The next day was a day off.
Xu Qi An and the others woke up a bit late. After stretching and having breakfast in their rooms, they gathered in small groups in the outer hall.
Jiang Lüzhong had spent the night with a voluptuous young courtesan. This morning, he treated Xu Qi An almost like a son. It’s worth noting that during tea parties, courtesans usually don’t favor rough men. As a Gold Gong of the Night Watchmen’s Office, how could Jiang Lüzhong possibly attend tea parties with merchants and laborers?
Moreover, the Courtesans’ Quarters were the territory of the Ministry of Rites. Night Watchmen and civil officials were typically at odds, so it wasn’t easy to force their way into sleeping with courtesans. Therefore, the higher-ranking Night Watchmen were less likely to visit the Courtesans’ Quarters. They usually frequented other brothels instead.
“No wonder people outside call you the Courtesan Killer,” Jiang Lüzhong patted Xu Qi An’s shoulder, his face beaming with a smile.
Courtesan Killer? When did I get such a strange nickname? Xu Qi An asked in confusion, “What?”
“The story of nine women fighting over one man has spread throughout the capital,” Jiang Lüzhong explained.
My reputation has been tarnished… But Courtesan Killer sounds better than Xu Freeloader, I suppose… Xu Qi An recalled the night when nine courtesans visited him during the fox spirit capture.
At this moment, Li Yuchun came out, looking energetic and in high spirits.
“Chief, how did you sleep last night?” Song Tingfeng greeted him.
Li Yuchun nodded slightly, “Not bad, just a bit noisy.”
Xu Qi An thought to himself, I thought you’d say: The rhythm of the bed-shaking wasn’t quite in sync.
When Fuxiang woke up, that inconsiderate man who showed no tenderness had already left. She hugged the blanket as she got up, yawning lazily while being attended to by her maid during her bath.
“Miss Mingyan just sent word, inviting you to drink at Qingchi Courtyard during lunch,” the maid said.
Unsolicited favors are either treacherous or deceitful… Fuxiang thought secretly, but replied indifferently, “I see.”
After drying her clean, soft, and white body, she changed into a light white dress and wore a fox fur coat. She sat in the warm bedroom reading for a while until it was time for lunch.
…
At Qingchi Courtyard, Courtesan Mingyan had prepared a grand feast in the hall, inviting six or seven courtesans, including Fuxiang.
Slender or plump, each had its charm.
Not all beautiful women could become courtesans, but those who were both beautiful and talented certainly could.
“I heard that Young Master Xu wrote a poem in the Imperial City, harshly criticizing Minister Sun of the Ministry of Justice. Have any of you sisters heard about this?” Fuxiang sipped her wine, bringing up the interesting story she had heard at yesterday’s banquet.
“Young Master Xu wrote another poem?” Several courtesans immediately became interested.
Courtesan Xiaoya, who had heard about this at the banquet last night, took over the topic. With an admiring smile and a dreamy look, she recited:
“Young Master Xu not only has outstanding talent but also immense courage. He openly challenged the Minister of Justice in the Imperial City, humiliating him.”
“It’s more than just humiliation. With this poem out, Minister Sun’s reputation might…”
The topic was quickly dropped, as it could be a light or serious offense for entertainment personnel to discuss high-ranking officials frivolously. Besides, they were all fair-weather friends and heart-to-heart conversations were impossible.
So the topic turned to Xu Qi An. Most of the courtesans present coveted Xu Qi An’s poetic talent. As for his physical attributes, no one except Fuxiang knew.
“Sister Fuxiang, how was Young Master Xu’s… performance at night?”
The courtesans giggled.
Fuxiang frowned slightly. She couldn’t say, “That stinky man was simply a beast.”
If she did, these seductive hussies would spread it around by nightfall. Then, others would laugh at her for being vulgar, damaging her reputation.
After pondering for a moment, Fuxiang had an idea. She used her chopsticks to pick up a vegetable leaf from the plate, then picked out seven fish bones from the vinegar fish and arranged them on the leaf.
Having done this, Fuxiang smiled charmingly.
