EHW Ch71

Extra Story 3 (Part 1) · Marriage

When a child gets a new toy, they’ll play with it nonstop.

And Pei Xin’s hands were quick, he set up two save files: one at the moment when Gu Fangzhi leaned forward to kiss him, and one when Gu Fangzhi’s waist was lifted and then pressed back down again.

By the time it all finally ended, Gu Fangzhi’s whole body had gone limp, too weak even to lift a finger.

Pei Xin draped a robe over him, then scooped him up horizontally to carry him to the bath chamber.

Though Gu Fangzhi often stayed overnight at the Hall of Mental Cultivation, he usually didn’t bathe there.

The medicinal baths Pei Xin used were far too potent for an ordinary body, meant for someone with lingering ailments. For a healthy man, they’d be harmful instead.

There was another reason, too, Pei Xin never said it, but Gu Fangzhi could guess.
It was because Pei Xin probably didn’t want him to see the vicious scar that cut across his side, almost all the way through his waist.

Even at their most intimate moments, Pei Xin usually kept on his inner robe; every time Gu Fangzhi’s gaze happened to drift downward, Pei Xin would catch his chin and tilt it back up.

This time, the water held no medicine, just a few flower petals, a touch of mint.

Yet the pool had long been steeped in herbs; the faint bitterness of medicine mixed with the cooling scent of mint still lingered in the air.

Pei Xin frowned. “Smells awful.”

Gu Fangzhi, resting bonelessly against the edge of the bath, smiled faintly. “I rather like it, actually. Once Your Majesty’s insomnia is cured, I suppose I won’t be able to smell it anymore?”

His tone carried a trace of regret.

Before today, Pei Xin had always thought that Gu Fangzhi’s so-called “liking” for the bitter herbal scent on him was just flattery, a way to humor him.

But now, he realized Gu Fangzhi truly meant it.

He asked, “Then what does Teacher think, should I wear a sachet of medicine fragrance, or use your trick and burn cassia incense instead?”

Gu Fangzhi’s tired voice still carried humor.

“There’s no need to be so rigid, Your Majesty. You could switch it up. For example, on the first day of the month, burn peach blossom incense, so people will think you’re a charming, romantic man. On the second, use cedarwood, makes you seem steady, the mature uncle type. On the third, sandalwood, so they’ll think you’re a bald, enlightened monk.”

Pei Xin: “……”

So he had left Gu Fangzhi with too much energy after all.

He rolled his eyes, scooped up a handful of water, and splashed him.

Gu Fangzhi chuckled softly.

Then suddenly, he asked, “Can I touch it?”

Pei Xin: “……”

Touch what, exactly?

He raised a brow, pretending nonchalance though his heart skipped.

“Teacher may do as he pleases.”

Gu Fangzhi slowly moved closer and reached out, his fingertips brushing Pei Xin’s side.

Pei Xin flinched but didn’t move away.

The scar was darker than the rest of his skin, redder too, jagged, twisting from his back all the way around to his abdomen, nearly encircling him.

Gu Fangzhi asked softly, “How did this happen?”

Pei Xin hesitated before answering. “It was… from a battle at Yanmen.”

“There was a man, maybe in his forties. Very thin. He charged ahead of his troops. My bayonet went straight into his chest. He cried and kept saying, ‘I’m sorry.’”

“I froze for a second, and someone behind him took that chance to strike me down.”

The wound was deep; even with armor, the muscle beneath could be seen. Pei Xin had walked to the edge of death and somehow crawled back.

Ever since then, he’d barely slept.

The emotions that wrapped around his nights were complex, a tangle of guilt, disgust, self-reproach for lowering his guard, and an aching vulnerability he couldn’t name whenever he saw the worry in his family’s eyes.

Gu Fangzhi’s touch on his scar was gentle, featherlight. “Your Majesty,” he said quietly, “would you like a hug?”

Pei Xin snorted. “I’m too old for that. I’ve long forgotten.”

Gu Fangzhi poked his side. “Still so stubborn.”

He rose slowly, moving sluggishly from exhaustion, so much so that Pei Xin wondered if he’d accidentally hit Load Game, because Gu Fangzhi was moving like a puppet caught between frames.

