If there is anything more embarrassing than being caught lying, it would be when a master is caught visiting a brothel by his disciple…
In the blink of an eye, Shen Qingzhuo even began to think seriously: Could he end this extremely socially deadly dilemma by jumping down directly from the railing on the second floor?
“Yo, this Little Young Master looks very unfamiliar.” The first person to react was the proprietress of Zuixiang Fang. She twisted her handkerchief and said with a smile, “Are you with our Young Master Shen?”
That familiar tone made it seem as if Young Master Shen was a regular customer of Zuixiang Fang.
Shen Qingzhuo turned around and said, “Proprietress, please take the ladies downstairs first. I want to talk to this Little Young Master alone.”
“Ah?” The proprietress looked at him in confusion and said, “Young Master Shen doesn’t like these… these girls?”
Shen Qingzhuo’s tone turned cold: “I don’t need the girls now, do you understand?”
The proprietress then realized that Young Master Shen was in a bad mood. She was about to lead the girls to leave when she heard the little young master say, “Don’t be in a hurry to leave. Let this young master take a good look as well.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Shen walked through two rows of girls dressed in colorful clothes, walked up to his master, and raised his thin lips slightly: “Master, if there is such a good thing, how can you not take me with you?”
Shen Qingzhuo: “……”
The little young master had a smile on his handsome face, but anyone could see the depression between his eyes. He didn’t seem to have the slightest intention of having fun at all.
Tan Ruizhe, who was watching from the side, asked, “Young Master Shen, who is this?”
Shen Qingzhuo introduced: “Brother Tan, let me introduce—”
“Brother Tan?” Xiao Shen glanced at him and said in a sly tone, “How come Master gains an unknown brother when he comes out?”
Tan Ruizhe was stunned for a moment, then smiled awkwardly: “Tan and Young Master Shen met by chance, and we hit it off at first sight.”
“Hit it off at first sight?” Xiao Shen looked him up and down, his cold eyes conveying a few clear words: Are you worthy?
“Xiao Qi.” Seeing that the situation was getting worse, Shen Qingzhuo raised his voice slightly, “Don’t be rude.”
Xiao Shen pursed his pale lips without even looking at him and sat on the chair, acting as if he was selecting a concubine.
Kong Qianhu looked confused and uncertain, his nervous eyes moving between Lord Shen and the Seventh Prince back and forth, “Young Master…”
Shen Qingzhuo didn’t have time to explain at this moment. He just gave him a soothing look, then turned to his little disciple and asked kindly, “Which lady do you like?”
Looking at the situation, he has to pick a girl today so that he can have some peace and quiet to talk about other things.
Xiao Shen replied coldly, “I can’t see clearly.”
“Aiyo, girls, come closer so that this Seventh Young Master can see more clearly!” The proprietress thought that business was coming, so she quickly asked the girls to move forward.
The new seventh young master had a slender figure and handsome looks. His noble aura could not be concealed even in his brocade robe. However, he seemed difficult to talk to, and a smile never reached his beautiful eyes.
Soon, a purple-dressed woman came forward bravely and bowed: “Seventh Young Master, the servant is Zi Yi.”
Xiao Shen raised his eyelids slightly and lazily said, “Too thin.”
Zi Yi’s face froze and she retreated.
Another woman in white stepped forward again and asked softly, “The servant is Bai Ling. Does Seventh Young Master like to listen to the Pipa?”
His handsome eyebrows wrinkled, and Xiao Shen sneered, “Your white dress ruins my appetite.”
……
Seeing the girls coming up one by one, and they were all shut away by the seventh young master’s words as he criticized every girl’s figure, the smile on the proprietress’s face gradually faded.
She flicked her handkerchief and said, “This Little Young Master, the girls in our Zuixiang Fang are both talented and beautiful. If none of them catches your eye, then you are probably not here for fun, right?”
Xiao Shen said indifferently, “Both talent and beauty? That’s all.”
Before the proprietress could reply, Shen Qingzhuo could no longer listen and spoke up to stop him: “Xiao Qi, that’s enough.”
