Hot flashes

"It's...it's one of those...erotic pictures that circulate in the streets..." His voice trailed off, his face almost buried in the pillow. "I...saw it by chance before, and...I only remember a little bit..."

"Saw it by chance? Remembered a little?" Xiao Jue's fingers moved from his neck to his chin, gently lifting his face and forcing him to look into his eyes.

There was no trace of morning languor in those deep eyes, only a penetrating sharpness and scrutiny. "Aheng, are you sure?"

Zhou Heng felt flustered under his gaze, and his eyes darted away even more sharply: "Really... why would I lie to you..."

Xiao Jue didn't speak, he just looked at him, his gaze seemingly trying to pierce through his skin and reach the depths of his soul.

Zhou Heng felt a chill run down his spine from his gaze, feeling even more exposed than when he was aroused the night before.

Time seemed to stand still. Zhou Heng could hear his own heart pounding like a drum, and Xiao Jue's steady yet unsettling breathing.

Just as Zhou Heng was about to give in and was about to "confess and be treated leniently" by fabricating more details, Xiao Jue suddenly released his grip on Zhou Heng's chin and instead stroked his cheek, his thumb rubbing the faint dark circles under his eyes.

"Does it still hurt?" Xiao Jue asked, abruptly changing the subject.

Zhou Heng was stunned for a moment, then realized what he was asking. The heat that had just subsided on his face surged back up, and he stammered, "...It hurts, how can it not hurt... My back aches, my legs are weak... It's all your fault!"

He seized the opportunity, frowning and looking wronged and pitiful, trying to fool everyone.

She even leaned in and gave Xiao Jue a sweet kiss on the corner of his lips, her voice soft and pleading, "My lord... I feel unwell..."

He had used this tactic a few times before, and it worked well. Xiao Jue usually responded better to gentle persuasion than force, and he was especially susceptible to Xiao Jue's weak and coquettish manner.

Sure enough, Xiao Jue's eyes darkened, and the gaze on his face softened slightly, the intense scrutiny seeming to dissipate a bit.

He tightened his arms, holding the man more tightly, and his other hand began to massage his lower back gently, with a soothing tone.

"You asked for it." Xiao Jue snorted, but his tone softened noticeably. "Who told you to... watch that kind of nonsense?"

"I was wrong..." Zhou Heng buried her face in his neck, nuzzled against him, and continued to play the pitiful card. "I won't do it again... really, I'll never look at it again."

Xiao Jue paused in his massage of his lower back, didn't respond, but instead lowered his head and kissed the top of his head.

Zhou Heng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Jue held him close, but his gaze went past the top of his head and into the void. His eyes were calm and deep, filled with complex thoughts.

Xiao Jue didn't believe a single word.

There are too many suspicious points about Zhou Heng. His endless stream of ingenious "brilliant ideas," his extraordinary sensitivity and ability to handle numbers and documents, the broad perspective and "common sense" occasionally revealed in his speech and behavior, and the jade pendant he wears close to his chest—a uniquely textured, warm, and lustrous piece that is clearly not an ordinary object…

All of this is something that could not have been cultivated by an ordinary family, or even by a typical scholarly or merchant family.

He once sent Chen Shen, who used some of the spies planted in Nanjing and even in Jiangnan, to investigate Zhou Heng's background.

Based on Zhou Heng's initial vague mention of his hometown and age, Chen Shen searched through almost all the household registration files and missing persons records in the relevant area, and even secretly visited potentially related families, but to no avail.

This person seemed to spring from a crack in a rock, suddenly appearing in the North, near his military camp, and then seamlessly integrating into his world.

He has no past, no origin, yet he possesses a body of mystery and... a vibrant and warm feeling that he is increasingly drawn to.

Xiao Jue had not been without suspicion that Zhou Heng might be a spy sent by a hostile force.

But upon closer observation, Zhou Heng showed no signs of training, and his "strange" behavior did not appear to be feigned. More importantly—

Xiao Jue could sense Zhou Heng's feelings for him. Perhaps at first there was fear and calculation, but now, the dependence, concern, and even the confusion and surrender when he was moved by love could not be faked.

If it's not a spy, then what is it?

Immortal? Spirit?

Xiao Jue tightened his arms around the warm, real body in his embrace, carrying Zhou Heng's unique aura.

No matter who he is or where he comes from, now that he's come into your life, he can't leave.

He may choose not to inquire about those secrets, but he will find his own way to keep this person firmly by his side.

"Does it still hurt?" Xiao Jue asked again in a low voice, this time with a hint of genuine tenderness in his tone.

Zhou Heng shook his head in his arms, his voice muffled: "I'm feeling better... just hungry."

Xiao Jue chuckled softly, his chest heaving: "Just you wait."

He got up and called for hot water and breakfast. He personally wrung out a hot towel and wiped Zhou Heng's face and hands, who was lying on the bed pretending to be dead. He then brought over a bowl of fragrant and soft meat porridge and fed it to him spoonful by spoonful.

Zhou Heng enjoyed being served by the Marquis, stealing glances at Xiao Jue as he ate. Xiao Jue remained calm, focusing intently on feeding him porridge, as if the brief interrogation and scrutiny that morning had never happened.

Maybe... he managed to get away with it? Zhou Heng secretly rejoiced.

It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about it, but that he couldn't. Who would believe him if he told them about time travel? He might even be burned as a monster.

After finishing a bowl of porridge, Zhou Heng felt some strength returning to his body. Xiao Jue put down the bowl and tucked the blanket around him, saying, "Rest well today, and don't get out of bed and wander around."

"I understand." Zhou Heng nodded obediently.

Seeing his unusually docile appearance, Xiao Jue's eyes softened, and he leaned down to place a light kiss on his forehead before getting up to go to the front yard to handle official business.