TAMW CH23

The plain-colored long gown somehow looked like a vibrant cluster of flowers. Zhou Xiao buried his face deeply into the fragrant scent, rubbing his nose irritably against Yuqing’s stomach.

He didn’t use any force, unsure if the rhythmic thumping echoing in his ears was his own heartbeat or the child’s within the womb.

His head rooted around, buried inside Yuqing’s large cloak.

Yuqing felt a bit helpless. His hand rested gently on Zhou Xiao’s ear, rubbing it as if soothing a child.

Zhou Xiao was clearly throwing a tantrum, but Yuqing currently had no energy to coax him. He pinched Zhou Xiao’s earlobe with his fingertips. “Gentler…”

Zhou Xiao immediately stopped moving and stayed still. “What gives you the right to order me around?”

“Why are you acting like a child?” Yuqing’s tone carried a hint of a smile. He tilted his head back slightly, the relaxed expression between his brows the only moment of ease he had felt these past two days.

His body was weak during the pregnancy. Even in early autumn, he was terrified of the cold, his hands and feet icy. The room often needed a heating stove lit.

Zhou Xiao could feel that the hand stroking his earlobe was still freezing. Naturally, he lost the mood to keep messing around and lay obediently on Yuqing’s lap for a while.

The driver took the car directly to the Zhou residence.

More than half the servants in the Zhou residence were gone; only Butler Deng waited at the door.

“Ruan Yuqing?” When Zhou Xiao sat up, he noticed Yuqing’s eyes were still closed, his breathing shallow.

“Hey.” He frowned and gently shook the man’s shoulder.

Yuqing’s brow furrowed slightly, and a soft, kitten-like hum escaped his nose. “Hmm? Are we… here?”

Zhou Xiao opened the car door, gathered Yuqing in his arms, and carried him out. As he walked toward the house, he pressed his forehead against Yuqing’s. “You’re burning up. Don’t you know?”

“Am I?” Yuqing was groggy. Before he could answer, his head lolled to the side, resting heavily against Zhou Xiao’s shoulder.

“Ruan Yuqing!”

The wind at the port had been too cold; it had practically blown right through him.

Deng Yongquan had mentioned earlier that Yuqing had been standing guard at the port for two days.

With the current late-autumn weather, no matter how high one’s body temperature was, the biting wind would chill it to the bone. Barely warming up in the car for a short while before stepping out again immediately overwhelmed his body.

Moreover, his constitution was already weak, and now that he was pregnant, how could he possibly endure staying up all night in the freezing wind?

“Where is everyone?! Are you all dead? Hurry up and get a doctor!” The Zhou residence was deathly quiet, seemingly even more desolate and bleak than the last time Zhou Xiao had returned home.

Zhao Fu and Deng Yongquan had been left at the port to handle matters and hadn’t returned. Hearing Zhou Xiao’s voice, Butler Deng hurriedly ordered someone to fetch the physician from the eastern suburbs.

Butler Deng was exceptionally thrilled to see the Young Master return.

“Where are the people in the manor?” Zhou Xiao carried Yuqing into the courtyard.

“The death contracts for the Young Madam’s servants have been dissolved. Those unwilling to stay in the manor have been sent away to do other work. Currently, there aren’t many people in the manor. Plus, he prefers peace and quiet. Most days, aside from Zhao Fu, he hardly needs anyone to serve him.”

Butler Deng led him to the main courtyard where the Old Master used to live. Zhou Xiao’s figure paused at the doorway.

“Since the Old Master passed away, the Young Madam has been living here…”

Zhou Xiao’s expression darkened, but he walked in without further hesitation. “If he doesn’t need people serving him, then you just don’t serve him?! Every single one of you is getting lazy. I think you’re all itching for a beating!”

“The bricks in the old man’s courtyard have been moldy for so long, and no one knew to replace them? Are you all blind?!” Zhou Xiao hadn’t managed the manor’s affairs for a long time, but a mere glance and a display of his authority as the master were enough.

“The Young Madam wouldn’t allow us to change anything…”

He lived in the old man’s main courtyard and refused to let anyone touch the original layout. Only when something was truly broken would it receive a simple repair.

