Bathroom

Jiang Xun's gaze swept across the screen.

There was a large amount of dialogue for this segment of the emperor and minister's exchange. Following the requirements, he paced barefoot to Shen Que's side and tapped his fingertips against his chin. "For Master Cunxi to dare present a memorial on this matter at such a time, you must be prepared to endure all consequences."

Shen Que, known as Master Cunxi, had quite the literary reputation. He left behind hundreds of poems and essays passed down through generations, several of which were selected for textbooks and extracurricular reading. Every time the Chinese teacher explained them, they would use chalk to write down his pseudonym stroke by stroke.

The teacher introduced his life, his achievements, his disability, and his illness. And at that time, Jiang Xun sat below, listening to the rustling sound of the chalk rubbing against the blackboard while his classmates bowed their heads over their desks, taking notes earnestly. No one knew how Jiang Xun, who was sitting right beside them, had once treated Shen Cunxi.

Jiang Xun had entered this person's body.

On the dragon bed, in the hot springs, in the imperial garden, and in many, many other places...

Two lifetimes later, seeing this name on the screen, Jiang Xun was a bit dazed. Pressing down on his tongue, he silently repeated: "Shen Cunxi..."

When Jiang Xun studied together with his several older brothers, his older brothers had also called Shen Que "Master Cunxi" to show respect.

But Jiang Xun never used it.

He was too inconspicuous, drowning in the crowd. The gap in status between him and the noble, precious princes was immense. The princes scrambled to ask Shen Que about their studies, and it was never his turn to step forward.

He only called Shen Que this in bed, pulling apart his soft, powerless legs, calling out into his ear again and again, "Master Cunxi—"

Every time he heard this title, Shen Que's legs would spasm. He would unconsciously bite down hard, pressing broken moans in his throat. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead, completely soaking his long hair. His eyes would either be tightly shut, or he would turn his head away to avoid looking at Jiang Xun.

Too much time had passed. When Jiang Xun recalled that time, he had probably been pleased; whether it was the pleasure of the body or the pleasure of conquest, it had ultimately been delightful. But now, he remembered none of it.

What he saw and heard during the seven days after his death had been far too tragic, completely crushing all the love and hate of this body. Whenever Shen Cunxi was brought up again, Jiang Xun's only thought was: 'Nothing can happen to his legs.'

As for everything else, Jiang Xun didn't care.

Thus, after finishing his line, he didn't hesitate in the slightest. He walked barefoot past Shen Que and continued reciting his lines: "Since you know the consequences, then follow me."

His tone was too cold. There was no teasing or mockery, calm like a stranger.

Shen Que paused. "...Yes."

The two bypassed the folding screen and stepped into the side hall.

In this bathroom, there was a hot spring pool large enough for several people to bathe together.

The Great Wei imperial palace was built against a mountain, drawing living hot spring water into the palace. In the rear chamber of the Emperor's sleeping quarters, there was a hot spring. The spring water flowed endlessly all day long; white mist rose in the bathroom, and water vapor permeated the air.

Jiang Xun took off his outer robe, submerged his naked body into the water, and then leaned against the stone wall, closing his eyes without a word.

The emperor's body was slender and his features were handsome and clear. When he closed his eyes, his eyelids dropped down, and his raven-feather-like eyelashes also drooped, covering the eyes and brows that usually harbored hostility. Consequently, his entire aura of brutality was restrained, bringing up that hint of pale sickliness. Sitting alone in the water, he actually appeared somewhat lonely and isolated.

Shen Que stood on the edge, unsure of what to do.

If it were a serving palace servant, they should pick up a brocade towel to massage and wipe down the emperor's body; if it were a little pet, they should take off their clothes and bathe together with the emperor, but...

But he was neither a palace servant nor a little pet.

At this time, System 55 extended its pointed corner and poked Jiang Xun: "Host, you can't just leave Shen Que hanging. You need to have physical contact with him. Here, there are more lines."

The wording in the original text was "intimate fondling and indecent play." System 55 roughly understood that it required physical contact, but the previous hosts had never put it into practice. It didn't fully understand what kind of contact counted as "indecent play," so it could only count on its knowledgeable host.

Jiang Xun glanced at the screen and spoke his lines: "Master Cunxi, you know the procedure for serving the emperor in his bath, right?"

His voice scattered in the mist, drifting illusionarily.

Shen Que then breathed a sigh of relief. "This subject knows."

This was slightly better than he had imagined.

Jiang Xun had a bad reputation. Despite his young age, he had long borne the title of a fatuous and tyrannical ruler. He had set up a leopard house in the palace and fooled around with two of his older cousins. Although Shen Que didn't inquire about palace rumors, he had more or less heard the whispers.

