A faint smile touched King Yibo's lips as he slowly closed his striking eyes. He bit gently on his lower lip, a wave of cool sensation sweeping through him from the crown of his head to the tips of his toes. He knew his endurance had reached its breaking point—if he didn't give himself what he needed, things could turn dangerous. His doctor had warned him about this four years ago in Cuba.
He opened his intense eyes again and looked at Zhan before lowering himself beside him on the bed. Yibo reached out and gently pulled Zhan out from where he was hiding his face in the pillow, bringing him into his arms, trembling uncontrollably.
In a strained voice, thick and unsteady, he whispered into Zhan's ear:
"Do you accept that you are the secret of Wang Li, Tengshan Murong Yibo? You are. Admit it. You are Xiao Zinnu Zhan. The time has come for everyone to know that you are my truth soul mate. They must accept it. I will make them accept it."
He lifted Zhan's face toward his, pale and tear-streaked.
Zhan sobbed harder, squeezing his eyes shut. His face was a mess, and his entire body shook so violently that Yibo could feel the erratic pounding of his own heart. Today, the King had reached him in a way no one ever had—deep, destabilizing, terrifying.
"Open your eyes, my Soul. Please, open them."
King Yibo's voice fell even lower, rough and broken, as he tapped gently at Zhan's cheek. Instead of opening his eyes, Zhan burst into louder tears, shaking his head desperately.
A soft, exhausted smile curved across Yibo's lips, the sound of it brushing Zhan's ears. He moved closer until their foreheads touched, their noses brushing. Slowly, he pulled Zhan against his chest again, rubbing his back gently, blowing warm air against his ear in a quiet attempt to soothe him.
Little by little, Zhan's trembling eased. He swallowed his tears, sinking into Yibo like a frightened kitten, clinging so tightly as though he might disappear.
Only when Yibo felt him calm enough did he lift his head slightly to look at Zhan's tear-streaked face. The sight made Yibo laugh softly....this fierce boy who never let anything break him was now completely helpless.
Trying to hide his smile, Yibo murmured from deep in his throat:
"Did I scare you?"
Zhan nodded quickly, pulling his face into a pout, on the verge of crying again.
"No more tears, or I will pounce on you right now."
Zhan swallowed hard and nodded again.
"Open your eyes so we can talk. Otherwise, I won't accept your denials."
Zhan tried, his eyelids fluttering as if they weighed a thousand stones. His voice shook terribly as he whispered:
"Put on your shirt… please."
Yibo chuckled softly, placing Zhan's hand on the soft duvet.
"Then cover me."
With trembling hands, Zhan pulled the blanket toward him. Seeing his struggle, Yibo helped, and together they pulled it into his body his naked frame.
Lowering his voice further, the King whispered:
"Now open your eyes, my love."
Zhan fought for control, and finally forced his eyes open, letting them land on Yibo's beautiful face....looking different, softer, nothing like the fierce king he knew. Immediately, Zhan tried to shut them again, but Yibo gently shook his head.
He didn't close them completely, but he refused to look up. Yibo slid his fingers through Zhan's, inhaling Zhan's breath and exhaling it back against his skin.
"Why don't you want us to be intimate?"
Zhan shook his head silently, unable to answer.
"Use your mouth."
"It's nothing," Zhan whispered weakly, still frightened of the overwhelming intensity pouring out of King Yibo.
"There must be a reason. And I've reached the point where I can't accept excuses anymore. But I promise you something....I will stay with you gently, every step, until your tears stop falling. You're not just my partner. You're my entire life."
He paused, pressing a hand to his forehead in fatigue.
"I won't force you. But I cannot leave you too. I'm sorry. I'm going to give you a secret I have never shared with anyone in my life....one I have carried for years, waiting for you. Waiting for the person I hoped would be worthy of it. I kept myself for you alone. I waited through endless days and nights believing you would come. I hoped for you, dreamed of you."
His voice cracked.
"You are my secret, Xiao Zhan."
