Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 15
Only after all of Shao Feijie’s troops had withdrawn did Feng Tianzong lead his remaining personal guards, taking Su Zeyang and Huo Fenghua out of the valley.
At first he worried Shao Feijie might still have an ambush, so he kept his whip cinched tightly around Huo Fenghua’s neck, pinning him in front of him as a hostage. Su Zeyang rode a different horse, following not far behind Feng Tianzong.
With the whip tight around his throat, Huo Fenghua often couldn’t catch his breath. He could only clutch Feng Tianzong’s whip so Feng Tianzong wouldn’t actually choke him to death.
After they’d ridden far away from Luofeng Ridge, Feng Tianzong finally snapped his whip and flung Huo Fenghua backward to his deputy, Peng Po. Peng Po caught him and settled him in front of himself, saying, “Careful, young master.”
They all thought Huo Fenghua was Huo Fengnian. For an imperial son of a fallen state, they didn’t know what form of address was most appropriate.
Feng Tianzong turned his head and glanced at Huo Fenghua.
Only then did Huo Fenghua see his face clearly. Feng Tianzong had swordlike brows slanting upward and sharp, piercing eyes. He was clearly a dashing noble young lord, yet he also carried the ferocity of a wild beast.
Qingqing had once told him, “If you’re going to marry, marry a man from the Feng family.”
Only now did Huo Fenghua realize Sister Qingqing hadn’t lied to him at all.
That glance from Feng Tianzong was cold and unfeeling. Then Feng Tianzong halted his horse, turned to Su Zeyang at his side, and his expression softened. He reached out one hand toward him.
Su Zeyang took Feng Tianzong’s hand and was yanked up with force onto Feng Tianzong’s horse. One of Feng Tianzong’s guards immediately led away the horse Su Zeyang had been riding.
Feng Tianzong loosened the reins and let the horse walk forward slowly. He lifted a hand and gently stroked Su Zeyang’s chin in his arms, then suddenly tilted his face up and pressed a hard kiss onto his lips.
Huo Fenghua was still touching his own throat, only just coming back to himself, when he saw Feng Tianzong kissing Su Zeyang. He straightened at once. He hadn’t even spoken yet when he saw none of the others react at all. He could only soften again and lower his head.
He reached out and tugged the horse’s mane. The fine horse under him grew restless, and the man behind him immediately grabbed his collar and said in a low voice, “Behave.”
Huo Fenghua didn’t dare argue. He stole a look at Su Zeyang and saw one hand gripping Feng Tianzong’s arm tightly, his chest rising and falling, a faint flush blooming on his cheeks. He looked thoroughly stirred. Huo Fenghua’s resentment only grew. He simply buried his face against the horse’s neck and refused to look at them.
That kiss lasted quite a while before Feng Tianzong finally ended it. He released Su Zeyang’s lips, lifted his head, wiped away the saliva at the corner of Su Zeyang’s mouth with his thumb, and asked softly, “Why did you leave without a word and slip out of the capital on your own?”
The reason Feng Tianzong had fallen into danger on this trip was that not long ago he’d received a message sent by carrier pigeon from Steward Lu in the capital, saying Su Zeyang and Huo Fenghua had both gone missing and might have left the city. There was a traitor at Feng Tianzong’s side, a mole planted by Xichou long ago. That traitor forged a second letter using Lu Xi’s handwriting, saying they’d found a note Su Zeyang left behind and that he’d taken Huo Fenghua to Xichou to search for someone. After that, someone really did spot Su Zeyang’s movements within Xichou’s borders.
Feng Tianzong panicked out of concern. He took several dozen personal guards and left the army camp to retrieve Su Zeyang, only to be surrounded by Xichou troops and nearly die at Luofeng Ridge. Now he’d escaped, but those guards had been personally selected and personally trained by him, each capable of fighting a hundred. Now only a little over ten remained alive. The loss was still catastrophic.
He carried resentment in his heart, but he couldn’t bear to vent it on Su Zeyang. He could only suck and lick and bite at Su Zeyang’s lips and tongue with ruthless intensity.
Su Zeyang’s lips were a deep red. He turned his head to look at Huo Fenghua and said, “He isn’t Huo Fengnian.”
Feng Tianzong said coldly, “Then who is he?”
