Chapter 70: Encounter on the Painted Boat – Brothers’ Dispute + Prince Yong and the General’s Male Competition +…
The Dating System had just stuck its neck out for him; the power of that explosive thunder strike far surpassed the time at the bandit stronghold on Mount Luo.
Once Tiantong over-released the atmosphere booster, it would fall into a long period of dormancy.
Currently, the war situation was tense, and it was exactly the time when people were needed.
Ying Xi had to keep it operating normally. No one knew if he would die should the Dating System shut down? The task had to be done.
System Prompt: Warning, warning, please recharge promptly!!!
Please praise and reward Yong Wang (0/1)
Tiantong’s voice was as weak as a thread: “Bi… xia…”
“Lower the bows and arrows,” Ying Xi said.
The soldiers were greatly alarmed; no one knew what was going on.
However, the Emperor’s indulgence of Yong Wang was known to everyone in Chang’an, and Yong Wang’s eccentric behavior and notorious reputation were also indisputable facts.
Even an honest official finds it hard to judge family matters; the soldiers could only stay their hands. The large ship lowered a rope, and Ying Xi boarded.
As soon as Ying Xi stepped onto the deck, the smell of alcohol inside the pleasure boat was even thicker than he imagined. Yong Wang, with hazy, drunken eyes, stumbled forward a few steps!
Beyond the railing was the water.
The current was turbulent; Ying Xi had no choice but to block the drunkard. But instead, the drunkard pinned his entire body against the railing! The hard edge dug unbearably from his back down to his lower waist!
On either side of his body were Ying Dang’s supporting arms. The stench of alcohol made him cough.
“Cough, cough, cough cough.”
Ying Xi raised his eyes to meet Yong Wang’s hazy phoenix eyes. Yong Wang’s pupils revealed a dangerous affection that could drown a person more easily than the river water.
Ying Xi’s heartstrings instantly tightened a fraction.
The Longwujun below the boat were simple-minded, merely assuming Yong Wang was drunk. Growing increasingly worried about the Emperor’s safety, they wanted to board the ship one after another.
Yong Wang, however, pressed Ying Xi tightly into the railing. The squeezing sensation felt as if their two bodies of flesh and bone were about to fuse together right then and there.
Holding this posture, Yong Wang pulled out that sharp short knife. Ying Xi’s brow furrowed slightly, but the blade tip bypassed his body, and Ying Dang severed the hemp rope.
The thick, heavy hemp rope fell into the small boat, and the soldiers looked at each other in sheer terror.
Ying Xi was in too much pain to breathe. His mind worked arduously; fearing Yong Wang would say something else that violated human relations, which he wouldn’t be able to clean up after him, and mindful of the Emperor’s dignity.
Taking advantage of the fact that the Longwujun hadn’t noticed anything too abnormal, Ying Xi ordered: “You all return to the camp first. Zhen and Yong Wang will return shortly after…”
The soldiers cried: “Bixia!!!”
An Imperial command is hard to defy. Ying Xi strengthened his tone, as he couldn’t control whether Ying Dang would do something in public: “Leave quickly!”
“Yes… obeying the decree.”
The small boats departed one after another, stirring up several ripples on the water’s surface.
Before the silhouettes of the boats completely vanished from sight.
Ying Dang looked down at Ying Xi. Against the backdrop of the vast river, the residual lantern light draped a layer of crimson over Ying Xi’s face.
His elder brother, worried about being seen by his subordinates, revealed a trace of panic, diluting his usual aloof isolation. Just closing the distance a tiny bit more than before was enough to move Yong Wang deeply.
Ying Dang pressed down and pulled Ying Xi into his embrace!
“Brother is so beautiful. From this angle right now, you are more beautiful than any time Dang’er has ever seen…”
“I frequently look for your replacements in brothels. Those courtesans fear me; Brother does not.”
“I make them adopt your postures, but none dare to. In bed, they only know how to beg and tremble.”
Infatuation made Ying Dang’s tone very slow. Despite the cover of the river water and wind, his debauched words were still clearly audible.
