A Seductive Gentleman Chapter 49

Chapter 49: From the Flower Reflects a Picture – Part 6

Zhao XiaoLan heard the commotion, looked back and asked, "What's wrong?"

Huai Yu pulled Ming ChangYan's arm as the latter promptly stood up and forced out a laugh, "Nothing."

Only after waiting for Zhao XiaoLan to turn his head around did Ming ChangYan cough and say, "Why are you calling me by that, it's a serious disadvantage for me."

Huai Yu said, "She can say it, why can't I."

Ming ChangYan countered, "She's older than me, I should be calling her jiejie, don't tell me that you're also older than me? Or did you suddenly decide to grow four to five years during the days we were apart?"

Huai Yu replied, "You call her jiejie, what do you call me?"

Ming ChangYan abruptly shut his mouth.

Huai Yu hummed, reminding him, "Don't forget, you're the one who said it."

Ming ChangYan said, "Ok ok ok, I didn't forget. I called you gege, you're my gege, dage!"

After a pause, he said, "It's just that you're not allowed to call me that when we're outside."

Huai Yu, "Why?"

Ming ChangYan, "Why are there so many 'why's' in this world, besides this, I'll do everything you want."

Huai Yu didn't answer nor did he speak.

Ming ChangYan's heartbeat flickered. He felt like he was floating with each footstep, and he ate his meal with his thoughts wandering.

When evening came, he left together with Huai Yu.

Huai Yu walked in the direction of the palace, he followed behind for a few steps.

Huai Yu asked, "Why are you following me?"

Ming ChangYan said with a grin, "I'll send you off."

Huai Yu, "I can walk by myself."

Ming ChangYan, "Then you can treat it as me being self-sentimental and having a need to send you off!"

Having said that, his hand suddenly began sweating. Thinking that this reasoning was a bit too insincere and not very proper, he quickly changed subjects, "Since Ugly Guanyin can change into thousands of appearances, can they copy their cultivation too?"

When Huai Yu heard this, he said, "Are you suspecting Ugly Guanyin as the person behind all the killings?"

Ming ChangYan resolutely said, "Correct. Not only the corpse we came across in the alley, but also what happened before in the palace, there's a possibility that they're the culprit behind them. Think about it, the palace has strict security, what kind of person would be able to secretly enter without getting discovered?"

Huai Yu raised his eyebrow and glanced at him.

Ming ChangYan paused for a bit before proudly saying, "I'm different, I'm number one in the world!"

He continued, "Alright, that's not what I meant, don't try to change the subject. I was just thinking, if outsiders aren't able to enter the palace, then it's definitely done by someone already in the palace. Ugly Guanyin is able to easily change their appearance, they have the highest suspicion right now."

Huai Yu said, "Makes sense."

Ming ChangYan went on, "Similar sect massacres occurred a few years prior in Jianghu, but I didn't think much about them at that time. During the two years I was dead, the sects that had been exterminated using needles didn't disappear along with me. If that person wanted to harm me, there's no point in continuing to kill off these sects after I die. Unless…."

Huai Yu finished, "Unless it wasn't done by the same person."

Ming ChangYan nodded his head, "Correct. Last time I said that the person who caused that epidemic was one person, the person who exterminate these sects were another. There's a slight difference to how these two use the needle, if I didn't see it myself, it would be hard to distinguish them. Now here's my question, is the person who sabotaged me pretending to be the person who exterminated the sects, or is the person who exterminated the sects pretending to be the person who sabotaged me?"

Huai Yu asked, "What benefits would this gain them?"

Ming ChangYan, "If I knew, would I be standing here hollowing out my mind thinking about it. The person who sabotaged me isn't bound to be Ugly Guanyin. It's just that after exchanging a few blows with him, it didn't matter whether it was you fighting him or me, even after backing them up into a corner, I've never seen them use a needle. They're either hiding it really well or they never knew how to use the needle in the first place."

Huai Yu, "Ugly Guanyin doesn't use needles, there's someone else behind it."

