Chapter 46

Chapter 46

The eldest prince had indeed been disappointing the emperor lately, not just because of the refugee situation, but more so because of the affairs concerning the second and third princes.

He was the emperor—the champion of the previous court struggle—how could he not understand the little schemes brewing in his own sons' minds?

Nothing happens without a cause; whoever stands to benefit is the one behind it.

He had watched the three sons' conflicts unfold over these past days, and what chilled his heart was that this wasn't about court factionalism—it was over a woman.

Though there was no direct evidence implicating the eldest prince's hand in this, he refused to believe the eldest prince had no hand in it.

As for the sixth prince, he'd kept a low profile, yet somehow pulled off so much.

The refugees had gradually settled under his arrangements, and after much deliberation, the emperor decided to grant the sixth prince co-authority over the Imperial City Bureau and hand him full charge of refugee resettlement.

Upon receiving this news, Murong Feng smashed a cup with a loud crack and roared, "That bastard Murong Jie! Father actually handed the whole refugee resettlement thing to him! How dare that half-breed bastard!"

Yue Feng waved his fan and said, "I told you long ago, Your Highness—you need to go see the Empress. You're on your own right now—you need the Empress's big Civil Official Bloc behind you. If you keep dodging her, it'll just make you look guilty."

Murong Feng closed his eyes. Yue Feng continued, "Why not use today's injury to win some sympathy from the Empress? That way, you can patch things up with your mother."

Murong Feng finally nodded and replied, "Fine, I'll go see Mother later."

What he didn't dare tell Yue Feng was that he'd already seen the Empress once. She'd grilled him about whether he was behind the third prince's death.

He'd denied it, but the Empress said she'd met with the second prince, and whatever he'd told her had set her off. She'd jabbed a finger at him and chewed him out, saying she'd paved every road for him, just waiting for the emperor's succession edict—why was he so damn impatient, why couldn't he spare his own brother?

But Yue Feng was right—he did need to smooth things over with the Empress.

Meanwhile, Murong Jie got the imperial decree and felt nothing at all. He tossed the decree aside and sat down by Lu Yunqi's bed: "The emperor's putting me in full charge of refugee resettlement."

Lu Yunqi, mid-grape, sat right up and said cheerfully, "That's great news! Do it up right and make him see you're a hundred times better than the eldest prince."

Seeing Murong Jie silent, he leaned over and hooked an arm around his shoulder. "Oh, look at you, with that sour face again. I know you don't want to prove anything to that deadbeat dad of yours, but this is the easiest, most legit path to the throne. Isn't that better than taking city after city? Don't your soldiers' lives matter?"

Murong Jie stayed quiet. Lu Yunqi clicked his tongue. "Hey, I'm talking to you—you hearing me?"

The next second, Murong Jie yanked him into his arms and kissed him square on the mouth.

Lu Yunqi: ...

The kiss caught him off guard, but it made his heart sing. If last time was pure lust, this time it had to be real affection, right?

When the kiss ended, Murong Jie looked a little embarrassed but still said, all dismissive, "You're the one who got so close—this is what you wanted, right?"

He'd never admit that he'd caught the sweet scent off Lu Yunqi and just couldn't stop himself from kissing him.

Lu Yunqi let out a smug little laugh. "That's all? Your kissing game is weak. Come on, let me show you how it's done."

Then he wiped his lips hard, looped both arms around Murong Jie's neck, tilted his head, and kissed him—lingering, pressing, breathing each other in, sucking now and then when lost in it, then switching angles.

When the kiss finally broke, both of them were gasping, chests heaving.

Murong Jie's eyes had changed. He tried to hide the hunger in them, but his body's urgency was plain as day.

He grabbed Lu Yunqi's chin hard and demanded, half-frustrated, "Lu Yunqi, what did you do to my body? Why can't I control myself whenever I see you?"

Lu Yunqi, chin squished, mumbled, "Don't go pinning this on me. Aren't all guys like this? Creatures that think with their dicks. You just never woke up to it before—now you've had a taste. So? You want it?"

With that, Lu Yunqi slid his hand into Murong Jie's robe and squeezed his pec. "The sun's nice today—how about we do it in the courtyard?"

Murong Jie's eyes darkened. He scooped Lu Yunqi up in his arms, but instead of the courtyard, he carried him to the bed and pulled the curtains tight.

Lu Yunqi giggled. "Didn't know you were such a prude."

Murong Jie muttered, "Shut up!"

As he took Lu Yunqi, Murong Jie couldn't help closing his eyes, sweat beading at his temple, his mind going blank.

He'd never imagined he'd one day be drowning in this—and with Lu Yunqi of all people.

He'd always looked down on his deadbeat emperor dad for taking concubines younger than him at his age, sure he'd never go down that road.

Turns out he'd been wrong—wrong about the gender. He liked men.

As the sun set and stars came out, Lu Yunqi dozed off on Murong Jie's chest. A lamp glowed outside the bed curtains, but Murong Jie was still awake, one long arm draped over Lu Yunqi's slim waist.

An inch lower, and he'd hit that firm, round ass.

Murong Jie instinctively wanted to touch, but he was ashamed of his own thoughts and told himself not to.

But he couldn't resist. Finally, steeling himself, he brushed across that silk-smooth skin and yanked his hand back.

How could anyone have skin so smooth and soft? He... he hadn't been like this before.

What had Lu Yunqi been like before? He realized he was already forgetting. Those years of humiliation, when he'd wanted to rip him apart and eat his flesh—how could he forget?

At that thought, his chest started heaving. He wanted to shove the man out of his arms, but Lu Yunqi lazily rolled over, and the warm, soft body slipped from his hold—and in that instant, his heart felt like a piece had gone missing.

Murong Jie figured he must've been bewitched by Lu Yunqi, or why else would he feel like this?

In August, with grass growing and orioles flying, Lu Yunqi's Wanping wasteland brought in its first big harvest, and Lu Yunqi's belly was now past three months.

Well, it wasn't showing yet, but he'd filled out a bit.