Free Song of the Spring Moon Waning by E. E. Ottoman

first wife had only daughters, no matter what they did or how hard they prayed. So he took a second wife, but she had only daughters too.
    "Out of desperation, my father took one of his daughters and made her his only son. He hired the best tutors for him and made his life about studying for the examinations. He was the youngest person ever to pass at the local level, the second youngest to enter the district examinations. He passed and ranked highly in all of them, including ranking first in the provincial exam."
    It seemed strange to say the last bit; these days it was hard for him to remember that he was a first-placed scholar, especially here in the capital where he was simply one more student studying for the Palace Examination. "And always," he said softly, "the family safeguarded their secret. That their son had been born a girl."
    Going silent, Wen Yu waited, wary and watchful for Liu Yi's reaction.
    Liu Yi watched him for a long moment. "And what about you?" he asked finally, tone carefully neutral, expression guarded in a way that made Wen Yu's hands shake and sweat bead along his spine. "What do you think of this secret?"
    Wen Yu shrugged. To him, this was the least complicated part of the entire matter. "I am my father's only son," he said. "I have always been. I always will be."
    Liu Yi licked his lips again. "All right." He leaned forward to brush his fingers against Wen Yu's face, who scarcely managed not to flinch away in shock.
    "What?"
    "It doesn't really change anything," Liu Yi said. "You are still the man I want." His eyes narrowed slightly. "Or did you think I would hold your body against you? Because of what may be between your legs?" Liu Yi gave a sharp bitter laugh. "How could I? Besides, you are obviously well-balanced in wu and wen."
    "I … I don't know," Wen Yu fumbled. He hadn't thought past the sick dread of Liu Yi's disgust to consider that he might react positively. "I don't know that I thought anything at all."
    Liu Yi smiled then. "I don't hold it against you. It would be hardly my place to do so, me being in no position to dictate what makes a man."
    "I suppose not." Wen Yu leaned into Liu Yi's touches, feeling lightheaded and a little like he was floating.
    He had told someone his father's secret, and the world had not stopped turning. More than that, Liu Yi had not flinched away from him, still wanted him. Relief and hope hit him harder than the anxiety had, and he leaned his head against Liu Yi's shoulder.
    More than being disqualified from taking the examination, barred from scholarship and disgraced, he'd feared that if he told anyone they would see him as his father saw him. His father saw him as a girl in hiding, the shameful price he'd had to pay for not having a 'real' son. Wen Yu had been so afraid that anyone he told would not see it as he saw it—that he was a man and always had been.
    "Are you going to finish translating the poems?" Liu Yi carded his fingers through Wen Yu's hair where it was escaping from his topknot. "Or are you just going to take me to bed now?"
    It was so temping. Wen Yu still felt shaky and slightly ill with nerves from their conversation. The fear was starting to recede, replaced with a growing sense of relief, but he still felt as if he'd run miles without pause. As beautiful as Liu Yi was, Wen Yu didn't think he could get aroused or be intimate with anyone right now. He didn't know how to tell Liu Yi that, though. Glancing around them, his eyes fell on the writing desk.
    Scholarship was familiar, safe.
    "No, I need to finish translating those poems." Wen Yu made to push himself up.
    "I could make an argument that you need to take me to bed," Liu Yi said, and when Wen Yu looked back at him, he was smiling.
    "If we did that before I was done with the translation, then I wouldn't be able to concentrate. It's the scholar's curse."
    "I could find ways to make you concentrate."
    Wen Yu blushed, and Liu Yi grinned but didn't stop him as he got to his feet and