Chapter 8#

I had a great time with Chu Ruiyuan that night, but the next morning I found something was wrong.

My lips were really swollen from kissing, which was one thing. The most important thing was that my legs were so weak from the sex that I couldn’t walk.

Fortunately, after I struggled to put on my clothes, the chief eunuch who stayed behind to serve me offered me some medicine to reduce swelling. He said that Scum Emperor Chu also found his lips slightly uncomfortable before going to court, so he asked the imperial physician to send some medicine.

Having transmigrated here for more than ten years, I still can’t accept being served closely by others. Moreover, some places where the medicine needed to be applied were in private areas, so I asked the eunuch to wait outside the door and applied the medicine myself.

The medicine used by the Emperor in the palace is naturally top-notch. Before Chu Ruiyuan returned from court, my lips were no longer swollen, and my body felt much better. So I asked the chief eunuch to pass a message to Scum Emperor Chu, and I left the palace and returned to my Tea Classic Pavilion, knowing the way well.

After I went back, I thought about it. It wouldn’t work to follow Scum Emperor Chu blindly like this. Maybe one day I would be put in a sack, beaten up, tied to a stone, and sunk into the moat.

Just as I was wondering what to do, a childhood friend of mine came into the Tea Classic Pavilion to drink tea.

My eyes lit up.

This childhood friend belongs to my group of fair-weather friends.

He is the youngest son of the Minister of Works. Since childhood, he has been good at climbing trees and walls, and angering teachers with his writing. When he grew up, he was not good at literature or martial arts, so he could only rely on his father’s connections to get a sinecure, so as not to be said to be mooching off his parents at home.

Fortunately, his character is not bad. Among eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, he only indulges in the first two. He can be considered the “clean stream” among my fair-weather friends.

It’s a pity that his fate is both good and bad. His parents betrothed him to the daughter of the Minister of War, a family friend, since childhood.

That girl is extremely beautiful, but unfortunately, before marriage, she was a famous shrew in the capital. After marriage, she became a famous fierce wife in the capital.

As a result, my childhood friend went from slightly chubby to lean within two years of marriage. Not to mention that his original circle of friends was rectified so that only I, a former silk-pants who had made something of myself, was left. Even where he could go to meet friends during his days off was limited. If he went out of the circle, he might get a good beating.

Because the place I run has a good reputation, it was fortunate enough to be designated as one of the places my childhood friend could go, so he visited from time to time.

However, although my childhood friend is incompetent and afraid of his wife, he has a skill that can probably beat 95% of the ordinary people in this dynasty.

That is, he is particularly gossipy.

He knows the kind of gossip like the little female dog of the Duke of Cheng’s mansion was raped by the little male dog of General Liu’s family next door and gave birth to three little spotted dogs.

Sometimes I feel that Scum Emperor Chu not recruiting him as a spy is simply a waste of such talent.

So as soon as my childhood friend came, I knew the information channel had arrived.

Generally speaking, after my childhood friend comes to the Tea Classic Pavilion, he will first gossip with me in the lobby about the various recent events in the capital. When the students reading and drinking tea in the whole hall can’t help but prick up their ears to listen, he will drag me to my VVIP private room in the backyard, leaving the scholars in the lobby scratching their heads after hearing half of the gossip, causing me to order the staff to give these victims a discount as an apology.

But today, before he could speak, I dragged him all the way to my exquisitely decorated tea room in the backyard.

I brewed a pot of good Silver Needle tea for him, poured it, and said: “I heard that His Majesty’s wedding has been decided. I just want to ask you what kind of temperament the future Empress has, and what kind of connections her family has. Maybe I can get in touch with her in the future and do bigger business.”

My childhood friend chuckled: “You have a big appetite,” and then explained to me the situation of Chu Ruiyuan’s future wife and concubine.

First, the future Empress is the legitimate daughter of the Duke of An. It is said that she is a talented woman proficient in zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but her character is a bit too moderate, and she doesn’t like to stand out in anything.

