Chapter 11 Outstanding Disciple of the Male Virtues Class

“I’m giving you kind advice now. If you don’t listen, I can certainly speak to your masters behind you. Then, I won’t need to lift a finger – someone else will naturally deal with you.”

Only then did these men finally give up their intentions and slink away dejectedly.

The small courtyard returned to its usual tranquility, but Qiu Qiushuang still looked displeased, his gaze fixed sternly on those scantily clad men.

“Cousin, do you know who sent these people?”

Qiu Qiushuang withdrew his gaze and wrote in her hand: Jiang Si.

Qiu Shuzhi frowned slightly. It was her again.

Last time at the lake outing, she had already tried to push people towards her. Unexpectedly, failing once didn’t stop her from trying a second time.

Although she had now openly aligned herself with the Qin faction, it had nothing to do with her. Was there really a need to test her again and again?

Qiu Qiushuang’s finger stopped in her palm, tapping lightly.

“What’s wrong?” Qiu Shuzhi saw his expression wasn’t good.

Qiu Qiushuang hesitated before gesturing: “Those men are from brothels… they’re not clean… don’t like them, don’t accept them… and don’t in the future either, alright?”

“Of course.” Qiu Shuzhi laughed, knowing he was concerned for her.

She wasn’t a person given to indulgence. Rather than being mired in love and passion, she was more interested in making her mark in this world.

Qiu Qiushuang silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Inside Zhao Prison, dark cells echoed with cries of those wishing for death over life. Filthy rats and ants gazed from damp corners, as if countless eyes like ghosts and spirits were watching everything in this human hell.

Wang Qing lay dying on a pile of straw, covered in blood. Blood flowed from her wounds, startling a swarm of cockroaches and rats crawling out from cracks to perch on her horrific injuries, greedily lapping up the blood.

A dark shadow stopped in front of her. In the flickering firelight, the shadow looked as grim as a vicious demon crawling out of hell.

Wang Qing stared with terrified eyes, backing away repeatedly while begging: “Your Highness, I don’t dare, I don’t dare anymore, please spare me!”

A cold, mocking snort in the silent Zhao Prison was terrifyingly gloomy. Yue Guanyi’s eyes flashed with icy anger as he stepped on her face and snarled, “It was this mouth of yours that nearly ruined her reputation and destroyed her good name.”

Wang Qing’s face was viciously ground into the floor by his foot. Too many people had died in this prison cell; even the soil was mixed with human blood and flesh. The stench of decay and the fear Yue Guanyi instilled in her left her whole body cold and trembling.

His Shuzhi was so good, she was the bright moon in the sky, yet she had been insulted by these filthy, lowly worms. How could he swallow this anger?

The cold light in his eyes refracted like blades, cutting into her body one stroke at a time. He wished he could wring out all her blood, break her bones, and mince her flesh.

Wang Qing had envied Qiu Shuzhi’s meteoric rise, achieving in just a few months of entering officialdom what she couldn’t achieve in a lifetime. Blinded by jealousy, she had fabricated those rumors to pull Qiu Shuzhi down from the clouds, not knowing this envy would also be her own undoing.

She trembled all over. After the terrifying methods of the Imperial Guard, she didn’t have long to live. She was still alive, but already a dead thing.

Yue Guanyi coldly withdrew his foot, grinding it hard on the ground as if he had stepped in something dirty.

Chang’an drew his sword. “Your Highness, do you want to finish her off now?”

“No need!” Yue Guanyi’s cold eyes glanced over, his incomparably handsome face as cold as a demon wearing human skin in the gloomy Zhao Prison. “Let her slowly wait for death here.”

Chang’an sheathed his sword, seemingly accustomed to Yue Guanyi’s cruelty. No one who entered Zhao Prison could leave intact; if not dead, they would at least be flayed.

Yue Guanyi slowly walked out of Zhao Prison, passing by cells filled with bloody human forms, all tortured beyond recognition.

Yue Guanyi wiped the blood from his hands with a handkerchief, his expression unchanged. “Are there still people in court gossiping about Official Qiu behind her back?”

“No more, that group is very well-behaved now.”

These were all seasoned courtiers. Since Wang Qing entered Zhao Prison, they had immediately become as quiet as mice. After all, Yue Guanyi’s evil reputation preceded him. If one provoked him, death was not far off.

Yue Guanyi took a seat, his fingers lightly tapping on the table. After a long while, he asked, “Has there been any movement on Official Qiu’s side?”

Chang’an thought to himself, if you really care about Official Qiu, why don’t you go find her yourself? What’s the point of always sending people to secretly monitor her?

Do you know that since Official Qiu took office as the Shunfu Prefecture Administrator, all the wealthy merchants and officials in the capital can’t wait to stuff their sons into her household? If you don’t make a move soon, her back courtyard will be full!

But complaints aside, Chang’an still reported truthfully.

“Recently, there have been many court officials sending gifts to Official Qiu’s residence. Lady Jiang has been the most aggressive, not hesitating to send well-trained courtesans to her household to curry favor with Official Qiu.”

Yue Guanyi’s eyes flashed cold, his knuckles gripping the armrest tightly, his whole body sharp with anger.

Seeing his displeased expression, Chang’an quickly added, “But Official Qiu didn’t accept them. Instead, she drove them all away.”

Yue Guanyi’s face was as cold as frost, his deep voice as if laced with poison: “Vulgar powder and rouge.”

Chang’an hastily agreed, “Yes, yes, they are all vulgar powder and rouge. Official Qiu, with her scholarly integrity, surely wouldn’t look at these men.”

