UCTOOT CH53.2

The scent of midsummer heat filled his nose. Xie Wuchi blocked the moonlight. In the shadow, the outline of his body was extremely tall. He had taken off his upper garment. After a rustling sound, his healthy-toned, strong shoulders, neck, and collarbones were revealed, full of vigor.

With his clothes off, Xie Wuchi’s chest, abs, collarbones, and the veins on his neck were all visible in the night. Shi Shu’s throat moved, and he inexplicably started to salivate.

A very sexy body. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, bulging chest muscles, abs that rose and fell with his breathing. Crucially, it didn’t clash with his ascetic yet seemingly lustful handsome face. His whole body exuded a alluring masculine scent.

“No?”

A question machine lived in Shi Shu’s throat.

“No? What is this for?”

Shi Shu understood that Xie Wuchi wanted to kiss him, but what was the meaning of taking off his clothes to show off his body? Okay, he admitted that Xie Wuchi’s muscles and physique were indeed very handsome, but what was he doing?

Shi Shu’s handsome face was very confused. “What are you taking your clothes off for?! Do you think this can seduce me? I would be interested in your body?”

Shi Shu was choked by an inexplicable dry mouth and throat.

No.

Xie Wuchi bent down and blocked his lips. One hand guided Shi Shu’s hand to his ear and neck, his voice low and hoarse. “Just enjoy it.”

Shi Shu: “?”

Shi Shu: “Ah!”

Xie Wuchi pecked his lips bit by bit. The air became thick. “It’s my first time too, wanting someone else to touch me.”

Shi Shu’s eyes widened. His palm touched his jaw. The skin was dry and warm, the bone structure clear, the palm’s temperature extremely high. Xie Wuchi’s waterfall-like hair fell down. He stuck out the tip of his tongue and licked Shi Shu’s lips bite by bite.

They had been very busy these past few days. Perhaps because of this, the strange sense of novelty actually heightened the stimulation.

Shi Shu couldn’t take it anymore. “…Bro, you’re really such a slut.”

You know how to seduce a straight guy.

Shi Shu’s hands were fair, his fingers slender. They were wrapped in Xie Wuchi’s palm and moved bit by bit from his collarbone to his chest, pressing down on it. The sound of a strong, pounding heartbeat.

Xie Wuchi’s body was indeed very hot.

Shi Shu’s neck was held, and he was kissed deeply with an explicit tongue, making wet sounds. His head rested on the grass. He could see a bit of moonlight, but what drew his attention more was his hand.

—it was touching him.

Shi Shu felt like he was dreaming. “Xie Wuchi, what on earth are we doing?”

Xie Wuchi: “Mating.”

“…”

“Does it feel good to mate with brother?”

Holy shit.

You really dare to say anything.

Shi Shu was dizzy from this sentence for a while. When he came back to his senses, he was being controlled by Xie Wuchi, his eyelids raised, swallowing the saliva he was fed in small gulps.

“I…” Shi Shu wanted to get up, but his body was held down by Xie Wuchi. He straightened his waist, but that just made it more convenient for him to endure Xie Wuchi’s more intense deep licking.

“Ah.” Shi Shu was kissed until his tongue stuck out, unable to help but gasp. In the darkness, the outline of Xie Wuchi’s side profile was cold. He didn’t know if his features resembled his father or mother, but he had a naturally cold face. Sometimes the atmosphere seemed very passionate, but his face was still high and mighty, cold and indifferent.

Shi Shu stared at him, somewhat puzzled. Their bodies were pressed close together. In this gap, his hand was pressed against Xie Wuchi’s hot abs.

“Ah.” Shi Shu’s scalp was about to explode. He gave up. What on earth was Xie Wuchi doing?

His mind was a little numb from the kissing. His spine stiffened. After the wet kiss, his mind became clear again.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Shi Shu said. “That’s about it.”

Xie Wuchi: “I’ve been wanting to say, is this all your stamina? Aren’t you a sports student?”

Shi Shu: “Huh?”

Shi Shu reacted. “You still want to say you’ve had sex? What does that have to do with you?”

Xie Wuchi’s nose touched his. “Practice more.”

“Not practicing. I’m not planning on finding a partner anyway,” Shi Shu said. “That’s it. Whoever you love.”

“No.”

Shi Shu’s words were swallowed back into his mouth. Xie Wuchi started kissing him again, his tongue pushing the words back, his breathing shattered.

