Chapter Eighty-Nine: I Belong to No One

When Yu Hualiang returned, the weather was already hot. In the past few days he had been drinking and eating with his friends until very late, and he had not had a proper rest for several days.

The midday heat made him drowsy, and since the sun had worn him out, he simply came back to take a nap. He was dressed lightly, wearing only a thin undergarment that barely covered his battered body, making him look frail and pitiable.

He was restless in his sleep. After rolling over a few times, his pale chest was left exposed, along with those horrifying scars.

The Seventh Prince was struck with horror. Every time he saw those wounds, a dull ache twisted in his heart, and he wished that, back then, he could have been at Yu Hualiang’s side to bear it all for him.

He moved closer in silence, his hand cautiously brushing Yu Hualiang’s cheek, thinking how heartless the man could be. He had come to the capital and met everyone, yet still had not come to see him.

Had he truly been forgotten?

However unwilling he was to accept it, the Seventh Prince could not stop himself from sneaking in before Yu Hualiang woke.

Seeing him asleep, the prince seemed to sink deeper and deeper into some spell of his own. As if possessed, he lowered his head and kissed those thin lips that curved between a smile and no smile.

Yu Hualiang felt the disturbance and opened his eyes.

“Seventh... Seventh Prince, why are you here?” Yu Hualiang cried out in shock.

The Seventh Prince kissed the hollow of his neck and whispered in his ear, “Perhaps this prince was the one forgotten by Master Yu.”

Yu Hualiang realized the Seventh Prince was in a somewhat frenzied state, and he tried his best to restrain him. “Wait... wait, Mu Zijing!”

At the sound of his name, the Seventh Prince paused. Looking down at him, he smiled wickedly. “So you finally deign to call me by my name, Ziliang?”

Yu Hualiang pushed at him. “Get up first.”

The Seventh Prince slowly rose, and in the same motion pulled Yu Hualiang up as well. Seeing that Yu Hualiang’s expression was far from pleasant, he asked, “Did you come here for something?”

Like a man obsessed, the Seventh Prince wrapped his arms around him from behind and murmured in his ear, “Come back with me, Ziliang.”

Yu Hualiang felt intensely uncomfortable and struggled. “No, impossible!”

He shoved him, but failed to move the Seventh Prince and instead ended up sitting on the floor himself. “You said it yourself! You wouldn’t force me!”

The Seventh Prince’s expression darkened as well. Fury flared in his eyes. He seized Yu Hualiang by the wrist and pinned him against the wall, lifting his arms above his head.

Yu Hualiang felt deeply humiliated. “Hey! As a prince, how can you...”

The Seventh Prince tipped his chin up with two fingers. “Has Ziliang truly forgotten me? You’ve been back so long. Why didn’t you come looking for me?”

Yu Hualiang shot him a look. “Why would I look for you? So you could sleep with me?”

The Seventh Prince gave a cold laugh. “It seems Ziliang does not like this. Then I shall have to help you get used to it as soon as possible...”

As he spoke, the hand that held Yu Hualiang’s chin slid down toward his chest. When he touched the scars on his body, he lingered there on purpose.

Having gone through this more than once already, Yu Hualiang writhed uneasily, trying to escape that restless hand.

Once again the Seventh Prince was drawn to the reddened, furrowed look on his face. Fixing his gaze on Yu Hualiang’s eyes, he leaned in and kissed him slowly, gently at first, like a dragonfly skimming the water, and then with the ferocity of a storm.

He kept stealing the air from Yu Hualiang’s mouth, greedily tasting his sweetness.

In truth, Yu Hualiang hated being so passive. It made him feel like a slave, forced to submit beneath another man’s control.

Noticing the unwillingness in his expression, the Seventh Prince’s lips curved faintly as he leaned in even closer.

Yu Hualiang shuddered awake. He struggled free at once, then, like a small beast that had found itself surrounded, stared at the Seventh Prince with anxious vigilance.

The Seventh Prince thought himself no monster. On the contrary, he was a rare beauty among men. He could not understand why Yu Hualiang watched him with such caution.

“Just one embrace,” the Seventh Prince pleaded.

Yu Hualiang tried to negotiate. “And then you leave?”

The Seventh Prince disliked bargaining with him. “Ziliang... why are you afraid of me?”

Wasn’t that obvious? Who would willingly let you sleep with them? And every time afterward, you were the one looking satisfied and pleased while pulling up your trousers, and he was the one left in agony.

Seeing that Yu Hualiang said nothing, he stepped forward and held him. “Ziliang... don’t be afraid of me... I only love you too much.”

Yu Hualiang buried himself a little more in his neck, and then left a red mark on the Seventh Prince’s throat. The prince smiled, as though amused by his mischief.

Afterward, Yu Hualiang gave him a shove. “Fine, now go. Don’t disturb my nap!”

Yu Hualiang was already on the bed, but the Seventh Prince followed and lay down beside him, pressing close.

Yu Hualiang was just about to flare up when the Seventh Prince suddenly said, “What a coincidence, this prince is tired as well. Surely it is not too much to borrow Master Yu’s bed for a little while?”

At that, Yu Hualiang sat up at once. “Then this humble subject will not inconvenience Your Highness.”

The Seventh Prince pulled him back into his arms. “If I do not hold Ziliang, I cannot feel at ease.”

By the time Yu Hualiang truly fell asleep, it was already dark when he woke again. The drowsiness was gone, and he had only come out for a look at the moon.

In his courtyard stood a magnolia tree, and it was in bloom. Yu Hualiang could not help looking toward it, only to discover that someone was hiding in the shadows beneath the branches.

Startled, he stumbled back several steps. “Who’s there? Come out!”