Ming ChangYan, "What you're saying is correct, this person must have a high position, a good background, and is able to move unhindered between Jianghu and the court. There's only one person in the martial circles that's able to do this!"

Huai Yu, "Rain Array."

When Ming ChangYan heard this he couldn't help but hook his arm around Huai Yu's shoulders and pull him closer, "Little Huai Yu, you're seriously too smart, you really understand this shaoxia's heart! Where can I find another friend like you!"

He was currently a bit shorter than Huai Yu so when he hooked his arm around Huai Yu's shoulder he had to stand on his tiptoes. From afar, it looked like he was hanging onto Huai Yu.

Huai Yu held onto his waist, ordering Ming ChangYan to walk properly, forbidding him to not have bones.

He said, "The Rain Array is just a Jianghu legend, their entire existence stems from doubt."

Ming ChangYan said, "Of course I know that this is a legend. However, legends usually fall into two different categories: One is that they actually do exist, but not many people catch sight of them. After so many false reports being spread around, it became what it is today; The second is that it doesn't even exist and determined people spread it around so much that it became a legend. Little Huai Yu, have you heard of the old saying 'without winds there cannot be waves.*'"

(TN: 无风不起浪; there's a reason for everything)

Huai Yu glanced at him, motioning him to continue talking.

Ming ChangYan said, "I once met a female Taoist two years ago, now that I think about it, she was probably Ugly Guanyin. It's just that Ugly Guanyin can disguise themselves as both man and woman, my mood back then was different so I wasn't able to distinguish whether they were a male or female. There was heavy rain when she came."

Huai Yu, "You think that Ugly Guanyin is the Rain Array?"

Ming ChangYan, "It's just an assumption. It's just that I've heard when the Rain Array appears, they will always bring rain with them to wash away the sins of the human world."

While talking, the two had already arrived at the gate.

Ming ChangYan's footsteps paused, clearly surprised by the turn of events. He looked behind him and suddenly realized: This road is usually really long, why did it seem so short today? It's like we came here in a blink of an eye!

During the time that they were apart, his heart felt tangled.

Huai Yu said, "I'm going in."

Ming ChangYan followed him for two steps. Huai Yu heard the sound of his footsteps and looked back at him.

He watched Ming ChangYan for a long time. For a moment he didn't know what to say before laughing and halting his steps, "Then I'll be leaving!"

Huai Yu nodded his head.

Ming ChangYan finished speaking but didn't make a move to leave.

When Huai Yu entered the gate he suddenly opened his mouth, "You…"

When Ming ChangYan heard him speak, he promptly stopped walking, striding over to the other's side. He said a bunch of sentences in succession, scrambling to say, "Is there anything else? Don't rush, talk slowly I have time! I'm also free tonight." He thought for a bit then added, "I'm free tomorrow and the day after tomorrow! I'm free this entire month!"

Huai Yu solemnly said, "During your time in the palace, there were a few cases of the Thousand Needles Piercing the Throat, do you seriously not have a single suspect in mind?"

Hearing this, Ming ChangYan quietly thought for a bit.

While thinking, he thought of a strange person: Wang shaoshi.

Huai Yu noticed that this expression changed, asking, "Thought of someone?"

Ming ChangYan rubbed his chin and said, "There's one person, the Bamboo House's Wang shaoshi. I had a feeling that she was a bit weird before, but too much happened afterward so I completely forgot about her. Now that I think about it, it really was a bit strange."

Huai Yu moved forward, "Strange in what way?"

Now that they had a topic to talk about, Ming ChangYan immediately found a reason to stay, the knot in his chest untangling. He walked and talked, firmly saying, "At that time, she was the first one that claimed the ghost causing trouble in the palace was Ming ChangYan."

Huai Yu nodded, "Mn, and?"

Ming ChangYan said, "Since I'm not dead, of course there wouldn't be any ghosts. The whole ghost thing is fake so what she said she saw were just lies. What's more, is that she fabricated it to have the same appearance as me."

The more he thought about it, the weirder it felt, "Huai Yu, I need to go to the Bamboo House to take a look!"

Huai Yu said, "I'll go with you."

