Having failed to escape again and with his escape route cut off, Ling Xiao, though no longer fearing for his life, was still unhappy and remained depressed all day. Zhang Xin, feigning illness, invited him to Yongle Palace, but Ling Xiao remained listless.
Although she felt fine, Zhang Xin, who was also in a bad mood, sighed even more upon seeing her in this state after her tactful suggestion that she and Xia Mingzhe could cultivate a lifelong bond together was rejected. The two sat facing each other at the table, both with their hands supporting their chins, their pretty faces drooping, gazing at each other in silence.
"Lingxiao..." Zhang Xin called her weakly. Lingxiao responded lazily. Zhang Xin then said, "Don't you feel... that the palace is getting more and more deserted?"
She started counting on her fingers, "The Empress Dowager is no longer in the palace, my brother the Emperor and Ah Hao are at Jingyun Nunnery, and the Empress has also gone, although it's not important. But most of the other concubines have also been sent out of the palace, and it feels like there are far fewer palace servants..."
“None of that matters. The main problem is, why are we the only two left to keep each other company? Tenth Brother is so busy these days that he's nowhere to be seen. We can't just sit here like this... Why don't we find some fun ourselves? Anyway, nobody has time to bother us right now.”
Although she suffered a setback with Xia Mingzhe, Zhang Xin, who was not usually very sensitive to things, was not too sad. However, at this moment, her heart was restless, so she encouraged Ling Xiao.
"What kind of fun are you looking for..." Ling Xiao slowly raised his eyelids and glanced at Zhang Xin, without any expectations.
Seeing that Ling Xiao didn't immediately refuse, Zhang Xin perked up and whispered, "Didn't I mistakenly think Xia Zi went to a brothel? After asking around, I learned that there's a Qingfeng Pavilion in Lin'an City, and the male prostitutes there are said to be incredibly handsome, some refined and elegant, others dashing and dashing, and they even have some kind of 'Four Gentlemen' title. I'm so curious, why don't we go there and see for ourselves?"
"Qingfeng Pavilion, male prostitutes..." Realizing what Zhang Xin was referring to, Ling Xiao looked at her in disbelief. Seeing her reaction, Zhang Xin instinctively knew she had given a terrible idea, but to her surprise, Ling Xiao suddenly grabbed her hand excitedly, "Your Highness! Your idea is truly brilliant!"
Hehe, since I can't leave anyway, I was just worried about having a lot of money but nowhere to spend it. Imagining a bunch of handsome men surrounding me, Ling Xiao thought that keeping a gigolo wouldn't be so bad!
·
Zhang Xin was the most experienced at sneaking out of the palace to play, and it was even more convenient without Zhang Yu keeping an eye on her. Bringing Ling Xiao along was also a piece of cake. Sitting in the carriage, the more she thought about all the handsome young men surrounding and serving her, the more excited she became.
For convenience, Ling Xiao and Zhang Xin dressed up as spoiled young masters. One wore a dark blue brocade robe with dark cloud patterns, and the other wore a sandalwood-colored long robe with bamboo patterns. One had a black jade ring around his waist, and the other had a white jade pendant hanging from his waist. Both wore golden crowns to tie their hair up, held sandalwood fans with calligraphy and paintings by famous artists in their hands, and wore black boots embroidered with gold thread. They exuded the three words: "not short of money."
Ling Xiao was quite satisfied with his attire. Whether or not people could tell he was a woman didn't matter; as long as he had money, that was enough. Who in business would turn down money? Zhang Xin thought it was an exaggeration, but seeing Ling Xiao's pleased expression, she said nothing. Once they arrived at Qingfeng Pavilion, their appearance alone was enough to attract attention and people would come forward to serve them.
To shut the man up beforehand and prevent him from saying anything unpleasant, Ling Xiao generously slapped two hundred-tael silver notes into the man's hand and said in a pretentious manner, "Bring up your best young men. If they serve you well, there will naturally be more rewards."
