Chapter 6: The protagonist feels something is wrong
The main consumers of the Spring Breeze Mansion are mostly self-proclaimed flirts, or gentry from wealthy families.
This group of people, who could speak well, were often poorly educated.
When they saw that Chu Fan and another person had scored “eight” to “two” in the martial arts competition, a group of people could not sit still.
“Nonsense! How can they score like that when they are clearly on par with each other? It’s too obvious that this is biased!”
“Brother Liu, don’t panic, we’ll do you justice.”
“That’s right, even if you lose, you have to lose with understanding!”
Liu Kexiong was the one who lost, and with an embarrassed look on his face, he simply said, ” I lost anyway, whatever the score is, let’s not worry about it.”
The group of people shouted, instantly, attracting many stares.
Chu Fan returned to his seat, feeling strange in his heart as well.
“Xiaoxiao, this Spring Wind Mansion isn’t easy. I deliberately kept my hand back and pretended to have a small victory over Liu Kai Xiong, but I didn’t expect this to be noticed.”
Chu Xiaoxiao pointed to the martial arts viewing platform and smiled, “Brother, don’t underestimate the Yinjing martial artists all the time. This is also the capital of Qi, so it’s only right that there are tigers and hidden dragons lying around.”
Chu Fan’s eyes lit up, “Right! Du Yinyun is the daughter of Du Lie, she was born in a martial arts family, so it’s not surprising that she can see through me.”
Du Yinyun!
A sweet smile still hung on Chu Xiaoxiao’s face, only under the unnoticed table, two white, and tender fingers rubbed from side to side, effortlessly crushing a glass wine cup into dust.
“Brother! Not her!” Chu Xiaoxiao pouted.
Only then did it occur to Chu Fan that there were not only five girls sitting on the martial arts viewing platform, but also a famous fop – the son of Wu Qinghuang, He Yunxiao.
“Could it be He Yunxiao?”
Chu Xiaoxiao arched her eyebrows and poked her chin with her finger, slightly tilting her head.
“Well …… it should be him. I heard that this Marquis Duke, has a seventh grade strength.”
“Seventh grade strength is not bad.”
Out of his natural affection for “generals” and “martial artists”, the more Chu Fan thought about it, the more certain he became of his suspicions about He Yunxiao’s behavior.
He couldn’t help but whisper, “Xiaoxiao, do you think it’s possible that He Yunxiao is not such a fop, but just has to act wildly in order to hide his clumsiness and to protect the Wuqing’s image?”
Chu Xiaoxiao put her hands on her lap and shook her head gently in a good manner.
“Xiaoxia doesn’t know, but Xiaoxia trusts brother’s judgment.”
Chu Fan asked in a different way.
“So, do you hate He Yunxiao?”
Chu Xiaoxiao thought about it slightly, then shook her head.
“No, I don’t hate it.”
Chu Fan nodded, secretly, thinking: Xiaoxiao’s intuition had always been accurate, if she said she didn’t hate it, He Yunxiao was likely not a bad person. Only, this He Yunxiao seemed to be the first man that Xiaoxiao didn’t hate? Moreover, this guy had spoken rudely to Xiaoxiao and even put his hands on her, but didn’t Xiaoxiao hate him?
Xiaoxiao is also sixteen years old this year, and is at the age of a maiden’s youth. When she went to buy sugar gourds just now, He Yunxiao had even helped her ……
The more Chu Fan thought about it, the more he felt it was wrong.
“Xiaoxia, do you hate me then?”
Chu Xiaoxiao’s pretty face flushed at the question. Her gaze flashed and her speech was anxious, “Brother, why are you asking this all of a sudden for no reason?”
Seeing that his sister did not want to answer, Chu Fan could only stop the conversation with a sarcastic smile.
However, even he himself did not know that the gaze he looked at He Yunxiao on the martial arts viewing platform had become inexplicably dangerous.
……
He Yunxiao doesn’t know much about the protagonist Chu Fan’s journey. He is now Chu Xiaoxiao’s little brother and only helps Boss Xiaoxiao to do one thing, and that is to get rid of “bad women” like Du Yinyun from Chu Fan’s side.
He was serving wine and food to Jiang’s sister, and at the same time, he kept glancing at the green-clad girl in front of him from the corner of his eyes.
Du Yinyun was not leaning back in her chair like any other woman, but was sitting at all times, her back straight, and her close-fitting clothes outlining her gourd-shaped posture.
The face is expressionless, but when you look closely, there is a kind of seeming sadness between the eyebrows, and this sadness is most endearing.
The girl’s favorability level of 55 should be quite high. I don’t know how much favorability level this chick has for Chu Fan.