The two walked through a corridor, passed by a pond, before arriving at the Bamboo House.

The entrance to the Bamboo House was very quiet, the weeds by the doorway haven't been trimmed by anyone in a while; it seemed like no one had been living here for a long time. The feeling that something was off was beginning to grow stronger in Ming ChangYan. As they stepped through the doorway, sure enough, the courtyard was completely empty. The water from the lotus pond had overflown onto the ground and the slab stones were covered with moss, an extremely gloomy sight.

Ming ChangYan walked around before determining that the Bamboo House had long been abandoned.

He said, "There's no one inside."

Just as his voice fell, a group of lotuses suddenly moved in the pond. Since no wind blew into the Bamboo House, there must've been someone inside. Reaching out, Ming ChangYan used a bit of strength and scooped up whoever was in the lotus pond.

"SPARE ME!!! SPARE ME!!!! THIS SERVANT ADMITS HIS MISTAKE!! THIS SERVANT ADMITS HIS MISTAKE!!"

His voice sounded very familiar, Ming ChangYan was surprised, "Xiao WanZi?"

The person who he was in his grasps and then set on the ground, wearing the clothes of a court eunuch, was none other than Xiao WanZi.

Xiao WanZi was soaked and dripping with water, his appearance extremely miserable.

Ming ChangYan questioned, "Why were you hiding in the pond?"

Xiao WanZi faltered, "I…."

Huai Yu said, "He came to steal from the Bamboo House."

Xiao WanZi's expression instantly paled, risking his life he kowtowed on the floor, "This servant was blind-sighted! Young Prime Minister spare my life! Please spare this servant!"

Ming ChangYan said, "No one asked you to kowtow, let's get up."

Xiao WanZi glanced at Ming ChangYan and thought that the other looked somewhat familiar; but he's lived in the palace for so long, he's never met a man like him before, thus he lowered his head once again.

Huai Yu said, "Get up."

Only then did Xiao WanZi dare to stand up. He didn't even have the guts to stand up straight, instead, bending his back with the look of fear plastered over his face.

Ming ChangYan said, "I'm going to ask you a few questions, if you answer them truthfully, I'll let you go."

Xiao WanZi nodded his head, "This servant will speak without reserve."

Ming ChangYan began, "What happened to the Wang shaoshi that use to live here?"

When Xiao WanZi heard this, he was surprised, "Wang shaoshi died."

Ming ChangYan, "Died?"

He and Huai Yu glanced at each other.

"When did she die?"

Xiao Wanzi said, "She's been dead for quite a while, probably sometime June last year."

Ming ChangYan calculated: He came to the palace last year in May, the moment that he arrived at the palace, many things all happened at once. It was a great commotion and in the end, he moved to the Listening Lotus Building. If you think about it that way, he didn't leave for long when Wang shaoshi suddenly died.

When Wang shaoshi died, it was death without testimony. Xiao WanZi kneeled on the ground shivering from the cold. The April weather hadn't warmed up yet, Ming ChangYan couldn't bear it and allowed him to leave.

"Someone did this on purpose. Well at least now we're certain, Wang shaoshi wasn't from the palace."

Huai Yu said, "What do you mean?"

Ming ChangYan rubbed his nose, "Tell me, could she have been Ugly Guanyin in disguise? If it really was them, then I really can't understand. In fact, Ugly Guanyin became famous later than me, there's no injustice or animosity between us, nor have we crossed paths that many times, so why do they want me dead again and again."

Huai Yu said, "With the circumstances back then, if you weren't the one provoking someone, then it was someone provoking you. Even if you didn't understand then, then you should probably understand it now."

Back then, Ming ChangYan was unparalleled, since he was a newcomer to the martial circles, his foundation wasn't deep. He had the Common People's Order so he was targeted by the masses. It's just that back then, he never thought that he would walk into this sort of profession.

Huai Yu's words were true, but they also touched upon one of Ming ChangYan's grievances.

If Ugly Guanyin didn't have a grudge towards him, then there's another reason: Ugly Guanyin didn't live in the palace, but is part of the imperial court, so they harmed him under court orders.

