Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 8
“Read for yourself what that letter says.” Su Zeyang walked over to the round table, sat down, and poured himself a cup of tea from the teapot on the table.
Huo Fenghua didn’t need to look to know what was in the letter. He was only glad he’d kept it simple: just that around the hour of Xu* tonight, he was asking Wang Anzhi to meet at Huayue Pavilion for a talk. As for what they would say once they met, the letter didn’t mention a single word.
*Between 5-7 PM.
He went to the door, wanting to yank the envelope out of the wooden panel. With one pull, he tore it clean in half. A corner remained embedded in the door, and he couldn’t pry it out even with his fingernails. So he simply smiled, pulled the letter paper out of the envelope, and said, “What did it say? Nothing, really.” Then he crumpled the paper into a ball and shoved it into his mouth.
Su Zeyang rose from the table. Huo Fenghua had already chewed the paper a few times and swallowed it. Fortunately, the rice paper was soft and didn’t catch in his throat, but it still went down hard, and he nearly gagged.
After swallowing, Huo Fenghua reached for the teacup on Su Zeyang’s table. Ignoring Su Zeyang’s cold stare, he drained the tea in one gulp, raised a sleeve to wipe the moisture from the corner of his mouth, and said, “So, what did that letter say?”
Su Zeyang looked at him. “Why did you ask Wang Anzhi to come here?”
Huo Fenghua sat down at the table and patted his chest. “I didn’t ask Wang Anzhi.”
Su Zeyang remained silent.
When Huo Fenghua looked up and saw Su Zeyang’s expression was icy, he knew playing dumb wouldn’t get him out of this. He sighed and said, “I’m just stuck inside the high walls and deep courtyards of the General’s Manor and I’m lonely. Senior Brother, you won’t pay attention to me, and the General still hasn’t come back. So I figured I’d come to Huayue Pavilion, find a girl, and pour out my troubles.”
“If you want to visit prostitutes, then visit prostitutes. Don’t dress it up with pretty words,” Su Zeyang said.
Huo Fenghua took another sip of tea, thinking that Su Zeyang hadn’t guessed he meant to secretly meet with the Wang family behind the Manor’s back. He only assumed Huo Fenghua had arranged a brothel rendezvous. So Huo Fenghua went along with it, lowered his head, and said, “I’m an adult man too.”
Su Zeyang said, “What are you trying to say?”
Huo Fenghua set the cup down. “Senior Brother, you and the General are all lovey-dovey—no, two men in love, two men in heat. When you’re rolling around in red waves and having your fun, have you ever thought about your junior brother here, guarding an empty bed? The General’s away on campaign. You can stay at home and long for him to return, but what do I have to look forward to? They say ‘living widowhood*’, but I’m a man not yet twenty. You want me to be pure and abstinent, to live out my life like some widow?”
*The term he’s using is (守活寡) which basically refers to someone (wife) who is married but effectively has no married life (no intimacy with their spouse) as if they were living in widowhood (or forced celibacy/no sex relationship).
Su Zeyang frowned. “So you came to a brothel.”
Huo Fenghua said, “What else am I supposed to do? You want me to sleep with Sister Qingqing? I wouldn’t dare. And she wouldn’t want it either.”
“Shameless,” Su Zeyang said.
That set Huo Fenghua off. He stood up. “Food and sex are human nature, the greatest of human desires. I’d love to endure it, but you have to let me endure it! Otherwise, the Emperor wouldn’t castrate all his eunuchs before he brought them into the palace. You people lock me up in a side courtyard and won’t let me out to vent my urges. Are you trying to make me turn the entire General’s Manor into a den of debauchery?”
Su Zeyang slammed his palm on the table and barked, “Say one more word of nonsense and I’ll have you castrated immediately.”
Huo Fenghua jolted, backing up two steps. “Senior Brother, don’t go crazy. After all, I’m the sect leader of the Xianyuan Sect. If word gets out that our sect leader is a eunuch, wouldn’t that disgrace the sect’s reputation?”
