Chapter 24#
Hot Spring#
“Still beautiful?”#
Having dealt with the last assassin, Yu Shaoyun wiped the blade of his saber and sheathed it. Lai Neishi, adjusting his slightly askew hat, saw him turn to descend the mountain and followed, asking, “What are you doing?”
Yu Shaoyun didn’t answer, walking briskly for a stretch before stopping abruptly.
Lai Neishi behind him also spotted the scene ahead. A dozen fresh corpses lay scattered among the woods, blood mingling with the rain as it seeped into the soil. A carriage sat by the roadside.
The two approached. Yu Shaoyun used the hilt of his saber to nudge aside the neck of one corpse, examining the fatal wound. “A single strike to kill. Judging by the shape and depth of the wound, it was a dagger or short blade, and the strike was extremely fast.”
“They just died. This isn’t far from the mountain. While we were fighting up there, there was a fight here too, but it didn’t make much noise. The one who did this moved quickly and lightly—no ordinary person could.” Lai Neishi remarked. Seeing Yu Shaoyun look up, he turned his gaze to the carriage by the road.
Someone sat on the carriage, arms hugging knees, leaning against the carriage door. A bamboo hat obscured their drooping face, as if asleep.
Yu Shaoyun walked over and nudged the person’s shoulder with the saber’s hilt. The other pushed his hand away, pouted, and turned to continue sleeping. After a few breaths, his eyes flew open. Subconsciously, he said, “Young master is back… uh, you are?”
“You’re the servant from Secretary Pei’s courtyard, right?” Yu Shaoyun looked into the man’s eyes beneath the bamboo hat and gave a slight smile. “Secretary Pei has gone up the mountain. Drive the carriage and follow me up to fetch him.”
“Oh!” The attendant quickly straightened up, grabbed the reins, and turned the carriage around. When he turned his head, he caught sight of the corpses on the ground, gasped in fright, and hurriedly patted his bamboo hat to cover his eyes, not daring to look further.
Yu Shaoyun crossed his arms and noticed the attendant’s body was stiff, his hands gripping the reins trembling faintly.
Lai Neishi leaned in closer to Yu Shaoyun, asking softly, “Something wrong with this man?”
Yu Shaoyun watched the carriage’s back and said, “That’s for His Highness to decide… Let’s go, up the mountain.”
Yuan Fang steadied the reins in his hands, his expression blank. He touched his chest, where two drops of blood had splattered, but the fabric was dark enough to hide them.
After about fifteen minutes, Pei Xiting said with a hint of excitement, “I see the villa.”
The servant waiting at the villa’s gate immediately came forward to take the umbrella, bowing respectfully. “Your Highness, everything for washing up is prepared.”
“No need for attendants,” said the Crown Prince. “Prepare another set of clean clothes.”
“Yes.” The servant glanced at Pei Xiting beside the Crown Prince, assessed his build, and turned to prepare.
Pei Xiting followed the Crown Prince to the hot spring pool. It was an indoor spring, clean and elegant in furnishings, dominated by fragrant nanmu and water nanmu. The wood was clear-toned and fragrant, with natural mountain-and-water grain patterns on some surfaces—clearly excellent timber. The subtle scent of nanmu mingled with the light bamboo incense from two lotus-shaped censers on either side of the pool, creating a blend that was refreshing and soothing.
Soaked and uncomfortable, Pei Xiting was eager to get into the water. “Your Highness, shall we bathe together?”
The Crown Prince had never entered a pool with another person and hadn’t even entertained the thought of allowing Pei Xiting to join him. Hearing this, he turned his head to look at Pei Xiting—the latter’s eyes gleamed with eagerness, much like Little Great King staring straight at him, asking for meat.
The Crown Prince paused, then said, “You can choose to wait until I’ve finished.”
Pei Xiting immediately countered, “Then I’ll have absorbed the scent of your incense. We’re both men, no need for awkwardness. Let’s bathe together.”
