A black shadow suddenly flashed past the window lattice under the moonlight, the movement as quick as an apparition. As soon as it entered the residence, the slender figure knelt down on one knee. “Young master, your subordinate has arrived late and resulted in the young master being injured. Please punish me.”

The person lying on the bed was half-hidden in the shadows, only the thick green silk dangling in front of his chest could be seen clearly. Under the dim moonlight, the pale colour gave off a chilly vibe, but it also looked fine and beautiful.

The man spoke, his voice clear and cold.

“You are not to blame. At that time, it was I who decided to go alone. As expected, the number of experts in Prince Shen’s residence is as common as the clouds. If you had gone, you would just be seeking death.”

That black-clad man bowed his head in guilt.

The person lying in bed gestured for him to stand.

“Where is the item that I asked you to bring?”

The man quickly retrieved the package on his body, giving his master a somewhat puzzled glance.

“Young master, what do you need these for…”

As he emerged from the shadows, a clean and innocent-looking face lay uncovered under the moonlight. That kind of elegant beauty was not diminished in the slightest by his youth, and every feature was extremely exquisite. It was easy to imagine that in a few years, if this person wished it, it would be enough just by relying on these good looks that were bestowed by the heavens to overturn the entire world.

The man received the parcel and opened it, looking at the elegant women’s clothing and rouge inside with satisfaction. The corner of his lips lifted in a wicked smile, “Zuo Ying, I have to dress like this for a short period of time. Without my command, you and You Ying are not allowed to show yourselves.”

The man named Zuo Ying looked askance at his young master. Didn’t the young master loathe dressing up in this manner? At that time if it wasn’t because of the numerous guards stationed in Prince Shen’s residence, he would not have thought of sneaking in together with the other female dancers and entertainers.

That person laughed, “This time, the heavens are helping me. Do you know who I chanced upon when I was being hunted down the other day?”

“This subordinate rushed over the night I received young master’s note, but it was still too late……”

Before he could finish speaking, both of them heard the sounds of movement.

“Leave. I’ll call you if something happens.”

“Yes, please take care young master.” The figure was gone even before his words could be heard in the room, all that was left was the lingering sound of his voice.

The man on the bed tidied up his clothes and soon heard the voice that filled him with disgust calling out loudly to him from afar.

“Maiden Zheng, this lowly self has come to pay you a visit again.”

Huai En’s face filled with disdain and annoyance.

Xiao Bao was not discouraged at the lack of response but stood at the doorway, “I don’t know if Maiden Zheng has had dinner yet. This is the best inn in Suzhou and even members of the royal family have come to savour the food made by the chefs here. If Maiden Zheng doesn’t have a taste of it, then it would be equivalent to not having been to Suzhou.”

Still no response.

“Maiden Zheng might not know, after being separated with Maiden Zheng for just a few short shichens, this lowly self feels as if it has already been three autumns. The constant longing that I feel for Maiden Zheng all day and night, has reached the point where I stop thinking about drinking tea and eating. Maiden Zheng’s beauty is as brilliant as the sun and moon and your temperament could captivate a person effortlessly, despite being tormented by these feelings of longing, this lowly self would gladly endure it.”

Xiao Bao saw that there was still no response. Perhaps she was already asleep? Impossible, the sky had just turned dark.

Xiao Bao persisted in his efforts, “Maiden Zheng, this lowly self came to invite Maiden Zheng to watch a performance. I don’t know if Maiden Zheng has heard of the Xi Yue theatre troupe before, they are extremely popular – from the capital in the north all the way to the Jiangnan region in the south. They are only staying in Suzhou for three months and this is their last performance, it would be a pity to miss it. I wonder if Maiden Zheng would give me the honour?”

“Maiden Zheng, this lowly self has bought the best seats. Many dignified officials and nobles will be attending the performance today, from whatever Jiangsu prefecture, Yangzhou prefecture, Tongling prefecture and even Prince Shen would be attending. Our boxed seat won’t be inferior to all these famous figures, I spent a lot of effort to……”

“Who did you just say would be going?” A cold voice finally sounded from within the darkened room.

Xiao Bao was still eloquently talking about how he was able to get these seats because of his status when he was suddenly interrupted and did not respond for a few startled moments.

The person in the room began to feel impatient, “I asked you who will be going.”

