C114. Mending Clothes.
Although he put on a show with some superstitious tricks... cough, once he explained the situation to his confidant, Yuan Li felt as relieved as coming out of the closet successfully.
He couldn't suppress his happy smile, and even had an extra bowl of rice for lunch. Chu Hechao did the same, and after finishing their meal, he abruptly lifted Yuan Li and carried him back to the room, throwing him onto the bed.
Yuan Li was left dizzy from being tossed so suddenly, before he could react, Chu Hechao came closer.
A storm of passionate kisses ensued, as if Chu Hechao wanted to devour Yuan Li, the kisses were greedy and fiery, igniting a spark of desire effortlessly.
Yuan Li firmly grabbed Chu Hechao's back, and an unruly hand slipped inside his clothes. After a long while, Chu Hechao finally pulled back.
Yuan Li's clothes were loose, his eyes were red from the kisses, and his lips were rosy, pitiful yet adorable.
Chu Hechao stared at him intently, with a fiery gaze. He quickly removed his own clothes, revealing his muscular and imposing figure.
Kneeling at the edge of the bed, his thighs tensed as he undid his belt, his appearance was intimidating. With arms that hung low like a gibbon and a barrel chest that seemed to overpower his waist, his imposing figure instilled a hint of trepidation in those who met his gaze.
Yuan Li regained his senses from the passionate kisses and asked in surprise, "Why are you undressing?"
Chu Hechao, with his sleeves rolled up, replied, "To do you."
The abrupt words made Yuan Li stiffen, "What?"
Chu Hechao lifted his gaze, with a smirk, "Didn't you say we already had a marital relationship?"
Yuan Li instantly tensed up, wanting to get off the bed immediately. But as he was about to climb down, he remembered that Chu Hechao was still in mourning.
He realized that Chu Hechao was just teasing him, and it was all a bluff.
Was Yuan Li scared?
With a chuckle in his heart, Yuan Li stopped resisting and lay back, "Okay."
Chu Hechao, looking puzzled, stopped unfastening his belt and raised his head, "What did you say?"
Yuan Li sat up with a smile, teasingly began to undress, "I said okay."
Chu Hechao looked at his shoulder, squinting.
Yuan Li extended his leg and stepped on Chu Hechao's crotch. The dull gray belt accidentally tangled around his ankle and hung on Chu Hechao's thigh.
"Brother," Yuan Li whispered, lying on his side with an innocent look, "why don't you continue undressing?"
Chu Hechao lowered his head, trailing up from Yuan Li's foot, gradually noticing the exposed collar of Yuan Li's scattered clothes.
The fair and healthy skin revealed, firm and taut, deep clavicles displayed a few mischievous black hairs.
Unconsciously, the young boy had grown into an incredibly enticing youthful appearance.
Handsome, charismatic, and brave, in Chu Hechao's eyes, he was not only adorable but also incredibly alluring.
Chu Hechao's arm muscles tensed gradually, his Adam's apple visibly bobbed, beads of sweat rolling down his face.
He was restraining himself.
But the more Yuan Li saw him restrain, the more exaggerated he became. With a mischievous smile on his face, he playfully tapped Chu Hechao's waist and abdomen with his toes, stepping on the man's chest.
Stepping in a foot of sticky sweat.
Suddenly, Chu Hechao grabbed Yuan Li's ankle, startling him. In the next moment, Chu Hechao forcefully and swiftly removed his pants.
Two long legs were exposed in an instant.
With only a robe and his underwear left, Yuan Li couldn't believe his eyes as he looked at Chu Hechao, feeling uneasy.
Chu Hechao tossed his pants aside and reached out towards Yuan Li. Yuan Li rolled to the side to avoid it, about to run off the bed.
Soon after, Chu Hechao caught Yuan Li from behind. He turned Yuan Li around, picked him up, and started walking towards the door, "You want to go out? Alright, I'll take you out."
Nervously, Yuan Li hugged Chu Hechao's neck, wrapped his legs around his waist, and frowned, "You're shirtless, I'm in my underwear. How can we go out like this?!"
A hint of amusement flashed in Chu Hechao's eyes as if he hadn't heard the protest, he continued towards the door expressionlessly.
As they got closer to the door, Yuan Li grew more anxious. When he saw Chu Hechao reaching for the doorknob, Yuan Li quickly grabbed his hand, "Don't open it! I don't actually want to go out, I was just kidding, I promise, I won't tease you anymore."
Chu Hechao gave him a glance, "So, do you or don't you want me to do it?"
Blushing, Yuan Li closed his eyes, "Yes, yes, yes!"
True to his word, Chu Hechao carried him away from the door and walked towards the window, opening it.
Yuan Li, a fine young man, found himself being carried like a child. Embarrassed at the thought of someone seeing them, he felt uncomfortable and didn't want to speak.
Trying to console himself, he thought, "Whatever, the window only shows the upper body, and I'm clothed. If anyone feels embarrassed, it'll only be Chu Hechao."
Chu Hechao didn't think there was anything shameful about being shirtless. He lifted Yuan Li slightly and gestured for him to look outside. Yuanli turned his head and looked out the window.
Next to the window was a ginkgo tree with lush green foliage, practically blocking out half of the window.
It was last spring when he contracted chickenpox, and Chuhé Chao personally brought an old tree from the mountain to transplant it here. He just wanted Yuan Li to have something to look at when he opened the window, so he wouldn't feel too bored.
In the courtyard, the vegetation was lush, butterflies fluttered around, and there was not a soul outside the windows.
