Chapter 56

In “Emperor’s Domain,” Ye Guiqiu was given poisoned wine. Before his death, he expressed a wish to Chu Yao – it had snowed, and he hoped to go to the upper study to see the snow.

Thus, the emperor granted his wish, and the palace attendants escorted the emperor and the condemned minister to the upper study.

Snow covered the tiles, hiding the black beneath, and between sky and earth was a vast expanse of white. The Prime Minister found a step to sit on, leaned against a red pillar, and looked up at the snowy sky.

His expression was calm, showing no trace of unwillingness or resentment, only a sense of acceptance of everything.

The north wind whistled, and a snowflake landed on his black hair.

The sky gradually darkened, and the snow became blurry, leaving only darkness.

The scene shifted, and war boots stepped on the blue bricks. He Chi, in silver armor, hurries over, his shoulders also covered with snow.

He passed through the corridor and saw two figures on the steps.

The king stood with his hands behind his back, while Ye Guiqiu had already closed his eyes, with dark red blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.

He was ultimately too late.

After He Shengqi and Zhou Yun finished their argument as He Chi and Chu Yao, Yan Zhao stood up, stretched his body, and jumped off the steps in two or three steps.

The steps were cold and hard, and he had been sitting until his buttocks were frozen.

He took the water that Zhong Ling brought over and rinsed his mouth, still tasting the flavor of blood plasma, which was actually grape essence.

Director Liu took out a red envelope from his pocket: “Come on, take this red envelope, and all the evil spirits will be driven away!”

Because Ye Guiqiu died young, which is considered unlucky, it is customary for the film crew to give red envelopes to the actors to ward off evil spirits.

Zhou Yun and He Shengqi were also prepared. Yan Zhao took a glance and saw one painted with New Year pictures of a child, and the other with a fortune cat drawn in gold powder.

“Thanks,” he said, then called Xiao Dou to buy milk tea for everyone in the crew.

The filming flew by, and Yan Zhao hadn’t officially wrapped up yet, but there wasn’t much left in the story.

He Shengqi had really shed tears earlier, and his eyes were still red. He took a piece of paper and moved next to Yan Zhao: “Male God, have you chosen your next script yet?”

Yan Zhao: “No, I’ll rest for a month after the shooting, and then I’ll choose.”

He Shengqi: “I have a literary film here, by Xie Lianxue. If you’re interested, we can act together again!”

Yan Zhao looked up. Xie Lianxue was also a big director in the circle. He didn’t have many works, but each one was very impactful. His most famous work, “Winter Command,” had won the highest award at the Overseas Fresh Milk Film Festival.

However, it seemed that He Shengqi had never worked with Xie Lianxue before. Were they friends in private?

Yan Zhao teased him: “It seems like you’ve done the job of my agent.”

He Shengqi chuckled: “Male God, I’ll send you the script when I get back, take a look.”

Yan Zhao asked, “Does Director Xie know?”

He Shengqi said carelessly: “I’ll just give him a heads-up when the time comes!”

Zhou Yun came over holding a milk tea: “What are you two whispering about? Yes, I’m talking about you two, what are you saying behind my back!”

Yan Zhao: “Just discussing some matters of usurping the throne.”

He Shengqi: “Trash emperor, pah.”

Zhou Yun: “…”, sigh, the general and the prime minister are in cahoots, no wonder the emperor is a loner.

Yan Zhao asked: “Shengqi and I were talking about work after filming. Brother Zhou, what are you going to do after finished filming?”

Zhou Yun: “Keep filming. I need to provide for my family, unlike you young ones who don’t have to worry about feeding a family.”

The three chatted about various topics and then went back to filming.

Half a month later, Yan Zhao wrapped up.

He posted a photo of the emperor, the general, and the prime minister together on Weibo with the caption: [This official has retired.]

When Salt Soda took a look, Yan Zhao was in the middle, with Zhou Yun and He Shengqi on either side, looking like they had a good relationship.

Apart from the fans who went up to kiss, hug, and cuddle, some fans showed knowing smiles.

Hehe.

