Ah Jin asked again, “Aren’t you my man? Ah, An Xie, dig into your conscience, who is the one truly sincere to you, me or An Chengjing?”
Embarrassed, An Xie let him go. Seeing Ah Jin’s face turn red with anger, as did the corners of his eyes, he quickly coaxed him in a soft voice, “Why are your eyelids so shallow, I said a few words to you and you want to cry?”
“To hell with you!” Ah Jin scolded him. “What do you want to do? I can’t rest assured, so I’ll just follow you!”
“Tsk!”
An Xie pushed him down again, telling him to shut up and started to take off clothes, not his own, but Ah Jin’s.
Ah Jin sensed something and began to struggle. He had martial arts skills, and his strikes were fierce. When he twisted his waist and struck with an elbow, he didn’t expect An Xie to not dodge.
The elbow hit the armor-clad chest, and the internal force wasn’t easily blocked.
An Xie made a muffled grunt and coughed. Ah Jin didn’t expect that he would hurt An Xie, and his face instantly drained of color in fear. He twisted his body to see how An Xie was doing.
But large hands with golden gauntlets pressed down on his head, forcibly holding it with cupped hands, preventing him from looking back.
An Xie gasped, feeling a dull pain in his chest. “You almost murdered your superior,” he said.
Hearing this, Ah Jin’s face turned even paler. “Are you hurt? Why didn’t you dodge?!” He struggled anxiously, wanting to see An Xie.
An Xie wouldn’t let him and chuckled.
“What’s there to be nervous about? It’s nothing serious. But if you give me a few more blows, you might really make me cough up blood.”
He caressed the back of Ah Jin’s neck soothingly. Every time Ah Jin feared he would anger An Xie, he would replace ‘you‘ with ‘you,’ reverting into the humble-in-his-bones servant he used to be.
After he finished speaking, Ah Jin stopped struggling. He was as obedient as a tiger with its teeth pulled out and its claws chopped off. He knelt under the bed, his upper body lying on the quilt, meekly cooperating with submissive demeanor.
His appearance was so pitiful it made one’s heart ache.
An Xie felt a bit upset inside, and both his expression and the aura he exuded became much softer. The cool armor pressed against Ah Jin’s skin, the metallic clash caused Ah Jin’s eye rims to redden, and a cold shiver ran down his spine, raising goosebumps.
An Xie’s hand undid the tied-up hair, letting the black strands fall loose, accentuating Ah Jin’s paleness.
In truth, Ah Jin was very fair. He wasn’t born skinny with a sallow complexion. His neck and face were completely different in color from his body. His skin was like freshly squeezed goat milk and felt silky to the touch. His face and neck, however, were tanned from running around under the sun.
This fool…
An Xie kissed him on the neck and cheeks.
Four hours later, as dusk approached, the sky darkened.
A servant came knocking on the door, saying that the several other high-ranking military officers were looking for the General.
“Got it.”
An Xie responded, and only after the servant left did he release Ah Jin’s mouth. Without support, Ah Jin collapsed weakly on the ground, and An Xie picked him up by the waist and threw him onto the bed.
An Xie took a cloth to wipe himself clean, tidied his armor, then dampened the cloth to wipe Ah Jin as well.
Ah Jin was breathing softly and rapidly, his eyes half-closed, his skin tinged with a faint pink hue, his lips shiny, An Xie having bitten away the dead skin.
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.
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He leaned close to Ah Jin’s ear and whispered softly, “You’re so skilled, you’ve really dug out the Emperor's corner…”
The person on the bed murmured something, but his voice was too low to be heard clearly.
An Xie pressed his palm against Ah Jin’s face, poking him playfully, laughing like a fool without knowing exactly why he felt happy.
Once again, he recalled the words he had read in a book before: When you are with the person you like, even a look in their eyes feels like walking on clouds, flying up towards heaven like an immortal…
The person you like, huh?
After a while, An Xie leaned over the ear of the person lying on the bed and asked softly, “Ah Jin, where’s the brocade pouch you made for me? Where did you put it?”
Ah Jin struggled to open his eyes, but he was too exhausted from being done hard. He heard himself say indistinctly, “It’s finished… under the bed…”
He finished speaking, his vision dimming, only able to see that the man seemed to squat down to fish out something under the bed.
His vision completely darkened, and he fell into a deep sleep.
And An Xie held the red rope brocade pouch embroidered with mandarin ducks and looked at it for a long time. He hung it around his neck and left the room.
Ah Jin, I’ve said it before. If I die, or luckily survive, then my next life…
A clean, upright, free and easy next life will belong only to you.
… …
Not knowing how long it had been, Ah Jin suddenly sat up in bed. He had a nightmare where An Xie was killed. Startled awake and eyes wide, he looked around and found no one. He staggered to his feet, leaned against the wall, wrapped himself in clothes, and rushed out.
What time is it?
How long has An Xie been gone?!
He pushed away the servant’s supporting arm and rushed to the military camp. He froze as soon as he reached it.
Torches burned one by one, and all the high-ranking military officers were kneeling at the entrance of the camp. These soldiers who had once looked down on An Xie, a nobleman, but were subdued by him one by one, were now staring at Ah Jin with red eyes.
For the first time, the fox-like strategist did not smile but stood there with a sullen face.
This scene was like…
“Where is An Xie? Where’s An Xie—!”
Ah Jin shouted at them, his heart skipping a beat.
The military officers remained silent. The strategist sighed and said in a lowered voice, “The army provisions have just arrived. Ah Jin, take a look…”
He gestured for someone to bring up a sealed sack of food. As Ah Jin approached, he drew out a knife and stabbed the sealed sack, making a large hole in the burlap sack. What flowed out should have been grain but it was just sand…
Ah Jin’s pupils contracted into pinpricks.
