CH 64

Chapter 64: Male Prostitute

At that time, Ren Yaoqi thought that many things in this world were unfair.

Some people were born rich, some were endowed with extraordinary talents, some had outstanding talents, and some people could attract everyone’s attention as soon as they appear, like the bright moon in the sky, peerless beautiful jade, or flowers in the snowy mountains.

A young man was walking closer. His jet-black hair was a little dark purple under the sunlight, and his graceful facial contours gave off a soft jade-like luster. His steps were not slow, but they made people feel the elegance and nobility of leisurely strolling.

This kind of natural elegance and casual nobility that he took for granted made everything around him fade into the background as he walked along.

A pair of dark, warm eyes met Ren Yaoqi’s in mid-air.

Ren Yaoqi suddenly felt breathless.

Ren Yaoqi had heard those famous scholars who love beauty saying that the most important thing about a person’s beauty was not their looks, but their temperament. Many people could be called beautiful when they sat there without saying anything, but when they moved and opened their mouths, it would be like a heirloom painting had been ruined, destroying that beauty.

This young man, however, was the one who could make even the slightest swaying of the corners of his robe feel just right.

Flawless white jade and unparalleled was what described this kind of person.

This was the first time Ren Yaoqi had ever given such a high rating to a man’s appearance.

It was only when the young man got closer that she realized that his lips were a little lighter, and his figure was slender and well-proportioned, but slightly thin, which made him a little softer for no reason.

The white robe on his body was embroidered with black cloud patterns around it, which was exquisite, but the right sleeve of the robe seemed to have had a piece of the trim ripped off, which looked a bit abrupt.

Xiang Qin leaned over and with an odd expression on her face, she came up to Ren Yaoqi’s ear and whispered, “Miss, do you think this gentleman is the one those women were looking for?”

Ren Yaoqi froze at her words and gave the young man another serious look.

The young man’s eyes swept towards Xiang Qin lightly. Although his gaze did not reveal any emotion, Xiang Qin subconsciously lowered her head.

To be honest, Ren Yaoqi really couldn’t picture such a young man as a male prostitute she had heard of before. But he just happened to be here, and he looked like he was “disheveled”.

Ren Yaoqi coughed lightly, averted her eyes, and said softly to Xiang Qin as if nothing had happened, “Let’s go and sit in the pavilion.” With that, she walked over to the pavilion.

Before she could take a few steps, she saw the women who had run to the back of the Longwang Hall to look for someone rushing out again. They hadn’t found anyone yet and had come back again.

Ren Yaoqi’s footsteps paused and she wanted to turn her head to look at the young man. Her head only moved slightly, but she finally held back. This kind of thing was better to avoid further and further away.

Unexpectedly, the man walked towards her and stood on her left, only half an arm’s length away from her, claiming to be walking side by side.

Ren Yaoqi was stunned again and turned her head to look at him. The young man had a leisurely expression, his steps were comfortable as if he was originally standing and walking beside her.

The spring breeze blew with a bit of chill, brought a very clear and light medicinal fragrance that made people feel peaceful.

Xiang Qin’s eyes were wide open as if she had seen a ghost. She winked at Ren Yaoqi fiercely.

Ren Yaoqi turned her head, walked to the wooden bench in the pavilion, and sat down at the same pace, while the young man sat down gracefully across from her.

Xiang Qin stood behind Ren Yaoqi with a bitter face, but her eyes moved around between squinted at the young man and secretly looking at the women who were getting closer and closer.

“Strange! Where did that bitch hide his head?”

“Forth Aunt, could Forth Uncle have been mistaken? Haven’t we searched all the way and yet haven’t seen the man in white clothes that Forth Uncle described as a wolf?”

The corners of Xiang Qin’s eyes twitched as she glanced at the white robe of the young man sitting on the opposite and secretly reached out to tug at Ren Yaoqi’s sleeve.

The same faint smile emerged from the corner of that young man’s mouth, like flowing water under the moon and a fresh breeze on his face. He lifted his eyes to look at the master and servant opposite him.

Dumbfounded, Xiang Qin blushed and dropped her hand. She buried her head deeply and never moved again.

Ren Yaoqi’s expression was clear. She neither looked outside nor at the young man, but turned her head to a magnolia tree growing by the pond next to the pavilion, the white flowers that seemed to be in bloom attracting all her attention.

The women had already reached the pavilion and stopped to look when they saw someone in the pavilion.

The young man in white had a string of sandalwood strings in his right hand at some point, and he was idly fiddling with it, the beads on the string gently regularly clacking against each other, actually making a sound of gold and stone.

Only then did Ren Yaoqi turn her head and glanced at the string with some curiosity, which appeared to be sandalwood but was not.

The young man smiled lightly at Ren Yaocheng and handed the string to her, saying slowly, “This is ‘goldenstone wood’, which looks very similar to sandalwood and has a sandalwood scent, but it is not. The Buddha ball on it is engraved with the entire Vajra Sutra, and the words are as small as dust, so you need the help of a special kind of mirror to see it.”

His voice was low and soft, as if it carried special magic. Ren Yaoqi unconsciously pressed the string he handed to her, and it was slightly heavy in her hand, cold and prickly.

When she rubbed it with her thumb, there was indeed some slight unevenness on the beads. and She could see that it looked like it was covered with irregular patterns, but could not tell that there were words on it.