“Well… Jiangsu’s Liu Zhi Zhou, Yangzhou’s Xu Zhi residence, Prince Shen, Tongling’s Shao Zhi residence, the married sect leaders of Yin Tian Sect, and… and it seems there are……”

Huai En’s eyes narrowed into a straight line, that wily old fox had something precious stolen from his residence three days ago, and he was still in the mood to visit the theatre? Something was definitely fishy.

“I’ll go with you, go prepare the carriage.”

When Xiao Bao heard this, he was overjoyed. He had already been prepared to be thrust out, but unexpectedly, the beauty actually decided to give him face . This was great progress, ah great progress indeed. He felt that the day he got to hold the beauty wasn’t too far off, to have the beauty smiling and waving at him ~hehehehe~

Looking at their young master’s expression, Zhao Cai and Jin Bao immediately knew that he was stuck in his illusions again. They didn’t know whether it was their young master who was pitiful or the young maiden.

Hearing the sound of footsteps getting further away from the doorway, Huai En spoke in a deep voice, “Zuo Ying.”

“Your subordinate is here.” A low voice sounded from the corner.

“Get You Ying to bring a few people over to investigate Prince Shen’s mansion and you can get some people to accompany me. If I’m not wrong, he knows that I’m here and I don’t want to reveal my identity right now.”

“Yes.”

Xiao Bao waited and waited, his youthful and impure heart beating uncontrollably with joy, and finally waited for that door to open slightly.
Xiao Bao breath stopped the moment he saw Huai En, he was defenceless against it no matter how many times he looked, even now he stared until he was in a daze.

Huai En was dressed in a fairy-like white dress, the clothes fluttering around her slender figure. Her face was cold and expressionless, like an immortal who had just descended onto earth.

A thought emerged within Xiao Bao’s heart. In this life he will marry her and no other; he will marry her and no other.

As soon as Huai En noticed his straight gaze, he immediately knew what he was thinking, and a look of disgust filled his expression as he glared at him fiercely.

When he came into contact with that icy look, Xiao Bao came to his senses and bowed his head in shame but could not resist taking another peep.

“Maiden Zheng truly deserves to be called a breath-taking beauty.”

Huai En swerved his head in revulsion. The person in front of him was akin to a dead pig, a sight that fills people with disgust. He was always trying to flatter him, who knows how many dirty thoughts he had. He actually dared to look at him with that lascivious gaze! If it were not because he was the young master of the Jin family, he would have already died a thousand times by his hands.

Xiao Bao continued to indulge in his fantasies and did not notice the beauty’s expression, because in his eyes, whatever expression Huai En wore, it was still beautiful. Even the people who are being written of in novels about being enthralled by fox demons probably did not have it as bad as him. Moreover the only one who was bewitched was him, that “fox demon” did not spare him a glance. It truly was a case of being drunk on love.

Huai En had enough of his adoring gaze. He picked up a wide-brim hat covered in a white veil and secured it onto his head, finally blocking out everyone’s line of sight.

Xiao Bao wanted to offer him his arm, but he was pushed away. The pitiful Xiao Bao did not have the chance to even touch the beauty’s sleeves but was pushed back one Zhang by a wave of internal force. Luckily Jin Bao caught him in time, if not he would have rolled down the flight of stairs.

After steadying himself, Xiao Bao wiped away his sweat and no longer dared to get close to the beauty, so he could only awkwardly make a gesture of invitation.

Huai En did not spare him a glance but immediately went down the stairs and got onto the carriage.

Xiao Bao took the hint and rode atop his own horse instead of getting into the carriage with the beauty, mainly because he did not want to get in only to be thrown out like a piece of garbage. There were too many people coming and going on this street and he did not want to bring shame to his Jin family either.

  

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Translator’s Notes
[1] 在下 (Zai Xia): a humble term of referring to oneself; translates loosely into “this lowly self”
[2] To give/show someone face in this context is to honor a person by agreeing to their request
[3] 狐狸精 (Hu li Jing): A fox demon that seduces men
[4] 丈 (Zhang) = approximately 3.33 metres
[5] Kind of like a “please, after you” type of gesture

  

dreamxx: Thank you CeXiong and @lynn for your Kofi and for your words of encouragement!! I was really happy to receive them ˖◛⁺⑅♡ And thank you for reading my work!! Also I’ve published my second BL Newsletter where I introduce my favourite BL ship ever (they’re a gem) so please check it out here (you won’t regret it, I promise)!

  

Thank you for your support! ( ˘ ³˘)♥

  

Chapter 5