THINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE if Jiang Yexue hadn't said anything, but as soon he spoke up, Yue Chenqing turned furious, as if he'd been jabbed in a tender spot in his heart. "As if!" he yelled. "My fourth uncle is super good to me! I'd revere him no matter how he treats me! It's not your place to comment!"
"That's not what I meant..." Faced with the sight of Yue Chenqing fuming with anger, Jiang Yexue found himself at a loss. "I just..."
"Just what! If we hadn't bumped into you, Fourth Uncle wouldn't have left! He promised to teach me how to choose spirit stones today! This is your fault! You made him leave!" Consumed by his animosity toward Jiang Yexue, Yue Chenqing turned away with his arms crossed as soon as he finished yelling, unwilling to even look at him.
Jiang Yexue, clearly wounded by this treatment, summoned a forced smile and did his best to smooth things over. "You've already started to learn the grades of spirit stones?"
"Hmph!"
"This is very difficult to master and requires careful guidance. If you want, I can..."
Yue Chenqing pouted. "No, you can't. I don't want you teaching me at all. You're nothing compared to my fourth uncle!"
Jiang Yexue fell silent and lowered his eyes. After a while, he said, "You're right, I really can't compare with Chuyi..."
"Hmph!"
"My apologies," Jiang Yexue replied quietly.
Yue Chenging wasn't a cruel person; his words were thoughtlessly blurted out of anger. After venting his emotions, he became somewhat calmer, and, upon hearing the note of tearful despondence in Jiang Yexue's voice, felt that he had probably spoken too harshly. He glanced furtively at Jiang Yexue, but his eyes quickly darted away in distaste.
At this strained moment, the shopkeeper returned from the inner room with two bottles of pine oil. The Yue Clan were important customers for this general goods store, so he didn't even hand the oil to Jiang Yexue before he rushed to greet Yue Chenqing with a greasy smile. "Oh, an honored guest, young Yue-gongzi! Come, please take a seat. Yue Manor's orders arrived quite a while ago. Please wait—I'll call someone to get them for you right away—"
This was the perfect excuse for Yue Chenqing to turn his back on Jiang Yexue. He walked up to the counter, produced a sheet of paper from within his robes, and cleared his throat. "We need to add these items to the list too. My papa and fourth uncle always need them, so deliver them with the rest, okay?"
"All righty, all righty." The shopkeeper loved it when customers added items at the last minute. He took the paper and perused it with a smile. Suddenly, his smile froze.
Yue Chenqing was leaning comfortably over the counter, propped up on his elbows. "What is it? Are you out of stock again?"
"Er "
"How come you're always out of stock?" Yue Chengqing asked, somewhat irked. "Fourth Uncle thinks I'm useless whenever I can't get everything he asked for. He was pretty displeased last time, and if it's the same again today, then he'll..." Yue Chenqing's hair stood on end at the very thought. He shuddered. "I'd better go to a different shop."
The shopkeeper instantly grew anxious. "Ah, no!" he cried. "Young gongzi, you've misunderstood—a few of the items need to be checked over in inventory, that's all. Please take a seat. All the items you requested will be ready shortly." He turned and called behind him, "A-Du, come here."
The shop assistant diligently scurried forward. The shopkeeper pulled him into a back room and whispered something in his ear. By the time the shopkeeper emerged again, he had a warm and friendly smile on his face once more.
"Young Yue-gongzi, please come with me to the rear courtyard to take a look at the goods. If you're satisfied with everything, I'll load the carriage and deliver it all to the manor as soon as possible."
Yue Chenqing seized the opportunity to get away from Jiang Yexue and followed the shopkeeper without another word. His silhouette disappeared behind the curtain.
It would not be appropriate for Mo Xi to comment on other people's family matters, so he said nothing. Jiang Yexue cast his eyes down to the floor, his thin, frail frame cutting an unremarkable figure in the corner where he stood. He strove to appear unbothered, but the dejection and embarrassment on his face were not easily hidden.
After the shopkeeper left with Yue Chenqing, his assistant A-Du emerged from the inner hall holding two bottles of oil. He handed them to Jiang Yexue. "Begging your pardon for the wait, Qingxu Elder. Here are the two jugs of tung oil. Please take care."
Jiang Yexue blinked in surprise. "What?"
"The two jugs of tung oil that you requested. Take care."
"But I asked for pine oil..."