Less than half a minute later, Wang Zai’s dad commented: [You should come to work for me now.]

Yan Zhao: [I need to sleep for a day first.]

Ever since Wang Zai’s dad showed off his cat and merchandise last time, the fans had given him a nickname: Boss Cat.

Boss Cat didn’t post on Weibo often, and when he did, it was either about cats or related to Yan Zhao, and he also interacted with Yan Zhao, which made the fans incredibly curious.

Who is he exactly!!!

The comments posted this time, from a friend’s perspective, were just banter between the two, but from a romantic angle… Huh? What kind of coquetry is “sleeping for a day”!!! And what work, what kind of work, details rwkk (let me see)!!!

[I, I can…]

[Sisters, calm down, you can’t. Bloody lessons tell you that being a CP fan has no future, wuwuwu.]

“Pick up the pen and write about friendship, Just do it!”

Pick up the pen and write about friendship, Just do it!”

So, under Wang Zai’s dad’s deliberate display of affection, the world gained another CP, Boss Cat X Yan Zhao. In some chaotic and evil mixes, there would even be scenarios where President Shen and Boss Cat fight over someone.

It’s quite magical.

…

Yan Zhao stayed at home for a few days.

While Shen Yuanting was busy dealing with Yuye Group, he helped by playing with the cats, cooking, and taking the opportunity to read and recharge.

Once President Shen was less busy and had some free time, the two discussed going out to play and finally decided on a small island town abroad.

On the plane, the flowers and trees outside the window gradually shrank until they became tiny dots in a pointillist painting.

Wang Zai lay on the window, watching the clouds.

When the plane landed, Yan Zhao’s ears felt a bit uncomfortable, as if there was a layer of membrane attached to his ears, stinging like a breathing cocoon opening and closing.

Yan Zhao knew this was a problem with air pressure, but he hadn’t experienced this phenomenon before; perhaps he was too tired from filming recently and hadn’t recovered yet.

Yan Zhao leaned on Shen Yuanting: “My ears hurt.”

Shen Yuanting replied, “When we arrive, let’s check your temperature to make sure it’s not a cold.”

Yan Zhao: “Mm-hmm.”

Shen Yuanting reached out and covered his ears, which made Yan Zhao feel a bit better.

They drove all the way to their destination. The villa was backed by the beach, and the waves crashed against the rocks, making a thunderous sound.

The house was cool inside, and the rooms were all tidy.

Yan Zhao and Shen Yuanting had lunch and then took a short nap in bed.

After waking up, Yan Zhao pulled open the curtains, and the sea waves under the sunlight were sparkling.

The weather wasn’t too hot, otherwise Yan Zhao wouldn’t have been interested in going out.

Regardless, sunscreen was a must!

He took out sunscreen from his luggage, and patted the man lying on the bed who was pretending to sleep: “Take off your clothes!”

Shen Yuanting said “hmmed”, then sat up, unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his strong body.

Yan Zhao squeezed out the sunscreen and applied it to Shen Yuanting’s body.

The man’s muscles were firm, with beautiful lines. The mermaid line extending downwards, disappearing into his loose pants, and even that resting bulge should not be underestimated.

Shen Yuanting noticed that Yan Zhao was blushing. His skin was originally fair, making it hard to hide any reactions.

Shen Yuanting caressed his face, and asked: “Too hot? How about we go out after the temperature drops?”

Yan Zhao put the sunscreen on the bedside table and pulled the curtains closed again.

He climbed onto the bed, kneeling in front of the man, and bowed his head.

His teeth caught the cold zipper and pulled it down.

On the beach, the sea water gently washed over the shells on the shore, moistening and engulfing them.

Shen Yuanting stroked the back of his neck, and  his breathing gradually becoming heavier.

On their private beach, there were no outsiders to disturb them, but Yan Zhao still wore a shirt to cover the marks on his body.

The sand on the beach was fine and soft, with little crabs scurrying out of their holes and quickly crawling away.

Yan Zhao ran to the shallow water, bent down to scoop a handful of water, and turned around to splash Shen Yuanting: “Take this!”

