chapter 69 hehe noice
In front of Cheng Nuo, Bai Zhi was very aggressive, but in front of Bai Mu, he was a well-behaved cat. He hung his head and said, “Yes, I’ll go to the ice room to receive punishment.”
Bai Mu said in a cold voice: “If this kind of thing happens again, I will personally deal with you.”
Bai Zhi’s body shook, his face turned white as he bowed to Bai Mu, and then quickly walked down the mountain.
Cheng Nuo had been listening to the conversation between the two and took advantage of this time to consume some antidotes. His body gradually recovered strength. He stood up supporting himself on the stone and looked in a daze at Bai Mu’s figure which seemed to be carved out of marble. Although this could be considered as Bai Mu saving him, he was still captured by him; did he want to thank this person with face paralysis?
As he hesitated, Bai Mu turned slightly to his side, and his pair of golden eyes similar to Bai Rui’s glanced at him condescendingly, as if they had encountered dog shit or something. Without saying a word, he jumped into the air and the magical beast left.
Fuck! Cheng Nuo patted the ice and snow on his clothes and the hesitation in his heart completely disappeared. Sure enough, Bai Rui was the only normal person in the Bai family.
He could not help but wonder: in terms of power and strength, the current Bai Rui was obviously far inferior to Bai Mu. Why would Bai Rui, who was the youngest, be chosen to be the successor of Snow City ah? And according to the conversation between Bai Rui and Bai Zhi back then, Bai Rui’s biological father* did not seem to have a high status…
(* the wording used here is 生父 but by the context we can infer that it refers to the parent that gave birth to Bai Rui?)
Yu Yue and the others had already caught up after they heard the alarm. Cheng Nuo found a reason to prevaricate and instructed them not to tell Bai Rui. Since the matter had been resolved, he didn’t want Bai Rui to be more upset.
In the evening, Bai Rui, who had vanished for a few days, suddenly appeared. There seemed to be a little bit of gloom between his eyebrows. Wordlessly, he came up to explore Cheng Nuo’s internal energy.
Cheng Nuo was a little embarrassed. It seemed that Bai Rui already knew.
Bai Rui made sure he was not hurt and his face cleared up a little, but he was silent, and Cheng Nuo did not know what he was thinking.
Cheng Nuo couldn’t help asking, “Bai Rui, why were you chosen to be the young Lord of Snow City?”
Bai Rui glanced at him, and said in a calm voice: “Probably because I inherited the most orthodox bloodline of the Bai family.”
Cheng Nuo saw that he didn’t really want to talk about it, so he held back from asking.
Since he was destined to leave, he couldn’t go too deep into Bai Rui’s life. They both understood this.
Another half a month passed like flowing water.
Cheng Nuo had gradually adapted to the cold life here, and that disgusting Bai Zhi never appeared in front of him again. Bai Rui seemed to be busier, and it was normal for him not to see anyone for a few days. In fact, he didn’t know that Bai Rui would come back every night to see him before leaving.
Cheng Nuo had just freshened up in the early morning of that day, and a group of people rushed in. A person who seemed to be the chief steward stood in front and loudly conveyed the City Lord’s decree. It was a wordy speech, but he understood the general idea, which was that a month later would be the 15-year-old coming of age ceremony of the young Lord. On that day he would have a big wedding with the eldest son of the Gu family, who had been his betrothed since childhood, and officially ascend to the position of the young Lord. As for him, the concubine, he would be given a side hall to live by himself.
Cheng Nuo listened in a daze, and only bowed under Yu Yue’s prompt, not knowing how to feel in his heart for a moment. Fuck! Was Laozi involved in some palace drama bullshit? Where did Bai Rui come from with another fiancé? His father was really considerate; he was underage but he had a house filled with wives and concubines! It turned out that Bai Rui had a childhood betrothal. Bai Rui should also know about it, right?
Cheng Nuo bit his lower lip vigorously. No matter what, even from the standpoint of a friend, he should care about Bai Rui, right? After all, this was an arranged marriage.
Thinking like this, he took a deep breath and asked Yu Yue about the sudden appearance of the fiancé.
Yu Yue’s expression was slightly sympathetic but his tone was still official.
The eldest son of the Gu family was said to be eighteen years old and was named An Chen. He was the most talented young expert in the Gu family’s current generation. He was also famous for his gorgeous appearance and had a good reputation in the north.
Cheng Nuo’s chest was sore. He, the ‘concubine’, had better run away as soon as possible. The Gu family easily reminded him of the disgusting Gu insect that Bai Zhi wanted to plant on him, he was afraid that he didn’t know how to die at the time, and now he, the concubine, had gotten started before the main wife…*
(* 那个蛊家很容易就让他联想到当年白芷要种到他身上的恶心虫蛊，到时候怎么死的都不知道，而且他这个妾室还是先于正室入门的…: been banging my head against the wall to make sense of this but I can’t lmao)
He remembered the dog blood plot in those Tianchao era TV dramas and suddenly had a stomachache.
Fuck, it’s all because of that old pervert!
Before breakfast, a group of attendants came in to pack his things, and Cheng Nuo followed them to the side hall in silence.
The side hall was a little far away from Bai Rui’s bedchamber, and it seemed to be colder. Cheng Nuo looked at the strange environment and sat quietly on the bed in a daze. He must ask Bai Rui when he could let him leave. What he hated the most in Tianchao era was palace and house drama!
In the evening, Bai Rui finally appeared, waved away the surrounding people and stared at Cheng Nuo in silence.
