UCTOOT CH57

The appointed hour had arrived. At the gates of the Eastern Capital, convicts were being escorted into exile.

The morning light at the city gate was dim; the common folk had no idea that the champion of the New Policies was being exiled.

Yet beneath the crude shacks by the tea stalls sat crowds clad in silks and satins: “You came too?” “You’re here as well?”

“The joke of the ‘Pioneer of the New Policies’ being exiled three thousand li, how could one miss it?”

The crowd sipped their tea, their expressions leisurely.

Paper strips bearing characters like “Ministry of Justice, Xie Wuchi” were pasted across the wooden cangue. It was exceedingly heavy. Fitting the heavy wooden cangue and iron chains around Xie Wuchi, the bailiffs held their wooden staves: “Lord Xie, if you please.”

Frost dusted the bridge of Xie Wuchi’s nose. Eyes closed, making his thoughts impossible to decipher, the wooden cangue was locked in place. Right then, with several sharp barks of “Woof, woof, woof!”, a youth trotted quickly from not far off, accompanied by a lively, bounding dog.

Carrying a bundle across his back in the morning breeze, Shi Shu cut an exceptionally clean, graceful figure. Running up with a smile brightening his face, he called out: “Xie Wuchi, I’m here, I’m here! Am I late? Are you about to depart?”

Xie Wuchi froze for an instant: “Why must you do this?”

Shi Shu: “Because I couldn’t stop worrying about you. I heard plenty of people die on the road to exile or at their destinations, so I was afraid you’d die.”

Shi Shu averted his gaze: “Besides, the Eastern Capital holds nothing to keep me here. It’s too cold. If you aren’t in the Eastern Capital, I don’t want to stay either.”

Xie Wuchi’s lips pressed into a tight line.

Shi Shu said, “Don’t drive me away. I sold that house of yours, so I have nowhere left to stay anyway. If the chance comes, we’ll return together in the future.”

Silence.

Xie Wuchi said, “I had hoped you might spare some consideration for my pride.”

“…About that.”

Shi Shu rubbed the tip of his nose. In truth, from the very first glance at Xie Wuchi, his heart had ached with shock. A fallen captive, clad in convict robes, chains wrapped around his legs and a heavy cangue burdening his neck; with his pedigree and temperament, he was originally too proud to endure the slightest humiliation.

Shi Shu let out a sigh: “Let’s not talk about that. Between the two of us xiongdi…”

“Shi Shu.”

He spoke his name, the syllables parting his lips like smoldering karmic fire.

Failure was one thing, but humiliation was another. It was like forcing Shi Shu to lose a footrace and then having to use his real ID to publicly declare he was inferior to someone else; in his shoes, he would have broken down too.

“I know, I know.”

Shi Shu’s feelings were complicated. A man like Xie Wuchi, who could smile while slicing his own wrist when stricken by the plague in Shukang Prefecture, possessed an immense tolerance for pain and an equally formidable capacity to stomach defeat. Even if much of his effort yielded no immediate return, he understood it was all laying the groundwork and building momentum. He pursued power without reckless haste, moving forward step by solid step.

Yet for a man like this, having his pride humiliated was the hardest pill to swallow.

Shi Shu patted his shoulder: “I know you’re suffering. It’s fine, pay no mind to me, just treat me like thin air.” As he spoke, he supported the wooden cangue: “How heavy is this? Does it feel heavy to wear? I’ll help you lift it.”

The bailiff said, “It is on the lighter side for a travel cangue, eighteen catties.”

Shi Shu: “Eighteen catties?”

The bailiff held his tongue and looked behind him. Shi Shu had assumed only this handful of them would take to the road, never imagining that a contingent of eunuchs and imperial soldiers trailed far behind, ready to report back to the court at any moment.

Shi Shu took note of the group: “Hahaha, hilarious. So many people came just to watch you fall? So what? Even in exile, you went down in blazing glory, far better than any of them.”

