Back to Chatting About Life with the Courtesan Queen

At Li Garden, when the roosters crowed at dawn, Li Ziye had vanished again.

In the southeast of the capital, its quietest district, prosperity seemed shut out. There were no extravagant princely mansions, nor any splendid pleasure houses.

There was only the daily life of the common poor.

In one of these unremarkable places, in an equally unremarkable little courtyard, a woman rose early to water her plants, then went out for her morning exercise.

Yu Qingxuan had been frail as a child, and her doctor had told her to exercise more. Thus, she had kept up her morning exercise all these years.

The capital's noble sons would never have imagined that the fairy of their hearts lived in such an inconspicuous place.

But Li Ziye knew.

Because Li Qingzhi had told him.

"Miss Yu, what a coincidence!"

Beside the Xiangshui River, Yu Qingxuan, dressed in green, was just about to begin her morning exercise when that irritating voice rang out behind her.

Yu Qingxuan turned. In the morning sunlight, Li Ziye jogged toward her in exercise clothes, his face sunny, his smile bright. He looked so delicate-featured, so endearing.

Unfortunately, Yu Qingxuan's impression of Li Ziye had already sunk to rock bottom.

So, upon seeing Li Ziye, Yu Qingxuan turned and left without a word.

"Miss Yu, Fairy Yu, don't go! Let's talk about life... pfft, music! Poetry works too!"

Li Ziye jogged after her, hovering at Yu Qingxuan’s side with a fawning smile as he spoke.

"Young Master Li, I have something to do. Another day."

Yu Qingxuan said this and hurried away, wanting only to shake off the irritating fly before her.

Still unaware that he had been regarded as a fly, Li Ziye pressed on regardless, pestering her relentlessly. "Miss Yu, I came to apologize. It was all Bai Wangyu's fault. He insisted on dragging me to the Flower Cultivation Garden, then insisted on pouring drinks down my throat. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten drunk and behaved so rudely. Please forgive me, Miss Yu."

" Achoo!"

In the west wing of Li Garden, Bai Wangyu had just stepped out of his room when his nose prickled, and he sneezed twice in succession.

Had he caught a cold?

Confusion crossed Bai Wangyu's face. Since taking up martial arts, he had not caught a cold in many years.

What was going on today?

In the southwest of the capital, beside the Xiangshui River, Yu Qingxuan looked at the shameless youth before her, her distaste growing.

Who didn't know what sort of man the Confucian School's eldest senior brother was? Yet this man could splash dirty water on someone else without blushing or missing a heartbeat.

"Young Master Li!"

Yu Qingxuan stopped and said solemnly, "There is no relationship whatsoever between us. Whether I forgive you is meaningless. Why must you keep pestering me?"

"There is! Of course there is."

Li Ziye hurriedly said, "Aren't you looking for the person behind 'Ambush from Ten Sides'? That's right, I wrote it!"

Yu Qingxuan frowned and asked, "What are the twelve pitches? What are the seven tones?"

Li Ziye froze. "What do you mean?"

Hearing this, Yu Qingxuan grew even more impatient. "Young Master Li, you don't even know the fundamentals of music. How could you possibly have written a score as breathtakingly brilliant as 'Ambush from Ten Sides'?"

Li Ziye's expression turned rueful. He hadn't studied ancient music theory. How would he know any of this?

He simply had a good memory and could memorize anything after seeing it once.

He had only casually flipped through the score for "Ambush from Ten Sides." As for the fundamentals of music, who would deliberately go read those?

How was he supposed to know there would be a test?

This question was clearly beyond the syllabus.

"Young Master Li, if you cannot answer, please stop pestering me."

With that, Yu Qingxuan started walking away again.

Li Ziye vigorously ruffled his hair, smiling bitterly, but did not give up and continued following her.

It looked like repairing his image in Yu Qingxuan's eyes wouldn't be easy!

He had really overdone the death-seeking last night. How could he have known he would need a favor from this little courtesan queen?

Ahead, Yu Qingxuan walked briskly for a long while. Finding that Li Ziye was still following her, she could barely contain her mounting anger.

Why was this man so hard to shake off?

A quarter of an hour later, seeing that she was nearly home, Yu Qingxuan had no choice but to stop. She turned to the youth behind her and asked gravely, "Young Master Li, just what do you want?"

"Nothing. I just want to be friends with you, Miss Yu."

Li Ziye grinned. Under the circumstances, he naturally could not reveal that he wanted to visit the Yin Clan.

"Young Master Li, your status is noble, while I am merely a woman of the pleasure quarters. I cannot presume to rise so high. Please go back," Yu Qingxuan said gravely.

"All people are equal. What distinction is there between noble and lowly? Though you live amid the pleasure quarters, Miss Yu, you remain untouched, rising from the mud unstained. You are far nobler than those who fill their mouths with righteousness and virtue while committing every evil imaginable."