Zhou Xiao spat internally. I find this courtyard unlucky because someone died here, but Ruan Yuqing isn’t picky at all. He actually manages to live here!

Butler Deng sighed and said, “The Young Madam remembers kindness in his heart. He is a person with a conscience who honors the past.”

Zhou Xiao thought to himself, That’s a load of crap.

What deep father-son bond? Even if ghosts and gods really existed, the old man would have long since reincarnated.

If he reincarnated and ended up as my son in his next life, I’d still consider it bad luck!

Hearing that the Eldest Young Master had returned, the remaining servants filed in. They set up the charcoal fire and lit a soothing incense. The curling smoke carried the scent of jasmine, which truly was somewhat calming.

Zhou Xiao covered Yuqing with a quilt and tested his forehead temperature with his hand. The fever was rising rapidly.

His cheeks, usually so snow-white they were almost bloodless, were now flushed with a sickly crimson.

His breathing was heavy, his brows knitted slightly. Just an hour ago, he was holding a gun at the port, yet now he had become so fragile, almost like a cloud that could be dispersed with a single touch. Looking vast and distant, but in reality, seemingly ready to scatter at the slightest brush… it made one’s heart ache.

He had originally harbored resentment in his heart, but seeing Yuqing like this now, all grievances had to be set aside.

Zhou Xiao hadn’t really touched his stomach before.

After all, deep down, he still felt a bit wronged.

Ruan Yuqing had toyed with him just like that, and then discarded him like a worn-out shoe. A man like him was deeply calculating. Even if Zhou Xiao wanted to exact revenge, he had to wait until his body recovered…

“Ugh…” Yuqing lay flat, the pressure on his lower abdomen making him uncomfortable. His eyes opened slightly, his breath weak. “Can’t lie flat…”

“Alright.”

That blurred gaze could drive anyone insane.

Zhou Xiao hurriedly tucked a wooden pillow under the back of his neck. Was this what Zhao Fu faced every single day?

No wonder he was so dead set on him. As a man himself, Zhou Xiao didn’t believe for a second that Zhao Fu had no illicit thoughts.

Yuqing’s body temperature was rising too fast. As the room heated up, even Zhou Xiao felt warm, yet the person on the bed was shivering.

Zhou Xiao sat on the edge of the bed with lowered eyes for a while, looking down at the small mole under Yuqing’s eye.

This spot seemed to draw his gaze uncontrollably, making him sink deeper and deeper.

Their first meeting was right here in this massive Zhou residence—a dark gray home filled with the musty smell of the old era.

With red candles lit, that night, Zhou Xiao had also first noticed this small mole.

It looked like a natural teardrop formed at the corner of Yuqing’s eye. Even when he smiled gently on ordinary days, it carried a hint of sorrowful compassion that shook one’s soul.

He reached his hand out, and Yuqing’s cheek pressed against his palm.

When the sharp aloe vera is stripped of its skin, what remains inside is moist, damp, and sticky sap. Once you touch it, you crave more.

Driven by some inexplicable impulse, Zhou Xiao leaned down and licked the sweat from Yuqing’s temples.

His posture looked more like he was kissing him.

But he wasn’t. He was suckling him.

Pecking kisses on his temples, his fingertips tangling in Yuqing’s long hair, savoring this person whose fragrance seeped deep into the bones.

“The physician is here,” Butler Deng said, leading a man through the door.

Zhou Xiao cleared his throat and sat up straight. “Come in.”

Physician Liu entered timidly to take his pulse. Usually, this Young Madam of the Zhou family was amicable, and the person accompanying him was always Zhao Fu. He had never seen Zhou Xiao before.

“How is it?”

“The Young Madam is inherently weak; it’s an illness carried from the womb. Furthermore, he forcibly took the childbearing medicine, completely depleting his body. He already needed to be carefully nourished, and now the cold wind has invaded his body…”

“I’m asking you how to treat it.”

Physician Liu opened his medical box, preparing to take out paper and pen. “The Young Madam is already pregnant and cannot take medicine. He can only take some medicinal diet to nourish his body. It’s just that…”

Seeing the physician hesitate, Zhou Xiao quickly pressed, “Just what? Spit it out.”