Just as Pei Xin was about to check the save files, Gu Fangzhi’s warm arms wrapped around him from behind.

Pei Xin froze.

Gu Fangzhi’s palm patted his back gently, like coaxing a child to sleep.

Pei Xin turned his mouth down. “Alright, alright. I told you, I’ve forgotten all about it.”

But Gu Fangzhi didn’t let go. He just kept holding him, kept patting his back.

No one knew how long they stayed that way. Eventually, the tension in Pei Xin’s body melted away; he raised his own arms and hugged Gu Fangzhi in return.

They stood quietly like that until the bathwater cooled, before Gu Fangzhi finally released him.

Pei Xin caught Gu Fangzhi’s hand and looked down at the ring on his finger, the one Pei Xin had given him.

In the same casual tone one might use to talk about the weather, Pei Xin said, “Actually, ever since I fell in love with Teacher, I stopped being afraid.”

Gu Fangzhi ruffled the boy’s hair, pinched his cheek, then rubbed his ear.

Pei Xin splashed him again, face dark. “What are you doing?”

Gu Fangzhi grinned.

“As your teacher, I’m just appreciating how handsome, charming, suave, and irresistibly manly I am, full of security and- ”

Pei Xin: “……”

As soon as he started boasting, Pei Xin switched to the save where Gu Fangzhi was kissing him, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Gu Fangzhi, dazed and slow from fatigue, didn’t realize what was happening until several seconds later. Then he finally caught on, Pei Xin had been reloading.

Pei Xin smirked. “Right back at you.”

Gu Fangzhi’s fingers itched; he couldn’t help splashing Pei Xin in return.

Pei Xin caught his wrist mid-motion, still staring at the ring.

Gu Fangzhi’s fingers were slimmer than his, so the ring was a bit loose.

He’d wrapped a red string around it to keep it in place, not the most fitting combination, but since the red thread rested against the underside of his finger, no one could see.

Gu Fangzhi frowned slightly under Pei Xin’s gaze. “What is it?”

Pei Xin turned his hand over and over, then said thoughtfully, “Mn… we should hold a wedding.”

Gu Fangzhi froze.

Pei Xin caught the split second of silence and asked, “Teacher doesn’t want to?”

“It’s not that I don’t,” Gu Fangzhi said softly. “It’s just- ”

Just that he was afraid the entire court might die of shock.

Pei Xin interrupted him: “As long as you’re willing, that’s all that matters. Willingness means everything.”

Gu Fangzhi: “……”

Good grief, where had this kid learned to force a marriage?

He sighed. “Then your minister must at least inform his family and a few friends first.”

Especially Gu Yunchuan, his honest, good-natured older brother still thought Gu Fangzhi was staying overnight in the Hall of Mental Cultivation out of scholarly diligence.

Ah, his poor brother.

Pei Xin added, “I’ll also need to give advance notice to a few people.”

An emperor’s decision wasn’t something to be blurted out at morning court to shock the entire hall.
Proper procedure was to first consult trusted ministers, then allow them to discreetly spread the word among others, an inner-outer coordination of opinion.

That was something he’d learned in lessons with Gu Fangzhi, lessons during which Gu Fangzhi had kept reloading saves, forcing Pei Xin to listen to the same lecture multiple times until it stuck.

Sometimes, having Gu Fangzhi around was… useful after all.

***

The next day after court, Pei Xin summoned several trusted officials.

The Right Chancellor was naturally among them, as was Grand Tutor Sun, an elder of three generations of imperial service and an aficionado of antiques.

All of them gathered in the hall, uneasy, unsure why the emperor had called them together so suddenly.

The Right Chancellor sidled up to Gu Fangzhi and whispered, “Lord Gu, do you know why His Majesty has gathered us? Is something serious happening? It doesn’t seem like the right time for it…”

Gu Fangzhi: “…Mm. Yes.”

“You’ll understand in a moment,” he said mysteriously.

When everyone had arrived, Pei Xin checked his system interface.

He could only use the system for twenty-four hours total.

After spending the previous night reloading repeatedly to watch Gu Fangzhi’s fragmented expressions, over and over, he’d already wasted most of it.

By noon today, he had only two hours of system time left.

Still, it was more than enough.

“Everyone, please sit.” Pei Xin said.

