Chapter 35

In the past few days, the written portion of the military examination had been conducted under the supervision of the Ministry of War. And in the capital, a shocking event stirred everyone’s attention. The Prince Regent’s brother-in-law joining the exam was already enough to draw talk, but Bu Nian, as if deliberately trying to provoke him, actually sent his own male bedslave to take part.

This male bedslave wasn’t just good-looking. He was intelligent. His essay earned applause from the examiners, and he recited the assigned passages from the military classics without missing a single word. He placed first in the written exam.

That alone was already impressive. Everyone agreed that Bu Nian had gained plenty of face. Even if his bedslave failed to place in the martial trials, just this much would be enough to shame the Prince Regent. But no one expected what came next. When the time came for the physical trials, including horseback archery, combat, and stone lifting, he proved to be not only competent but exceptional. He outperformed several respected young heroes from the martial world. In combat, he used a long whip to bring down the Zuo family’s top disciple, then defeated the heir of the Qian family who practiced Wind and Thunder Palm. He took first place again.

He ranked first in both categories. Without a doubt, he became the champion of the martial imperial exam. From that day forward, Great Qi had its first martial top scorer born from a male bedslave.

When Lian Ai heard the news, he was just as shocked as Gan Yan and the others. But Gan Yan’s shock came with fury.

“Unbelievable. Bu Nian actually let his bedslave join the military exam, and he won?” Gan Yan’s handsome face twisted with anger. “Look at the useless trash under my command. They couldn’t even beat a bedslave.”

“Please calm down, Your Highness.” Zuo Lingxue knelt in front of him, more submissive than usual.

This time, because the Zuo family’s disciple had lost to that bedslave named Bai Shu, she had lost face badly. Gan Yan had shown her nothing but disdain since. She had grown more cautious in everything she did.

Lian Ai knelt a step behind Zuo Lingxue. Seeing her bow, he followed suit.

“Please calm down, Your Highness.”

Gan Yan felt stifled and irritable. He needs a release. Normally, he would go find a woman to vent his mood. But now he had a better choice.

He said coldly, “Your Highness, you may leave.”

Zuo Lingxue paused. She looked up, only to realize Gan Yan wasn’t looking at her at all. His gaze was locked on something behind her, filled with cruel anticipation and violent desire.

Lian Ai felt the weight of that stare fall on him. His entire body went cold.

She frowned slightly, a trace of disgust flashing in her eyes, but said nothing. She stood, gave a small curtsy, and turned to leave. The hem of her robe brushed past Lian Ai’s side as she walked away.

Lian Ai never lifted his head. He knew exactly what was waiting for him. He was afraid that the moment he looked up, he would lose control and show Gan Yan the killing intent in his eyes.

A chill seeped through his bones. His body trembled from fear, cold sweat soaking his back.

“So you’re both bedslaves, but that Bai Shu is far more useful than you,” Gan Yan looked down at him coldly. “One after another, nothing but trash. Tell me, how should I punish you?”

Lian Ai knew he was only looking for an excuse to torment him. Whether there was a reason or not, whether it made sense or not, he didn’t care.

Obedience or resistance made no difference. Gan Yan would not let him off. The more he begged, the more pleased he became. So Lian Ai no longer planned to beg.

“This slave understands his mistake. Your Highness may punish me as you wish.” If the torment couldn’t be avoided, he only wished it would end quickly.

Gan Yan narrowed his eyes. Not hearing him cry or beg for mercy left him displeased.

He liked watching others fear him. It gave him a thrill, the pleasure of holding power and standing above them. Every time Lian Ai begged him in that voice, frightened and restrained, trembling and choking, it drove him to the limit. It felt better than coming inside any woman.

Just thinking about how this man would scream and cry soon made his body heat up. His cock twitched beneath his clothes, pressing against the fabric in a crude, bulging shape.

“I thought about it last time and decided it wasn’t a good idea to leave marks on your body,” he said slowly, taking out a porcelain vial from his sleeve. “After all, you still have to serve Bu Nian often. If you’re covered in bruises, it won’t be easy to explain to him. So I asked Your Highness for something. I think you’ll like it.”

He uncorked the vial and dripped two drops of the bright red liquid into the incense burner. It didn’t take long before Lian Ai started trembling violently, just as he had hoped.

“Mm…” Lian Ai bit down hard on his lip, nearly breaking the skin. A low moan escaped his throat as his forehead knocked against the floor. He struggled to hold himself together.

