CH 48

Chapter 48 lip rouge 

When he woke up in the morning, Qu Chenzhou was no longer in the sarong. When Liu Zhongming walked around after washing up, he saw two people sitting in Huxin Pavilion, not knowing what they were talking about.

He didn’t bother to go over, and ordered someone to prepare a carriage to go out.

Perhaps because of the game he had played last night, even though this trip was for a dinner party, he was in a good mood.

Qu Chenzhou was right with his observations. In the eyes of outsiders, he was still the original Liu Shizi who had nothing to do. Even if many people already knew that he was about to enter officialdom, it was only for his brother’s sake.

He had to take advantage of this time to take a good look at the positions of the people in court.

Dan Lang followed him, but as expected, he didn’t spend a single penny. Cao Shilang, who had received his kindness, bought Dan Lang and handed him over politely.

He didn’t look at Jiang Xingzhi’s expression, he just accepted the gift with a smile.

Cao Shilang had offended Liao Guangming when he first entered the capital. He quickly put away his disguise of a strict and honest man, and then rushed to do things for Jiang Xingzhi. Unfortunately, thinking he had taken refuge with Qi Wang, he was only envied by Jiang Xingzhi. 

Under this pretense, who knows how many malicious thoughts were hidden.

He changed his posture and leaned against the window, watching the crowd of people hurriedly passing by. He suddenly wanted to know what Qu Chenzhou was looking at past the window, so absorbedly, that day.

“Is Shizi going out today? What are you planning to do?” Dan Lang asked, staring intently at the makeup box in Qu Chenzhou’s hand.

He deliberately made things difficult yesterday, so that the young man would be punished, and the two would become enemies. He didn’t expect that this person to not hold any grudge because of it, and still took the initiative to talk to him with a good temper.

It seems like he’s a real fool.

However, this also made him even more unsure of Shi Zi’s mind.

If he doted on this person, why did he toss him to death last night, and if he doted on himself, why did he let this person stay in the sarong again?

But he had heard it before that a noble person’s mind is not easy to figure out. He just needs to keep one thing in his mind- only one person can live in the sarong. If he doesn’t step on this person and then a new person comes in later on, he is afraid his west wing position cannot be saved.

Doubt was doubt, he was now attracted by the things in the makeup box.

“Sorry, I don’t know where Shizi has gone.” Qu Chenzhou opened the makeup box: “Gongzi is new here, presumably these things have not been prepared in time. I have never used this before, if you don’t dislike it…”

Although Dan Lang had been taught how to draw eyebrows and eyes, the brothel would definitely not use any good items on them, so his eyes couldn’t help glancing into this exquisite makeup box.

“This cream is made of beef marrow, sake, cloves, and buds, and it is most moisturizing to the skin. The cinnabar eyebrow here is sold at Yuyan Zhuang and is not easily bought. I had to take Shizi’s token, go a few times, to get this. This…”

Qu Chenzhou was not good at this, he could only rack his brains to recall what the shopkeeper explained to himself.

“These are bath beans and face medicine. There are Shanglugen, Wei Kui, and Atractylodes. It not only washes one cleanly, but also smells good.”

Dan Lang asked him in disbelief after seeing the boxes. “You’re giving them to me?”

“I’m giving it to Gongzi. If you don’t mind, please accept it. If there is anything missing, I will tell Shizi another day, and then go to the store to pick it up. Shizi said that there is no need to spend money at his own shop.”

Qu Chenzhou took a box of lip rouge from the bottom drawer.

“Earth lotus and gardenia were added to this lip rouge. It is colored and fragrant. It is said that it also nourishes the person. It is a new product from Qinxiang Garden. I have not yet asked Shizi  if he likes it.”

Dan Lang accepted the lip rouge and the fragrant smell assailed his nose. He was so overjoyed that he couldn’t put it down, but when he looked up and saw Qu Chenzhou’s plain face, he couldn’t help asking: “Why won’t you use it?”

“I…” Qu Chenzhou touched his face in embarrassment: “My face… Gongzi can also see it. Also I used to be just a slave doing rough work in the back kitchen and I don’t know how to use it.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Dan Lang took his hand with a full smile: “It doesn’t matter if you don’t, I can help you.”

“Ah…” Qu Chenzhou still had a smile on his face, he never expected this kind of thing would fall on his head, and he froze for a while: “What?”

After Liu Zhongming got off the carriage, he stood under the hanging lotus column for a while, took a small bottle of wine from his arms and took a sip. After the remaining wine was sprinkled on his clothes, he entered the inner courtyard through the hanging flower gate.

His whole body was uncomfortably hot and there seemed to be a fire burning in his blood. Under the stirring of this sip of wine, it rushed straight up, slowly licking his chest.

He regretted being angry with Qu Chenzhou.

He should have gone straight home after finishing his work outside, but when he was idle in the carriage, he couldn’t help but think of those heart-wrenching words – Shizi’s skills are shaky, skills are shaky, skills are shaky…

He immediately ordered to change directions to Huanyi building.

In order to avoid showing his cowardice, he deliberately called Zhiwei to come over. This child was well-behaved and sensible, and his mouth was strict. He obeyed his instructions without saying anything. He took off his clothes, then meekly crawled over.

When Zhiwei lowered his head, he could only see the red string on his head and the butterfly bones on his back, which seemed to overlap with the image of that man for a moment.

Even if he couldn’t see his face, just this resemblance made him almost lose control, and he wished he could hold Zhiwei in his hand and press down hard on him.

