Chapter 22: The Kiss

Chapter 22: The Kiss

Chen Shuoan was gently placed on the bed, watching a sullen-faced Yuan Rang leave the room.

What's his deal? Even more random than my homeroom teacher.

Chen Shuoan lay in bed, wrapping the thin silk quilt around himself and bunching it up in his arms.

He buried his face into the pillow mat, breathing in Yuan Rang's signature cool sandalwood scent, his mind totally empty as he dozed off.

After what felt like ages, the door creaked open with a "squeak." The wooden bed gave a soft creak as the person climbing in moved even more carefully.

Then Chen Shuoan landed in an ice-cold embrace.

The guy holding him was clearly way taller and broader, his chest nearly swallowing him whole as he loomed over him.

Too sleepy to open his eyes, Chen Shuoan could only pat the hand around his waist, feeling a hint of dampness.

He mumbled sleepily, his voice soft and slurred like he was talking in his sleep: "Don't... wash with cold water."

In the haze, the nice cool feeling vanished, and Chen Shuoan frowned, annoyed.

"Feeling cold? Then I'll come up later."

The voice sounded faint and far away, like it was coming from a distance.

Chen Shuoan forced his eyes open, pressed himself back against the guy, and nuzzled into Yuan Rang's chest, thinking the man was being a real jerk. He whined, "Don't leave... it's comfy... you'll pay for this when you're old."

Maybe because he was so sleepy, his words made no sense at all, but Yuan Rang got it.

With endless patience, he wrapped his arms around the guy again, his long, pale fingers tucking the stray hairs at Chen Shuoan's temple behind his ear. Nuzzling cheek to cheek, he said, "I won't do it again."

Chen Shuoan let out a soft hum and sank back into deep sleep.

Sometime around midnight, Chen Shuoan had a totally wild dream.

In the dream, he was making out with someone.

The guy's face was a blur, features impossible to make out. Normally, Chen Shuoan would've woken up screaming from a nightmare like that, but this time the dream was going somewhere totally unexpected.

He felt his lips getting kissed raw. The guy hovering over him seemed to have zero experience with this kind of thing, only able to slowly press his mouth against Chen Shuoan's.

His lips were gently held and sucked, and little by little, he started to enjoy it.

Chen Shuoan let out a soft moan, his teeth parting without a sound.

The guy chuckled softly, planting a kiss on the tip of his nose like a reward. His voice was super low, with a youthful, boyish edge: "Good boy."

Chen Shuoan's tongue got sucked in.

Yuan Rang's breathing got faster, his movements turning rough and frantic as he fiercely licked and kissed the lips and tongue beneath him, like he wanted to devour the guy whole.

Chen Shuoan felt like he was suffocating, his face turning red as he tried to squirm out of the uncomfortable grip.

Luckily, the guy still had a shred of decency. Feeling him struggle, he pulled back, just gently licking Chen Shuoan's swollen, shiny red lips. As he spoke, the skin where they touched buzzed slightly. He seemed to be murmuring to himself, but his words had a scary possessiveness to them.

He said, "Don't think about him."

Chen Shuoan woke up in bed, his whole brain like a frozen computer screen.

What the heck was that dream?

Chen Shuoan let out a goofy laugh, thinking it was hilarious, like watching a movie in his head.

He looked around and didn't see His Highness the Sixth Prince anywhere, and sighed to himself.

A successful man's day starts with reading in the morning—His Highness is way too diligent.

Yuan the Successful Man had already finished breakfast and was heading to the study.

Jili stepped up to walk behind him, saying, "Your Highness looks like he's in great spirits today."

Yuan Rang gave a cold "Mm" in response, then said, "The study hall has no lessons today or tomorrow. Don't bother him. No need to keep the food warm either—just make it fresh when he wakes up."

Who this "him" meant went without saying.

Jili was at a loss for words but had no choice, so he could only speak up weakly to his master: "This servant happened to see Young Master Chen heading toward the estate gate earlier and asked where he was going. Young Master Chen said..."

Yuan Rang frowned, annoyed by Jili's hesitation, and just used his eyes to urge him to get on with it.

Jili was so startled he nearly tripped, quickly continuing, "Young Master Chen said he was leaving the palace today."

Yuan Rang's expression turned colder, the earlier ease gone without a trace.

Jili had just worked up the courage to look up when he saw his master's face, and immediately ducked his head again, shutting up.

————

Chen Shuoan sat in the carriage heading home, as happy as a clam.

His hands were empty, and his head was empty too.

Actually, the teacher had assigned homework, asking the students to share their thoughts after going home on the northern border region's constant demands for huge military funds from the court.

Chen Shuoan wasn't even from this era—he knew nothing at all, let alone had an opinion to share.

Having him go up and do a comedy routine might be more realistic.

Besides, he always believed in thinking things through before acting.

Three thoughts:

Can I not do it?

Can I do it later?

Can someone else do it?

Truly a legend of slacking off.

Zheng Yuanzhi and the others were waiting in the Chen family hall for Chen Shuoan's glorious return.

None of them were restricted by the palace, so they could go home far more often than Chen Shuoan.

Chen Jingxian looked at the three fine, upstanding young men before him and couldn't help but sigh inwardly—his good-for-nothing son had actually managed to make some proper friends.

He was just about to ask about their grades and whether they could offer Chen Shuoan some guidance in his studies when he heard a familiar voice from outside the door.

"Dad, I'm home!"

He was the apple of his eye, the one he thought about day and night.

Chen Jingxian's face went beet red. Before he could even respond, those little brats next to him answered as if they were Chen Shuoan's own dad, each one hollering "Yeah!" so it echoed across the yard.

Chen Jingxian was left speechless.

He was so mad his beard was twitching, wanting to flick each one of them on the forehead.

Chen Shuoan hadn't even reached the hall when he heard the voices of his rowdy friends. Instantly feeling that a day apart felt like three years, he rushed over and piled into a group hug with them.

Chen Fu watched from the side, thoroughly amused, thinking to himself that being young was something else.

Zhang Chenggong leaned in and whispered to Chen Shuoan, "Since you're out of the palace today, us guys were planning to take you somewhere fun."

Chen Shuoan immediately became alert upon hearing this. After seeing the mischievous expressions on the other two's faces, he refused, all righteous and dead serious: "If it's not a proper place, I'm not going."

What a joke—his dad was right there. No way he'd act that wild in front of his old man.

Zheng Yuanzhi smiled and reached over to pat his shoulder, saying, "Don't worry, it's totally legit."

Chen Shuoan didn't care whether it was legit or not; right now, he just wanted to complain to his dad.

He pushed away the hands clinging to him, squeezed through the crowd and reached out to his father, whining, "Dad, your son has suffered so much..."

Zhang Chenggong swatted his hand away and turned to Chen Jingxian with a smile, saying, "It's just a trivial matter, acting like he lost a limb. Rest assured, Lord Chen, Shuo'an hasn't suffered in the palace at all—in fact, he's gained two pounds."

Li Wei grabbed Chen Shuoan by the neck and dragged him toward the door, while the other two covered their retreat.

"Lord Chen, please rest well. Shuo'an will return by afternoon. Farewell!"

Chen Jingxian: "..."

?

Where the heck did his big son go?