There was no one else in the dark jungle. Shi Shu didn’t quite know what was going on. It was very strange, but the heat spread, and his tongue was irrationally entangled with Xie Wuchi’s, sticky as if they couldn’t be separated.

How could someone be so good at kissing, probing bit by bit, then teasing, sweeping, and occupying one’s reason.

Xie Wuchi: “Shi Shu, what do I look like?”

Shi Shu: “You, uh, you’re quite handsome.”

“Have you ever fantasized? Was the other person me?”

Shi Shu: “What? I don’t understand.” His tongue was licked by him.

Xie Wuchi: “Imagined having sex with me.”

Shi Shu: “…No, never.”

Xie Wuchi: “Then do you understand me?”

Shi Shu half-closed his eyes, looked at the person in front of him, and after a moment, shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Touch my body more.”

A strong heartbeat like a drumbeat. Xie Wuchi was hot all over. Shi Shu’s eyelashes were wet with moisture. He was so entangled by Xie Wuchi that he couldn’t help it. He nudged him with his knee. “If we don’t leave, it’ll be dawn.”

He and Xie Wuchi had been out for a long time. After looking at the fields, they had been passionately kissing in the small woods.

It was still a kiss that Shi Shu found hard to explain.

Shi Shu looked up to see the sky. Summer mornings usually came early. In the distance, the sky was turning fish-belly white. The morning light was faint, shining on the golden rice fields.

Just as Shi Shu was about to say something, he suddenly saw a group of people walking on the dusty official road. Shi Shu’s heart skipped a beat, and he pushed Xie Wuchi away. “Someone’s coming.”

Xie Wuchi tidied up his clothes, putting them on one by one. He seemed to have a kind of magic. As soon as he put on his clothes, he became extremely upright and dignified, absolutely not someone you would imagine would have words like “mating” on their lips.

Shi Shu looked carefully. This group of people was at least a dozen strong. Not only them, but from the other side, a continuous stream of people also gathered. They were clearly wearing farming clothes, just ordinary commoners. They quickly became a large crowd, heading in the same direction on the official road.

The direction they were going—Qian’an Prefecture.

The weather was extremely hot. In the early morning, the scorching sun hung high in the sky.

The clouds, one layer covering another, gradually turned as black as an overturned inkstone. After a few muffled rumbles of thunder, the sky suddenly began to pour.

Outside the gate of Qian’an Prefecture, hundreds of commoners had gathered, standing in the pouring rain, their hair and clothes soaked, talking loudly.

“Why? On what grounds are you not letting us harvest the rice?”

“All year round, we finally waited for the harvest season. With one word, you won’t let us harvest. Are we supposed to starve to death next year?”

“Who’s not letting us harvest! On what grounds!”

“Since you want us to starve to death, then we’ll die here now! For you to see!”

“…”

Many people, there were elderly, middle-aged, and also women holding children.

Tang Maoshi stood in the rain, protected by a row of Great Min runners in the front, walking back and forth in the downpour. “All of you, go back! Do you know what you’re doing? This is gathering a crowd to threaten the court, this is rebellion! This is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations!”

“If we can’t harvest the rice, we’ll starve to death this year! What nine generations are there to speak of! You dog officials!”

Someone in the crowd started cursing.

Tang Maoshi was furious. He flung away the umbrella Wang Rui was holding for him. “Where’s the imperial envoy? Why isn’t he in the Great Min at such a critical moment?”

Wang Rui said, “We don’t know where he went either. I heard he left the city last night.”

Yao Shuai and a group of imperial guards also stood in the downpour, their faces expressionless.

Tang Maoshi held back his anger and cursed the commoners under his breath. “Surveying the fields and equalizing the land tax is the court’s national policy. Don’t go against the entire court for your own food! If you delay the great cause of the Great Jing, for all eternity!”

“Pah! I spit on your great cause!”

“For the great cause, you want us to die?!”

At this moment, Tang Maoshi’s eyes suddenly rolled. “Everyone, as the magistrate of Qian’an, how can I not care about your lives? This is a matter of the court, and we have the imperial envoy to supervise it!”

In the crowd, a voice said, “What imperial envoy? He must be a dog official! Since he won’t let us live, then let’s kill this dog official! Kill the imperial envoy! Kill the imperial envoy!”

“Kill the imperial envoy!”

“Kill the imperial envoy!”

When Shi Shu rushed back in the pouring rain, he happened to hear the boiling public resentment. Tang Maoshi caught a glimpse of Shi Shu and Xie Wuchi’s horses from afar and flicked his sleeve. “How dare you! The imperial envoy is a court official, representing His Majesty’s face. You audacious commoners, it’s one thing to curse this official, but you even dare to curse the imperial envoy! Men, beat them!”