It's just that apart from harming him, Ugly Guanyin also caused the death of his sister. According to Chang Xu, his father took advantage of his sister's death as a way to receive resources from the Central Plains. If this was the court's doing, then isn't it just like lifting a stone only to smash your own foot? But if it wasn't the court's doing, then who could Ugly Guanyin be? He grew up in Tokhara and he didn't believe that his father would have that sort of influence.

He let out a sigh when suddenly, his ears picked up a bird chirp. Ming ChangYan slightly looked up but saw the ceiling of a corridor in front of them covered with birdcages, chirping inconsiderably.

The novelty of it diluted the worry in his head, "What is this place? Huai Yu, why did you walk here."

Huai Yu said, "This is the Bell Oriole Corridor, little things raised by the empress."

Ming ChangYan said, "The empress has a very refined interest. The last time I met her, she gave me two bracelets. It's a pity that I couldn't wear them."

Huai Yu was somewhat surprised, "She gave you bracelets?"

Ming ChangYan plucked a blade of grass and used it to tease the birds, "Yup, it looked valuable, so I brought it out. Since she gifted it to me, then it's mine, if I run out of money in the future, I can pawn it!"

Huai Yu said, "Those are items from the palace and you have the guts to just pawn them off. I'm afraid that there aren't any pawnshops that would dare accept you."

Ming ChangYan grinned, "Since I can't pawn it off then I won't."

The two walked for a bit longer without speaking. Ming ChangYan thought: I've already seen Wang shaoshi, it's still early, it would probably take about the same amount of time to walk back.

Although that was his thought process, his footsteps never halted. The entire time, he didn't mention anything about leaving.

It's just that if they continued walking, they'd arrive at the Ninety-Ninth Temple. Ming ChangYan thought: What if I find another excuse so we can meet up again!

After racking his brains, he couldn't find a fitting reason.

At this moment, Huai Yu unexpectedly said, "That corpse in the alley was deliberately placed there for you."

Ming ChangYan quickly came back to his senses, saying, "Mn? I remember you picked up a flower petal from the ground. But why would they want me to attend the Flower Viewing Festival? Besides, even if they didn't do that, I still would've gone. It's not worth the risk."

Huai Yu opened his mouth, "Do you know of a place that would snow in June?"

Ming ChangYan replied, "There are a few regions in Jiangnan. It's because it doesn't often snow there that this flower received such an elegant name." He suddenly paused, "What do you mean? Are they asking me to go to Jiangnan? They told me to go, so I have to go?"

Huai Yu didn't get the chance to speak when from within the corridor, a person interrupted, "Yan-jiejie!"

Ming ChangYan turned around, the person who had called out to him was Zhao XiaoLan.

He stepped forward, surprised, "Why are you still wearing men's clothes in the palace?"

For a while, Ming ChangYan wasn't sure how to explain it to Zhao XiaoLan. He felt that it was too troublesome to explain so he simply didn't, "I'll change it later."

Zhao XiaoLan greeted Huai Yu, "Huai Yu-gege," He said, "I came to find Yan-jiejie for a trivial matter!"

Ming ChangYan restated, "Find me?"

Zhao XiaoLan vigorously nodded his head but didn't say what he was finding him for. It seemed like this matter couldn't be said in front of Huai Yu.

He continued, "Huai Yu-gege, you can go complete your work! I'll definitely deliver Yan-jiejie back to the palace in a bit, you can rest assured!"

Ming ChangYan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Zhao XiaoLan's hurried state caused him to be very curious about what was going on. Huai Yu stared at him, Ming ChangYan merely said, "I'll come find you later, we haven't finished talking about that thing just now. Leave a door open for me or else I'm going through the window!"

Finishing, he tugged Zhao XiaoLan away and didn't wait for Huai Yu's answer of whether or not the other party agreed.

Ming ChangYan's mood improved a lot. After walking a hundred meters, he remembered to ask Zhao XiaoLan, "Spit it out, what do you want me to do."

Zhao XiaoLan blushed, shyly saying, "Yan-jiejie, accompany me to a brothel!"

