Gu Yun reached out and gently stroked the side of Chang Geng's waist. It didn't make people feel that he was intruding, but it was just right to tease. The temperature of his palm gradually passed through the clothes, as if he was rubbing a fire that wasn't hot, and it stuck to Chang Geng's body neither lightly nor heavily.
Changgeng missed him too much. When they were in Jiangbei Daying, he had always wanted to be intimate with him, but it had been delayed until now. No matter how much he had in his heart, Changgeng's body was only in his twenties. It was fine when he had not tasted it, but when he had just tasted it, he was interrupted by Miss Chen. If it were not for the fact that he had a lot of work to do and did not dare to let go of the string in his heart, he would have gone crazy from holding it in.
At this moment, half of his body was numb from Gu Yun's gentle touch. After panting a few times, Changgeng whispered with a tinnitus in his ears, "Godfather, do you want to take my life?"
Gu Yun, "Your wound doesn't hurt anymore?"
It still hurt, but it was a different kind of pain. His Royal Highness Yan Wang's wound usually hurt normally, but when he acted coquettishly and asked for a kiss, it was "very painful". Now, even if his wound burst open and blood flowed like a river, he must have a body of copper skin and iron bones, and would not feel pain or itch.
"It's good that it doesn't hurt anymore," Gu Yun calmly grabbed Changgeng's hand that was digging into his clothes, pulled it out, and threw it aside. She smiled and said, "Then let's settle the score."
Changgeng, "…"
Gu Yun calmly put one of her hands behind her head and lay on the bed very relaxed. Her other hand was still gently supporting Changgeng's waist. Her tone was not strict, but the content of her words made one sweat.
Gu Yun, "Tell me, what were you thinking when you brought Lord Xu, a scholar who can't carry anything, into the bandit's lair?"
Changgeng, "Zi Xi …"
"There's no need to call me Zi Xi," Gu Yun said calmly. "You can continue to call me Godfather."
Changgeng smiled embarrassedly and kissed her ingratiatingly. Changgeng had recently discovered that Gu Yun liked this kind of sticky kiss very much. She would peck him a few times and stare at him carefully for a while. Basically, no matter what he said, Gu Yun would agree.
However, this trick didn't seem to work now.
Gu Yun raised her eyebrows slightly. "You don't have to be so polite. My wound doesn't hurt."
The resourceful Yan Wang was finally at his wit's end. He had no choice but to speak honestly, "I didn't expect them to really start an uprising."
Gu Yun smiled indulgently and rubbed Changgeng's cheek with the back of her hand. Then, she said mercilessly, "Nonsense, you must have thought of it."
Changgeng's throat moved slightly. "I … Lord Xu and I were on the way to the headquarters at that time. We didn't know beforehand that they would choose this time …"
"Oh," Gu Yun nodded. "Then, you saw that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It wasn't easy for you to seek death, so you hurriedly went up."
Changgeng listened to her and felt that this trend wasn't quite right. He quickly admitted his mistake. "I was wrong."
Gu Yun put his hand down. His expression was unreadable. His pair of peach blossom eyes were half-closed. Changgeng couldn't figure out what he was thinking for a moment and couldn't help but feel nervous.
However, after waiting for a long time, Gu Yun didn't vent his anger. Instead, he suddenly asked, "Is it because I asked you that day, 'when can you settle the refugees and when can you recover Jiangnan?' Did that give you pressure?"
When he said this, there was a faintly discernible crease between his eyebrows. His expression was almost lonely. Changgeng had only seen such an expression once on the red-headed kite on New Year's Eve. At that time, Gu Yun offered three cups of wine as a sacrifice to the thousands of dead souls. His face also had this kind of indifferent loneliness. Even the lights in the capital couldn't illuminate the side of his face.
Changgeng almost panicked for a moment. He said incoherently, "I'm not … I … Zi Xi …"
When Gu Yun was young, he didn't like to talk about his feelings with others. It wasn't for any other reason. He felt that if he wore all his emotions on his face, it would be like lifting his clothes to show others his flesh at any time. It was very indecent and others might not like to see it. It was inappropriate. This had nothing to do with whether he was happy or not. It was purely due to his upbringing. During the day, when everyone sat together to eat big pieces of meat and drink big mouthfuls of wine, there was no difference. Only when they were drunk could the difference be seen. Some people would wantonly cry and make a fuss, while others would at most clap their chopsticks and sing.
The inappropriate words rolled around the tip of Gu Yun's tongue a few times. They floated up and sank down. Finally, he tried to say, "I was on my way here from the capital …"
Changgeng was very good at reading people's expressions. In an instant, he sensed what Gu Yun wanted to say. His pupils couldn't help but contract slightly. He looked at Gu Yun in panic and expectation.
Gu Yun had probably never said such difficult words in his life. He almost flinched at the last minute.
Changgeng asked, "How was your journey?"
Gu Yun said, "… I was burning with anxiety."
Changgeng looked at him blankly.
Back then, when the Jiangnan Navy was completely wiped out and more than half of the Black Iron Battalion was lost, did Gu Yun say the words "burning with anxiety" when he was hurriedly released from prison by Li Feng?
He didn't.
Gu Yun seemed to always be calm and never panic. If he panicked, it was most likely an act.
His strength was a little fake. It made people feel uneasy. They wondered if he would suddenly collapse one day like the tall Nine Gates of the Imperial City.