Xie Wuchi walked through the rain, his pace not quickening, his shoes, stepping in the rainwater, were stained with mud, his expression calm.

Shi Shu was so anxious he was fuming. When he ran up to them, Tang Maoshi was having Wang Rui lead the group of Great Min runners to beat a few people at the front, forcing them back.

The crowd pushed and shoved, becoming a tangled mass. Anger gathered in the hearts of these commoners. Seeing that Tang Maoshi was beating a few old, weak, sick, and disabled people, kicking them into the muddy water and stomping on them, they all gritted their teeth and thirsted for blood.

“Son of a bitch!” A young man who couldn’t hold back had already clenched his fists.

Tang Maoshi: “What are you doing, what are you doing? You want to fight? The moment you fight, it’s rebellion! Your fate will be the same as these audacious commoners.”

Shi Shu rushed up and pushed away the few runners who were beating people, shouting angrily, “Stop! What are you beating people for! Don’t you dare touch them!”

Tang Maoshi pretended not to see who he was and said angrily, “What are you?! Beat him!”

This was a deliberate provocation. Shi Shu appeared as a righteous person. If even he was beaten, the commoners behind him would definitely not be able to hold back and would break out into a chaotic fight with the officials. This would be called inciting a popular uprising.

Once a popular uprising was incited, the commoners would lose their reason and start shouting and killing. People would definitely die and blood would be shed. If hundreds or thousands were killed or injured, the matter would escalate.

Wang Rui waved his hand, and someone went to grab Shi Shu’s collar.

The next moment, he was kicked away by Xie Wuchi. “Get lost. What are you?”

Only then did Tang Maoshi pretend to see him and said loudly, “Lord Imperial Envoy, these audacious commoners are rebelling. This subordinate is following your orders and controlling the situation—”

“Oh? So busy? From now on, you have nothing to do with it.”

Tang Maoshi asked with a smile, “What?”

Xie Wuchi said with a cold face, “Strip him of his official uniform.”

Tang Maoshi’s face changed. “What did you say?”

Xie Wuchi: “Who let you lay a hand on the commoners?”

Tang Maoshi was furious. “I laid a hand on the commoners, and you can strip me of my official uniform? Censor Xie, don’t forget, you are only a sixth-rank Censor-in-attendance, holding the title of a third-rank Censor as an imperial envoy. In terms of official rank, I am even higher than you!”

“So what?” Xie Wuchi showed his gold medallion. “Let alone stripping you of your official uniform, even if I want your head right now, you have to accept it.”

Tang Maoshi’s face turned ashen. “There must be a charge, right?”

“Beating commoners, deliberately inciting a popular uprising, is that not a charge? A pity you are a parent official, how could you do it?” Xie Wuchi said, “Last night, I re-examined the case files. Your judicial office has covered up countless crimes of the wealthy households in Qian’an. For the crime of your collusion, get lost!”

Tang Maoshi’s face changed. He hadn’t expected the hat of “inciting a popular uprising” to be turned on his own head.

Hearing this, Yao Shuai stepped forward to strip Tang Maoshi of his official uniform. Wang Rui and the other commanders wanted to step forward, but seeing the imperial guards’ waist tokens, they all stopped in their tracks.

Tang Maoshi was like a drowned dog, kicked out of the situation.

Xie Wuchi turned his head, one person, facing these thousands of commoners demanding an explanation.

The rain poured down. Shi Shu was having difficulty breathing from the rain. He helped up the commoners who had just been beaten. Under the dim sky, their wounds were bruised and swollen, bright red blood flowing, and they were crying sorrowfully.

Shi Shu called Li Fu and Zhou Xiang. “Help them to the clinic. The expenses will be reimbursed by the Great Min. Also, ask if they’ve had breakfast. Buy some for them and take good care of them.”

Shi Shu turned around and looked at the commoners waiting in the pouring rain.

A dense black mass, like a rolling thundercloud. Everyone was extremely angry, their eyes full of hatred.

Shi Shu understood them. A whole year’s worth of food, how could they not be anxious?

Xie Wuchi said, “I am the imperial envoy.”

Tang Maoshi’s words from earlier had an effect. Xie Wuchi’s words were equivalent to admitting he was the source of their hatred. These commoners didn’t understand the complicated relationships behind it; they only knew someone had come out to take the blame.

