Winning the male lead

A Day at the Drill Grounds.

After spending a day at the drill grounds, Zhao Xin was forced to open the door to a whole new world. Especially on the way back to the residence at night, when Le Tian sat in front of him on the horse, chattering about the matters between Sun Liu and Fang Dexin. He even asked him, “Brother-in-law, I understand that there’s a hierarchy between men, but I don’t understand the difference between them. Do you?”

Zhao Xin stiffened and squeezed out two words — “I don’t.”

Le Tian sneered, “You call me a child, but how much more do you actually know?”

Zhao Xin felt a headache coming on and said softly, “Such things between men violate the natural balance of yin and yang. Why would you even want to understand it?”

Le Tian replied casually, “To bear children for my brother-in-law.”

Zhao Xin felt himself growing numb from everything he had heard. From initially blushing with embarrassment, now he could endure it calmly — he even found it a little funny.

Seeing Zhao Xin staying silent, Le Tian continued, “Brother-in-law, would you prefer a boy or a girl?”

Zhao Xin lowered his head. In the night, Le Tian’s skin glowed pale and radiant — he was an extraordinarily beautiful youth. Zhao Xin, against his better judgment, said, “Either one would be fine, as long as they’re like you.”

Le Tian immediately responded, “Someone like you would be good too.”

Perhaps it was the gentle night, or perhaps it was that Yun Le Tian was unusually quiet tonight — Zhao Xin felt a surge of tenderness in his heart. He was already twenty-eight; apart from a broken engagement years ago with Yun Qianshuang, his emotional life had been barren ever since. Few had the chance to get close to him like Yun Le Tian did. Busy with military duties year after year, and with no elders at home to arrange his affairs, he had naturally missed out on many things.

Triggered by Yun Le Tian’s joking words, Zhao Xin suddenly had the thought: maybe it was time to settle down and start a family.

As he slowly rode his horse forward, he said in a low voice, “You’re about to come of age. It’s time to consider marriage. I heard from Madam Hou that you already have a fiancée.”

Le Tian immediately grew alert, glaring up at him. “You went to the Hou Residence?”

Zhao Xin nodded. Since he had taken away their only heir, it was natural for him to visit personally.

Without another word, Le Tian pinched his arm hard. Zhao Xin, not feeling any pain at all, was confused. “Why?”

“Did you meet Gao Danxuan?” Le Tian demanded.

The name was unfamiliar. Zhao Xin replied, “No.”

Le Tian visibly relaxed.

Zhao Xin continued, “But I did meet your cousin.”

Le Tian: “…”

Zhao Xin, noticing his face darken, added, “She’s Miss Gao, right? Madam Hou said she’s your betrothed.”

Le Tian grew more suspicious. “Don’t you think she looks like someone?”

“Who?” Zhao Xin asked.

Le Tian was nearly speechless. “My sister, of course!”

Zhao Xin felt a pang of guilt. To be honest, he could hardly remember what Yun Qianshuang looked like anymore — they had only met a few times years ago.

Seeing his silence, Le Tian thought he was avoiding the topic and warned, “Don’t go falling for her just because she looks like my sister. That would be an insult to her, understand?”

Zhao Xin smiled faintly. “She’s your fiancée. Why would I?”

Le Tian thought grimly: the system said you would, though I’m still skeptical.

As they spoke, they finally arrived at the general’s residence. When Zhao Xin lifted Le Tian down from the horse, Le Tian yawned widely, exhaustion written all over his face. Leaning against Zhao Xin’s shoulder, he mumbled, “Brother-in-law, I’m sleeping with you tonight.”

Zhao Xin opened his mouth but didn’t dare object, afraid that saying no would cause Le Tian to kick up a fuss at the gate. He could only coax, “Let’s take a bath first.”

After settling Le Tian in the bedroom, Zhao Xin quietly left, leaving everything to the servants. He instructed, “Be gentle. Don’t wake him.” If woken, Le Tian would surely cause a scene.

Back in his own room, Zhao Xin ordered a bath. However, he knew he wouldn’t use the bathwater now — it would just stir up unwanted thoughts.