Ming ChangYan was a little startled.

"Brothel? What so good about that place. Didn't you go alone before, why are you trying to find a companion now?"

Zhao XiaoLan stalled for a bit without getting to the point.

Ming ChangYan pretended to leave, "Not saying? If you're not saying then I'm leaving."

"Ai! Don't!" Zhao XiaoLan pulled at his arm, "Don't don't don't, I'll talk! I'll talk…"

Ming ChangYan crossed his arms and waited for him to slowly finish speaking.

Zhao XiaoLan couldn't hide the worry in his heart, so he thought he might as well just explain everything, "I want to go see Maiden Li Li."

Ming ChangYan, "See her?"

Zhao Xiao Lan said, "Such a huge matter occurred this afternoon all because of me, which made her scared. There were so many people back there that I couldn't find the chance to talk to her. Now that I think back to it, I'm starting to feel regretful. What if she misunderstood my character?"

Ming ChangYan teased him, "You go to brothels on a daily basis, what's there to be said about your character?"

Zhao XiaoLan earnestly said, "No, that's not it. I don't go to brothels to philander the jiejie's. Their job of entertaining guests at brothels is in order to support their families. If I don't go, then I have no character!"

Ming ChangYan said, "I admire your life's notion."

Zhao XiaoLan latched onto his arm and advanced forward, saying, "Women are like flowers, they should be cherished. Otherwise, for them to bloom so beautifully, wouldn't it be a reckless waste to not appreciate them? Besides, whenever I go to the brothel, I've never forced them to do anything, every time we just drink and talk to each other. When I make them happy, I'm also happy!"

"The women from there are different from other women. The other women always say how I'm not good at this, not good at that, but they don't."

Ming ChangYan laughed, "It's only natural, you're a little idiot with too much money and nowhere to spend it."

Zhao XiaoLan let out a little shy laugh, "But these jiejie treat me really well, I really like them."

Ming ChangYan examined him, though he may be talking big, he noted that there wasn't a single lie in his words. Thus he secretly confirmed: This guy's face was really thick.

Regarding a brothel, Ming shaoxia had never visited one before.

Back when TianQing was in poverty, eating became a problem. Such high-level entertainment activities like visiting brothels naturally had nothing to do with Ming shaoxia.

Zhao XiaoLan found the Hundred Flower Abyss. He was very familiar with this place, in just a few turns he was able to go around the avenue and into the area.

Ming ChangYan had heard of the distinguished Hundred Flower Abyss in the capital before but only knew that this place was a long street. The hundred flowers weren't referring to real flowers, but a description of the different young women each with their own merits that lined the streets.

Zhao XiaoLan dragged him along for another quarter-hour when a sticky fragrance suddenly began to emit in the air.

Ming ChangYan felt like he was about to go to war. His face was rigid and he didn't want to make a fool of himself, thus he coughed and asked, "Almost there?"

Zhao XiaoLan nodded his head, "Almost there!"

Ming ChangYan inquired, "We're going at such a late hour, what if they already closed up for the night?"

Zhao XiaoLan suddenly looked back at him in surprise. After a while, he suddenly realized, "I forgot! Yan-jiejie's never visited a brothel before!"

Ming ChangYan was just about to refute until he heard Zhao XiaoLan call him 'Yan-jiejie.' He immediately came back to his senses, and recalled that in the other's mind, he was still a woman!

As a result, Ming shaoxia threw all his shame away.

This was translated by , any repost of this is stolen and if you steal my work, I'm attacking you with my entire corridor of bird poop.

Hey guys guess what, I'm going to be doing online classes till April 13 cause of the coronavirus, so I'll be staying home for three weeks with a computer as my only ally hahaha ( ͡ಥ ͜ʖ ͡ಥ)

I'll get chapter 50 as soon as possible because I have so much free time on my hands and I don't like leaving you guys out to dry (also cause I like ch. 51 and I think you guys might like it too)

If you see any grammatical/translation errors please notify me! Me bad at grammar.

Stay safe everyone! ♡♡

Chapter end