He wasn’t Huo Fengnian, but in Feng Tianzong’s eyes he looked even less like Huo Fenghua.
Su Zeyang caught Feng Tianzong’s sleeve and murmured into his ear, “He’s Huo Fenghua.”
Feng Tianzong glanced back as well. Seeing Huo Fenghua still buried face-down against the horse’s back, refusing to lift his head, he gave a snort of laughter. “Now he does look a bit like Huo Fenghua.” Then he lowered his head to Su Zeyang. “Tell me. What exactly happened?”
Su Zeyang blinked lightly. A sense of absurdity suddenly washed over him, and he didn’t know where to begin. He suddenly remembered the day he woke up, disheveled, only to find Huo Fenghua had already fled.
Feng Tianzong brushed his lips against Su Zeyang’s earlobe. “Why are you spacing out?”
Su Zeyang came back to himself and only said simply, “Huo Fenghua was abducted from Yujing by Xichou people, so I chased after them. I chased all the way to Xichou. Along the way I fought with them and got a little injured. When I arrived here, I ran into you being ambushed.”
“You were injured?” Feng Tianzong’s first reaction was to reach for Su Zeyang’s waist and abdomen.
Su Zeyang pressed down his hand. “It’s my leg. I’ve been resting it almost twenty days now. It’s fine.”
Feng Tianzong sighed. “Let me see it tonight.”
Su Zeyang nodded.
Feng Tianzong fell silent for a moment, then said, “He’s Huo Fenghua. Shao Feijie sent men to retrieve Huo Fenghua and even tried to pass him off as Huo Fengnian. What does that mean?”
Su Zeyang didn’t speak.
Feng Tianzong continued, “Then where’s the real Huo Fengnian? Xichou people took the risk of going deep into Donglin’s capital just to bring Huo Fenghua back. Could it be the real Huo Fengnian is already gone?”
This time Su Zeyang met his eyes, and both of them felt it was possible.
Feng Tianzong let out a soft laugh. “If that’s really the case, then Huo Fenghua finally has some value for existing.”
Worried Shao Feijie would send pursuit, they spurred their horses hard the whole way. Only after night fell, when they slipped into a dense forest, did they finally stop to rest.
The moment they dismounted, Feng Tianzong’s guards split up with clear roles: some lit a fire and boiled water, some erased the traces of hoofprints, and others set traps and trip lines in several directions to guard against pursuers.
Feng Tianzong sat down with his back against a large tree. Though he was dusty from travel, he didn’t look disheveled. He lifted his head and gazed up at Su Zeyang, who stood on a treetop.
Su Zeyang was checking for pursuers with Feng Tianzong’s men. When he jumped down from the tree, it was obvious his left leg didn’t dare bear weight. Feng Tianzong clearly saw it too. He beckoned. “Come here.”
Su Zeyang walked over and sat down beside him.
Feng Tianzong took hold of Su Zeyang’s left ankle, pushed up his trouser leg, and gently kneaded his calf. “The injury’s here?”
Su Zeyang said, “The leg bone broke.”
Feng Tianzong drew a deep breath, as if suppressing emotion. He lowered his head and kissed Su Zeyang’s left leg once. When he lifted his head again, he pulled Su Zeyang tight by the waist and kissed his lips.
The guards all pretended not to see.
Only Huo Fenghua had been tossed under a tree by Peng Po, his hands and feet bound with rope. He struggled upright and stared blankly at Su Zeyang and Feng Tianzong locked together in an intimate embrace.
He always said he wanted to bless General Feng and Su Zeyang with a long life together, but he’d never realized that seeing it with his own eyes would feel so bleak and suffocating.
Feng Tianzong’s palm pressed tightly to Su Zeyang’s lower back. After the deep kiss, he murmured into his ear, “What a pity the timing isn’t right.” He didn’t finish the sentence. If the timing were right, what he wanted to do hardly needed spelling out.
Su Zeyang also lifted a hand to hold the back of Feng Tianzong’s neck. Leaning against the tree, he pressed his face into Feng Tianzong’s hair at the crown and said softly, “In two more days—” He also didn’t finish, because he suddenly noticed Huo Fenghua staring without blinking. At once he felt awkward and dropped his gaze.