But when his hand touched the back of Zhiwei’s head, a cool feeling came from his hair, and for some reason, he suddenly remembered the appearance of the pair of demon pupils looking at him calmly.

His sore spot suddenly softened.

Zhiwei was overwhelmed, and was about to get closer, but was pushed away by his palm.

“Go to Momo, then ask someone else to come.”

Momo knew the preferences of the nobles well, and quickly found an energetic person to come in.

Zhiwei was carried by the man onto the bed, and when he was lying on the man’s shoulder, his uneasy eyebrows were still flashing. He looked at him as if asking for help, but his eyes were quickly covered.

Liu Zhongming’s heart skipped a beat. After Zhiwei was blindfolded, although he didn’t think he looked very similar, that little fragility and helplessness looked very much like Qu Chenzhou who once knelt in front of him.

His hands and feet were cold, but his body was burning hot.

He came this time to learn the tricks in a brothel, so the man followed the instructions and tied Zhiwei’s hands to the bed frame, took out the utensils in the drawer by the bedside, and set up the bed.

The curtain of the bed was halfway down, revealing only Zhiwei. Liu Zhongming was sitting beside him, sweating like puddles, he didn’t know where to put his eyes, and his legs were shaking.

Zhiwei’s waist was bent into an arc, and there was a hollowed-out silver ball between his cherry-colored lips, and only a bright spot could be seen between those lips.

There were bells embedded in the silver ball, which tinkled non-stop.

As if to make him see more clearly, the man behind Zhiwei pulled up Zhiwei’s hair with one hand, lifted it up, and made Zhiwei raise his face… 

There was a buzzing sound in his mind, and for some reason, he suddenly thought of Qu Chenzhou. There was a voice of hatred in his calm – someone I like and someone I don’t

Zhiwei in front of him seemed to be replaced by Qu Chenzhou, as if that person was being treated like this.

There was a rumbling sound in his ears, and everything around him seemed to be inaudible, only a strange and old voice was speaking to him.

“Your Majesty…”

It was in the dream! In the dream, someone often called him that!

The demon in the darkness showed his teeth and claws, showing his hideous self in the daytime.

Liu Zhongming put his fingers in his hair, scratching desperately, making a painful struggle in his throat, trying to wake himself up.

But that voice did not spare him. It was neither hurried nor slow, like pity and mockery.

“You killed him…”

“Then, do you know how his last few months in the palace were? …”

“Do you know these past few years…”

Liu Zhongming screamed, as if he vaguely knew what would happen next, but he didn’t dare to face it right now.

He suddenly jumped up and kicked the table in front of him.

The person on the bed froze immediately, and even the Momo outside the door was frightened that she immediately opened the door and looked around.

Liu Zhongming gasped heavily. He staggered forward, pushed aside the person behind the curtain, untied Zhiwei from the bed frame, and hugged him.

Zhiwei trembled in his arms, his cheeks wet, but he didn’t dare to spit out the silver ball, so he could only sob vaguely.

The body curled up into a ball was so tiny, it looked much like the Qu Chenzhou who had collapsed and lost control that day.

He asked Momo to take care of Zhiwei properly and staggered out the door with weak legs. As soon as he got into the carriage, he held himself tremblingly and let out a sigh of relief.

In the midst of this confusion, the appearance of Qu Chenzhou was all that was in front of him.

That forbearance, tranquility, smile, mischief and annoying expressions, all turned into a fire burning him. The carriage seemed to have been lit by charcoal fire, gradually heating him up.

Liu Zhongming groaned suddenly and curled up his body. He had small twitches and rested on the soft couch for a long while before his drowsy brain slowly woke up.

There were fine beads of sweat on his forehead, as if he had just been picked up from water.

It felt so familiar, as if he had rolled on the bed with that person in his dreams many times.

He covered his eyes with the back of his hands, panting slightly. That old voice gnawed at his bones and blood. Those inaudible words were broken, so he didn’t even know where to hide.

The carriage was reaching closer and closer to the courtyard. He rolled over and sat up, secretly knowing that something was wrong—ghosts were illusory after all, but the reality in front of him cannot be avoided…

As he got closer and closer to the person, his body heated up again. When he entered the inner courtyard, the pain was even more unbearable. His heart was pounding violently and he felt uncomfortable all over.

He didn’t think for a while, neither did  he know how to face Qu Chenzhou, nor how to live in the same room with the other calmly.

But no one from the inner courtyard came to greet him, he only faintly heard Dan Lang’s laughter coming from the west wing, occasionally with a calm question or two.

“Is that so?”

Liu Zhongming felt unhappy receiving the cold shoulder. He coughed heavily and the sound in the west wing stopped immediately, and two people in the room hurriedly opened the door to greet him.

The man in front had eyebrows like mountains in the distance, peach blossoms for eyes, tints on his brows, a little cherry on his lips, and two dots on his cheeks. His face outline was picturesque and there was a leisurely smile on his face.

It was Dan Lang.

Liu Zhongming’s eyes unconsciously looked behind Dan Lang, and at a glance he saw two eyebrows as thick as silkworms, red cheeks that seemed to be punched in the face by someone, and a man’s bright red mouth.

And under the bright-colored brow bones was Qu Chenzhou’s still calm and indifferent gaze, which was comparable to the strange Momo in the brothel.

Liu Zhongming felt his body was no longer uncomfortable, his mind became extremely clear, and his whole body was relieved. Even the swollen area was instantly cured, as if it had never been hardened.

His good brother didn’t even plan to stand up in the future.