[This chapter’s slightly NSFW, and not for the reasons you might be thinking.]

It’s hard to imagine that I’d just randomly walk to the Everfragrant House’s doorway. Is what they say about getting addicted to having an affair true? Am I actually subconsciously interested in Yuan Qingyun’s body?

I’m not really convinced of that. After last time, as a matter of fact, I get faintly guilty whenever the word “Everfragrant” is mentioned, to say nothing of standing here right now. I always feel that there’s a great many eyes staring at me, a great number of faces concealing their disapproval behind blankness. Apparently my selfishness is still too stimulating for me. I’m getting to be a true… man.

I snuck a peek at Old Tian. He’s quite relaxed, with no apparent disapproval, clearly thinking that it’s only normal that I’d come here again.

I think better about it. With Zhang Qinglian’s reputation, isn’t coming here appropriate? Why in the world should I feel guilty about this?

I stick out my chest to issue out a very calm look. Unfortunately, Old Tian came over at this time and vexed my ears, “Sir, this small one has been watching carefully, and Young Master Yao hasn’t been following after us.”

I almost vomit blood on the spot. What a mood-killer! I turn around and whisper-scold him, “Don’t talk nonsense, go— go back home!”

Just as I was going to step inside, I suddenly heard Lan Guan’s twittering voice. “Sir, Sir Zhang, you’ve come! Xiao Yun has been waiting for you night and day since that night, hoping his gentleman would come. — His mouth says nothing, and he doesn’t know why he has longing in his heart… he’s been so haggard these days!” His tone is completely that of joyous surprise.

As a result,mMany of the guests passing through the entrance looked over at us. I wish I could cover his mouth or find a crack in the ground to squeeze myself into.

He starts dragging me inside, and I promptly declare, “I was just passing by.”

Lan Guan cheerfully pouted, “Sir, if you say that, won’t you not be able to see our Xiao Yun if you just pass by?” Completely disregarding my wishes, I was stubbornly dragged into the lobby.

I have a hard time steadying myself to stand, and Yuan Qingyun is already coming down the stairs. What he’s wearing today isn’t too gaudy; it’s a near-black dark green patterned changsam made of extremely light silk, though opaque, and it’s very close-fitting, giving a good view of his broad shoulders and slender waist.

I’m completely unable to tell where exactly he looks ‘haggard’. It’s still that half-smiling infuriating look he uses with me.

I recalled the amorous event in the dark that happened last time, in detail, and can’t stop my face from getting slightly red.

He stepped forward and caressed my face, smiling. “Sir Zhang, I haven’t seen you for a few days, yet your lips are all the more red and teeth all the more white.”

This… this again! Every single time he makes me feel like our roles are swapped! That little bit of assertiveness I had last time is all for naught now. Clenching my jaw in anger, I swat his hand away and give him coldly furious look.

Who would’ve though that Yuan Qingyun would not only think he wasn’t bugging me, but start pulling me by the hand, saying, “Let’s go to my room to talk, Sir.” He then looped his arms around my waist, getting close to my ear with a deliberate whisper. “I haven’t seen you for some time. Qingyun misses how close your body was to mine. You won’t leave tonight, right, Sir?” This so-called ‘whispering in my ear’ is actually not a whisper, nor is it a shout; it’s just enough for everyone in the hall to hear.

The customers and moneyboys give us both dubious looks, giving out a burst of teasing laughter of unknown significance. I’m completely unable to hold onto my dignity as Yuan Qingyun doesn’t say a word more before he pulls me towards his room.

I struggle quite a bit, but his strength is too much for me, and I’m unable to free myself and escape. I also want to give my appearance some consideration, so I can’t do too much, ending with him dragging me into that pitch-black corridor. I heard a few of the poorer clients laughing as they discussed it behind me:

“So the favored John who got Xiao Yun under him was High Scolar Sir Zhang! No wonder even Young Master Wangsun hasn’t even been able to get on top!”

“Hehe, they really are one of those ‘talented son, breathtaking beauty’ pairs…”

I… I suddenly really want to ask: who’s the talented son, and who’s the breathtaking beauty?

However, I’ve already been driven into the room.

It’s not too late in the evening today, so Yuan Qingyun’s room is brightly lit, giving its exotic feel even more beauty and exquisiteness, as shrouded in mystery in every aspect as he is.

I set myself upright, saying firmly, “I didn’t specifically come here to seek you out, and I have urgent business later. I can’t stay long.”

Yuan Qingyun narrowed his eyes as he looked at me for a while, then suddenly grinned. “That was the only time I’ve been intimate, and this is the first time I’ve met someone who’s refused me so much.”

Just as I open my mouth to say something, his hand suddenly covers it. This man who’s a strange blend of martial hero and flirty gigolo gave me a similarly gentle smile. “I know what you want to say, you don’t have to say it.”

He’s not feeling down about it, is he? I really can’t believe that. Only, when I bring up the memories of last time, I get a bit hesitant. Yuan Qingyun ends up ringing a bell and calling for people to bring food and drink, smiling at me. “Staying overnight or not isn’t important, but you seem to be in a bad mood today, Sir. Why not have a few cups before you go? That always makes a person’s gloom better.”

