Empress's status, brothel-like behavior, I spit on her!
Yanlefang was unusually cold today. Zuihuayin sent all the guests and disciples away and closed the doors tightly before returning to his room. Looking at the group of people gathered together, his head was throbbing. He was even angrier when he saw the "culprit" who had gathered them together still not saying a word.
“I say,” Zuihuayin rubbed her forehead, “what’s the point of gathering everyone here? You haven’t said a word since you arrived, and we’re all getting anxious just watching you.”
With a heavy sigh, Tianquan, hidden in the shadows, slowly turned around. "I'm troubled by my feelings for someone of the same sex."
"Pfft—" Kuanglan sprayed wine all over the floor, and Zuihuayin dodged away in disgust. "You'll have to clean the floor later!"
While everyone was stunned by this sudden bombshell, Sangengtian, standing nearby, spoke up and said bluntly, "This shouldn't be happening."
"Stop, stop, stop! What are you doing? This isn't what I said, it's what my brother told me." These words might have some credibility coming from someone else, but coming from Tianquan... Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, shrugged, and then looked at Tianquan with eyes that seemed to say, "Keep making things up, keep making things up." See if I believe you or not.
Tianquan: Slander! It's all slander!
Qingxi covered her face with her fan, preventing her smile from reaching Tianquan's eyes. "Who is that 'brother'? Do we know each other?"
Seeing that there were still people willing to believe him, Tianquan finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's a low-class person."
"..."
"Hey? Why aren't you saying anything?" Seriously, what's wrong with these people? They're all acting so calm!
Liyuan Guyun had already gathered around to play Dou Dizhu (a card game) at midnight. The first one, with a sweet smile, played his last few cards and exclaimed, "I won!" Then he turned to look at the stunned Tianquan and said, "He's a scoundrel. You know he's the most cunning person. Nine out of ten of his words are unbelievable. Maybe this is just another little prank he's playing on people. Only an honest and straightforward person like you would believe him."
"How could I not know that he's more cunning than a lotus root hole? But he said this behind people's backs."
Zuihuayin seized on the key point, "So how did you overhear what he said behind people's backs?"
"I, I..." Tianquan stammered for a long time, his face turning red with frustration, and he scratched his head anxiously. "Oh, I... I just heard it."
Qingxi: "But even if it's true, what are you so worried about? Shouldn't Jiuliu be the one who's worried? Could it be... that he likes you?"
Qingxi hit the nail on the head, and Tianquan's face flushed bright red, even the tips of his ears burned. He stammered, "What nonsense are you talking about! How could it be me!"
While wiping the floor, Kuanglan interjected without looking up, "That's hard to say. Jiuliu always has a smile on his face, but who knows what kind of bad ideas he has up his sleeve."
Zuihuayin rubbed her temples, feeling her head throb even more: "So, Tianquan, what exactly are you struggling with? Even if Jiuliu likes you, why don't you just reject him directly? Or—do you have some other idea?"
Tianquan remained silent for a long while, then finally sat down dejectedly and said in a low voice, "I don't think this is right..."
"How is it wrong?"
Tianquan said, "What could be wrong? We're both men!"
After hearing this, Sangengtian closed his eyes even tighter, not even playing a card. "How often do your disciples engage in same-sex relationships?"
"Hey you—" Tianquan suddenly stood up, but his voice was a little weak. The day before yesterday, he passed by the disciples' residence and clearly heard flirtatious sounds coming from inside. Curious, he peeked in and, good heavens, men and women, men and women, women and men—all sorts of things. After that day, he reflected for a long time—what exactly had led the disciples to this state?
Li Yuan blinked, then smiled meaningfully: "It's probably a feng shui problem with your base. Two!"
"Little Wang," Gu Yun calmly tossed out a card, "So what you care about is that you two are the same sex, not that you don't like him?"
Tianquan opened his mouth, but found himself speechless. He scratched his hair in frustration, and finally managed to stammer, "...I don't know."
Qingxi snapped her fan shut and said with a smile, "I don't know. If you don't know, let Jiuliu discuss it with you personally."