The servants brought the tub. He undressed and sat in the warm water, closing his eyes to rest. The chaotic day at the training ground had truly exhausted him.

After soaking for a while, he heard the door open softly. Thinking it was a servant adding more hot water, he kept his eyes closed and said, “Just leave it there.”

But soon, he felt something strange. He opened his eyes — and saw Le Tian stripping his clothes.

“You—!” Zhao Xin was shocked. “What are you doing here!”

“Taking a bath,” Le Tian said nonchalantly, yawning again as he tossed his belt onto Zhao Xin’s dark blue robe and started to undress. Zhao Xin, still sitting in the tub, was at a complete loss, his face flushing red. “Go bathe in your own room!”

“No. Brother-in-law, don’t think you can ditch me,” Le Tian said as he slipped out of his last layer of clothing, forcing Zhao Xin to shut his eyes tightly.

The autumn air was cold; Le Tian quickly slid into the bath. The tub was small, and the two of them were squeezed together tightly. Zhao Xin sat rigid, eyes shut, feeling Le Tian’s smooth feet press against his own.

“Ahh, so warm,” Le Tian sighed in contentment, scooping up water and pouring it over his head. Turning to Zhao Xin with a smile, he said, “Brother-in-law, are you shy? We’ve bathed together before. Why are you closing your eyes?”

Zhao Xin kept his brows furrowed and jaw clenched, determined to ignore him.

Le Tian thought to himself: Such an honest man. Suffered once and doesn’t even think about a second time? Then he mischievously reached out and grabbed him.

Zhao Xin immediately opened his eyes, his face showing a rare helplessness. At this point, he didn’t even have the energy to get angry. “Le Tian… brother-in-law was wrong, I won’t ditch you. Will you come out now?”

“No,” Le Tian said as he continued lazily pouring water over himself. Steam curled around his beautiful profile, his long lashes dripping with water. He said slowly, “You coaxed me earlier; now you have to pay up.”

Zhao Xin had no words — he realized he was completely powerless against him.

“What do you want, then?” het compromised.

Le Tian’s eyes lit up. He leaned closer, his slim shoulders cutting through the water, his brilliant face tilting up at Zhao Xin. “Brother-in-law, I’ve grown up but never… touched myself before. I’ve heard people talk about it a lot. You know how, right? Teach me?”

Zhao Xin’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “No.”

Le Tian whined, “Brother-in-law, just teach me, please?” As he pleaded, his hand kept moving, making Zhao Xin tense up all over. Afraid Le Tian would be too rough and hurt himself, Zhao Xin finally relented with a sigh. “Let go first. Tomorrow, I’ll find you a beautiful maid to teach you.”

“A maid?” Le Tian sneered. “The maids aren’t even half as pretty as me.”

“I want you to teach me,” Le Tian said stubbornly, his face full of domineering will.

Zhao Xin was nearly at his breaking point. That day in the hot spring, he had already been on the verge of losing control. He had barely managed to forget it, and now Le Tian was using the same trick again. In truth, the moment Le Tian started undressing earlier, he should have stood up and left. But somehow, his mind had gone blank, and he stayed — and now it was too late.

“…Fine, I’ll teach you,” he finally gave in. In a low voice, he explained to Le Tian how to touch himself. Le Tian, however, used Zhao Xin as his practice dummy. His movements were clumsy, often too rough, making Zhao Xin wince in both pain and pleasure. Under Le Tian’s innocent caresses, Zhao Xin couldn’t help but tighten his grip on Le Tian’s smooth, delicate shoulders.

Le Tian hummed softly and turned his face sideways to lick the knot of Zhao Xin’s throat, and Zhao Xin’s entire body tensed up.

Finally, Zhao Xin released, the bath tub immediately became muddy, Le Tian raised his hand to him, “Brother-in-law, did I learn well?”

Zhao Xin, however, turned pale and immediately pulled his legs out of the bath tub, put on a long shirt, and turned back to fish out Le Tian as well.

“Brother-in-law!” Le Tian exclaimed in shock, being wrapped in a thin shirt by Zhao Xin and thrown directly onto the couch.