Xiao Shen raised his dark and thick eyelashes, and his clear voice carried a distinct element of arrogance: “Master came to this place just for these things?”
“Xiao Qi.” Shen Qingzhuo lowered his affectionate peach blossom eyes slightly, frowned, and looked at him with a warning tone, “Enough is enough.”
There was silence all around. Xiao Shen and his master looked at each other for a moment, then lowered his eyelashes silently.
This is a sign of submission.
Shen Qingzhuo seized the opportunity and grabbed his disciple’s wrist. “Follow me.”
“Ai!” The proprietress stretched out her hand and made a gesture, “Young Master Shen, are you leaving now?”
“No.” Shen Qingzhuo said without turning his head, “I’m going to find the girl here.”
Kong Qianhu hurriedly followed, leaving behind a foggy Tan Ruizhe, whose confused eyes still unconsciously followed the departing Young Master Shen until he could no longer see even the fluttering corner of his clothes.
***
Xiang Lian was sitting on the bed counting her gold, silver, and other valuables when she suddenly heard footsteps outside the door, followed by a knock on the door. “Miss Xiang Lian, please open the door.”
She quickly tied up the package and stuffed it into a secret compartment at the head of the bed. She then locked the compartment door, restored everything to its original state, and said, “Coming!”
As soon as the door was opened, she saw Young Master Shen coming back with a strange handsome youth in his hand.
“Young Master Shen, have you thought of the servant’s kindness again?” She stroked the hair on her temples and skillfully cast a coquettish glance at Young Master Shen.
The youth’s face suddenly turned dark, “Who are you again?”
“Let’s talk inside.” Shen Qingzhuo didn’t give his little disciple a chance to get angry. He pushed open the door and walked inside.
Xiao Shen followed him over the threshold and deliberately bumped Xiang Lian, who was leaning against the door, with his shoulder.
“Aiya!” Xiang Lian screamed in surprise and could not help but scold, “Where did this young man come from? He looks handsome, but why doesn’t he know how to be gentle with women?”
“Auntie, please say less.” Kong Shang quickly closed the door and reminded her in a low voice.
This Seventh Prince is not someone you can easily mess with.
“Very good.” Xiao Shen was pulled into the room, hot air puffing out of his nostrils. “If Master wants to come to this kind of place to enjoy spring scenery1To go around public places looking for someone to have s*x with or to visit prostitutes., just say so. Why lie to me and say you’re going to the incense shop to investigate a case?”
Even though he was so angry that he almost turned into a pufferfish, but he was reluctant to let go of the hand that was being held by his master.
“How did Master lie to you?” Shen Qingzhuo let go of his hand and explained concisely, “The reasons are hard to explain in one word. Anyway, it’s not what you think.”
“What am I thinking?” Xiao Shen stared with a pair of wet eyes, his tone sounded as if he had suffered a great injustice. “Master, how could you…”
“Sit down first and let Master explain it to you slowly, alright?” Shen Qingzhuo sighed helplessly and coaxed his little disciple patiently.
Hearing this, Xiao Shen took a deep breath and sat down on the chair obediently, his cheeks still puffed up with anger.
At the same time, Xiang Lian, who was leaning against the door, looked curious and couldn’t help asking Kong Shang, “What is the relationship between this Little Young Master and Young Master Shen ah?”
“Uh…” Kong Shang was shocked. “Is it considered a… master-disciple relationship?”
In fact, he was not sure either, but he heard rumors in the palace that Lord Shen was originally the companion of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace. Later, by mistake, he became the Seventh Prince’s tutor. However, the relationship between the master and the disciple was not harmonious and was in name only.
Based on what he saw with his own eyes, the Seventh Prince was indeed not respectful to Lord Shen.
“Master and disciple?” Xiang Lian raised her eyebrows in surprise, looking back and forth at the little young master, and suddenly laughed, “How could it be master and disciple? I see that this Little Young Master looks like he was jealous, and it is obvious that he came to Zuixiang Fang to catch an adulterer.”
