Chapter 32 XXX XXXXXX

Serve her for a lifetime? This won’t do.

When her mother was on her deathbed, she entrusted her cousin to her, making her swear to treat him well. Even when her family was destitute, her mother still gave the best of everything to her cousin. His food, clothing, and living standards were once even better than hers, the legitimate young lady. Qiu Shuzhi even suspected that Qiu Qiushuang might be her mother’s illegitimate son from outside.

After the Qiu family fell on hard times, there were quite a few people who came to propose marriage, but these families were either so poor they could barely make ends meet yet still ambitiously wanted to marry a young master, or they already had several husbands and male concubines.

The reason was twofold: firstly, the Qiu family was no longer as prestigious as before, and secondly, Qiu Qiushuang was disabled, being mute.

Any family with good background and character wouldn’t want to marry such a husband, while Qiu Shuzhi didn’t want her gentle and virtuous cousin to marry into a chaotic family and suffer mistreatment. So, one thing led to another, and the matter was delayed.

Now that she was a fifth-rank official, no longer the pampered young lady who had fallen on hard times, she could fully use her official position to seek a good marriage for Qiu Qiushuang. How could she let him continue to waste away?

“Cousin, don’t worry, I will definitely find you a good family,” Qiu Shuzhi held his hand solemnly.

Qiu Qiushuang pressed his lips tightly and withdrew his hand to gesture: “There’s no need, I don’t want to get married.”

From beginning to end, he had never thought about becoming someone else’s husband, except for… He silently looked at Qiu Shuzhi’s clean and clear eyes.

In this life, the only one who could move his heart was Qiu Shuzhi alone.

Back then, when he escaped from that bloody calamity and was taken in by Qiu’s mother, he carried a deep blood feud and his eyes always held a piercing hatred. He constantly thought about revenge, until the Qiu family also encountered great misfortune.

He and Qiu Shuzhi depended on each other for survival. As young as they were, they supported each other. His heart, tempered by the nine hells, was gradually warmed by her. He even considered forgetting his past hatred and giving up on revenge, just to live with Qiu Shuzhi in an ordinary small town, be an ordinary young couple, have a pair of lovely children, and live happily for a lifetime.

“Why?”

“I’m getting older, and I can’t speak. Being able to stay by your side and take care of you is already enough for me.” Using his inability to speak as a self-deprecating tactic was Qiu Qiushuang’s usual approach.

It not only easily avoided marriage proposals but also made Qiu Shuzhi feel guilty towards him.

He indulged in the thought that even if one day his Shuzhi got married and took a husband, he could use this disability to forever remain in her back courtyard.

Qiu Shuzhi held his hand tightly and said firmly, “I have never felt that your inability to speak makes you any less than others. Cousin, rest assured, I will definitely find you a family with a clean background, a gentle wife-master, and understanding in-laws. You will definitely not suffer any grievances when you marry into such a household.”

To prevent Qiu Qiushuang from continuing to feel inferior, Qiu Shuzhi began to put the plan of finding a sister-in-law on her agenda, and the best opportunity for this search was when she hosted a banquet in her newly bestowed official residence.

So, although she had rapidly risen through the ranks, the usually low-profile Official Qiu in the imperial court unexpectedly went against her usual behavior and invited several notable young talents from the court to attend the banquet.

In the emperor-bestowed mansion, the famous gardens and beautiful waters showed quite a scholarly charm. The garden full of flowers and jade-like beauty made all the officials present exclaim in admiration. Indeed, it was worthy of being an imperial-bestowed mansion. For a moment, they all envied Qiu Shuzhi’s good fortune and came to congratulate her with gifts.

Qiu Shuzhi stood at the door to welcome the guests, wearing a thin mist-blue robe that trailed to the ground like light sea fog. She smiled as she greeted each guest, her skin as white as soft clouds and congealed cream. In her hair, she wore a slanting white jade hairpin, looking extraordinarily beautiful and untainted by the mundane world.

As soon as Yue Guanyi got off the carriage, he saw such a beautiful scene. He sighed that in just a few days of not seeing her, Lady Qiu had become even more beautiful, making even a man like him feel ashamed of his own appearance.

“Your Highness!” Seeing Yue Guanyi’s carriage arrive, Qiu Shuzhi hurried to welcome him.

“Congratulations on your new residence, Official Qiu.” Yue Guanyi handed the prepared gift to the servant beside him. This gift was something he had chosen for a long time, a rare copy of a famous calligrapher’s work from a hundred years ago. Previously, the commonplace gold and silver gifts he had given didn’t catch her eye, so he hoped this one would please her.

A flash of amazement passed through Qiu Shuzhi’s eyes.

Yue Guanyi was dressed in snow-white robes, like piled snow wrapped in gossamer, with an ethereal air like an immortal. However, on the side of his sleeve was embroidered a lush, intense camellia flower that seemed about to drip blood. In his hair was a blood jade hairpin. The extreme paleness made one realize the flower was even more vibrant; though vibrant, it wasn’t vulgar. It was like a few drops of blood-red had fallen on an inviolable snowy mountain, a cold immortal descending to the mortal world.

“Your Highness’s presence is the greatest honor for this official. There’s no need to bring any gifts.” Qiu Shuzhi glanced at the content written on the gift list and was shocked: “Your Highness, this is too precious.”

Yue Guanyi pursed his lips and smiled faintly: “It’s not precious.”

To find this rare copy, he had specially ordered people to ride at full speed, literally running four horses to death, and spent over a thousand taels of gold to buy it from others. But as long as it could make her happy, all of this was nothing.