Xie Wuchi’s trouser cuff had caught in the iron chains. Shi Shu bent down to smooth it out, pulling rolls of gauze from his bundle and wrapping them layer upon layer around his ankles: “Raw iron rubbing against bare skin is agonizing. Last night I asked the neighbor who had been exiled before for tips, so we wrap cloth first to buffer it.”

Crouching, Shi Shu wound the gauze securely around his ankles, then smoothed down the trouser cuffs. When he looked up, Xie Wuchi was gazing down at him.

Shi Shu smiled: “I know I’m very thoughtful, no need to say thank you.”

Xie Wuchi fell silent. His eyes seemed to hold words unspoken, but with a slight flicker of his gaze, he turned his eyes away.

From the Eastern Capital to Taiyin Prefecture, a full three thousand li.

Autumn winds swept past, the weather turning from chilly to biting cold. The four bailiffs were strictly stoic at first, but after leaving the capital behind, they gradually began conversing. When noon came for meals, Shi Shu asked, “Can this be unlocked now? How else is he supposed to eat?”

The bailiff unlocked the cangue: “Eat, then.”

With iron chains shackling his wrists and ankles, Xie Wuchi took two bites of a steamed bun, saying, “Relieving myself.”

“Do not stray too far, my lord.”

Xie Wuchi stepped into the tavern’s backyard on his own, returning moments later to stoop by the babbling brook.

Xie Wuchi’s range of movement was strictly limited, though he could occasionally step aside. Shi Shu had been teasing Laifu, but seeing him standing by the river watching the flowing water, he jogged over: “Xie…”

Halting before finishing his sentence, Xie Wuchi stood facing the gently flowing stream, his eyelids closed.

In utter silence, he listened to the voice of the wind.

Along the road, Shi Shu had barely spoken a few words to him: first out of caution against revealing too much information, and second, because Xie Wuchi seemed in a terrible mood. Demanding conversation when someone was in low spirits felt cruel.

The tree desires tranquility, yet the wind will not cease; autumn gales rustled through the fluttering leaves.

Xie Wuchi remained silent, eyes shut as he sensed the breeze brushing past and the murmur of flowing water. The high, prominent bridge of his nose in profile accentuated his aloof pride.

Plucking the wild flowers nearby clean, Shi Shu thought: Xie Wuchi must be in a terrible mood. But a man like him would never voice his misery, and rarely even showed it on his face.

If it were anyone else, how could they endure the humiliation of trading thirty million taels for three thousand li of exile? Wouldn’t they be driven mad with rage? Yet he could stomach even this. Why did he lose his temper the day I left?

Xie Wuchi, this life of yours truly has some wild highs and lows.

As Shi Shu lost himself in thought, Xie Wuchi opened his eyes. Gathering a handful of small blossoms in his palm, he offered them over: “A gift for you.”

Saying so, Shi Shu met Xie Wuchi’s gaze.

“…”

For some reason, after three months apart, they felt slightly unfamiliar, like strangers.

Shi Shu pulled back: “Uh, I knew you wouldn’t want them, I’ll toss them.” With that, he hurled them into the brook, watching them swirl away and vanish.

Xie Wuchi seemed to have nothing to say, returning to the group. As the midday rest concluded, the bailiffs fitted the cangue over him once more: “Lord Xie, if you please. Tonight’s resting post is at Niujiao Post Station, dozens of li away. We have a long march ahead.”

Unburdened by a cangue, Shi Shu’s soles still ached after walking for so long, let alone Xie Wuchi whose limbs were shackled by chains and wood. Walking beside him, Shi Shu looked at him with concern: “Are your feet tired?”

Xie Wuchi: “Tolerable.”

Tugging at his trouser cuff, Shi Shu saw that even buffered by gauze, the skin was chafed raw, bruised, and swollen red. Needless to say, the torment of this long march was already plain to see.

He couldn’t resist sighing: “Incredible.”

Wild highs and lows, drifting between fortunes, and earning staggering sums of money.

