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Xingliu will always remember the moment that changed his fate.
No! It wasn't that person, not the one he met who remained in his heart, but Mo Yan, his bodyguard, his friend.
It was a rather cold day, and the sky was so gloomy it was almost unpleasant, at least for Xingliu.
He walked slowly by himself at the annual government-run human market, as if he needed to mentally prepare himself for a long time before taking a single step.
'In this kind of weather, I should stay home and sleep. Why did I have to come here? Sigh…' After walking about twenty steps, Xingliu couldn't help but start complaining.
He wouldn't have bothered his legs if he wasn't curious about what was new in the market.
So, lazy people like Xingliu decided to just stand still and look around.
The venue was huge, at least large enough that Xingliu wouldn't want to walk the whole way.
There were many people waiting to be sold into slavery. Men, women, and children were all handcuffed and shackled. The other end of a short iron chain was locked to the wall so that interested people could watch and decide who to bid on later.
The hazy sky suited their mood perfectly, along with the starlight.
The person who caught Xingliu's attention was only three steps away, a mere three steps.
So whenever anyone asked about it later, they would say that Xingliu was too lazy to walk and that's why he fell for Moyan, but Xingliu insisted that it was fate.
The thin boy with rare silver hair, who was curled up against the corner of the wall with his head down, was named Mo Yan.
"What's your name?" Xingliu asked, bending slightly as she took three quick, delicate steps, too lazy even to squat down!
Mo Yan, covered in dirt, glanced at Xing Liu but ignored him.
"Want something to eat?" Xingliu wasn't discouraged and took out a pine nut pastry from his pocket and handed it to Moyan.
This time, Mo Yan did not respond, which seemed to imply that he would not accept charity.
"That's true. Eating only pine nut pastries will make you thirsty. I brought some warming wine to go with it!" Xingliu's interest was piqued by the young man in front of him, and he took out a small jade bottle from his pocket and handed it to Moyan.
This time, Moyan reacted, her gaze fixed on the bottle, yet she hesitated to reach out and take it.
Xingliu was smart enough not to rush things, and without minding getting dirty, she turned around and sat down next to Moyan.
Of course, after Mo Yan got to know Xing Liu's personality better, he realized that it wasn't that Xing Liu didn't dislike him, but that he was just lazy.
So Xingliu would rather sit on the wet ground than expend the effort of standing.
"What's your name?" Xingliu asked again, a beautiful smile blooming on her delicate, heart-shaped face. "Moyan."
After saying just two words, Mo Yan snatched the jade bottle and drank it all in one gulp.
"Is the wine good?" Xingliu looked at Moyan, tilted his head and smiled slightly, his eyes darting around as if he were plotting something.
Mo Yan didn't answer, tilting his head back and tilting the jade bottle upside down, trying to lick the last drop of wine. "How about I buy you? Let's be friends." Xing Liu asked, but Mo Yan had no choice.
As he spoke, Xingliu laughed heartily, his head tilted in an innocent manner, but his dark, deep eyes betrayed his deep scheming.
Although Mo Yan's appearance was completely unexpected by Xing Liu and almost disrupted his plans.
"Buy me and you'll be my master. I don't accept fake sympathy."
Despite the gaunt face caused by his imprisonment, Mo Yan was still pleasing to the eye. His blue eyes stared directly at Xing Liu, filled with unwavering determination.
"I only said we'd be friends, not that I'd give you back. We're friends in name only, but in reality, we're still master and servant." Xingliu said with a smile, speaking words that Moyan didn't quite understand.
On his beautiful face, two cute little fangs seemed to stick out, like a mischievous devil.
Mo Yan frowned slightly, as if asking Xing Liu what he was talking about.
'If your master says one thing, you can't say another; if your master wants you to act as a friend, you have to act as a friend.'
Although her words were a little hurtful, Xingliu's adorable tilt of her head and sweet tone made people smile, as if they were embracing a child who deserved to be loved.
But Mo Yan was indeed Mo Yan; he ignored Xing Liu, lowered his head, and returned to his original posture.
However, he still held onto the small jade bottle in his hand... There was something he wanted to say to Xingliu but didn't: you have to be able to buy it.
As it turns out, Xingliu rarely fails to get what he wants, and Moyan is no exception.