Gu Yun seemed to have opened a gate that had been closed for a long time. Once those words came out, the rest of his words flowed smoothly, "If something really happened to you on this trip … what should I do?"
Changgeng looked at him and didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
Gu Yun said, "Changgeng, I really don't have the strength to put … someone else in my heart."
Changgeng was shocked.
Gu Yun still had the strength to pacify the North and South. He also had the strength to die with remaining grievances. He also had the strength to argue with General Chung day and night about the establishment of the Jiangbei Navy.
But he didn't have the strength to love someone else.
Over the years, other than Shen Yi, a friend who had gone through fire and water with Gu Yun, it seemed that there was only the Marquis's fu left. Every bit of effort he squeezed out was placed on this sensitive and overthinking youth that the previous Emperor had handed over to him.
In officialdom, flattery was unavoidable. When it came to Marshal Gu, it was mostly "dedicated and selfless." But in fact, Gu Yun wasn't purely selfless. It was just that when he thought about it, he really didn't have anything to be "selfish" about.
Gu Yun didn't feel this kind of loneliness very deeply when he was young. At that time, he was the Marquis of Stability of the Xuan Tie Third Division. Even if he had thousands of grievances and indignation, after drinking a pot of hot wine, he could get up in high spirits and forget everything the next day. Now that he was getting older, his thoughts were getting heavier. He realized that the carefreeness of his early years had unknowingly worn away. Especially recently, he felt that he was particularly easy to get tired. When one's body was tired, one's heart would often feel dull.
If it wasn't for the fact that he had Yan Wang, who was sometimes meticulous and sometimes crazy, to worry about, then there would be no meaning in living.
The tiredness and loneliness on Gu Yun's face flashed past. In the blink of an eye, he put it away and gently put Changgeng down.
He pulled a thin blanket that was spread out to the side and draped it over Changgeng's body. He sighed, "Lie down properly. You can't even straighten your back, yet you're still thinking about that. Are you serious?"
Changgeng held his hand. Gu Yun's hand could never warm up. It was always as if it had just been removed from a cutting wind blade. It was dry, cold, and hard, "Zi Xi, lie down with me for a while, okay?"
Gu Yun took off his coat without saying anything. He leaned against the side and hugged Changgeng through the thin blanket. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep.
Changgeng then quietly opened his eyes. He only felt that every hair on his body was trembling. He wanted to drag the person beside him over and fiercely entangle himself with her. However, he couldn't bear to destroy this quiet and warm atmosphere. He could only stay motionless and let the fire of desire roast him. He endured it unbearably and blissfully.
It had been almost eleven years since Gu Yun picked him up in Yanhui Town. In these eleven years, Gu Yun spent most of her time at the border and the battlefield. She spent more time with Changgeng than with him … but she never left his heart for a single day.
Changgeng sometimes didn't know how he should love her. He always felt that it would be difficult to repay her even if he gave up his life. Suddenly, he realized that rather than saying that Gu Yun was the only good thing that he had encountered in his life that was worth looking forward to, it was better to say that all the difficulties he had suffered since he was born were to accumulate enough luck to meet this person.
When he thought about it this way, the many years of grudges were miraculously let go.
Yan Wang was injured in Jiangbei. Xu Ling took care of all the major and minor matters. Lord Xu was a bear man who wouldn't be moved by force or persuasion. He also poached Wealth God Du's son, Du Lang, from who knows where. Young Master Du didn't talk much, but he was very difficult to fool. It was too difficult to make friends with him. Their family was too rich. The Emperor gave them a lot of IOUs. They didn't dare to take advantage of some trivial benefits in front of this person.
At the end of September that year, with Yan Wang's guidance and the support of Jiangbei Daying, Xu Ling quelled the mob rebellion and resettled the refugees in Jiangbei. Then, Yao Zhen temporarily took over the position of Governor of Liangjiang. Xu Ling returned to the capital to report on the completion of the mission and took Yan Wang's memorial with him.
At this point, a big case that caused a sensation throughout the country came to an end.
Yan Wang himself was still taking his time to recuperate while strolling to the capital. He didn't show his face, and the vigorous "Long Canal Corridor" movement that he initiated had already taken root. His memorial was only kept in the Palace of Political Affairs for two days before the Imperial Court was over. The Grand Council led and supported it, and the two courts were quiet. Several aristocratic families were busy consolidating their internal forces and didn't have time to care about other things. Fang Qin was temporarily dormant, and the Emperor Long An approved it on the same day.
The Grand Council, who already had a plan in mind, showed incredible ability to take action. In two days, they came up with a complete plan, making people almost suspect that they came prepared.
In less than a month, the Canal Office was set up outside the Six Ministries. The Canal Office had full authority to contact Du Wanquan and other people from the Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the Imperial Court. That God of Fortune Du transformed into a real imperial merchant. All kinds of resources and materials that had already been privately allocated were sent to the factory in a steady stream. The entire Imperial Court didn't sleep or rest for a month, and a large number of civil officials who usually only hunched over their desks were exhausted. The entire Daliang was set on fire, as if to make up for all the dead positions of the two dynasties.
Finally, before the midwinter, the refugees of Liangjiang were gathered under the preliminary construction of the factory shacks.
Yan Wang and Li Min had just returned to the capital.
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