Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Once Xie Zhiwei's group left the Chen residence, Chen Jinan and Chen Jinxiu headed to Chen Wanguan's study.

The lanterns along the corridor had already been lit, their orange glow casting a small pool of warmth into the twilight, yet it did little to lift the faint gloom settled between Chen Jinxiu's brows.

Chen Wanguan's study sat at the deepest part of the main courtyard, a standalone room with nothing else attached. A clump of green bamboo stood by the entrance, rustling softly in the wind—peaceful and secluded.

Chen Jinan raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Chen Wanguan's tired voice came from inside.

The siblings pushed the door open. Chen Wanguan sat behind his desk, holding a cup of tea that had gone cold long ago, his eyes fixed on an open ledger on the desk—though clearly not really reading it.

"Father." Chen Jinan said, sitting down in the chair in front of the desk.

Chen Jinxiu did not sit. Instead, she stood behind her brother, head down, fingers nervously twisting a handkerchief.

Chen Wanguan looked up, his gaze moving over both their faces: "Well? Did you get anything out of that young master?"

Chen Jinan shook his head with a wry smile: "That young master may look young, but he's tight-lipped. I tried every angle for half the day—either he wouldn't talk, or he said he didn't know. Push him more and he'd flip it around and ask why I was so curious."

Chen Jinxiu also shook her head, her voice soft and light: "He said a few things to me, but it was always just question-and-answer—he never started a conversation, and never gave more than a single word in reply."

"Won't say a thing." Chen Wanguan murmured. "Young as he is, he's got his guard up."

Chen Jinan hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Father, the one with that young master isn't ordinary either. He looks like a servant, but his bearing and manners are nothing like a regular attendant. And that cousin of Xie Zhiwei's—"

"Pei Sanlang." Chen Jinan chose his words carefully. "He sat there looking lazy and relaxed, but his eyes were constantly scanning the room. The guy's like a blade sheathed in a scabbard. Honestly, I was a little scared of him."

Chen Wanguan was silent for a moment, then let out an "mm," the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward: "That's exactly it. The more that's true, the more it shows they're not ordinary people."

Chen Jinan's chest tightened: "Father, are you saying that what Young Master Xie said—"

"Not entirely false, but definitely not entirely true either." Chen Wanguan leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest twice. "But since he came to our Chen family on his own, wanting a cut of the mining business, that's not necessarily a bad thing for us."

Chen Jinxiu's hands stopped twisting the handkerchief. She looked up at her father, her lips moving slightly, but in the end she said nothing.

Chen Wanguan's gaze fell on his daughter's face, and there was both pain and guilt in his eyes.

"Jinxiu, go get some rest." Chen Wanguan's voice softened. "Tomorrow I'll have your sister-in-law take you to get a couple of new outfits made. There's a temple fair in the county in a few days—go out and stretch your legs, don't stay cooped up inside."

Chen Jinxiu gave a soft reply, bowed to her father, and turned to leave.

Chen Jinan got up to close the door after her: "Father, have you truly made up your mind?"

"We have to leave." Chen Wanguan's expression was resolute. "I've been in the southwest for all these years. Say what you want, but I know the situation here well."

His gaze fell on the open ledger on the desk. The pages were packed with records of income and expenses over the past few months, and one particular entry had been circled in red ink, with a small "ore" character written beside it.

"The ore flow is off." Chen Wanguan tapped his finger on that "ore" character. "In normal mining operations, you can trace where the ore goes. But in the past two years, ore from several mines has clearly been dug out, yet vanished without a trace. The books say it was shipped to certain places, but I had people check—those places never got anything."

Chen Jinan's throat bobbed: "We have no choice but to leave, right?"

"The sooner and the further, the better." Chen Wanguan said gravely. "Our family hasn't been involved in these matters, but we've been in the mining business for so many years—if anyone comes investigating, we'll get caught in the net too."

"Besides." Chen Wanguan ground his teeth. "Even if the court doesn't pursue it, that bastard of a county magistrate won't let us go."

At the mention of the magistrate, Chen Jinan's fists clenched. That old bastard—over fifty and still scheming to take his sister as a concubine, as if she were a piece of goods to be delivered to his house when the time came.