The dark figure did not continue hiding, but slowly stepped out from beneath the tree. In the moonlight, Yu Hualiang finally made out the familiar face.

It was Ye Hao.

What was he doing here in secret? Had the Fourth Prince sent him?

After realizing Yu Hualiang had seen him, Ye Hao merely stood quietly beneath the tree, calm and unhurried, as though he did not fear being discovered at all.

When someone came in secret to spy, they usually had a guilty conscience. If discovered, most would flee. Ye Hao clearly was not that kind.

He seemed more like he had simply come to look at Yu Hualiang, with no ill intent.

Yu Hualiang reflected that he had no real acquaintance with Ye Hao; the man had only been assigned to protect him during the painting gathering at Green Forest Hall. He probably knew Yu Hualiang had not died and had come to see him out of curiosity, nothing more.

Since that was the case, let him look. Yu Hualiang pretended not to have seen him and turned back around.

Just then, he heard Ye Hao speak from the darkness.

“You...”

Though his voice was low and somewhat cold, Yu Hualiang could still hear the emotion suppressed beneath it.

It seemed strangely joyful.

Yu Hualiang looked at him, ready to hear him finish.

Seeing this, Ye Hao went on and completed the thought.

“You... are still alive?”

Yu Hualiang answered with a calm expression, “The underworld would not take me. They said I would have to become an immortal in a hundred years.”

It was meant half in jest, but Ye Hao looked at him and seemed to let out a breath of relief. Then he leaped lightly against the wall and vanished without a trace into the dusk.

After he left, Yu Hualiang strolled back with an air of leisure.

When he returned to bed and was just drifting off, he suddenly felt someone’s soft breath beside him. Yu Hualiang thought the Seventh Prince had probably sneaked in again.

He boldly sat up to look, only to find that the shadow standing inside the room was a thin man in black. His face could not be made out clearly, but strangely enough, Yu Hualiang felt that the figure was familiar.

The man apparently had not expected Yu Hualiang to react like that. He suddenly flung open the window and ran.

Yu Hualiang stared blankly at the window for a long time before remembering to call for help.

Someone had broken into the Yu residence. That was what Yu Hualiang thought then. First Ye Hao had come to spy on him in the middle of the night out of curiosity, and now there was a thief.

He probably had heard some rumor that Yu Hualiang possessed some miraculous elixir and had come to steal it.

In any case, Yu Hualiang no longer dared to stay there. After Liansheng learned of the matter, he said with a grave expression, “A batch of palace maidens has just been selected, and we are short-handed. Come into the palace with me and help out.”

“Hey! Do you really not care whether I live or die?”

Liansheng took a sip of tea and said, “If he wanted to kill you, he would have done it already. Aren’t you still alive?”

“That may be true, but you could at least show a little concern for me,” Yu Hualiang said bitterly.

“How exactly am I supposed to show concern?” Liansheng replied. “Should I hold you and ask whether you are cold or hot, and whether anything is wrong?”

Yu Hualiang was momentarily speechless. “Well... no, not that.”

“Your Highness the Seventh Prince has arrived!”

Even as a loud, rooster-like cry came from outside, the door was pushed open in haste.

When Liansheng saw the Seventh Prince, he hurried to kneel and bow, but before Yu Hualiang could even react, he had already been pulled into a tight embrace.

The Seventh Prince held him so tightly that it was hard to breathe. He smoothed Yu Hualiang’s hair and pressed his head against his chest in concern. “Are you all right, Ziliang?”

Liansheng at the side was dumbfounded. So this was the kind of concern Yu Hualiang had meant? If that was the case... then no matter what, he could never manage it!

Yu Hualiang pushed at him firmly. “Hey... let go. I’m fine!”

The Seventh Prince seemed to notice the presence of Liansheng, the unwanted third wheel, and said coldly, “You. Get out.”

Liansheng suppressed his unease and obediently withdrew.

With the third wheel gone, the Seventh Prince seemed to unleash the wolfish nature he had been holding back, his eyes bright as they fixed on Yu Hualiang.

Yu Hualiang felt like a piece of meat in the Seventh Prince’s eyes, and it made him deeply uncomfortable.

“Seventh Prince, I really am fine. Can you let go of me now?” Yu Hualiang said coldly, with a hint of warning.

Seeing the impatience in his eyes, the Seventh Prince grew a little angry as well. The more Yu Hualiang said this, the tighter he held him. Yu Hualiang was pressed close against him, and in irritation he opened his mouth and bit him.

He had not thought much of it; he was simply angry.

Coming back had been a mistake. At this rate, he would only fall into a passive position again.

He truly did not like being loved by the Seventh Prince in this way, though he admitted to himself that the prince already had a place in his heart.

The Seventh Prince did not even grunt. He only lowered his head and licked Yu Hualiang’s ear. The delicate, wet warmth lingered there, circling and teasing until Yu Hualiang nearly cried out.

Forced at last to loosen his grip, Yu Hualiang gasped for breath before allowing the Seventh Prince to keep holding him.

“You really learn fast,” Yu Hualiang said with a mocking edge.

The Seventh Prince understood the meaning behind those words and explained, “Ziliang... you must understand that I am a prince. What could possibly escape my eyes? Much less you.”

When Yu Hualiang tried to push him away, the Seventh Prince simply kissed him with a wicked smile. Suddenly, Yu Hualiang said loudly, “I have already decided... I am going to the palace.”

The words struck the Seventh Prince like thunder. His face darkened as he let go.

“Why... are you so afraid of me? Do you want to leave me that badly?”

“I do not belong to anyone!” Yu Hualiang suddenly shouted.

“Please give me my freedom.”