Even though he didn’t beg like he had before, those unintentional whimpers and the way his hands clawed at the floor, leaving pale white nail marks behind, all made Gan Yan’s arousal spike.

He licked his dry lips, lifted the hem of his robes, and reached into his own underclothes.

Lian Ai’s mind blurred from the torment. By the time Gan Yan yanked his hair and forced his head up, he felt like he had reached his limit. If it kept going, his body and mind would completely break.

“Speak,” Gan Yan growled. His cock throbbed grotesquely, aimed straight at Lian Ai’s face. “Say you know you were wrong.”

He stroked himself rapidly with one hand, eyes wide, breath ragged. He was already on the verge.

Lian Ai’s eyes were lifeless, as if his mind had already left. He sat there like a doll, obedient and empty.

“This slave knows he was wrong.”

The next instant, a hot, thick fluid with a fishy stink sprayed across his forehead, eyelids, and lips.

Lian Ai returned to his residence in the royal carriage. Even though he had already washed, the first thing he did after entering the courtyard was throw himself beside the water vat. He scooped up cold well water and poured it over his head, trying to scrub away the disgusting sensation.

The water ran down his face and body, soaking his clothes. He shivered in the cold wind, but didn’t stop. The way he moved was almost self-destructive.

Only when his skin had gone numb did he finally slump forward, hands braced on either side of the vat, letting the water drip from his chin as silence settled around him.

He had endured things like this before, many times. But never once had it felt this unbearable. He had been pampered too much. Once he’d tasted what it meant to be treated like a person, he could no longer go back to being a thing.

For the first time, he truly understood how precious it was to be human. To have dignity. To choose one’s life.

“What are you doing?”

Lian Ai jumped. Just as he opened his eyes, a thick fur cloak was draped over his shoulders, carrying with it a faint trace of body warmth.

He held onto the cloak and turned around, only to see Bu Nian standing behind him, brow furrowed.

“It’s the middle of winter and you’re pouring cold water on yourself. Have you lost your mind?”

Lian Ai was overwhelmed. A hundred emotions tangled in his chest, and for a moment, he couldn’t speak.

Tears welled up and his vision blurred. Afraid the other man would see, he stopped caring and threw himself straight into Bu Nian’s arms.

Bu Nian’s body stiffened. But Lian Ai had already wrapped his arms tightly around him.

“General…” Lian Ai murmured the word over and over. Just saying it brought him a sense of relief.

He kept calling out to him, like a wronged child, like a small beast begging for comfort.

Bu Nian stroked his soaked hair and let him call, let him cling to him, silently offering reassurance.

Lian Ai didn’t know how many times he had said it. Once he had called enough, he clutched the front of Bu Nian’s robes, looked up at him, and asked anxiously, “Can you stay tonight?”

His meaning couldn’t be clearer. The way he invited him left no doubt.

Bu Nian looked into his eyes, full of expectation and unease. He rubbed the flushed corners of Lian Ai’s eyes with his thumb, then lowered his head in silence.

Just before their lips touched, Lian Ai turned his face away. His emotions surged uncontrollably.

“Don’t kiss me. It’s filthy.”

He didn’t say it out of self-pity. He meant it. He didn’t want Bu Nian to touch anything that had been tainted by Gan Yan, not even indirectly. Even if he had already cleaned himself, it still felt wrong.

Bu Nian paused for a moment but didn’t pull back. The next instant, as if to challenge him, he held Lian Ai’s face and kissed him, not allowing any refusal.

Only when he was with Bu Nian could Lian Ai forget Gan Yan, forget everything that had happened.

He liked being kissed by Bu Nian. He liked it when the other man entered his body. He liked the feeling of losing himself in pleasure.

—

The two of them lay on their sides on the bed. From behind, Bu Nian spread Lian Ai’s thighs apart and thrust in hard, burying himself deep inside.

“Ah…” Lian Ai’s eyes shimmered with moisture. His long hair stuck to his skin, damp with sweat. The gold chain on his chest swayed with Bu Nian’s thrusts. The peace-lock dangled against the bedding, and every time his body shook uncontrollably, the tassels knocked together, making a crisp, delicate sound.

The sex lasted a long time. Lian Ai had already been through a physically exhausting round of torment, and now he was clearly running out of strength.

His brows were drawn in pain and pleasure, his lips slightly parted to reveal a small glimpse of his soft red tongue.

