Chapter 124
Editor: Casey
It’s a good thing the maidservants didn’t hear this, otherwise they would have been scared out of their minds.
The Qing-er they had been serving all this time actually found himself a boytoy.
And a boytoy like this to boot.
Not to mention them, even Jiang Bieyu was shocked to the point where his mind went blank.
As he watched Shi Qing patting his body everywhere with a widening grin, the man being patted struggled to make sense of things. “But I’m a man.”
The little master gave him a strange look. “What nonsense are you on about? All boytoys are men.”
That he did know.
Jiang Bieyu: “But boytoys are young boys that look like girls.”
He knew that some people enjoyed themselves with little boys, but Jiang Bieyu didn’t bring that up. He might be aloof, but even he disdained those who took advantage of innocent children.
Shi Qing looked at the man in front of him.
He was tall, and the pat-down just now confirmed that he was very muscular all over. As for his features...he was handsome, but not in a feminine way.
Especially his eyes. They alone made his face appear several times more hostile.
Truly, the words ‘boytoy’ didn’t fit such a person well. He more resembled the person in charge instead.
So what?
The little master patted that bouncy surface again. “Who said that adults can’t be boytoys? Besides, you’re not that old. If this young master says you’re a boytoy, then that’s what you are.”
Jiang Bieyu didn’t respond.
He observed Shi Qing closely. The little master was patting him again with great interest, becoming more excited as time went on. However, the man was sure that the other person’s eyes contained no lustful emotions.
He said he was going to use him as a boytoy, but the way Shi Qing looked at him was more like he had found a toy to show off.
Shi Qing was indeed not obscenely evil. He just pretended to be pure on the outside while exploring Jiang Bieyu’s body with his 666666 insides.
It has to be said...Jiang Bieyu’s fascinating light-coloured eyes weren’t the only thing his Hu blood gave him.
He also inherited a great body that could remain strong without adequate clothing and food.
If he felt so nice to touch with clothes on, just imagine him without them...
Shi Qing stopped himself from going down that line of thought.
The time wasn’t ripe yet, and nothing would come of it. Why would he torture himself on purpose like that?
Therefore, he reached out in a serious fashion and hugged Jiang Bieyu.
Jiang Bieyu, who felt the little master’s tender arms wrap around him and continue to pull him forward: “?”
The man looked down slightly in confusion at the little master who was straining until his cheeks were flushed.
“What are you doing?”
“Gathering you into my lap.” Shi Qing replied quite righteously, “Don’t all boytoys have to come and sit in their master’s laps?”
Jiang Bieyu: “......”
He glanced in silence at Shi Qing’s thin and tender little arms and his slender and youthful waist that was still visible even in his fancy clothes.
Then he glanced at his own sturdy arms again.
He was pretty sure that it took both of Shi Qing’s arms to be barely as thick as one of his.
And this guy wanted to sweep him off his feet?
The man wanted to laugh a little.
The little master might have sensed his amusement, for he became quite embarrassed and furious. He gave the immovable object known as Jiang Bieyu a hard shove.
He raised his soft Jiangnan voice, but there was no sharpness to his words. They were rather sticky like he was grumbling instead.
“What’s with you? Why doesn’t a boytoy like you know how to take initiative?”
Although he was being treated as a boy toy by someone, Jiang Bieyu didn’t seethe in hatred on the inside and plotted revenge like he would in the past.
Instead...
The man expressionlessly glanced at the little master who couldn’t even sweep his own ‘boytoy’ off his feet. Then he let himself be pulled down to sit on Shi Qing’s lap.
Shi Qing: ...Fuck, is he an excavator or something.
Shi Qing: “You’re so heavy. Hurry, hurry up and get off.”
Jiang Bieyu noted the urgency in his tone and quickly stood up. When he turned around, there were already tears brimming in the little master’s beautiful eyes.
His white and soft hands that had never experienced any hardship trembled as they fell onto his lap pitifully.
There was also a tremor in his voice like he was about to cry: “It hurts...”
The maidservants who were hard at word soon noticed the commotion over here.
