Ch 42

Someone's spoon fell on the table with a sharp clatter, the sound echoing in the dead silence.

Zhao Feng calmly picked up the spoon, wiped it clean with a paper towel, and placed it back into Su Yang's hand.

"Scared?" he said mildly. "How can you believe in a child's nonsense."

Su Yang's face was pale as a sheet, the hand grasping the spoon was trembling faintly.

Incensed, little Zhao Qi tried to refute, "It's not nonsense, I saw it myself, it's at...wuwuwu!"

Before he could finish, Lin Feifan had covered his mouth. He said menacingly, "You naughty child, look, you've scared your Xu gē gē. Your eldest brother will send you back to America tomorrow."

Zhao Qi's little body stiffened. His eyes rolled around to stare at Su Yang who was frozen in shock, then flitted towards the moody, unreadable Zhao Feng. Neither of them made a sound.

Mouth tightened, he jumped up from his seat and fled back to his room on his short little legs.

Lin Feifan laughed lightly. "Children at this age often have trouble telling dreams and reality apart. Pay it no mind, Mr. Xu. The Zhao family's business had been whitewashed since two generations ago. The business that Zhao yé handles is absolutely legal. Please be at ease."

Su Yang nodded, but his expression was still somewhat unsightly.

Because he remembered little Zhao Qi once telling him that he seemed to have seen "him" before. Gao Min had also said that Zhao Feng has someone he holds dear in his heart which no one has ever seen, but reckoned that Xu Yanqing likely resembles this person.

{T/N: Refer Ch 37 for Gao Min and Ch 40 for Zhao Qi's recollections}

Su Yang felt that he had likely stumbled upon the truth, but... why would the person be in ice?!! Shouldn't a dead person be laid to rest? What does it mean to freeze a person in ice instead, is it to prevent the body from rotting?! Or is this some kind of special hobby of Zhao Feng's...

As his panic and terror grew, a large, warm palm suddenly rested over his hand. Su Yang immediately went rigid.

Zhao Feng's voice was soft. "I may not be a good man, but I've never committed acts of murder or arson. I would never hurt you, so don't be scared of me."

{T/N: Murder and arson is a way of referring to heinous crimes, it doesn't literally mean only murder or arson specifically}

A man who was used to behaving like an uncivilized brute suddenly turning gentle. Don't mention Su Yang, even Lin Feifan could barely stomach it. The latter immediately covered his eyes and fled.

But Su Yang couldn't escape, his hand was still being gripped by a certain someone. He could only nod stiffly. "I understand."

Zhao Feng was not happy with his perfunctory reply. Knitting his brows, he said, "What do you understand, say it clearly."

Su Yang swallowed nervously. "I know you're not a bad person, and you won't hurt me..." His voice was barely above a whisper, it couldn't be any more unconvincing!

However, Bandit Zhao was extremely satisfied with his reply. He picked up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks and placed it in Su Yang's bowl, as if to reward him.

Su Yang had barely taken a bite when he immediately bolted for the toilet. "Bleargh—–" They had just been discussing a corpse frozen in ice, who the hell can still eat!

Zhao Feng's face was thunderous as he violently kicked over the chair beside him. An air of fury surrounded him, which made the servants in the mansion tremble in fear and alarm.

Faced with a raging Zhao Feng, Su Yang naturally no longer dared bring up the subject again, but the fear in his heart grew by leaps and bounds. The little bit of courage he had painstakingly managed to foster in the past few days had gone up in smoke.

In the evening, Su Yang finished his shower and dressed himself in a set of pajamas with little rabbits printed all over it. Hugging a pillow, he laid down at the very edge of the bed, as close to the door as possible. If a certain brute was to explode again, he would immediately flee!

But, that was easier said than done.

After finishing a call, Boss Zhao strode back in from the room's balcony. Noticing that Su Yang was not in his usual spot on the bed, his gaze swept around before spotting the bunny rabbit who was huddled at the foot the bed, trying to shrink into himself. Zhao Feng gave a cold laugh.

The bunny rabbit trembled, and the little buttocks began shifting around at the side. He had already been at the very edge of the bed, and now coupled with his furtive movements, Su Yang overbalanced and toppled off the bed, landing flat on the floor.