The future Imperial Consort is from Chu Ruiyuan’s mother’s side. She is his cousin who is not within the five degrees of mourning, not too far but not too close. She has learned some martial arts from her father and brother since she was young. Although she is not as famous for being fierce as my childhood friend’s wife, she is also a person with a strong character and not to be trifled with.

After my childhood friend introduced the basic situation, just as I wanted to sigh that the combination of this Empress and Consort was truly wonderful, and that after a long time, it would either be doomed or chaotic, he started talking about the relationship between the two.

It just so happened that the two most powerful women in the future of this empire were neighbors, grew up together since childhood, and even had their birthdays on the same day.

It is said that they visited each other, ate and slept together since they were young. When they grew up, they even found the same teacher for etiquette and needlework classes. If it weren’t for one liking zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and the other preferring martial arts, they would probably stick together 24 hours a day.

My childhood friend talked about how these two people appreciated each other, and finally concluded with a bit of envy: “To be able to marry such a pair of close sisters together is probably the dream of most men.”

I didn’t answer.

I just savored the various friendships between the future Empress and Imperial Consort he mentioned, and always felt there was a smell.

The smell of lilies (lesbianism).

Of course, it could also be that I, a gay man, see lesbians everywhere.

Whether Chu Scum Emperor’s future Empress and Imperial Consort are tolerant, intolerant, or lesbians, three months passed in a flash.

In the blink of an eye, the Grand Ceremony of Conferring the Empress arrived.

According to the customs of this dynasty, the Emperor suspends court for three days after the wedding to cultivate feelings with the Empress. And the next night, I guess Scum Emperor Chu will go to visit his cousin, Consort Shu, to show respect and balance.

After being a groom twice and working continuously for four nights, I estimate that if he still remembers to find me, it will be seven or eight days after the wedding.

Who knew that he sent a eunuch to the Tea Classic Pavilion to summon me on the afternoon of the fifth day.

I guess things are definitely not going well in bed for him.

From the busy preparations before his wedding until now, seven days have accumulated. He really needs this friend with benefits to relieve himself.

Unfortunately, I can’t leave for a while.

Because there is a burden looking at me pitifully with tearful eyes.

This burden of mine is like this.

The day before Scum Emperor Chu’s wedding, on my way from the Prime Minister’s residence to the Tea Classic Pavilion, I suddenly saw a man beating a hunched old man. I immediately roared at the injustice and asked my attendants to subdue the man.

When I helped up the person who had fallen by the roadside and was being kicked and beaten, I found that it was not an old man, but a thin and weak boy who looked only eight or nine years old. Because he had white hair, I mistook him for an old man.

After I carefully questioned the two and the onlookers, I learned that the man beating the person was the child’s uncle.

This child was an illegitimate son born to his mother after she was seduced by a wandering prodigal from the south without a matchmaker. Not only was this illegitimate son born with white hair, but he also had a transverse palmar crease. He was said to have caused the death of his mother and grandfather. Now even his family has declined because of this ominous child, and creditors are coming to the door to collect debts.

This uncle was taking his anger out on the child.

Looking at the face of the person beating the child, I knew he was a master of eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling. It’s better to say that he ruined the family himself than to say that the family was ruined by the child.

But facing a group of ancient superstitious masses who firmly believed in the “jinx,” I really couldn’t open my mouth to refute the view of ominous people bringing bad luck.

But seeing that the child was really pitiful, I thought to myself that I didn’t lack money to raise another person, so I took out silver and asked the uncle to sign a contract, buying him over.

Although I have experienced such a magical thing as transmigration, I still scoff at this kind of feudal superstition and traditional thinking. But my parents and brother are after all native ancient people, and my father and brother are officials in the court, so I shouldn’t bring bad luck to them.

So I didn’t take the child back to the Prime Minister’s residence, but took him to the backyard of my Tea Classic Pavilion to raise him.

When I took the child back, he didn’t speak all the way, but he obediently listened to me and followed me. When I asked the servant to help him take a bath and change clothes, he also did it quietly.