As evening approached, Xingliu, with Moyan's indenture in his arms, and Moyan, who was playing the role of a friend, were having dinner at an inn not far from the human market.
Do you know who will be the final performer tomorrow?
After slowly finishing half a bowl of rice to stop his hunger, Xingliu said in his uniquely lazy tone.
Moyan continued to live up to his name—silent and taciturn.
The government-run human market lasted for three days. The highlight of the first day was a famous courtesan, and the highlight of the second day was Mo Yan, the son of a general.
Mo Yan is pleasing to the eye and has excellent martial arts skills, so his price is very high, but that doesn't stump Xing Liu. However, the grand finale on the third day really gave Xing Liu a headache.
"Tomorrow's grand finale, I hear, is the male concubines kept for the emperor. Since the emperor has returned to his hometown, the new emperor, disliking accepting old things, simply sold them to replenish the national treasury, so they wouldn't be an eyesore."
Xingliu adapted well to Moyan's quietness and continued talking on and on.
"I heard he was incredibly beautiful, comparable to the Four Beauties of ancient China. People weren't allowed to see his face in the marketplace; only a portrait existed." Xingliu laughed again as he said this.
Mo Yan still did not respond, only glancing at Xing Liu when she finished her first bowl of rice and was getting a second.
"What do you think? Is it pretty?" Xingliu said, bringing her face close to Moyan's, her beautiful eyes sparkling.
Mo Yan was taken aback, staring blankly at Xing Liu, unable to process Xing Liu's words for a moment. Because of her habitual silence, Mo Yan couldn't smoothly ask the question that was on her mind: "Are you going to be sold tomorrow?"
'I'm the grand finale tomorrow. The money I spent on buying from you today was originally intended for my own use tomorrow.'
Xingliu always had a smile on his face, looking indifferent to what tomorrow might bring.
'Actually, there's still about half the silver left. You're not as valuable as I imagined, but you definitely can't buy me. I guess you, this servant boy, will be sold along with me tomorrow.'
Xingliu idly poked at his rice with his chopsticks, making it impossible to tell whether he was worried about tomorrow.
'You're lying, the servants are all locked up.' Mo Yan quickly and clearly exposed Xing Liu's lie.
'I wasn't lying. The guards figured I couldn't escape, so they let me out after my sincere pleas. We agreed I'd go back tonight and be auctioned off tomorrow.'
Xingliu remained remarkably composed as he spoke, demonstrating his remarkable ability to adapt to any situation.
Mo Yan nodded and continued eating his meal, even more indifferent than Xing Liu.
'But I don't want to be sold, otherwise I wouldn't have saved up money to buy myself back.'
Xingliu bit her lower lip, her face heavy and melancholy, her dark eyes becoming deep and unfathomable, as if tears might well fall at any moment.
"Oh," Mo Yan responded, offering only words of comfort.
From the very beginning, he was immune to Xingliu's fake crying.
"You know martial arts, right?" Xingliu asked Moyan with concern.
"Hmm." Mo Yan nodded and continued eating his meal.
He had little to eat when he was locked up in jail, let alone when he was about to be sold. If he doesn't take advantage of this opportunity to make up for it, when will he?
"Let's escape!" Xingliu smiled charmingly, her expression incredibly alluring.
"Is it an order from your master or a request from a friend?" Mo Yan swallowed his food before finally asking.
"Command." Xingliu's expression was as if he were joking.
"Oh." Mo Yan didn't take it as a joke.
"I heard there's a great country in the north called 'Zhaoyang,' which is as powerful as 'Yanwu Kingdom.' Let's flee there," Xingliu said, slumped over the table.
Xingliu is a believer in the famous saying, "If you can sit, don't stand; if you can lie down, don't sit." Of course, he won't sit properly if he can lie down.
"Hmm." Mo Yan nodded.
It's very simple, that's how it is.
After a brief "hmm" in silence, he led Xingliu and fled Yanwu Kingdom overnight, heading towards Zhaoyang Kingdom.
Unfortunately, neither Xingliu nor Moyan were good at managing money. By the time they arrived in Zhaoyang, the capital, their purses were already empty, so they had to find another way to make a living.
For some unknown reason, Xingliu sold himself and Moyan into Panronglou, thus becoming the most famous courtesan in the capital city of Zhaoyang.
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