“It’s just that a few days ago, the Young Madam had me come take a look. He’s already experiencing breast engorgement. If we nourish him with a medicinal diet, I’m afraid it might be quite uncomfortable…”

Zhou Xiao stared at him in silence.

Breast engorgement…

“It’s only been a few months? How could there be engorgement? Do you take me for a three-year-old?” Zhou Xiao said.

Physician Liu: “You may not know this, but the nature of this childbearing medicine is inherently potent. The Young Madam is a man and naturally unsuited for childbearing; this is a forced pregnancy. A man’s chest… after all, lacks the natural aptitude for nursing. It is relatively thin, so engorgement phenomena occur early on. This way, when the child is born in the future, there will be enough milk…”

It was like an empty, narrow tunnel that needed to slowly accumulate reserves, gradually stretching the space, releasing it, and then stretching it again, repeating the process…

But Yuqing was inherently thin. Even with this repeating for several months, it probably wouldn’t amount to much.

“His body is this poor, and the medicine you gave him still managed to make him pregnant? Where did this medicine come from?” Zhou Xiao smiled amiably. “Truly a miracle.”

“Since you can achieve such a miracle, don’t tell me you can’t cure a minor illness like a fever? You wouldn’t be trying to fool me, would you?”

Being praised like this, Physician Liu couldn’t help but feel a bit smug, stroking his goatee. “To tell you the truth, I spent a long time researching ancient texts to formulate this medicine. It’s not that I won’t prescribe medicine for the Young Madam; it’s that even a normal pregnant woman cannot take medicine, as its properties would affect the fetus.”

“I see.” Zhou Xiao nodded. He asked softly again, “The physician is truly a master healer. I suppose when the time comes for the Young Madam to give birth in the near future, you will certainly be able to ensure his safety and peace of mind?”

Hearing this, Physician Liu frantically waved his hands. “No, I wouldn’t dare make such a guarantee! Absolutely not.”

“Childbirth for a woman is already a near-death experience; for the Young Madam, it will only be far more perilous. However, the Young Madam has already given instructions: when the time comes, save the child.”

“The Zhou family truly has a good Young Madam!” Physician Liu couldn’t help but exclaim. “Where is that brother who usually stays by the Young Madam’s side? He’s the one who always brews the medicine.”

“Zhao Fu?” Zhou Xiao looked at the physician, the corners of his mouth curving upward.

“…A man’s mind is filled only with carrying on the family line. Of the three unfilial acts, having no descendants is the greatest. He certainly is filial…”

“Then what the hell are you?! You bastard!” Only a sharp SMACK was heard. “And what the hell is Zhao Fu?!”

“Ouch—” Physician Liu’s face twisted from the slap. He had been kneeling, but the force of the blow knocked him straight to the floor.

Zhou Xiao stood up and hoisted him by the collar. “You dare give people such harmful medicine? What a black-hearted quack! I let you slip away last week, but if you can’t cure him today—if you can’t lessen his pain by even a fraction—the First Madam conveniently died in the well in the backyard. You can go down and arrange a ghost marriage with her!”

“I see you have quite the glib tongue for flattering people.” Saying that, he delivered another kick.

Physician Liu saw stars from the beating. Zhou Xiao grabbed the candlestick by the bed and smashed it against his head, leaving the man bleeding from the scalp and gasping for air on the floor for a long time.

Zhou Xiao’s chest heaved violently. He thought back to last week, in the middle of the night, when he went to find the clinic, only to find it closed, making him miss the guy.

To think that his momentary negligence had allowed this harmful quack to live another week in this world. It truly was his mistake.

“Ouch—ouch—” Physician Liu clutched his head, trying to scramble up several times only to fall back down.

Zhou Xiao carelessly grabbed a piece of cloth and shoved it into his mouth. “Make another sound, and I’ll rip out your tongue.”

The tall man looked down from above at the physician, who lay on the floor wanting to scream but unable to make a sound. The shadow cast by the eaves outside seemed to create a sharp dividing line across the bridge of his nose, obscuring the emotions in his eyes.

He was only twenty-three this year, yet his young face held only indifference and cruelty. He truly was a snake raised by scorpions.

