Yushi quickly reached out and snatched the wrist of the man attacking Xueye, squeezing it tightly and forcing the dagger to fall as he caught it in his free hand. Yushi held it to the man’s throat and the others paused their advance.
“Xueye, keep your eyes closed until I say,” Yushi’s voice was fierce. He was ready to kill each one of these thugs for even thinking of harming Xueye.
“What? Why?” Xueye’s eyes snapped open and his voice was trembling. His heartbeat pounding in his ears as he saw Yushi holding his attacker at bay.
“I don’t want you to see what I’m about to do to these bastards,” Yushi’s rage was growing upon hearing Xueye’s fearful response. His grip tightened on the attacker forcing them to their knees with a cry of pain. “I won’t let any of them near you. Trust me, Xueye.”
“O-okay…” Xueye squeezed his eyes shut. While he wanted to try and get away, he’d never seen Yushi so livid, and the fact that it was over his safety, brought a warmth in his chest amidst the cold fear that gripped him.
Xueye heard Yushi snarl almost animalistically, followed by a series of impacts of flesh and metal as well as cries and whimpers of pain, none of which sounded like Yushi, much to Xueye’s relief. When it sounded closer he couldn’t help but flinch, however he kept his eyes closed. There was something about the way Yushi spoke before, but he wholeheartedly trusted Yushi’s words so he stayed put and waited.
After some time and silence fell in the area, Xueye heard Yushi’s voice slowly approaching. “Xueye, don’t open just yet, I want to take you away from here first. Is it alright if I touch you?”
“Y-yes…” Xueye was surprised at how tender he now sounded in comparison to moments ago. There wasn’t a trace of the resentment and ferocity left, instead Yushi’s deep voice was filled with worry, concern, and thoughtfulness. Xueye felt his fear start to melt away.
A gentle hand slid across Xueye’s shoulders, turning him around. Yushi pulled him close against him and they walked a short ways. Yushi could feel the trembling of Xueye slowly subside in his presence, easing his own pounding heart.
Yushi guided Xueye toward where he knew one of the guards patrolled in the area. He led Xueye to a bench along the side of the road.
“You can open your eyes now,” Yushi voiced softly as he rested a comforting hand on Xueye’s head. “We should sit here and catch our breath.”
Xueye complied and sat down in a bit of a daze. He was worried about what sort of carnage Yushi reaped, concerned he’d be in trouble over it. He was surprised Yushi was able to take on so many men all the while flawlessly protecting him as promised. Yushi didn’t seem out of breath at all as he sat there looking around vigilantly. It was then Xueye noticed crimson liquid dripping down Yushi’s chin and neck.
“Shujing! Are you hurt?!” Xueye reached up and touched Yushi’s chin, turning him to face Xueye so he could get a better look.
Yushi was a bit surprised at the action but he gently wrapped his hand around Xueye’s wrist, smiling softly, “I assure you none of this blood is mine. I’m sorry if it gave you a fright. I guess I didn’t realize I missed a spot.” Yushi pulled out the bloody handkerchief he used before to wipe the blood from his hands following the altercation. Before he could reach up Xueye snatched it from him.
“Let me,” Xueye voiced firmly.
“I’m in your capable hands,” Yushi couldn’t help but smile fondly at the young man as Xueye carefully reached up and tenderly wiped the blood from his skin.
Once it was cleared, Xueye breathed a sigh of relief seeing that he was indeed not injured. Yushi wrapped his fingers around the hand that held the handkerchief.
“I didn’t realize you could fight,” Xueye ran his free hand across the back of Yushi’s, softly moving over the bruised knuckles.
“You think this physique is for fun?” Yushi chuckled.
“I don’t like to assume based on appearance,” Xueye flushed, about to retract his hand until Yushi’s fingers curled more firmly around the small pale hand.
“Does it scare you?” Yushi asked, an almost forlorn look in his eyes.
“You protected me, why would I be scared?” Xueye flashed a tender smile. “I was more afraid you’d get hurt.”
“Untrained fools like that couldn’t lay a finger on me,” Yushi smirked confidently. Even trained fighters had a hard time landing a single blow on him, a group of street thugs had no chance at all. While it was tempting to kill them all and be done with it, he left some alive for questioning wanting to find out who sent them. However, even if Yushi left them conscious they weren’t going to be getting up from where he left them.
“Perhaps instead of my assistant you should be my bodyguard,” Xueye joked with a soft giggle.
“I ensure you will always be safe in my company,” Yushi voiced with complete sincerity that Xueye was taken aback.
