Xia Xi's breath wasn't calm and his eyes were full of poorly concealed panic, he felt a bit afraid seeing the teenager who was already as tall as him. Chu Lan probably drank too much, he didn't notice his expression but walked over while slightly staggering, almost crashing into Xia Xi's arms. Xia Xi hurriedly supported him, he smelled the smell of alcohol on his body and helped him sit down, he said, "I'll get you tea."
Chu Lan nodded lightly, his gaze chasing Xia Xi's figure. Xia Xi came over with a bowl of tea for him to drink but Chu Lan didn't pick it up, so he drank half of the bowl himself and offered it to him again.<b> (T/L: Xia Xi thought Chu Lan suspected the tea to be poisonous so he drank half to show that it was not)</b> Chu Lan looked at him with bright eyes, he said, "I brought you many things, have you seen them all?"
Xia Xi said: "I have seen it all, thank you."
Chu Lan got his thanks, laughed happily, and asked, "Did you like it or not?"
Xia Xi said: "I liked it."
Chu Lan was even happier, reaching out to hold his hand. Xia Xi put down the bowl and let him hold his hand. When the two held hands for the first time Chu Lan's hand was a lot smaller than his, but now it was a little bigger than his. He was still a teenager, but because he held weapons all the time his hands were full of calluses, there were many small scars, unlike the hands of a royal from Xia. Even a noble man's hands there were slender and tender; smooth and white, at first glance you could see that they weren't used to work. Xia Xi's hands were also beautiful, with slender fingers like tender green onions, they felt soft to the touch too. Chu Lan obviously liked it very much, after holding and stroking them for a long time, he leaned heavily on Xia Xi. Xia Xi panicked and had to get closer, Chu Lan put his head against his abdomen and rubbed against him, making Xia Xi tense up.
Chu Lan's voice was a bit fuzzy, he had passed the period of his voice cracking, his was no longer a childish voice, but the voice of a young adult, he said: "I haven't seen you for such a long time, I could only think of you. Those band of thieves would actually resist for so long, it took years before we captured their capital, it was only last month when we infiltrated and killed them. I think it should've been because of my cousin: brave, thinks he's invincible, and unwilling to surrender. All of his children were killed, the rest committed suicide but that's another story."
Xia Xi didn't know much about warfare, after hearing what Chu Lan said he was at loss for a response. He just whispered: "Have you drank too much? Do you want to rest? I... I'll pour you hot water," Xia Xi wanted to get away but Chu Lan refused to let go of his hand. Chu Lan inhaled deeply against his abdomen, saying: "Xi'er, you smell so good."
Xia Xi never felt that there was any scent on his body, after all, he wouldn't apply grease or powder unless necessary. His face reddened because of the praise but his body tightened even more. Suppressing his anxiety, he whispered: "May I wash you?"
Chu Lan raised his eyes to look at him, he was drunk and his face was slightly red, his brows looked a bit heroic, and he looked at Xia Xi with burning eyes. Xia Xi felt uneasy, Chu Lan stared at him for a long time before taking back his gaze and letting go.
Xia Xi breathed a subtle sigh of relief.
________
Pour hot water, wash his face and hands as usual with a cloth towel, remove his shoes and socks, wash his feet, coax him into bed. Xia Xi's anxiety almost got the best of him. The older Chu Lan got, the more fear grew in his heart, fear that his secret would be revealed, but he had to bite the bullet and face it.
I always feel that everything would be revealed one day.
After dumping the water outside, Xia Xi blew out the candles and walked to the bedroom. When he approached the bed he found that Chu Lan was still not asleep, his eyes were open and his gaze kept falling on him. Xia Xi was startled, the panic on his face couldn't be concealed and his voice trembled a little, "Y-you, why are you still awake?"
Chu Lan leaned over and took him by the hand, drawing him to his side and laying down while clinging to him tightly. With a little shyness in his tone, he said: "Mother told me today that I need to have sex with you early, so that we could have a baby together soon."
Xia Xi trembled with panic when he heard what Chu Lan said. His reaction was a bit intense, Chu Lan noticed it and stared at him with a frown, "Don't you like it?"
Xia Xi's neck was extremely stiff, and he slowly turned his head to meet Chu Lan's gaze, he pursed his lips and whispered: "I don't like it..." He closed his eyes, as if he had decided something, and said softly: "My Liege, I... I actually have something to..." Before he finished speaking, Chu Lan interrupted him with dissatisfaction, "Don't call me like that, just call me by my name."
Xia Xi called out "Chu Lan" arduously and was about to continue talking when Chu Lan said with a little expectation in his tone, "Do you know how to have sex?"
Xia Xi's breathing was a bit messy. Of course, he knew how to have sex, before getting married he had been well instructed. Even in the dowry that accompanied him, there was a booklet of erotic arts that served as sex education but it had already been well hidden by him. Xia Xi lied, "I... I don't know...."
Chu Lan seemed to understand, "You haven't been married to someone else, it's normal for you not to know, I'll teach you!" He got closer, obviously also nervous, and his expression was expectant.
Xia Xi's palms were already sweaty, the sound of his heartbeat thundered in his ears. He wondered why the person in front of him couldn't hear it. He opened his eyes wide and looked at his young husband who was getting closer and closer. His whole figure seemed decked out on a cutting board, like a piece of meat. He had given up the idea of resistance and was at the mercy of the boy in front of him. Chu Lan's nose was almost touching his, their breaths blended, it was hot and chaotic. The next moment, Chu Lan gently kissed his lips.
Although it was light, it still produced a little noise, their faces both flushed in surprise and they separated slightly. After a while, Chu Lan seemed satisfied and hesitantly said, "Would you like more?"
