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Chapter Text

Gu Mang felt like a tiger trapped in a cage as he paced back and forth in his quarters. How had things gone so wrong? He had discovered the emperor had planted a mind control poison into his beloved princess, he lured Mo Xi to Dongting Lake, and stabbed his beloved in the heart. The look of anguish and betrayal was still fresh in his mind as he wrote his report to the emperor; he had to keep up appearances on two fronts after all. 

He was able to get the poison out of his beloved shidi when he took him into the secret room and removed the curse. Gu Mang almost had his princess into the safety and protection of Mengze when that dreaded guoshi spotted them.

“Ah, General Gu, you’ve exceeded my expectations. Capturing Xihe-Jun is quite the feat,” the guoshi said, his eyes scanning over Mo Xi’s unconscious form in a way that made Gu Mang want to pull his princess close to him and rip the guoshi’s eyes out. However, there was too much to lose if he acted rashly, so he had to continue the charade and figure out a way to get his shidi back to Chonghua. He needed to get Mo Xi into the protection of Mengze, where he would be safe from the emperor.

“Of course, it seemed advantageous to snatch one of the most esteemed generals in all of Chonghua,” Gu Mang said, hoping it would be convincing enough for the guoshi to allow him to leave with Mo Xi, and perhaps be able to figure out a way to reconvene with Princess Mengze.

“Indeed it is, and it deserves a reward to Liao’s finest general. I’ll have the banquet hall set up this evening and one of the servants will fetch you when things are ready. In the meantime, I’ll make sure Xihe-Jun is properly taken care of,” the guoshi said, taking Mo Xi from Gu Mang’s arms. It took every bit of self-control Gu Mang had to not rip out the guoshi’s throat and escape with Mo Xi.

“As you command, guoshi,” Gu Mang said to the guoshi’s retreating back, fighting the feelings of worry and fear for his shidi being in the hands of that man. ‘Princess, I’ll figure out a way to get you out of here,’ he thought as he made his way back to the decks to get them back to the Liao Kingdom.

It was well into the night when a knock echoed through Gu Mang’s quarters, snapping him out of writing his latest missive to the emperor. As he answered the door, he was greeted by a young man dressed in the colors of the Liao Kingdom with a blank expression on his face.

“General Gu, the banquet has been prepared for you. Please follow me,” he said, turning on his heels.

“Wait, I should change,” Gu Mang said, looking down at his inner light blue robes, but the servant stopped him.

“The guoshi insists that you come as you are; this one is to take you to the banquet hall immediately,” the servant said, a flash of fear coming into his eyes, which Gu Mang had seen in many since he infiltrated the kingdom.

“Very well, lead the way,” he said, walking a few steps behind the servant down the long halls of the main palace. Before long, Gu Mang found himself in front of the ornate doors of the main banquet hall, the servant opening the door for him. “Please step inside,” the servant said. Gu Mang walked inside the dimly lit room, the door being slammed.

Gu Mang turned to pull at the door, but it was locked shut. Gu Mang tried to think of a way out, but the haze of the incense was making him feel a bit dizzy, and he heard an alarmingly familiar moan coming from behind him. Turning around, Gu Mang was greeted with the sight of his beautiful shidi tied in red rope, a veil covering the lower half of his face, his chest framed with golden chains and exposed to Gu Mang’s hungry gaze, and a gauzy red skirt riding low on those slender hips. The one feature that caught Gu Mang’s eye was a tattoo on his lower abdomen, stark red against his shidi’s pale flesh.

His brain worked to figure out where he had seen it before, but the sounds of Mo Xi stirring, his arms struggling against his bonds, distracted him. Gu Mang crawled onto the makeshift bed and started working on loosening the ropes. “It’s alright shidi, I’ll get you out of here,” Gu Mang murmured, trying to avoid Mo Xi’s gaze.

As soon as the rope fell from Mo Xi’s arms, Gu Mang found himself pinned against the bed, his beautiful princess perched in his lap as his hands began opening the front of Gu Mang’s inner robes.

“S-shidi what are you..?”

“Shixiong, was it really easy?” Mo Xi asked, his eyes roaming over his face. “Was it easy to leave me behind?”

