The boys all bowed and said yes. Their voices were even softer than the girls'.
Shan Chao was stunned.
While he was in a daze, the boys came forward and surrounded him. Some were massaging his shoulders, some were massaging his legs, and some were pouring wine for him.
These youths were at the age where it was hard to tell whether they were men or women. They were all wearing makeup, so their voices were soft and delicate. They were even more feminine than the girls just now.
Shan Chao came back to his senses and immediately tried to avoid them. However, the leader of the group, an older boy, brought the wine in front of him and said with a smile, "Big brother, is this your first time here?"
Shan Chao raised his hand and blocked the wine glass. The boy did not mind and said in a high-pitched voice, "First time, second time, second time, you will be familiar. Big brother, come often in the future and you will know the beauty of it." He winked and smiled. His upper body moved forward again.
Shan Chao frowned and said, "Get out of the way!"
The boy rolled his eyes and put down the wine glass. He took a grape from a glass plate and peeled it with his slender hands. He lovingly handed it to Shan Chao and said, "Since big brother doesn't want to drink, then …"
Shan Chao could not help but stand up and said, "I said, get out of the way!"
The youths were stunned.
The music stopped abruptly. The boys looked at each other with hesitation in their eyes.
Xie Yun was still supporting her forehead. She finally said, "What's wrong?"
She did not know what kind of fragrance was on the youths. Although it was no different from the girls just now, the smell made her feel restless.
Their soft and tender bodies were completely different from the girls'. In addition, they were wearing light clothes. Their snow-white necks and arms were exposed under the bright clothes. It was an indescribable feeling.
Shan Chao hurriedly looked away and said, "The smell on their bodies … is too strong."
The boy said timidly, "If … if big brother doesn't like it, can we change our clothes and come back again?"
Shan Chao was like a provoked beast. He said sternly, "No need to come back again!"
The room was in a complete deadlock. After a while, Xie Yun finally laughed and said, "Get out."
Only then did the youths bow and retreat with some grievances. They walked out in a single file just like they had just entered and gently closed the door.
With a soft thud, the door closed, and only the two of them were left in the private room.
Shan Chao stared at the fine texture of the pear wood table. He was silent and his body was as tense as a rock.
If one took a closer look, his shoulders and arms under the cover of his black clothes showed the taut lines of his flesh and bones. There was a kind of heat hidden in the coldness, as if it would explode uncontrollably if there was a spark.
"The incense in Cheng Xin Lou is all the same," Xie Yun said leisurely, "Miss is no different from the waiter."
"…"
"You were able to remain calm and composed even when the most beautiful courtesan was leaning on your side. Yet, you threw away your helmet and armor when a few boys swarmed you. They weren't demons, ghosts, scourges, or scourges, either."
Shan Chao didn't say a word. Xie Yun raised her eyebrows and looked at him. She slowly said sarcastically,
"Monk, you're in such a sorry state right now …"
She was right. Shan Chao also knew how embarrassed he was. In his embarrassment, there was a trace of unbelievable fear.
Because he did vaguely feel something just now. On one hand, it made people instinctively feel disgusted and nauseous, but on the other hand, it made people want to keep thinking about it and even want to try it.
And it had nothing to do with Jinxin's beautiful and smooth skin or the courtesan's affectionate eyes. It was emitted from the bodies of a few boys.
On the table, Shan Chao's hands were tightly pressed on the edge of the table. His muscles and bones were protruding. After a while, he closed his eyes and said, "Stop talking."
Xie Yun got up and walked in front of him. She squatted down and stared at him from a close distance.
"Do you know how the late Emperor killed the Crown Prince?"
Shan Chao opened his eyes and saw that Xie Yun's handsome face was only half a foot away from him. At this distance, he could even see the long and thick eyelashes on his eyes.
Xie Yun's eyebrows were like lancets. They were long and slender, and the shade was just right.
The shape of his eyes was very sharp. The ends of his eyelids were slightly raised and swept to the sides. If a woman was born with a pair of eyes like this, she would be very charming when she smiled. But on his face, with just a glance, there was a cold and frightening charm that made one's soul tremble.
Shan Chao looked at those eyes. Suddenly, a part of his heart was fiercely hit. He felt an indescribable pain and numbness.
But before he could figure out what that feeling was, Xie Yun coldly said,
"After Cheng Xin's death, Li Cheng Qian built a tomb in the garden. Day and night, he prayed and wept. Later, he was dissatisfied and conspired with Zhao Jie, Du He, Hou Junji, and others to rebel. After they failed, they were exiled to Qian Province.