A man like Xie Wuchi certainly knew how to raise a storm.

The autumn weather was unlike ordinary seasons, the mountains coated in golden leaves. With Laifu trotting ahead, Shi Shu initially stayed step-for-step beside Xie Wuchi, but soon began scampering off this way and that on his own.

Coming upon a few wild pear trees along the path, Shi Shu plucked a pouch full of fruit. After offering some to the bailiffs, he rinsed one clean and brought it to Xie Wuchi’s lips: “Here, take a bite, it slakes your thirst.”

Xie Wuchi: “I will pass.”

“Still not in a good mood?”

Shi Shu pulled it back to bite into the crisp flesh himself, feeding the rest to Laifu.

Thanks to Shi Shu, the dreary journey seemed touched with a spark of vitality, the bailiffs occasionally exchanging a joke or two with him.

Before their eyes, golden leaves fluttered across the hills amid withering autumn grasses. By dusk they finally reached Niujiao Post Station; to think this was only the first day of exile. Stepping inside, the post attendants naturally cooked meals for the bailiffs, but none for the prisoner. Only then did Shi Shu recall the unspoken rules, discreetly slipping banknotes to the bailiff: “Ge, don’t be polite, take it!”

The bailiff: “Don’t do this.”

Shi Shu: “Take it. Over the next two months, we rely entirely on your care. Divide it among the four of you.”

The bailiff: “You… this puts me in a difficult spot.” Just as he hesitated, eyeing the silver, a sharp cough came from the doorway.

The bailiff quickly slipped away. Shi Shu turned to see the “little tail” of eunuchs and imperial guards entering the post station. Clearly, with this watchdog retinue monitoring them, they wouldn’t make Xie Wuchi’s journey easy.

Once the eunuchs and guards stepped inside, the attendants rushed to serve them, and they seated themselves in the main hall.

Watching this group, Shi Shu didn’t know what to say, tucking the silver back into his sleeve and lighting the hearth in the kitchen to cook for themselves.

With marching finished for the day, Shi Shu saw Xie Wuchi still bearing the cangue and asked, “Can this be removed?”

The bailiffs exchanged glances. Knowing their prisoner was no ordinary man, they dared not decide on their own and consulted the eunuchs. Moments later, they returned: “Take it off. Put it back on when departing tomorrow morning.”

Unlocking it with the key, Shi Shu fussed around Xie Wuchi. Xie Wuchi appeared unbothered as ever, wearing his prisoner’s garb plain yet clean, his expression calm. But stepping closer, Shi Shu noticed his neck beneath his hair was flushed red, and his wrists and ankles were rubbed bloody.

“Rubbed bloody on the very first day?”

Stoking the hearth fire, Shi Shu produced a medicine vial: “Xie Wuchi, don’t worry, I anticipated this and brought medicine. I’ll boil water for you to wipe down your body, clean the skin first, then apply it.”

With chains in the way, Shi Shu turned to ask the eunuchs, “Can the chains on his hands and feet be unlocked?”

Sitting by the door watching the two of them, the eunuch shook his head.

“Fine then.” Shi Shu had one pot boiling water and another cooking porridge: “I’ll help you.”

Xie Wuchi remained silent, merely standing as Shi Shu directed.

Drawing a basin of hot water, Shi Shu prepared to wipe the sweat from Xie Wuchi’s body, but seeing the eunuchs seated by the door making no move to leave, he asked: “You plan on watching him bathe? You won’t even step away for private moments like this?”

The eunuch stayed silent, clearly bound by official duty.

Xie Wuchi was an important state convict; this group had to record his every word and gesture to submit to His Majesty.

Shi Shu: “Fine, then watch all you like. It’s not like he can sprout wings and fly.”

Shi Shu reached out to unfasten Xie Wuchi’s robes. The instant his fingers touched the collar, despite three months apart, a jumble of novelty and familiarity rushed in. Abruptly remembering past experiences of Xie Wuchi stripping off his clothes, he paused: “Xie Wuchi, don’t get the wrong idea. I know you like being clean, but circumstances are special so let’s cooperate. I’ll clean around the wounds first, don’t you…”

Don’t strip and go into heat.

