UCTOOT CH87

The sun beat down fiercely. Shi Shu lay on a lounge chair under the shade of bamboo, a lotus leaf covering his face.

“What to do? Your boyfriend went on a business trip. Isn’t this like having your boyfriend leave right after the wedding?” Du Zihan said.

Shi Shu: “What’s wrong with leaving? It’s normal.”

“Normal, bro? What do you think? Just started dating, and the boyfriend is flying everywhere for work.”

Shi Shu took off the lotus leaf, sat up, and turned over the herbs drying in the sun: “Isn’t this very normal? Normal.”

“Little Schoolbag, can you even handle dating? Don’t touch feelings. I’m even puzzled how you two started dating. One second in a sea of bad blood, the next second dating. The spectator is confused; I can’t understand your relationship. So, have you accepted what he did?”

Shi Shu: “Seeking common ground while reserving differences, ever studied politics?”

Du Zihan: “You’re even applying studies now.”

Shi Shu hadn’t told anyone about the system and climbing into bed. Tidying up the warm honeysuckle, he recalled Xie Wuchi.

Several days ago, after Xie Wuchi received that letter, with only a moment’s delay, he ordered a troop and set off. It’s been three or four days now.

Shi Shu said: “In short, in a word, the situation is as you see it, just live with it for now.”

Xie Wuchi was now the new Emperor’s exclusive butcher, the handiest sharp blade, pointing his sword at the court’s decaying framework, rigid system, and greedy parasites. Among them were those seeking petty profits, distorting black and white, greedy for life and afraid of death, sucking marrow from bones. Since he was first employed a few years ago, Xie Wuchi’s thunderous methods had been used freely.

Arbitrary and decisive, saving countless people, but also staining his hands with monstrous slaughter. How could such a person be easily judged right or wrong?

Shi Shu recalled Xie Wuchi’s words: “Isn’t he going to Yunzhou this time because Feng Chongshan couldn’t hold on, so he went to support and relieve the garrison? Some people aren’t that good, but not that bad either. Feng Chongshan is a conservative who advocates peace, but it doesn’t mean he wants to betray the country.”

A few days ago, on the last night before Xie Wuchi’s departure, although Shi Shu didn’t think much of a business trip, he still comforted him, breaking things down clearly for him.

“—Feng Chongshan has received imperial grace for generations, granted the title of Jiedushi, reaching high prominence. There is no need to betray the country. As a military commander, there is a rule ‘civilians die for admonition, military die for war’. If Feng Chongshan loses Yunzhou and the pass, he must commit suicide to apologize. He hasn’t reached the point of being tired of living. However, even if Feng Chongshan defends the city to the death, firstly, he can’t stop the Northern Min army’s wolf-like southward raid. Secondly, among the officials supporting him within Great Jing, there are many constraints.”​

“The so-called Imperial treasury is empty, military pay and provisions are lacking, and support from other armies is even slower. Behind this, there are many supervising armies, and multiple forces of peace-advocating officials have entered the field. Now Yunzhou has long become a territory for various parties to show their power. For example, conservative officials: if Yunzhou is defeated, they can take this opportunity to shake the war-advocating faction; for example, royal relatives: let the Imperial Guard go to support, but how many empty names eating empty pay are in the army? They are unwilling to touch this bad luck; there are also some transport commissioners, grain officials, and water transport officials who have long embezzled grain and materials completely. How can they squeeze them out at this time?”

“The Emperor saw that multiple forces were already gaming in Yunzhou, so he transferred me there because I am a new faction, having little involvement with the old party, and my wrist has been iron-blooded enough since the new policy.”

For Xie Wuchi himself, the satisfying point of slapping the villain’s face came again; he had to go display his authority.

Shi Shu listened more or less. After saying these words, he didn’t object. Arranging Du Zihan to rest in his yard, Shi Shu and Xie Wuchi had rare time to chat, talking about many old things from when they were separated, supplementing unfinished words.

Sleeping in the mass grave, waking up from a nightmare shouting “Xie Wuchi save me!”—that was true. There was a terrifying big ghost in the dream, seemingly the person hanged on the branch at Liushui Nunnery, with broken hands and feet, green face and fangs. Shi Shu was too desperate in the dream and subconsciously shouted for Xie Wuchi to save his life!

Originally, he just wanted to have a good chat about old times with Xie Wuchi. Unexpectedly, as they chatted, they kissed again. The summer night was muggy. The silk on the bed was replaced with a bamboo mat, copper-colored like skin, capable of leaving marks on the skin with force. After Xie Wuchi took off his clothes, his powerful, lustful muscles were reflected on the bedding, his arms tight and powerful, a young, majestic beast incarnate of desire. Shi Shu lay face-to-face in his arms; when overwhelmed, memories would become blurred.

Shi Shu’s ears turned red. He could only remember making Xie Wuchi happy, then straddling his waist, grinding against his burning hard abs. Sounds, smells, temperature, water mist mixed together.

