, like a puppy's whimper.

His face was buried in the crook of Gu Zhen's neck, and his slightly long hair tickled Gu Zhen's neck. His breathing gradually slowed and steadied.

Had he fallen asleep again?

It felt like such moments hadn't happened in a long time. Gu Zhen held him, wishing the walk from the living room to the bedroom would stretch on, just a little longer.

Zhu Shinian seemed on the verge of falling asleep again, his body going limp and starting to slip from Gu Zhen's grasp. Gu Zhen held him tighter.

The longer you sleep, the sleepier you get.

Just as they were about to reach the bedroom door, Zhu Shinian's fingers twitched.

His hands had originally been resting on Gu Zhen's shoulders, hanging down naturally. His fingertips moved inadvertently, lightly grazing Gu Zhen's back.

"Gu Zhen." The one who should have been asleep suddenly called out to him at this moment.

"You... are you injured?"

Gu Zhen went rigid instantly.

He looked down and saw Zhu Shinian lifting his face from beside his neck, looking at him with perfectly clear eyes.

When he had woken up, he had sensed, beneath the cigar smell, the metallic scent of blood.

Because he was a high-ranking omega, Zhu Shinian's senses were naturally sharper than ordinary people's. Coupled with his hearing loss, his other senses were even sharper.

Gu Zhen didn't let him smoke cigars. In order to accompany Zhu Shinian, during the period before Zhu Shinian left the capital, Gu Zhen had been trying to quit cigars too.

Gu Zhen wasn't weak-willed; he had almost no addiction to cigars. If he said he was quitting, he'd never touch them again.

Few people in the Empire could make Gu Zhen smoke a cigar just to be polite. If he was smoking a cigar, he was probably trying to mask some other smell.

To mask the smell of blood.

But why would there be the smell of blood on Gu Zhen?

And why was there blood in the bathroom tile grout?

In such a short time, Gu Zhen couldn't have gone to the front and come back.

He reached out to unbutton Gu Zhen's shirt. Gu Zhen was taken aback, and for a moment, he didn't stop him.

On Gu Zhen's back were bloody, mangled whip wounds, stretching from his shoulder blades down to his waist.

Some were still oozing blood, flesh turned outward like vicious gullies.

Zhu Shinian's fingers, clutching Gu Zhen's shirt, trembled slightly, creating a faint breeze, like a butterfly's wings fluttering.

"Is it because of me? Did they do this to you because of me?" Zhu Shinian could barely get the words out. "Is it... because of me?"

"It has nothing to do with you."

Gu Zhen answered quickly, his dark gray, almost black eyes looking down at Zhu Shinian like a deep, dark lake.

"Go get some rest. Don't worry about this. It has nothing to do with you."

...How could it possibly have nothing to do with him?

Zhu Shinian felt this was the lamest lie he had ever heard.

Why wasn't Gu Zhen on the front lines? Why did Gu Zhen never send any word when Zhu Shinian was with the rebel army?

When the subordinate that Gu Zhen had personally promoted, who knew countless Empire secrets, defected, how could Gu Zhen possibly have escaped punishment entirely?

At the very least... if it hadn't been for Zhu Shinian's defection—someone who had climbed to the middle echelons of the military—the Empire would never have lost that large oil field in the Eighteenth Sector.

"It has nothing to do with you." Gu Zhen looked at Zhu Shinian and repeated himself, word for word.

"No one's punishing me. I'm the one who wanted military power, so I went before His Majesty to receive the punishment myself."

Zhu Shinian kept shaking his head, tears streaming down his face.

Gu Zhen reached up to wipe his tears. "I told you, it has nothing to do with you. You're so weird. Weren't you supposed to hate me? Why are you crying like this?"

Article Three of the Imperial Code: Those who are guilty, if they can survive the whipping, can still be entrusted with great responsibility.

This was an ancient provision in the Imperial Code that had nearly fallen into disuse, because the whipping was so cruel that almost no one could survive it, making it practically obsolete.

The Empire's punishment whip had a specific name—"Iron Spine Serpent." The tip of the whip had tiny barbed iron hooks. With each lash, when pulled away, it tore off tiny bits of flesh.

Nor was the whipping a one-time pardon. Two weeks to a month after the first punishment, the lashes would heal to a certain extent, and then the second lashing would be administered.

The lashing was administered three times in total, following the principle of "things are done no more than thrice," meaning the crime would not be committed again.