His words were impactful to Zhan's vulnerability. He was not one for arguments; he was quick to submit. He was not stubborn; he was quick to accept. He was not one for easy denial; he had a persuasive power of belief, especially towards a person of his status and strength of authority. Zhan had no choice but to sink into King Yibo's embrace, surrendering to another silent, tearless sob, whose effect on him was greater than the response to the clamor of a thousand warriors on a vast, dusty battlefield under his dominion.
"Don't hurt me, please be gentle."
Zhan said, clinging to him more tightly, completely submissive with his whole being. King Yibo responded by holding his tense body with both hands, pulling him closer and embracing his body properly. "Yibo is not one who harms even his enemies, let alone you, who are his life, my angel."
"I have entrusted my life to you, I have given you the pinnacle of my service, for the sake of fate and the honor of your service to me and my lineage." Zhan spoke again in his vulnerability.
"I am the King. I protect every soul within my land, let alone your lineage, sweetheart. Not only is it within my power, but even the sand in your house, if anyone dares to threaten harm, you will never hear of them again in this world. " King Yibo said, removing Zhan's clothes that had been a bearier with his body.
Zhan tried to protest, but the King prevented it. His lips were captured within King Yibo's, a sign that there was no need to hear anything else from him anymore.
From there, the entire narrative changed. A change so great its magnitude surpassed translation by speech or writing. All that is known is that Zhan became Yibo, and Yibo became Zhan, in a dimension difficult for even the most extreme imaginations to conceive.
Truly, Zhan was his secret, his secret which held the position of the greatest secret among all the circles of his secrets....
---
Later That Night
No matter how hard the doctor tried to convince Prince Deng, he refused to listen and demanded to be discharged. Finally, the doctor was forced to release him that night. The hospital car escorted him straight to his residence.
His concubines panicked at the sight of him, but he ignored them completely and went straight into his chambers. Inside the sitting room, he found Prince Langya pacing back and forth. It wasn't surprising.... everyone knew how disastrously Prince Langya handled anxiety and political tension. Before Deng could speak, Langya suddenly grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the bedroom, something that had never happened before.
"Are you even sane right now, Langya?" Deng growled, holding his aching neck.
Langya scoffed, "I've gone mad." They stepped fully inside the room.
Prince Deng yanked his arm away and glared.
"I could tell from the moment i walked in. Now drop the theatrics and explain. You know I hate pointless drama."
Prince Langya burst into almost hysterical laughter, pointing at Deng.
"If I'm insane, then you're about to lose it too, Deng…"
And with that, he explained everything.
Compared to the truth Langya revealed, his madness was nothing. Prince Deng erupted, swearing he would slice King Yibo and Zhan into pieces before they exposed their secret.
"That's not the solution," Langya countered. "Trying anything tonight would be suicide. The watchdog is desperate to see who leaves the palace. Our only chance is to leave separately tomorrow in daylight."
Prince Deng reluctantly agreed. They sealed the plan and parted. Neither of them slept... not a second. Even Jasrah failed to understand what had shaken Prince Langya so deeply.
---
THE INNER ONE....
In a state of extreme shock, she woke from the horrible nightmare that had sought to be the cause of her heart pounding in her sleep, at that time Cao arrive.
She collapsed in front of Cao, showing no sign of being in her right mind. "Cao, confirm for me that I'm dreaming. Tell me it's not my Lion, don't tell me the matter I saw is confirmed..."
"It is confirmed, it is certainly confirmed, Inner One. Zhan has won. He has won over you Inner One, he has won against you. The ghost has surrendered to him. The little sparrow has become the victor over your victory. Yibo has given him his secret, greater than any other secret anyone in the world knows. You have broken our pact with your treachery. All your past sufferings, Zhan has demolished them. You are in trouble. You hear, in trouble, Inner One, for we do not have our pacts broken. No one breaks our pacts, because our terms do not fail, hhahaha!!!!!....."
Dowager Taihou's body trembled as if with convulsions; a terrifying cold sweat broke out on her body. Her eyes seemed to see only darkness within them. She could hear Cao's voice near her until it began to fade into the distance. Within two minutes, she collapsed backwards and fainted....
Author
Finally, I name the Inner One 😉😄 And yes, you saw the name correctly... It was Dowager Taihou, Yibo's mother.