Zhang Xin's eyes widened instantly, feeling that Ling Xiao was truly incredibly imposing at this moment. Seeing that the man immediately bowed and scraped, inviting them to take a seat, Zhang Xin couldn't help but chuckle. She followed behind Ling Xiao and was led upstairs into a rather elegantly decorated room.
After being invited to sit down, a servant came up to serve tea and water. Ling Xiao glanced at the young man, who was only fifteen or sixteen years old. He had rosy lips and white teeth and exuded a youthful spirit. Ling Xiao felt a little more expectant of the male prostitute he was about to meet.
After tea was served, wine and dishes were brought to the table. Palace servants dressed as attendants came forward to taste the tea, wine, and food to check for any problems. Although it was also their first time in such a place, Zhang Xin was not as composed as Ling Xiao, looking around here and there.
While not particularly unusual, it was at least novel. After a while, still no one had arrived, Zhang Xin sat back down at the table, bored, and tugged at Ling Xiao's sleeve. "Now that we're here, when are we going back?"
Ling Xiao took a sip of tea, knowing that this was the first time, and probably the last, so she had to enjoy herself to the fullest. Otherwise, why would she be so generous? So she replied to Zhang Xin, "Have fun before you leave. Think about it, after today, will you have another chance like this?" Zhang Xin nodded in deep agreement.
Just then, a commotion arose outside, and several figures could be seen standing at the door. Someone knocked on the door, saying that the people had arrived, so Ling Xiao let them in.
The door opened the next instant, and a group of male prostitutes followed the lead man into the room, standing in a line for Ling Xiao to choose from. Ling Xiao glanced at a handsome young man, and seeing him immediately lower his head in embarrassment, he felt pity for him and thought... it's good to be rich.
Having seen countless exceptional men like Zhang Yu, Prince Ning, and Xia Mingzhe, Zhang Xin wasn't particularly surprised by the looks of these male prostitutes. Ling Xiao, on the other hand, found them quite appealing; the fact that he wasn't shocked was already a pleasant surprise. After weeding out a few who were a bit too burly, the remaining ones were all quite handsome.
Those who were not involved with the matter withdrew immediately, leaving the remaining male prostitutes to surround Zhang Xin and Ling Xiao. They could tell that these were two young women, one of whom looked somewhat inexperienced, and both were likely daughters of wealthy families, so they dared not act recklessly.
Ling Xiao also dared not joke about Zhang Xin's innocence, lest she contract some kind of strange disease, which would make things even more troublesome. Therefore, after everyone sat down, she said first, "Today we'll only drink, play drinking games, eat meat, and chat, nothing else! You'll all benefit greatly from making us happy."
Zhang Xin was still inexperienced in matters of the heart and was completely clueless about relationships. She was indifferent to Ling Xiao's words and wondered what else there was to say. She didn't understand, but whatever Ling Xiao said was right!
The male prostitutes were all very friendly and relaxed, and soon the atmosphere became lively with laughter and chatter. They served Ling Xiao and Zhang Xin drinks and food, taught them to play drinking games and riddles, and when they were in a good mood, they would sing a little song or perform a short stand-up comedy routine, which amused Zhang Xin, who had never seen anything like this before.
Zhang Xin wasn't a good drinker, and she got almost completely drunk by the end, but once she was drunk, she just slept and didn't make a fuss. Ling Xiao was much better at drinking than Zhang Xin, but he still couldn't keep up with the drinking. Before he became completely dazed, he tossed over some silver notes and finally prepared to leave.
·
Regardless, nothing unexpected spoiled Ling Xiao's mood; he thoroughly enjoyed himself, a smile constantly on his face. Just as the male prostitutes helped him down from the second floor, he discovered that Qingfeng Pavilion was surrounded by soldiers. Opening his eyes wider, he saw none other than Prince Ning, his face dark as he strode towards him.
Ling Xiao chuckled, raised a hand to Prince Ning, waved, and greeted him, "Yo!" Xia Mingzhe, who was beside Prince Ning, saw that Zhang Xin was already dead drunk, and her complexion was no better than Prince Ning's.
