Lin Bozhou, the father-style boyfriend.
Translation Checker: jellypeaches
Editor: jellypeaches, Special_K
The eunuchs were confused, exchanging bewildered looks with each other.
Then, they saw the youth, who was blocked by Lin Bozhou’s figure, peek his head out. When he saw them, he let out a yell, “Ah—”
Lin Bozhou tilted his head slightly and replied with two words.
“Get out.”
The eunuchs hurried out. It was only after they left that they belatedly remembered to cover their eyes.
Gosh, they worried for nothing.
The husband and wife were harmoniously playing.
Meng Huan was stunned into stillness. He gawked and then looked at Lin Bozhou, not processing what had happened, “Did they see what we were doing?”
He was assisting Lin Bozhou with the chamber pot, and to have witnesses while doing this was! Very! Embarrassing! For both of them!
“Not sure,” Lin Bozhou lowered his eyelashes. “I cannot see.”
“…”
Although it was the truth, it sounded a bit off.
Meng Huan took a breath and fastened the man’s lower garments, ridding himself of the sense of shame.
A basin of hot water had been left by the fleeing eunuchs, and was sitting by the folding screen.
“Your Royal Highness, time to wash up.” You Jin said while entering.
Seeing You Jin, Meng Huan relaxed a little.
Here came someone to replace him.
You Jin was a eunuch who had been looking after Lin Bozhou since he was a child. A court eunuch does not have a gender identity, and unlike a female maid or a male servant, there was nothing that would be considered awkward or inappropriate in an eunuch’s service.
After leaving Lin Bozhou in You Jin’s care, Meng Huan washed his hands, wrung out a clean handkerchief to wash his face and listened to You Jin bustle around Lin Bozhou. “Your Royal Highness, raise your hands.”
“Your Royal Highness, turn your face to the side.”
“Good, now Your Royal Highness, turn around again.”
Their relationship as master and servant was quite good. You Jin was only twelve years old when he rid himself of his root and went to the East Palace to serve Crown Prince Lin Luan. Who would have thought the Crown Prince would be disinherited? Afterwards, he followed the former Crown Prince all the way to Guzhou, where he cared for Lin Bozhou from birth and brought him up. Thus, they had a very close relationship.
—It was equivalent to a male mother.
After Meng Huan finished washing his face, he stood aside to watch Lin Bozhou.
With Lin Bozhou’s tall frame and refusal to bow his head, You Jin had to wipe the man’s face on tiptoe, wetting Lin Bozhou’s eyelashes. Although he couldn’t see out of his eyes at the moment, the superior aura he gave off remained undiminished.
Suddenly, Lin Bozhou opened his mouth and asked, “Where is Huan Huan?”
He didn’t hear any sound from Meng Huan and began to question.
This question made Meng Huan feel as if his heart was clenched by something.
“Oh, Your Royal Highness.” You Jin forced out a smile, and turned towards Meng Huan. “The Royal Consort is watching from the side. Why has Your Royal Highness become so pressed after such a short separation?”
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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Not able to locate Meng Huan, his anxiety seemed to surge up again.
Meng Huan answered, “I’m here.”
Lin Bozhou’s brows, which were furrowed before, slowly relaxed.
Pursing his lips, he quietly murmured a few words.
“That’s good, then.”
–
Chen An entered through the door with the Emperor’s reply, saying, “His Majesty sent a message, expressing his concern and granting Your Royal Highness a few days rest. Your Royal Highness can return to the court after the eye illness heals.”
Lin Bozhou stood and waited for You Jin to brush his hair, making a sound of acknowledgement.
“Your Royal Highness,” Anxiety was noticeable in Chen An’s tone, “You might not return to the imperial court for another ten days to half a month due to this episode. Now, with court matters being left to the cabinet, there is too much room for them to interfere.”
He sounded very frustrated.
Although Lin Bozhou’s administrators were also saddened by the recurrence of Lin Bozhou’s eye illness, they were more anxious about Lin Bozhou’s ambitions. At present, the situation was urgent and the court was very susceptible to change, surging like a gathering storm. Lin Bozhou’s loss of sight also meant he lost control of the court, which was like handing his political opponents an opportunity on a silver platter.
“It can’t be helped when it comes to health.” Lin Bozhou said, “This Regent is well-aware, you are dismissed.”
“Understood.”
Since Lin Bozhou had said so, Chen An naturally agreed. There was no other reason. Although Lin Bozhou was stuck in the compound, his eyes and informants were all over the capital, so he would know about any movements.
At this time, the servants finally brought in the food.
This morning’s menu was unusually light, without many large fish or meat dishes, but instead rich snow-white soup, steamed buns and twisted rolls, and boiled milk, with lightly flavoured stir-fried and pickled veggies in the mix as well. There were even eight different kinds of congee, a huge variety.
