Chapter 34
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The owner of Hundred Flowers Fragrance led Gu Yuanbai and Xue Yuan into a room next to Heqin Wang’s.
As government officials of Great Heng Dynasty were prohibited from frequenting places of pleasure, Gu Yuanbai couldn’t knowingly violate the law. He had the owner choose the least crowded route, paid him enough silver, and instructed him to quietly let them in and out.
The room wasn’t very spacious, decorated in a vulgar and frivolous manner. Gu Yuanbai stood in the center and looked around, feeling that everything didn’t quite meet his aesthetic standards.
To the left was Heqin Wang’s room, and against the left wall of their room was a cheap wooden bed covered with white gauze. The owner of Hundred Flowers Fragrance moved the cabinet at the foot of the bed aside, revealing a wooden screen behind it with several hollowed-out areas, allowing people in the room to see the situation in the opposite room.
The owner explained with a smile, “Please don’t misunderstand, this thing is for ventilation. When incense is burned in the morning and evening, moving the cabinet aside allows the fragrance to flow through all the rooms.”
Gu Yuanbai nodded and asked the owner to leave. After the door closed, he casually lifted his robe and sat in front of the wooden screen.
Xue Yuan sat down behind him, and recalling the Emperor’s delicate constitution, he glanced at Gu Yuanbai’s buttocks.
“Butt feeling cold?” Xue Yuan asked directly.
Gu Yuanbai had been in ancient times for three years and had never heard someone beside him say such vulgar words. His eyelids twitched. “Shut up.”
In the next room, Heqin Wang was sitting at the table, with a servant whispering to him. Soon, there was a knock on the door, and several men from Hundred Flowers Fragrance entered.
Gu Yuanbai glanced at them, his brows furrowing suddenly.
Does Heqin Wang really like men?
These men stood with their backs to Gu Yuanbai, lined up as if choosing concubines. Heqin Wang was blocked behind them, so Gu Yuanbai couldn’t see his expression clearly.
If he remembered correctly, Gu Yuanbai remembered very clearly that Heqin Wang didn’t like men and particularly disliked the growing trend of homosexuality in the capital.
Gu Yuanbai waited quietly for a while, and the servant in the room said, “Turn around.”
The group of men turned around, facing the wall, allowing Gu Yuanbai to see their faces clearly. They were clean-shaven, with some having quite handsome faces. Gu Yuanbai objectively commented, “Male faces with feminine features.”
Xue Yuan glanced at him upon hearing this.
Gu Yuanbai turned his head sharply, squinting, “Guard Xue, do you have something to say?”
“Nothing, Your Majesty’s words are always right,” Xue Yuan replied with a fake smile.
It was quite strange for someone with such a beautiful appearance to describe them as having “male faces with feminine features.”
Gu Yuanbai turned his head away and continued to observe the room next door.
Upon closer inspection, Gu Yuanbai could see Heqin Wang’s expression from among the crowd. Heqin Wang’s expression was not right, showing both uncontainable disgust and deep suppression. He gazed intently at the men standing in front of him, showing that his mood was not very good.
Gu Yuanbai pondered for a moment, then stood up and said, “Let’s not watch anymore, close it.”
Xue Yuan also stood up, about to move the cabinet, when a gust of wind blew in from the window, carrying the scent from the courtyard. Gu Yuanbai was choked by the rough scent and began coughing violently.
The Emperor’s coughing fit was terrifying, and Xue Yuan immediately remembered the scene where he had coughed up blood the other day. His expression changed instantly, and he stepped forward, reaching out to lift the Emperor horizontally.
“Get… cough,” Gu Yuanbai exclaimed angrily, “you—”
Another bout of intense coughing ensued.
“Shut up!” Xue Yuan’s face turned ugly. “Behave yourself!”
He put Gu Yuanbai on the bed, then went to fetch a towel and water. The tall figure moved back and forth in the room, and the gusts of wind he stirred up carried the overpowering fragrance, making Gu Yuanbai uncomfortable. He intermittently said between coughs, “…the scent.”
Xue Yuan stepped forward, closed the window, and looked at the bed. After wetting the towel, he climbed onto the bed and draped the canopy.
The room became dim, and the scent was finally somewhat isolated. Gu Yuanbai gripped the bed frame, trying not to collapse.
This body had been pampered, receiving the finest care from top to bottom. The fragrances used were all top-quality. Now, smelling this inferior and irritating scent, Gu Yuanbai’s nose was filled with the scent of Hundred Flowers Fragrance.
It’s really not easy to survive to this day.
Xue Yuan embraced Gu Yuanbai, letting him lie on his chest, and wiped his face with the towel. Gu Yuanbai coughed hoarsely, his thin chest rising and falling continuously. In this stuffy and cramped space, his weak cough made it seem like he could die at any moment.
Xue Yuan suppressed his brows, wrapping the Emperor in the quilt. He carried him out of the room with a dark face.
Various guests and attendants looked towards Xue Yuan. Gu Yuanbai was still coughing violently, the sound muffled through the quilt, and the white bedding trembled slightly with each cough. In front of the quilt, a few strands of black hair hung down.
Just these few strands of black hair and a layer of quilt made people fantasize. With the trembling of the quilt, isn’t it like a beauty in fear?
A young nobleman stepped forward, blocking Xue Yuan’s path and deliberately glancing at the quilt. He spoke with righteous indignation, “This gentleman doesn’t want to go with you. How dare you forcibly take him away wrapped in a quilt?”
“Indeed,” another guest said loudly from the other side, “Forcing someone is not gentlemanly behavior.”
Xue Yuan let out a cold laugh, his repressed anger showing through, “Get lost.”
