The beauties went hand in hand to Qingqing’s room.
They slipped off their shoes with practiced ease, and the snow-white backs of their feet stepped onto the Persian carpet you had brought back. Laughing and roughhousing, they began helping one another undress.
In just a few quick moves, they were down to their undergarments.
You hid by the doorway, watching in secret, desperately holding back the urge to rush in and catch them in the act. A bitter flood of tears rose in your heart, and two warm lines of nosebleed streamed from your nostrils.
…The world is not worth it, not worth it.
Then Zhuer was the first to move, lifting his sleeve lightly to reveal a slender wrist, and wrapping an arm around Ruanruan’s willow-thin waist.
Then he said with great excitement, “Come on, come on! Let’s play mahjong!”
So it’s just mahjong, why did they have to take off their clothes at all!
The four beauties sat cross-legged on the floor. Before long they were completely absorbed, heated by the game until they were drenched in fragrant sweat, shouting at the top of their lungs in a loose circle with no trace of elegance.
You decided to take the chance to secretly inspect each beauty’s room and see whether there were any clues to the ledger, so you resisted the beauties’ temptation and turned away without hesitation.
Faintly, the beauties’ voices drifted from behind you.
“No cheating, any of you. Whoever loses has to take off clothing!”
You: sob sob sob sob sob sob sob sob sob, I really want to see, what do I do…
You pinched your thigh hard, screaming wildly in your heart.
Hutou! Hold it together for me!
Have some backbone! Don’t go back!
You took steps as if your legs were filled with lead, looking back every three steps, and finally left Qingqing’s courtyard.
Just as you reached the gate, that servant from before came rushing over again in great haste.
“Master! Something bad has happened!”
Bah, bah, bah, Master, you’re obviously perfectly fine.
You pressed a hand to your forehead and sighed. “Xiaohong, speak. What is it now?”
Xiaohong wiped at his sweat, so anxious that he could hardly get the words out, and with a trembling wrist pointed at a figure following far behind him.
“Ma-ma-ma-master, a a a ghost…”
You looked more closely, and so frightened that you nearly sat down on the ground on the spot.
A ghost in broad daylight.
That man was goddamn Gu Ruojin.
Gu Ruojin’s clothes were a little disheveled. He looked travel-worn, but he still could not hide the light flashing in his eyes.
“Brother Zhao, is Yanyan in this courtyard?”
Your body moved a step faster than your thoughts, and you nodded in a daze.
Gu Ruojin’s smile deepened. He raised his voice and shouted toward Qingqing’s courtyard.
“Gu Yiyan! I’m back!”
From inside came the clatter of tables and chairs being overturned. Yanyan ran barefoot out of the room, and the instant he saw Gu Ruojin, his eyes turned red.
“Bastard… you lied to me…”
His jade-white soles struck the ground bare, and sharp pebbles scraped several crisscrossed red marks across them.
Heartbroken, Gu Ruojin picked Yanyan up and let him stand on the tops of his own feet. As if he were holding some priceless treasure, he murmured, “Yanyan, brother is back…”
And you, Hutou, facing this dog-blooded, brother-loves-brother, shattered-mirror-reunites, heart-wrenching melodrama, actually did not even deserve a name…
Gu Ruojin patiently explained everything to Yanyan.
They talked until their throats were dry, for a full two hours.
You dozed off beside them, quiet as a chicken.
At this point, the story is long, so let’s keep it short.
For some complicated reasons, the Gu family was harmed by others, but Gu Ruojin relied on his own cleverness and successfully turned the tables, clearing the hell-difficulty quest.
Now he was going to pack Yanyan up, take him home, sleep with him and reunite in a happy ending.
Gu Ruojin cupped his hands to you. “Many thanks to Brother Zhao for taking such attentive care of my younger brother these past days. I will certainly repay you handsomely in the future. Yanyan… I’ll take him with me first. What does Brother Zhao think?”
1. …Fine, you accept your fate as a quiet cannon fodder in this melodramatic historical saga. The brotherly-love route is the best route (waving flags and shouting).
2. Not how. Yanyan is your Hutou’s! He comes when he likes and leaves when he likes, does he think you’re some sucker to be used and discarded!