Ying Xi couldn’t bear to listen. His ears were continuously teased by the hot, alcohol-laced breath, and a wave of overwhelming, humiliating anger swept over him.
Ying Xi forcefully tilted his head back, but the distance didn’t widen; their bodies were pressed tightly together, and half his body was already leaning out over the boat!
“You… let go…”
Even though Ying Xi now knew that it was years of protection followed by a sudden, inexplicable coldness that caused Ying Dang to accumulate disappointment, ultimately developing a paranoid affection for him.
But he couldn’t reciprocate this feeling, and Dang’er had sunken deeply astray within it.
Tightly confined by Ying Dang’s arms, their lips brushed against each other. He fiercely bit down on Ying Dang, and a thick, metallic tang of blood suddenly spread along his lips.
Yong Wang was abruptly stung by the pain for an instant. He froze, a bit of blood appearing on his lips. Reflected in the red lanterns beside the boat, Ying Dang’s face revealed a bizarre, demonic allure, yet his drunkenness had not faded.
That deep, textured voice became frenzied because of his brother’s aggressive response.
He attempted to press against Ying Xi’s soft lips once more.
But every time he made contact, it was with his brother’s canine teeth, filling him with an instinctive sense of disappointment and frustration, until his own lips were dripping with fresh blood!
Yet he deliberately used his bloody lips to rub against Ying Xi, adding smears of his own blood-red hue to his brother’s jade-like face.
Ying Dang gazed at the blood-stained Ying Xi, his own eyes also brimming with blood and the deep red of the lanterns.
“Brother, oh Brother…”
This time, Yong Wang had traveled down to Jiangnan to verify whether there was an ulterior motive behind the events in Fangzhi Dian.
But ever since fleeing Chang’an, the closer he got to Guangling Commandery, the more he thought about the deaths of his parents, and Ying Dang suffered immense torment.
On the other hand, there was a hidden sense of shame. If the truth was that his brother indeed had unspoken difficulties, then what had he been taking revenge for all these years?
Adding to his brother’s troubles, making his brother angry… making the person he cared about most suffer.
So he drank as he traveled all along the way.
The alcohol completely paralyzed Ying Dang, making him even more crazed and chaotic than usual.
His pitch suddenly rose a few degrees, his fingertips tightening, almost embedding into Ying Xi’s skin. The pain caused both of them to tremble all over.
Ying Xi once again felt that the other party wanted to forcibly merge the two of them into one using external force. He couldn’t speak; the breath in his lungs was nearly squeezed dry.
“I occasionally doubt whether I am a biological son. Brother, I don’t look like you, and I don’t look like Royal Father or Royal Mother.”
“If I am not their child, not the seed of the Yongning Prince Manor, and I have no relation to anyone, then would I… not have to suffer like I do now?”
“Dad is dead, Mom is gone, Brother betrayed Dad and Mom, Brother doesn’t want me anymore. I am the only one left in the world; the universe is vast, and there is only me!!!”
Ying Dang seemed to be smiling yet crying, his voice echoing over the river, both mournful and bitter.
Yet the corners of his mouth and eyes were always turned upward, forming an indescribably bizarre expression.
At this moment, Ying Xi wasn’t just hurting physically. His heart felt as though it were being sliced by a knife.
Coming to Chang’an ten years ago changed far more than just himself.
There was also his younger brother.
The two of them escaped imprisonment, but one became full of scheming calculations, and the other strayed onto the wrong path!
Thinking of this, how could Ying Xi not feel guilty toward Yong Wang?
“But Brother doesn’t want me, and I still want my older brother. I did so much, just for you to look at me, older brother.”
“I want you, I will always want you, older brother.”
Yong Wang suddenly turned ruthless!
Before him was still Ying Xi, but Ying Xi was like an obsession that must be firmly grasped, causing two words to repeatedly echo in Yong Wang’s mind: older brother, grab hold, grab hold, older brother…
He wanted to merge with Ying Xi endlessly, scooping Ying Xi up to press tightly against him.
The scalding threat caused Ying Xi’s entire body to instantly pull taut!