If Mo Xi had stabbed him in retaliation, it wouldn’t hurt nearly as much as hearing those words coming from his princess. He knew leaving would hurt Mo Xi, but he had a bright future for Xihe-Jun, and with that, he would meet a nice noble girl to settle down with, Gu Mang being nothing but a faint memory.

Yet now, sprawled beneath the man who haunted his heart since he left Chonghua, he began to realize just how deeply he hurt the one person he loved with everything he had. Mo Xi’s dark eyes burned, swirling with anger, sorrow, and lust, which made Gu Mang want nothing more than to ease those feelings.

“Did I mean so little to you that you could walk away from Chonghua? From me? Tell me shixiong, if it had been Lu Zhanxing in front of you, would you have plunged that dagger into his heart?” Mo Xi asked, his voice trembling and his hand firm, grabbing Gu Mang’s and placing it right on the scar that his very own hand left. He tried to pull away, but his stubborn princess’s grip held him tightly.

“Shidi, Princess, I…” before he could say what he wished, a pair of firm lips, shielded by a veil, crashed into his, and all thoughts were wiped from his mind. Though they kissed countless times with equal amounts of passion, there was an edge of desperation to it now, like Mo Xi was worried if he stopped touching Gu Mang that he would vanish.

It was getting harder for Gu Mang to stop Mo Xi so he could regroup as those sinfully soft lips trailed down his neck, those long slender fingers reaching into his trousers and pulling out his aching hard cock. A moan that escaped his lips was immediately swallowed by Mo Xi’s lips, who at some point had torn off his veil so there was no barrier between them.

Gu Mang entangled his fingers in Mo Xi’s hair as he continued to kiss him, giving into the maelstrom of feelings he kept buried. He had been traveling down this dark, blood-soaked path for so long that he had given up feeling his beloved shidi’s body so intimately like this. 

Mo Xi slipped out of that gauzy skirt, and was hovering over Gu Mang, his hand still having a firm grip on his cock. Gu Mang let out a sharp intake of breath as the head of his cock pressed into Mo Xi’s entrance, some clarity coming as he felt a wetness that was familiar to Gu Mang.

Days after his body had been tempered by faewolf blood while on a mission from the Liao kingdom, he had come in contact with a poison with an aphrodisiac property and found that his body functioned differently. He was surprised when he slipped his fingers inside himself for relief to find no oil was needed. Before he could say anything to Mo Xi, he found himself buried to the hilt in his princess, and his mind went white with pleasure.

His body began to move purely on instinct, as if Mo Xi’s body was one with Gu Mang’s, as if there weren't years and betrayal between them, as if Mo Xi still held love in his heart for Gu Mang, as if Gu Mang’s hands weren’t stained with the blood of their brothers in arms. It was so easy for Gu Mang to lose himself in the warmth of his shidi, which was both familiar and unfamiliar all at once.

Before long, Gu Mang managed to roll them over.He looked down at those glossy, starry black eyes as he thrust into his princess, the punched-out moans ringing in his ear. As he took in the sight of Mo Xi beneath him, he noticed a faint glow of the array tattooed on his lower abdomen.  Something in his mind was screaming at him to stop, that if they didn’t stop soon, something bad would happen. 

Gu Mang was on the precipice of figuring out why, yet it all faded at the feeling of his shidi’s body clenching around him, the sticky feeling splashing between them, and Gu Mang cumming deep inside Mo Xi, biting into his shoulder to muffle his cry of pleasure. As the two of them drifted off to sleep, neither of them noticed the faint fluttering of a new qi signature forming within Mo Xi.

Chapter Text

 Gu Mang couldn’t remember when he’d last slept so peacefully; perhaps he never had. It was so hard to wake up in the midst of echoes of his shidi's moans, the feeling of his pliable flesh beneath Gu Mang’s fingers, and the warmth that clenched around Gu Mang’s cock that was still buried inside his princess. Now that the light filled the chamber, Gu Mang was able to fully look at his beautiful shidi, and felt his heart ache seeing the scar from his blade on his chest, the bite from their lovemaking. The mark that he had spotted the other night on Mo Xi’s lower abdomen now in the light of day caused Gu Mang’s already aching heart to break. ‘No, anything, but that’ he thought, his fingers brushing against the array as he pulled out of his beloved. 