In the winter of the next year, the late Emperor sent the Dark Sect's leader, Yin Kaiyang, secretly out of the capital. He traveled a thousand miles to Qian Province and was strangled to death with a rope on a slope. "
Xie Yun paused and asked, "Do you know why I know so much?"
Shan Chao felt as if there was a voice in his heart that was sternly urging him to lean back. But his body could not move. He could only stand there and watch as Xie Yun's lips opened and closed half a foot away from him.
After a long time, he finally managed to move his neck and shake his head.
Xie Yun said, "Because when Cheng Qian was strangled to death, I was right next to him."
He finally straightened up and looked at Shan Chao with a slightly mocking expression.
"Even someone as honorable as the current Crown Prince will only end up as a corpse in the wilderness after being stained by a homosexual.
If you think that you are luckier than the Crown Prince, then go ahead and try. But if you want to try, then go back to Mobei. Don't stay in Chang An. You will lose face and your life. In the end, you will implicate the Imperial Guards. "
"…" Shan Chao was silent for a long time before he said bitterly, "I don't … have homosexual tendencies."
Xie Yun sneered and said, "Remember what you said today."
He turned around and strode out of the private room. It was not until his figure disappeared into the corridor that Shan Chao suddenly let out a sigh of relief. His tense muscles instantly relaxed.
At this time, he realized that his back was cold and wet. His clothes were soaked with sweat.
It was already past midnight when they left Cheng Xin Lou and returned to the mansion. Even though Changping Street was full of singing and dancing, there were no pedestrians. There were only brothels and houses with red lanterns. Gentle and charming voices came from the high and low window lattices on both sides of the street, carrying the tipsy feeling of cold soup and wine in the night wind.
Shan Chao sat in the carriage and saw that Xie Yun closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. He seemed to have no reaction to everything around him.
He sat very straight and his hands naturally fell on his legs. The wide sleeves of his brocade robe hung down like flowing water.
The brocade robe was fine and fine, so it was particularly attractive. Even if there was a light calming incense in the carriage, it could not cover the rich and sweet fragrance emitted from the sleeves.
Shan Chao knew what that smell was. After Xie Yun left the private room, he went to Hua Kui's embroidery room.
It turned out that the owner of the Musical House saw that they did not leave anyone to serve them, so he came to apologize in fear and trepidation. He asked if the girls and attendants did not serve them well.
Cheng Xin Lou was a top brothel where high officials and rich men gathered. If Hua Kui was driven out in the middle of the reception, it would be very embarrassing. If the news spread, it would even affect the "market price" of this Hua Kui. Xie Yun did not disrespect Cheng Xin Lou. He went to listen to Hua Kui play "Autumn Moon of the Zhihan Gong" alone before he asked someone to prepare the carriage and left.
As for whether he only listened to the song or did something else during that time, no one knew. Judging from the length of time, although the possibility was not high, Xie Yun's reward this time was very generous. It was so generous that Hua Kui swept away the depression of being driven out in the middle of the reception and sent them out of the door with a face full of pride and shyness.
Shan Chao held his breath. The sweet fragrance emitted from the man's robe seeped into his blood vessels through every pore of his body. It was like a snake sweeping its tail, pervasive and lingering on his most sensitive nerves.
"Do the attendants have the same smell on their clothes?"
"If I get closer and smell it carefully, will there be a little difference?"
"Will I even be able to distinguish the smell of Xie Yun's skin?"
Shan Chao was restless and impatient. He moved his legs uneasily.
He felt that the blood in his body was slightly hot, flowing and rushing in his limbs and bones. Although he tried not to think rationally, he still could not stop it from roaring down along his blood vessels and converging somewhere more indescribable.
Shame and guilt rose in his subconscious, intertwined with impulses, enough to make an inexperienced and extremely strong young man unable to extricate himself.
He forced himself to recall Jinxin's soft skin under the moonlight and Hua Kui's black hair exuding a delicate fragrance. However, all the charming images floated in a trance and gradually turned into the figure of a man who took off his robe under the candlelight in Cheng Xin Lou's embroidery room.
His back was as smooth as jade, the lines protruding and then converging all the way to the shoulder blade. The curve of his back was deeply hidden in the ambiguous shadow.
Orchids and jade trees, a picturesque beauty.
That was Xie Yun.
Shan Chao's hands clenched into fists under his clothes, his nails piercing deeply into his palms. After a long time, a trace of blood oozed out and disappeared into the darkness along the gaps between his fingers.
That night, the carriage entered the mansion. Xie Yun did not wait for anyone to come to greet her. She took the lead and got off the carriage. Suddenly, she turned around and glanced at Shan Chao.