The expression of supposed shock on A-Du's face was clumsy as could be. "Is—is that so?" he stammered. He was probably unused to lying, and flushed red halfway through his sentence. "The shopkeeper clearly said 'tung oil'—could I have misheard?"
Jiang Yexue was still perplexed. "Then I'll have to trouble you to exchange it."
A-Du winced. "Ah...you want pine oil? Our pine oil is all sold out today. How about you come another—"
The assistant was interrupted by a deep, cold voice. "How many times do you want him to make the trip on those legs of his?" It was Mo Xi, emerging from behind the other two men and levelling a harsh look at the assistant.
"X-Xihe-jun..."
Mo Xi's gaze was incisive as he asked in frigid tones, "Was it that you misheard, or was it that Yue Manor just so happened to need pine oil as well, so you sold it to them instead?"
The assistant didn't dare lie to Mo Xi, so his face only flushed redder as he tried to stall.
By this time Jiang Yexue had realized what was going on. He sighed softly and said to Mo Xi, "It doesn't matter. My shop isn't too far from here anyway... I'll yield to Chenging so he doesn't have to run all over the place. It's too cold out and coming here isn't easy for him. And I know Chuyi's temper..."
Gu Mang's eyes flitted back and forth as he watched this conversation from the sidelines. He reached up to touch the slave collar on his neck, perhaps recalling that Jiang Yexue was a kind person who had given him his necklace. He ducked out of the room and darted into the garden without warning. Before anyone could stop him, he had pulled Yue Chenqing back into the shop.
Yue Chenqing's small face was bright red from being dragged in by Gu Mang by the collar of his fur coat. "What are you doing!" he sputtered. "You little turtle, let go of me!"
Gu Mang didn't release Yue Chenqing until he had hauled him all the way over to Jiang Yexue. "What are you doing..." Yue Chenqing whined, massaging his neck.
"Want—pine oil," Gu Mang parroted.
"You want pine oil?"
Gu Mang pointed at the embarrassed Jiang Yexue. "He does. I don't."
Yue Chenqing couldn't help but look at Jiang Yexue, but almost immediately tore his gaze away again. "No, that's what my fourth uncle wants..." he grumbled.
Gu Mang said, "He was here first."
Yue Chenqing fell silent.
"Clients who come first are served first."
The shopkeeper had also rushed back into the room and was rendered helpless upon witnessing this scene. He smiled sheepishly, unsure of what to say. Yue Chenqing had finally gotten the gist of the situation. Being a reasonable person, he quickly turned to the shopkeeper, wide-eyed. "Shopkeeper, surely you couldn't have promised to sell the pine oil to him, then gone back on your word because you didn't want me to leave?"
"I-I didn't," the shopkeeper blurted out. "I just misheard..."
Yue Chenqing saw the shopkeeper panicking and saw what had happened clearly. "And now you're lying about it!" he cried, enraged. "You big bad dog!"
Jiang Yexue didn't like to cause trouble. He shook his head. "It's no problem—I'm not in a rush. Yue... Young Yue-gongzi, keep the oil. I'll be taking my leave."
He leaned on his cane and lowered his head as he slowly made his way to the exit. After witnessing the man's repeated humiliations, Yue Chenqing stood rooted to the spot for a long interval, wearing an expression of blank discontent. When Jiang Yexue reached the door, his conscience could finally bear no more. He shouted, "Hey!"
The instant Yue Chenqing opened his mouth, he regretted it. Damn it —his papa, his uncle, and his fourth uncle all disliked this person; if they knew that Yue Chenqing had spoken to him, they might skin him alive. But Jiang Yexue had already stopped in his tracks. Yue Chenqing had no choice but to brace himself and press on. "Er...you... Why do you... want the pine oil?"
"To make some talismans."
"Oh..." Yue Chenqing cocked his head. His curiosity got the better of him and he asked, hesitant, "Um, when Li Qingqian was causing trouble... was it you who gave those Talismans of Indestructibility to the poor...?"
Jiang Yexue said nothing. Embarrassed, Yue Chenqing shot him another glance. Finally, Jiang Yexue sighed. "It's cold out—you shouldn't be running all over the city. Get your shopping done and go home. Don't make your fourth uncle angry again." With that, he lifted the entrance curtain and walked out, leaving Yue Chenqing standing in a daze.
Yue Chenging caught Mo Xi's eye and mumbled, confused and hurt, "Xihe-jun, I..."
These were the matters of the Yue Clan. Mo Xi only shook his head in silence and followed Jiang Yexue out of the shop.