Unexpectedly, Yue Guanyi clenched his fist and slammed it on the table, his eyes flashing with icy light like a thousand miles of ice: “Jiang Si actually sent those brothel-raised goods to her. Those lowly things have been through who knows how many women’s hands.”

“Yes, yes, yes, these courtesans are called ‘pure’ in name, but in reality, they’re just raised to serve women. Someone as refined as Official Qiu would find it dirty to even touch them,” Chang’an, hearing the jealousy in his voice, quickly agreed.

Chang’an estimated that with Jiang Si being so bold as to send men to Qiu Shuzhi’s residence, Yue Guanyi surely couldn’t sit still anymore.

If nothing else, he should at least teach Jiang Si a lesson and give those courtesans a taste of suffering.

After all, he adored Qiu Shuzhi so much, he would cut out his own heart for her if he could.

Now that there were men around his beloved, even ordinary men wouldn’t be able to tolerate it, let alone the grand Crown Prince.

Yue Guanyi’s pale yet beautiful face in the dark Zhao Prison was like a poisonous flower blooming on a corpse.

Chang’an was waiting for Yue Guanyi to give a harsh order when he heard Yue Guanyi say after a long silence: “Go and select a few men from civilian families with clean backgrounds and gentle personalities to send to Official Qiu.”

“Huh?” Chang’an’s mind couldn’t react for a moment. He had sharpened his knife ready to kill, and this was it?

Yue Guanyi’s long lashes cast a pale blue shadow as he lowered his eyes: “Those men whose bodies have been soiled by others won’t catch her eye. At least these men from clean family backgrounds can warm her bed, amuse her, and relieve her boredom.”

Chang’an’s eyes widened. So after all this, you’re not angry because Jiang Si sent men to Official Qiu’s residence, but because the men Jiang Si sent weren’t clean enough?

She already drove the men away herself, and you’re still licking your wounds and sending her more and better men?

Chang’an didn’t know if it was Yue Guanyi’s brain that had a problem, or his own.

Yue Guanyi didn’t have all those twists and turns in his thinking like Chang’an did.

After so many years, Qiu Shuzhi had finally appeared by his side again. He was so happy he didn’t know what to do with himself, and had forgotten that she hadn’t taken a husband for many years, and besides one close cousin, there were no other men around her.

He was both happy and worried for Qiu Shuzhi.

Happy because Qiu Shuzhi hadn’t had other men around her for many years, allowing him to continue his shameless daydreams, fantasizing that one day he could become her bedside companion. Just being a bedside companion would be enough; he never dared hope that Qiu Shuzhi could properly marry him. Even being an unofficial consort without status would be enough.

On the other hand, he was ashamed of his own background. He bitterly cursed those courtesans from brothels as lowly, but how was he any different? While cursing those courtesans, he was also reminding himself not to have improper, presumptuous thoughts. He would never be worthy of his Qiu Niang.

He just wanted to quietly help her from the sidelines. Whatever she wanted, he would do his utmost to deliver to her hands.

She was already an adult. How could a woman not have a man who knew her needs? Of course he had to gather the best and cleanest men to send to her. Even if they didn’t catch her eye, at least they could rub her shoulders and sing to her when she was tired.

Chang’an sighed inwardly, not knowing what spell his master was under. The noble prince had lowered himself to the dust.

After all, this was the master he had followed for many years. Chang’an felt bad but didn’t know how to advise him. Men in love were always obsessive and crazy; he couldn’t extricate himself with his own strength.

Chang’an could only silently place his hopes on Qiu Shuzhi, who still knew nothing. He hoped that one day when Qiu Shuzhi learned of the master’s feelings for her, she wouldn’t let him down.

That day, the sons of good families “carefully selected” by Yue Guanyi were packed into carriages and sent to Qiu Shuzhi’s home.

Qiu Qiushuang had just finished washing the dishes. When he opened the door, he saw several well-dressed young men looking at him timidly.

Having just sent away one group, now another group came, changing styles and approaches. Qiu Qiushuang’s carefully adjusted mood crumbled.

Before Qiu Qiushuang could get angry, Qiu Shuzhi quickly ran out. Seeing Chang’an sitting in the carriage, she was surprised: “Did His Highness send you to deliver these?”

Chang’an nodded.

She found it hard to believe that the usually aloof and frosty Yue Guanyi would do such a thing.

Seeing that Qiu Shuzhi didn’t have much of a reaction, Chang’an felt anxious and started speaking on behalf of his master: “His Highness heard that Lady Jiang sent courtesans to your residence, so he specially ordered me to bring these people. But they are not from brothels; they are all sons of good families with clean backgrounds.”

Qiu Shuzhi hurriedly said, “That’s true, but I have no connection with Lady Jiang, and those people she sent were all sent away by me.”

Chang’an saw that Qiu Shuzhi hadn’t understood the meaning behind his words and felt anxious. This Official Qiu was usually so clever and quick-witted, how could she be so obtuse when it came to matters of the heart?

He could only continue along the same line: “You should tell His Highness these things yourself.”

Qiu Shuzhi nodded solemnly: “Alright, is His Highness at the villa now?”

She didn’t want Yue Guanyi to misunderstand that besides swinging back and forth between the Yue and Qin factions, she was also entangled with the Dian King’s forces.

“His Highness is still at Zhao Prison now. If you really want to see His Highness, you should come with me to wait for him at the villa.”

“That’s fine.” Qiu Shuzhi nodded in agreement. Glancing at the young men who looked like startled little white rabbits, she said, “Bring them along too.”