Kong Shang couldn’t control his voice for a moment: “Caught an adulterer?”
Just two words attracted Xiao Shen’s attention.
In an instant, it was as if a cold knife had fallen in broad daylight. Kong Shang looked away uncomfortably, pretending that he was not the one who had just spoken.
“Excuse me, Miss Xiang Lian, I have to use your private room for a while.” Shen Qingzhuo smiled apologetically, “Xiao Kong, you go wait outside the door too.”
Xiang Lian rolled her eyes and said with a teasing smile, “Young Master Shen, this is really not kind of you. How can a benefactor enter a lady’s room and then drive her out? If this gets out, where will my reputation be?”
“He told you to get out, so get out immediately.” Xiao Shen turned his gaze to her again, it was cold and indifferent, as if he were looking at a dead person.
“How can you talk like that?” Shen Qingzhuo tapped the back of his disciple’s head with his fan and then said to Xiang Lian, “It’s just a matter of two sentences. Please give me some convenience, Miss Xiang Lian.”
“Alright.” Xiang Lian held the handkerchief and shrugged, “Then I’ll do it for Young Master Shen’s sake.”
The two people left, and the room became quiet instantly.
“This is what happened.” Shen Qingzhuo organized his words a little: “The maid was once a lady from Zuixiang Fang. Master did come here to investigate the case today, but I didn’t want you to be led astray, so I concealed the fact that Zuixiang Fang was a brothel.”
Xiao Shen pursed his lips. “You don’t want me to be led astray, so you lied to me?”
“Cough…” Shen Qingzhuo coughed, “This is just a small lie. It doesn’t count.”
“Then…” Xiao Shen stared at him with an aggrieved look on his face. “Does Master like those women? If I hadn’t come, what would Master have done with them?”
Shen Qingzhuo raised his hands and almost pointed to the sky and swore, “Master really just here to investigate the case. I will not do anything else.”
The youth looked doubtful, and thinking of what he had just seen, he accused: “But Master even hugged that woman!”
God knows that at that moment, he even wanted to kill someone!
“Master can’t just stand by and watch someone die, right?” Shen Qingzhuo poured a cup of tea and gently pushed it to his little disciple. “You’re still talking? You just pick out some unpleasant things to say. Where is the etiquette that Master taught you?”
Xiao Shen took the tea, raised his head, and drank it all, then put the teacup back on the table and said angrily, “I saw Master going to brothels behind my back and smiling at those women so beautifully. I was so angry that I forgot everything!”
“You kid, are you that angry?” Shen Qingzhuo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Even if Master really went to a brothel behind your back, it’s not a big deal either ah.”
Miss Xiang Lian is right. Why does his little disciple look like he has caught someone cheating in bed?
“Master!” Xiao Shen’s anger, which had just subsided, suddenly rose again, his eyes darkened. “Does Master think that having affairs behind my back is not a big deal?”
Shen Qingzhuo said with a lack of confidence, “Master was also a normal adult man…”
The youth didn’t respond, his adam apple rolled up and down, and a huge wave was quietly brewing in his obsidian eyes.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became stiff and dangerous. Shen Qingzhuo felt a little regretful and felt that he should not have added that sentence just now.
Just as he was about to say something to ease the atmosphere, a sudden idea flashed through his mind.
So, Young Master Shen straightened his back and knocked the fan on the table, “Wait a minute.”
Xiao Shen’s emotions, which were half-brewing, were forcibly interrupted.
Shen Qingzhuo leaned forward slightly, staring at the youth with his charming peach blossom eyes, and asked slowly and methodically, “Master came to Zuixiang Fang to investigate a case, so what did you want to do by coming to the brothel without telling Master?”
The author has something to say:
The Wolf Cub: Master went to a brothel without my knowledge. I have already thought of a way to punish him. First, I will make trouble… and then…
The Master: In one sentence, I can easily flip around two levels. So what are you planning to do by coming to this brothel?
Xiang Lian: Catch, catch an adulterer?