The young nobleman who was reprimanded turned red with anger and was about to retort when Xue Yuan, having lost his patience, kicked him directly. The nobleman fainted to the side, and Xue Yuan, exuding a menacing aura, walked out quickly.
Everyone in the courtyard was frightened by him. The nobleman who had been kicked had already fainted, and Xue Yuan’s steps quickened, his face grim.
D*mn it, why would the little emperor go somewhere with such strong fragrances when he can’t stand them?!
Does he not know how weak he is?
Soon, Xue Yuan walked out of the courtyard with a dark expression. He carried the little emperor into the alley, kicking away a few stray dogs before finding a place without any scent.
The bedding was unwrapped, and Gu Yuanbai, leaning against the wall through the quilt, still had some of the strange, strong fragrance in his nostrils. He had exhausted his strength and could only cough weakly. His voice was low, and his shoulders shook incessantly, making him look as though his life was ebbing away.
The little emperor hunched his back, his pale fingers clutching his clothes, barely able to stand without something to support him.
Xue Yuan watched him quietly for a moment, his brows furrowing and lips tightening. He then stepped closer to the little emperor, placed Gu Yuanbai’s pale hand on his chest, and let him grasp his clothes.
“Stop pretending to be strong,” Xue Yuan sneered, “Lean on me.”
***
In the courtyard of the Hundred Flowers Fragrance.
As Heqin Wang was selecting people, he suddenly heard coughing from the next room. His heart skipped a beat, and he stood up instantly, his chest pounding with a mix of panic and unease. After a while, he calmed down and told his servant, “Go next door and see who’s there.”
The servant went and returned with a troubled expression, “Your Highness, there’s no one next door.”
No one?
Heqin Wang didn’t know what to feel. He sat down dazedly, his face somber as he looked at the line of people in front of him, losing interest in choosing anyone. After sitting for a while, he suddenly got up and walked out.
As soon as Heqin Wang stepped out, he coincidentally encountered Li Yan and Tang Mian walking together.
They both saw Heqin Wang, and a flash of panic crossed their faces. Marquis Pingchang Shizi, Li Yan, instinctively hid the painting behind his back, avoiding Heqin Wang’s gaze.
Sensing something was wrong, Heqin Wang’s face darkened, “What are you doing here?”
Tang Mian was equally caught off guard. He forced himself to calm down and replied, “Your Highness, we came to broaden our horizons.”
“Broaden your horizons?” Heqin Wang’s sharp eyes focused on the painting they were trying to hide, “What’s that?”
Tang Mian and Li Yan’s faces turned pale, showing signs of fear and panic.
Heqin Wang commanded sternly, “Come here!”
Tang Mian and Li Yan followed Heqin Wang into the room. Under his oppressive gaze, they turned even paler but didn’t dare to take out the painting.
If Heqin Wang knew… if the Emperor knew…
Would they be executed?
Heqin Wang’s patience was running thin, “I’ll say this one last time, show me what you’re hiding!”
The stern tone completely frightened the two young men. Trembling, they placed the painting on the table. The servant unfolded it, and Heqin Wang leaned in to look, slightly taken aback.
The painting depicted two different faces that Heqin Wang didn’t recognize, but there was a strange familiarity about them.
He stared at it for a long time before lifting his head with an inscrutable expression. He looked deeply at Tang Mian and Li Yan, his voice filled with concealed anger and menace, “Get out!”
Tang Mian and Li Yan glanced at the painting before leaving with pale faces.
As Heqin Wang’s anger grew, he grabbed one of the paintings, ready to tear it apart, but his hands trembled, unable to rip it.
He let the painting fall from his hands, dejected, “Take these paintings back to the residence and put them in my study.”
***
In the depths of the alley.
Once the little emperor had finally calmed down, Xue Yuan took a step back.
Despite his disheveled appearance, Gu Yuanbai remained extremely composed. He glanced at Xue Yuan and hoarsely reached out, “Handkerchief.”
Xue Yuan searched himself and found a crumpled handkerchief, handing it over. Gu Yuanbai looked at it with disdain, and Xue Yuan, suppressing his irritation, said, “It’s clean.”
After tidying himself up and regaining some strength, Gu Yuanbai looked at Xue Yuan and spoke calmly, “I don’t want a third person to know I was here today.”
Xue Yuan replied, “I also don’t want anyone to know I went to Nanfeng Pavilion.”
How disgraceful.
Gu Yuanbai looked pleased, “Very good.”
The handkerchief used by the Emperor was casually thrown aside, and Xue Yuan glanced at it inexplicably before turning away.
They walked out of the alley one after the other, only to realize that besides Nanfeng Pavilion, there were a few other brothels nearby.
As they passed one, they heard laughter and a woman’s voice saying, “Sister Chu has had the Luo Shen Fu poem recited to her by scholars. Many people want to taste the rouge on her lips.”
Xue Yuan heard this and casually asked, “Your Majesty, have you ever tasted the rouge on a woman’s lips?”
Gu Yuanbai: “…”
That hit a sore spot.
Gu Yuanbai smiled faintly, “Guard Xue, have you?”
“Never,” Xue Yuan’s lips curved slightly, disdainful yet polite, “Your Majesty, I don’t have the habit of tasting others’ rouge.”
Gu Yuanbai: “Neither do I.”
Xue Yuan continued, “They say Luo Shen is beautiful. Do you think she is?”
Gu Yuanbai smiled at this, glancing at Xue Yuan with a confident and assured expression, “No matter how beautiful Luo Shen is, can she compare to the beauty of my empire?”
Xue Yuan watched his confident and exuberant smile and suddenly felt his heart skip a beat.
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