A roar of rage rose from the crowd. Yao Shuai said nervously, “My lord, should we get the army? I fear these rioters will cause trouble.”

Xie Wuchi: “No need. You just stay here.”

Xie Wuchi continued to speak to the crowd. “Tang Maoshi, who just beat you, I have already stripped him of his official uniform and will immediately request his dismissal. If you have anything to say, you can say it directly to me.”

Shi Shu gasped, staring at Xie Wuchi in the rain. He alone confronted these thousands of people, yet he did not appear weak at all. Instead, he stood there calmly, blocking the gate of the Qian’an Prefecture Great Min, like an unshakable mountain.

Shi Shu blinked. Rainwater rolled down from the corners of his eyes. The Xie Wuchi before him, the Xie Wuchi who had placed his hand on his chest and caressed it wantonly, the Xie Wuchi who had begged for love, the Xie Wuchi who had kissed him passionately, overlapped into one figure.

“Why won’t you let us harvest the rice? The rainy season is coming. If the rice rots in the fields, how are we supposed to live for the next year! What will we eat?”

“You have glory and wealth, born with a good life. We are born with a wretched life, just relying on a little bit of crops from the fields to live. For your so-called great cause, you want to take even this little bit away from us? I hate you!”

Xie Wuchi’s gaze swept over them. “Who said the court won’t let you harvest the rice?”

“The landlord said so.”

Xie Wuchi said “oh.” “So you are tenant farmers, not self-cultivating farmers. Whose tenant are you? And you? And you?”

“We are from the Zhao family village.”

“The Chen family village.”

“The Zhu family village!”

“…”

Shi Shu blinked his eyes. The more they spoke, the uglier Xie Wuchi’s face became. Duan Xiuwen was even sweating profusely.

Xie Wuchi: “So it was your landlords who said the court won’t let you harvest the rice.”

“The landlord said the court wants to equalize the land tax and check the land register. We’re not allowed to harvest until the check is complete. But the harvest is only for these few days. After that, the rice will rot.”

Xie Wuchi: “Then you came to the Great Min to demand an explanation, also at the landlord’s behest?”

The crowd answered sporadically. Some said yes and were glared at.

Shi Shu’s heart trembled. From the beginning, he had understood what was going on.

These commoners were being used as pawns by the landlords, urged to come to the Great Min to demand an explanation, to force the Great Min to agree to their harvest. In fact, they were pushing their lives on the line. If Xie Wuchi hadn’t controlled the situation just now, and the commoners had started fighting with the officials, or even killed Xie Wuchi, for assassinating an imperial envoy, all these commoners would be beheaded, killed. And with the imperial envoy killed by the commoners, the new policy could no longer be implemented.

“How vicious!”

“How vicious of the gentry.”

Shi Shu felt a little breathless. Looking at this crowd in the pouring rain, they had only come to seek justice for themselves. What wrong had they done? Seeking justice for their food, yet they were being used as chess pieces.

What wrong had they done?

Xie Wuchi: “I understand. You all go back immediately. Don’t gather here and cause trouble.”

Someone said, “We’re not leaving! We won’t leave until you let us harvest the rice!”

“Don’t you understand yet? To put it nicely, you are gathering a crowd to cause trouble. To put it bluntly, you are rebelling. This is a crime punishable by death. Who sent you here? Go back quickly! As for the rice harvest, at the latest by tomorrow, I will give you a result.”

Some were swayed, but some did not move and still stood there.

Xie Wuchi: “Not leaving, are you? Men! Watch them. If they still don’t leave, they will be dealt with as rebels! Don’t you even want your lives?!”

Their faces were filled with grievance, looking at him with teary eyes.

Xie Wuchi didn’t want to say any more. He turned and walked away. The Great Min runners behind him quickly splashed ink on the crowd. Some retreated, and they left sporadically.

Shi Shu stood in the crowd and heard sporadic conversations.

“This imperial envoy beat Tang Maoshi, he’s a good official. If it weren’t for him beating Tang Maoshi, I wouldn’t have left.”

“He said he’ll give us a result by tomorrow at the latest. Damn it, tomorrow, this rain is about to fall!”

“It’s driving me crazy.”

“Let’s go, let’s go. We’ll come back tomorrow. If it doesn’t work out tomorrow, we’ll just…”

“…”

The crowd gradually dispersed, supporting the elderly, holding children. The able-bodied men strode forward, scattering from where they came. The thunderstorm also stopped. Shi Shu watched them, following behind Xie Wuchi.

Shi Shu wished so much that this group of people could all have food to eat.

