Fei Li couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, thoughts of that morning rose up again. What would have happened if he had taken longer to notice Lu Qinyi had left? What if he had taken longer to wake up? What if he hadn’t noticed the people at the temple or what if he had been elsewhere in the town?
…
What if Lu Qinyi tried it again? Would he be able to stop him another time?
This was already the third time he had prevented Lu Qinyi from taking his own life. Although Lu Qinyi seemed to be in a numb state of acceptance, that was no guarantee he wouldn’t try to act on his thoughts once more.
Fei Li couldn’t sleep. He laid on his bed for a long time, listening carefully to the sounds from the room beside him. It was quiet through the thin wall between them. Finally, even that wasn’t enough to calm the growing anxiety. Fei Li sighed softly in defeat and got up from the bed. He left the room, closing the door gently behind him. It was late into the night so not a single guest was still awake. The only sound was the quiet creak of the wooden boards under Fei Li’s steps. He walked alone down the hallway before coming to a stop in front of the door to Lu Qinyi’s room.
It remained closed, as expected. But still, Fei Li felt rooted to that spot where he could be certain without a doubt that Lu Qinyi was still safely inside.
Although he was meaning to return to his bed to try to sleep again, he was not able to convince his body to move away from Lu Qinyi’s door. He hadn’t been sure how long he had lingered there when the door before him opened. Lu Qinyi peered at him through the small gap in the doorway. His eyes had a dullness to them as he stared at him without much expression. Fei Li had been caught and didn’t know how he should react, so he only stared back. Lu Qinyi ended up stepping back, pulling the door open.
“It’s weird to stand there. Just come inside already.”
“…How did you know?” Fei Li asked as he accepted the invitation and entered Lu Qinyi’s room.
Lu Qinyi sat at the small table in the room. It wasn’t a high end room, but it wasn’t the cheapest either so it contained a few simple furniture pieces. He pointed to the floorboards at Fei Li’s feet.
“The floor creaks.”
Fei Li sat down across from him. “You were awake then.”
Lu Qinyi poured two cups of water and pushed one towards Fei Li who accepted it.
“Do you think you’re the only one who can’t sleep? I haven’t slept much lately.” There was a pause before he looked at Fei Li and said rather purposefully. “It wasn’t because I was going to sneak out, so you don’t have to guard my door like that.”
Fei Li cast his gaze to the side and pursed his lips, but he didn’t say anything about stopping his behaviour.
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.
Lu Qinyi didn’t bother arguing with him, and he didn’t have the energy to mock him for it either. “…About today…”
Mfl Ol ibbxfv yjmx ja Oe Hlcsl.
“…Gbc’a afii Zfl Zfl jcv Tjcu Tf.”
Mfl Ol’r ygbkr oeggbkfv. “Ktfs tjnf j gluta ab xcbk.” Ccv Mfl Ol cffvfv atfw ab kjamt bnfg Oe Hlcsl jujlc.
Oe Hlcsl bcis rtbbx tlr tfjv. “Pa’r yfaafg lo atfs vbc’a.”
“Better for you or better for them?”
“…Both.”
Fei Li gave him a flat, sceptical look.
Lu Qinyi opened his mouth, then closed it again. He then seemed to think of something and opened his mouth again. “Fei Li.”
Fei Li had been about to raise the cup to his lips when he suddenly lost his grip on the cup. He fumbled for it, hastily putting it back down on the table before he made any more mess.
Lu Qinyi was staring at him with an unreadable look. Fei Li felt uneasy under his silent judgement but he kept a neutral mask on his face. He met Lu Qinyi’s gaze, regardless of how it felt like it were trying to pry him apart to look for the cracks where his mask was weaker.
“No one calls you that, right?”
“…No. No one calls me that. It… surprised me, I suppose.” The only people who dared not call him by his title were his family, and they called him by his birth name. By the time he received his courtesy name, he had already earned a title. The only person who he was even somewhat close with was Xi Ming, who wouldn’t dare think of calling him so casually. Besides Song Lin occasionally teasing him, there was no one who referred to him that way.
Lu Qinyi hummed neutrally. He had only wanted to distract and unarm Fei Li a little, but it had been more effective than he had imagined.
“Don’t tell them.”
Fei Li frowned but before he even had the chance to gather his thoughts to argue, Lu Qinyi had stood up. He left the room with Fei Li quickly getting up to follow him. But he only walked to Fei Li’s room. With a hard yank, he pulled the soft mattress from it. He then ignored Fei Li’s confused expression as he dragged it back to his room. Fei Li had once more trailed behind him, so Lu Qinyi closed the door and dropped the bedding behind it.
“Since you’re invading my room and my privacy, you can sleep on the floor.” Lu Qinyi declared heartlessly as he turned and climbed back onto his own bed.
Fei Li had all but forgotten he was meant to be arguing with Lu Qinyi as he stared incredulously. Lu Qinyi already had his back to Fei Li, with the appearance of going to sleep as he pulled his blanket up to his shoulder.
Sure, this solved his issue perfectly, but Fei Li was still in disbelief that what he was witnessing was real. Lu Qinyi had really just told him to sleep on the floor of his room. At his door no less. What was he? A dog?
To be fair, this was purely for Fei Li’s sake, and Lu Qinyi had been considerate of his comfort by moving the bedding. So after some thought, Fei Li slowly sunk down to the floor. He glanced over at Lu Qinyi’s figure on the bed. Despite how strange a situation it was, Fei Li found his eyelids gradually closing.
