Dear readers, a huge thanks to those out there and a huge thank you to nguyentrucquynh966 and jamberry4 for favoriting the story. Hope you guys like the continuous chapters.
Everyone was gazing at the departed couple with wondrous eyes, then they turned to one another, exchanging the gossip eagerly like a house caught on fire.
From the corner of his eyes, Jiang Wei saw Ma Yun deftly wiped the corner of her eyes with her sleeves briefly, barely smudging her beautiful make-up. Cai Xin and a few other ladies-in-waiting quickly converted upon her, forming a protective circle around her, whispering frantically away, their voices like crickets chirping.
The rest of the guests were in a state of shock, unable to grip their mind on the excitement, then again there were some guests who drowned their shock by consuming more alcohol, namely Zhang Fei. Lowering his own cup of wine on the table, Jiang Wei smoothed down the front of his robes, a plan of action in his mind.
Sweeping his sleeves behind him, Jiang Wei headed towards the entrance of the chamber. "I'm leaving," Jiang Wei remarked blithely, not that anyone paid any attention to him, they were all too engrossed with the latest development of today's wedding.
He didn't blame them though. Life was pretty bleak and boring recently, and now the disappearance of a gorgeous couple from a wedding? This was pretty much the highlight of this month. As much as he wished to participate in bantering, he had more important things to attend to.
Jiang Wei exited from the chamber gracefully and steadily, when he rounded a corner, away from the prying eyes of others, he quickened his steps into a sprint. Occasionally when he met the servants, he would slow down his pace and nod at their direction. Even the servants were too busy exchanging news with one another though, nobody threw him a glance twice. The smile on his face widened. This suited him perfectly.
When he reached a sheltered corner of the bamboo garden in Zhao Yun's compound. It was like a Zen garden. Note to himself to design a similar garden for his own. Slowing down his steps, he crossed his hands behind his back as he walked down the stone path, casually looking all around, looking like he was a carefree passer-by. Spotting some stone chairs rounding a stone stable, he sat down with an exaggerated sigh, like he was tired from his walk.
After noticing that he was completely alone, he put two fingers into his lips and gave a high pitch whistle.
Then he busied himself by pulling out a small slip of paper from his sleeves, brush and a small bottle of ink. Uncapping the bottle, he dipped the brush into the bottle, writing a few simple words on the paper:
"比翼双飞。" (The actual meaning of this Chinese idiom meant that a happy couple was formed just like the wings of a bird that flapped together when it flew. However Jiang Wei also meant to hint that the birds had flown from the nest.)
There. The message was subtle enough without anybody able to decipher if the message was intercepted. Glancing back at his handiwork satisfactory, he capped his brush and screwed the bottle back tightly before putting them back in his sleeve and then he rolled up the message into a tiny cylinder.
The tell-tale signs of fluttering reached his ear.
Jiang Wei raised his arm automatically. A small dove hopped onto his elbow, pecking his arm affectionately. "Hi there," Jiang Wei greeted, patting the bird before slipping the message inside the tiny basket tied around the dove's leg.
"Now go find him," Jiang Wei murmured, smoothing the wings of the dove. He raised the bird to the air and released the bird.
The bird flew off into the cloud filled blue sky. It was truly indeed a wonderful summer afternoon. When the bird disappeared from his sight, he turned away with a brief smile on his face. Finally giving himself the chance to ponder upon the matter lying in front of him.
He had to admit, the development was truly fascinating, apparently Ma Chao had more guts than he gave him credit for.
He threw his head back with a low laugh. Even so, as expected of Zhuge Liang, none of them managed to get past the brilliant strategist's expectation.
The horse galloped away steadily, his hoofs making 'clip-clopping' sound. The bright summer sun beating down on their backs mercilessly, like they were baked alive in an oven, the wind did little to reduce the heat.
Even so, Zhao Yun would rather be here than anywhere.
The spacious stone filled paths had now narrowed into uneven yellow soils which was wide enough to accommodate only one horse. When Zhao Yun glanced back, the town was becoming tinnier with every step and less insignificant. The scenery of the white-washed houses faded to golden paddy fields and blooming fields of vibrant wildflowers swinging under the wind's breeze. The chatters of the townsfolk and hooves clip-clopping on the stone paths faded into nothingness, he could hear the chirping of birds and the wind flapping past his ears.
Zhao Yun leaned on Ma Chao's back, enjoying the warmth emitting from his body, his arms wrapped around his lean waist, their hearts beating against one another. The wind rushed against his skin, giving him a tingling and carefree feeling.
He was finally free.
Many a times, Zhao Yun wanted to ask Ma Chao where they were going, but he didn't want the moment to end. He tightened his grip around Ma Chao's robe, feeling the smoothness of silk between his fingers. He wished that this could go on forever. He never wanted this dream to end. He only wished that it lasted forever.