When they saw the tears in the little master’s eyes, they immediately lost all composure. Hurriedly putting down their things, they swept over, creating gusts of fragrant air.
“Qing-er, what’s wrong? Poor thing...are you crying?”
“Is it your legs? Where are you hurt?”
The roomful of maidservants busied themselves again.
It just so happened that Shi-furen came in to see her son at this moment. She couldn’t remain in her rooms because she had coaxed her husband into resting, so she headed over after putting on a thick cloak.
But the sight that immediately greeted her was her son covering his legs and crying out in pain.
She cried out in shock and trotted over to him.
“What’s happened to my Qing-er? What on Earth happened? Aiyo, you poor thing&#k2026; Look, he’s crying, how much pain must he be in?”
Shi Qing, who howled even louder after seeing Shi-furen come, held his legs as he glanced at Jiang Bieyu, who was still standing there dumbfounded. The man had no idea of the trouble that was soon to come.
The little master unhappily took some time out to kick him again.
He might have his grievances about what just happened, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to help cover for the man.
Shi Qing bristled and made up a random excuse: “I bumped into the side of the bed.”
“Weren’t all of you supposed to look after him?? How can you let my Qing-er get so hurt under your watch?!” Anxious and distressed, Shi-furen scolded the girls for a while before urging them to take action, “What are you all standing around for? Quickly go find a doctor!”
Then she started to softly coax Shi Qing. “Be a good Qing-er for Mother and let me have a look. Thank goodness our household has a lot of effective medicine in storage. It’ll stop hurting soon, okay?”
As she spoke, she tried to carefully lift Shi Qing’s shirt, which caused Shi Qing to stop his act and roll away on the bed.
“Mother, what are you doing? I’m a man and you’re a woman, you can’t lift my shirt like that!”
Shi-furen froze before bursting into laughter. She brought her handkerchief to her mouth. “So my Qing-er knows how to be ashamed now. What is a child like you worried about? You’re not even married yet.”
Yes, although Shi Qing was only 16, he was already at an age suitable for marriage in this era. But if you asked Shi-furen, her son was clearly still a child.
But the child called Shi Qing remained uncooperative. He held down his clothes and burrowed into the innermost corner of his bed. “No! Men and women should maintain a distance from each other.”
“Aiyo, you child. Why act shy with your mother when you crawled out of her tummy?”
Because of how embarrassed he seemed to be, Shi-furen was no longer as anxious. She smiled and gestured for a maidservant to leave. “Fine, Mother won’t apply the medicine for you. Someone in your courtyard can do it. Really, you’re preaching to your mother now...”
“I don’t want them to do it either! Aren’t all the people in my courtyard women? Their reputations will be in peril if they apply medicine for me.”
What reputation in peril? Crane City just has too many rules for its own good. People even found it strange if a woman brought wares to sell in the streets. Back in Jiangnan, no one would look down on a female hawker as long as she was running a legitimate business.
Although she thought this, Shi-furen was reluctant to go against her son. Thus, she could only comply. “Fine, fine. Mother will find you a male servant. Happy now?”
At that moment, the maidservant who was sent to get the medicine returned. Shi Qing’s eyes lit up when he saw her. He kicked Jiang Bieyu’s leg again.
“You, go and bring that medicine over. Apply it to me.”
Jiang Bieyu was already somewhat surprised Shi Qing hadn’t tattled on him just now. He was even more astonished now that the little master didn’t seem to be holding a grudge and even wanted him to apply the medicine.
Nonetheless, he obediently stepped forward and picked up the small, delicate bottle from the tray.
The bottle was obviously fired in an excellent kiln. It was jade white and exquisite throughout, with a beautiful painting drawn on it. This quality would allow it to be sold for at least ten taels of silver outside.
But such a piece was just used as a bottle for medicine here at Shi Qing’s house.
Jiang Bieyu took the medicine and returned to the bedside. His long, slender, and slightly cold hand reached for the hem of Shi Qing’s clothes, but a pair of soft and small hands stopped him.
The person those soft little hands belonged to held his hand as he looked up. His exquisitely delicate face was full of both embarrassment and arrogance.