He had read about it in the archives of the Liao Kingdom. It was said that Hua Po’An had created it in a fit of madness when the one he cherished slipped through his fingers. The one thing that was for certain was anyone with this array tattooed on their skin regardless of gender would be able to conceive a child. The possibility of his princess carrying their child caused a storm of emotions to rage inside him. He felt sick that he’d succumbed to the aphrodisiacs, and had taken  his shidi like the beast he was often accused of being, but he also couldn’t stop the possessive joy that it was HIM that had impregnated his princess, a physical tie to the one he loved so desperately. Yet something still bothered him.

He was concerned about WHY the guoshi had done this? Over his time here, Gu Mang was aware of the true power that was the guoshi, and no matter how much Gu Mang watched him and interacted with him, he couldn’t get a good read on the man. He had once tried to find the guoshi’s chambers, but the illusion arrays set up were very sophisticated. Gu Mang had only been able to figure out a quarter of the configurations, and now the guarantee of a child with Mo Xi was a reality meant he had to speed up his plans.

 A small part of Gu Mang hoped his princess would keep their child, that they could run away together. He could picture himself taking care of his princess and their child with Mo Xi’s beautiful features, and with Gu Mang’s dark eyes staring back at him. It was a lovely dream, but the reality of the situation pulled him from that beautiful dream. They were stuck in the Liao kingdom, and he had no idea how his shidi would react to being with his child. He needed to accept that at best he would be dead despite what the wish in his heart wanted.

‘I can’t be selfish. I need to get Mo Xi out of here, and under Princess Mengze’s protection. It’s not too late to make sure my princess has the life he deserves. This shixiong will make sure of it,’ he thought, his fingers stroking Mo Xi’s pale cheek. As Mo Xi began to stir, Gu Mang removed his hand as if it burned. 

“S-Shixiong?” Mo Xi whispered, his eyes beginning to widen as he saw his state of undress, and wincing as he moved his lower half VERY carefully. The angry, red mark of the stab wound stood out vibrantly against Mo Xi’s pale skin, dark circles were under his starry black eyes, and the lingering, sickly sweet smell of the aphrodisiac and medicine still lingered around him.

Gu Mang dug his nails into his palms to keep himself from rushing over to Mo Xi’s side, and taking care of him as he often did when they were still brothers in arms. No, for his plan to work, he had to harden himself even as his instincts yelled at him that this was HIS mate who needed to be taken care of.

“You still call me that after all that I’ve done” Gu Mang said, his voice cold and hollow as he kept his back turned from Mo Xi. Hearing the sharp intake of breath felt like rubbing salt into the gaping wound in his heart that remained open since the day he left Chonghua, since the day he left his princess behind.

“W-What happened? I thought I…” Mo Xi looked down, seeing the stab wound still fresh on his chest, and a tattoo array on his lower abdomen.

“Died? No such luck shidi, you’re now the prisoner of the Liao kingdom, and under my custody” Gu Mang said coldly, noticing the flinch Mo Xi gave as he moved. Whether it was from the pain, or Gu Mang’s coldness, he could not tell. When he saw the guoshi slip in, he knew what he had to do.

“Just keep close, and your head down” he said, his voice icy as the guoshi slipped into his chambers. He snatched his robe from the side of the bed, and wrapped it around Mo Xi. He’d gone through so much already that Gu Mang could at the very least guard his modesty from others.

“General Gu, it seems you enjoyed my generous gift last night” the guoshi said, his eyes wandering over Mo Xi who shot the other man a glare with red rimmed eyes. Gu Mang could feel the discomfort radiating from his shidi. The urge to whisk him away from the guoshi screamed within him, but he had to be smart if he wanted a chance for his princess to have the life he deserved.

“I do need to check your prize’s qi to make sure your seed took, General Gu, I’m sure you understand that,” the guoshi said, moving closer to Mo Xi caused Gu Mang to step between them, his eyes flashing and a growl escaping from his throat.

The guoshi simply chuckled, and stepped back with a bemused expression on his face. “My, what a very interesting reaction, General Gu.”

“My apologies guoshi, it was my faewolf instincts. I’m still getting used to it when they flare up,” Gu Mang said, a polite smile on his face as he bowed his head to the guoshi.