***
King Yibo did not understand the magnitude of the damage he had caused until he returned fully to his senses. Long before that, the pain had already overwhelmed Zhan and he had fainted without Yibo even noticing.
It wasn't only Zhan who was suffering....King Yibo himself was shaken, because this was the first time in his entire life he had ever been physically intimate with another human being.
With a single look you could tell: men are not as unbreakable as they pretend to be. Not weakness of body or strength, but the kind of vulnerability that comes when one finally understands the value of something precious....something they never realized until it arrives in their hands.
In love, there is no privileged gender, male or female. The only one favored is the one who finds true love, who loves and is loved sincerely.
Today, he learned this truth. Other than his mother, father, and grandmother, he had never felt a love so fierce inside his chest like the love he felt for this boy. His feelings for Zhan were overwhelming....so intense that if he tried to explain them, people would never believe him nor have the patience to hear it through.
If not for the fear of looking weak, he too would have broken into tears at that moment....tears of pure happiness and warmth from everything Zhan had awakened inside him.
With difficulty, Yibo lifted Zhan into his arms, lightly tapping his cheek and calling his name with a trembling voice. Inside, he was a storm; outwardly, he appeared calm, as though nothing had happened.
But no matter how hard he shook him, Zhan showed no sign of breathing. Yibo squeezed his eyes shut tightly, pressing a hand against his forehead, completely lost....unsure what he was supposed to do.
He had been spoiled all his life....born into luxury, raised with servants and endless care. People fed him, dressed him, obeyed him. He had fought desperately for small freedoms, just to learn how to stand on his own feet. He never looked down on ordinary people....in fact, they amazed him and won his sympathy. That was why he chose to disguise himself among them, protecting them whenever he saw injustice.
Now he had no choice but to pull Zhan tightly into his arms and cover him with desperate, trembling kisses.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Forgive me… my other half," he whispered into Zhan's ear, exhaling softly, his voice breaking.
As if by some miracle, Zhan suddenly gasped and dragged in a harsh breath. Yibo jerked back for a second, then immediately crushed him tightly against his chest as Zhan weakly struggled and whispered broken, panicked sounds.
Zhan's thin cry cut through King Yibo's soul. Zhan clung to him, begging through tears for him to stop, saying he would die....never in his life had he experienced pain like this.
"I'm sorry… please relax, calm down, baby," Yibo whispered, running his fingers through Zhan's tangled hair, holding him as if protecting the most fragile thing in the world.
Until dawn, Yibo never stopped comforting him. He didn't even know how to speak long enough to explain anything. He even forgot he was a king....forgot everything. Zhan had torn apart the last bit of control he had left. And Yibo knew this was only the beginning. Zhan hadn't even fully regained consciousness yet, let alone started to respond.
Slowly, Yibo tried to lay him down to rest, but Zhan clung tighter and burst into another wave of exhausted sobs, his voice nearly gone.
A soft smile escaped Yibo, gentle and aching. He wrapped his arms around Zhan again, holding him close and breathing warmth into his ear, filled with love and tenderness he could no longer hide. Zhan's breathing gradually evened out, his body relaxing little by little until sleep finally claimed him.
Yibo exhaled deeply, carefully laying him on the bed before standing up.
With quiet, controlled steps.... nothing outward had changed in his royal composure...he walked to the bathroom, stepped under the shower, turned the water fully on, and leaned both hands against the glass wall, drowning silently beneath the spray.
Even with the cold weather that settled over the city, with the storm clouds breaking into sharp wind and a light drizzle, he didn't feel any of it. Within moments the water soaked him completely; his soft thick hair flattened against his forehead, some strands falling over his eyes because of its length.
He's my everything. He's different....extraordinary, beyond anything...
That was all King Yibo could repeat in his mind, jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached, lips pressed tight as if he could bite through them and silence everything inside him.
He stayed under the shower for nearly seven minutes, letting the water crash down on him before he pressed his palm to the switch and drew in a sharp, rough breath. His other hand remained against the glass wall beside him for support. A sudden sneeze shook him, and he opened his reddened, narrowed eyes. He knew that if he walked out into more cold water like this, he would end up sick, so he turned the shower back on....but this time with hot water.