He had no strength left to scream. Only a few helpless moans and shallow gasps escaped his throat. One hand was tucked under his head, the other gripped the bedding beneath him. Just that hand alone told Bu Nian how far gone he was.

The thick bedding was nearly torn under his grip. His fingers were tense, the joints clear, veins visible beneath his pale skin.

Bu Nian kept thrusting. His hand, which had been gripping the base of Lian Ai’s thigh, moved forward when he noticed Lian Ai’s cock twitching slightly. The tip pulsed, the slit flexing like a small mouth as it leaked clear, sticky fluid. Finding it amusing, he reached over and grabbed it.

“No… ah… don’t…” Lian Ai said the words, but his hips bucked forward hard, pressing himself even deeper into Bu Nian’s palm.

He lifted his upper body slightly, eyes filled with frustration as he stared at that big hand stroking him nonstop. He reached out, trying to pry it away, but the strength in his fingers was no more than a kitten’s.

Bu Nian leaned in close and said beside his ear, “It’s always me ejaculating first. It’s boring. This time, if you don’t shoot, I won’t either.” Then he bit down on the ear that had already turned red.

Lian Ai’s body has been trained for many years and has long formed a habit. As long as the cock inside him didn’t ejaculate, he couldn’t ejaculate either. Bu Nian’s few casual words were trying to overturn what his body had already accepted. There was no way that could happen easily.

Bu Nian was still inside him, still thrusting. His hand never stopped moving. The pleasure was overwhelming, like his whole body was floating through clouds and sinking into waves.

“General… mm…” Trying to escape the kind of pleasure that drove people insane, Lian Ai’s hips lifted off the bed. His lower belly tightened, and his whole body was flushed red from the intensity of being fucked.

Bu Nian didn’t let him get away. He chased after him, slamming his hips forward, the muscles in his thighs tensing with each heavy thrust.

Under that relentless pounding, Lian Ai climaxed. His whole body froze, eyes squeezed shut, like he was trying to resist some unbearable torment. Bu Nian felt the hole gripping him suddenly tighten and ripple. The cock in his hand twitched but didn’t release a drop.

It took a while for Lian Ai’s body to go slack. When he opened his eyes, there was wetness in the corners. His chest rose and fell violently. After climaxing, he couldn’t even move a finger. But Bu Nian didn’t let him rest. He grabbed him by the arm and yanked him upright.

Lian Ai tilted his neck back with a soft moan. “Ah… it’s too deep…”

This position brought their bodies even closer, tighter, and deeper. Bu Nian sat with his legs spread, elbows hooked under Lian Ai’s knees, holding him tight against his chest and forcing his legs open.

His thick cock rammed upward from below, and Lian Ai felt like he was going to be split open. It truly felt like Bu Nian might fuck him straight through.

The peace-lock clinked softly against the nipple chain, producing a faint, delicate sound.

“Touch yourself,” Bu Nian said, lowering his head to lick the side of Lian Ai’s sweat-soaked neck.

Lian Ai shuddered, nerves tingling all over. He knew Bu Nian wouldn’t stop until he made him ejaculate, so he obediently reached down and wrapped his hand around his cock.

“General… do you know… ah… what this position is called?” Lian Ai asked, his voice hoarse and breathless.

Bu Nian ground his cock inside him, moving in slow circles before pulling out and slamming back in.

“Ah…” Lian Ai moaned, voice soaked in lust. It was sweet and filthy, like a demonic temptress born to drag people straight into sin.

His fair fingers stroked up and down along the shaft. He tilted his head, the other hand hooking behind Bu Nian’s head, gently pressing him closer, as if wanting to kiss him.

“What’s it called?” Bu Nian panted, lips just short of pressing against his.

Lian Ai’s hand moved faster, his waist curving like a drawn bow. His red nipples stood stiff, and his hole clenched hard around Bu Nian’s cock.

“It’s called… an incense stick pointing to heaven… mmph!”

The moment he spoke the last word, their lips met. Wet tongues tangled, clinging to each other in a messy, breathless kiss.

Bu Nian fucked him wildly, each thrust harder than the last. After over a dozen thrusts, Lian Ai’s feet stretched taut, his toes curled, and his cock trembled violently before shooting thick, hot spurts of cum. Bu Nian followed soon after, letting out a low growl as he emptied himself deep inside that tight hole.