Shen Yuanting instinctively raised his hand to block, but of course, he couldn’t stop the water and got soaked, his freshly changed shirt clinging wetly to his body.

Yan Zhao laughed triumphantly.

Shen Yuanting: “Was I too nice to you just now?”

Yan Zhao shamelessly replied, “That was just ‘afternoon tea’; the ‘main course’ is in the evening.”

Shen Yuanting wrapped his arms around him from behind, his breath on Yan Zhao’s earlobe: “Aren’t you embarrassed to say such things?”

Yan Zhao retorted, “You weren’t embarrassed when you were doing it to me!”

After saying that, he broke free from Shen Yuanting’s hold and splashed water on that handsome face again.

The sea water splashed over his face, and Shen Yuanting wiped his face and chased after him.

The two of them were no different from children playing in the mud, and by the time they had enough, they were both drenched.

Yan Zhao moved under the umbrella and picked up shells to play with.

He picked up a beautiful fan-shaped shell and placed it on Wang Zai’s head: “Here, kiddo, this is for you.”

Wang Zai turned over, and the shell fell off. It pawed at it, and hid its treasure under its belly.

Shen Yuanting casually said: “We need to deworm when we get back.”

Wang Zai shifted its body, presenting its butt to its dad.

Shen Yuanting asked Yan Zhao: “What about mine?”

Yan Zhao casually grabbed a handful of sand for him: “Here you go.”

Shen Yuanting thought to himself: “……” Less valued than a cat.

Yan Zhao coughed twice and stuffed a heart-shaped shell into his hand: “Too bad we can’t take it with us.”

Shen Yuanting: “Let’s find a shop to process it, there’s still time.”

Yan Zhao: “Mm.”

Yan Zhao put a pair of sunglasses on Wang Zai, and commented  “Very stylish, just like your dad.”

Shen Yuanting glanced at Wang Zai’s lazy posture, thought about it, and didn’t refute.

Yan Zhao prepared many outfits for Wang Zai, and he put a flower crown on it: “Fairy cub.”

Shen Yuanting: “More like a chubby fairy cub.”

Yan Zhao pinched the cat’s paw: “Wang Zai has been trying hard to lose weight, and he hasn’t been eating that much lately.”

Wang Zai meowed in agreement: “Meow meow meow!”

Shen Yuanting coldly said: “Oh, right, speaking of which, it’s time for its blood test.”

Wang Zai: “!!!” We are about to see the terrifying two-legged beast in white again!

Recalling the fear of being bound on all fours on the table, Wang Zai became listless and cooperated with Yan Zhao in playing ‘Miracle Wang Zai’ for a while.

Yan Zhao took a bunch of photos of it and shared them with Shen Yuanting.

Shen Yuanting posted them on Weibo, and the cat fans were very satisfied with their dose of cuteness.

The sunset fell, and the sea was covered in gold.

Yan Zhao held a coconut, sipping through a straw: “I’m a landlubber, do you know how to swim?”

After the sea water on his hair evaporated, his black hair still clumped together.

Shen Yuanting couldn’t stand it and helped comb it out: “Yes, I’ll teach you tonight or tomorrow.”

Yan Zhao smiled at him: “Okay, but you have to be patient. I took classes when I was a kid, but the instructor just took away my float and pushed me underwater, and I didn’t dare to go a second time.”

Shen Yuanting: “I won’t do that.”

The two took a shower and went to the town for dinner.

Abroad, Yan Zhao simply didn’t wear a mask, enjoying the rare freedom.

They found a popular restaurant, and Yan Zhao looked at the menu to order.

Yan Zhao: “Use it or lose it, I can hardly recognize all the words.”

Shen Yuanting propped his chin: “I think your accent is quite good.”

Yan Zhao replied, “I learned it from a guy in London before.”

The dishes took a long time to serve, but fortunately, they tasted good.

Just as Yan Zhao and Shen Yuanting were about to leave after paying, they suddenly heard someone speak in Chinese: “Ah, Zhao Zhao!”

He turned his head, and a few girls were excitedly looking their way, gripping each other’s hands in excitement.