He thought Xie Wuchi was in a bad mood just now and called out to him, “Are you okay?”

Xie Wuchi was also soaked by the downpour. His dark hair stuck to his ears. He lowered his eyes, his expression had already returned to normal, his dark eyes in a state of contemplation, clearly already thinking about other things.

Shi Shu walked beside him and asked, “Can you save them?”

Xie Wuchi: “I’m thinking of a way. To save people, to save myself.”

Shi Shu looked at him before him. The image of him confronting thousands of people alone just now was unforgettable. It was somewhat unfamiliar, but shocking.

Did he see pity for these commoners in his eyes? It seemed not. It was just like having done one thing. Xie Wuchi’s ambition, control, execution, and courage, how strong were they?

As Shi Shu followed him, while Xie Wuchi was deep in thought, a Great Min runner came to report, “My lord, the young master of the Zhao family has just been put in prison. The other tenant farmers who have committed crimes have also been summoned to the Great Min for questioning.”

Xie Wuchi asked, “Have Xu Er’s wife, children, and elderly been found?”

“Based on the travel speed, they should arrive in the afternoon.”

Xie Wuchi closed his eyes. Only after this Great Min runner left did a look of frustration appear in his eyes.

Shi Shu: “Are you very busy?”

“I still have to be busy today. The rain is about to fall. If we don’t harvest soon, there won’t be enough time.”

Xie Wuchi said, looking at the rain-soaked Shi Shu, “Go take a bath and have breakfast.”

Shi Shu: “And you?”

Xie Wuchi: “What? Together is fine too.”

“No, no, no…”

After the downpour, the weather quickly heated up again. In the bathhouse, in a cool shed, Shi Shu rinsed himself with cool water. Drops of water dripped from the tip of his nose. He was still thinking about the thrilling event outside the city gate.

The commoners of this era were truly miserable. They hadn’t read books, had few means of survival, and were forced to walk a certain path. For the sake of their own interests, those gentry could use so many lives in exchange, and they didn’t even know they were being framed.

No wonder Shi Shu admired the people who rose up in rebellion at the end of a dynasty the most.

“This dynasty is rotten to the core. It should be overthrown, and they should all be killed.”

“If only someone would speak up for them.”

“Why are there no rebel armies? I want to join the army.”

“Does Xie Wuchi count as speaking up for them? Does he?”

Shi Shu closed his eyes, recalling the image of Xie Wuchi confronting the crowd. It had to be said, it was very impressive. While he was muttering to himself, the bamboo fence behind him made a cracking sound. He turned around. Xie Wuchi had rinsed off the rainwater, changed into clean clothes, and was now looking at him lazily with half-raised eyelids.

Shi Shu vigilantly pressed against the door. “Wait a minute, I’m still bathing!”

“I know you’re bathing. I came specifically for that.”

Before the words were finished, his vision blurred, and their lips were already pressed together. The heat was rising again.

Shi Shu’s jaw was held, and he was kissed several times in a daze. When he came back to his senses, a few drops of saliva were dripping down his chin, and his ears were red.

Shi Shu raised his eyes and couldn’t help but ask, “Xie Wuchi, are you using me as an outlet for your stress?”

__

Author’s note:

Don’t worry everyone, there are several chapters with a lot of interaction coming up. I’m already eager to try. Hehehe, it involves the deepening of shameless brother’s feelings. There’s still a distance to the blurb, but the two of them have to officially start pulling at each other.

Here are two small theaters:

1. Shi Shu later takes Xie Wuchi to meet his parents.
   The two of them sit on the sofa. Ms. Bai Mo, under the pretext of passing by, looks Xie Wuchi up and down, then says, “Shi Shu, come here for a second.”
   She grabs Shi Shu by the collar and presses him against the door. “I told you you could have a relationship in college, and you bring me back a 190cm young master. You—”
   Shi Shu: High-end game.
   

Isn’t Xiao Shubao very good-looking? And he usually posts videos, so he’s a very popular pretty-boy streamer on a certain platform, the kind that gets hundreds of thousands of likes for a casual selfie.

 After returning to the modern world, the stupid handsome guy’s brain forgets Xie Wuchi’s phone number, so he posts a high-definition close-up handsome guy video on this platform: “Your boyfriend is lost; come find me.”
Trying to find Xie Wuchi.

 Others: Fishing? Not interested. On the surface XXXX, behind my back calls me a toad.
Xiao Shubao: Bro, I’m really looking for my boyfriend. [Tears]

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