“You women shouldn’t stay in here while I get the medicine applied.”
Shi-furen was more and more amused by her son’s antics. She couldn’t help but laugh: “Why don’t you just put the curtains down? It’s not like we’re going to lift it to take a look.”
“That won’t work. It’s not the same! What am I supposed to do if one of you really do lift it and peek at me?”
The way he was so determined to maintain his ‘clean reputation’ really made Shi-furen’s heart soften, and she found her son funny and amusing.
She had always doted on him, so she agreed. “Okay then, we’ll go behind the screen and not look at Qing-er.”
“No, behind the screen still counts as being inside!” Shi Qing still refused.
He demanded, “You have to go outside.”
If this were someone else’s family, the son would have been scolded to death already for asking his birth mother to wait outside.
But this was the Shi family.
Shi-furen was a mother who had always done as her son asked unconditionally.
She didn’t feel that her son was being ungrateful at all and agreed with a smile, “Okay, I’ll take them outside.”
This child really has grown up. He knows how to feel shame in front of his own mother now.
Shi-furen smiled and took the maidservants out.
Thus, the only two people left in the room were Shi Qing and Jiang Bieyu.
Jiang Bieyu carefully put the medicine bottle aside. He shifted to hide the part of his robe that shouldn’t be raised. Even though he was just supposed to apply medicine, there were indefinable thoughts in his head. When he reached for the little master’s shirt once more, his hand was slapped away.
Again.
He looked up and met the little master’s glare.
“What are you doing?”
Jiang Bieyu picked up the small medicine bottle and showed it to him. “Applying medicine.”
“What do I need medicine for? It only hurt a bit after I got sat on.”
Shi Qing got up and kicked him again before petulantly grumbling, “Looks like your handsomeness really is wasted on you. If I was really in that much pain, how could I have kicked you just now?”
He swaggered over to the wardrobe and searched through the bedding stored there. After a moment, he retrieved a small wooden box.
The silver neatly arranged inside was revealed when the lid was removed.
Jiang Bieyu could only watch as Shi Qing took out his money bag too. He hung it on his waist once he was satisfied with the amount of money he stuffed inside. Then the little master put the wooden box back.
From his careful and practiced movements, Jiang Bieyu could guess that this was probably Shi Qing’s ‘personal treasury’.
After taking the money out, Shi Qing peeked outside to confirm that Shi-furen was still in the courtyard with the maidservants. Then he slinked down like a cat and crept to the other side of the house, avoiding the window.
He opened the other window found there.
Outside was a bamboo grove. It was planted because Father Shi heard that scholars all liked to live surrounded by bamboo. He had it planted to hopefully nurture Shi Qing’s talent for literature.
Unfortunately, the bamboo grove looks very cold and lonely now in these chilling winter months.
Jiang Bieyu stayed where he was the entire time. He watched the little master peek out of the window, looking left and right and making sure no one was around before turning and waving at him.
He whispered like he was a sneaky thief, “Come here quickly.”
Jiang Bieyu obediently stepped forward.
“Shh!! Shhh!!”
The little master glared at him with wide eyes again, quickly making several abortive gestures with his hands. “Don’t come straight over like that, they’ll see you outside! Hurry up and come here the way I did!”
The man bent down silently and moved forward in this somewhat comical position.
The same logic could be applied here. In the past, Jiang Bieyu would have rather died than walk like this.
But after Shi Qing ‘set an example for him’, it didn’t seem so humiliating to waddle anymore.
Especially since the little master didn’t even bother to look at him after calling him over. He continued to vigilantly keep a watch out.
Jiang Bieyu soon reached Shi Qing’s side.
The usual laziness of the little master gradually morphed to excitement as he tugged at Jiang Bieyu’s sleeve and whispered to him the plan.
“There’s nothing around this bamboo forest. If we go through the bamboo forest, stroll through the garden, walk into the imitation mountain and finally pass by the lotus pond, we’ll be at the edge of the courtyard. Did you get that?”
Jiang Bieyu nodded in silence.
He understood now that this little master was planning to sneak out of the house.
But if that was the case...