A guard softened jerky and dry rations in hot water and brought them to Feng Tianzong and Su Zeyang.
In front of Huo Fenghua, Peng Po only tossed a cold, hard coarse flour cake onto the ground. Huo Fenghua looked up at Peng Po, but Peng Po didn’t look back. He turned and walked away.
Huo Fenghua took a deep breath and used his bound hands to pick up the cake. He slapped it against his leg to knock off the grass bits that had stuck to it, then raised it to his mouth and took a bite.
That bite didn’t even break it. He had to use more force and tear off a piece with his teeth. Chewing it, he found it tasted even worse than what he’d eaten during the days Tao Yifei’s group had held him. The cake was dry and hard, neither sweet nor salty. He chewed for a long time. The more he chewed, the sadder he felt. Finally he couldn’t help it and looked up at Su Zeyang.
Su Zeyang was looking at him too. At that moment he picked up the jerky in his hand and stood.
Feng Tianzong didn’t say anything. He only watched Su Zeyang in silence.
Su Zeyang took the jerky over, crouched before Huo Fenghua, and held it to his mouth.
Huo Fenghua lowered his eyes to glance at it, then looked at Su Zeyang. “It’s too big. I can’t eat it.”
So Su Zeyang sat cross-legged, tore the jerky into small pieces, and fed them to Huo Fenghua piece by piece. The jerky had been cured and air-dried, but after soaking in hot water it was at least passably fragrant and soft.
Huo Fenghua ate a small piece of jerky, then took a bite of the cake. Without realizing it, he finished more than half the cake.
Su Zeyang fed him patiently, one piece at a time, until Huo Fenghua shook his head. “I’m full.”
During that process, Huo Fenghua kept glancing up at Su Zeyang, eyes glossy with moisture. Su Zeyang never once looked up. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to. He didn’t dare.
After Huo Fenghua finished eating, Su Zeyang stood and returned to sit beside Feng Tianzong.
Feng Tianzong lounged at an angle against the tree trunk and asked in a deep voice, “Why?”
Su Zeyang looked at him. “He’s your male concubine, after all.”
Feng Tianzong didn’t speak, only stared at Su Zeyang.
So Su Zeyang continued, “He hasn’t really done anything wrong. If some things aren’t handled properly, it might drag you into it.”
Feng Tianzong rested an arm on his knee, idly twirling a blade of wild grass between his fingers. He lifted his head and said, “Peng Po, bring him over.” His gaze went to Huo Fenghua.
Huo Fenghua had been sitting quietly and was already dozing with his eyes closed. At the words, he snapped them open, tense as he watched Peng Po approach. Peng Po grabbed him and shoved him in front of Feng Tianzong.
Feng Tianzong had to tilt his head up to look at him. “Sit down.”
Huo Fenghua glanced at Su Zeyang and carefully sat.
Feng Tianzong said lowly, “Why did Shao Feijie want to take you back to Xichou?”
Without thinking, Huo Fenghua blurted, “He knows I’m your male concubine. He thinks I embarrassed Xichou’s imperial house by being lost outside, so he wants to take me back and execute me.”
“Bullshit,” Feng Tianzong said coldly. “If he wanted to execute you, why would he spare me at Luofeng Ridge? He could’ve simply shot an arrow and killed both you and me.”
Huo Fenghua said, “He saw you mistook me for Huo Fengnian, so he just went along with it.”
Feng Tianzong suddenly leaned in and seized Huo Fenghua by the collar, yanking him close. “If you say one more word of nonsense, do you believe I won’t let you off? Killing you isn’t worth it right now. I’d rather geld you.”
Huo Fenghua turned pale with fright and stammered, “Yes, yes, yes. I’m talking nonsense. Then you tell me why Shao Feijie wanted to take me back. Do you think he’d tell me?”
Feng Tianzong glared at him for a long moment, then released him and shoved him away.
Huo Fenghua fell backward onto the ground and didn’t manage to sit up for quite a while. Only later did Su Zeyang reach out, take his hand, and pull him up.
“I was abducted from Yujing. You can ask Young Master Su. He saw it with his own eyes,” Huo Fenghua said, his chest heaving, breathing slightly fast as he spoke. “And all along I tried to escape. I didn’t want to come back to Xichou with them.”
