So that’s how it is
Nevermind, just consider it giving him a way out.
With this in mind, when Ah Fei reached out to hold his hand, Zhou Huaiyan just gave a cold snort and didn’t refuse.
The kitten finally got to touch his master’s hand as he wished. He had long known that the young master not only had an overly gorgeous face but also hands as beautiful as finely carved jade.
His fingers were long and slender, and his flesh and bones were evenly proportioned. His skin was delicate and fair like jade, and his nails were neatly trimmed to be extremely smooth and round.
Ah Fei warmed the ointment in his palm before gently applying it to the young man’s reddened palm. He massaged it gently, measuring each inch of the young man’s finger bones.
Truly slender and delicate…
Ah Fei marveled in his heart, even forgetting about the stinging whip wounds on his own body.
The young man’s hands looked as delicate as finely carved jade, but when touched, they were not as cold and hard as jade but soft and warm.
As Ah Fei kept massaging, he unconsciously leaned closer, surpassing a certain normal distance. However, at that moment, Zhou Huaiyan suddenly withdrew his hand, his voice cold.
“Put on your clothes.”
For some reason, even though he was the one who had inflicted the wounds, Zhou Huaiyan felt an indescribable irritability as he looked at them.
“…Yes.”
Ah Fei froze, feeling a sudden sense of disappointment in his heart, but he still obeyed and went to put on his clothes.
The snow-white undergarment stuck to his wounds, instantly staining them with fresh, red blood.
“——Wait,”
Zhou Huaiyan couldn’t help but speak again. Ah Fei looked up, puzzled.
“Master, what’s wrong?”
The young man looked displeased.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Go get the medicine and apply it before you dress.”
“…Ct?”
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“Tfr! Ktlr rijnf klii ub gluta jkjs.”
Zbwfcar ijafg——
Itbe Lejlsjc kjamtfv jr atf xlaafc rabbv yfobgf tlw, tbivlcu atf wfvlmlcf ybz jcv ibbxlcu ja tlw fzqfmajcais. Lf ofii lcab rlifcmf.
He had meant for Ah Fei to apply the medicine himself before dressing, but the latter misunderstood. However, seeing the horrifying whip marks on Ah Fei’s body, Zhou Huaiyan sighed softly.
“Why did you bring a whip with thorns?”
The whip had extremely fine thorns. While other whips would leave only bruises after dozens of strikes, this particular whip could be fatal after dozens of strikes.
But in the face of the young man’s question, Ah Fei just looked at him pitifully and smiled without answering.
“Forget it, consider it a lesson.”
Zhou Huaiyan pulled the other up. He was sitting, while Ah Fei was standing in front of him. This height difference was just the perfect distance for applying medicine.
“If there’s a next time…”
The young man took some medicine and carefully applied it to the wounds on the kitten’s chest.
“I will send you to the northern border without hesitation.”
“Master!”
Hearing that he might be sent away, especially to the northern border, Ah Fei immediately grabbed his arm in a panic, his voice trembling with a hint of tears.
“There… there won’t be a next time!”
This time, however, Zhou Huaiyan wasn’t moved by his pitiful appearance. His expression remained cold.
“Ah Fei, you must understand, everyone who stays by my side has their own use. The day after I kept you, I thoroughly investigated your background.”
“Your mother is a legitimate daughter of the Yun family, and your father is likely some foreign soldier or general. But none of this matters to me. You can’t leverage the Yun family’s influence for my benefit, and with an unknown father, you can’t provide me with intelligence on the foreign tribes.”
For the first time, Zhou Huaiyan laid out these dark truths so openly in front of Ah Fei.
“I continued pondering your fate. Until that day when my uncle mentioned you had extraordinary potential, I came up with two options. One was to keep you by my side as an ordinary book servant, to please me and serve as a shield for my reputation as a playboy.”
At this moment, Ah Fei’s face… turned deathly pale. He had suspected these things for a long time, but hearing them directly from the young man’s mouth still caused him indescribable pain.
“As for the other option…”
Zhou Huaiyan gently applied the medicine to his wounds.
“Ah Fei, I know you are exceptionally talented and very clever. Therefore, I once considered sending you to the northern border, to join the army as a covert agent. My uncle is aging, Qi Shoubang is getting restless, and the thirty thousand iron cavalry in the north must not fall into their hands.”
“Master…”
Ah Fei stared at him blankly, his previously gloomy and bitter heart suddenly filled with light.
——So the master trusts him this much.
Zhou Huaiyan didn’t quite understand why he suddenly felt the need to explain all this to Ah Fei. He was never accustomed to explaining himself to others. After all, he only needed to give orders.
“So, Ah Fei, you must be obedient. Don’t do unnecessary things, and don’t try to be too clever.”
The young man sighed softly, speaking both to Ah Fei and to himself,
“Otherwise… I won’t be able to allow you to stay by my side.”
Ah Fei’s eyes reddened. He nodded vigorously,
“Yes, this slave will bear this in mind.”
With everything out in the open, Zhou Huaiyan finally felt much more at ease. Seeing the red, swollen whip marks on the kitten’s chest, he couldn’t help but gently blow on them,
“Does it still hurt?”
“No… it doesn’t hurt!”
Not only did it not hurt, but the warm breath from his master falling on the wound dispersed the burning pain. The kitten’s ears blushed without him realizing it. He inconspicuously inched closer, bringing the wound nearer to his master’s face…
Just then, Hongdou’s voice came from outside the room——
“Your Highness, I’ve finished organizing the warehouse.”
Startled, Ah Fei felt an inexplicable panic and tried to step back hastily. However, he tripped over something and fell straight toward Zhou Huaiyan.
“Ah——!”
Zhou Huaiyan instinctively grabbed his waist. The next moment, he felt warmth on his face as the blood from the wound stained the corner of his lips. Hongdou had come to ask what the master wanted for dinner, but as soon as she entered, she heard Ah Fei’s short cry——
“! ! !”
The eldest palace maid thought something had happened and immediately rushed in with a serious expression,
“Your Highness! What happened…”
However, the moment she came in, Hongdou was stunned——
“Your Highness…?”
Zhou Huaiyan was sitting in a chair, his hands holding Ah Fei’s waist. The latter looked flustered, with his back covered in blood-red whip marks. Ah Fei’s hands were holding Zhou Huaiyan’s head, embracing the young man.
“………”
“? ? ! ! ! ! !”
The air in the room seemed to die in that instant.
So His Highness was actually serious…
So His Highness had his eyes on Ah Fei early on, which is why he’s so favored…
The eldest palace maid’s mind was in a state of chaos——
No wonder His Highness didn’t want any beautiful girls around
No wonder he kept that bowl of tiger penis soup…
No wonder Ah Fei said His Highness is very capable…
Hongdou suddenly realized.
——So that’s how it is, ah.
While a bit of a slow burn, their relationship development remains sweet throughout :]Seems like these two will never be able to escape the misunderstandings around them lmaoThanks for the update! 💜
Lmao
Honestly, the slow-burn is starting to hurt, but still bearable.
Thank you for the update
Kyaaa, don’t give up. Something will happen before Chapter 40💪🏻✨🤭
Oh my @v@
Don’t worry, the comedy of the chapter after this one is satisfying enough <3 XD