They accompanied Jiang Yexue back to the forge. It was dusk when they parted ways. As they made their way home, Gu Mang suddenly asked, "Mo Xi—that Jiang Yexue, why did he let White Bird have the oil?"
"White Bird?"
"That guy who—called me a little turtle."
With a start, Mo Xi realized that Gu Mang was referring to Yue Chenqing, who had been wearing a thick white coat with a fur collar—Gu Mang must have thought he looked like a white bird. He explained, "Because Jiang Yexue is his dage."
"If you're a dage, you have to let other people take your things?"
Mo Xi was silent for a spell. "No. Those other two people were important to him, so he let them have their way."
"Just like that shixiong who let you eat roast goose?"
Mo Xi felt his heart thump. It took him a moment to respond. "You think that shixiong thought I was important?"
Gu Mang thought it over. "Roast goose is tasty. He gave it to you. You are important."
Mo Xi cast him a strange look and paused for a second before responding. "Do you think the person who gave you the brocade pouch is important?"
Gu Mang responded instantly. "Yes."
Mo Xi's face immediately darkened and he snapped, "Maybe you think he's important, but who's to say if he feels the same? I've sheltered you for this long, but I've yet to see anyone else in the capital show any concern for you."
Gu Mang hung his head and fell silent.
Mo Xi had been hurt, so he retaliated by striking back at the person who had hurt him. "You just made it up in your head—you're so easily satisfied by a single brocade pouch. If that person really thought you were important, he would come looking for you. You've been in jeopardy so many times. He should have come to your rescue. Did he?"
"No," Gu Mang replied dully.
"So he didn't, yet you're still convinced he's important?"
"Mn...he's important."
Mo Xi looked at him for a moment. Then he sneered with a hint of resentment, "Fascinating. Which honored hero is he? Why don't you introduce him to me?"
This time, Gu Mang desolately shook his head. He lowered his lashes and didn't argue, looking somewhat wounded.
The dispute had disheartened them both, so neither spoke as they walked along side by side. Only when they neared the city center did Mo Xi finally speak to Gu Mang again. "Put your hood up. There are too many eyes and ears here."
Gu Mang obeyed.
While they walked, Mo Xi still felt annoyance as he ruminated on Gu Mang's words. He stopped to buy a cup of cold tea when they passed a tea stall and stepped aside to drink it.
Gradually, the whispering that had surrounded them as they walked grew louder.
"Aiya, look, it's Xihe-jun..."
"My husband, waaaahhhh!"
"No way! Clearly he's my husband!"
This was the imperial capital. Though the city teemed with glittering nobles and Mo Xi himself was no hermit, the maidens passing by still couldn't resist sneaking look after look as soon as they caught sight of him. Mo Xi was very fetching, his lips especially so. Although they were thin, their shape was sensual, and their color was the perfect hue to inspire in any bystander an involuntary urge to kiss them. Unfortunately, despite being born with such alluring, kissable lips, he had a gaze as cold as permafrost and looked at everyone with an expression of impatience, a perfect picture of asceticism.
Nevertheless, he couldn't extinguish the maidens' covetous looks. On top of that, a certain idea had begun to spread throughout Chonghua at some point. Everyone said Xihe-jun seemed so coldly aloof and arrogant, but if you looked at his broad shoulders, slender waist, and long legs, and the ruthless dominance he exuded when his temper exploded... My, my— you could imagine the kind of all-consuming ecstasy he could fuck someone into.
Take, for example, the crowd of beautiful ladies that had congregated on the second floor of a brothel on this street. Their clients only visited at night, so they lazed around during the day. Presently, they happened to be eating snacks and chatting on the balcony. Upon catching sight of Mo Xi, they descended into a flurry of whispers.
"I'm telling you, this man wouldn't be at all refined in bed," the brothel madam mused aloud as she spat melon seeds and waved a round gauze fan.
The maidens surrounding her all burst into giggles. One girl piped up, "Mother, you don't know what you're talking about. Xihe-jun maintains abstinence and never goes to brothels. How would you know what he's like in bed?"
"Hush. You all are too young—you haven't seen enough of the world. I may not be good at much, but I've got one hell of an eye for men." She pointed a sly finger at her girls and joked, "If you ever got the opportunity to sleep with him, I'm afraid he'd take a few decades off your life."
Considering this, those hedonistic girls laughed all the more merrily. "Mother, I'd love nothing more than for him to wreck me."