"How could this be—"
Before Tianquan could finish speaking, a nonchalant voice rang out from the window, followed by a beam of light falling into the dimly lit room—the window had been opened.
The clanging of the bell was quite noisy. A person dressed in what looked like a tattered green rag hung upside down from the roof, peeking their head into the room, a small mouse hanging from their forehead ribbon. Jiu Liu waved and smiled sweetly, "Hello everyone. What a coincidence, everyone's here."
"A nobody?!" Tianquan exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
The ninth-rate guy, who had been called out, used the momentum to flip over and land steadily on the ground. He put the rat clinging to his head into his pocket and said, "Me? I came to see Brother Kuanglan."
Kuanglan finally finished wiping the floor, straightened up, and looked completely bewildered: "Looking for me? What do you want?"
With a smile, Jiu Liu pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, shook it, and said, "Brother Kuang Lan, shouldn't you pay up for the three jars of 'Tears of Parting' that you lost to me in the bet last time?"
Kuang Lan's expression changed, and he immediately waved his hand: "Bullshit! When have I ever gambled with you on drinking?!"
Jiuliu feigned surprise and widened his eyes: "Oh dear, how can Brother Kuanglan renege on his debt? It's all in black and white, and there's even your fingerprint on it!" As he spoke, he unfolded the paper in front of everyone.
Zuihuayin leaned closer to take a look, her lips twitching: "...Kuanglan, you even dared to sign a bet like 'if you lose, you have to wear women's clothes and dance the Hu Xuan dance'?"
Kuanglan: "???" He snatched the note, took a closer look, and immediately flew into a rage: "You bastard! You tricked me again! This handprint was clearly made by you when I was drunk!"
Jiuliu blinked innocently: "But you did press it. And this handprint really is yours, Brother Kuanglan."
Enraged, Kuanglan rolled up his sleeves, ready to punch someone, but Jiuliu nimbly hid behind Tianquan, peeking out half his head and grinning, "Brother Tianquan, help!"
Tianquan froze at Kuanglan's sudden closeness, instinctively raising his hand to block him, stammering, "Kuang...Kuanglan, never mind, he...he was just joking."
Kuanglan glared: "Tianquan! Why are you still protecting him?!"
Tianquan's ears burned, and he forced himself to say, "I... I wasn't protecting him! It's just... it's just that you shouldn't fight indoors, the floor at Zuihuayin was just mopped..."
Zuihuayin: "...When did I mop the floor?"
Jiuliu peeked out from behind Tianquan and made a face at Kuanglan: "That's right, that's right, it was my brother Kuanglan who cleaned the floor, it would be such a waste to break it."
Kuanglan: "..."
Everyone was struggling to suppress their laughter when the wicked rat slowly emerged from behind Tianquan and pleaded with Kuanglan, "Good brother, I can do without the wine, but this dance..."
Kuanglan roared, "Get out!"
"Sigh." Jiu Liu shook his head with feigned regret and shrugged. "Alright, it seems we can't reach an agreement. Good brother, I won't watch the dance, just give me the wine." As he spoke, he walked towards the window. Seeing that the man's foot was about to step onto the windowsill again, Zui Hua Yin felt a pang of heartache. "Wait! Why do you insist on going through the window when there's a main entrance? What's wrong with you?"
"Oh, okay." Jiu Liu is really strange today, so easy to talk to! Sure enough, he listened to Zui Hua Yin's words and went downstairs through the main entrance.
And then... and that was it.
Even after the person in green disappeared into the bustling crowd, everyone gathered at Yanlefang was still in shock.
"You just left like that?"
"What exactly is he here for? He's just here to inform Kuanglan that you lost the bet."
Li Yuan expressed his doubts about Jiu Liu's behavior, but Qing Xi smiled calmly, as if he understood something. Gu Yun cast a divination on the spot, and after calculating the result, he turned his attention to Tian Quan.
"He's unhappy."
"What's bothering him?" Tianquan asked. The words "Good brother" that Jiuliu had shouted to Kuanglan before leaving were still ringing in his ears, and he felt inexplicably annoyed by them.