Zhao Feng had been in a dreadful mood, but when faced with this kind of dramatic scene, his anger finally fizzled out. A burst of laughter escaped him.

With the blanket cushioning his fall, it didn't actually hurt that much, but Su Yang was an idol through and through. Having fallen off the bed in such an ungainly manner and to have it witnessed was simply too much humiliation for him to bear!!

Above all, even Zhao Feng laughed at him! ! !

Su Yang was terribly aggrieved, but as a staunch manly man, he couldn't just cry at the drop of a hat. He got back up with reddened rabbit eyes and slowly slid back onto the bed, trying to convince himself that what happened earlier had only been a nightmare.

But Zhao Feng did not cooperate with this little act of his. The man caught hold of his plump, white feet and dragged the youth towards himself.

Su Yang was both frightened and angry. Bandit Zhao gave a low chuckle as he asked teasingly, "Did it hurt?"

Tears swam in Su Yang's eyes. "...No."

Zhao Feng snickered again as he pulled Su Yang into his arms. There was an evil gleam in his eyes as he said, "Let gē rub it for you." As he spoke, his large palms cupped the perfectly round and tender little buttocks.

Su Yang muttered, "I fell on my knees..." You're rubbing the wrong place! !

Zhao Feng paused, then regretfully turned his attention to Su Yang's knees. After massaging them for a while, he felt rather bored and moved to push up the pant legs. The white calves were exposed, littered with a few faint bruises in the shape of teeth marks.

Damn you, even this area wasn't spared! Su Yang glared at Zhao Feng accusingly.

However, Zhao Feng's eyes were already fully mesmerized by the beauty before him. He lightly slid his slender fingers beneath Su Yang's pant legs, pushing upwards to reveal the fair and flawless knees.

The desire in his gaze was too obvious. Su Yang was somewhat alarmed and tried to pull his legs back, but was firmly curbed by Zhao Feng.

The timid, helpless and foolish little rabbit in his arms had just finished bathing. His skin held the faint, clean fragrance of peppermint body wash. The fair, translucent skin felt smooth and delicate to the touch. The warmth of his body seemed to form a faint mist in the air, carrying a hint of his own youthful scent with it.

Zhao Feng couldn't help pressing a kiss to the fair and tender cheek. "You smell really good," he murmured.

Su Yang stared at him with anxious eyes. "We, we've already done it last night..." he reminded weakly.

Zhao Feng's brows knitted, his expression deeply dissatisfied, but in the interest of a sustainable future, he had to dampen the displeasure in his heart for now. He nibbled on Su Yang's lips for a moment before releasing him.

Su Yang was pressed beneath him, and slept fitfully. Zhao Feng on the hand, slept very sweetly.

In his dreams, he saw those strange scenes again, and in them there was always a boy.

From his youth, when he first laid eyes on the boy within the ice coffin— a family heirloom which had been passed down generation after generation— these dreams had always shadowed him. He was not able to piece together the whole truth from those disjointed fragments, but it was clear to him that there was a bond between him and that boy.

The first time Zhao Feng's heart stirred was in a dream, where a puppy-like boy gave him a bright smile and called him 'Fūjūn' very sweetly. When he woke up, he found himself aroused for the first time.

He couldn't understand the reason for it, just as how he could not understand why his violent temper and wild mood swings would only slowly drain away when he is face to face with the boy in the ice.

He tried excavating the dusty truth from the long river of history. He studied archaeology and expanded his research into the secrets of the royals of the Yu Dynasty, but little could be found. There were documented praises about how the Emperor Cheng Tian loved his Empress Tao deeply and was greatly pained by his passing, but there were few which mentioned 'Tao Zi Yu' in detail.

This was too unusual. The customs of the Yu Dynasty were relatively open-minded and their conversation matters often touched on the government politics and affairs of the imperial family. But there was nothing left behind with regards to the Empress Tao's life, and no paintings of his likeness either.

Eventually, Zhao Feng understood that the Emperor Cheng Tian had really loved this youth. He had not wanted his beloved to be judged and criticized by the future generations, so he had completely destroyed all works and information related to him.

Zhao Feng had used every possible means at his disposal to wrest for the right of inheritance, all for the sake of obtaining the family's legacy— to be precise, the boy in the ice coffin.