As Chu Fan thought about this, a prompt suddenly popped up from the system.
[Hint: To check the target’s favorability to another person, you need to have both of them in your field of view at the same time.]
In the field of view at the same time?
He Yunxiao had a bright idea and hurriedly stood up.
“Sister, are your shoulders sore?”
Jiang Wuyou didn’t know what He Yunxiao was planning to do again, so she had to hastily advise, “The next match will start soon, so since you plan to score for your sister, watch it properly.”
“What’s so good about a few men fighting? Sister’s sore shoulders are more important.”
He Yunxiao stood behind Jiang Wuyou and without saying a word, he rubbed her shoulders for her.
This is a normal act for a modern person, but in the post-productivity country of Qi, it has a very different meaning.
When a child rubbed his mother’s shoulders, he was filial; when a wife rubbed her husband’s shoulders, she was virtuous; when a husband rubbed his wife’s shoulders, he was loving. Apart from these three, it is not always possible for a couple to hold hands once on a date, not to mention shoulder rubbing, because of the difference between men and women.
What’s more, He Yunxiao is not an ordinary man, but the son of a Marquis!
The title is hereditary in Daqi, and He Yunxiao is the eldest son, the next Marquis of Wuqing. Even though his reputation was poor, his status was superb. Even if people didn’t care about him, they had to care about his father, a great general who held military power.
So, although He Yunxiao was always arrogant and impolite, the fact that a Marquis was rubbing the shoulders and kneading the back of a courtesan was too outrageous.
Not only a few girls including Du Yinyun, but also a few from downstairs who didn’t care about the bout stirred up.
“Yang Qi, look!”
A few people looked up and were instantly appalled.
“This! A marquis’s son giving a shoulder rub to a girl from a brothel? What kind of attitude is that?” Yang Qi, who was in his early twenties and handsome, was shocked to see what He Yunxiao had done.
“Brother Yang, you are the current scholar and an official of the imperial court, He Yunxiao has degraded himself and broken the backbone of our martial artists, how is this good?”
Yang Qi said in a deep voice, “I am a spokesman, but He Yunxiao is the son of the Marquis, and the Marquis has a deep root, so I have only been a member of the government for a short time, so I am afraid my words will be useless.”
They were all in their early twenties, students who had come from far away to study in Yinjing, as well as retainers of various houses who could not find an official position and were temporarily living under them.
Yang Qi then said, “Brother Qian Yuan, are you temporarily living in the Shangshu Mansion?”
The young man named Qian Yuan immediately said, “Yes. I am from the south of the Yangtze River, and I am temporarily living in the residence of my fellow countryman, Minister Li.”
“The Minister of Rites is the nephew of the Empress Dowager and the cousin of the Princess. With this connection, I think I can convince Wuqing. But it would be too presumptuous to ask the Minister directly, so it would be better to ask the Minister’s son, Li Jin, to come.” Yang Qi pondered and said.
Qian Yuan and the others in the audience were confused. How could the Shangshu and the Empress Dowager be involved at one time?
In the end, Qian Yuan asked, “Brother Yang, what is the reason for inviting Mr. Li Jian here?”
Yang started to move his fingers, signaling for a few people to come closer.
“Ten years ago, the late emperor personally conquered Northern Yan, and upon his return, he died within a few days. At that time, the crown prince was still young, so the empress and the left minister were appointed to assist the state. The Left Minister is Han Wenxin, the powerful Prime Minister today, while the Empress is the current Empress Dowager.”
The crowd nodded their heads, signaling their understanding.
Yang Qi continued, “The Empress Dowager was incapable of ruling the country and appointed foreign relatives, almost forcing all the officials to join together and demand that the current Emperor withdraw the legacy of the previous emperor.”
At this point, the words stopped for a moment.
Everyone knew that His Majesty was only eleven years old, and at the time, when the hundred officials were forcing the palace, His Majesty was only a few years old. So how could he know anything about the last decree? It was obvious that Left Minister Han Wenxin was abusing power from the Empress Dowager.
Yang Qi continued, “The Empress Dowager was forced to do nothing, and did not want to hand over power to the Left Minister, and His Majesty was young at the time, so she could only give power to His Majesty’s older sister, the Eldest Princess Meng Qingqian.”
“Recently,” Yang Qi lowered his voice even further, “recently, the situation in the court is more tense than before. Wu Wuqing is under the Prime Minister, while the Minister of Rites is in the ironclad Queen Mother’s faction. The Eldest Princess will not let go of the opportunity to suppress the Prime Minister’s power.”
After hearing these words, everyone sat upright, except Qian Yuan, who rose to take his leave and hurried to the Minister’s residence.
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