At midnight: "Your mind is in turmoil."
Tianquan: "It's hot here."
Zuihuayin: "Can you please stop wearing your fur coat in this sweltering heat?"
Tianquan: "..."
Gu Yun put away the divination slip and shook his head, saying, "I don't know the specific reason, but I can deduce that he's unhappy because of—you."
"Me?" Tianquan was even more confused. Shouldn't he be the one who was unhappy?
As it turns out, it was indeed the lower class who were unhappy.
In the past, Tianquan would get up early and go for a run with his buddies. One morning, a green breeze would suddenly appear, and in the blink of an eye, a small mouse would be hanging on the knot of his bath towel, with a freshly picked flower in its mouth.
After the morning run, Tianquan returned the mouse to the person who had been waiting at the camp for a long time.
The man chuckled as he took the mouse. "Brother Tianquan, thank goodness you brought it back. I was just worried I couldn't find it." This is what it means to lie without thinking, day or night.
Actually, Tianquan really wanted to say, "You're putting on a worried expression," but what came out of his mouth was, "Is this rat yours or mine? It always runs off to my place whenever it disappears."
Jiuliu teased the mouse, feeding it a plump silkworm pupa. "It likes you, it loves playing with you." He said this to the mouse, but his eyes were on Tianquan.
Sometimes Tianquan really couldn't understand how this cunning and mischievous guy could have such beautiful eyes. Just by looking at you, you could easily believe what he said.
Tianquan blushed, much to his embarrassment.
"Brother Tianquan, what's wrong? Your face is so red."
"Hot."
"I came here without eating because I was looking for it. Can I stay and have a meal?" What's the connection between this and Tianquan blushing?
Tianquan couldn't refuse and responded. The bells all over Jiuliu's body jingled with every step he took, attracting the attention of his fellow diners.
"That's awesome, bro!"
Jiuliu chuckled, sat down next to Tianquan, and enjoyed a delicious meal. Afterwards, he smiled sweetly, "Good brother, how can you be so kind!"
Thinking of this, Tianquan unconsciously curled the corners of his mouth. But that morning, there was no wild green wind blowing around him, no cute little mouse or the flower it brought was tied on his towel, and when he returned to the camp, no one was standing at the gate with a smile on their face waiting for him.
For several days in a row, no one from the Nine Streams appeared.
Because of this incident, Tianquan became absent-minded.
"Has something happened to him?" Tianquan couldn't sit still at the thought of Jiuliu possibly having all sorts of scars and bloodstains on his body. He got up to leave, but was stopped by Sangengtian.
Zuihuayin: "He's cunning and mischievous, who can do anything to him? But you..." She narrowed her eyes, her gaze scrutinizing him. Tianquan felt uncomfortable under her gaze and stiffened his neck, saying, "What about me?"
Zuihuayin sighed: "You've been so absent-minded lately that even your close friends have noticed. This morning, someone even asked me if you'd broken up with your boyfriend."
"Nonsense!" Tianquan suddenly stood up, his face flushed red. "I... I just..."
"But what?" Qingxi asked with a smile, fanning herself.
Tianquan stammered for a while, and finally sat back down in his chair in a deflated manner: "...I just feel a little strange."
"What's strange?"
"It's just..." Tianquan scratched his head in frustration, "Wasn't that guy usually pretty annoying? Why did he suddenly disappear and I feel so much worse..."
"You're missing him now?" Liyuan replied, her eyes crinkling with laughter.
Tianquan remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.
Just then, a familiar bell rang out from outside the window. Before anyone could react, a green figure vaulted in through the window and landed steadily on the ground.
"Oh, everyone's here?" Jiu Liu dusted off his clothes, his smile as irritating as ever.
Tianquan suddenly stood up, his lips moved, but he didn't say anything.
Jiuliu tilted his head and looked at him: "Brother Tianquan, you look so haggard after just a few days. Could it be that you've been missing me?"
"Bullshit!" Tianquan retorted instinctively, but his voice was clearly lacking in confidence.