Every time Chen Jinan thought about it, it felt like a fire was burning in his chest. But he didn't dare vent it, and he had no way to.

"Father." Chen Jinan's voice was hoarse. "Is there truly no other way?"

A flicker of helplessness crossed Chen Wanguan's eyes: "Jinan, you're more educated than your old man. You should understand better than I do—our Chen family is, at the end of the day, just a merchant family. In Linyuan County we might be at the top, but in the eyes of the magistrate, what are we? And in the eyes of those big figures in the prefectural city, what are we?"

Chen Jinan understood that his father was right. No matter how wealthy the Chen family was, in the eyes of those officials, they were nothing more than a fat sheep—slaughtered when needed, pushed aside when not, not even worth a glance.

"Go make arrangements." Chen Wanguan waved his hand. "Be ready to pull out at any moment."

...

When they returned to the inn, the sky had already darkened.

Xie Zhiwei pushed open the door to his room, with Pei Dinglan following behind and closing the door after him.

The candle on the table hadn't been lit yet, and the room was dim, with only a sliver of twilight filtering through the window paper.

Xie Zhiwei didn't rush to light the lamp. He walked to the table, sat down, and rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought.

Pei Dinglan went to light the candle. The orange glow spread a small patch of light, casting Xie Zhiwei's profile in shifting shadows.

"Tell me, how long before Chen Wanguan arranges for us to meet the magistrate?" Xie Zhiwei propped his cheek on his hand.

Pei Dinglan sat down across from him, poured himself a cup of water, drank it in one big gulp, and wiped his mouth: "Within three days."

Xie Zhiwei: "That fast?"

Pei Dinglan set the cup down on the table, slowly tracing the rim with his finger: "Chen Wanguan latched onto that conversation too quickly today. I'd barely said we burn money in the capital, and he was already climbing up the pole, probing our background in every word."

"He's probing us because he's anxious." Pei Dinglan raised one finger. "An old merchant who's been running his business in Linyuan County for over twenty years—what's he so anxious about?"

A slight curve appeared at the corner of Xie Zhiwei's mouth: "What do you think Chen Wanguan is anxious about?"

"The Magistrate of Linyuan County." Pei Dinglan said succinctly. "The only thing that could make a wealthy merchant abandon the place he's spent half his life building is someone forcing him out. And the only one in Linyuan County who can pressure Chen Wanguan is naturally the magistrate."

Xie Zhiwei let out an "mm": "That makes sense."

Pei Dinglan: "So I say within three days, because Chen Wanguan is more anxious than we are. He's eager to establish a connection with us—once we become the magistrate's new tools, he can make his retreat."

"No matter how you look at it, he has nothing to lose. We just have to wait for him to come to us." Xie Zhiwei laid both arms flat on the table and rested his cheek on them. "Actually, I'm anxious too. The later we get to the core of things, the later we can deal with the counterfeit money problem."

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself." Pei Dinglan looked at Xie Zhiwei's listless posture and reached out to ruffle the back of his head, the warmth of his palm seeping through the strands of hair. "We've only been in Linyuan County a few days. You eat a meal one bite at a time, handle matters one at a time—you can't rush this."

Xie Zhiwei turned his face to the side, one cheek still resting on his arm, looking up at Pei Dinglan from below. The candlelight danced in those eyes, like two small flames.

"I know." Xie Zhiwei said. "But I can't help it."

Pei Dinglan's fingers slid from the back of Xie Zhiwei's head to his nape, squeezing gently twice: "You have to endure it even if you can't help it. If you wear yourself out, who's going to investigate the counterfeit money? I'm nowhere near your match in that regard."

Xie Zhiwei, enjoying the massage, narrowed his eyes and let out a vague "mm."

Pei Dinglan squeezed a few more times before withdrawing his hand and rising to leave: "I'll go order you some hot water. Take a bath and get a good night's sleep."

As the best inn in all of Linyuan County, the service was indeed excellent—the hot water Pei Dinglan ordered arrived at the room quickly.

The servants carried in a wooden bathtub, steam rising from water that sloshed over the rim, condensing into a fine beading of droplets on the tub's walls.

