Chapter 66
IN THE MORNING, Lin Qingyu felt someone beside him move. He’d always been a light sleeper, and it was close to the time when he usually got up, so he soon opened his eyes.
He had slept on the side of the bed further into the room, so the first thing he saw was the stubs of red candles and morning light filtering through the windows. He turned to the other side. The other man…youth, rather…faced him, sound asleep. Half his face and one hand peeked outside the blanket, and the other hand rested on Lin Qingyu’s waist.
When Gu Fuzhou had passed out from the liquor he’d drunk the previous night, Lin Qingyu had undressed him and—with difficulty—stuffed him beneath the blankets. He’d originally wanted to make do with sleeping in the study, but this was their wedding night. On their first wedding night, they’d slept in the same room, even though they hadn’t known each other. If they slept in different rooms now, wouldn’t it feel as though the past two years had amounted to nothing?
There was no divan in the room, only the bed. Lin Qingyu thought for a long time, then shoved Gu Fuzhou further under the covers and lay back down on the bed’s outer edge.
He hadn’t thought that he’d sleep well; he hadn’t expected the sleeping Gu Fuzhou to be so considerate, barely even tossing or turning. It seemed believable that Gu Fuzhou could sleep as though nothing was wrong even while Yongliang was being attacked, then need to evacuate with a blanket draped around his shoulders.
The young man’s true age was nineteen, yet he slept a lot—like a child. Lin Qingyu couldn’t resist reaching out and touching the defined bridge of Gu Fuzhou’s nose. Then he decided to get up.
But he couldn’t. Gu Fuzhou…was sleeping on top of his hair.
The lower half of Lin Qingyu’s long tresses was completely trapped beneath Gu Fuzhou. If Lin Qingyu moved even slightly, it hurt his scalp. He tried to push Gu Fuzhou away, but even after much effort, the man didn’t move an inch. Then he tried to grab and extract his hair, but he only succeeded in paining himself so badly that he wanted to poison someone.
Lin Qingyu could no longer take this. Calling Gu Fuzhou’s name wouldn’t wake the general up, so Lin Qingyu pinched the man’s nose closed. Despite being deeply asleep, Gu Fuzhou furrowed his brow at the lack of air, then opened his eyes. When he saw Lin Qingyu, he opened his mouth too.
“Awake now?” Lin Qingyu asked coldly.
Having been awoken by such a cruel tactic, Gu Fuzhou was bewildered, sleep still hazing his eyes. He stared unblinkingly at the beautiful face in front of him. The fog lifted, and his eyes slowly cleared.
“Why are you…” Gu Fuzhou’s voice sounded low and hoarse. He realized where his hand was resting, and his eyes widened abruptly, fingers curling as if he didn’t know where to put them. “Why are you on my bed?”
“Why do you think?” Lin Qingyu asked coldly.
“Did I force you here?” Gu Fuzhou was flabbergasted by the thought. “Finally grow some balls?”
Lin Qingyu scoffed. “You?” He punched Gu Fuzhou’s arm hard. “Move. You’re lying on my hair.” Gu Fuzhou scooted away. That finally freed Lin Qingyu, who sat up and told him, “Since you’re awake now, you might as well get up.”
Gu Fuzhou recalled the previous night’s events. He remembered only pushing open the door, expectant; once he saw the beautiful man inside without a veil, his blood pressure had immediately risen, and he’d blacked out. Realistically, he had probably just fallen asleep.
But if Lin Qingyu hadn’t been forced onto the bed, then had he willingly slept there? Were things going that well? Goddamn it—how could I fall asleep last night?! At my age, with a beauty lying next to me? How could I have fallen asleep?
Lin Qingyu gazed at the frozen Gu Fuzhou. “You’re not getting up?”
Recovering from his shock, Gu Fuzhou replied slowly, “Why are you getting up so early? You don’t need to serve tea to your in-laws.”
“We should eat breakfast.”
“We can sleep a bit more. Then, when the time comes, we’ll just eat lunch.” Still lying in bed, Gu Fuzhou laughed. “This is our first time sleeping together, Qingyu. Let’s sleep some more.”
Lin Qingyu didn’t make a habit of sleeping in, but after meeting Gu Fuzhou’s expectant gaze, he lay back down. He pulled his long hair to one side to ensure that Gu Fuzhou wouldn’t end up lying on it, and then the two lay facing each other, chatting casually.
“Were any civil officials among the guests yesterday?” Lin Qingyu asked.
“Some,” Gu Fuzhou replied absently. “Not every civil official is an idiot. Xiao Jie came too, with lots of gifts. You could make a living off of marrying me, Qingyu. If you do it a few more times, you’ll eventually become the richest person in the capital.”
Lin Qingyu didn’t bother replying to Gu Fuzhou’s nonsense; instead, he asked about something important. “How is your relationship with Xiao Jie going now?”
“He admires me a lot. He wants to come here to touch the Qingyun Jiuzhou spear himself.”
At that point, Lin Qingyu finally remembered that he still hadn’t seen that legendary spear—even though Gu Fuzhou had been back for a while. “Do you keep the Qingyun Jiuzhou spear in the training ground?”
Gu Fuzhou laughed. “It was a gift from the royal court. I have to keep it in my room to show how important it is, of course.”
“Your room?” Lin Qingyu looked around. “Where?”
Gu Fuzhou pointed lazily toward the corner. “There.”
A long metal rod stood propped against the wall; there was a red ribbon tied to its tip.
“It’s convenient for hanging clothes on,” Gu Fuzhou added.
That rendered Lin Qingyu speechless.
After lying down for a long time, Lin Qingyu wanted to change his position. When he raised one hand, he accidentally touched something and froze. His hand quickly retracted. This young man had looked so calm as he chatted and joked in bed with Lin Qingyu… Had he been so aroused all along?