Su Zeyang said softly, “That’s true.”
Huo Fenghua added, “And back at Luofeng Ridge, if I hadn’t deliberately jumped down, do you think you’d have been able to catch me?”
As soon as he said that, both Feng Tianzong and Su Zeyang looked a little surprised. In unison they asked, “You did it on purpose?” Though the feelings behind the words were completely different.
Huo Fenghua looked at Su Zeyang. “Of course I did it on purpose. I’m not stupid. That rock was huge. Did you really think I believed I could push it? I just couldn’t bear to watch you—all of you—get trapped and die there. Jumping off a cliff is something I’m willing to do.”
That last line was spoken entirely for Su Zeyang’s benefit.
Feng Tianzong still hadn’t noticed. He pressed on. “Then tell me. Where exactly is Huo Fengnian?”
Huo Fenghua shook his head. “After they grabbed me, I was on the road the whole time and went straight to Luofeng Ridge. I didn’t see Huo Fengnian and I didn’t hear anyone mention him. He’s of noble status. I’m sure he wouldn’t personally risk himself.” He didn’t tell Feng Tianzong the truth. He was afraid that if Feng Tianzong learned Huo Fengnian was already dead, he’d completely become Feng Tianzong’s hostage.
Feng Tianzong frowned slightly at the fire and sank into thought.
Huo Fenghua then stole a look at Su Zeyang and mouthed silently, pitifully, “Senior Brother.”
Su Zeyang placed a hand on the rope around Huo Fenghua’s wrist and sent force through it, shattering the rope.
Feng Tianzong noticed and looked at Su Zeyang.
Su Zeyang said, “I’m worried his blood flow will be cut off. If it goes on too long, he’ll be injured.”
Huo Fenghua immediately rolled his wrists and said obediently to Feng Tianzong, “Thank you, General, for your mercy.”
With that, Feng Tianzong couldn’t really flare up at him again. He only looked at him with some confusion. “Are you really Huo Fenghua?” The Huo Fenghua in his memory had been timid and cowardly too, but not quite like this. For a moment Feng Tianzong was at a loss, as if he couldn’t even recall what Huo Fenghua was supposed to be like anymore.
After all, ever since Huo Fenghua married into the Feng household, Feng Tianzong had never once looked at him properly, much less tried to understand him.
Huo Fenghua hurriedly said, “Of course I’m Huo Fenghua.”
Since Feng Tianzong couldn’t get anything useful out of him, he called Peng Po. “Take him to rest.”
But Huo Fenghua suddenly reached out and grabbed Feng Tianzong’s arm. “General, I married you, so I’m your person. It isn’t appropriate for you to make me sleep next to another man, is it?”
Feng Tianzong lifted his chin slightly. “What do you want?”
Huo Fenghua pleaded, “Let me sleep at your and Young Master Su’s feet. I promise I’ll behave. I won’t do anything. All right?”
Feng Tianzong’s side was much closer to the fire, and there was a thick layer of dry grass spread on the ground. The night air was cool. Ever since Huo Fenghua had been brought over here, his body had warmed noticeably. He didn’t want to go back to that cold, damp tree on the other side.
Peng Po, hearing Huo Fenghua’s request, leaned close to Feng Tianzong and said in a low voice, “General, beware he’s plotting something.”
What plotting could Huo Fenghua possibly have? Since marrying into the General’s Manor and getting taught a lesson by Feng Tianzong, he’d lived cautiously in a side courtyard. Whenever he saw Feng Tianzong, he’d wanted nothing more than to hide far away. Now that they were in Xichou, why did he seem like a completely different person?
Feng Tianzong lifted a hand. “It’s fine. Let him sleep by my feet. I want to see what kind of plot he can possibly have.”
“No plot, no plot,” Huo Fenghua said, waving his hands. “Many thanks, General. General and Young Master Su should rest early.”
With that, he lay down crosswise at Feng Tianzong and Su Zeyang’s feet. After he settled in, he glanced at Feng Tianzong, then secretly reached out with a finger and scratched at Su Zeyang’s ankle.
Su Zeyang immediately drew one foot back, rested his head against Feng Tianzong’s shoulder, and only then closed his eyes to rest.
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