The Emperor’s Runaway Lover

For a moment, Bai Mo’s eyes became extremely dark.

Hurriedly, he turned his head away, hardly daring to take a closer look, but then he closed his eyes as if in pain, giving up and burying his head deep into the crook of Fu Yucheng’s neck.

The young man breathed in the reassuring and familiar scent, slightly dousing the desire in his heart, and he tried his best to calm his frantic pulse.

For now, he couldn’t…

With his lips and ears no longer under attack, Fu Yucheng’s breathing gradually evened out and he fell into a deep sleep once again.

Bai Mo lay on his neck for a long time before slowly propping himself up to watch him quietly.

Fu Yucheng’s smooth forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat, perhaps because of how he tossed around from earlier, and several strands of his pitch-black hair were messily strewn across his face.

The boy stretched out his hand, carefully wiped off the sweat, and gently combed the man’s hair.

His slender fingers ran through the man’s soft, thick hair, fascinated by the silky texture. Suddenly, his fingertips brushed against a faint scar—that old, terrible scar from his brain surgery.

As if sensing something, Fu Yucheng frowned with anxiety, his dark eyelashes trembling slightly.

“No…” he whispered, “I didn’t… teacher… I’m not… Rongyuan… he…”

He seemed to be in pain.

Bai Mo’s chest suddenly hurt, as if the softest and most fragile part of his heart was being tightly squeezed by sharp nails.

Those people, those imperial nobles, that crown prince that put himself above the masses… how dare- how dare they… do this to him?

The boy lowered his eyes, his face, like a piece of jade carved with ice, devoid of any expression. He thought: One day, one day… I will kill them.

I want to kill all the nobles, including that noble regent prince.

All of those people who made him suffer so much, they all deserve to die.

“Hmm…” Fu Yucheng moved nervously, as if he had felt some kind of cold murderous aura. But this murderous aura was so familiar to him that he didn’t even wake up.

Bai Mo took a deep breath and comfortingly stroked the thick and smooth hair of the other man. With this gentle reassurance, Fu Yucheng gradually calmed down.

The boy whispered, “It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m here.”

All of those who have hurt you, I will never let them go. I will wash away the pain you’ve suffered with their blood.

Maybe, at that point, I will have enough courage to tell you… how I feel.

“Beep beep beep, it is now 7 o’clock in the morning. Training starts in 30 minutes. Beep beep beep…” The crisp electronic voice of Noob, the quantum computer, echoed in the bedroom.

Fu Yucheng’s eyes snapped open, and he jolted in shock.

" "

A messy haired Bai Mo was sleeping soundly in his arms, lying on Fu Yucheng’s chest with a flushed face. One of his legs was pressed against the man in an extremely indecent position, and the quilt had turned into a roll of fabric, tangled around the two of them haphazardly.

“Ahem.” Fu Yucheng coughed, slightly embarrassed. He knew that Bai Mo slept deeply, but this was a bit too much.

He thought that it was lucky that he didn’t share the bed with Mo Ziran. Otherwise, this morning scene would have been too embarrassing.

He pushed hard against Bai Mo, who was still nestled in his arms, and the boy, sleeping peacefully, rubbed against the quilt, muttering, “Yu-ge, ah…”

Fu Yucheng rolled his eyes and said into his ear, “Get up!”

Suddenly startled, Bai Mo finally opened his eyes in a daze. “Yu-ge…”

After he saw the scene before him, the boy’s eyes suddenly widened. He was stunned for a moment, and his pale face gradually turned an inconspicuous pink.

He had fallen asleep late, but when did they… end up in such a position…?

“Uh, I didn’t sleep well, so I woke up like this. Don’t pay it any mind.” Fu Yucheng scratched his scalp and pushed the boy away from him. “Today we’re going to go to the martial arts field to train as usual, that way we won’t be suspicious.”

Bai Mo sat up on the bed, dumbfounded, his head lowered. After a long time, he replied with a soft hum.

Seeing how shy the brat was acting, Fu Yucheng no longer felt too embarrassed, and instead he even felt a little bit amused.

All of a sudden, he leaned down and approached Bai Mo.

" "

Their eyes met, and they were so close that they could even feel the warm of each other’s breath.

In an instant, Bai Mo tensed up.

After blanking out for a moment, he then realized that the man just wanted to tease him again.