Jiu Liu wasn't annoyed. He slowly pulled a small cloth bag from his pocket and said, "Here, this is for you."
Tianquan hesitated before taking it, and upon opening it, he found a packet of dried osmanthus flowers.
“I went to Jiangnan on business the other day and saw that the osmanthus flowers there were in full bloom, so I thought I’d bring some back for you to make tea,” Jiu Liu said, but his gaze drifted away unnaturally. “…I heard you like this.”
Tianquan froze, his fingers unconsciously stroking the cloth bag. The faint fragrance of osmanthus lingered around his nose, making him suddenly feel his eyes welling up with tears.
"You...disappeared for so many days just for this?"
Jiuliu shrugged: "It's just on the way, don't overthink it."
The room suddenly fell silent. Everyone looked at each other, and then, in unison, began to leave.
"I suddenly remembered I have something to do..."
"Oh right, my disciple is still waiting for me..."
"The moon looks just like the stars tonight..."
In the blink of an eye, only Tianquan and Jiuliu remained in the room.
The silence lasted for a long time before Tianquan finally spoke first: "...Thank you."
Jiuliu raised an eyebrow: "I accept Brother Tianquan's gratitude. But you asked me earlier, 'You disappeared for so many days just for this'... Brother Tianquan, were you worried about me?"
“…” Tianquan took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind. “After you left that day, Guyun said you were unhappy, and the reason was me.”
"Oh?" How strange, even this shameless person can choke.
“Okay, I admit it.” Jiu Liu laughed. “I am indeed unhappy, and the reason is indeed you.”
Tianquan: "Why?"
Jiuliu leaned closer, and the distance between them suddenly closed until their noses almost touched. "It's clearly me who's causing you trouble, yet you'd rather ask for their advice than confront me directly; I like you so much, but in your heart I'm just a 'brother,' you don't like me... I've thought a lot these past few days in Jiangnan, and in the end, every thought has given me a headache. Good brother, what am I supposed to do with you?"
Tianquan was stunned, stammering, "I...when did I say I didn't like you?"
"So that means you like it?" Jiu Liu's eyes suddenly lit up.
"I didn't say that!" Tianquan jumped up and down in frustration, but then deflated, "...Okay, I did..."
Jiu Liu suddenly leaned closer, so close that Tian Quan could smell the faint scent of osmanthus on him: "What is it?"
Tianquan's ears turned bright red, and his voice was so soft it was almost inaudible: "...I really do like you."
Jiu Liu was stunned for a moment, then smiled so much that his eyes narrowed: "Why didn't you say so earlier? You made me go to all that trouble to pick osmanthus flowers for you."
"You!" Tianquan was both ashamed and angry. Just as he was about to lash out, he saw Jiuliu take out the familiar little mouse from his sleeve and gently place it in his palm.
“It says it misses you.” Jiu Liu’s voice suddenly became very soft. “…Me too.”
Tianquan looked at the little creature in his palm; it was rubbing against his fingers. When he looked up again, he noticed that Jiuliu's ear tips were also red.
“…Idiot.” Tianquan muttered under his breath, but couldn’t help laughing.
Outside the window, the eavesdroppers all sighed in unison.
Zuihuayin said, "Since we're already here, let's have a meal at Fanlou before we leave."
No one refused.
When she finished arranging everything and went upstairs to meet everyone in the private room, she saw that Jiu Liu had changed his clothes. His green rags had been replaced with a white and purple suit, and even his semi-permanent hairstyle had been changed.
Zuihua Yin's lips twitched: "What's this...?"
Jiuliu leaned close to Tianquan and said frankly, "With so many good-looking disciples, can't non-single people feel a little threatened?"
"..." In the three seconds that followed her gasp, Zui Huayin had already imagined a thousand ways for a low-class person to die. "To die as the legitimate wife while still maintaining the cunning and manners of a courtesan. Bah!"
A mouse said, "Just admit you're jealous of me."
Tianquan couldn't stand it anymore and knocked him on the head to make him behave.
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