Bearing guilt...

Apart from the fact that he, the one Gu Zhen had personally promoted, had defected from the Empire to join the rebel army, causing severe losses to the Empire, Zhu Shinian could think of no other reason that would make Gu Zhen suffer such punishment.

Gu Zhen had always been very particular about cleanliness. Was it because he was in so much pain while cleaning that he left those bloodstains in the bathroom, his consciousness already blurred?

Why did it have to be this way? Why... why?

Wasn't he a noble?

Wasn't he Marshal Gu's only grandson?

The royal family... the royal family clearly had no right to do this to Gu Zhen.

The war was ongoing; the Empire needed Gu Zhen more than ever.

...Was it Gu Liancheng?

Zhu Shinian wasn't stupid. Having thought this far, he understood everything in an instant.

Gu Liancheng hated him, and hated even more how Gu Zhen always protected him.

Making Gu Zhen suffer punishment because of him—so that whenever Gu Zhen thought of him, he would only remember how his betrayal led to that inhuman flogging.

Whenever the name Zhu Shinian came to mind, only disgust and hatred would remain.

"Alright, don't be upset."

"I made this decision myself. I've been through worse. This is nothing. Don't be sad, and don't feel that you owe me anything."

Gu Zhen's tone was calm, his expression no different from usual.

Compared to the composed Gu Zhen, Zhu Shinian, pale-faced and tear-streaked, looked far more like the one who had been punished.

"Behave yourself these days," Gu Zhen added. "I'll send you back to the Resistance Zone."

Back to the Resistance Zone?

Let me return to the Resistance Zone, only for Gu Zhen to endure that flogging again?

Or use me to bargain for Xiao Jin or some other conditions from the Resistance Zone, making all their efforts worthless?

"Gu Zhen..." Zhu Shinian called out softly.

"I'm not going back to the Resistance Zone."

Gu Zhen, I'm not going back to the Resistance Zone.

Let me stay by your side. You can do whatever you want to me.

You can mark me, you can knot inside my reproductive cavity.

I have no unfinished wishes left.

My brother's illness was cured. The oppressed civilians have a land of their own to stand on. The Empire can't take it back now; once they've gained a foothold, it will be even harder to reclaim.

Zhu Shinian wasn't particularly noble or ambitious.

He was different from people like Tao Juan.

Tao Juan had lofty ambitions; Zhu Shinian was content with his own little world.

His lifelong wishes had always been simple: to go to school in the capital, earn a monthly stipend of two thousand silver coins as a pilot at the military academy, and take his family to see the music fountain in the central square.

Then many things happened. His brother had an accident, his mother suffered from glandular premature aging, and he pleaded with Gu Zhen for help.

Gu Zhen had been so good to him at first. Unlike other nobles, who treated their lovers as playthings or lifeless objects, Gu Zhen didn't do that.

He didn't make Zhu Shinian sleep with him. He just accompanied him to the library, practiced shooting with him, visited his mother, and cooked him many delicious things he had never tasted before.

The first time Zhu Shinian ate his pan-seared tuna, he thought, how could there be such delicious food in the world? He wanted to save half for his mother to try, and when Gu Zhen found out, he actually made a lot more for him.

Later, Zhu Shinian learned that the small plate of fish cost over a thousand silver coins.

Glandular premature aging was incurable. His mother passed away without ever seeing the music fountain in the central square—the fountain they had seen in magazines had been torn down six years ago, replaced by a statue of His Majesty the King.

When his mother died, Gu Zhen was by his side.

Gu Zhen wasn't good at comforting people. When Zhu Shinian was crying and saying he hadn't given his mother a good life, Gu Zhen simply pulled him into his arms and said, "Don't talk nonsense. You've done well enough. Auntie has been sick for so long; she's gone to a better place."

"Don't talk nonsense," Gu Zhen said softly. "I never thought about stopping you from doing what you want to do."

"...And don't think about saying such things deliberately to let me drop my guard so you can sneak away. The Thirteenth District isn't entirely under my control. If they catch you, you won't get another chance to escape."

"I didn't..." Zhu Shinian was slightly stunned, not expecting him to think that way.

He tried to explain, but his legs suddenly gave way.

Gu Zhen reacted quickly and caught him in one swift motion.

Zhu Shinian collapsed into his arms, his consciousness beginning to fade. The last thing he saw was Gu Zhen's dark gray eyes.

Author's note: