VGAB Chapter 13

Qi Shao, though saved, realized with a mix of joy that since Zheng Er and Qi Heng had come looking for him, it was undoubtedly because they had discovered his intention to escape.

Qi Shao’s scalp tingled. After bidding farewell to the young master who identified himself as Wei Chao, he obediently followed Qi Heng and Zheng Er back to the inn, his head hanging low.

He hadn’t considered fleeing midway because he couldn’t defeat Zheng Er; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to find excuses to separate from Zheng Er before attempting an escape.

Qi Shao had initially thought that upon returning to the inn, Qi Heng would have Zheng Er keep a close watch on him. However, to his discomfort, Qi Heng hadn’t done anything to him. Instead, it was Zheng Er who no longer monitored him, not even sharing a room with him.

The next day, the guests who had reserved the best rooms checked out, so the three of them immediately moved into those rooms, each with their own. Clearly, there was no longer anyone watching over him, and Zheng Er was much more polite to him. After his return, Qi Shao no longer saw that disdainful look in Zheng Er’s eyes.

Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction. But Qi Shao couldn’t help but feel that it wasn’t his charm that had won over Zheng Er. Instead, he became increasingly worried that Qi Heng might have dug a big pit for him.

“Second young master Wang,” the inn’s waiter knocked on the door, “that young master is here to see you again.”

Qi Shao’s expression became somewhat inexplicable as he walked out to the corridor and glanced down to see the two men sitting by the window.

Indeed, it was Wei Chao and his bodyguards.

“Brother Wang.” Wei Chao looked up and immediately flashed a smile, waving to Qi Shao.

Qi Shao, mindful of his status, couldn’t make such a gesture. He descended the stairs with decorum. “Young Master Wei, what brings you here again today?”

Ah, the use of “again” here was quite clever.

“I’ve rented a pleasure boat today, and the weather is beautiful. Brother Wang, how about we go for a boat ride together?” Wei Chao smiled warmly, casting a sidelong glance upstairs.

As expected, the person up there didn’t come down.

Qi Shao’s expression became even more difficult to describe. Here he was again, this person had been coming to the inn every day these past few days, inviting them for various forms of entertainment. Initially, he had thought it was his own charisma that had attracted the other party.

After all, when the other party saved him, they claimed to have formed a friendship. This couldn’t be just his charisma, what else could it be?

But as the invitations became more frequent, Qi Shao began to feel something was amiss. Why did the other person always casually mention Qi Heng when inviting him, turning it into a natural invitation for the three of them to go together?

Qi Shao wasn’t naive. Based on his past experiences in social circles, Wei Chao’s behavior clearly had ulterior motives. He strongly suspected that Wei Chao had some ulterior motives.

In this era, it was common for men to form sworn brotherhoods, and Qi Shao didn’t see anything wrong with his savior having good relations with Qi Heng. However, when he thought about the possibility of Wei Chao getting close to Qi Heng, Qi Shao couldn’t help but feel a sense of panic.

Brother, wake up, that Prince Chen is a thousand-year-old fox.

“Why haven’t we seen Young Master Wang today?” Wei Chao waited for a moment, not seeing the person he wanted to see, and asked casually, “Is Young Master Wang out?”

Listening to him, he’s just the down-to-earth Brother Wang, while Qi Heng, he’s the respected Young Master Wang.

Qi Shao felt a pang of jealousy. Qi Heng, that shameless guy, even though he was his Uncle, he pretended to be brothers with him.

But when he subtly hinted that the age difference made it inappropriate to pretend to be brothers, that shameless Qi Heng actually had Zheng Er bring a mirror for him.

“Do you think we look like uncle and nephew?”

Qi Shao looked at the mirror, his proud little beard still intact, but his face showed some signs of weariness due to the journey, which made him appear considerably more mature than Qi Heng.

If they were to appear as uncle and nephew, it would be hard to convince anyone. To outsiders, it would be difficult to determine who was the uncle and who was the nephew.

Qi Shao, feeling frustrated, shaved off his proud little beard and reluctantly accepted the charade of being the Wang brothers.

“Brother Wang,” Wei Chao, seeing him silent, asked again with some disappointment, “Is Young Master Wang really not here?”

Qi Shao glanced at him silently and said, “No.”

He found it strange too. Qi Heng had claimed to come for some business, but these days he had stayed at the inn without any activity. Except for Wei Chao’s invitations, he hadn’t left the inn at all. What exactly was he doing in Fufeng City?

Could it be that this delicate and weak Wei Chao had truly captured Qi Heng’s attention?

Qi Shao’s expression grew more and more conflicted. In his eyes, Wei Chao’s naive and happy-go-lucky demeanor was certainly not enough to attract the scheming Qi Heng.

“Brother Wei,” Qi Shao sighed deeply and patted Wei Chao’s shoulder, “as a brother, I’ll give you some honest advice. You should give up. My… my elder brother, he likes women.”

Wei Chao’s face turned beet red, and he stuttered, “Brother Wang, you’re mistaken. Your elder brother is a celestial being, only worthy of admiration. I would never dare to have such impure thoughts towards Young Master Wang.”

Wei Chao felt genuinely misunderstood. He was simply a low-key, pure-hearted admirer of beauty, but he hadn’t expected his actions to be misconstrued.

