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"You don't understand Young Master Ba's personal charm. I once asked him to help me write a love letter to the man I'd been childhood sweethearts with, but, oh my... he went to propose to him the very next day!"
"Your man was way too easy to sway, wasn't he?"
"Not at all. Young Master Ba taught me to casually toss the letter somewhere, preferably where his parents would accidentally see it. It's all Young Master Ba's fault. He made me sound so virtuous and wise, so capable of managing a household and raising children, and so modest in my wording, so..."
"...He taught you how to scheme against your future husband? What a devious sissy."
"I don't think he's all that amazing either. He just knows a few petty tricks. What proper young master would act as carefree and undisciplined as him, run around the streets like a lunatic with a fan clenched between his teeth? A true gentleman should be like the eldest son of Chancellor Li—well-bred and graceful, imposing and distinguished, cold and silent. Even in modern times, I still wouldn't dare look him in the eye."
"The young master of the Li household? Young Master Chenjing of Dongxu Academy? The handsome man you all voted the number one man you most wanted to marry last time? He's so hard to approach. Besides, I heard people from their academy say that he doesn't seem to have much interest in romantic affairs between men and women."
"No interest in women? What about men, then? Could men and men really do that kind of thing too?"
"Longyang's love is an eternal mystery, something us women can never comprehend."
"Would he be interested in Young Master Ba, then?"
"You're overthinking it, aren't you? Even if Young Master Chenjing didn't like women, he wouldn't take a fancy to a sissy!"
"Shh! Keep your voice down. He heard you!"
So they called him a good-for-nothing sissy. Hmph, hmph!
With his lips hanging wide open and a hoarse slurping sound as he sucked back the drool about to fall, he halted in the middle of the street. He suddenly pulled the fan from between his teeth, flicked it open with a light motion of his fingers, and revealed a hauntingly beautiful Clivia dancing across the white paper. He arched his slender brows, a teasing smile flashing across his fair, handsome face. Then he stepped out in his black satin shoes and sauntered forward with the elegant gait of a gentleman, leaving the women behind him so bashful they no longer dared say another word.
Imposing and distinguished, cold and silent? Could it really be that hard? Just say fewer words and walk a little slower, and you'd have it down, wouldn't you? That was women for you—blind in the eyes and blind in the heart. No wonder tragedies kept happening where they mistook the wrong lover and confessed to the wrong man. And guiding them from blindness into the light was the great cause he, Young Master Zhu Bafu, had devoted himself to!
However, he had no time today to save some respectable young lady who had strayed off the path. A client was waiting beneath the fifth willow tree at the entrance to Willow Street, waiting for his handwritten love letter to woo a sweetheart.
The man was mysterious. He had never seen his true appearance and had left behind only one sentence as the delivery password.
He had to be one of those sour academy scholars. They had read too much of Confucius and Mencius, so every word they spoke and every stroke they wrote was filled with benevolence and righteousness. They had forgotten how to write about the little loves and tender affections, yet were too embarrassed to lower themselves and ask those lowly professionals in the trade for help. But the urge to court a girl wouldn't lessen just because they had studied Confucius and Mencius. Physical needs could be dealt with at Chunfen Pavilion, but for emotional needs, they could only come to Young Master Zhu Bafu for help.
Wasn't it just ghostwriting a love letter? What was there to be ashamed of? Was it really necessary to make it so mysterious? There was even a secret password. Let's see what he had written...
The setting sun slanted low, filling the sky with crimson clouds. The scenery surrounding the street took on a dreamy glow, while a row of willows along the lakeside danced in the breeze.
Beneath the fifth willow tree at the entrance to Willow Street stood a faint, tranquil figure with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing toward the lake and listening to the willows as he pondered in silence. His jade crown was undone, and his satin-black hair fell freely over his shoulders. Now and then, a strand tangled around a willow branch and fluttered in the wind. Brocade wrapped his body, while his jade-colored, gold-edged Wide Sleeves swayed like flowing water, with several willow catkins lingering stubbornly beside them.
What an imposing stance, what an ethereal bearing—he looked like some aristocratic young master who never needed to eat, burp, scrub his back, or use the privy for the rest of his life!
The seductively swaying willow branches made his figure appear and disappear, while his leisurely, tranquil air resembled that of an exiled immortal from beyond the mortal world, profound and unfathomable. His lowered eyes stared at the ripples wrinkling the lake's surface beneath the breeze. He seemed to be waiting for someone, yet also seemed lost in the scenery. His entire body radiated a clear signal: idle people keep away, strangers stay back.
The fifth willow tree, a man, waiting for someone—the conditions were all met. That had to be him, right? Hahaha, time to go over, say hello, and warm things up.
"Hahahaha! Friend! It's just buying a love letter, nothing to make such a fuss over! Life is already this tragic, so why make yourself so brightly sorrowful?"
With a hearty slap, a palm landed solidly on the aristocratic young master's back, opening the conversation with a very manly greeting.
The aristocratic young master slowly turned his head. His ink-black eyes were bottomless, his fanlike lashes did not so much as blink, and his brows drew together slightly. His tightly pressed thin lips parted by a sliver. "What?"
"Oh, don't pretend you don't understand. Young Master Ba always values protecting his clients' privacy. Even if you want to secretly fool around with someone's wife, or have a fling with a famous courtesan from Chunfen Pavilion, I'll turn a blind eye. Love is innocent, freedom reigns supreme! But romance costs money, so when it comes to the silver, you'll have to, ahem... show some sense yourself, alright? Ahahaha!" As he spoke, he also arched his brows, winked, and rubbed his fingers together expressively.
"..."
Hey, hey, hey, what did that bewildered look, as if he were staring at a lunatic, mean? This man really was an idiot. Couldn't he tell that he was going to such lengths to dispel the awkwardness between them?
These sour bookworms had all read themselves stupid. Every one of them thought, "I'm no common thing," and loved putting on the stinking airs of some otherworldly master in front of people. Tsk! It seemed he would have to use the password before the man could completely lower his guard. Since that was the case, then let's exchange passwords!
Clenching his fist before his lips, he cleared his throat solemnly. Zhu Bafu raised a serious, dignified face and opened his mouth. "Tell me, who in this world is the most—?"
"..."
"Huh? Why aren't you saying anything? Am I out of touch with the trends? Could it be that in this day and age, only silence and coldness count as the sole standards for testing a man's masculinity? When did that change? Why didn't I know? No one even notified me! Hey, say something, brother!"