Such a trembling reaction drove Ying Dang even madder, making him want to treat what came next as a ritual to confirm his ownership.
Ying Xi foresaw that things were about to spiral completely out of control.
Gritting his teeth, Ying Xi delivered a kick at a tricky angle right into Ying Dang’s nether regions!
The other recoiled in pain, opening up some distance.
Just as he barely steadied himself, Ying Xi used all his strength to slap Ying Dang viciously across the face!
Smack!
Even the sound of the river water wasn’t as loud as that slap.
It slapped Ying Dang—a martial artist—so hard his head twisted to the side, a stream of fresh blood slowly trickling from the corner of his mouth.
The Emperor rubbed his numb, aching palm and said sternly: “If I had known you would bring us such ‘honor’ in the future, I should have rewarded you with a slap every single day when you were little!”
“Stop letting your imagination run wild. You are the legitimate second son of the Yongning Prince Manor.”
“You are a man, and I am also a man. As the only surviving descendants of the Yongning Prince Manor, committing incest between brothers—if you can do it, Zhen would rather die than submit. Our parents in the netherworld cannot afford to lose this much face!”
“Take back those thoughts you shouldn’t have! Either take a knife and stab Zhen, or stop pointing your thing at Zhen!”
System Task: Praise and reward Yong Wang (1/1)
System functions are now partially restored. Currently in low power mode; please continue to recharge.
The system couldn’t distinguish between sarcasm and praise, so the task was judged as completed. Tiantong fell into a deep sleep.
This slap delivered an elder brother’s majesty, and Ying Dang sobered up by two or three fractions.
Ying Dang stared at Ying Xi, as if wanting to see this person clearly once again, seemingly unable to comprehend how the solemn and elegant Ying Xi could utter words just now that were so full of blunt sharpness.
Ying Dang touched his cheek: “Mom and Dad… you just said, you just said our Mom and Dad… Brother, you still acknowledge our Mom and Dad, right? We are still the closest of family, right?”
Yong Wang pressed his questions in a daze.
For ten years, he hadn’t heard those two words from Ying Xi’s mouth again.
Now that Emperor Yuantai was dead and Yingzi had left Chang’an, there would no longer be any existence in this world threatening the brothers’ lives.
Ying Xi frankly admitted: “Zhen is the legitimate eldest son of the Yongning Prince. If there is a chance, Zhen will formally acknowledge our ancestry and move our parents into the imperial mausoleum.”
“Ha, haha, hahaha…”
As soon as his voice fell, Ying Dang suddenly burst into loud laughter. The laughter filled the river surface, and the entire painted boat swayed continuously with his movements.
The Emperor’s promise fueled Ying Dang’s heart with joy, temporarily halting his paranoia.
As if suddenly finding his lost older brother, Ying Dang once again possessed an intact, flawless family.
His hands pressed heavily on Ying Xi’s shoulders, forcing Ying Xi to meet his gaze. His eyes reflected the lantern light, his expression intensely excited!
From his palms up to his arms, he seemed entirely out of control.
Amidst that excitement, there was also a desolate sense of anxiety over gains and losses.
Ying Dang said sorrowfully: “Brother…”
— “Brother!!!”
Ying Xi was enveloped in Yong Wang’s arms.
Called by that voice, his own emotions were likewise completely blown open.
Ying Xi wanted to comfort his younger brother who had suffered for years. He took the initiative to reach out his hand, but Yong Wang had already pushed his luck and buried his face into the crook of his neck.
Yong Wang had barely calmed down slightly. His nose, pressed up against him, sniffed carefully at Ying Xi’s body, but before long, his brow furrowed, because he smelled a bitter scent on Ying Xi that didn’t belong to him.
That scent filled Yong Wang with discomfort!
Yong Wang vigilantly raised his eyes, his gaze looking ready to pierce through Ying Xi.
It was as if no matter how joyful he was just a moment ago, having dropped almost all his defenses, Ying Xi had just dumped a basin of cold water over his head.
The feeling of being deceived slowly rose until it coiled around his entire heart!