Zhou Xiao thought to himself, It’s all this damn physician’s fault. If there were no child, Ruan Yuqing would never dare not love me.

He would definitely keep seducing him to secure his position as the Young Madam of the Zhou family.

How would Ruan Yuqing ever dare to plot against him?

It was all because of this extra child that Yuqing changed. Planning for the child, planning for the Zhou family—it was all his fault! This damn physician.

He should have died a long time ago!

As he thought this, his expression darkened, and he grabbed a cup from the table to smash it too.

Butler Deng saw this and wanted to stop him, but it was too late. Zhou Xiao was young and strong, and the brutal beating took place in mere moments. How could an old man like him intervene?

Besides, when the master handles matters, a servant’s proper place is to stand aside obediently, not to interfere.

“You…” Physician Liu pointed a trembling finger at him.

“What about me?” Zhou Xiao landed two more kicks. “Hurry up and drag him out of here! If he isn’t cured today…”

He dropped his previous smiling facade, his face devoid of warmth, reverting to the commanding presence of the master of the house. “Just try me.”

“Drag him out.” Zhou Xiao casually tossed the cloth he used to wipe his hands onto the floor.

Two servants rushed in from the doorway and quickly hauled the man away. Butler Deng also retreated.

“Please calm your anger. This is our young master who returned from studying abroad; his temper is quite unpredictable,” Butler Deng said.

Physician Liu muttered that he wouldn’t treat the patient anymore and turned to leave. The heavy main gates of the Zhou residence creaked as they were pushed shut.

Butler Deng followed behind him and said eerily, “I must trouble you to brew the medicinal diet for the Young Madam first.”

In all the times he had treated the Young Madam of the Zhou family, when had he ever witnessed such a scene?

Physician Liu’s legs gave out, and he was dragged directly to the kitchen by the two servants, losing his shoes in the process.

In this deep, secluded mansion, the one thing they had in abundance was unfulfilled desires.

When desires go unfulfilled, people are driven to madness.

The physician worked quickly, stewing a fever-reducing medicinal soup. Pregnant individuals couldn’t take medicine, but tonics were permissible. He boiled aged ginseng with black goji berries and brought it over.

Yuqing was groggy from the fever and had passed out for a while, but he was now able to open his eyes.

Zhou Xiao supported him and fed him some water, which made Yuqing choke and cough violently.

“Let Zhao Fu do it,” his voice drifted weakly.

Zhou Xiao stiffened, stirring the soup in his hand. “He’s still at the port and hasn’t returned. Are you going to drink it or not?”

“I have no strength…” Yuqing’s voice was too soft, his breathing still heavy and hot.

More than half of a spoonful of soup would just be choked back up. Zhou Xiao didn’t know how to feed him, and Yuqing was too groggy to sit up properly, making him extremely uncomfortable.

“You have no strength, yet you held out for so long at the port?” Zhou Xiao muttered in a low voice. “This is exactly how you pushed yourself until you got sick.”

“Put it down. I’ll drink it myself later when I have some energy.” Yuqing coughed twice more, his cheeks flushing even more severely.

Hearing this, Zhou Xiao flew into a rage out of nowhere. “If Zhao Fu doesn’t come, you refuse to drink the medicine?!”

Yuqing frowned, having no idea what was wrong with him again.

It was clearly him who didn’t know how to feed medicine, getting the ginseng soup all over Yuqing’s hair, and now he had the nerve to blame him…

Yuqing’s body felt as terrible as if someone had drained all his spirit. Supporting his swelling lower abdomen, he wanted to turn over and sleep a bit more.

Zhou Xiao tilted his head back, took a mouthful of the medicinal soup, pinched Yuqing’s cheeks, leaned down, and passed it to him.

“Mmph—”

Holding Yuqing’s head with one hand, Zhou Xiao carefully and slowly passed the soup from his mouth. Yuqing’s tongue seemed even hotter than the soup itself.

Yuqing’s pale, slender hands pressed against Zhou Xiao’s chest in refusal, so Zhou Xiao pinned his hands to the bed, their fingers interlocking tightly.