The women looked into the pavilion for a few moments and then turned their eyes away, leaving in low voices while talking to each other.

The young man slowly stood up, and Ren Yaoqi was about to hand the string back when he already turned around and walked out of the pavilion and left. She did not see how fast his steps were, because he disappeared in an instant. The lingering fragrance of fresh medicine had also disappeared.

Only then did Xiang Qin react and whispered, “Ah, Fifth Miss, he didn’t take away his string of Buddha beads.”

Ren Yaoqi gave the string in her hand a quiet glance, thoughtfulness in her eyes.

Xiang Qin looked at the fork in the path where he had left and sighed with great regret, “What a pity that such a character would be someone’s kept man.”

Seeing that Ren Yaoqi did not say anything, Xiang Qin said again with some doubt, “Miss, was he just using us to get rid of those people? Is this bead a thank-you gift from him to you?”

Ren Yaoqi didn’t answer but handed the bead to Xiang Qin: “Take it first and treat it as if you just found it. If you have a chance to meet with him later, return it.”

Xiang Qin understood, wrapped the string in her handkerchief and carefully put it in the purse at her waist.

Only then did Ren Yaoqi ask, “What did you want to talk to me about before?”

Xiang Qin smiled and quickly said, “Fifth Miss, earlier Wu Jing said that she seemed to have seen the martial artist called Dong Qing who served your uncle when she went to give incense money to Madam.”

“Actor Dong?” Ren Yaoqi faintly stared, then jerked her head up, “You said Wu Jing saw Actor Dong? Not Actor Xia?”

Xiang Qin said in confusion, “Wu Jing is sure he is Actor Dong, so she can’t be wrong, right? Although the names of Actor Dong and Actor Xia are only separated by one word, their looks are a hundred thousand miles apart. Fifth Miss, Third Miss said that they always follow Master wherever he goes, so if he is here, then Master must also be nearby, so she took Wu Jing and the two maids to look for them.”

Ren Yaoqi sat there with a frown on her face, her thoughts drifting away.

Over the years her grandfather’s family could not even afford to keep servants, but they had raised a bunch of opera singers.

There was a full range of actors and actresses, including Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, and Chou[1] so they could hold a full opera. Whenever grandfather and uncle were in the mood, the small dilapidated courtyard would be filled with the sound of gongs, strings, and flutes. Father and son might even take to the stage to shout their voices, making it very lively behind closed doors.

It was said that both Prince Xian and his son were drunken, dreamy, mediocre people. Others quietly despised them, saying that it was fortunate that the late emperor had died before he could install a crown prince, otherwise the dynasty of the Great Zhou would have been in jeopardy.

It was only when Ren Yaoqi entered the capital later and her uncle secretly brought people into the city that she learned all the opera singers in her grandfather’s house, including the kung fu actor, clown actor, old man actor, and even scholars actor[2] were all profound martial arts masters.

Some of them were secret guards or escorts given to Prince Xian by the late emperor, and some of them were beloved members of Prince Xian’s birth mother, Wan Guifei[3]. After Prince Xian’s family was relegated to Yanbei, they quietly followed them and disguised themselves as playwrights to follow Prince Xian and his son. They were considered to be the dead soldiers of Prince Xian’s family.

Chūn Sheng, Xia Sheng, Qiu Sheng, and Dong Sheng were the four who often followed her uncle, Li Tianyou, around. Chun Sheng, Xia Sheng, and Qiu Sheng were three people who followed their uncle to the capital, so Ren Yaoqi remembered them. Especially Xia Sheng, who secretly followed her for half a year after her uncle persuaded him to leave, making sure she was safe before leaving the capital to go back to Yanbei.

It’s just that she didn’t have much impression of Dong Sheng. She heard from Xia Sheng that Dong Sheng went out with his uncle one year and suddenly disappeared. No matter how hard they searched after that, they couldn’t find anyone, and he never went back.

At this moment, Ren Yaoqi suddenly heard the name Dong Sheng, and couldn’t help being a little dazed.

Dong Sheng hasn’t disappeared yet.

.

[1] (生、旦、净、末、丑) Character roles in Chinese Theatre.

生 Sheng: refers to actor playing as man;

旦 Dan: refers to actor playing as woman;

净 Jing: refers to a man who acts with a strong or rough personality;

丑: refers to playing a funny character, putting white powder on the bridge of the nose, called a clown, a small face, etc.

Source: https://baike.google.com/item/生旦净丑/1851582#:~:text=生旦净丑_百度百科&text=戏曲行当的名称。,称小丑、小花脸等

[2] (武生，武丑，老生，小生)

武生 Wǔ Shēng: A character who is good at martial arts in theatres (picture up left).

武丑Wǔ Chǒu : A kind of clown in opera, plays a character with martial arts and funny personality (picture up right).

老生 Lǎo Shēng : Male roles above middle age, wears beard, and both sing and read with their own real voice (picture down left).

小生 Xiǎo Shēng : Most xiaosheng characters are young Confucian scholars or, less often, young warriors (picture down right).

Source: Various sites of Baidu

[3] One of the highest rank of Imperial Concubine other than the Empress herself. There are too many ranks of Concubines and they changed every dynasty with no way to properly translate all of them, so I’ll keep the pinyin only for them.