The atmosphere was stagnant and a little heavy. Cheng Nuo forced a smile and said, “Bai Rui, when will I…”
“I’ve never seen that Gu family’s eldest son.” Bai Rui interrupted him, his tone different from the usual calm, slightly hurried, “I just found out.”
Cheng Nuo was taken aback, and didn’t know what to say for a while. His chest felt stuffy and painful.
Most importantly, he had no position to say anything.
Bai Rui should also be very uncomfortable with his current life, right? However, he could not help Bai Rui with anything, and Liu Guang was still waiting for him…
After a while, he said, “Oh, what I want to say is, when can I leave? After being missing for so long, Liu Guang must be worried.”
A rare irritation rose in Bai Rui’s heart, and his hands shook slightly. Only after a long time, he said in an emotionless voice: “Soon, the day of my coming of age ceremony.”
Cheng Nuo’s words pierced his heart, but his feet were reluctant to leave. The only thing he cared about was this person’s reaction; if only this person could show a little bit of a sad expression…
But clearly, in Cheng Nuo’s heart, he could not compare to that redhead at all.
In other words, on the day of Bai Rui’s wedding a month later? Cheng Nuo was startled, and for a while he was confused. Even if he heard the news that he could go back, his heart was still heavy, and he didn’t feel half happy at all…
He could leave, which meant Bai Rui would stay alone in this cold and bone-chilling inhumane Snow City. Would Bai Rui marry many concubines and have a bunch of disturbed children in the future like his father did…?
In his line of sight, Bai Rui’s footsteps moved slowly, walking towards him step by step.
Cheng Nuo looked up blankly. Bai Rui had suddenly stretched out his hand and held him in his chest. He couldn’t see the expression on Bai Rui’s face but he could only hear his powerful and rapid heartbeat.
“I want to sleep with you in my arms tonight.” Bai Rui whispered, “Just this once, is that okay?”
When he was injured by the ice snake a long time ago, he felt Cheng Nuo hugging him hard while he was unconscious, warming his frozen numb heart and limbs. From then on, he firmly remembered the body heat of that person.
It’s just that he didn’t understand it at that time, and later he finally understood. However, he also understood that even if this person was with him, his surname would cause him trouble at any time, so even though he didn’t want to, he finally chose to leave.
Since he was a child, he knew that he could not have things to care about, otherwise, it was himself who brought them bad luck
Sure enough, he shouldn’t have so-called desires.
But even so, it still hurt him now.
Cheng Nuo’s heart trembled, knowing that it was wrong, that he should refuse, but he couldn’t say anything.
Even though he couldn’t see it, he knew that Bai Rui was very sad now, and his voice, which had always been calm, was hoarse, making his eyes hot.
His hand slowly wrapped around Bai Rui’s waist, and he nodded heavily.
Bai Rui really held him all night, entangled his neck with him, and didn’t let go even for a moment. Although they were both wearing clothes and did not touch each other’s skin, their hearts still beat abnormally fast.
Cheng Nuo shrank in Bai Rui’s arms, his heart was so bitter and he couldn’t help but reach out and stroke Bai Rui’s hair and back. He knew that Bai Rui was very helpless and had to do things he didn’t like…
He felt distressed for Bai Rui, and he understood more than ever how much he liked this sullen underage boy. However, he couldn’t do anything. He had made his choice…
Both stayed up all night. After a long time, Cheng Nuo heard a whisper in his ear: “Liu Guang likes you and will be good to you, I know.”
He was stunned and bit his lower lip hard, his nose a little sour.
Fuck, these days Bai Rui had become completely unlike himself! At every turn, like the male protagonist in a romance drama, his emotions changed quickly…
The nice voice got a little closer and murmured like a whisper: “But, I like you more.”
Cheng Nuo’s whole body shook and his eyes snapped open. This was the first time Bai Rui clearly said that he liked him.
Damn, Laozi’s tears really were going to flow out!
Bai Rui didn’t say a word after speaking, but hugged him harder, as if he couldn’t get close enough. The hair of the two of them was also entangled in strands, black and silver mixed together, as if they could no longer be separated.
When the first rays of sunlight came through the windowpane in the morning, Bai Rui slowly let go and looked carefully at the side of Cheng Nuo’s face. Cheng Nuo’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, his lips were moist, and he seemed to be sleeping soundly.
He knew that Cheng Nuo was actually awake, but he did not point it out, he only reached out and carefully plucked away a strand of hair from Cheng Nuo’s face. Although Cheng Nuo’s long hair was also very beautiful, he prefered his previous short hair.
After watching for a long time, he finally made up his mind and slowly got up and walked out.
After that, for ten days in a row, Bai Rui never showed up again. Cheng Nuo could only hear about Bai Rui by chance from the mouth of his attendants and knew that Bai Rui had taken over the guard of the inner hall of Snow City.
Because the wedding was urgent, these days the entire palace in Snow City was busy. Many craftsmen were busy repairing and decorating the palace. The usually cold and solemn environment was much livelier.
Since he was leaving soon, Cheng Nuo also quietly studied those medical books. Although his current status was a bit embarrassing, he could also can see a lot of rare spiritual herbs; he collected a lot of spiritual herbs seeds that were only found in extremely cold places.
He really wanted to give Bai Rui a gift, but on second thought, with Bai Rui’s current status he did not lack anything, and it was even more embarrassing to send something over, so he gave up the idea.
The only thing he hoped for now was that the Gu family’s eldest son was a normal person who could give Bai Rui the care and warmth of an ordinary person, because this Snow City was too cold.
The days passed both extremely fast and slow, and soon, the whole palace and even the residential area of the whole Snow City turned red. The next day was the young Lord’s official wedding.