With so many people watching.

Shi Shu couldn’t elaborate, especially with the eunuchs listening in.

After Shi Shu spoke, Xie Wuchi remained quiet, merely looking down at Shi Shu’s hands, still and cold as pale jade. Layer by layer, Shi Shu peeled off Xie Wuchi’s garments. In the dim lantern and fire light, his bared torso was impeccably sculpted, shoulders broad and taut, chest and abdominal muscles exposed in striking relief.

Half-squinting his eyes, Shi Shu muttered, “See no evil. I won’t peek at you.”

Yet hazily, Xie Wuchi’s physique still caught his eyes, completely unchanged from memory.

Shi Shu shifted his gaze, only to notice the eunuchs staring unblinkingly. Word had it that although these castrated attendants had lost their tools, their hormones still functioned, and physical conditions often twisted their desires, making plenty of them harbor homosexual inclinations.

“…Xie Wuchi, turn around. Face me.”

Xie Wuchi complied, turning his back toward the eunuchs.

Some among them stared wide-eyed, craning their necks to peer inside.

Shi Shu couldn’t stand it: “Xie Wuchi, with such burning stares on you, don’t you mind?”

Xie Wuchi: “It is nothing.”

For Xie Wuchi, frequenting foreign beaches where natural, healthy physiques were embraced meant that showing his body carried far less shame.

“Tsk, of course you…” No wonder… Shi Shu mumbled under his breath as he gently wiped the skin around the wounds. The cloth was thin, brushing against Xie Wuchi’s cheek, ears, and neck.

His skin was scalding hot. Standing close in the dim kitchen under the gaze of an audience lacked the easy familiarity of their past shared days. Once finished wiping the wounds, Shi Shu quickly handed him the cloth: “The areas near the wounds are clean. Do the rest yourself, it isn’t proper for me to touch you.”

Iron chains rattled as Xie Wuchi slowly took the cloth, wrung it dry, and looked down to wipe the sweat from his frame. Having just stripped off his trousers, though obscure in the shadows, his skin and build were unmistakably prominent: still that strikingly alluring body.

But with trousers removed, an accidental glimpse of certain parts nearly scared Shi Shu out of his wits, immediately averting his eyes.

Glancing at the eunuchs, they still hadn’t looked away.

“Holy crap, isn’t this pure sexual harassment?”

Shi Shu stepped behind Xie Wuchi to shield him. After a moment, hearing clean clothes retrieved from the rack and Xie Wuchi dressing himself with some effort, he turned back: “Alright, my turn.”

Scooping a generous glob of dark-brown medicinal ointment with his fingers, Shi Shu had Xie Wuchi sit down, dabbing it over the wounds on his neck.

Normally, touching the raw wounds would sting, but Xie Wuchi simply cast his eyes downward without a sound.

Shi Shu comforted him: “Alas, look at you suffering like this. Alright, cheer up a bit. It’s fine, I’ll be with you the entire journey, keeping you company.”

As his fingers grazed his earlobe, Shi Shu shifted his gaze. Beneath dark shadows framing Xie Wuchi’s eyes, his stare had settled upon Shi Shu at some point.

Caught in his stare, Shi Shu’s hands paused: “How strange. Isn’t it just three months apart? How did you change, or did you become unfamiliar with me? Meeting so many people and handling so many affairs during the reforms, do you not recognize me anymore? You don’t even want to talk to me?”

Xie Wuchi offered no reply.

“Incredible. Did so much to me, and you turn around and forget it all.” Having said that, Shi Shu felt he was straying too far.

Xie Wuchi remained silent.

Shi Shu knew he had to care for him on this journey, having prepared himself before leaving. Cooking white porridge, he peeled an egg, mashed it into the bowl, and stirred it with a spoon until cooled, holding it out to Xie Wuchi: “Eat your baby food.”