If Shi Qing wanted to leave, why did he have to take Jiang Bieyu with him?
The man gave the little master, who was bursting with excitement at his scheme, a complicated glance.
The little master stopped caring about his image. At the moment, he was struggling to lift one leg over the windowsill to escape outside.
On the other side, Shi-furen thought it was about time that they finished. She called out loudly, “Qing-er, are you done? Have you applied the medicine already? Mother is coming in, alright?”
“Not yet!!”
Shi Qing remained calm. He answered, “We’re only half done in here!”
With that, he swung the other leg over as well and lightly jumped to the ground.
Then he turned around with a smug smile on his face and waved at Jiang Bieyu.
“What are you waiting for? Come over quickly.”
They were already deep into the depths of winter. Even the usually picturesque bamboo forest outside was looking gray and dreary. The sunlight imparted no warmth onto the people it shone down upon.
But this little master, who had been carefully pampered in every way, stood there with a pure smile on his fair face.
The meager sunlight only highlighted the glittering motes in his eyes.
Jiang Bieyu was a bit taken aback by this scene.
He has always been struggling in the abyss. The people around him, whether they were in the abyss with him or looking down at him from above, have all been very unpleasant.
He recalled those servants that kissed up to their superiors and suppressed those weaker than them...
Those concubines who would do anything to win favour...
And his brothers, who pretended to be obedient in front of their elders while fooling around outside and taking pleasure in the humiliation of others.
Of all the people he knew, only Shi Qing was of the same purity inside and out.
Regardless of who he was facing, be it the elders at home or other young masters outside, he acted the same way to everyone.
Arrogant, yet reckless.
Such a Shi Qing made Jiang Bieyu wonder if Jiang Liye had actually forced the little master to whip him that day.
After all, this was someone who treated servants with kindness despite being a young master that should look down on them.
–Thud!
A lump of dried mud hit Jiang Bieyu.
It pulled him back from his thoughts.
The little master in front of him was frowning. There was a look of resentment and anger on his face as he quietly scolded Jiang Bieyu in a voice that anyone in Crane City would consider overly soft.
“What are you still standing there for? Didn’t you hear me telling you to come down? If you weren’t a member of the Jiang family, I wouldn’t be taking you with me!”
Looking at the fierce little master in front of him, the man expressionlessly shook off all his thoughts. He braced his right hand on the windowsill and leapt out of the house in one fluid motion.
This simple but pretty cool-looking movement made the little master a bit envious. He gave the man another kick out of frustration.
“There are no pretty women here, so who are you showing off for?! I don’t even know what to say anymore.”
Jiang Bieyu pursed his lips. He noticed the envy in Shi Qing’s eyes.
The man thought for a moment before replying in his deep and hoarse voice. “I’ll teach you next time.”
“Do I need to be taught by a boytoy like you?! If there’s a next time, you’re to jump over first and carry me over, got it?”
The little master snorted coldly before turning to walk ahead.
Jiang Bieyu followed behind him.
But the image of Shi Qing climbing out of the window occupied his mind.
The little master was born delicate and with practically no strength at all. Since he couldn’t even kick people hard, it’s no wonder he found it difficult to scale the windowsill.
Thus, he could only carefully drape himself across the windowsill before struggling to flip over one leg at a time like a little turtle onto the other side.
That pitifully adorable look was very distinct from the arrogant look Shi Qing had before when he whipped the man.
But both were undeniably his.
Shi Qing was pitiful sometimes, but the little master only felt shamed when a servant like Jiang Bieyu witnessed it.
The little master in front of him noticed he wasn’t following after a few steps. He whipped around furiously and scolded him again.
“Why are you such a dummy? Didn’t you hear me when I told you to follow?”
Jiang Bieyu grunted quietly and started moving.
The little master’s voice was full of arrogance and smugness. “You remember all the things I said before, right? I’m going to find Jiang Liye and the others soon, so you need to be my boytoy and sit on my lap. But don’t actually sit on my lap.”
There was a hint of self-deprecation in this request.