The head servant poured in a few more buckets of hot water and tested the temperature: "Sir, the water is ready. If you need more hot water, just give me a shout."

Xie Zhiwei thanked him, and the servant bowed as he backed out, closing the door behind him.

Pei Dinglan sat in the chair, making no move to leave.

Xie Zhiwei looked at him. "You're not going out again?"

Pei Dinglan said, "Why would I go out?"

Xie Zhiwei said nothing. Shameless.

Whatever, it wasn't the first time Pei Dinglan had watched him bathe anyway. What was the big deal?

Xie Zhiwei turned away, his back to Pei Dinglan as he undid his sash. The tie on his inner garment was a bit tight, and in the poor light he couldn't see clearly. He fumbled with it twice without success, then yanked at it in frustration.

"Don't move." Pei Dinglan's voice came from behind, warm breath brushing against the back of his neck, making Xie Zhiwei instinctively hunch his shoulders.

Pei Dinglan's fingers found the tie at Xie Zhiwei's lower back, deftly flicking and pulling it loose. His fingers grazed Xie Zhiwei's waist before quickly withdrawing.

"Done." Pei Dinglan took a step back.

Xie Zhiwei slipped off his inner garment and draped it over the foot of the bed, then hurried over to the bathtub and stepped in. The hot water rose past his shoulders, and he let out a long, contented sigh.

Steam billowed up from the tub, swirling into a hazy mist in the candlelight, shrouding Xie Zhiwei's figure in a veil of mist.

Pei Dinglan moved his chair beside the bathtub, sat down with legs spread wide, and fixed his gaze on Xie Zhiwei without any attempt at subtlety.

Xie Zhiwei felt deeply uncomfortable under that stare and shrank deeper into the water until only his head was visible. "Pei Sanlang, you're so bad."

"You can look at me too," Pei Dinglan said matter-of-factly.

Xie Zhiwei said, "...I wouldn't bother."

So what if he had a broad chest? So what if he had eight chiseled abdominal muscles?

Big deal.

The steam grew thicker, obscuring Xie Zhiwei's features into a hazy silhouette. His hair hung loose, wet strands plastered against his shoulders and neck, water droplets dripping from the tips—some falling into the water, others tracing along his collarbone before vanishing beneath the surface.

Pei Dinglan's gaze followed one droplet all the way down, his Adam's apple bobbing involuntarily.

Xie Zhiwei turned away from him, wiping his arm with a cloth. The lines of his shoulders flickered in and out of view in the steam, his shoulder blades rising and falling gently with each movement, like two butterflies with folded wings.

Pei Dinglan's gaze was glued to those shoulder blades, unable to look away.

The room had only one candle, so the light was dim to begin with, and the steam made it worse. Anyone else sitting there would probably only see a vague figure in the tub, but Pei Dinglan's eyesight was far keener than most. The dim light didn't stop him from seeing Xie Zhiwei clearly.

Xie Zhiwei's neck bent slightly forward, water droplets falling one by one from the tips of his hair, gathering between his shoulder blades into a thin line of water that slid down the groove of his spine. His skin, moistened by the steam, gleamed with a warm luster—like creamy white jade warmed by water, translucent white with a faint flush of pink.

The steam swirled, the candlelight flickered.

Pei Dinglan watched the hazy figure in the tub, something scratching at him from the inside, an itch he couldn't scratch.

The chair creaked softly as he inched closer to the tub. And then a little more.

Xie Zhiwei, still with his back turned, didn't notice a thing, leisurely wiping his arm.

Pei Dinglan suddenly reached out and placed his hand on the edge of the tub.

Xie Zhiwei heard the movement and turned his head, but before he could make out Pei Dinglan's expression, he felt a wave of warm breath approaching.

Pei Dinglan's face materialized out of the steam, inches away, his eyelashes nearly brushing Xie Zhiwei's cheek.

"You—"

Before he could finish, Pei Dinglan's lips came down on his.

The water in the tub rippled, splashing a few drops onto the back of Pei Dinglan's hand resting on the rim. Xie Zhiwei leaned back, his head nearly hitting the tub wall, but Pei Dinglan's other hand caught it just in time.