“It is an interesting development, but make sure to keep them in check for tonight. The emperor is holding an actual banquet in your honor, and your new bride is to be your escort. I’ll have the proper attire for your prize for this evening,” the guoshi said, “though before you can attend, I must insist, if you won’t let me check Xihe Jun’s qi, then you should do it.”

Gu Mang turned to face Mo Xi, the confusion apparent on his face as Gu Mang took his wrist in his hands, and fed a gentle string of qi into his wrist. Mo Xi was about to ask what he was doing when he gasped at the feeling of a flutter of qi in his lower abdomen that felt familiar yet different from his own.

“It took, guoshi, General Mo is with child” Gu Mang said, seeming to be numb to the shell-shocked expression on Mo Xi’s face. The guoshi looked pleased with the news and turned to leave the two alone with the news of Mo Xi’s condition heavy in the air.

Gu Mang turned to his shidi who was still in Gu Mang’s outer robes, his face lightly flushed and his eyes rimmed red from the tears gathered in them.

“Did you know? Did you know from the start, Gu Mang!?” Mo Xi yelled, his eyes glaring at him as he tried to get up, gritting his teeth through the pain.

“Yes, we’re both affected by aphrodisiac, and had we not copulated, both of our lives would have been forfeit,” Gu Mang said, “I didn’t ask for this present, but now I will have to, won’t I? Especially since you’re bearing my child.”

“Gu Mang” Mo Xi’s voice softly said, full of confusion. He had been so sure he had died on that ship, the last thing seeing the cold eyes of Gu Mang as he plunged the dagger deep into his chest. Now he’d come to find not only had he survived, but he was captive in the Liao kingdom as some sort of war prize for his shixiong, but what had him reeling was he was apparently with Gu Mang’s child. It was like his deepest dreams and nightmares had blended together, and it made him feel offkilter with the one person who in the past would have been a source of comfort, an anchor in this turbulent storm not even willing to look at him.

“Someone will be here to get you dressed for the banquet, if you’ll excuse me, I have duties to attend,” Gu Mang, quickly standing up and heading towards the door, headed to the library in his wing so he may contact Mengze. Time was of the essence, and he vowed not to waste a single second.

Gu Mang felt a headache brewing as he heard shouting from his chambers after he returned from a meeting with his fellow generals. When he entered the room, it was in disarray with two of the serving girls in near tears.

“Forgive us General Gu, your bride is refusing to let us dress him in his robes” one of the girls sobbed, gesturing over to Mo Xi who was still in Gu Mang’s inner robe, his hair a mess and his eyes wild with anger.

“Go, I’ll handle this” Gu Mang said, dismissing the two girls before walking over to Mo Xi, “Now princess, if you insist on acting like a bratty child, then this shixiong will have no choice but to dress you like one.” 

Mo Xi took a sharp intake of breath at Gu Mang’s word and let the other man approach him. Gu Mang’s fingers began to make short work of his robes, and he began to dress him in silence, hoping that his shidi couldn’t hear the hammering of his heart as his fingers lightly grazed his skin. Mo Xi struggled, but having not eaten or drank anything, he was feeling weak. But he still put up a struggle.

“Princess, either you let me dress you, or you go like this” Gu Mang said, his eyes scanning down Mo Xi’s bare form which finally got him to cooperate and let him get dressed.

Gu Mang’s breath felt like it was ripped from his lungs violently when saw his shidi completely dressed. Mo Xi dressed in translucent red robes that left little to the imagination, long slits on the side exposing the long pale legs of his princess that all of Chonghua seemed enamored by that were framed with gold anklets along with bracelets adorning his wrists.. His face was covered by the same red veil from their first night in the Liao kingdom. Gu Mang could still feel the ghost of the feeling of the material on his lips.

Stiffly, Gu Mang walked to the banquet hall with his shidi in tow, Mo Xi’s head and eyes downcast which made Gu Mang’s heart ache. He NEVER wanted to see his shidi looking so sad and distraught. He deserved to hold his head high and proud as one of the most decorated war heroes of Chonghua, beloved by the people, and if it was the last thing he ever did, Gu Mang would make sure that would happen.

When they entered the banquet hall, all eyes fell on them, but many were sliding hungrily over the form of his princess. Every time he was greeted, he made sure he kept his hand on Mo Xi’s wrist to keep others from approaching, and to keep his princess close. Yet for all his careful watching, and planning, they were separated when Gu Mang was pulled away to speak to the guoshi and emperor.