…
“December 29th, it’s been a while since I wrote in my diary. I’ve burned my previous diaries, as Xu is not a proper man after all. Well, today Yuan Jing (crossed out) I should respectfully address him as Your Majesty, I can’t leave evidence of such disrespect, although I’ll burn this in a few days anyway.
“His Majesty has pardoned me from the death penalty. I heard the Minister of Rites committed suicide in the Ministry of Justice’s dungeon… Heh, this is the outcome everyone wanted. However, Prime Minister Wang was still quite decent, securing a sentence of exile for his entire family instead of execution of the entire clan or extermination of three generations. I asked Wei Yuan why he didn’t kick a man when he was down, and Wei Yuan said that exterminating an entire family is not something a gentleman would do.
“You’ve lost your manhood and you’re still talking about being a gentleman (crossed out). Wei Yuan is not a bad person.”
“December 30th, I visited Second Brother at the academy today. He told me a lot, and I’ll extract the core content: These bastard teachers, today they test on policy essays, tomorrow on poetry, the day after on the Four Books. If it’s not one test, it’s another. What the hell are they testing?
“It seems the academic pressure is indeed immense, even Second Brother can barely handle it. Feels like he’s in the state I was in during the second half of my senior year of high school… I can’t reminisce, that was the darkest period of my life. Tests every day, what the hell were they testing?”
“December 31st, I feel Fuxiang is becoming increasingly gentle and caring towards me. Is this the so-called love born from long association? No, no, I need to neglect her for a few days. I’ll switch to another courtesan tomorrow.”
“January 1st, Courtesan Mingyan is truly amazing. The flexibility of a dancer’s body is indeed superior, capable of all sorts of positions – if you can imagine it, she can do it. I’m becoming somewhat addicted. She’s also very satisfied with my performance, as she said: ‘After serving Young Master Xu, this slave realized that knees can touch shoulders while lying down.'”
“January 2nd, I started writing a novel today, because I promised Lingyu I’d write an interesting story for her to read. I named my first novel in this life ‘The Sky of Fate.’ I remember it started with: Xiao Bing’s middle school grades were not ideal (entire paragraph crossed out). Once upon a time, there was a pair of childhood sweethearts who grew gray hair early.”
“January 3rd, I went boating with Biaobi.
Ao today. This princess is somewhat delicate, willful, and capricious, but easy to fool. She has no scheming mind and trusts me completely. I successfully swindled a painting worth twenty taels of gold from her. I immediately gifted it to Papa Wei.”
“January 4th, I chatted with Princess Huaiqing today about the impact of the Sangbo case on the court situation. She then invited me for a duel. She’s actually at the peak of the Refining Essence realm… I think I’ve discovered something. As is widely known, those in the Refining Essence realm cannot lose their virginity, which applies to both men and women.
“Well, I’m not talking about Princess Huaiqing still being a virgin. Of course, an unmarried princess is still a virgin. What I mean is, with her talent, she shouldn’t be stuck in the Refining Essence realm. Perhaps it’s intentional, to avoid marriage. I see this princess’s ambition. If she were born in my era, she’d be a domineering female CEO.”
“January 5th, I heard that I met with the Elder Princess yesterday, and Princess Biaobiao was furious like a girlfriend who’d been cheated on. She pointed at me and called me a dog slave, ungrateful, saying she had just gifted me a famous painting recently. I told her the Elder Princess had given me two hundred taels of silver. When she heard this, she added more money… How clever indeed. I didn’t take advantage of her though. I made her a shuttlecock, something not found in the palace. Biaobiao was so happy playing with it, she made me accompany her until dusk. What an empty day it was.”
“January 6th, I took Xu Ling’yin and Chu Caiwei to Guiyue Tower for a meal. These two terrifying females ate up five taels of my silver. I feel like I’ve been ripped off. After interacting with them for this period, I’ve discovered something not quite right. Chu Caiwei is 18 this year, but she seems to be romantically inexperienced, and very slow in matters of the heart. When I flirt with her, she blushes but forgets about it immediately after.
“Either I’m not handsome enough, or she hasn’t awakened to love yet. I think it’s the latter, after all, I’ve never seen anyone more handsome than me. Nangong Qianrou and Second Brother are beautiful, not handsome.