Shan Chao knew that the darkness and the cover of his robe would not let any abnormality be discovered. He stopped steadily. In Xie Yun's eyes, he was like a black stone statue with sharp edges and corners.
"Start packing tomorrow morning. Ask Jinxin to help you prepare your luggage for winter."
Xie Yun finally said, "Three days later, His Majesty will set off to the east. I will lead 600 imperial guards in Beiya. You will also be among them."
Shan Chao asked, "In what capacity will I accompany you?"
His voice was extremely calm. Except for a little hoarseness, there was no fluctuation in his emotions.
Xie Yun finally put away the trace of suspicion that she had for no reason.
"Deputy."
He said lightly, "Although you are coarse and stupid and not easy to order around … you can't be ordered around by others."
Shan Chao nodded. It seemed that he was used to Xie Yun's harsh nature. He stood calmly under the critical and judgmental gaze. Suddenly, he asked with a trace of ridicule, "— — Master, why aren't you going to sleep?
You must be very tired at Cheng Xin Lou tonight. You should go to sleep. "
Xie Yun tugged at the corners of her mouth and left in a huff, "Who is your master?"
"Master!" Shan Chao suddenly shouted.
Xie Yun's footsteps paused. She heard Shan Chao say, "Tonight, I am indebted to Miss Jinxin, but I was rude to her. I feel very apologetic.
Just now at Cheng Xin Lou, I listened to Master's teachings and gradually understood … I don't know if after returning from Mount Tai, I can offer you tea and apologize to Miss Jinxin? "
These words were very tactful. In fact, it meant, "After returning from Mount Tai, can you ask Jinxin to come and serve me again?"
Xie Yun did not immediately agree, but his shoulders relaxed slightly, as if he had let out a long and complete sigh of relief.
In the darkness of the night, Shan Chao could see clearly that something in his heart that had been in suspense for a long time was finally settled. His whole body was relaxed.
"Wouldn't it be better if you were so tactful earlier?" Xie Yun continued to walk forward and said mockingly, "You want me to teach you how to sleep with a girl? You wasted my time all night."
When Shan Chao fell asleep again, it was already the end of the night. It was the darkest time before dawn.
After the lights were turned off, the bed was completely dark. He closed his eyes and heard the sound of the night patrol passing through the corridor and gradually disappearing into the inner courtyard.
That was the direction of the master's bedroom.
… Xie Yun should also be asleep at this moment, right?
In the darkness, Shan Chao's breathing was slightly hurried. The gradually rising heat from the depths of his body made the bed hot.
He tried to get rid of distracting thoughts and let himself fall asleep. However, as soon as his consciousness became hazy, many dissolute and charming scenes came one after another.
In one moment, a snow-white body under the moonlight came close to him and asked with a smile, "Chang An's inner charm is like clouds. Langjun, why don't you go with the flow?"
In the next moment, it was slender fingers and grape wine. Beautiful music and bamboo flutes were dancing in his ears. The women were laughing and talking, and everywhere they were panting.
Dan Chao abruptly pulled himself away and left, but when he turned around, he saw a few beautiful youths surrounding him. All of them had pink faces and red lips. They shyly called out to him, "Big Brother," and snuggled their warm and soft bodies into his embrace.
Strange and variegated scenes floated through the depths of his consciousness and drew him into a hot and blurred vortex.
Shan Chao felt as if there was a painful impulse in the depths of his body. It rushed left and right, but he couldn't find a place to vent it.
He forced himself to endure the anxiety and speechlessness. Suddenly, the scene in front of him changed. He saw himself sitting by the hot spring pavilion and a person lying on a fox fur coat without any defense.
The person's clothes were loose and half unbuttoned. Her shoulders and back were bare. Her skin revealed a lazy and warm luster just after bathing. It was just within his reach.
Shan Chao reached out his hand and the robe fell to the ground.
Everything that followed was so logical. Confinement, struggle, collision, and moaning. The extreme tyrannical pleasure of going against morality evaporated and burned the last trace of reason to ashes. It was like a beast that had been trapped for a long time finally pressed its prey under its claws and devoured it to its heart's content.
He stared at the person's red cheeks that were soaked with tears. Finally, he said in a daze,
"Master …"
"Master …"
Shan Chao suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.
Shan Chao breathed heavily. His chest rose and fell violently.
His eyes were bloodshot. In the darkness, his body was tense like a beast. He even looked a little ferocious.
After a long while, he exhaled heavily and tiredly covered his eyes with his hands.