Xie Wuchi: “Hm?”

“When I was little, my parents fed me meals like this: boiled eggs mashed into white porridge. See, just like this. Eat.”

The spoon was brought to his mouth. Xie Wuchi parted his lips and took a spoonful, his tongue grazing the spoon. It was supposed to be a simple bite of food, but in that instant, a tremor seemed to pass through Shi Shu’s hand, his heart skipping a beat as memories surged back.

The tip of Xie Wuchi’s tongue licked the hollow of the wooden spoon, eyes half-cast downward. When the next spoonful was offered, he parted his lips to swallow it.

“You…”

Physical touch inevitably stirred peculiar thoughts, which was only natural. Quelling the alarm bells inside his heart, Shi Shu maintained a calm facade.

Xie Wuchi looked up, licking a stray drop of porridge from the corner of his mouth.

Shi Shu couldn’t take it: “What are you licking?”

Xie Wuchi: “Hm?”

“…I’ll wipe it for you, I brought a handkerchief.” Terrified of thinking dirty, Shi Shu pulled out a cloth and dabbed his lips. Yet the more he tried not to stray, the more unbidden images flooded his mind: deep kisses, embraces, caresses, intense gazes, scorching heat, and heavy impacts. Yet the Xie Wuchi before him was so quiet.

Even as a captive, he carried not a shred of servility; with downcast eyelids, he still looked at people and things with that aristocratic, cold detachment that treated others like dogs.

Stirring the porridge in the bowl, Shi Shu said, “Good thing I came! Otherwise, in such a foul mood, having to cook and handle chores all on your own would be so miserable.”

Banishing stray thoughts once more, feeding him bite by bite and wiping his face clean, Shi Shu hastily carried the dirty robes out to wash: “Just for these two months. Never again in this lifetime will I wash your clothes for you.”

Constrained by shackles, Xie Wuchi obviously needed looking after; he couldn’t handle it himself. Walking alongside him was simple, but tending to his needs on the road was the real burden. After all, Shi Shu had always viewed him as his closest friend in this world.

Scrubbing the garments, Shi Shu reiterated to himself: “Just these two months. When we reach Taiyin, you must call me dad until I get sick of hearing it.”

“Washing clothes, cooking, serving me.”

“Are these undergarments? I even have to wash your boxers.”

So what exactly is our relationship now?

Scrubbing away, Shi Shu saw Laifu wagging its tail beside him and tapped its nose: “Sleep outside tonight, help keep guard.”

Laifu: “Woof, woof, woof!”

“Good boy.”

On such a quiet night, who could have imagined that after being apart from his good friend for so long, their first day reunited would look like this: no fine wine, feasts, excursions, or ecstasy, only Shi Shu diligently washing his body, scrubbing his clothes, and cleaning up this mess at a desolate post station.

Shi Shu had no love for chasing fame and fortune, whereas Xie Wuchi coveted it deeply. Since he loved it, Shi Shu wouldn’t fault him for it, but reaping gains at the eye of the storm only made the danger and fall that much steeper. All Shi Shu could do was catch him when he plummeted.

Either way it was survival, and he was willing to survive alongside Xie Wuchi.

Once the clothes were washed and hung on the drying rack, Shi Shu turned back to see Xie Wuchi leaning against the doorway. Faint moonlight caught the high bridge of his nose, his expression dark as an apparition. With the eunuchs and bailiffs dining and preparing for bed, he stood watching him like a guardian door god.

Pointing a finger at him, Shi Shu said, “Write all of this down in that journal of yours: what I do for you every day, and remember to repay me in the future.”

Shi Shu looked bright and handsome, flashing a white-toothed smile.

Xie Wuchi pressed his lips together as Shi Shu stretched lazily.

“Let’s go! Time to sleep, after marching all day I really need some shuteye.”

Shi Shu walked ahead with Xie Wuchi following behind, chains clinking softly with each step.