Yuan Li's gaze was blocked by the large gingko leaves, which made him feel much less nervous and he breathed a sigh of relief.
This way, even if a servant passed by the window, they shouldn't be able to see them.
Chu Hechao suddenly loosened his grip on Yuan Li's hand.
Yuan Li slipped down, and he quickly hugged Chu Hechao, his eyes widening in disbelief, his face instantly turning red with embarrassment.
Something had come in through his shorts...
Chu Hechao remained unfazed, but his gaze deepened. He lifted Yuan Li up slightly, but then, as if by accident, he let go and Yuan Li slipped down again.
Yuan Li frowned, groaned, buried his face in Chu Hechao's neck, his whole body stiffening, his ears turning red with embarrassment.
Chu Hechao repeated the action several times, never actually entering, just teasing through the fabric of the pants. His breathing gradually became heavier, scratching at Yuan Li's ears with an itch.
Yuan Li remained motionless, letting the man hold him up and down, feeling a strange and subtle tingling sensation creeping up his spine, unable to resist scratching red marks on the man's back with his fingernails.
Both of them remained silent, listening to the rustling of the gingko trees outside the window, in a silent and rough, calm and obscene manner by the bedside.
The sound of Yuan Li's voice was muddled, "Close the window..."
"It's so good like this," Chu Hechao's arm was covered in beads of sweat, he muffled a laugh, "as soon as someone walks by, they can see us being so bold right here..."
Yuan Li immediately tensed up.
Chu Hechao cursed softly, his forehead veins instantly bulging out.
The truth came out, and Yuan Li looked at him in confusion.
Chu Hechao kissed his forehead, whispering, "There's no one outside. I've chased everyone away, it's just you and me in the entire courtyard."
Yuan Li wiped the sweat off his face and muttered, "So you planned this all along..."
"Almost there," Chu Hechao reached out to touch the corner of his eye, smiling with deep meaning, "just half a year left."
Yuan Li's lips twitched, understanding his meaning.
Chu Hechao closed the window and took him back inside. As soon as he put Yuan Li on the bed, Yuan Li handed him his shorts and said, with a stern expression, "Clean these for me quickly, I'm too embarrassed to have the servants do it when they see what's on them."
Chu Hechao was forceful and fierce in bed, but once out of it, he obediently listened to his wife. He good-naturedly agreed and went to wash Yuan Li's shorts.
But when he washed them, he applied too much force and ended up tearing the small piece of soft fabric.
Chu Hechao was dumbfounded, he quickly looked around, but no one had noticed the scene.
But now that the shorts were ruined, how could he explain this to his wife?
Chu Hechao furrowed his brow in worry, squatting next to the basin for a long time before standing up with a serious face and asking the servant to fetch him a needle and thread.
The servant quickly brought the items, but Chu Hechao was clumsy with such things. Should he ask the servant to mend it?
He didn't want to. After being pricked by the needle a dozen times, Chu Hechao awkwardly managed to sew up the hole.
Having done a bad deed, he felt guilty and afraid that Yuan Li would notice when he returned, not daring to mention the incident about the shorts at all.
Yuan Li asked casually as he saw him return, "Did you finish washing?"
Chu Hechao nonchalantly replied, "Yes, they're drying outside."
Yuan Li didn't notice anything amiss, nodded casually, and asked, "Have you worn the shorts I had someone make for you?"
Chu Hechao said he was wearing them, "Don't mention it, at first, it was uncomfortable, but I felt uneasy without them later on."
Yuan Li smirked, raising an eyebrow, "If they're uncomfortable, would I still make you wear them?"
Chu Hechao chuckled, "Look at you, so confident."
After resolving this annoying matter, both of them slept peacefully. The next day, Yuan Li finally had the mindset to gather the scholars and literati from the south.
The scholars and literati who had already decided to stay in Youzhou for an extended period of time more or less had the idea of following him. When they truly interacted with Yuan Li, they submitted to his personal charisma.
The process went quite smoothly for Yuan Li. He left some of these scholars and literati in Youzhou to handle paperwork, while he sent others to various prefectures in Bingzhou to assist Zhang Liangdong, Xiang Hongyun, and others to fill the vacancies.
Naturally, those sent by Yuan Li were individuals he deemed capable and willing to work for the people.
The majority of these scholars and literati helped alleviate the shortage of manpower in Yuan Li's hands. Two months later, Zhang Liangdong's five disciples also managed to arrive in Jixian after overcoming numerous hardships.
Upon learning that their teacher had been appointed as a county magistrate in Bingzhou, these five respectful disciples rested for only a day before hurrying to Bingzhou to assist Zhang Liangdong.
With their arrival, Yuan Li's manpower was finally sufficient. However, he still felt that he lacked enough trustworthy individuals.
After Guo Lin and the others went to Bingzhou, Yuan Li was left with only half of the reliable people by his side. He decided to promote several clever young soldiers from his personal guards to assist Ding Zongguang and fill the gaps left by those who had departed.
Given the chance, Yuan Li would have replaced all officials in Youzhou and Bingzhou with his own people, starting from the county magistrates. However, this was not feasible due to insufficient manpower and the presence of conscientious officials like Yuansong, who, despite their humble origins, served diligently and earnestly as county magistrates.
But more often than not, there were corrupt officials who, knowing they had no prospects for advancement, turned resentment into indulgence, exploiting the resources of the people for their own gain.
It would take time to differentiate between good and bad officials.