Huizhou, come to me

The two returned to the carriage without a word to each other.

After the guards disposed of Wei Hu's corpse and the vicious tiger, the carriage slowly continued toward the National Preceptor's Residence.

Xie Huizhou could not help recalling how the jolting carriage had sent them into each other's arms earlier, and his expression grew rather unnatural.

The scene would not leave his mind, and his face grew slightly hot.

How awkward. I clearly wanted to keep my distance from the Imperial Preceptor, but things keep going the other way. We get closer every time.

Man proposes, heaven disposes. Xie Huizhou almost wanted to leave it all to fate.

It's perfectly normal for men to put their arms around each other's shoulders. There's nothing wrong with us hugging, either.

Who said the Imperial Preceptor had a bad temper and an obsession with cleanliness? I hugged him for so long, and nothing happened.

Those are all rumors, slander against the Imperial Preceptor. They just can't stand to see Zhang Lanhe doing well.

Without his noticing, Zhang Lanhe's image in Xie Huizhou's mind gradually improved.

"Your Highness, we still have some way to go before reaching the National Preceptor's Residence. You can rest first. There's no need to push yourself so hard." Seeing Xie Huizhou's embarrassed expression, Zhang Lanhe considerately added, "I'll come to pick you up later from now on, so Your Highness can sleep a little longer."

The freshly spread blanket was fluffy, looking soft and warm, and clearly comfortable to sleep on.

Xie Huizhou had not had enough sleep to begin with, so he lay down without fuss, rolling himself into a ball like a cat hiding beneath the covers.

"Thank you, Imperial Preceptor. Wake me when we arrive."

See how considerate the Imperial Preceptor is.

Xie Huizhou suddenly felt there was no need to slander Zhang Lanhe like that in his drawings. If the man himself saw them one day, how awkward would that be?

Better to keep slandering my opponents instead.

"All right."

Xie Huizhou could sleep anywhere. The moment his head touched down, he fell asleep, and soon knew nothing of what happened inside the carriage.

As he slept quietly, his delicate face was as fair as jade. His rosy lips parted slightly, inviting a kiss, and his lashes fluttered like butterfly wings about to take flight, as though he were having an uneasy dream.

Watching Xie Huizhou's lovely face, Zhang Lanhe cautiously reached out several times to stroke it, only to withdraw his hand, feeling it would be an affront and fearing discovery.

What if Xie Huizhou happened to wake when he touched him, caught his little gesture, and became frightened?

On the surface, Xie Huizhou seemed unconcerned by threats, but he lacked a sense of security and would hide himself away at the slightest fright.

He could not let the little trust they had finally built today be utterly destroyed over this.

But what if Xie Huizhou took the initiative?

Zhang Lanhe remembered how, when they first met, Xie Huizhou had been particularly fond of his silver hair, and a brilliant idea came to him.

Zhang Lanhe's lips moved slightly, his pleasant voice beguiling Xie Huizhou. "Huizhou, come to me."

This was a call to the Person of Destiny. When they urgently called to the other in their hearts, the other would sense it and rush toward them regardless of everything else.

It was generally only used when they were lost and could not find each other, and was not particularly useful.

Zhang Lanhe had called Xie Huizhou to his side several times before, but someone had always stopped him, so it had never worked.

With the person right before him, the call served little purpose, but it could satisfy his little mischievous whim.

Hearing Zhang Lanhe's voice, Xie Huizhou opened his hazy eyes. His body was awake, but he himself was still asleep. He glanced around before looking at Zhang Lanhe, smiling as brightly as spring sunshine, as though he had found the greatest love of his life.

"There you are. I spent so long looking for you."

With no one to stop him this time, he went straight toward Zhang Lanhe, like a little bird spreading its wings.

"Huizhou, what do you want to do? Whatever it is, I won't resist." Zhang Lanhe opened his arms to him and continued guiding him. "Come here. I've been here all along. I won't leave."

Before his eyes, Xie Huizhou saw mountains of gold, silver, and jewels, cool to the touch, enticing him to throw himself onto them and roll around.

Xie Huizhou hesitated for a moment, then followed his deepest desire and flung his arms around him, locking on tightly like an octopus as he murmured something.

Xie Huizhou spoke so softly that, without leaning closer, it was impossible to make out what he was saying.

Zhang Lanhe instinctively tilted his ear closer and heard Xie Huizhou stubbornly saying beside his ear, "Mine. All mine."

"Yes, yes, yes. Yours. All yours." Zhang Lanhe, who had been a white snake for hundreds of years, was in utter turmoil. Though he knew Xie Huizhou did not mean it that way, he was still willing to lose himself in his own tender trap. "Your Highness, this was your decision. You cannot blame your subject. I was left with no choice, either."

The Imperial Preceptor, Zhang Lanhe, had originally wanted to keep him confined within the National Preceptor's Residence so no one could steal him away. Now he had changed his mind.

Carnal desire amounted to no more than that. He wanted to steal Xie Huizhou's one-of-a-kind heart.

He wanted to watch his prince gradually grow stronger under his very eyes, to see Xie Huizhou become just as he imagined, stepping little by little into the river of his tenderness.

The two continued quietly toward the National Preceptor's Residence like this.

The road ahead was bumpy, the carriage swayed, and no one knew which direction their future lay in.

Zhang Lanhe treasured the present, wishing only that this road could be a little longer, that their carriage would never stop and would keep going like this.

A breeze blew past, and through the rolled-up carriage curtain, the two could be seen sleeping soundly in each other's arms.

The guards and Shadow Guards all saw this unusual sight, and all pretended they had not.

Xie Huizhou's Shadow Guards were baffled. "How has our young master ended up hugging the Imperial Preceptor again after just a little while? Should we show ourselves and pull them apart or not?"

Earlier, Xie Huizhou had told them to pull the two of them apart if this happened again, but this time, it was clearly Xie Huizhou who had clung to him.

Even the experienced and knowledgeable Shadow Guards found it difficult to fathom their master's thoughts when it came to his love life. This was far harder than carrying out an assassination mission.

"Don't ask about the master's affairs. There must be a reason for this. Let's just pretend we know nothing."

Successful Shadow Guards did not need to question their masters' lives. Their masters would make their own choices.

Both sides' Shadow Guards collectively turned a blind eye and a deaf ear.

By the time the marketplace gradually grew lively with a clamor of voices, the carriage stopped before the gates of the National Preceptor's Residence, where the eyes of two stone lions gazed at it.

The driver waited and waited, but no one got out. Only then did he venture, "Ninth Prince, my lord, we have arrived at the National Preceptor's Residence."

After what had happened earlier, everyone now knew full well how much importance the Imperial Preceptor placed on the Ninth Prince. The driver prayed inwardly that he had not interrupted anything between the two.

Xie Huizhou was the first to be woken.

When he woke, the gold, silver, and jewels had vanished, replaced by Zhang Lanhe's face right before his own.

He himself was clinging tightly to the man like an octopus, refusing to let go, as though terrified Zhang Lanhe would run away.

Xie Huizhou was dazed from sleep, and for a moment thought he was back at their first meeting in the restaurant.