Becoming Puppet Emperor of a Paranoid Eunuch - Chapter 65

“There’s nothing left.”

 

“Really, there’s nothing left.”

 

Wu Jing, holding back tears, pushed Ning Qinghong’s hand away like a hot potato.

 

Ning Qinghong sighed and smiled, then asked, “So where would it feel comfortable if Brother touched Wu Wu?” He spoke softly, “Isn’t your whole body uncomfortable?”

 

“Why did you say it was comfortable earlier?”

 

“You’re lying again.”

 

Wu Jing wanted to argue, opening his mouth, but Ning Qinghong interrupted with a laugh, “Because Wu Wu lied, what you said earlier doesn’t count.”

 

He widened his eyes, instinctively shaking his head, feeling anxious and unable to believe he was being treated this way.

 

But Ning Qinghong hadn’t made a single mistake. Wu Jing opened his mouth, feeling both anxious and unable to say anything, on the verge of crying again. He hurriedly grabbed Ning Qinghong’s sleeve, desperately squeezing out a few words, “You can’t do this!”

 

Ning Qinghong smiled with amusement, “Why not?”

 

Wu Jing said, “It’s—it’s all over. You just said it, you didn’t say it before.” He wanted to scold Ning Qinghong for intentionally bullying him.

 

But he didn’t dare say that.

 

His face turned red from the embarrassment.

 

*How could this be?

 

How could he be like this?*

 

It was deliberate.

 

Ning Qinghong bent down and wiped the tears Wu Jing had just squeezed out from the corner of his eye. He looked at the boy quietly for a moment before leaning in to kiss the corner of his mouth.

 

Even though the kiss was fleeting, the warmth lingered as Ning Qinghong straightened up.

 

“Alright, stop crying.”

 

“If Wu Wu is done with the bath, you can go dress yourself?”

 

“Brother is all wet and dirty.”

 

“Still needs a wash.”

 

Wu Jing, stunned by the sudden kiss, was now aware that Ning Qinghong had been half wet from the bed to the bath.

 

Indeed, it was still dirty.

 

The boy’s soft face turned even redder. He nodded helplessly and was about to go up, but then heard Ning Qinghong sigh, “Wu Wu didn’t even ask where the clothes are.”

 

Wu Jing instinctively looked towards the white marble floor above the bath, only seeing the pile of wet clothes he had removed and the one damp cloak on the armchair.

 

The clothes were dirty too, and they needed to be burned.

 

Wu Jing couldn’t help but glance at the screen where Ning Qinghong had changed. Seeing Ning Qinghong’s noticing look, he smiled, “Only the clothes Brother changed are for Wu Wu—”

 

“No, don’t say that.”

 

Wu Jing tried to cover Ning Qinghong’s mouth.

 

In his haste, he was afraid of offending him, so he stopped. Breathing heavily, he didn’t know where to put his hands and felt exposed under Ning Qinghong’s gaze.

 

The boy stood there helplessly, listening to Ning Qinghong’s gentle question, “I wonder if on the way from the bed to the bath, any of it dripped onto the floor.”

 

“If it dripped along the way.” He sighed, trailing off, “… It’s everywhere.”

 

“What if someone discovers it?”

 

Wu Jing couldn’t help but imagine the scenario. The thought made him want to cry, fearing that if discovered, he would be seen as someone who didn’t care about cleanliness.

 

They might even think he was so foolish he couldn’t find a bathroom.

 

Wu Jing whimpered, “What… what should I do?” He shook his head, “I don’t want anyone to find out.”

 

Ning Qinghong asked, “Does Wu Wu remember if any dripped onto the floor?”

 

Wu Jing sobbed, finally daring to face the truth, “I don’t know, I—I forgot.”

 

“But, but there was some that dripped.”

 

“But Brother was holding me…”

 

Ning Qinghong asked, “Did it get on Brother’s body?”

 

Wu Jing shook his head and nodded, “…No, it didn’t touch, it just—”

 

He couldn’t finish a word.

 

Ning Qinghong sighed softly.

 

Wu Jing didn’t know what to do as Ning Qinghong bent down to kiss the corner of his eye, continuing a series of light kisses to his lips, then slowly withdrew, laughing softly, “Why is Wu Wu so cute?” He coaxed, “Go change your clothes.”

 

“Clean clothes are in the warm room of the right-side partition, but there aren’t any for Wu Wu.”

 

“First, bear with wearing Brother’s clothes for a while, okay?”

 

Wu Jing helplessly replied with a quiet “…okay,” then wiped his tears as he walked toward the warm room to find the right side.

 

He instinctively looked back at Ning Qinghong, trying to determine which side was the right, extending his hands and looking down to confirm which was his right hand.

 

It was a reflexive, habitual response.

 

Unable to distinguish directions, Wu Jing relied on his hands to determine left from right. The side where he wrote was the right.

 

Wu Jing was just following his instincts, but when he turned back, he saw Ning Qinghong standing in the bath, leisurely undressing.

 

He hurriedly turned away, not wanting to spy on someone bathing.

 

But in his haste, he remembered something he had unintentionally discovered. He didn’t dare look back, rushing with wet feet toward the warm room, his damp hair sticking to his back and dripping water as he moved.

 

Once he reached the warm room, Wu Jing stopped, rummaging for clothes. He first grabbed a random piece to dry himself off, then searched for a complete set of clothes.