The ancestors of the Zhao family had indeed been royalty. During the decline of the Yu Dynasty, their ancestors hid a portion of the treasures underground to be inherited by their future generations, one of which was the body of the Empress Tao.

The ice coffin has remained in its frozen state for hundreds of years, and was extremely hard and solid. Its structure and very existence was a mystery. Till date, they have yet to discover a way to break through the ice to get the person within, and Zhao Feng dared not take any risks.

In these past ten or so years, the young man entombed in the ice and his presence in Zhao Feng's dreams were the only ways to soothe his violent nature. Eventually, he met Xu Yanqing. The similarities in their features offered him some comfort, but he knew it was far from enough.

Although he obtained some measure of peace when looking at Xu Yanqing's face, he had never had the desire to kiss him, nor to embrace him. Only this youth in his arms was the most perfect substitute.

The same face, the queer, crooked smiles, even the soft and coy mannerisms were very similar. Only with the youth by his side, would he feel like he was living a semblance of an ordinary life.

Loving a person who has been dead for hundreds of years, a corpse trapped in an ice coffin. More than once, he had doubted his own sanity. But there was nothing to be done about it, he could not control himself, and even less able to tolerate the idea of anyone snatching away his young man.

Zhao Feng tightened his hold on the silly rabbit in his arms. The space in his heart which had been empty for so long, was slowly filling up bit by bit.

=========

When Su Yang woke up early next morning, Zhao Feng had long left. Su Yang quietly rejoiced, then got up from the bed in a hurry to wash his face and clean his mouth. Muffling a yawn, he went wake little Zhao Qi.

He lifted the coverlet and called, "Get up lazy lil' worm, the sun's about to shine on your butt!"

{T/N: Just a Chinese way of saying Rise and shine}

The usually lively little wolf pup did not respond, his brows were scrunched in discomfort. Su Yang's heart tightened. He immediately reached out to feel the child's forehead, then touched his own forehead. No doubt about it, it was a high fever.

He hurriedly dressed the child, while calling out, "Is anyone around! Hurry and prepare a car to go down the mountain, Zhao Qi is sick!"

The housekeeper and two maids hurried over. "Master Xu, please put the young master down first. The villa has special antipyretics and many other drugs and medicines that can be used."

Su Yang frowned. "How can you just blindly feed him medicine. He's still young, it's better to see a doctor."

"I hear you're looking for a doctor?"

Zhao Jue walked in, face wreathed with smiles. He plucked Zhao Qi straight from Su Yang's arms and gave a small exclamation of surprise. "Yi, his eyes are all swollen. Has he been crying the whole night?"

Su Yang suddenly recalled that this Second Master of the Zhao family was also a doctor. Hearing him say this, he moved over to peer at the child's face. True enough, the little fellow's eyes were red and swollen like peaches. Su Yang immediately felt very distressed.

He urged, "Forget about this, he's burning up, manage his fever first. What if his brains get fried."

Zhao Jue smirked as he threw him a sideways glance, then lowered little Zhao Qi onto the bed. He directed the housekeeper, "Bring my medicine box from my room. It's in the cabinet on the left of the door, in the second drawer."

Su Yang watched as he methodically took Zhao Qi's temperature, then gave him an injection, his movements calm and steady. His anxiousness finally ebbed.

Zhao Jue lifted his brows as he asked, "Little Qi is usually very brazen and cocky, who could have possibly made him cry."

Su Yang scratched at his head and replied awkwardly, "Probably got upset because Chief Lin told him that his eldest brother was going to send him back to America."

"How can Lin Feifan's words hold so much weight." Zhao Jue shook his head as he smiled, eyeing Su Yang as he said slowly, "Us from the Zhao family can only be hurt by those we care for."

Su Yang felt that his words had some hidden meaning to it, but could not be bothered to figure it out.

"Your Zhao family members are also human, it's not like your lineage is that amazing." Su Yang bent over and helped Zhao Qi arrange the quilt as he continued, "He is still a child, he trusts easily, and gets hurt all the more easily. This is all perfectly normal. Don't impose your own standards on him. That's the hallmark of an eight-grader syndrome."

The smile froze on Zhao Jue's face. "What did you say?" he asked incredulously.

Su Yang went still. Shit, I didn't mean to say that out loud ! !