Very hot, sweating profusely. The skin touched by the two was sweaty, unbearably damp, hot when palms stroked over. In the sweltering summer, he and Xie Wuchi’s vigorous bodies embraced and kissed tirelessly, enjoying the stimulation of lust.

Skin grinding against skin, lips and teeth entangled endlessly, every inch of skin pressed tightly together. Xie Wuchi’s shoulder bones were very hard, but the muscle wrapping made the touch better. Under the gauze curtain of the bed cover, Shi Shu only remembered endless licking. Xie Wuchi’s distinctly jointed hand touched from his chest to his earlobe, the knuckles thick but sharp, gently pinching Shi Shu’s neck.

Changed many positions, sweat breeding between skins. Didn’t achieve penetration, but the thirsty skin seemed soaked by sweat. Xie Wuchi’s strength was not small. Shi Shu didn’t resist him like before, trying to accept his touch. The surging fire of desire spread. Calculating carefully, Xie Wuchi would be twenty-six soon. Except for touching Shi Shu in the first two years, he hadn’t had intimate relationships, so now he appeared insatiable, his skin full of attraction.

Intimacy, intimacy. Shi Shu saw all the looks Xie Wuchi never showed in front of outsiders.

He and Xie Wuchi played with some inexplicable things on the mattress, tossing and turning endlessly.

But as to why he confirmed the relationship with Xie Wuchi, Shi Shu’s purpose was unclear.

Always losing emotional control towards him, kissing and touching Xie Wuchi, needed a name. As for why kiss and touch him, it seemed like being pushed by the subconscious. After making venting actions, Shi Shu’s psychological burden lightened.

However, to make Shi Shu admit he liked him, hard to say…

Also… the matter of climbing into bed. If later…

Shi Shu yawned, dark circles under his eyes: “Can’t figure it out, can’t figure out pure love.”

Du Zihan: “Ah? Elaborate.”

Shi Shu: “Won’t elaborate, take it one step at a time.”

Summer shade was long. After Xie Wuchi went to Yunzhou, Shi Shu went to the military camp with Lin Yangchun, helping him process herbs, take in wounded soldiers, and clean and disinfect daily necessities every day.

Dating, if not chatting for a long time, was like not dating. Confirming the relationship was used to restrain oneself. If the conviction was slightly weaker, convincing oneself was difficult.

Outside the military doctors’ tents, herbs and gauze were dried every day, fluttering fiercely on bamboo poles in the wind. Shi Shu helped grab medicine, decoct medicine, and receive patients. Fortunately, Xie Wuchi was quite good, sending him letters every day.

Lin Yangchun said: “The weather is getting hotter, and more and more soldiers are suffering from heatstroke. More Qi-replenishing pills need to be prepared recently. Xiao Xie, you’ll have to work hard!”​

Shi Shu: “Old Lin, I haven’t had a single good day following you.”

Lin Yangchun clicked his tongue: “Doing good deeds, accumulating virtue, Xiao Lang, you are a blessed person!”

Shi Shu opened his eyes every day just to work. Plus, being an honest child, he really worked. When resting, he usually lay on the cool bed without the strength to even lift a finger, sleeping heavier than a dead pig, with almost no rest time.

During this period, Xie Wuchi sent quite a few letters.

Love words were suitable to be said face to face. If written in a letter and hijacked, it would be a huge shock to this world. So Xie Wuchi’s daily letters only wrote about daily living, what he ate, when he got up and rested, reporting daily itinerary.

“Tsk…”

Irrelevant, plain as water.

Shi Shu didn’t know what to write. At first, he replied with a few sentences. Later, many soldiers in the camp suffered from heatstroke, and he was too busy to touch the ground every day, so he just ticked and wrote “Read” in the letter, asking the messenger to send it back.

That day, a group of people was sent back from Yunzhou, specifically rushing to the military doctor camp. When Shi Shu entered with a handkerchief, he heard that person talking to Lin Yangchun: “Imperial Physician Lin, the Min army is still attacking the city under this scorching sun. Now the corpses outside the city are not cleaned up in time. In summer, they rot and stink too fast, I’m afraid a plague will arise!”

Lin Yangchun wore a thin outer shirt, preparing medicine, sweating profusely: “Speak clearly.”

“Lord Commander has ordered, inviting you to Yunzhou to prevent the plague!”

Lin Yangchun smashed the basin in his hand: “The speed of saving people can’t catch up with your speed of killing!”

Shi Shu entered and asked: “How is the battle situation in Yunzhou?”

This person said: “The Northern Min army has attacked the city for over a month. Grain and materials in the city have long been cut off and are being transported. As for below the city, fortified walls and cleared fields, all slaughtered, burned, and looted. Corpses piled up too much, thrown from inside the city to outside, and the Min army outside the city threw them everywhere… When this humble one came looking at the road from the city, the surroundings were full of the stench of rotting corpses…”

“And the Northern Min army deliberately used catapults to throw diseased corpses into Yunzhou city. These corpses carried the Black Death, leprosy, malaria. They want to expand casualties and infection, slaughtering the entire city!”​

“…”

Shi Shu felt cold in his ears, like falling into an ice cellar: “Deliberately throwing diseased corpses into the city?!”