However, when he washed off the mud and came out in new clothes, I couldn’t help being surprised.

This child is damn good-looking.

Good-looking enough to rival Scum Emperor Chu who stunned me back then.

Coupled with his three thousand strands of silver hair, there is simply an indescribable charm.

Let me reiterate, I am not a pedophile, I just appreciate it purely.

If you are dirty, that’s your business.

After giving the child a bath and changing into new clothes, I asked my personal servant, Congwen, who had been with me since childhood, to bring food.

Because I was worried that he had been malnourished and had a bad stomach, I didn’t let the kitchen make it too greasy. It was mainly some stomach-nourishing dishes and a bowl of lean meat porridge.

As a result, the child looked at me timidly at first. When he realized that I really wanted him to eat, he gobbled it up as if he hadn’t touched food for several days.

Looking at him, I couldn’t help feeling distressed. While picking up food for him, I told him not to overeat, and that he would be well-fed every day in the future.

After the meal, I asked in detail and learned that the child looked only eight or nine years old, but was actually twelve. He had been mistreated by his uncle and aunt since his mother passed away at the age of three, which was why he grew so thin and small.

Looking at his beautiful little face, I felt even more pity in my heart, so I gave him the name Ruilin, meaning auspiciousness, longevity, and perfection.

He was sold to me by his uncle with a contract, so naturally he cut off ties with his previous people cleanly. From now on, he is my adopted brother, takes my surname, and is called Liu Ruilin.

Although this Liu Ruilin is already twelve, probably because he was abused since childhood, he always sleeps restlessly in the middle of the night and often has night terrors.

Seeing that he was really pitiful, the next day I asked Guan Mingyue’s senior brother, Divine Doctor Jiang, whom I now know is not just a senior brother, to prescribe a soothing prescription. I fed him every night, stayed by his bed, and left only after he fell asleep.

So now that Chu Ruiyuan summoned me to the palace, and Liu Ruilin was looking at me eagerly like a little puppy, I really couldn’t say the words to obey the summons for a moment.

Liu Ruilin looks really pitiful…

Liu Ruilin’s little face is really beautiful…

Chu Ruiyuan’s face is also beautiful, but after a long time, naturally it is not as stunning as at the beginning…

I hesitated for a long time, and finally gritted my teeth and told the eunuch who came to deliver the oral edict that I was not feeling very well today, and I was afraid I couldn’t enter the palace to see the Emperor.

For the past four years, the one who came to summon me for Chu Ruiyuan was basically this eunuch.

He knows what kind of harmonious friends with benefits relationship I have with the CEO of this dynasty. So although this was the first time in my life that I disobeyed the decree, he was neither surprised nor angry. He repeatedly advised me to rest well and went back to the palace to report.

Later, I looked at the account books in the backyard of the Tea Classic Pavilion, had dinner with Liu Ruilin in the evening, and then went to the bathroom in the bedroom to take a bath, waiting to watch Liu Ruilin take his medicine and sleep with him for a while before I went to sleep.

As a result, just as I finished washing in the wooden tub and was about to come out, the door was suddenly pushed open.

Then Chu Ruiyuan walked into my room.

I was shocked when I saw Chu Ruiyuan close the door and walk over.

Pretending to be sick and disobeying the decree, and getting caught red-handed, this is the rhythm of me being doomed.

Especially in recent years, Scum Emperor Chu has become more and more like an emperor in his posture and tactics, and his methods are even more ruthless. The content of his chat with me after sex has changed from which minister made him angry at the beginning, and then there was no then, to which minister violated his sacred heart, and then that minister would be unlucky.

Watching him approach step by step, I only felt like I heard the footsteps of the God of Death, and my heart trembled.

He walked up to me and looked at me without speaking for a long time. Just when I couldn’t help but want to apologize, he suddenly picked me up from the wooden tub, wrapped me in the bath towel on the shelf next to me, and carried me horizontally to the bed in the bedroom.