The ministers exchanged confused glances but obeyed.

Gu Fangzhi, on the other hand, remained standing, leaning lazily against a pillar with Snowball in his arms. Just thinking about what Pei Xin was about to say made him blush slightly.

He had specifically warned Pei Xin to be subtle about it.

 

After all, this room was full of old men, none of whom would survive too direct a statement.

And just as that thought crossed his mind, he heard Pei Xin say:

“It’s time for Me to marry.”

The officials froze.

Grand Tutor Sun was the first to react.

He slapped his thigh and jumped to his feet. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes! His Majesty has indeed reached that age! I’ll fetch the marriage registers at once! To be honest, this old servant has had them prepared for ages, just waiting for Your Majesty to- ”

Pei Xin pressed his hand downward. “I already have someone in mind.”

The room fell silent again.

Whoever the emperor intended to marry, whether she would be empress, consort, or even a mere court lady, her identity was a matter of national significance, tied to power, status, and alliances.

The Minister of Rites looked the most distressed of all, if Pei Xin truly meant to wed, the workload for his ministry would skyrocket.

Only Grand Tutor Sun still looked delighted.

He asked cheerfully, “Which family’s young lady is it?”

“Not a young lady.”

Pei Xin lifted his chin slightly and gestured toward Gu Fangzhi. “Him.”

Everyone turned in unison.

Gu Fangzhi: “……”

No.

What happened to being subtle? How was this subtle?!

Wow. Just, wow.

His face burned crimson. He rubbed Snowball’s head furiously; the dog, thinking it was playtime, wagged its head happily from side to side.

The entire hall went silent.

At last, Grand Tutor Sun managed to say, “…Wow.”

【Congratulations, player, you’ve reached a Bad Ending –  “Wow.”】

Pei Xin: “……”

Honestly, their tolerance levels were far too low.

At this rate, Great Qi was doomed.

He reloaded.

Gu Fangzhi reminded him softly, “Your Majesty, be subtle. Subtle.”

Pei Xin: “Got it.”

The two suddenly murmuring to each other made the gathered ministers even more confused. Pei Xin didn’t explain, he simply reloaded again.

This time, he thought carefully, then said to the bewildered officials,

“I shall give you a riddle, see if you can guess the name. ‘A hired man reading fragments in the east.’”

The room fell into puzzled silence.

Pei Xin: “……”

Was the riddle that difficult?

Were his ministers all illiterate?

Great Qi really was doomed.

Impatiently, he revealed the answer: “Gu.”

“Ah,” the Right Chancellor said, “then it must be the daughter of the Gu family’s gentleman of rank?”

Pei Xin: “No.”

“Then… the granddaughter of Minister Gu?”

Pei Xin: “No.”

“Could it be… General Gu’s younger sister?”

Pei Xin: “…………”

How had he never realized there were so many people surnamed Gu?!

He should just execute them all.

That dark thought barely formed before his vision flashed black.

【Congratulations, player, you’ve reached a Bad Ending –  “Lay Down the Blade, Attain Enlightenment.”】

Pei Xin: “……”

At this rate, he really would become a monk.

He tried a few more times, but no matter how “subtle” he was, his ministers never understood.

Finally, Pei Xin lost his patience completely.

To hell with subtlety. To hell with the court.

He was going to marry Gu Fangzhi, and no one was going to stop him.

Clicking his tongue, he slammed his hand onto the table.

Raising his voice so all could hear, he declared clearly,

“I shall take Gu Fangzhi into the palace as My consort. My mind is made up, carry out the preparations. Any man who dares to advise otherwise, I will- ”

…He paused.

Will what?

If he said “kill,” the system might trigger another ending and force him to reload again.

Punish them? Fine them? Still risky.

His gaze swept over the rows of aged faces, and he said darkly,
“Any man who dares to object, I’ll just marry him into the harem instead.”

The ministers froze, all bowing their heads as low as possible, terrified of making eye contact, afraid Pei Xin might suddenly “choose” them next.

Gu Fangzhi nearly lost it.

He bit back a laugh and mouthed, “What a noble sacrifice, Your Majesty.”

…He could already imagine tomorrow’s rumors spreading through the streets:

“His Majesty Pei Xin, likes daddies.  Daddies of daddies.”