“Next time, just get a room with two beds.” He heard Lu Qinyi say but after the day they had been through, Fei Li was too tired to respond.
—
Lu Qinyi had been a lot less talkative after that night. Unless, of course, Fei Li tried to bring up that he felt Yang Xun and Zhao Mei should be informed. Fei Li had started bringing it up just to get Lu Qinyi to open his mouth again. And it was almost impressive to witness how Lu Qinyi could expertly divert the conversation every time.
Lu Qinyi knew Fei Li was doing it, but by giving Fei Li what he wanted, Lu Qinyi was able to get what he desired in return. Fei Li’s silence. Fei Li hadn’t said he would disclose the incident. He could, easily. He had done so many times, simply stated how it would be and refused all objections. What could Lu Qinyi do to stop him if he decided to? Lu Qinyi had no intention of giving him any further reason to tell them, so he had obediently remained within Fei Li’s sights at all times.
It wasn’t like he had a desire to do anything else anyway. He didn’t have a desire for anything, actually.
He ate the meals placed in front of him, slept when night came and rose when day returned. He talked when Fei Li spoke to him, and followed the motions of walking, riding, sitting, living. But he did so like a living doll, simply existing without any desire to do so. Beneath the surface was nothing at all. Like the emptiness in him had swallowed his despair and all that was left was a hollow husk.
He knew Fei Li could tell by the other’s gaze at him that was growing more worried by the day. Lu Qinyi would have to do something to hide it better when he saw Zhao Mei and Yang Xun again.
He didn’t have to think of that yet. He and Fei Li were arriving back a few days before the others were due to return.
Fei Li had no choice but to immediately go report upon his return. He couldn’t even return to his home first. So upon entering the city, Lu Qinyi was entrusted to two of Fei Li’s guards to be escorted to the estate. It had to be two because Lu Qinyi was simply too sly. It would be child’s play for him to trick one guard. However, even that wasn’t enough to set Fei Li at ease. He had questioned whether two would be enough and Lu Qinyi had only rolled his eyes.
Lu Qinyi walked the now familiar streets with his two guards close behind. It was the middle of the day and the streets were filled with streams of people and liveliness. Lu Qinyi had initially seemed detached to the scene around him, his apathetic gaze always straight ahead of him. But his footsteps unexpectedly paused and he suddenly seemed very alert, his head swivelling as he looked around him with urgency. His two guards were confused and wary of the change, but neither was quick enough. Before either could react, Lu Qinyi had used the fact that his guards were standing nearly shoulder to shoulder by grabbing at their shoulders and using it to vault himself over them both. They cried out but couldn’t grab him in time as he shot off into the crowds.
By the time his guards had pushed their way through the throngs of ongoers to catch up to him, he was standing still with his arms spread wide and an uncontainable smile on his face.
“A-Qin!” A woman called again as she rushed straight into his waiting arms, throwing her arms around him in return.
“Chyou.” Lu Qinyi replied as he hugged her tightly.
“A-Qin, Oh A-Qin, it’s really you, isn’t it? You’re alive! Oh, you’re alive, thank the heavens, thank the heavens!” Chen Chyou gushed, clasping his smiling face between her hands. “You idiot! I thought I would never see you again.” She said, sniffling hard as she tried to hold back the relieved tears that spilled over her cheeks anyway.
“I won’t die that easily.” Lu Qinyi tactfully left out the part where he had tried and tested that statement and that unfortunately, he had found it to be true so far.
Chen Chyou’s delicate face became a scowl as she pinched his cheeks hard and pulled at them painfully. “Then why haven’t you written to me? Where have you been living, how dare you not visit me? You could have let me know you were alive and well at the very least! Do you know how worried I was about you?!”
“Ow ow owww, Chyou, I’m sorry, okay? How was I meant to know where you live, you don’t even live in the South anymore!”
Chen Chyou blinked. “Oh. Yes. I suppose that is the case, isn’t it?” She released his cheeks. “Well, you have no excuse now. And it’s called the Southern Territory now! You’ll get in trouble if you keep calling it the South.” She then lit up with excitement. “A-Qin, do you live here too? Is where you live far from here?”
“No, I live very close.” Lu Qinyi clasped her hands and pulled at them. “Chyou, come with.”
“Okay! But A-Qin, who are those people?” Chen Chyou asked, finally acknowledging the two guards who had been standing nearby. The guards were watching the two closely as they knew Fei Li would have their skin if anything happened.
Lu Qinyi shrugged. “Not important, let’s go already.”
Chen Chyou was easily convinced, only giving the guards that hovered near them a passing look as she followed Lu Qinyi.
Author’s Note:
See guys? I can be nice to him! Sometimes!
Happy Holidays all~ Merry Christmas (or Happy Solstice) to those who celebrate🎉
I wish a most wonderful end of year to you all, thank for a really wonderful time. See you all in the new year~
Who is Chen Chyou? New character?
Thanks for your hard work dear author! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too 💕
A very old one actually! She has only been vaguely mentioned once, back in the days of FL being LQ’s captive. This is our first time meeting her
Its my joy to write and get to share it with you guys 💕
I hope it’s not the fiance. I can’t remember her name.
heh.
No one could ever seduce LQ like FL can anyway~