"You say that now." The madam rolled her eyes, waving her fan toward Mo Xi's distant silhouette. "Look at his legs, his shoulders and back, his waist—do you think he's anything like the weak and sickly Wangshu- jun? If you really took him to bed, he'd fuck you until you couldn't catch enough breath to cry!"
"Heh, that's still better than weaklings who finish in two strokes."
Their words grew more obscene as they continued. Their faces were lovely as flowers, and this juxtaposition with their coarse language created an indescribable sense of tragedy. They all knew that good men would not be sleeping in their beds. All the sincere and tender sentiments held in their hearts could only be offered to the old, the ugly, or the callous men who came to call. In the end, those men's wives would hate them, and the daughters of pristine families would disdain them. Even as they laughed, their words slowly faltered. One of the girls watching Mo Xi from afar let out a soft sigh. She said nothing more, and her sisters around her all gradually lapsed into silence.
Among the handsome men of the world, those too open with their affections weren't tempting enough, and those too reserved weren't alluring enough. However, men like Mo Xi—who were clearly possessed of fiery tempers and passions yet remained honorable and proper, cool and composed—were precisely the type that girls yearned for.
But to whom did his heart belong?
"I really envy Princess Mengze," a songstress murmured, hiding her mouth behind a fan.
"In all of Chonghua, who doesn t envy Princess Mengze?" replied another girl. "A good birthright is what it is. Forget everyone else who likes her—I hear Xihe-jun will marry no other. He's just waiting for her health to improve, and then he'll take her as his wife. Aiya, it truly makes me jealous as hell."
"Hey, wait a second, who else likes her? Tell us, tell us."
"All those noble young masters do. Jinyun-jun, Fengya-jun, Wangshu-jun..."
"Pfft. No way Wangshu-jun does. He only loves himself."
"I heard that Gu Mang used to like her too."
"That's nonsense for sure. Gu Mang liked everyone, and never stayed long with anyone."
At the mention of those old stories about Gu Mang, the women grew excited, and a vivaciously pretty girl spoke up. "On that subject, Mother, I've heard it said that Gu Mang was quite fond of you, back when you were with the army."
The girls all started giggling again. Their madam used to be one of the top courtesans in Chonghua. Brash and stubborn, she had earned the nickname Huajiao'er, "Little Peppercorn." At present, she was only in her early thirties, and her furious gaze was still quite piquant. "Making fun of me again? Why bring me into it?" she snapped.
"C'mon, I'm just curious. Mother, why don't you teach us your tricks?"
"That's right. If not for Mother's skill, General Gu wouldn't have been interested."
The madam rolled her eyes. "Gu Mang? Forget about him. He was a fickle lout who'd have a new girl on his arm every few days—who wants to talk about him?" She paused. "If he hadn't fallen out with His Imperial Majesty and turned traitor—if he were still that glorious, renowned General Gu—I bet he would've had his fun with each of you in turn." After a moment's thought, she added derisively, "What a playboy."
None of these women knew that the playboy she spoke of was the hooded man standing obediently at Mo Xi's side. As Gu Mang watched Mo Xi drink his third bowl of cold tea, he piped up. "Are you going to have more?"
Mo Xi gave him a frigid look. "What do you want?"
"It's night. Dinner time," said Gu Mang.
This man had become quite demanding. Mo Xi was still upset. "Go ask your honorable pouch-giver."
"I'm asking you," Gu Mang insisted stubbornly.
Mo Xi had finally reached his breaking point. He fumed, "Do you think I'm your slave, to be called forth and sent back as you please?"
Unexpectedly, Gu Mang pointed to himself. "I am the slave. You are the lord."
Silence.
"But you aren't my lord," Gu Mang continued, some confusion appearing on his face. "Jiang Yexue said the back of the collar had to be carved with your name, but you said it didn't. Why?"
Mo Xi clenched his jaw. "Because I don't want you."
Gu Mang was dazed for a moment. He looked perplexed as he repeated, "You don't want me. No one else wants me either. No one wants Gu Mang... So nobody wants Gu Mang?"
"That's right," Mo Xi replied. He didn't understand. He was clearly the one saying hurtful and insulting things to Gu Mang, yet the one who felt worse and worse was himself. He returned the teacup to the stall owner. "No one wants you. Let's go."
"Where are we going?"
"Aren't you hungry?" Mo Xi grumpily said. "I'm taking you out to eat."