He ran his hands through his hair slowly, letting the warmth wash over him. If he could scream loud enough for the entire world to hear, he would shout that Zhan was his everything. When he said everything, he meant everything.
The sound of the palace clock ringing made him rush. He finished quickly and stepped out.
The moment he emerged, his eyes automatically searched for Zhan....his gaze landing on him where he lied sleeping deeply. Sleep had claimed him heavily, and Yibo knew all too well that it was the sleep of exhaustion.
He moved quietly across the room, walking softly like someone sneaking through silence, because there wasn't a bit of strength left in his body. Only the fierce steadiness in his eyes betrayed what was inside him; no one looking at him could guess what storm he carried.
He dried himself briskly, trying to steady his breathing, then dressed in a soft white robe and draped a black royal cloak over his shoulders, the subtle elegance and rich scent around him making him appear perfectly composed.
He stepped closer to the bed. Sleep weighed heavily on Zhan, but one look showed the struggle beneath it....the way his face tightened occasionally in pain, his breath releasing in shaky intervals.
Yibo half-closed his eyes and opened them again, a faint smile touching his lips. Then he stepped back slowly and left the room, knowing when he returned, they would continue from where they stopped....because he was certain a new storm awaited him.
And even right now, if not for the deep pity he felt for Zhan, he might have gone back and claimed him all over again, considering the fire raging inside him.
(You Horny King, leave our Bunny alone to heal🙄)
★
After the morning gathering ended, he left the temple immediately, his entire mind fixed on Zhan. He knew Zhan desperately needed him close.... needed support, reassurance, and safety at this fragile moment.
He found him exactly as he had left him. Zhan hadn't moved at all, even after King Yibo changed out of his clothes and into something lighter. He went to the bathroom to prepare special warm water, then returned to Zhan's side.
He switched on the room's lighting, brightening every corner. Slowly his eyes moved around the chamber as though he were seeing it for the first time. A faint smile touched his lips; he closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. The room itself seemed special now....suddenly holding a deeper meaning, a higher value than any other place he owned. It had become the most sacred of his secrets.
His gaze drifted to the bed, where Zhan was curled tightly, breathing heavily and unevenly through the tormented sleep he had fallen into.
Zhan's whispered pleas from the night before replayed in his mind one by one. If the glass walls of the room hadn't been soundproof, the entire Beiping Palace would have heard everything....because Zhan's voice had not gone silent until he collapsed unconscious.
A soft, helpless smile crossed King Yibo's face as he walked slowly toward the bed and sat beside him. He brushed his fingers along Zhan's tear-streaked face, pressing a gentle kiss against his dry lips.
Suddenly Zhan jolted awake with a terrified gasp, breaking into a desperate, broken cry. He shook uncontrollably, begging King Yibo to stop, to let him go, insisting he couldn't survive, pleading not to be killed.
The sight would break anyone's heart....anyone could see he was still far from regaining his senses. And though King Yibo had prepared himself for this day long before now, nothing could have prepared him for how the night had unfolded. Even he knew he had pushed Zhan past all limits....five round in a single night, each one faster, rougher, longer than the previous one, treating him like something Familiar and clung to him like someone starving for life.
"Shhh…" King Yibo whispered, placing a finger (Index finger ) gently against Zhan's trembling lips. He pulled him close and pressed a kiss to his forehead, then lifted him effortlessly and carried him to the bathroom.
The moment the warm water hit him, Zhan released a sharp, agonized scream. His entire body shook violently, the pain slicing through him. Even King Yibo flinched, fear striking through him as he stepped into the water too, wrapping his arms around him protectively.
Zhan cried uncontrollably, struggling weakly to pull away, but Yibo wouldn't let go. He held him tighter, pressing his head against his chest, filled with anger at himself....yet he knew it wasn't entirely his fault. His control had shattered, his vision had blurred, and every barrier he had built over the years had collapsed in a single night.
He had carried this burden since before he even turned twenty....how could he possibly remember restraint in that moment? How could he remember how to stop? How could he remember anything at all…?
Zhanxianyibo💚❤️💛