“I still need to work harder. My previous experience tells me that if I had lured Chu Caiwei to bed earlier, there wouldn’t have been so many troublesome matters. After all, in these times, a friend can give you a hand, but a girlfriend can give you several hands.
“Of course, seducing a princess is the same, just with greater consequences. Princess Huaiqing’s level is too high, the difficulty is quite great. Biaobiao might be worth a try. The outcome would probably be the execution of the entire clan, right?
“After all, in this era’s style, what I’m doing isn’t called turning raw rice into cooked rice, it’s called being a princess’s male favorite. There’s no human rights in that.”
“January 7th, Heng Yuan the bald monk came to borrow money from me… I want to take back the words ‘If you have any difficulties, just ask me.’ Will he pay it back? Bull*, where would a smelly monk living in a retirement home get money to pay me back? Sigh… forget it, consider it charity. Oh right, during this period, the court situation has become increasingly unpredictable, with party struggles intensifying. This is perhaps what Yuan Jing (crossed out), I mean His Majesty, is happy to see.”
“January 8th, Xu Qi An, oh Xu Qi An, you’re about to reach the peak of the Qi Refining realm. With such good aptitude, you shouldn’t indulge in women. Focus on cultivation! I hereby make a vow: From today onwards, I will not accompany the two princesses, nor Chu Caiwei, nor Xu Lingyu, nor sleep with any courtesan in the Courtesans’ Quarters. If I break this vow, may I be castrated?”
“January 9th, Listened to music at the brothel.”
…
On this morning, Xu Qi An was summoned to the Divine Spear Hall by Gold Gong Yang Yan. Yang Yan, with a face as hard as if carved from stone, got straight to the point:
“My adoptive father intends to promote you to Silver Gong.”
Lord Wei wants to promote me to Silver Gong. Xu Qi An was stunned, then felt the joy of a promotion, a raise, reaching the peak of life, and marrying a rich and beautiful woman.
First, a Silver Gong’s monthly salary was ten taels of silver, not counting some hidden income. In the future, even if they bought a house in the inner city, Xu Qi An could still support the family’s expenses together with their Second Uncle.
Second, a Silver Gong had great power. Not only did they have Bronze Gongs under their direct command, but their position was also more secure because even Gold Gongs couldn’t arbitrarily dismiss a Silver Gong.
Finally, Silver Gongs were responsible for night patrols in the Imperial City. This also meant that Xu Qi An would be able to freely enter and exit the Imperial City in the future, making it more convenient to meet Huaiqing and Lin’an.
This would be beneficial for cultivating relationships with the princesses and embracing their jade legs.
“You’ll have to wait for the imperial examination,” Yang Yan said. “The Night Watchmen also have imperial examinations, personally overseen by my adoptive father. The promotions and demotions of Night Watchmen all happen during the examination period. I’m just giving you a heads-up.”
Xu Qi An’s first thought was to buy a house.
After returning home from work and finishing dinner, Xu Qi An put down his chopsticks and coughed, “I have an announcement to make.”
The family looked over, only Xu Ling’yin was immersed in her world, gnawing on a chicken leg.
“After the imperial examination, I’ll be a Silver Gong. Of course, that’s not the main point. The main point is, I plan to buy a house in the inner city.”
Aunt and Xu Lingyu, the mother-daughter pair, had sparkling light shooting from their beautiful eyes, their excitement far exceeding that of Second Uncle and the oblivious Xu Ling’yin.
After all, living in the inner city meant improved security. Incidents of street abductions of women were very rare, not because the yamen officials had improved their conduct, but because they would have more reservations.
Moreover, the shops in the inner city were far superior to those in the outer city. The things they bought and ate would all be of a higher grade.
At night, Xu Qi An lay in bed, lost in thought.
“My promotion and raise, besides the merits from the Sangbo case and the Princess Pingyang case, are also due to my good flattery. Biaobiao’s gift of that famous painting was very much liked by Wei Yuan. Seeing how good I am at these things, he’s sure to cultivate me.
“So, even with outstanding abilities and a leader’s cultivation, one still needs to know how to conduct oneself. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the broker’s office to make a house-hunting list and check out houses one by one. I still have over 7,400 taels in savings now, buying a three-courtyard house shouldn’t be difficult.”
Thinking this, he fell into a deep sleep.