Xueye had never had someone so willing to protect him aside from his mother and sister. His chest felt tight as a warmth spread throughout his body. Xueye felt so overwhelmed by the whirlwind of emotions this evening. He leaned his head against Yushi’s shoulder.
“Thank you,” Xueye whispered softly as the exhaustion was creeping in.
“Xueye, just to be safe, why don’t you come stay with me tonight,” Yushi was concerned for his safety since there was someone after him. Yushi preferred to take him back to the palace but his personal residence would have to do. “I worry about leaving you alone with someone after you.”
“Mn,” Xueye hummed drearily in confirmation.
Yushi finally spotted one of the guards, “Wait here a moment, I’ll inform the imperial guards and then I’ll take you home with me so you can rest.”
“Okay,” Xueye stopped leaning on Yushi.
Yushi got up and walked over to the guard, ensuring he was far enough away from Xueye to speak freely without him overhearing, but still near enough to keep an eye on him if someone was foolish enough to try anything. He pulled out a small token with an imperial seal inscribed upon it and showed it to the guard who immediately stiffened upon recognizing it.
“Sir!” The guard was about to bow but Yushi held his hand up to stop him.
“No need for formality right now,” Yushi’s face held such a tense expression. “Moments ago myself and my companion were attacked by a group of unsavory characters just down the way there,” Yushi pointed in the direction they came from. “I dispatched them personally. Please, if you would, have the ones that survived imprisoned and inform Lord Qiuji that Shujing will send more information regarding the circumstances and the best way to proceed.”
“Understood, it will be taken care of right away,” the guard nodded and urgently went off to find the scene.
Yushi approached Xueye who was laying across the bench, a hand over his eyes. Yushi kneeled next to him, concerned about him.
“Xueye?” Yushi whispered softly. Xueye removed his hand and blinked drearily up at Yushi. “Are you alright?”
“Tired…” Xueye mumbled with barely any energy.
“If you don’t think you can walk, I’m more than happy to carry you,” Yushi said in a teasing tone but he also meant it.
“I don’t want to trouble you,” Xueye yawned as he sat up.
Yushi offered a hand and helped Xueye to his feet. Xueye was a little unstable, his legs were trembling and he stumbled into Yushi’s arms.
“Ah! I’m sorry, Shujing…” Xueye flushed as he looked up at Yushi.
“It’s alright,” Yushi smiled softly. He wrapped his arm around Xueye’s shoulder, pulling him in close to support him. “Just lean on me, Xueye. Come along.”
“O-okay,” Xueye stuttered, but happily complied.
Yushi guided Xueye to his private residence. It wasn’t anything overly ostentatious like most of the estates in the area. It was a bit smaller than them as well. Just beyond the gate was a simple yet lush garden that surrounded the building.
Yushi guided Xueye straight to one of the guest rooms seeing that the young man was barely able to keep his eyes open.
“Take it easy and rest in here,” Yushi voiced softly, guiding Xueye to sit on the bed. “It may be a bit big on you but I’ll bring you one of my robes you can borrow for now. If you need anything while you’re here don’t hesitate to ask.”
“You’re too kind,” Xueye smiled softly.
“Think nothing of it,” Yushi smiled fondly before stepping out of the room to retrieve a robe from his room. While he didn’t typically stay there often, he did ensure the place typically had everything he needed in the event he did need to. It doubled as making the place look lived in for any nosey guests.
When Yushi returned he noticed Xueye had already fallen asleep. Likely having just layed down for a moment but the exhaustion caught up to him. Yushi sat next to him on the bed, gently brushing his bangs out of his face. Yushi felt at ease knowing Xueye was able to fall asleep so easily in his presence after the night’s affairs.
Yushi reached up and removed his hairpin and set it on the table next to the bed. Yushi proceeded to remove any accessories that might cause him discomfort before shifting the young man into a better resting position and pulling the covers over him. He left the robe next to the accessories on the bedside table and left the room.
Yushi still felt rather restless. He wanted to personally interrogate their attackers but he also didn’t want to leave Xueye alone. He simply paced the main room, hoping Riluo would come as soon as he heard the news. Eventually he simply sat in one of the plush chairs in the seating area, tapping on the armrest as he began debating on how to proceed.
If it turned out to be Xueye’s father behind the attack, like he half suspected, he was more than ready to personally eliminate the man ahead of schedule. Regardless of who it was, he fully intended that they wouldn’t survive the experience when he was done with them. If they did survive they would be ruined for life in more ways than one.
After some time a soft yet urgent knock came to the front door. Yushi quickly got up and pulled the door open. Thankfully, as expected, it was Riluo.