Finally entering the room, Shi Shu spread the quilt and turned to Xie Wuchi: “Have you rarely tasted failure? Is that why your mood is so foul? Saying nothing, giving me the silent treatment, are you? Come on, get into bed.”

Shi Shu muttered: “The last time we slept together was back when quelling the plague in Shukang Prefecture? Later we made our three ground rules and kept separate rooms, and during the New Policies there were too many prying eyes and you barely closed your eyes at all. I’m almost not used to this.”

How much time had passed? It felt like a fleeting dream.

Shi Shu took the inner side while Xie Wuchi lay on the outer edge. On the narrow bed beneath a small quilt, lying down brought the clean scent of soapberry and fragrance from his hair. Propping himself on his forearms to give him more room, Shi Shu accidentally pinned Xie Wuchi’s hair. Letting out an “Eh?”, Shi Shu’s arm gave way, half his body collapsing across Xie Wuchi’s right arm.

Just as Shi Shu went to shift back, Xie Wuchi spoke: “Press down.”

Having gone so long without being harassed by him, Shi Shu’s vigilance had dulled: “Press what down?”

Xie Wuchi: “Onto me.”

In the pitch-black room without lamplight, Shi Shu stayed still, slowly sensing an encroaching presence as a weight covered his frame.

Catching a chill against his nose, Shi Shu froze: “What is it? Xie Wuchi, is your bad habit acting up again…”

Xie Wuchi: “I remember now. My body still remembers.”

Chains clinked faintly in Shi Shu’s ears, sending a sudden tingle across his back. Xie Wuchi said, “Come here.”

Shi Shu naturally wouldn’t move closer, merely turning sideways. Touching hair with one hand, he was gathered gently into his embrace. Shi Shu instinctively braced for a kiss, his nerves pulled taut, but the man’s nose merely brushed lightly past his ear.

Xie Wuchi simply held him, cotton-linen fabric pressing inch by inch against bare skin, his collar rumpled open in the tussle. Shi Shu dared not move a muscle, held flush against Xie Wuchi’s scorching chest.

Shi Shu stammered: “That’s enough, keeping it to this limit is fine.”

In truth, Shi Shu had prepared himself mentally to tolerate his habits, only unsure to what degree he would push it.

A dark room, a hard kang bed, a battered doorway. Completely discordant with this weathered setting, two youthful frames entangled together. Shi Shu kept his eyes open, feeling nothing particularly deep, yet Xie Wuchi was an enigma, ragged breaths falling against his earlobe, heat condensing bit by bit into damp mist.

Xie Wuchi shifted against his body with gentle friction, from his neck down to his legs. By the time Shi Shu realized what was happening, one of his legs was draped over Xie Wuchi’s waist, their frames clasped in a tight embrace.

Yet these gestures could still be interpreted purely as a hug.

He and Xie Wuchi were merely hugging, even if on Xie Wuchi’s end, every inch of his skin seemed to radiate sultry intent.

Outwardly calm as still water, he enveloped a boiling, wild tempest within.

Shi Shu: “I-I-Is this enough? Held me enough? I don’t even know where to put my hands.”

Such an intimate posture, pressed almost seamlessly together. Shi Shu felt as though he were embracing a giant plush doll, the base of his thigh brushing against Xie Wuchi’s flat abdominals. This position…

Shi Shu: “…Hm?”

Clinging to him like a drowning man, Xie Wuchi refused to let go. Lacking any overt advances, Shi Shu couldn’t tell what he was up to, leaving him no choice but to let himself be held and scented: “You…”

Xie Wuchi wanted to grind him into dust.

Human skin was soothingly warm. As the autumn night turned cold, Shi Shu initially focused on Xie Wuchi’s hands, but gradually felt how pleasantly warm his frame was: a dry, sun-baked scent that proved intensely soporific.

Drowsiness creeping into his mind, Shi Shu rested an arm across his waist, unexpectedly drifting off to sleep.

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The author has something to say:

Xie Wuchi: My d!ck is about to explode.