The butterfly was finally out in the open, enjoying the warmth of the sun, the wind beating against its wing. The feeling of freedom was sweeter than any nectar it had ever tasted before. The flowers proved to be more colourful and sparkled like bright gems under the sunlight without the fuzzy glass obscuring.
"Woaaaah," Ma Chao cried out, pulling on his reins and slowing the horse to a stop.
Reluctantly, Zhao Yun released his tight hold over Ma Chao, straightening himself, glancing around his surroundings. Zhao Yun realised with a start when he realised that they were in the middle of nowhere.
Along the narrow path they were travelling on, long golden weeds surrounded the place, reaching almost as high as his waist. There was a tumbled down hut on their right with the thatched roof broken in many places. Cobwebs hung on the door of the hut like silver banners, thick and spangly. The place seemed abandoned for years. Even the birds stopped chirping here. It was like a dead area.
"Ma Chao?" He felt a surge of uncertainty, in which his voice shook with slight trepidation. It was hard to mask the surprise he felt. When he turned to look at Ma Chao, more surprises waited him.
The calm and cool headed Ma Chao looked and acted quite uneasily, he kept gazing around, as if he was waiting for something. Or afraid of something.
"Here, take this and go change," Ma Chao ordered, his fingers tightening against the reins of the horse, as he passed Zhao Yun a bag with his other free hand. He was still gazing around warily, his body posture tense.
"What is going on?" Zhao Yun asked, reaching out for the bag hesitantly.
Ma Chao turned to look at him, his eyes burned with so much eloquence and love, then he leaned in and pressed his lips against his for the briefest of moment. All the worries in Zhao Yun melted away as the heat of passion flared up inside him.
Zhao Yun craved for more but Ma Chao pulled back, his cheeks tinged slightly with pink. "Go change. We still have a long journey to go."
"Ma Chao," Zhao Yun murmured, his voice trembled, both from the kiss and from the curiosity burning in his mind. "Where are we going?"
"We don't have much time to talk," Ma Chao replied brusquely.
Upon Zhao Yun's bewildered stares, he continued with a pacifying smile, forceful as it was, his voice strained, "I promise once we are safe, I'll tell you everything." He lifted a finger to his cheek, brushing away a strand of hair from his face.
The touch sent his heart pit-pattering happily away.
"You promise," Zhao Yun said seriously, pointing at him to let him know that he was keeping tabs on him.
Those hard features softened and the semblance of a smile morphed on Ma Chao's handsome face. It was the first time he truly relaxed after their little journey.
Zhao Yun's mind was still plagued with questions as he wondered what Ma Chao was hiding from him. He climbed up the rickety steps of the hut, the wooden board groaning under his weight, luckily it didn't broke. When Zhao Yun pushed open the door, spiders and goodness knew what insects crawled away hastily.
He glanced back at Ma Chao who was drinking from his waterskin, seemingly deep in thoughts. His forehead creased with lines and then he went to the side of the horse, disappearing from Zhao Yun's point of view.
Ma Chao must be planning something. He seemed to have a lot of heavy thoughts constantly weighing on his mind. Zhao Yun wanted to help him, he wanted to relieve some of his burden even if it was just a little bit but he didn't even know how to begin.
Zhao Yun sighed exasperatedly. Wasn't he the one who told Ma Chao that he trusted him? Wherever he was taking him, Zhao Yun must have faith in Ma Chao that he was in safe hands. He was a man of his words, right? And yet he couldn't chase away the anxiety he felt.
He closed the door of the hut behind him, blocking the last of the light. Every inch of the place was covered in dust. Unable to find a clean place to put the bag, Zhao Yun swung the bag over himself, and rummaged inside the bag. To his astonishment, it was a set of clothes. Clothes that clearly didn't belonged to either of them. The cloth was rough and itchy against his skin, different from the likes of silk clothes he was normally garbed in. Feeling stranger and stranger, he ran his fingers over the cloth.
What was going on?
Shaking his head, he slipped out from the silky red robe, trembling slightly in relief even when he felt the rough garment against his skin. Anything was better than the wedding robe. Folding the robe neatly, he shoved it back into the bag, anxious to be out in the open with Ma Chao. He didn't like the feeling of being shrouded in the unknown yet he had no choice.
When he exited, Ma Chao had also changed into another set of identical garment. In true Ma Chao's fashion, no matter what he wore, he still looked ridiculously handsome. Although Zhao Yun tried not to let his mind lingered – too long – on how Ma Chao changed his clothes, he could feel the tell-tale blush creeping up his cheeks.
Ma Chao's golden crown garment was also removed, and he was smoothing his golden spikes with his fingers, looking completely engrossed in his task.