The position wasn't exactly comfortable.

Pei Dinglan half-crouched beside the tub, one hand braced on the rim, the other cradling the back of Xie Zhiwei's head, his body leaning forward so far he was almost falling into the water. But he didn't care. His lips pressed against Xie Zhiwei's, kissing him deep and slow.

Xie Zhiwei couldn't breathe under Pei Dinglan's kiss. The cloth in his hand had drifted away on the water's surface at some point along the way. He reached out to push against Pei Dinglan's chest, his palm meeting warm, solid muscle. It wouldn't budge, so he gave up pushing and grabbed, clutching at Pei Dinglan's collar.

Pei Dinglan leaned in another half inch from Xie Zhiwei's grip, his knee pressing against the tub with a dull thud. He paid it no mind, his tongue slipping past Xie Zhiwei's lips and teeth, plunging deep, twining together in a tangle neither could break.

The steam wrapped around them both, so thick you couldn't tell mist from breath.

After what felt like an eternity, Pei Dinglan pulled back slightly. Their breaths intertwined, so hot they might set the steam on fire.

Xie Zhiwei opened his eyes. The steam blurred his vision, but he could see Pei Dinglan's eyes—those eyes that always carried a lazy smile were now dark and heavy, something churning within them, burning yet held in check.

Pei Dinglan's breathing was unsteady, washing over Xie Zhiwei's face in warm waves.

Xie Zhiwei felt something.

The water in the tub was warm, but Pei Dinglan's body pressed against him was hotter still. Through the fabric of his clothes, that heat transmitted without obstruction, making Xie Zhiwei freeze for a moment.

His gaze drifted downward involuntarily, then snapped back up. His ears burned crimson in the dim candlelight, red enough to bleed.

"Zhiwei." Pei Dinglan called his courtesy name.

Xie Zhiwei's lashes trembled: "Mm."

Pei Dinglan pulled him closer, pressing his forehead against Xie Zhiwei's shoulder, his breathing heavy and scorching, washing over Xie Zhiwei's damp skin in wave after wave.

Xie Zhiwei could feel Pei Dinglan's body trembling slightly, enduring something almost unbearable.

The previous times, Pei Dinglan had always fled at the critical moment, running off to douse himself in cold water. This time, Pei Dinglan didn't leave.

He just pressed against Xie Zhiwei's shoulder, his breathing growing heavier, his arm around Xie Zhiwei's waist tightening more and more, as if trying to fuse him into his own body.

Xie Zhiwei's hand clenched beneath the water's surface, then relaxed. Hesitantly, he covered the back of Pei Dinglan's hand resting on his waist.

Pei Dinglan's body jolted violently, as if an electric current had shot through him, a wave of numbness washing over him.

"Zhiwei." Pei Dinglan called again, voicing his desperate longing.

Xie Zhiwei was too embarrassed to look at Pei Dinglan, but shyly extended his hand: "I can use my hand."

(……lights out!)

"Zhiwei." Pei Dinglan called again and again. "Zhiwei."

Xie Zhiwei was too flustered to respond, turning his head to glare at Pei Dinglan. The glare was fierce, but the corners of his eyes were red, steam shimmering in his gaze—it carried no menace at all, more like a plea for affection.

Pei Dinglan's heart softened into a ball of cotton at that look, and he couldn't help but lean down to press another kiss to the corner of Xie Zhiwei's lips.

"Zhiwei." Pei Dinglan's lips lingered against the corner of Xie Zhiwei's mouth, loath to leave.

Xie Zhiwei shoved him: "The water's cold now. I want to get out."

Pei Dinglan reluctantly drew away from that soft warmth, his collar already half-soaked, the inner garment clinging to his body, vaguely showing the solid lines underneath.

Xie Zhiwei glanced at him, then quickly looked away.

Pfft, chest muscles—like that could tempt him!

Pei Dinglan took a clean cloth from the rack and laid it on the tub's rim: "I'm gonna go rinse off."

He gave Xie Zhiwei time to compose himself.

Xie Zhiwei: "Go on, then."

Don't use his hand anymore—his whole palm was still on fire.