That decently touches upon the load on my mind today. Humans like us typically don’t have the ability to self-regulate our emotions, but I have no way to vent them here: I can’t go with friends to hang out at a bar. Actually, forget about friends, I don’t even have someone I can talk to. A lot of things can only fester in my heart. If I keep going on like this, I’m going to go dig a hole and shout that ‘the king has donkey ears‘ into it.

The booze and food were brought in while I was lost in thought. It was nothing more than a pot of wine and a cold dish with several kinds of fruits. Yuan Qingyun didn’t go to hold me in his arms, instead signalling with one hand, going straight to the side of the yellow-pear design engraved table, taking a seat, then pointing to the opposite side. “Please take a seat, Sir.”

I do so, picking up a wine cup. The liquid is clear and fragrant, as if it were Dukang. [1] Yuan Qingyun made his own cup before he said, “You don’t drink, Sir?”

My heart stirs. This guy has a history of being sly. Is there possibly something in the wine? I’m still being cautious after eating that loss with the aphrodisiac, besides.

I only took a sip after being urged by him repeatedly, then immediately coughed it up, taking out a handkerchief to cover my mouth, taking advantage of time I stoop and cough to spit all of the alcohol back onto the cloth.

Yuan Qingyun smiles faintly, gets up, and takes a candle back over. “It’s not even youshi (5-7PM) yet, why is the sky so dark?” Sitting back down, he drinks down two cups of wine. Notcing that I haven’t moved my chopsticks or lifted my cup, he says, “Want me to feed you, Sir Zhang?”

I glared at him. “This wine isn’t to my liking.”

Yuan Qingyun smiled and leaned over to me. I flinch back on reflex, then feel my body go limp, greatly alarming me.

He chuckled, placing a finger on my shoulder and lightly pushing me. I fall like mud onto the bed. I struggle to move with every ounce of my strength, yet it it’s like my whole body is paralyzed, leaving me unable to lift a single digit. Frightened, furious, and suspicious, I open my mouth to shout questions at him, but not a bit of sound comes out.

Yuan Qingyun laughed loudly when he saw my enraged glare. “Sir Zhang, you bafflingly and obviously spit out into your handkerchief and didn’t eat eat anything. How could it be drugged?”

He pointed at the candle he’d lighted. “The Three-Step Splendid Fragrance is an extremely potent sedative. No matter how abnormal your internal force is, it’ll make you mute and incapacitated. It works the best when it’s burnt, far better than when it’s ingested…”

I want to puke blood, I’m so pissed. My intuition was right about this guy having issues, but the sedative unluckily wasn’t in the wine. I spent such a long time being vigilant for nothing.

He snickers and climbs onto the couch, stooping over me and lowering his head to gaze at me, his posture of the utmost dubiousness.

My heart is greatly anxious, thinking only that he wants to disrespect me. But Old Tian is still in the lounge and very likely thinking that I’m indulging in pleasures of the flesh; who’s going to come save me?

I fall and my body aches, tears leaking out, but I’m unable to cry out, nor can I rub them away. Yuan Qingyun seems to get up from my side, lighting up an oil lamp. I can now clearly see that we’re in a small and narrow private room with no windows, the air heavily stagnant and rotten from lack of ventilation.

He walked to my side and kicked me. “Didn’t fall to your death, did you?” Though the kick wasn’t heavy, his condescending attitude was strong. I’m incensed and unable to do a thing about it. He unexpectedly bent down by the waist, grabbed me by the hair, and dragged me out the door.

From childhood to adulthood, I have never experienced such physical violence. I hadn’t even ever been pushed by classmates in grade school or the like. This cruel treatment is truly the first of its kind. My scalp aches like it’s being completely peeled off, the section of my body that was rubbing along the ground going numb. After a difficult time of getting through a doorway he stops, subsequently throwing me to the ground like a dead dog. “Put him in.”

My face is pointed towards two men’s black boots. A pair of hands grab me by the back of my neck, lift me up, and stuff me into a very big wooden barrel that was packed with rice and such. I caught sight of the black boots’ owners in the process; two people in black, their faces covered. I wanted to determine if what they wore was the same as the ones who tried to assassinate the Emperor that day, but before I could get a good look, the lid was closed, encasing me in darkness.

I feel the barrel get lifted, then put down, then the flat surface it was placed on swaying as it went forward, apparently a carriage or oxcart or some such. A period of indeterminate turns later, the air in the barrel is thinning out. I internally curse Yuan Qingyun for not thinking this through. Doesn’t he know to leave a little hole for air to get in? Don’t tell me he spent all this effort incapacitating me just to suffocate me to death?

I later lost consciousness.

When I came to, I was splashed with a basin of cold water to sober up, my wrists aching greatly. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Yuan Qingyun’s beaming face. “So your internal power’s been trashed. If I had known that earlier, I wouldn’t have wasted that drug.”

I open my mouth to discover that I could speak. I hurriedly move my limbs to discover that my clothes are gone. Both arms are tied by iron chains to hang me from a rough stone wall, leaving me barely able to stand on tiptoe on the rocky floor.

…

[1] Luoyang Dukang is a Chinese fine wine maker, with white wines being their specialty. Bottles typically look like this. They’re named after the legendary Du Kang, supposed progenitor of Chinese wine.