Wait a minute— a sudden thought crossed Wei Chao’s mind. Young Master Wang avoided him today. Could it be that he had also misunderstood his recent behavior?

Qi Shao watched Wei Chao’s changing expression and became even more certain of his own suspicion. If he hadn’t hit the mark with his guess, why would Wei Chao have such an expression?

Well, he was his lifesaver after all. A gentle reminder should suffice. Pushing too hard might make him lose face.

With this in mind, Qi Shao changed the subject and asked, “Brother Wei, earlier, you mentioned inviting me for a boat ride?”

Without pressing further, it seemed that Wang Shao believed his clarification, right?

Wei Chao, uncertain about Qi Shao’s reaction, brightened up when the topic of the pleasure boat was brought up again. “Brother Wang, would you like to go? I’ve arranged a few exceptionally beautiful women to entertain you and broaden your horizons.”

Qi Shao looked at Wei Chao with a complex expression. It seemed that he had indeed misunderstood. But the idea of broadening his horizons with some beautiful women was a bit redundant, given his social status and experiences. Nevertheless, in Fufeng City, where there weren’t many entertainment options, and considering his fear of getting drugged and kidnapped if he ventured out alone, Wei Chao’s invitation was a rare opportunity for him to have some fun.

“Since Brother Wei has invited me, I’ll gladly accept,” Qi Shao replied.

Wei Chao grinned broadly. The beautiful women he had arranged were indeed stunning, and Brother Wang, being the son of a merchant, must rarely see such beauties. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the palace; otherwise, he could have arranged for even more.

“Brother Wei, shall we go now?”

“Where are you going?” A cold voice echoed from above, and both Wei Chao and Qi Shao looked up, unsurprisingly seeing Qi Heng’s figure.

He was still dressed in white, with a canopy-like hat on his head, revealing only vague contours. From top to bottom, his aura exuded a sense of aloofness and ruthlessness.

The smile on Wei Chao’s face grew wider, but he controlled his desire to jump up and wave enthusiastically, greeting with composure, “Young Master Wang, good morning.”

Qi Heng nodded and led Zheng Er down the stairs, stopping at a spot three steps away from Qi Shao.

“Big brother,” Qi Shao reluctantly addressed him, “Brother Wei just invited us to go on a boat ride.”

“Yes, I’m here to invite you all for a boat ride,” Wei Chao nodded repeatedly.

Qi Shao: “…”

When you invited me just now, you didn’t mention “all.”

Wei Chao took a restrained step toward Qi Heng and extended an invitation with a hint of anticipation, “Young Master Wang, do you have time to join us?”

“Fine,” Qi Heng replied indifferently. However, Wei Chao was not at all discouraged by his cold response. After all, beautiful women always had the privilege of being cold, and getting a positive response to the invitation to go out and have fun was good enough.

“I’ve arranged a carriage waiting outside,” Wei Chao said, fearing that Qi Heng might change his mind. “Young Master Wang, please.”

Qi Heng nodded slightly and, accompanied by Zheng Er, walked towards the exit.

You’ve been accepting Wei Chao’s invitations to play around all day, what are you here for anyway?

Qi Shao silently criticized in his heart but stepped out of the inn alongside Wei Chao.

To the west of Fufeng City, there was a large river where people would often go boating to enjoy the sunset, even in the morning. Several leisurely boats floated on the water.

The carriage stopped by the river, and Qi Heng and his two companions immediately spotted the luxurious pleasure boat moored by the shore. It had elaborately carved beams and pillars, with layers of intricate and gilded auspicious clouds adorning the boat’s body. The sunlight shimmered on these clouds, making the entire pleasure boat gleam and appear exceptionally grand.

For the people of Fufeng City, such a finely crafted and luxurious pleasure boat was a rare sight. Passersby couldn’t help but look at it a bit longer. However, for Qi Heng and his two companions, it was quite ordinary.

As members of the imperial family, they had seen all sorts of extravagant things.

Therefore, Qi Heng and Zheng Er both had unchanged expressions, which left Wei Chao somewhat disappointed. He had hoped to see Qi Heng’s surprised expression.

But when he thought about it, it made sense. Although merchants had lower status, they were not lacking in wealth. With money, there was hardly anything you couldn’t see, so their reaction was normal.

Wei Chao found a suitable reason and invited the three of them onto the boat.

On the boat, there were only Wei Chao’s two bodyguards, who wore the same stern expression as Zheng Er. Wei Chao led Qi Heng into the interior of the boat, while Qi Shao intentionally lagged behind to chat with Zheng Er.

Qi Shao lowered his voice, “Look at them, they have the same killer expression on their faces as you, like long-lost brothers, don’t you think?”

For the first time in a while, Zheng Er gave Qi Shao a look as if he were staring at someone with a mental disability. He couldn’t figure out whether Qi Shao was complimenting his sensitivity or lamenting that he had such a sensitive intuition but couldn’t use it for legitimate purposes.

He existed to protect Qi Heng, and over the years, he had dispatched at least a dozen assassins. Naturally, that left a certain aura of danger about him.

While Qi Shao thought that the two bodyguards were similar to him, he failed to realize that the person being protected by these bodyguards must have had significant authority.

On a daily basis, Zheng Er sighed about the intelligence issues inherited from Emperor Jin Yuan’s descendants.

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