And… when Fu Yucheng started joking, he’d often become careless and terribly mischievous. The boy couldn’t help but tense up, not even daring to blink.

What… what did he want?

Fu Yucheng wanted to tease Bai Mo at first, but, when he saw him so panicked, he had to reconsider. The boy was sixteen or seventeen, and his temperament was very sensitive.

Bai Mo looked at him with trepidation,an unmentionable hope hidden in the depths of his heart.

If… if Fu Yucheng suddenly came closer, should he dodge? If he didn’t dodge, he feared that, once Fu Yucheng got too close, he wouldn’t be able to help himself…

But to dodge? He didn’t want to do that either.

What should he do if the other wanted to have a tickle fight with him like they had done in the past?

While Bai Mo was still deeply immersed in his dilemma, Fu Yucheng shrugged, put on his robe and stood up. “I’m going to brush my teeth. Little Mo, you hurry up too, don’t be late.”

“Huh?” Bai Mo stared at his back, and, while he was relieved, he was also extremely disappointed. He even felt slightly aggrieved, as if he had been played with.

" "

That man… how can he be like this? How… how could he just leave?!

The boy fell backwards onto the bed, rolled around in anger, and kicked the quilt indiscriminately.

Not long after, the two of them were done washing up.

Fu Yucheng repeatedly told Mo Ziran to stay in the house and to not go out for any reason. Then, Fu Yucheng headed to the martial arts training area downstairs along with Bai Mo.

“Fu Yucheng, why are you so absent-minded today?” Song Lan spun around abruptly, and her Damascus blade whistled in the wind, brushing across her opponent’s cheek.

Fu Yucheng turned sideways to avoid the blade, then retracted his scimitar with a swipe and rubbed his temples in pain. “Enough. I drank too much yesterday, and now I have a migraine.”

Song Lan raised her eyebrows and placed her knife back into the scabbard at her waist. “If I remember correctly, you don’t drink much.”

Fu Yucheng shrugged. “It was a holiday, we don’t have many chances to unwind.”

Song Lan nodded. “Well, you’re lucky you escaped the disaster. Haven’t you heard? Yesterday, there was a thief on the 48th floor. The fortress master was furious and sent his personal guard to do a thorough search of the area. I was questioned for two full hours, I almost went crazy.”

“Oh, the guards dropped by my place, but they didn’t stay that long. Have they caught the thief?” Fu Yucheng asked purposefully.

Song Lan glanced around and lowered her voice. “Last night, the guards suddenly stopped searching. I heard… that the fortress master has found his target, but no one has been captured yet.”

Fu Yucheng was puzzled. “He found his target? Then why has no one been caught yet?”

“Sibling squabble,” Song Lan whispered. “The so-called thief was Mo Ziran. He disappeared after stealing something.”

Fu Yucheng’s face had a look of surprise. “Mo Ziran? But that’s… how can that be?”

Song Lan shook her head. “I don’t know any details. I’ve been teaching the kid for a long time. He’s pretty timid, and he didn’t seem like the type to do this sort of thing… but I heard the captain of the guard say that he snuck into the fortress master’s rooms, stole some important objects, and even left some fingerprints behind. There’s ironclad proof.”

She added, “By the way, for the next few days, if you have nothing to do, you better not go out. The four gates of the central fortress, in the north, south, east and west, all have five times the number of guards. It’s very troublesome to get in and out now.”

Fu Yucheng nodded. “Ah, got it.”

At some point, Bai Mo, who had been training with a sandbag nearby, joined them. As he untied the wraps around his hands, he asked, “Yu-ge, what are you talking about?”

Song Lan gave him an once over. “Fu Yucheng, this kid of yours is growing up nicely, isn’t he? He’s almost as tall as you.”

Fu Yucheng didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry. “What do you mean growing up nicely? You think he’s here to feed pigs?”1

While he was talking, he glanced at the brat.

That day, Bai Mo was wearing a tight boxing tank top with a pair of black sports trousers. He looked strong and lean, although he still had the slim look of a teenager.

Unlike Fu Yucheng’s aggressively blatant, obvious beauty, he had a reserved, good looking complexion. His fair skin was unblemished, and his eyes were as dark as lacquer. He was an uncommonly handsome boy.

Fu Yucheng couldn’t suppress a sigh, suddenly feeling like a member of his family had grown up.

