The young man's skin was delicate and tender, making every blush obvious. A rosy flush spread across Ji Mingzhu's face, and with lip rouge on his soft lips, he was breathtakingly beautiful.
Gu Shang was momentarily stunned, then frowned and asked in a low voice, "Are you hot?"
Although they had booked a large venue for the wedding, there were plenty of guests, and the air was somewhat stuffy. Gu Shang led him toward another part of the room. "If you're hungry, have something to tide you over."
The venue was indeed filled with all kinds of delicacies, from cakes and macarons to roast goose, fresh seafood, and a champagne tower. Nothing was missing. There were little treats to eat everywhere, yet the young man beside him had kept holding his white bouquet with impeccable decorum, looking perfectly obedient.
Ji Mingzhu had always been this well-behaved. Without his elders' permission, he would never indulge his appetite.
Gu Shang led him to a long table laden with food and said in a deep voice, "Help yourself to whatever you want."
Ji Mingzhu looked at the dazzling assortment of little treats, genuinely curious. He had been here for so long, yet he still hadn't eaten anything delicious.
Smelling the sweetness in the air, the young man gave a rather childlike twitch of his finely shaped nose. He had been here for so long without tasting anything sweet. Back in the Great Ning Dynasty, sugar had been a rarity. Even he, cherished and pampered as he was, couldn't have it often. Usually, he only got to sample a plate or two of pastries at palace banquets and autumn harvest gatherings.
"May I?" The young man looked up at him.
The way he meekly asked permission softened his striking beauty, making it easy to feel fond of him.
The brilliant lights in the wedding hall were reflected in the young man's eyes, making them sparkle as his lovely gaze shifted.
Gu Shang came back to his senses, a trace of impatience in his steady voice. "Of course. If you want something, eat it. You don't need to ask me."
At those words, a sweet smile curved Ji Mingzhu's lips.
The young man's smile was simple and contented, so unlike his cool, dazzling appearance that it lent him a touch of childishness.
Gu Shang froze, then turned his face away in irritation.
He slipped his long, powerful fingers beneath his bow tie and tugged hard twice, taking a deep breath of cool air to clear his head.
What happened to being arrogant and domineering, and hating this marriage?
Before they had actually met, Gu Shang had stood behind the young man and watched him snap back at his younger brother. That dazzling, assertive demeanor had been closer to what he had imagined. But now, the young man's abrupt change in manner left him unable to read him. What was he planning?
Was he trying to get close to me, make me lower my guard, and then profit from me?
Or had he received instructions from the Ji Family to infiltrate my household under an innocent, harmless facade, then steal the Gu Family's secrets?
It was a reasonable conjecture, entirely in keeping with Gu Shang's usual caution and suspicion.
But if that really was the case... wasn't Ji Mingzhu a little too good at acting?
So good that even he, who was used to flattery and people putting on an act, couldn't find a single flaw. He was even being led away from his position of control, and that was absolutely unacceptable.
Fine. If he wanted to act, I'd see just how far Ji Mingzhu could take it.
Gu Shang firmly believed that a leopard couldn't change its spots. No matter how accomplished an actor someone was, it was difficult to change their innate likes and dislikes.
For instance, the gossip spreading like wildfire lately claimed that Ji Mingzhu had hated the prospect of marrying a man so much that he had jumped off a building, bringing an ambulance rushing through the city in the middle of the night. That was an unalterable fact. No matter how hard a straight man pretended to be gay, he couldn't fake his way past physical revulsion and nausea.
Gu Shang was unstoppable in business. It was rare for him to experience something akin to facing a formidable opponent, and an inexplicable desire for a challenge rose within him.
He looked back and found the young man still standing at the table, struggling to decide what to eat. His beautiful eyes roamed over the desserts. The left side of his face vividly illustrated the agony of indecision, while the right practically read, "I want them all."
He liked sweets?
The man suddenly bent down.
His profile drew close to the young man sheltered against him, and an unmistakably masculine, overbearing presence swept over Ji Mingzhu without restraint.
Ji Mingzhu froze, but the man merely used the angle to casually pick up a cute pink cupcake, then courteously put some distance between them again.
The man's face was as handsome as a god's, his expression as composed and serious as ever, yet a hint of ill-intentioned mischief quietly surfaced in his eyes.
"Try this?"
Now then, straight boy Ji Mingzhu, how would you react?
Just as he had expected, the young man immediately became flustered. He pressed his lips together without saying anything, perhaps suppressing something.
Only after a moment did the young man speak, his voice trembling slightly. "Wouldn't it look improper if someone saw...?"
The man's straight lips curved upward almost imperceptibly. "It's our wedding today. There's no harm in being a little intimate. You're holding your bouquet, so just eat it like this."
The young man had clearly heard him, yet still refused to raise his head. His slender shoulders trembled slightly, as though he were desperately enduring something.
The curve of Gu Shang's lips gradually flattened. Though the truth was just as he had guessed, it did nothing to improve his mood. All it produced was a dull thought: Ah, just as expected.
Gu Shang was domineering to his core.
This was a marriage utterly devoid of affection, and Gu Shang had never had any expectations of it. The wedding itself was a performance, staged for these upper-class families and for the Gu Family's former patriarch-his grandfather. So being aggressive here did neither of them any good. An open falling-out would only reveal to everyone that this was a farce.
But Gu Shang simply wanted to know. He wanted to pry into every thought of the people around him. He would not allow any unknown variables by his side, including his incompetent wife, who posed no threat to him whatsoever.
Having tested out the truth, the man was in no mood to keep acting along with him, nor could he be bothered to torment his straight wife any further. He took a step back, intending to set down the sweet-smelling strawberry cake in his hand.
At last, the young man before him moved.
In that brief minute, Ji Mingzhu had used every ounce of strength he possessed to suppress his out-of-place shyness and summon the courage to lift his head.
The young man's face was flushed red, his beautiful eyes glistening faintly with moisture. The splendid lights reflected in them, making his gaze shimmer.
Ji Mingzhu blinked involuntarily in his shyness, his long, butterfly-wing lashes fluttering gently. Then he steeled himself, closed his eyes, and obediently tilted his head back, presenting himself just as the man had wanted.
Gu Shang froze.
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