Zhao Xin’s eyes looked like he wanted to eat someone, “Who taught you that!”

Oops, honest men aren’t stupid, Zhao Xin could see that he was doing it on purpose, Le Tian calmly said, “Is there still a need to teach this? What man wouldn’t know this?”

Zhao Xin was furious, he just really believed Le Tian’s bullshit, after the end of the brain suddenly awake before and after thinking about it to realize that it is not right.

Le Tian smiled and said: “Brother-in-law, don’t turn the other cheek, men having fun with each other is a common thing, don’t have to react so much, right?”

“Common thing?” Zhao Xin’s anger was intense, he stepped forward and sullenly said: “No wonder you favored Sun Liu and Fang Dexin, how long have you been like this, with whom? Last time you said Ge Chengyu molested you, was it you who teased him first?”

Le Tian’s expression turned cold. He flung off his thin robe, stood on the bed, and gave Zhao Xin a resounding slap across the face.
“Bullshit! Is That trash Ge Chengyu even worthy of looking at me?! Zhao Xin, have I been too nice to you? Do you really think you’re someone important now? Yes, I like men—so what? You can beat me with the army cane if you want! Or better yet, just kill me!”

Zhao Xin, stunned by both the slap and the barrage of words, turned his face, ready to lash out—but what he saw made him freeze. Yun Le Tian’s beautiful face was streaked with tears. His eyes were filled with fury as he glared at him. When he saw Zhao Xin looking at him, he wiped his tears violently.
“What are you looking at? Never seen a man who likes men before?!”

Zhao Xin’s chest rose and fell heavily before he spoke in a deep voice,
“You’re the last descendant of the Hou family…”

“None of your damn business!” Le Tian shouted through tears, growing more hysterical with each word.
“I’m fine with men, and I’m just as fine with women!” He finished with a yell, clearly forcing strength to cover his vulnerability.

Zhao Xin felt a mess of emotions. Yun Le Tian had gone down a path so far off course that he hadn’t even imagined it. He didn’t know why he had turned out this way. The old Marquis had once shown him great kindness, even betrothing his daughter to him, a match Zhao Xin had failed to protect. Now with the Hou family left only with Le Tian—was he to fail again?

“All right,” Zhao Xin calmed himself, “We’ll discuss this tomorrow. You’re soaked. Get up and dry yourself.”

“I’m not drying off!” Le Tian snapped and then, in a full tantrum, rolled his wet body all over Zhao Xin’s bed. He raised his eyebrows defiantly, “Hit me, then!”

Instead, Zhao Xin suddenly became very calm. Without a word, he fetched a dry towel and approached to wipe him down. Le Tian twisted away,
“Don’t touch me! Disgusting!”

“But you didn’t seem to mind in the bath earlier, when you were clinging to me,” Zhao Xin said in a low voice.

Le Tian turned his face and glared at him, “You insulted me—saying I was flirting with Ge Chengyu. I hate you! Get out!”

Zhao Xin took a deep breath. “It was my mistake. Your brother-in-law apologizes.”

“Oh yeah? Then get me off, and I’ll forgive you.” Le Tian spread his legs without shame—he was still clearly aroused.

It was the first time Zhao Xin had seen another man’s private parts, and strangely, his first reaction wasn’t disgust.

His throat felt dry.

“Stop messing around…” he said, reaching to grab Le Tian’s foot. Le Tian tried to kick him, snapping,
“Fine, if you won’t do it, go call one of your palace guards! I saw a few handsome ones today—that Zhao Yuancheng wasn’t bad. Have him come!”

Zhao Xin held onto Le Tian’s foot tightly, his expression dark,
“Yuancheng is already married. Don’t start with this nonsense.”

“Then find someone unmarried! Or just send me back to the Hou estate! All the retainers there are big, strong men…” Le Tian’s words were cut off by a sudden groan as Zhao Xin clutched him harder. Tearful, he gasped,
“Brother-in-law, are you trying to kill me…?”

Only then did Zhao Xin realize what it felt like to hold someone hostage. Gritting his teeth, he growled,
“You want my help? Fine. I’ll help you!”