As soon as he was able to get away from the conversation, he looked everywhere for Mo Xi until he saw him curled into himself, his knees to his chest and his sharp eyes assessing the room. Gu Mang could hear the whispers from the nobles and soldiers in attendance.

“Who is that beauty who came with General Gu?”

“I hear that’s Xihe-Jun, one of the most esteemed generals of Conghua.”

“What a shame they had him on a battlefield and not in a brothel. Isn’t he quite the calamitous beauty?”

“It looks like General Gu will be making proper use of him.”

“Do you think he’ll share?”

Gu Mang felt a sharp feeling of anger when he noticed one of the top generals of the Liao Kingdom approach Mo Xi. 

“It’s a shame a beauty like yourself was gifted to the Beast,” the drunken general said, sitting next to Mo Xi who turned his glare onto the other man, who seemed to either not notice or care for the cold stare. “I’m sure he won’t mind if I have a taste.”

As the man reached out to touch Mo Xi, the array on his neck flared bright red and a flash of swords and spiritual energy burst around him, small cuts slicing into the skin of the general who was flat on the floor from his foolish mistake. Several of the guards tried to approach Mo Xi, but ended up with several shallow cuts and being knocked away from him.

Gu Mang didn’t think twice about moving towards his princess, the swords, as soon as they brushed against them, turning into glimmering feathers that fell around the two of them.  Mo Xi’s gaze turned towards Gu Mang, his eyes softening slightly which Gu Mang couldn’t help, but he felt proud that he was the only one who could read the micro expressions on Mo Xi’s face.

Gu Mang knelt on the seat next to Mo Xi, his hand clamping on one of Mo Xi’s ankles and pulling him underneath him. Gu Mang looked down at him, looking like a predator having pinned down his prey. Mo Xi was about to either say something or let out a gasp when Gu Mang placed his fingers against his shidi’s soft lips. 

For a moment, it seemed like it was only the two of them in the room. Mo Xi found himself getting lost in his shixiong’s intense gaze. Was it wishful thinking, or did Gu Mang’s gaze soften when his fingers touched against his lips? Once it seemed Mo Xi had slightly calmed under Gu Mang’s touch, he turned to glare at the Liao kingdom soldiers, the spell of familiarity and tenderness between them broken.

“This is why I marked my bride. I can’t have him being sullied by you lot,” Gu Mang growled, his eyes flashing as the hand on Mo Xi’s ankle tightened slightly, “Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re retiring for the evening.” With a casual show of strength, he scooped Mo Xi into his arms and with a cold expression fixed on his face he carried his princess out of the banquet hall. Mo Xi’s heart thudded wildly in his chest as he was lifted into Gu Mang’s strong arms. The last time he had been carried like this they had passed a joint exercise at the academy. At the time Gu Mang had almost dropped Mo Xi, but now he lifted him with an ease that caused a warmth to grow in Mo Xi’s belly.

Once he finally got them both into his chambers he set Mo Xi on the bed. The sick feeling that had been waxing and waning since he’d woken up this morning came back in full force. Even though the sword array they both carried kept him safe, it would only be a matter of time until Gu Mang's vigilance would fail, and his princess would be harmed. 'Even if I need to betray the emperor, I'll keep you safe' he thought, gently setting Mo Xi on his bed. “Sleep here for tonight, I’ll be elsewhere for the night” Gu Mang said, his hand reaching out to touch Mo Xi’s cheek before stopping mid air, and pulling away, “Don’t leave these chambers unless I’m with you.”

“I don’t need your protection! It’s not like you hold any care for me!” Mo Xi snapped out, those eyes that moments before in the hall were softly gazing at him now appeared to be cold, filled with anger and hurt. Gu Mang tried to ignore how his heart was splintering in his chest at being looked at by the man he loved.

“Mo Xi, do as I say and stay put. I’ll be back in the morning!” With that final word to Mo Xi, he turned on his heels and headed to his study, sitting at his desk to write furiously to two people who could help save the man he loved.  At the same time, Mo Xi pulled the covers close and let several tears fall from his eyes now that he was alone. He was trapped in this horror story with the horror wearing his beloved’s face.