Jiang Bieyu understood what he meant, but Shi Qing was worried he didn’t get it. He pulled the man over and explained, “You know, squatting horse stance. It’s the stance all the martial arts masters are required to learn first in those opera shows.”
The man who had actually trained in martial arts with a master couldn’t help but correct Shi Qing’s mistake: “It’s tying horse stance.”
“Yeah, tying horse stance. As long as you know what I’m talking about.” The little master nodded and patted Jiang Bieyu seriously on the shoulder. “When I need you to sit in my lap later, you have to look like you are sitting but actually be in tying horse stance. Don’t actually sit down, got it?”
Jiang Bieyu nodded.
He didn’t ask why he couldn’t really sit. After all, the pitiful trembling sound that Shi Qing made earlier when he did that was still ringing in his ears.
The little master was still muttering, “And you’ll have to throw yourself at me in front of them like a dependent little birdie.”
Jiang Bieyu: “...A dependent little birdie?”
Shi Qing gave him a surprised look. “Do you not know? It’s when you act really cute and obedient in front of me. If I kiss you, you have to stay still and let me kiss you. If I hug you, you have to stay still and let me hug you.”
Of course Jiang Bieyu knew what it meant to be a dependent little birdie. Many concubines in the Jiang family’s second master’s courtyard utilized that strategy to earn favour.
But Jiang Bieyu was very much aware of his own appearance.
Could someone like him really be a dependent little birdie??
Seeing that he didn’t seem to understand, the little master ran out of patience and tried to conduct a demonstration. “Come here and lean your head on my chest.”
Jiang Bieyu: “...”
The man was silent for several seconds. He only slowly lowered his head when Shi Qing became impatient and started kicking him softly again.
His head eventually landed on the little master’s shoulder.
The height difference between them really made it hard to go any further down.
“Why are you so useless!”
The little master muttered grumpily. He took Jiang Bieyu’s hand again and shook it with his soft little hand. “Keep your hands on me. Show that you need me to move around, get it?”
Jiang Bieyu: “......”
In the end, he obediently lifted his hand.
Eventually, his large, slender hand landed on Shi Qing’s waist.
It just happened to perfectly span the little master’s slim waist through his shirt.
Because of how close they were, Jiang Bieyu could even feel the warmth radiating from Shi Qing’s body, as well as the delicate and tender skin that was hidden beneath his clothes.
The little master was still unsatisfied. He pondered aloud as his waist was being encircled. “No, this is still not close enough.”
Then he forced a leg in between the man’s legs.
Now the two of them were really close.
But for Jiang Bieyu, this was a little too much.
He was only an untempered eighteen year old.
Just watching Shi Qing eat the cloud layer cake before made a certain part of his clothes unconsciously rise up.
It was even worse now. Shi Qing’s mouth said he wanted Jiang Bieyu to cling to him like a pitiful little birdie, but in reality, the little master was practically throwing himself at the man.
The man swallowed, his throat covered by the little master’s shirt. He looked down slightly at Shi Qing’s long, slender neck.
It was fair and tender, just like the rest of his body.
...Would it redden with the slightest of touches, accompanied by its owner’s gasp?
Jiang Bieyu’s eyes darkened slightly as he slowly moved closer to that neckline.
But Shi Qing suddenly raised his head. He turned around and aimed puckered lips at the man’s cold and hard cheek.
Chuu~
A clear, crisp sound could be heard.
The little master took out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth and gave the frozen man a pleased look. He patted Jiang Bieyu’s bouncy muscles again.
“Not bad, not bad. Just do that and you’ll basically be a boytoy already.”
Author’s Corner
6.1k words!
I kind of want to write a cranky but powerful straight martial artist Shou next arc, but the Gong will be even more powerful than the Shou. He’ll be the Shou’s subordinate (little brother) on the surface, but at night he’ll press that frustrated and cranky straight man under him and you know. Haha.
But it’s so hard to write someone as flamboyant as little Shi Qing as a straight Shou, ah. Besides, the Gong has to start off disliking the Shou in every world, it’s part of the plot. If he dislikes him, then why would he do the you know what? Sigh, writing is so hard.
Randomly sending red pockets to some little angels! Good night!
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