The strategist shook his head and sighed, “It’s all fake… That person… wants us dead!”
“The General knew it before the army provisions arrived. He reorganized the troops four hours ago and talked to us about this…”
An Xie summoned all the soldiers and military officers overnight. This time, he didn’t stand on the reviewing-troops platform but sat at the edge carrying a jug of wine in one hand. Next to him, two servants carried a large vat of wine on wooden poles, while others held trays with stacked small wine cups.
The soldiers and several subordinates didn’t know what to do and looked at An Xie in confusion, who remained silent.
It wasn’t until everyone was gathered that An Xie spoke.
His first sentence was: “The news about the enemy in the mountain is false, and the provisions are probably false too! The Emperor just wants us dead.”
The second sentence was: “I have decided to take a small team alone up the mountain. The one he wants to kill the most is me. If I die, he may spare the rest of you.”
The third sentence was: “I, An Xie, apologize to you all. You have fought with me on the border to defend our country, laying down your life and shedding your blood fighting on the battlefield, and now… haha, we’re to be killed by our own people. I will select twenty men from among you. You must not be your family’s only son, you must not be married, you must not have parents to look after, and you must not be younger than twenty.”
“Brothers…” An Xie grinned, looking at his comrades who had been through life and death with him countless times. “Those who are willing to die with me, step onto the platform.”
After he finished speaking, the high-ranking military officers below were first shocked, then angry, and finally their eyes reddened.
They had long known that there were many examples of putting away the good bow when the flying bird is used up, and generally, it was their group of soldiers who could both kill and die that were sent to their deaths! And it was those pleasure-seeking ministers holding pens in their hands, who decided the life and death of a whole group of people, just by yapping a few words!
The soldiers clenched their fists, choking back sobs. Someone stared at An Xie with scarlet eyes and shouted, “General, let’s rebel!”
They don’t see us as human beings, so why are we guarding that pack of beasts!
One took the lead, and soon everyone below was shouting in agreement, and soon they formed a line.
“Rebel against him! Rebel! Rebel!”
An Xie sat on the platform, lifted the wine jug, and started drinking. When he finished, the smile on his face faded, replaced by a grim expression as he threw down the jug in front of the high-ranking military officer who was shouting the loudest.
“Bang—”
Everyone fell silent.
“Rebel? Bullshit!” An Xie pointed at them and sneered, “You can rebel just as you fucking say, but what about your wives, children, mothers, and fathers at home! If I die, you won’t have to die. Do you understand?!”
“Is it better for twenty or twenty thousand to die, can’t you fucking do the math?!”
An Xie finished yelling, and the military officers below fell silent. A few of the younger ones started to shed tears.
“General… We don’t want you to die…”
An Xie’s eyes reddened, his nose tingled, and he bit his lip to hold back his emotions. Then, with a hearty grin, he said, “If I, An Xie, die for you all, then this An Xie’s death is worth it!”
He grabbed the wine jar. “Cut the crap. I’ll be going to see our friends soon. Those who are coming with me, step forward!”
After he spoke, several people clamored to climb onto the platform.
But as soon as someone climbed up, they were kicked down by others.
“You damn well shut it! You're the only one with a handle at home!”
“Hey! You get lost, I’m going! You know very well if you’ve got a wife or not!”
“You damn brat, are you even twenty yet?! Beat it!”
“I’m going with the General!”
“Like hell you are!”
Things almost turned into a brawl later. Everyone was red-eyed, pushing off each other. The strategist wiped his eyes and shouted, “Enough!”
The people below the platform froze, but those above started laughing.
An Xie turned around, and there were definitely more than twenty men grinning at him and shouting in unison, “General, we’ll live and die with you!”
An Xie wiped away the tears from the corner of his eyes with determination, stood up, and grabbed the high-ranking military officers who led the army and kicked them down. He knew all his soldiers, so he carefully selected and threw out those who had sneaked into the group.
In the end, he couldn’t continue the struggle. The remaining soldiers, with tears in their eyes, knelt before An Xie and clung to his legs. These brave men, who had never hesitated to face the enemy in battle, were now so panicked that they were sobbing, their noses running and tears streaming down their faces.
“We won’t go down, even if it means death!”
As soon as they cried, the soldiers below the platform once again began to climb up.
“Enough!” An Xie shouted hoarsely, looking towards the strategist, who was now crying uncontrollably, covering his face with his sleeve.
An Xie was amused by him.
“They are it!”
He pulled the kneeling soldiers to their feet, and asked the servants to bring up the wine. An Xie used the wine cups to scoop out the wine from the vat.
Each person had a wine cup, and An Xie also took one.
He laughed wildly and shouted, “Are you afraid!”
The soldiers in front held their cups and shouted back, “Not afraid!”
“Good!”
An Xie and the soldiers in front raised their cups and drank them dry. Then, they smashed the cups onto the platform, shattering them into countless fragments.
With just over twenty men, An Xie mounted his horse and left the military camp.
The remaining soldiers and military officers knelt together at the gate of the military camp they left from, refusing to leave for a long time…
Author’s Note:
When An Xie left the capital, he had a fairly good idea of his fate, and it was also around this time that he and Ah Jin got together, so he didn’t want to make empty promises to Ah Jin. He couldn’t flee either; if he did, those die-hard loyal subordinates of his would undoubtedly end up in trouble. The Emperor wouldn’t spare them.
Ahhhhhh I’m sobbing 😭 And the pouch was Ah Jin’s!!!
Thanks the the translation!
*for the translation
My eyes were blurry from tears guh