“Drink it slowly, and you won’t choke, right?” Zhou Xiao bit and rubbed against his lips. “Don’t I do it better than that dog of a servant?”

The skin under Yuqing’s eyes was a pale pink. He frowned slightly, staring at him.

A somewhat smug smile appeared on Zhou Xiao’s face.

“Stop messing around,” Yuqing said, gently patting his cheek. “I’m sick. What if I infect you?”

Zhou Xiao gazed at him. He had thought Yuqing would be angry, but hadn’t expected him to say such words. He just muttered, “My body is stronger than yours. I don’t get sick easily.”

“When you were in elementary school at the private academy, the class next door got chickenpox. No one in your class got sick, except you…” Yuqing said with a smile. “You had a weak constitution as a child, but now that you’re grown, you’re like a wolf cub.”

His fingertip tapped the tip of Zhou Xiao’s nose and slowly slid down to the man’s lips. “An ungrateful wolf.”

That fingertip seemed to tap right on Zhou Xiao’s heart, pressing down beat by beat with his pulse.

Zhou Xiao’s eyes darkened, his voice hoarse: “How did you know?”

Yuqing smiled and asked, “Know what?”

“About the chickenpox.”

That happened when he was only seven years old. Someone at the private academy got chickenpox, and Zhou Xiao, without even having met the person, developed a high fever after coming home.

Zhou Yuzhang had just left home at the time. The First Madam found his body covered in chickenpox disgusting and ordered him to be thrown into the study. Food was delivered daily, but the servants who came to attend to him were the First Madam’s people. They only cared about applying medicine to cure him, not whether he was uncomfortable. Fearing he would scratch his skin raw and displease the Old Master upon his return, they tied him up.

He had to hold in his need to use the bathroom. Only when he was nearly recovered was he untied.

That month, he was reduced to skin and bones. When the First Madam’s nephew, who was as fat as a ball, came to visit the Zhou residence and saw his sallow, emaciated appearance, he laughed and called him a ‘hemp stalk spirit’.

The First Madam kept this hidden. By the time Zhou Yuzhang returned, Zhou Xiao himself had almost forgotten it; father and son rarely spoke anyway.

Besides, Zhou Yuzhang never initiated a conversation with him, as if he didn’t even have this son.

But one day, Zhou Yuzhang did pat his head and say, ‘You’ve gotten thin.’

Zhou Xiao returned to his small study in silence and wrote, [Father told me I’ve gotten thin. He doesn’t know I lost weight because I got chickenpox. How is he a father to me? Bound in the study, night after night stretches endlessly; in this house, every moment stretches endlessly. Mother is estranged from me, Father…]

His absent conversations with his father were always written in a small notebook, hidden inside the Three Character Classic in the study, where no one would ever flip through it.

The entries were few, but every word came from the bottom of his heart. As he grew older and no longer needed emotional release, he forgot about that notebook.

Years later, Yuqing was just learning to read.

To study, one had to read the Three Character Classic.

He read about the childhood—the childhood of the Young Master Zhou, who was respected by everyone for having studied abroad.

In the pain that Zhou Xiao had long forgotten, someone else surprisingly remembered, which was why he was stunned.

It was as if an old, unhealed scar was gradually growing new flesh—itchy and aching.

“What’s wrong?” Yuqing, dragging his sick, feverish body, cradled his face with an air reminiscent of the gentle mother Zhou Xiao had fantasized about. “Did one kiss infect you and make you dizzy from the sickness?”

With his face cradled in those soft hands, Zhou Xiao’s mood inexplicably brightened.

He knew it. Yuqing cared.

Yuqing’s breath was warm. He was so close that a puff of fragrance drifted over.

Zhou Xiao’s eyelashes seemed to melt under his tenderness. He asked, “The doctor said earlier that if anything unforeseen happens in the future, you want to save the child. Why?”

Such a question wasn’t difficult for Yuqing to answer: “Because this is the Zhou family’s bloodline.”

He gently smoothed Zhou Xiao’s stray hairs behind his forehead: “Before the birth, I will organize the Zhou family’s businesses so that both you and the child can inherit them. If anything happens to me, this will be the path paved for you two.”