The emperor's methods were ruthless, and he favored men.

Just serving the bath, without having to do anything else, was already very good.

He then took the brocade towel and knelt down by the edge of the pool.

A layer of stone slabs was paved around the edge of the hot spring pool, carved with raised patterns. Kneeling on it was even more unbearable than brick and stone. The moment he made contact with the ground, Shen Que's brow twitched, but he immediately suppressed it without a change in expression.

The emperor's bath would take approximately half a shichen. If one were to kneel in such a place for half a shichen, they would probably be unable to get out of bed for three to five days.

If the emperor intentionally wanted to torment him, he could soak for even longer.

But this wasn't something Shen Que could decide. He merely shifted his knees slightly, draped the towel over the emperor's shoulders and neck, and began to wipe slowly.

Jiang Xun's mind had originally been wandering to the heavens. With this action, he pulled back some of his thoughts.

Shen Que had studied since childhood and was renowned throughout the world for his essays. He had clearly never served anyone before. His movements were clumsy and unusually rusty, and the strength he used to scrub his back was either too heavy or too light. The emperor's naked neck was right in front of him, with water vapor condensing at the ends of his hair and rolling down the lines of his body. With Shen Que's upbringing, he didn't dare to look, so he lowered his eyes and wiped entirely by feel.

With this wiping, the thin calluses on his fingertips repeatedly brushed across his back, causing Jiang Xun to break out in goosebumps all over his back.

The emperor frowned.

Very strange.

In his previous life, he had grown accustomed to enjoying Shen Que's care. In the very beginning, Shen Que had also been this green. The head eunuch, Wang An, had volunteered to teach him, and no one knew what methods he used, but he learned as he was taught. But now, with this inexplicable sensation transmitting from his back, Jiang Xun felt extremely uncomfortable.

He turned his head, wanting to tell Shen Que to stop and then think of how to fulfill the "indecent play" plotline, but his gaze swept past Shen Que's knees, and he froze.

Those legs were trembling.

Shen Que's expression was calm, and his upper body knelt very steadily, but his legs were clearly trembling. It was an uncontrollable physiological reaction, indicating that the muscles were being tormented to their limits.

These legs had knelt long enough today.

Jiang Xun frowned and raised his hand, grabbing Shen Que's wrist.

Shen Que was still holding the towel in his hand, stopping stiffly in mid-air. He was stunned: "Your Majesty?"

Jiang Xun lowered his eyes: "Get up."

"...Your Majesty?"

"...Stand up."

Shen Que hesitated for a moment before standing up. Because Jiang Xun was soaking in the pool, as soon as Shen Que stood up, his position was much higher than him, making it impossible to touch Jiang Xun's back anymore. He gripped the towel, not knowing what he should do.

As Jiang Xun and Shen Que fell into a stalemate, System 55 in the pool popped out.

Who knows what System 55 was made of. As an electronic product, it wasn't afraid of water at all. It was currently floating around happily in the hot spring, enjoying the pleasure of taking a bath.

The little system super liked its current host. Jiang Xun didn't have much of a temper. He wasn't scary like a certain Bai or a certain Xiao, nor was he slacking off like a certain Xie, or feigning compliance like a certain Lin. He meticulously studied every line of dialogue, caring even more than the system itself.

Following a host like this, System 55 just wanted to lie flat.

Except that he seemed to have some psychological problems, but it didn't seem to be a big issue, right?

Therefore, while System 55 was comfortably soaking its electronic components in the hot spring, it heard its host tell Shen Que to stand up.

System 55 was shocked. Unable to stabilize its body for a moment, water entered its ports, and it bubbled out two bubbles with a glub-glub.

"...?"

It paddled through the water and rubbed against Jiang Xun's side. The young emperor was raised deep in the palace and didn't see sunlight all year round. His skin was a bloodless pale white. Even though he was soaked in the hot spring water, which steeped his body to a light pink, he still retained a somewhat lifeless appearance.

System 55 rubbed against his shoulder: "Host?"

Jiang Xun lightly cupped his fingertips around it. The emperor's body temperature was on the low side. With water on his fingertips, it felt especially cold once the moisture evaporated. His soaked bangs hung down along his cheeks, covering Jiang Xun's eyes and making it impossible for System 55 to see his expression clearly.

Jiang Xun: "Sorry, this might be a minor violation, but Shen Que can't kneel. There's a problem with his knees."

System 55 vaguely understood: "...Oh."

Although it was a bit off, the host had apologized.

It then splashed and swam away.

After soaking in the water again, System 55 reminded him: "Host, the 'indecent play' is only 25% complete."

Scrubbing a back, how could that be considered indecent play? Good brothers could also scrub each other's backs. The progress bar for this kind of common activity just increased rather slowly.