Gritting his teeth, he stared at the surface of the cloak illuminated by the residual lantern light, carefully scrutinizing the garment. Silver threads subtly embroidered a qilin pattern.
The qilin was majestic, the sheen exceedingly bright, stinging the eyeballs with pain.
That cloak draped all the way down to Ying Xi’s ankles, wrapping Ying Xi heavily, only sparing enough to reveal Ying Xi’s slender, exquisite face. Although the sash at the top of the cloak had been loosened by him during their intimacy, one could still imagine how securely it had been tied originally.
The clothes were not his brother’s.
Yet, as if declaring sovereignty, it completely covered his brother, soaking his brother in a scent that belonged to him—Xie Qianli’s clothes.
The trust that had just been established collapsed and disintegrated in an instant.
Yong Wang’s hand resting on Ying Xi’s shoulder tightly gripped that fabric.
The creaking sound of flesh and bone grinding together set one’s teeth on edge.
He suddenly recalled Fangzhi Dian, how he had climbed the wall to peek at his brother many times. The person who led his brother outside, the person who played with his brother, the person who could make his brother wait at the door—they were all this person.
His brother had deceived him…
Ying Dang erupted with a chest full of resentment, possessiveness driving him hysterical.
In that moment, he wanted to drag his brother into the water and die together; he suppressed the urge to perish together.
That gorgeous voice completely lost its original timbre: “Both being men, it is impossible to pledge love. Incest between brothers violates the Heavenly Dao.”
“Brother would rather be stabbed to death by a knife than be touched by me.”
“But that man surnamed Xie is a man! He is a subject! And he’s the Dog Emperor’s nephew! Brother finds pleasure with the son of an enemy, even keeping your chastity for him, while fiercely beating me, your closest kin.”
“Between him and us, who is Brother closer to? What do your younger brother and parents count for?”
Ying Dang actually offered the knife to Ying Xi.
The tip of the knife resting against himself, Yong Wang gripped Ying Xi’s hand and faintly pierced his own chest: “If Brother loathes me, then stab me to death. Cut open my chest, eat my flesh and blood, let me become a part of Brother’s body, engraved in your mind, and stay with Brother forever from then on…”
He was doing it for real.
Ying Xi’s heart was deeply shaken as a sticky, hot stream trickled down his fingertips.
Ying Xi couldn’t pull his fingers away!
He never expected that this cloak on his body would shatter the recently eased situation and trigger Ying Dang’s baseless paranoia and misunderstanding.
This jealousy had absolutely no foundation.
Whenever he got a little close to a man, Ju’er would overreact.
Ying Xi forcefully pulled the knife backward: “Stop your nonsense and put down the knife. Zhen and Minister Xie are entirely innocent; he has never harbored such intentions.”
However, Yong Wang laughed wildly, seeming entirely oblivious to the pain: “I’ve seen him from childhood to adulthood—his entire body harbors exactly this intention! It’s always been this intention!”
“Bixia—”
“Bixia…”
“Following the military orders of the Yingguo Gong, we have come to receive Bixia once again. Bixia—”
On the flower boat, the two brothers were locked in a stalemate.
In the evening night, those small boats that had disappeared just now had surprisingly expanded in scale and were returning toward the pleasure boat.
The Longwujun called out from afar on their boats.
The booming voices temporarily diverted Ying Xi and Yong Wang’s attention, causing Ying Xi’s suspended heart to drop for a brief moment: It must be that Ju’er failed to find Yingzi, contacted the fleet, and upon hearing that he was detained by Dang’er, rushed over to save the Emperor once again.
Ying Xi subtly breathed a sigh of relief.
But suddenly, his body was lifted into the air!
It turned out that upon hearing those three words “Yingguo Gong”, Yong Wang’s complexion changed several times. He scooped Ying Xi under his arm and leaped straight off the painted boat!
Recommended Reads
![[ABO] President Shou Is Not a Total Shou](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/the-shou-is-not-a-total-shou-214x300.jpg)
![The League’s Hei Yueguang Has Fought His Way Back [E-sports]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/hei-214x300.jpg)