He was all fattened up and ready to be sold off now.2

Seeing Fu Yucheng giving him a once over, the boy was slightly uncomfortable. “Yu-ge, what’s wrong?”

Before Fu Yucheng had time to answer, Song Lan squeezed the boy’s arm unapologetically. “Tsk, it doesn’t feel too bad, it’s strong enough.”

Bai Mo was frowning so hard his eyebrows were practically touching. However, since Fu Yucheng was beside him, he forced himself to remain calm. “Let go of me.”

Song Lan felt taken aback by his extremely unkind expression.

Fu Yucheng knew that the boy had always been a clean freak and didn’t like to be touched, so he pulled Song Lan’s hand away and said, “Eldest sister, don’t take advantage of my little Mo.”

“Eldest sister?” Song Lan suddenly raised her eyebrows. “Fu Yucheng, do you want to die?!”

She turned her head to look at Bai Mo again. “You kid, you are so ungrateful! What’s wrong with a little touch?! When I get back, I’ll change the password of my Channel 520 account, so you can’t keep using it to watch movies anymore!”

Fu Yucheng almost choked. “Wait, watch movies? Song Lan, they’re not that sort of movies, are they?! Little Mo, you didn’t see them, did you…?”

Bai Mo was caught off guard by Song Lan’s betrayal, and he didn’t know what to do with himself. “Yu-ge, I, I didn’t…”

“Didn’t watch them? You watched what you watched!” Song Lan glared at him. “You respond so shyly, how are you a boy?! Besides, you’re at an age when you’d want to pierce even a steel plate with your dick!3 What’s there to hide? When I was your age, I could change girlfriends five times a month! What’s wrong with watching a movie?!”

“You- don’t talk nonsense!” Bai Mo’s face was flushed red, and, dying to seal the woman’s mouth, he kept anxiously glancing at Fu Yucheng from the corner of his eye.

Fu Yucheng, leaning against the wall, was overwhelmed by Song Lan’s line of ‘pierce even a steel plate’.

He finally managed to restrain his laughter, and patted the boy’s shoulder comfortingly. “Okay, it’s my fault for not being thoughtful. At your age, you already should have an account. As for the steel plate, I think it’s better to let it be, perseverance can achieve anything ah… hahaha…”4

“Yu-ge, you, you!” Bai Mo looked at his carefree appearance, embarrassed and irritated and with his eyes turning red, but there was nothing Bai Mo could do about it.

He really wanted to… really wanted to put a plug on that wretched mouth!

“Fu Yucheng, your little brother is too thin-skinned, you have to teach him some more!” Song Lan shook her head and took off her gloves. “Listen, I’m going to the Parking Lot 7 to do some stuff in a few days. I will have to go in and out of the central fortress, and I will need a handwritten authorization from the fortress master. I will have to pass a body search every time, too. What a pain in the ass.”

Fu Yucheng smiled and said, “Fortunately, I don’t have any tasks to do out of the fort right now.”

He thought to himself, Mo Ziwei seems to be really anxious.

When the two of them returned home, it was already past eight in the evening.

Fu Yucheng opened Bai Mo’s bedroom door. “Zi Ran?”

The small room was empty, without even the shadow of a person inside.

For a moment, they were both dumbfounded. Fu Yucheng walked into the room and picked up a small note from the bedside table.

On the note, there were two lines of very proper handwriting.

“Yucheng-ge: I’m sorry, I have decided to ask my brother what is going on after all. —Mo Ziran”

Fu Yucheng rubbed his forehead helplessly. “That fool!”

 

 

That dick joke was so hard to figure oh man. Anyway, Mo Ziran makes bad choices. Exciting chapters coming!

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Footnotes

Line is dubious, however it’s not a saying as far as anyone could tell so far.Literal translation is that, akin to cattle, he has “grown up big and is ready to be slaughtered”, but it sounds too literal in English.…ahem. So yeah, this is apparently a reference to a dick joke where they’re doing a dick competition and a Japanese man wins by penetrating a steel plate. The punch line is that the Japanese winner’s name 日川冈坂 reads the exact same as ‘Japanese pierce steel plate’ 日穿钢板 ri4chuan1gang1ban3, though in Japanese it’d probably read like Hikawa Okazaka or something like that.Secondary pun here, he uses the saying 铁杵磨成针 literal meaning ‘if you try hard enough, you can turn a steel rod into a needle’.