Knowing that Ling Xiao and Zhang Xin had run away from the palace and were causing trouble at a place like the Nanfeng Pavilion, Prince Ning was already furious. Now, seeing Ling Xiao, dressed as a young master, completely drunk and leaning unceremoniously against a male prostitute, his face darkened even more. Looking at Zhang Xin, who was already passed out, he felt a chill emanating from her.
Seeing that the two men before him were both imposing and unlike the young masters who usually came here to seek pleasure, the young man supporting Ling Xiao realized the danger and quickly handed the man over, saying in a low voice, "We just had some wine, we didn't do anything else, please rest assured, sir."
Without anyone to support him, Ling Xiao lost his balance and fell towards Prince Ning. Prince Ning didn't move, so Ling Xiao reached out and braced himself against his chest to regain his footing, muttering, "Stingy." Zhang Xin was being supported by the palace servants who had brought her out, unlike Ling Xiao. Xia Mingzhe restrained himself and didn't go up to take her.
Prince Ning glanced at the male prostitutes present, as if trying to discern the truth in their words, or perhaps suppressing his anger. In the end, he said nothing, and somewhat roughly tucked Ling Xiao under his arm as they left the small restaurant.
After Zhang Xin was helped out, Xia Mingzhe glanced at the group of men and left with them. The group of male prostitutes were left looking at each other, but since they had escaped unharmed and even received a considerable reward, they didn't feel it was a bad deal.
Xia Mingzhe was responsible for escorting Zhang Xin back to the palace, and they boarded the same carriage together. Ling Xiao, however, was taken away by Prince Ning. Being sandwiched between someone was quite uncomfortable, and Ling Xiao was still fairly conscious, so she grumbled, "Monster, monster, let go of my grandfather, let go of my grandfather!" She poked his lower back. Prince Ning was amused by her annoyance. After getting Ling Xiao into the carriage, he left her behind and simply sat to the side, arms crossed, watching her.
Squinting, Ling Xiao noticed that Prince Ning's expression was extremely unpleasant. He lay sprawled on the small, couch-like chair, groaning and groaning, not wanting to explain or argue with him.
One was seething with anger, the other feigning ignorance; they walked in silence the entire way. The carriage finally stopped outside the Ning Prince's residence. Seeing that Ling Xiao remained motionless, the Ning Prince finally spoke, "Get down."
Ling Xiao had dozed off halfway there and was much more awake now. Without even thinking, she knew she had been taken to Prince Ning's place. She sat up, still feeling dizzy, and leaned against the carriage wall, half-opening her eyes as she looked at Prince Ning, but remained silent, as if expressing her protest through silence.
Prince Ning ignored her and tried to pull her off the carriage. Ling Xiao immediately lay down and hugged the seat, refusing to look at him, and shouted, "If you force yourself on me again, I'll scream for sex!"
"Remember to shout louder," Prince Ning said coldly.
“...Shouldn’t you have said, ‘Even if you scream your lungs out, no one will come to save you’?” Ling Xiao expressed his dissatisfaction with Prince Ning’s unconventional approach.
Ling Xiao's words only earned her a cold laugh from Prince Ning. She could only say, "You can go down, but first you have to say one thing: 'Even if you scream your lungs out, no one will come to save you.' Otherwise, I'll hold on to it and not let go. Go ahead and dismantle the carriage if you dare!"
Prince Ning remained silent and did not continue to drag her away. Feeling quite dissatisfied with Prince Ning's lack of cooperation, Ling Xiao lay on the seat and started playing by herself, varying the volume of her voice.
"Don't touch me, or I'll call for help!"
"Go ahead and scream, scream until your throat is hoarse, no one will come to save you! Hehehehehehehehe!"
"My throat is sore, my throat is sore! Waaaaaah!"
Prince Ning: "..." Once again, he was amused by Ling Xiao's words. Prince Ning still looked at her coldly and asked, "Have you had enough fun?"
Ling Xiao chuckled, shook his head, adjusted his position to make himself more comfortable, and then grumbled, "I don't want to get down, I want to go back to the Imperial Hospital."