Chapter 98: Chapter 98: What is love? Changgu is.
Chapter 98: Overturn
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The whole Great Liang was set ablaze by a fire, as if they were going to make up for two dynasties they spent idly eating salary.
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Gu Yun reached over and caressed Chang Geng's waist gently, not strong to the point of making the other feel invaded, but also teasing just enough. The temperature of his palm gradually soaked through the clothing, like rubbing a flame that was not scorching, not light nor heavy on Chang Geng's body.
Chang Geng truly went mad from missing him so much. When he was in Jiangbei Camp, he had been longing to get intimate once, after many ups and downs, it had dragged on and struggled until today.
No matter how much spring and autumn were in his heart, Chang Geng's body was only in his twenties after all. Never experiencing that feeling was one thing, but he was interfered with by Miss Chen as soon as he learned of this taste. If it weren't for many important business, the string in his heart never loosened, he would have soon turned mad from enduring.
Right now as Gu Yun only touched him slightly, half of his body went numb. He gasped for a few breaths, his ears buzzing, Chang Geng asked in a low voice, "Yifu, do you want my life?"
Gu Yun: "Your wounds don't hurt anymore?"
It was still painful, but the pain from before was of a different type than in this moment. His Royal Highness's injuries usually hurt normally. When acting spoiled and wanting kisses, it was 'very painful'. At present, even if his wound broke open again and blood flowed into a river, he will be made of copper skin and iron bone, not knowing either pain or itch.
"If it doesn't hurt," Gu Yun said with a casual smile, grabbing Chang Geng's hand currently moving inside his clothes, taking it out and throwing it aside. "Let's settle your debt with me."
Chang Geng: "…"
Gu Yun pillowed his hand behind his head, leaning back on the bed in a relaxed posture. One hand was still gently supporting Chang Geng's waist. His voice was not very strict, but the content could make one break out in a sweat.
Gu Yun: "Tell me, what were you thinking, when you bravely rushed into the bandit's den with a scholar who does not have the strength to tie a chicken?"
Chang Geng: "Zi Xi…"
"No need for Zi Xi," Gu Yun said lightly. "You can continue to call 'yifu'."
Chang Geng revealed a stiff smile, giving him a few kisses. Chang Geng recently discovered — Gu Yun liked this type of sticky kisses very much. He pecked a few times and then looked at him with that kind of careful eyes, basically anything he said, Gu Yun would go along with it…
But this trick didn't seem to work at this moment.
Gu Yun raised his eyebrow slightly. "You don't have to be so polite. My wound doesn't hurt."
The wise Yan Wang finally ran out of strategy, he had to honestly say, "I didn't expect that they would really rise up."
Gu Yun gave a very indulgent smile, rubbed Chang Geng's cheek with the back of his hand, then said mercilessly, "Nonsense, you must have expected it."
Chang Geng's throat slightly moved: "I… Master Xu and I were on our way to the headquarters at that time. We didn't know in advance that they would choose that moment to…"
"Ah," Gu Yun nodded. "Then you see that this is a once in a lifetime chance for you to find death, thus you hurriedly charged into it."
Chang Geng could hear the hidden meaning in it. Feeling that this situation was off, he quickly and cleverly admitted to his mistake: "I was wrong."
Gu Yun put his hand down, no emotion could be detected on his face, a pair of peach blossom eyes half closed, even Chang Geng could not understand what he was thinking for a moment. He could not help but become quite nervous.
However, he waited for a long time, Gu Yun did not spit out his anger, but suddenly asked, "Was it because I asked you that day 'When can we settle the refugees, when can we recover the Jiangnan', that gave you pressure?"
When he said this, there was a wrinkle in his eyebrow, and his expression was almost lonely. Chang Geng had only seen it once on the Red Kite on New Year's Eve, when Gu Yun used three cups of wine at that time to offer sacrifices to thousands of dead souls. His face was very lonesome and quiet that the bright lights of the entire capital could not light up his profile.
Chang Geng almost panicked for a moment, his words becoming incoherent: "I am not… I… Zi Xi…"
When Gu Yun was young, he did not like to talk about his feelings with others — it was for no other reason. He felt that hanging all joys and sorrows on his face was like opening his clothes at any time to show others his skin and flesh. It was very indecent, and others might not want to see them either.
It had nothing to do with being happy or unhappy. It was purely a teaching from the family. In daytime, a group of people sitting together eating meat and drinking alcohol, only when they get drunk would they show their difference. Some people will cry and shout wildly, while others will only sing at most.
Untimely words rolled on Gu Yun's tongue several times, floated up and sank again. Finally, he opened his mouth as if to try: "While coming here from the capital, I…"
Chang Geng's observant skill was very sharp, he could feel what he was going to say in a blink of an eye. His pupils shrank slightly, he looked at Gu Yun with both panic and expectation.
Perhaps Gu Yun had never said such difficult words aloud in his life, he almost ran from it.
Chang Geng: "How were you while you were on your way?
Gu Yun: "…My heart was burning with anxiety."
Chang Geng looked at him in a daze.
That year, when the whole army of Jiangnan Navy was overthrown and the Black Iron Camp was damaged more than half, while Gu Yun himself was just released from the prison by Li Feng in a hurry, did he ever mention the words 'burning with anxiety'?
Never.
Gu Yun seemed to forever remain stable, never panicking, and even if he was in a panic, it was mostly a pretense.