Zhao Yun couldn't help himself. He crept silently towards Ma Chao a playful grin toying on his lips. When he was less than two steps away, Ma Chao suddenly turned around, an amused grin flashed across his face, looking more like the usual Ma Chao he knew.
"What are you doing?" Ma Chao asked teasingly, his brows raised over those twinkling chocolate brown orbs.
"I was just–" Zhao Yun shrugged his shoulders, looking around for a suitable excuse but he came up none. "Just looking around."
"Were you planning to creep up on me?" Ma Chao sauntered over to him gracefully, like a tiger ready to pounce. His charm was still dazzling, even the dirty looking cotton garments couldn't do anything to hide his beauty and grace.
Zhao Yun shook his head hastily.
With a playful growl, Ma Chao suddenly leapt towards Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun dodged to the right, successfully evading him. Before he could regain his balance, Ma Chao pounced on him again, catching him by the arm and pushing him down.
Both of them rolled on the ground in a heap as Zhao Yun convulsed with laughter, struggled to free himself from his grasp. Ma Chao laughed and docked his blows. His laughter was like the sound of glass chimes swinging in the summer breeze. Clear. Tinkling. Uninhibited.
The golden brown weeds were flattened by their weights combined, the long featherlike weed tickling their skins, forming around them a perfect curtain, hiding them from view.
Finally, they laid pantingly on the ground, with Ma Chao on top of him, catching their breaths. Zhao Yun felt short-winded, he had no idea whether it was from laughing or fighting too much or the fact that Ma Chao was within touching distance.
"Gotcha," Ma Chao whispered breathlessly, his lips inches away from him.
It felt like the night before his marriage, the night where it all began…
Zhao Yun stared at him dazedly, highly aware of how close their bodies were pressed against one another, their hearts beating closely to one another and was that a hard bulge throbbing against his?
"Mmm, are you going to let me sit up?" Zhao Yun asked hesitantly. It amazed him that he could say out those words. All he could think was planting his lips on Ma Chao's glorious pink lips.
Ma Chao blinked, those brown orbs thoughtful, as if he was having the same line of thoughts as him.
"Right," Ma Chao muttered coarsely. As Ma Chao slowly climbed up, those dark orbs were fixed upon him rivetingly.
Zhao Yun couldn't help blushing under his intense stare, shivers tingled down his spine.
Ma Chao finally tore those seductive eyes from him and turned back to the horse instead, brushing the horse's mane and rummaging around with the bags.
Only then Zhao Yun breathed out in relief, feeling his body shaking slightly. He wanted to be with this man. He wanted so bad to touch him that his fingertips hurt from not able to do so. So badly that the passion of fire inside him almost burned him alive, hotter than the summer sun scorching his skin.
But no, he couldn't destroy everything they had built so far, he had to control himself. One misstep could go a long way. He had already controlled himself for so many years, what was the matter of a few more hours or at most days?
Taking a deep breath, he tipped his head to the sky, blowing out his breath, studying the fluffy white clouds, trying to decipher the patterns. Feeling his emotions more in control, he glanced back at Ma Chao, happy to find that he could look at him without feeling like a person with a heart attack.
All his breath left him when Ma Chao turned to look at him again with those smothering eyes. Zhao Yun thought he would melt. Okay, so maybe he counted his chickens too soon.
"What are you thinking?" Zhao Yun asked jokingly, smoothing down the front of his shirt, feeling the coarseness of the fabric against his skin. He gazed at his shirt as if intrigued by the pattern. Anything to avoid looking at Ma Chao. "You look so focus."
"Just thinking how good you look," Ma Chao replied earnestly.
Zhao Yun's head snapped up, unsure whether he was joking or being serious, but he couldn't tell from Ma Chao's expression. Even though Zhao Yun was fully clothed from top to bottom, he couldn't help feeling embarrassed, as if he was naked and he was being scrutinised by Ma Chao.
"You too," Zhao Yun replied shyly.
They stood there, staring at one another, one with wistful smile while another solemnly.
"Time to continue the journey," Ma Chao coughed, breaking the silence, saddling the bags on the horse before climbing back on the horse. He jerked the reins with one hand and offered Zhao Yun his other free hand.
"I can climb on my own," Zhao Yun said, feeling embarrassed.
"I know," Ma Chao murmured fondly, his eyes were scorchingly warm like the summer sun that sent all the chills in his heart away. "Because I've always watched you."
Zhao Yun froze, stuck in half-way of climbing up the horse. It was rare to hear Ma Chao reveal his feelings so openly.
The smile on Ma Chao's face widened and he gestured once more with his open hand.
This time, Zhao Yun took hold of his hand with a smile.
To be continued…
What was going on? Who did Jiang Wei sent the message? Where was Ma Chao taking Zhao Yun? Stay tune to find out in the next chapter. I would love to hear what you all think, kindly leave a review behind, that will really be great. Thanks in advance! Once again, thanks for reading.