As if afraid the Crown Prince might change his mind, Pei Xiting shed his dirty clothes in a few quick motions, leaving only a white undergarment clinging wetly to his body. It outlined the slender, lean figure of youth—narrow waist, long legs, except for a slightly plump rear. Unbothered by any impropriety, he untied his hair ribbon and looked up at the Crown Prince, who stood rooted to the spot. “Your Highness, what’s wrong?”
Outside, the rain fell with a dull roar. Yet the sound of water dripping from the hem of that white undergarment onto the floor was clear and distinct, continuous, impossible to ignore.
The Crown Prince looked at Pei Xiting, who was wholly unaware of anything amiss, and remained silent.
Pei Xiting paused as well. Remembering that the Crown Prince had said no attendants were needed, he thought for a moment, then asked in confusion, “Do you want me to serve you?”
The Crown Prince disliked having people around when bathing, so this thought hadn’t crossed his mind. But hearing the question, he said instead, “Do you know how to serve someone?”
Pei Xiting had never served anyone, but at heart, he didn’t see this as serving—if it wasn’t serving, then it was an opportunity to study a living model. So he readily invited, “Want me to be your first?”
The Crown Prince looked at Pei Xiting, then leisurely spread his arms. “Come here.”
The voice was delightful, and Pei Xiting’s ears tingled. He walked over, searched for the Crown Prince’s belt, and found it wasn’t overly complicated. The belt fell to the ground, the robe loosened. He moved to face the Crown Prince, raised his hand to unfasten the agate button on the collar of the outer robe, clumsily pulled it off, then went to undo the buttons of the undergarment.
The Crown Prince watched the person circling around him without stopping him. The moment the undergarment was opened, Pei Xiting’s eyes indeed showed astonishment.
The body before him was indeed meticulously crafted—beyond even his imagination—lean, powerful, and beautiful like a chiseled work of art. But it wasn’t flawless. There were scars on the chest, the abdomen, the heart—old wounds, clearly from severe injuries years ago.
Pei Xiting’s breath caught momentarily, but he didn’t find them ugly. This was a magnificent blade drawn from its scabbard, weathered by storms, chipped, worn, and cracked, yet its fierce sharpness was undiminished. On the contrary, it added a touch of bloodthirsty menace.
The Crown Prince looked down at Pei Xiting, who stood transfixed, and asked, “Still beautiful?”
Pei Xiting snapped out of it, helped the Crown Prince take off his undergarment, and when he moved behind him, noticed several more vicious old scars. For a noble prince of jade and gold, what had he endured in the past?
The Fifth Prince had once roamed far and wide for years. This “roaming” had been far too intense.
The Crown Prince hadn’t necessarily expected an answer and was about to turn and step into the pool when he heard from behind, “Paintings don’t have to be made on flawless white paper or silk. Painted on walls, on the ground, in the snow, on leaves… they gain another layer of color—the ‘canvas’s own undertone.’ So if I were to paint on Your Highness’s body, I would need to sign Your Highness’s name along with mine, because the painting carries Your Highness’s foundation.”
The Crown Prince paused. “And what is my foundation?”
“Your Highness is not only of ice and jade,” Pei Xiting said, “but also of golden bone and iron body—a blade can cut into you, but it cannot break you.”
The Crown Prince’s heart trembled. He turned around, and Pei Xiting blew out one of the lotus-shaped hanging lamps beside the pool. The space was now half-lit, half-dark. The rain pounded violently against the roof.
Pei Xiting looked up at him, but his gaze was like a fine, lingering drizzle, like a spirit emerging from behind a misty veil at night.
—Yet perhaps Pei Xiting himself didn’t realize that there was even a hint of bewilderment in his eyes at that moment.
The glass prayer beads he always carried slipped from his wrist. The Crown Prince pressed them down, rubbing them heavily, as if restraining something.
Pei Xiting saw the deep, heavy color in the Crown Prince’s eyes but didn’t understand its meaning. Bewildered, he asked, “Your Highness, shall we enter the pool?”
The Crown Prince lowered his eyes, silent for a moment, before replying, “Mm.”