“Your temper isn’t smooth enough,” Yuqing said, lowering his eyes. “If there’s an opportunity in the future, come back home. It’s hard working outside.”

Listening to his gentle voice, Zhou Xiao felt as if his soul was floating away. Seeing Yuqing’s appearance in his eyes, it was as if two clusters of flames were already leaping out from his gaze, wishing he could just burn the man in front of him alive…

Yuqing…

His Yuqing, foolishly loyal and filial, yet so innocent, cute, and gentle as water.

Yuqing felt a bit dizzy under his gaze; it was simply too intense.

He had a hard time distinguishing if this was a good opportunity to ask for the sixty percent profit.

Yuqing took a deep breath. His voice was somewhat slow, his tongue still astringent from the medicine. “I… I was just saying that casually. The Young Master should do whatever makes him happy. I… Mmph—”

Zhou Xiao forced another kiss upon him.

Supporting his back with a large hand, Zhou Xiao pulled Yuqing down with him. Pinned by the man, who was both impatient and mindful enough to protect him with his hand, Yuqing fell back onto the bed.

Zhou Xiao’s lips were utterly addicted to pressing against Yuqing’s body, even if it wasn’t his lips.

Muffled, delicate groans escaped Yuqing’s nose. The man’s teeth weren’t satisfied with just pecking at his mouth; they moved to nibble his pointed chin, trailing down his jawline to his slightly sweaty, slender neck.

Being suckled on the neck, Yuqing was forced to tilt his head back, his hands subconsciously wrapping around the man’s head.

The sleeves of his long gown slipped down to the crooks of his arms.

Zhou Xiao’s broad shoulders blocked Yuqing from view. Looking from above, only Yuqing’s forearms were visible.

Weak from illness and with his lower abdomen swollen, he didn’t dare struggle recklessly. He had never engaged in strenuous activity during his pregnancy. “No…”

“Five months, the child is already moving, you can’t…” Yuqing tried to dodge his pecking kisses.

Propping himself up on his arms, Zhou Xiao pursued him. If Yuqing dodged an inch, he advanced an inch, sometimes taking it a step further by taking a bite, making the snow-white skin flush red for him.

Zhou Xiao himself didn’t know exactly why he was doing this.

It seemed that whenever he encountered Ruan Yuqing, he lost his mind.

His head was completely empty; his education, his upbringing, his pride—they all vanished.

Yuqing’s gentleness, the way Yuqing tapped his nose and smilingly lectured him, looked exactly like the mother and son he had fantasized about, or seen on the streets, truly loving each other.

He couldn’t help but want to kiss that finger, suckle on his fingertip, wanting Yuqing to lecture him again, just like in his fantasies…

Yuqing’s forearms gently tightened around his head. Zhou Xiao felt he just wanted to be in his embrace, wishing he could burrow into his stomach and let him possess him completely.

Being chased and kissed by Zhou Xiao, Yuqing felt short of breath. His vision blurred and his head spun. Lying on the bed, he gasped for air.

Suddenly, he realized that the buttons near his collar had already been undone.

Zhou Xiao was burrowing into his long gown…

Yuqing’s voice trembled slightly: “Young Master…”

“Madam,” Zhou Xiao said, holding one of his buttons between his teeth, using his tongue to unfasten it. “Let me ease the pain for you, alright?”

“This kind of thing is something those dog servants outside can’t do. Only me.”

A strand of black hair stuck to Yuqing’s neck, pulsing with the bulging blue vein beneath it. A barely contained, sharp cry escaped his throat. “No…”

__

Author’s Note:

Doctor: This is a good prescription I researched for a long time.

Date Pit Bro: I’ll kill you [Angry] Bitch [Angry] How dare you make this kind of medicine [Angry]

Yuqing: I just have a good memory and remembered you were sick. After all, I didn’t read someone else’s diary.

Date Pit Bro: (Screams) I knew he loves me! He loves me!! (Screams while running around and kissing him everywhere)

Date Pit Bro the next day: My mouth hurts a little from Yuqing biting it [Milk Tea] He likes kissing too much [Milk Tea]

Yuqing: It wasn’t me… [Melting] Sigh, never mind!