 

Usually, servants prepared the clothes for him, but it took him a lot of effort to sort through Ning Qinghong’s elaborate attire and match the pieces, making the cupboard a mess.

 

He had to randomly pick out inner clothing and put it on,

 

then threw on an outer robe.

 

Feeling a bit cold, he curled up on the small couch in the warm room, staying quietly for a while, unable to stop overthinking.

 

He had said so much; did this mean Ning Qinghong wasn’t angry about his lies? But he still hadn’t clarified why Ning Qinghong kissed him or why he did those things.

 

For the past two days, Wu Jing had been sneaking glances at Ning Qinghong.

 

But he couldn’t figure it out.

 

If Ning Qinghong just found him amusing, he wouldn’t have let him go and change clothes by himself.

 

Wu Jing thought aimlessly.

 

Ning Qinghong knew he was pretending to be stupid, knew he was lying and stealing, but wasn’t angry, nor did he punish him. It seemed that Wu Jing was always crying while Ning Qinghong was always comforting him.

 

He even treated him to good food and drinks and took him to see the lanterns.

 

…It didn’t seem so bad.

 

Ning Qinghong was… quite nice.

 

Wu Jing dazedly thought, unable to help but lower his head to look at the places that had been touched. He closed his eyes and shook his head.

 

No, that’s not right!

 

…It was still quite bad, and he was always being frightened.

 

But Ning Qinghong wasn’t wrong either; it seemed that he was the one who always gained the advantage. Ning Qinghong only kissed him, hugged him, and touched him.

 

But he—he—

 

Wu Jing trembled, comparing the two situations, realizing that he might have been more excessive, but Ning Qinghong didn’t seem to mind at all.

 

The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. Sometimes he felt that if Ning Qinghong hadn’t touched him first, he wouldn’t have acted that way, but other times he thought he was the one who had been too excessive.

 

He felt so disoriented that he almost thought Ning Qinghong was a great person.

 

When the door creaked open, Wu Jing’s last thought was whether he could stop pretending to be dumb in front of Ning Qinghong.

 

The wooden door creaked open.

 

Ning Qinghong, wearing a snow-white robe from the wooden rack beside the bath and snow-colored inner pants, had his robe half-open, revealing his bare upper body through the large sleeves. His half-wet black hair was draped over his back.

 

Wu Jing had ignored these transitional clothes earlier. Now, the boy, who was completely naked, sat obediently by the bed, lowering his head as if deep in thought.

 

Hearing the noise, he dazedly looked up.

 

Wu Jing had randomly picked a dark green outer robe. The color wasn’t dull but pure green, as thin as silk, and smooth like velvet.

 

It made the boy’s bare hands and feet appear even whiter.

 

With his snow-white skin, delicate features, and the ill-fitting inner clothes that were too large, he looked very youthful.

 

Wu Jing stared at Ning Qinghong, who had come in. Ning Qinghong’s snow-white robe, which was particularly thin, hung loosely, and because he was still wet, the robe was also damp.

 

Wu Jing quickly looked away, feeling flustered. He heard Ning Qinghong sigh as he looked at the mess on the floor. Wu Jing couldn’t help but look back, seeing Ning Qinghong roll up his sleeves and bend down to pick up the clothes, hanging them on the screen.

 

He casually grabbed a long-sleeved robe and began changing.

 

He was completely unselfconscious.

 

Ning Qinghong had always avoided allowing others to assist him with washing or changing, except for when changing outer robes, and even the night guards waited outside the bedroom.

 

Even earlier, when he and Wu Jing had been living together, he avoided others.

 

Wu Jing immediately lowered his head, tightly closing his eyes, not daring to move. His breath was warm.

 

He kept his eyes shut from beginning to end.

 

He obediently didn’t peek and remained very quiet.

 

After a while, it seemed that Ning Qinghong had come to him and said with a half-smile, “You can open your eyes now.”

 

Wu Jing cautiously opened his eyes.

 

Ning Qinghong had changed into a darker green silk robe with peacock patterns, and simple inner clothing. Since it was already late at night, he would go back to rest soon.

 

There was no need for anything too elaborate.

 

Ning Qinghong bent down, “Brother will take Wu Wu back to change clothes, okay?” He extended his hand.

 

Wu Jing, still confused, opened his arms and was picked up by Ning Qinghong. As they walked out, he whispered, “…What about the mess on the floor?”

 

Ning Qinghong chuckled, “Why is Wu Wu still remembering that?” He explained helplessly, “If there is any, others would just think it’s from wet hair dripping.”

 

“At worst, you had the cloak to cover you earlier, so it wouldn’t have dripped onto the floor.”

 

“Others won’t know that Wu Wu made a mess.”

 

His voice was very soft.

 

Wu Jing, in a fluster, tried to cover Ning Qinghong’s mouth to stop him from speaking nonsense, but as before, he stopped midway.

 

The boy trembled, looking at Ning Qinghong’s seemingly amused eyes, and after a moment, boldly lowered his hand to cover Ning Qinghong’s lips and lower half of his face completely, unsure where he got the courage.

 

Wu Jing whispered angrily, “I didn’t! You’re not allowed—” He paused, repeating the two words, “Not allowed to talk nonsense.”

 

Pushy.