He stared at Xia Xi's moist red lips, swallowed, and asked, "Will you get pregnant soon?"
Xia Xi felt like he was going to faint and was stopped only because of those two words. Kiss? Pregnant? Could it be that in the mind of his young husband, he didn't understand what real intercourse was like, and only thought that it was enough to kiss him?
Why so... innocent?
Chu Lan leaned over again, looking very emotional, and asked, "Is it possible to kiss a few more times? Will there be a child immediately after a kiss? What if there's so many that they won't be able to fit in your tummy?"
Xia Xi's face turned red and he whispered: "It should be... not..."
Chu Lan's eyes lit up and he said, "Then I'll kiss a few more times," He stared at Xia Xi's soft lips with an expectant expression and solemnly pressed their lips together. They stayed in that position for a while, and, as if reluctant to leave, Chu Lan rubbed their lips together. When they separated, he couldn't hold back and kissed Xia Xi again. They actually kissed more than a dozen times.
With their bodies rubbing together, it quickly became hot and dry. Xia Xi realized that the teenager was still wanted to continue, so he subtly evaded and whispered, "This much should be enough..."
Chu Lan still looked a bit unwilling, sticking out his tongue and licking Xia Xi's lips, "Will this be enough?"
Xia Xi pulled the quilt up in shame to cover his lips and whispered: "I... I don't know, but this much should be enough... you— you can do it again tomorrow..."
Only then did Chu Lan back down. Both of them were a little shy, nobody spoke. After a while, Chu Lan moved a bit, looking uncomfortable. Instead of cuddling up to Xia Xi, he retreated to the quilt, as if to escape, a muffled voice said, "We should go to sleep then."
Xia Xi breathed a sigh of relief, "Alright."
_____
Chu Lan seemed convinced that Xia Xi would get pregnant with a baby if he kissed him on the mouth. He would touch Xia Xi's belly every few days to see if it had bulged yet. After seeing that it was flat, he didn't become disappointed but was instead somewhat happy, he thought that since Xia Xi still wasn't pregnant then he could continue to 'work hard' at night. He obviously liked kissing Xia Xi very much and looked very expectant every time they went to bed. Whenever Xia Xi laid down on the bed, Chu Lan would come over and kiss him, but Chu Lan usually only kissed for a dozen times or so before turning around and falling asleep.
Xia Xi found his behaviour peculiar at first. One time his thigh accidentally touched a certain part of Chu Lan's lower body and found out that Chu Lan actually got an erection.
During the war with the Western Barbarians, Chu Lan rarely stayed in Yudu. When he did stay, however, he didn't let Xia Xi bathe him, so Xia Xi didn't know much about his physical development. Only now did he truly understand that his little husband was all grown up and even big. Xia Xi felt embarrassed enough to die. If he was a true woman then he could have real sex with his husband now, instead of deceiving him and purposely not telling him how 'erections' worked, so that he wouldn't feel weird about it or conceal it.
But for the sake of his life, Xia Xi still selfishly decided to pretend to not understand this matter.
After Saha was taken back, Chu Lan became very busy for a period of time. In winter, he sent envoys to the Xia Kingdom to discuss trade with the Emperor. The border between the two countries had never been peaceful. The Kingdom of Xia was rich in resources and was completely self-sufficient in but a few factors, unlike them the Kingdom of the Barbarians had many essential items that couldn't be produced locally and could only be bought from Xia. Sometimes, if Xia refused to sell it, they just grabbed it. As a result, large and small wars began to occur. It was common for peace treaties made the last month to expire the next month, especially since in the past few years Chu Lan had been fighting against the western Barbarians.
The trade treaty wasn't implemented until the summer of the following year. When the envoy came back, he brought back many gifts from the Emperor of Xia. Among them, there was a box that was entrusted to be given to Xia Xi by princess Hui.
Xia Xi was also a little surprised when the servant sent it in. The box looked heavy and he didn't have an inkling of what could be inside, there was no lock on the outside of the box, but the seal was still intact. Cai Huan tore the seal and opened the box, it was full, but on the top was a piece of clothing with two letters on it. Xia Xi saw the handwriting of one of them and said in surprise: "This is a letter from my mother."
He had never felt so happy before and had never shown such a big smile on his face, he quickly opened the letter and read it. After opening it, the smile on his face became stiff and soon turned into an expression of deep worry.
Cai Huan saw his abnormal reaction and asked with concern: "His Royal Highness, what's the matter?"
Xia Xi shook his head and opened Xia Hui's letter. After reading the first sentence, he couldn't help but let out a strangled exclamation, slumping weakly on the ground, Cai Huan was terrified. After Xia Xi was brought back to his senses, he said desperately: "Cai Huan, my mother... is dead..."
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<b>PastTimer: PastTimer from the future here. As I was reading this I got quite curious about the cause of death of the King's children and how cruelly Chu Lan exterminated them. It was previously mentioned that the King of the western Barbarian state was stubborn and refused to surrender and that Chu Lan had to infiltrate Saha and overthrew him. If the King refused to surrender, that must've meant that they didn't flee the city, right? My theory is that the sons of the King were killed like warriors when the invasion of the palace began and the daughters committed suicide to avoid getting raped. Or maybe the males of the family killed the daughter first before going off to die in a forced suicide? Anyway, it's safe to say that all of the King's children and extended family were severely dealt with. Of course, the theory of soldiers raiding the palace after killing the males and then raping and killing the females after is valid but based on Chu Lan's tone and mood (and still lack of sex ed) it's very unlikely that this theory happened, let me know your thoughts. </b>