Su Zeyang stared at him coldly. “If you’re afraid of disgracing the sect, then come back with me to the General’s Manor right now. From this day on, you are not to set foot in places like this again.”
Huo Fenghua was unwilling. “Then tell me what I’m supposed to do in the future.”
“None of my business,” Su Zeyang said.
“How is it not your business?” Huo Fenghua was panicking. He was afraid that if he went back with Su Zeyang this time, he’d be kept under tight watch, and it would be much harder to escape the manor later. He stepped forward, secretly sizing up the room and calculating whether he could get out, while continuing to spout nonsense at Su Zeyang. “Senior Brother, you probably don’t know this. I don’t care about the General, but I care about you.”
Su Zeyang froze slightly. “What did you say?”
Huo Fenghua saw that the only window in the room was by the bed, and there was a screen between them and the bed. He thought that escaping through the door might have better odds. Out loud he said, “Senior Brother, the one I admire is you.”
Su Zeyang’s beautiful eyes flew wide. He raised his hand and slapped Huo Fenghua across the face, shouting, “Insolent!”
Huo Fenghua’s head snapped to the side. The world spun. The corner of his mouth seemed split and bleeding. He raised a hand to cover his cheek, steadied himself, and forced down his anger. If he ran out the door, there was a long staircase down to the first floor with people everywhere. With Su Zeyang’s martial arts, how could he fail to catch him? It looked like he had to go through the window. So he lifted his head, looking pitiful, and said, “Senior Brother, do you really have to be that cruel?”
Even Su Zeyang felt a trace of regret after striking him. He clenched his right hand and said, “What you just said—never say it again.”
Huo Fenghua gritted his teeth. Gambling on the risk of being hit again, he lunged forward and hugged Su Zeyang, trying to kiss his cheek. “Senior Brother, your junior brother is serious about you.”
Su Zeyang wasn’t prepared. Huo Fenghua’s arms wrapped him completely, and Huo Fenghua actually did kiss him once on the cheek.
Huo Fenghua only thought Su Zeyang’s skin was soft and his cheek fine, carrying that faint sandalwood scent. That kiss wasn’t a loss. The next moment, Su Zeyang shoved him hard. Huo Fenghua staggered back several steps and fell to the floor.
When he’d thrown himself at Su Zeyang, he’d secretly shifted his angle. When he was pushed away he twisted again, and his fall landed right onto the screen inside the room, crushing it down with him.
Huo Fenghua braced himself and stood up, facing Su Zeyang. “Senior Brother, if you don’t mind, I’m willing to give my body to you.” As he spoke, he lifted a hand and began to undo the toggles at his collar.
Su Zeyang snatched up the teacup on the table and flung it at him, striking squarely at Huo Fenghua’s hand. “Stop!”
The teacup hit Huo Fenghua’s hand and fell to the floor, shattering into pieces.
The more Su Zeyang told him not to undress, the more Huo Fenghua insisted. Ignoring the tea spilled on his fingers and collar, he pulled his robe open wider, revealing the pale, slender chest beneath. He said, “Senior Brother, I know you have feelings for me too. The General isn’t here anyway. When he comes back, I won’t tell him. Here tonight, you can do whatever you want.”
As he stripped, he backed up until he sat on the edge of the bed. Seeing Su Zeyang’s brows drawn tight as he stared at him, Huo Fenghua simply yanked his upper robe off, baring his entire torso.
In that instant, Su Zeyang slightly averted his gaze.
Huo Fenghua suddenly spun around, only to see a black-clad figure appear outside the window. A hand shot in, seized his wrist, and dragged him out through the window.
Su Zeyang reacted and started forward, but an arrow shot in from outside. He had to twist aside to avoid it. Then he sprang onto the bed and pressed close to the window, peering out cautiously. The street outside was still lively, people coming and going, but amid the flow, the black-clad figure and Huo Fenghua were already gone.
The one who’d fired the arrow was hidden in the dark and seemed to be there specifically to stop him. Su Zeyang couldn’t be sure whether the ambush had fully withdrawn, so he could only jump down from the bed and chase out through the private room door.
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