When Meng Huan replaced his chopsticks with a spoon, he heard a clang.
“Your Royal Highness!!!” You Jin screamed.
Meng Huan turned sideways and saw Lin Bozhou standing up from his chair and facing in his direction. He didn’t know whether the man was trying to come over or something else, but he smacked the corner of the table hard with his knee, shifting the whole table by a few inches.
Lin Bozhou hung his head without making a single sound, but the veins on his neck popped up slightly. It was obvious he felt the pain from the impact.
Meng Huan was shocked. “Your Royal Highness.”
Lin Bozhou had a proud personality. When his attendants see him make a fool of himself, they all tacitly agree that they saw nothing. After You Jin shouted, he instantly shut his lips tightly, his eyes full of worry.
Meng Huan understood. He took Lin Bozhou by the hand, guided him to the table and sat him down on the chair, pulling the man’s trousers up to see the bruise.
But before he could, his hand was pressed down and Lin Bozhou said with a cold voice, “It’s nothing.”
Meng Huan became inexplicably more stubborn. “Just let me check.”
After a moment of stalemate, the hand pressing down on him ceased moving. Meng Huan checked the spot and saw a bruise on the man’s knee. It wasn’t large. He touched the wound with his fingertips and blew on it. “Fuuu…It doesn’t hurt.”
The morning light entering the hall created a mottled pattern of light and shadow.
The fair youth leaned close to Lin Bozhou’s leg, touched the wound, applied tonic wine and then lowered the trouser leg back down.
Whenever Lin Bozhou lost his sight, his hearing was enhanced. Therefore, he disliked noise, people’s incessant talking, and loud screams. He was already irritated from not being able to see, and any increased agitation would only become fuel feeding his anger.
But now, there was a rare peace in his heart.
Meng Huan chirped, “Time to eat.”
Between the eight kinds of congee, he picked up a bowl at random and sat in front of Lin Bozhou. “Want some pork congee?”
Lin Bozhou nodded in response.
Meng Huan scooped out a spoonful, tested the temperature and then gently held it to Lin Bozhou’s lips. “Your Royal Highness, open your mouth.”
Lin Bozhou’s eyelids twitched. His lips were pale, and the upper half of his face was covered by the white gauze, making his nose and lips seem particularly cold. It was hard to imagine that a proud man like him would one day be reduced to needing someone to feed him.
Before, when he was blind, he would eat by himself. His clumsy wrists would spill soup on his clothes, but the servants could only cry beside him silently, not daring to point it out.
Reminding him would only hurt his pride.
Lin Bozhou opened his lips, and the warm congee was ushered into his mouth. The spoon had a raised handle and round scoop, and with each scoop it would be half-full. When he took the spoon into his mouth and closed his soft pink lips, some congee leaked out from between them.
Meng Huan wanted to wipe it clean with a handkerchief, but Lin Bozhou poked out the tip of his scarlet tongue and gently licked his lip.
“…”
Meng Huan’s hand paused and his mind went blank.
Although he didn’t know why, Lin Bozhou’s current appearance, blindfolded and licking the spoon like that while eating, caused a stir somewhere in Meng Huan’s heart.
It felt like dominance and submission, especially with the high-ranking and powerful Lin Bozhou.
He seemed to be experiencing some of the thrill of SM relationships.
“……”
Surprised by his own thoughts, Meng Huan felt that he had read too many yellow novels, and his mind was filled with yellow thoughts TvT. He quickly dismissed the idea, took back the spoon and scooped more congee.
Lin Bozhou bowed his head and ate without saying a word.
After the initial strange feeling had passed, Meng Huan only felt that Lin Bozhou was being unbelievably obedient to him.
In front of him, Lin Bozhou had lowered his head and, because of his height, bent his back slightly to accommodate Meng Huan. When he heard Meng Huan’s movements, the eyes under the white gauze would subconsciously seek the youth out, despite not seeing anything.
—Seeking out the only light source in the darkness.
Meng Huan’s heart was inexplicably soft.
It was as if something had clenched onto his heart and sapped away his strength.
He also calmed down and continued to feed the man.
When there was only half a bowl of congee left, someone entered the door.
“Your Royal Highness, Senior Cui heard of your eye illness and sent a century-old ginseng, asking Your Royal Highness to look after your health. He is waiting in the cabinet for the day Your Royal Highness recovers and returns to work.”
When a senior official of Lin Bozhou’s level gets sick, sensible officials would come to visit him. Even if he closed his doors to visitors, gifts and messages of concern should reach him. This was the courtesy of officialdom.
Meng Huan blinked and said in surprise, “The relapse happened last night and he already knows about it this morning?”
Lin Bozhou said, “It might have been even earlier.”