Jiang Xun calculated slightly.

At this rate, Shen Que's legs would be ruined from kneeling, and the progress bar still wouldn't be full.

He had to think of another way.

Therefore, he closed his eyes: "Master Cunxi, how boring it is to stand on the edge alone. Come down and bathe with me."

Shen Que's breath paused slightly.

He thought to himself, 'As expected.' He raised his hand to his fasteners and undid them one by one.

He had made preparations when he came, so it wasn't too embarrassing now.

The bathroom was filled with steaming mist. The official uniform on Shen Que's body was already mostly soaked, the wide robes and large sleeves clinging entirely to his body. His originally refined attire was in a mess.

He took off the jade belt around his waist, outer robe, inner robe, and finally his undergarments, trousers, shoes, and socks. Then, entirely naked, he stepped barefoot into the hot spring.

Hearing the sound of water, Jiang Xun lifted his eyes, his gaze falling onto Shen Que's legs.

His knees had knelt for a long time and were already swollen, flushed with a ring of red. But the lines of his calves below were smooth and proportionate. The muscles hadn't atrophied; they still looked healthy.

Very beautiful.

Shen Que lowered his head, also dropping his gaze onto his legs.

He knew the emperor was looking at him.

Jiang Xun seemed to have a particular fondness for these legs. He had looked at them several times in the hall earlier, and now he was staring again, looking as if he was quite taken with them and liked them.

But soon after, Jiang Xun shifted his gaze away.

He soaked in the water, bathing together with Shen Que, but what he was thinking about in his heart was the matter of the drought in Lianghu.

Jiang Xun's dynasty just so happened to run into the Little Ice Age. Temperatures plummeted, the climate was volatile, and floods and droughts appeared alternately. In the past two years, the drought in Lianghu was the most severe.

Later generations would build reservoirs, and through water conservancy projects, they mitigated more than half of the disaster's impact. Jiang Xun had traveled everywhere to inspect those dams and bridges, thinking that if he had these things back then, would the number of victims have been fewer?

Now that he had returned here, Jiang Xun went over all the water conservancy projects in his mind, evaluating which ones could be replicated given the current level of technology, and which ones couldn't.

With matters weighing on his mind, Jiang Xun didn't look at Shen Que. He vaguely felt his teacher sit down beside him, but next...

A pair of legs bumped against him.

Shen Que lowered his eyes and brows. His body, soaked in the hot spring, was evenly flushed with a light pink. His legs rubbed against Jiang Xun, carefully nudging him, as if trying to curry favor.

"Your Majesty." The Imperial Tutor endured the strange sensation, enduring it until his whole body turned red and his toes curled, yet he still offered his remonstrance uprightly: "This subject has something to say. Would Your Majesty be willing to hear my words?"

He slightly adjusted his posture and moved a bit closer. Especially those legs, which were almost offered up like a sacrifice, delivered right under Jiang Xun's hands.

Even having lived a second life, Jiang Xun still couldn't help but reveal a stunned expression.

"...?"

Shen Que closed his eyes and didn't look at him: "Your Majesty, there is a severe drought in the grasslands this year. Northern Di has lost countless cattle and sheep, leaving them with no means to sustain themselves. This subject feels they might venture south to pillage."

Seeing that Jiang Xun didn't interrupt, he only then continued speaking. His tone remained gentle and steady. Even though he was already so embarrassed that his fingers were trembling, he still continued with rigorous logic.

"Your Majesty, for Northern Di to march south, there are only two checkpoints: one is Hejian, guarded by the Marquis of Zhenbei, and the second is Yinzhou. Among them, Hejian is the closest, suitable for a direct invasion. The Marquis of Zhenbei has been operating there for a long time, and military morale is stable. Rashly executing his family at this time might cause the Zhenbei Army to mutiny. And since the Zhenbei Army is the main force in the north, once they mutiny, the other armies' relief efforts will be insufficient. The north will be completely devoid of defenses, allowing Northern Di to drive straight in. I fear this will impact the everlasting foundation of our state."

Jiang Xun: "..."

Shen Que had also said these words in their previous life. But at that time, he was kneeling in the hall, holding a jade tablet and solemnly kowtowing. Jiang Xun hated this lofty, civil official appearance of his the most and was unwilling to listen to a single word, raising his hand to interrupt him.

But having transmigrated back from a later era, Jiang Xun knew that every word he said was correct.

Every single point hit the bullseye perfectly.

But...

—But right now, the two of them were huddled in a bath pool, bath towel touching bath towel, leg hair brushing against leg hair. Discussing the everlasting foundation of the state in such a place, wasn't it a bit absurd?