As the two of them chatted warmly at the door, they were unaware that the group of officials had already started discussing in shock.

The legendarily aloof and gloomy Crown Prince, who never attended any official’s private banquets, had actually shown up at Qiu Shuzhi’s housewarming party.

Not only did he show up, but he was also wearing such an ostentatious outfit.

Tsk tsk tsk! This obvious intention to please.

The officials who came to offer congratulations exchanged glances, their eyes filled with ambiguity. These women, long immersed in the world of romance, could see at a glance what was going on.

While they envied Qiu Shuzhi for being able to tame the Crown Prince, turning this fierce beast into a loyal dog, they couldn’t help but mock the once high and mighty Yue Guanyi.

Men, no matter how proud, still have to lower themselves before women.

Especially Yue Guanyi, the most powerful man in the Great Qi Nation apart from the Empress Dowager. Countless officials had died at his hands. On the surface, the officials respected him, but in reality, they were looking for opportunities to pull him down from his high position, strip off his clothes, and humiliate him in the most vicious ways, to vent the anger that had been pressing on them for so many years.

Perhaps because Yue Guanyi had done too much evil in the court, and because the two of them were not yet married, the officials not only didn’t feel anything improper but even secretly encouraged Qiu Shuzhi to quickly take this poisonous husband into her back court.

A man should behave like a man, scheming and competing for favor with the small male concubines in the back court is what a man should do, rather than coming out to harm people in the future.

With all the officials arrived, and it being the season of blooming flowers, Qiu Shuzhi invited everyone to tour the mansion.

Because of Yue Guanyi’s male status, Qiu Shuzhi took this opportunity to call her cousin Qiu Qiushuang to accompany him. This would not only allow him to attend to the Crown Prince but also give her cousin a chance to appear openly among the many officials, closely selecting his ideal wife-master.

Yue Guanyi watched Qiu Shuzhi chatting happily with the officials not far away, casually grabbing a handful of fish food and scattering it into the pond, attracting a group of koi to gather.

“Cousin, long time no see.” The soft black hair hung like silk on the side of his face, hiding the intense hatred in his eyes, but the gloomy tone in his voice was impossible to conceal.

Qiu Qiushuang stood silently to the side, being a quiet mute, his eyes calm and without a trace of emotion.

Yue Guanyi’s eyes carried thick hatred: “Back then, when you schemed against me, sending me to her side to be driven away, you certainly didn’t expect that one day I would be able to return to her side again.”

Qiu Qiushuang also simply grabbed a handful of fish food from the bowl in his hand and threw it into the water. His lowered brow and submissive expression, with a slight smile at the corner of his lips, never changed from beginning to end. To outsiders, they appeared to be getting along well, but they didn’t know that the atmosphere here was already tense.

“Now I am the Crown Prince of Great Qi, I can help her rise to the clouds, but what about you? You’re nothing but an old and useless mute, only hiding behind her back, being her burden. Even a street vendor wouldn’t look at you. Yet you still delude yourself with dreams of being her husband, how presumptuous!” His eyes were fierce and burning, if it weren’t for his concern for Qiu Shuzhi, he would have wanted to flay him alive on the spot.

Qiu Qiushuang finally moved his eyelids, looking at him contemptuously.

He reached out his hand, using Yue Guanyi’s fish food bowl as cover, and lightly wrote a word on his wrist: Courtesan.

Then he smiled mockingly. So what if he had schemed against him?

A little male courtesan who had been trained by madams in brothels since childhood, who had seen the dirty flesh trade, and even had to learn the same bed postures as lowly male courtesans to please future customers. Having been immersed in this environment from a young age, even as a virgin courtesan, his eyes were dirty, and so was his heart.

Even if he had regained his status as a prince, so what? If it hadn’t been for Shuzhi saving him back then, buying him out from the madam for three years and preserving his chastity, he would have long since become a commodity ridden by thousands and pressed by tens of thousands.

Qiu Qiushuang looked at Yue Guanyi’s attire today, truly befitting of a Crown Prince raised in a brothel, exuding an air of promiscuity from head to toe.

“You—” Yue Guanyi’s wrist trembled, furious beyond words.

His brothel background was his sore spot, an wound that could never heal in his lifetime. Because of this, he would always be trampled under people’s feet, despised.

This was exactly the reaction Qiu Qiushuang wanted from Yue Guanyi. Taking advantage of his distraction, he quickly made his move, knocking the fish food bowl out of his hand. The sound of breaking porcelain suddenly rang out, causing everyone to look over curiously.

At this moment, Qiu Qiushuang gave a cold laugh and fell backwards.

Behind him was the deep, cold pond water, several meters deep. People seeing this would only think that Yue Guanyi had pushed him in.

However, Yue Guanyi reacted even faster than him, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him back, but in doing so, he himself flipped and fell into the pond.

“Your Highness!” With a cry of alarm, a figure in pale blue leapt into the pond as well.

Yue Guanyi was a good swimmer, but at this moment he allowed himself to sink slowly into the water, just to see that person coming towards him against the shimmering light on the water’s surface.

In the closed darkness underwater, everything around was pitch black, with only a faint light from above. Qiu Shuzhi grabbed his continuously sinking body, and seeing his tightly closed eyes, with her breath almost stopping, she pressed her face against his, passing air mouth to mouth.

Their long hair intertwined underwater, and all around was quiet except for the sound of flowing water. At this moment, no one else could disturb them. He wrapped his arm around her waist, his tightly closed eyes trembling slightly, the corner of his mouth curling into an almost imperceptible smile.