There were people in the court looking forward to Lin Bozhou’s downfall, so they had a thorough understanding of any news about him. No matter when, there would always be someone who secretly watched his movements. It was possible that there were eyes on them even within the compound.
Regarding these eyes of his, except for those in the compound who were eager for them to get better, people were burning incense and making donations of a decade of their lifespans to Buddha hoping that Lin Bozhou would never see again.
The attendant then asked, “Your Royal Highness, that ginseng—”
“Boil it into medicinal soup.” Lin Bozhou’s voice was calm, “Thank him for his kindness in this Regent’s place.”
By his tone, he didn’t sound very thankful at all.
–
The weather was very hot.
Beside the lotus pond, Meng Huan had his head buried in writing characters. His head was lowered, hiding a gloomy expression.
“Precious fruits are plums and apples, important vegetables are mustard and ginger. Seas are salty while rivers are fresh, the scaled submerge while the feathered soar.” With a straight face, Shan Shu recited the passage from the Thousand Character Classic with a threatening ruler in one hand, showing no hint of mercy.
—Even if a certain person’s husband, Lin Bozhou, was sitting right beside him.
After lunch, without anything that needed to be done, Lin Bozhou followed Meng Huan to listen in on his literacy lesson.
Currently, Lin Bozhou was wearing a plain white silk outfit with white gauze over his eyes. He sat quietly in a chair with his head down, with a maid slowly fanning behind him. With his eyes hidden, it was hard to tell if Lin Bozhou was awake or asleep.
The Book of Family Names and Thousand Character Classic were learning books for children at the beginning for their education. Lin Bozhou had memorized these two books when he was three years old, but at twenty-six, he had to listen to his wife memorize it from scratch.
Shan Shu said, “Salt.”
Meng Huan cried, “…Don’t know.”
Shan Shu frowned deeply and smacked the ruler onto his palm twice with a pa pa.
Meng Huan: QAQ.
His nerves were tingling as he nervously pondered.
Beside him, Lin Bozhou seemed to have chuckled.
When he chuckled, Meng Huan knew that the man was not sleeping, but listening.
—It was like those parents who sit in the back of the classroom to watch their kids attend class. No matter how stupid their kids act, the parents would never blame their kids. They would only be happy for the kids’ progress, even if it was only by an inch.
Lin Bozhou, really was like a father-style boyfriend.
Meng Huan grumbled, buried his head and continued writing.
However, thanks to this day-in and day-out, he was now familiar with the strokes and structure of traditional Chinese characters and was learning to write faster than before, completing his studies ahead of schedule.
From his place in the shade, Shan Xing walked along the circuitous corridors and came in. First he saluted Lin Bozhou, then asked Shan Shu, “Father, they asked me to ask when we would be free during the light show to go to the riverside for a drink. We can admire the fireworks and lanterns and the beauty of the summer night.”
As elegant scholars, they liked to travel around the most bustling places, drink wine, sing, and beat their clappers.
Shan Shu twirled his beard and seemed to be considering it.
Meng Huan raised his eyes and remembered the lanterns outside the compound.
Although there was a curfew in the city, it was slightly relaxed during the light show. Now it was pushed to the third of the five night watches.
During this period, the whole city was relaxed and bustling. It was a wonderful time of bright lights and fireworks, a scene of great prosperity.
…It must be very beautiful, right?
Meng Huan thought for a moment and turned to Lin Bozhou.
He smiled with his eyes glittering like stars and his small white canines peeking from his lips.
His voice was filled with anticipation. “Your Royal Highness, shall we go out of the compound and take a look?”
The author has something to say:
Oh yay, I always like the scene of two darlings watching fireworks together on a summer night.
(Oh no, Lin-gou can’t see.)
😂We all had dirty thoughts at the end of the last chapter? 😅🤣🤣🤣 Who didn’t?
I had to double take because Meng Huan said “go take a look” and was like?? Lin Bozhou can’t see right now bby 😭
What do you expect from HuanHuan 😭 he will be forgiven anyway
Lol he really said ‘let’s go take a look ‘ 😅😆
He’s sweet and silly
Thank you for your translation ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Huan huan can be his highness’ eyes 😌
Huan Huan is crazy lol.
Thank You for the new chapter (⸝⸝⍢⸝⸝) ෆ
I did wonder if these two would take advantage of the blindfold in the marital bed 🙈
Haha, unless your husband’s eye illness recovers quickly by some miracle, what’s he gonna have a look at?
Thanks for the chapter!
Crossing my fingers that gentle Dom Huanhuan makes a reappearance in later chapters! What better way to force your workaholic husband to take better care of himself than to make a sexy game of it?
i like lin bozhou’s blind era :] i think this arc is important for their dynamic to shift into something more akin to lovers than just a conjugal relationship
aiya waiting for next chapter, thanks for the chapter😊