“Yes! It’s hot now, and ghost poison spreads fastest. If large-scale infection is caused, people in the entire city might die out!”

Lin Yangchun’s face was terrible: “Who exactly in the Northern Min army could come up with such vicious means? This is simply appalling! Appalling…”

During the Spring and Autumn Period, wars stressed etiquette. Later, the virtues of war vanished completely, everything only for victory.

Shi Shu: “Master, are we going?”

Lin Yangchun: “Go!”

Shi Shu hurriedly embarked on the journey to Yunzhou with Lin Yangchun. Escorted by military vehicles all the way, the carriage sped on the official road in the scorching sun. The Great Jing soldiers responsible for picking up Imperial Physician Lin had been to the Yunzhou frontline.

The dense forest was cool. Shi Shu sat on the carriage board, took out a water flask, and drank a mouthful, thinking about this journey to Yunzhou.

Changping Prefecture and Xinggu Prefecture, controlled by Xie Wuchi, had been peaceful all along. Although they were unstable borderlands, after staying here for a while, Shi Shu felt rare peace and tranquility.

And now, feeling he hadn’t had a few good days, he was immediately rushing to the next battlefield. Over there was where war flames flew, unknown dangers and traps, possibly a point of no return!

Convinced.

After escaping the war, that stress feeling came up again.

Shi Shu drank warm water with dried mint in it; after a few sips, he felt much cooler. Not far in front of him, a few soldiers were chatting.

“Min dogs, these scumbags, how come they became much smarter than before?”

Shi Shu ate dried fruits, also listening to them talk.

A few soldiers had participated in the Jing-Min war twenty years ago and said: “In that war twenty years ago, they were still a group of barbarians running out of tribes, with no fixed abode, living at the foot of the mountains by the Tengdu River in Northern Min, a group of herding commoners. The tribe started with only a few thousand people. Later, led by their favored son of heaven, Yuan Ge’er, they formed an army resisting Great Jing, riding horses and charging—they were also lucky, actually able to capture three prefectures and six fu of Great Jing with brute courage!”

“But with such a great situation twenty years ago, they didn’t dare to fight south, only charging on the plains, adopting the method of burning, killing, and looting to fatten the army. If they fought south, their foundation was unstable, and they were unfamiliar with Great Jing’s civil administration. Even if they conquered it, they couldn’t govern it, and if they lost, the whole army would be wiped out!”

“So the Min army stopped fighting down and negotiated peace for twenty years. Their appetite wasn’t big then either; after occupying the territory north of the Cha River, they stayed there obediently. But this time border conflicts restarted, Northern Min is really too terrifying…”

“These animals… I thought Northern Min was brave and good at fighting but only had brute force, incomparable to Great Jing’s hundred generations of Confucian scholars in strategy. Unexpectedly, this time with the army at the city gates, they actually left people helpless!”

Shi Shu bit the dried fruit and spat. This fruit wasn’t washed clean; he’d find trouble with Du Zihan another day.

His heart beat a bit abnormally, hard to speak.

Those soldiers were still chatting.

“Don’t know the specific situation, heard some rumors. In short, since the Cha River Agreement more than twenty years ago, the Min army temporarily withdrew troops, but actually plotted to go south all the time, change the era name and dynasty, reuse talented people of Great Jing, and learn our rites and music education.”​

“And Great Jing? Those powerful people in the upper class still didn’t take it seriously, powerful people looking for beauties everywhere to play with asses, only thinking about eating, drinking, and playing, living in luxury. The Min army is good at horsemanship and hunting… they threw Min people into deep mountains to be eaten by tigers and leopards… Some people also said banning intermarriage with Min people to exterminate them. Isn’t this brain sick?”

“…”

Shi Shu looked up; it was a very young angry youth, seemingly educated and working in the army.

Had to say, he was right. Slaves from the north, banning intermarriage, preventing artificial extinction.

In short, in terms of hating the enemy army, Great Jing and Northern Min were one family, don’t speak two languages.

Speaking of this, Shi Shu remembered those brothers, Yuan Guan and Yuan He, and Little Tree. Didn’t know how they were. Where did they escape to, how were they now?

Shi Shu jumped off the carriage and stretched. It was already afternoon, but the sunlight was still blinding. After walking a few steps forward on fine stones, a city pass appeared in front of him.

Shi Shu asked: “Where is this?”

The guard said: “A city tens of miles beside Yunzhou, called Lanxian. It is now the place where the Lord Commander and the supervising armies remotely control. You two will station here. Any urgent military intelligence will be sent to Yunzhou, no longer going to the fighting frontline.”

Shi Shu understood: “My brother…”

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