He was too strong it almost appeared false, making people always have a feeling that it was unreal, suspecting that one day he will be like the tall and grand Nine Gates of the Imperial City, suddenly collapsing.
Gu Yun seemed to have opened a locked gate for a long time. Once these words are out, the latter came smoothly: "If something really happened to you this time…what am I supposed to do?"
Chang Geng looked at him, not daring to breathe.
Gu Yun: "Chang Geng, I truly have no strength left to…place someone else in my heart anymore."
Chang Geng was shakened.
Gu Yun had the strength to stabilize the north and south, had the strength to not close his eyes in death as long as the country was still not at peace, and the strength to spent sleepless nights discussing with General Zhong about the establishment of the Jiangbei Naval Army.
But there was no strength left to love someone else anymore.
Over the years, besides Shen Yi, a friend who he had been through life and death with, Gu Yun seemed to have only one Marquis manor with a few people left. All the efforts he could squeeze out were all placed on the sensitive and anxious teenager handed over to him by the former emperor many years ago.
In interacting between officials, flattering each other were inevitable. When it came to Marshal Gu, the words 'dedicated and selfless' were mostly used. But in reality, Gu Yun was not purely selfless, thinking about it carefully, he truly had nothing of 'himself'.
This kind of loneliness, Gu Yun did not have a deep awareness for it when he was a teenager. At that time, he was the Marquis of the Black Iron camp's three factions. Even with thousands of grievances and indignation, with a pot of hot wine, he would be able to get up in a fresh mood and forget everything the next day.
Now, as he grew older, thinking a lot more, he found that the carefree attitude from his early years had dissipated a lot without him knowing. Especially recently, he felt that he was particularly easy to get tired, and as his body was tired, his heart was often not in a good mood.
If it wasn't for one Yan Wang who sometimes managed everything carefully, sometimes turning mad and causing him to worry, then his life would have been tasteless.
Gu Yun's exhaustion and loneliness flashed by, but was retracted back in the blink of an eye. He placed Chang Geng down gently.
He pulled a thin blanket spread on one side and laid it on Chang Geng. He sighed, "Lie down, you can't even straighten your waist but you still want to do it, are you serious?"
Chang Geng grasped his hand. Gu Yun's hand would never warm up. It was always as if he had just taken it off from a Wind Slasher. It was dry and rough: "Zi Xi, can you lay with me for a while?"
Gu Yun did not hesitate to remove his outer robe and lie next to him. He hugged Chang Geng through the thin blanket and soon fell asleep.
Only then did Geng open his eyes quietly. He felt that every hair on his body was trembling to drag the person on the next pillow towards him and entangle together to his heart's content. However, he couldn't bear to destroy the quiet and warm atmosphere of this moment, thus he remained unmoving while being burned up by the flames of lust, enduring in both discomfort and happiness.
It has been almost eleven years since Gu Yun picked him up in the town of Yan Hui. In these eleven years, Gu Yun had spent more time in the frontier and in the battlefield, they had spent more time far apart than near each other. But he had never left Chang Geng's heart and soul for even a day.
Sometimes Chang Geng did not know how to love him properly. He always felt that it was difficult to repay him even if he used all of his life. Suddenly, he realized that Gu Yun was not the only fortunate thing he had ever met in his life, but rather, all the difficulties he had suffered since his birth, was in order to save up enough luck to meet this man.
As soon as he thought so, every knot in his heart was unravelled like a miracle.
Yan Wang was injured in Jiangnan. Xu Ling stepped forward to handle everything, Master Xu was someone who did not eat either hard or soft, and no one knew where he managed to find Du Long, the son of Du Wan Quan. Young Master Du did not speak much, but he was not at all easy to fool, the difficulty in bribing him was also too high. Their family was so incredibly rich that even the Emperor owed a lot to them, a bits of meager gifts were not worth bringing up to this man.
At the end of September, Xu Ling, under the guidance of Yan Wangand the full support of Jiangbei Camp, calmed the mob rebellion and resettled refugees in Jiangbei. Then, as Yao Chen was serving as a temporary governor of Liangjiang, Xu Ling returned to the capital with the papers from Yan Wang.
At this time, the curtain of this nationwide case came to an end.
Yan Wang himself still lingered while recovering his wounds and strolled back to the capital without appearing. The vigorous campaign of 'Canal Corridor' initiated by him had already taken root. His papers only stayed in the palace for only two days when the Grand Court Meeting arrived, the Grand Council tried their best to support. The two departments were rarely quiet, several great families were busy gathering together their internal forces. They had no mind to pay attention to anything else. Fang Qin was temporarily dormant, and Emperor Long An gave his approval on the same day.
The Grand Council that quickly predicted this situation showed their incredible display of efficiency. In two days, a complete plan was worked out, making people suspect that they already prepared everything beforehand.
Less than a month later, a Canal Office was set up outside the six ministries. The Canal Office fully represented the court and contacted Du Wan Quan and other members of the trading group. Du God of Wealth transformed himself into a true imperial businessman.
Various resources and materials that had been privately allocated were sent to the area for factory building endlessly. The entire court up and down did not sleep and rest for an entire month, exhausting a large number of civilian officers who could only lean on their desks on regular days. The whole Great Liang was set ablaze by a fire, as if they were going to make up for two dynasties they spent idly eating salary.
Finally, before the deadly cold of mid-winter, the refugees from Liangjiang were gathered under the tents of the preliminary factory buildings.
Only then did Yan Wang Li Min return to the capital.
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