“Are you alright, sir?” Riluo seemed out of breath, having run over as soon as he heard.
“I’m fine,” Yushi waved him in and returned to his seat. “Try and keep it down though, Xueye is sleeping in the other room.”
“You brought him here?” Riluo blinked in surprise. It was quite rare for Yushi to invite anyone over if he didn’t need to, even then he avoided it.
“Of course I did,” Yushi’s brows knit. “They wanted to kidnap him. I don’t know who sent them just yet, otherwise they’d all be dead.”
“It’s rare for you to take something like this so personally,” As Riluo sat down, he could hear the tension and bitterness in Yushi’s voice. “Are you certain you are alright?”
Yushi blinked a moment, realizing he was still rather worked up over the matter. It was certainly a rarity. The last time he felt this bitter rage was over the course of their rebellion against the former emperor. After it was resolved even assassination attempts against himself or members of the upper court never got him this heated. He always kept a level head even when it came to taking vengeance against those who wronged them.
“You’re right…” Yushi took a deep breath. “I can’t really explain it. I just desire to protect him.”
“I see,” Riluo nodded. “Just so long as you aren’t reckless, take a moment to think rationally about how to proceed. As always, I will do my best to assist you in this matter.”
“Since I was taking the time to assist him this week, we ought to do our best to resolve this within that time so we don’t disturb things more than we already have with this arrangement.” Yushi sighed, returning to tapping against the chair as he thought aloud. “As much as I’d like to handle extracting information from those bastards myself, I hesitate to leave Xueye on his own, even here.”
“I’ll enlist the aid of Lady Shanfeng,” Riluo thought aloud. “She’ll get the information out of them one way or another, likely the quickest.”
“Next best thing honestly, tell her to not hold back,” Yushi smirked. Shangfeng Yuliang was the Minister of Justice, appointed as such for her ability to discern the truth by simple observation, often able to uncover the guilty by looking at the files on cases. Amidst the rebellion, she was an expert at interrogation and even utilized torture if it was necessary. “Considering they attacked me as well, technically there is grounds for execution.”
“Indeed, I’ll pass that along,” Riluo nodded, not surprised by their sentence in the slightest. “When we discover more information I will report back immediately. Do you think there is cause to suspect Lord Meigui?”
“We shouldn’t rule it out,” Yushi sighed frustratedly. “Until we learn otherwise, he's the main suspect. If this is his way of trying to interrupt our investment then I’ll be sure he’ll regret it. Somehow I feel it’ll be difficult to convince Xueye to avoid returning to the company until the matter is settled.”
“Actually it may be best if he continues to do so,” Riluo suggested. “It would arouse too much suspicion, especially given the preparation you are assisting with. I find it unlikely whoever’s after him would target him in a place so public.”
“I suppose you are right. I still don’t like it.” Yushi was practically pouting.
“You can always discuss it with him,” Riluo shrugged. “See what his opinion on the matter is. Regardless of his choice, he should stay here at night and shouldn’t go anywhere without protection.”
“Naturally,” Yushi nodded, still he was rather reluctant, simply preferring to hide him away until it all blew over. Even so, it was Xueye’s choice in the end. He let out a frustrated sigh, “I’ll see how he feels on the matter.”
“Try and get some rest tonight, sir,” RIluo urged. He noticed the subtle signs of weariness on Yushi’s face. “You’ll need it if you want to keep him safe,”
“I will,” Yushi rested his head in his hand. “This may be important to me, but you shouldn’t work too late either. I doubt Yuliang would be up this late anyways. I’m sure a night in the water prison will weaken some of those bastards’ resolve.”
“Understood,” Riluo stood up and offered a half-hearted bow. “Please take care.”
“Thank you, Riluo,” Yushi flashed a weary smile as Riluo departed. After a bit of time passed, Yushi got up to lock the door behind Riluo. As he drifted off towards his room he paused by Xueye’s door. He peeked through the door to make sure they didn’t wake Xueye. Fortunately the young man was resting, however he didn’t look as peaceful as Yushi left him. Yushi’s brows knit in worry. While it would be more of a surprise that Xueye would rest easy, Yushi still hoped he would.
This time he left the door open, planning to leave his own open as well. Yushi was a light sleeper, he figured he’d be able to hear if Xueye was distressed in any way. Yushi sighed heavily, reluctantly retiring for the night.
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Sorry for leaving y'all on cliffhanger for so long. I intended to do only a week but health issues cropped up again. Anyways there's a lof of bonus art on Patreon now and you can get early access when I post chapters.