Li Ziye showered her with rainbow flattery, nearly exhausting every expression he knew. He was wearing his tongue out trying to build a good relationship with Yu Qingxuan.

Sure enough, after hearing his unique views on high and low birth, surprise appeared on Yu Qingxuan's face.

All people were equal?

This was the first time she had ever heard anyone say such a thing.

Seeing her expression, Li Ziye knew his words had worked. He hurriedly scoured his mind for more phrases. "Miss Yu, I come from a merchant family, so my status can hardly be considered noble either. But I have never thought myself beneath anyone. Are kings, nobles, generals, and ministers born of a special breed? The ruler is a boat, and the people are water. Water can carry the boat, but it can also overturn it. Thus, in this life, there is no inherent distinction between noble and lowly. Nobility and baseness lie entirely in the heart."

Brilliant!

Having finished, Li Ziye felt deeply satisfied.

It had been ages since he had spouted nonsense so brazenly!

"Do you truly believe that, Young Master Li?"

Yu Qingxuan asked softly, waves surging in her heart. Looking at the person before her, she seemed unable to understand this youth with his ever-changing faces.

Nobility and baseness lay entirely in the heart! Those words truly spoke to her heart.

She knew that although countless sons of the powerful had pursued her over the years, they cared only for her looks and her body. They still deeply disdained her status as a woman of the pleasure quarters.

Such was the world's division between noble and lowly, rooted deep in people's hearts and impossible to change.

"Of course."

Li Ziye nodded vigorously. "Miss Yu, once you've spent more time with me, you'll know that my words and deeds have always been as one, and that I am kind by nature. I fear harming ants when I sweep the floor, and shade my lamp with gauze out of pity for moths. I truly drank a little too much last night, which was why I spoke disrespectfully to you."

Amitabha. Bandit brothers down in the underworld, you were neither ants nor moths. I'm terribly sorry for taking your lives.

"Let us forget what happened last night."

Kindhearted, Yu Qingxuan was unwilling to pursue the matter further and spoke softly.

"Really!"

Joy appeared on Li Ziye's face. He stepped forward and grabbed her hand, saying excitedly, "Thank you, Miss Yu! Thank you!"

Yu Qingxuan's expression changed. Just as she was about to pull free, an angry voice rang out nearby.

"You lecher! Let go of Fairy Qingxuan!"

Before the words had faded, a youth of fifteen or sixteen charged up from behind them, his face furious. Thick-browed and large-eyed, with a sturdy, round-headed look, he reached them in a few strides and shoved Li Ziye away. "Who are you? How dare you bully Fairy Qingxuan! Watch out, or I'll have my father destroy you!"

"May I ask who your father is?"

Thoroughly taken aback by his bluster, Li Ziye asked.

"My father is the Prince of East Lin, one of the Ten Martial Princes!"

The youth spoke with his head held high.

"The Prince of East Lin?"

Li Ziye froze. Another martial prince's heir? Since when had Great Shang's martial princes become so cheap? Everywhere he went, someone invoked their names.

Wasn't this just bullying him?

"Scared? If you're scared, leave now, or I'll make you pay!"

Wu Duoduo, heir to the Prince of East Lin, planted his hands on his hips and spoke with an arrogant expression that said he was formidable and Li Ziye had better leave.

"Your Highness, Young Master Li wasn't bullying me. That was only a misunderstanding."

Beside them, seeing the misunderstanding deepen, Yu Qingxuan could not bear it and spoke up to explain.

"Don't be afraid, Fairy Qingxuan. With me here, he won't dare bully you again!"

Wu Duoduo turned and spoke, wearing what he believed was his most handsome smile.

He was certain Fairy Qingxuan had only said that because she dared not offend this lecher.

His moment to play the hero and save the beauty had finally arrived!

"You've got guts, brat!"

Li Ziye gave him a thumbs-up in approval.

Daring to play the hero and save the beauty right in front of him? It seemed he wasn't doing a good enough job as a villain.

At that thought, Li Ziye grinned and advanced step by step.

"What are you going to do?"

Startled, Wu Duoduo instinctively retreated two steps as he spoke.

"What am I going to do?"

A sinister smile appeared on Li Ziye's face. He reached out and hoisted the youth up, his eyes gleaming viciously. "The Prince of East Lin's heir, are you? Daring to meddle in my affairs? Tired of living? Watch out, or I'll toss you into the river!"

"Y-you, let go of me!"

Seeing the terrifying look on his face, Wu Duoduo trembled inwardly and struggled nonstop. "Otherwise, my father won't let you off!" he said fearfully.

"You'll have to live long enough to see your father first."

Li Ziye glanced around and grinned. "Not a soul around. What a wonderful spot!"

With that, Li Ziye carried him toward the river.

"Help!"

Wu Duoduo shuddered, intense fear rising in his heart as he cried out urgently.

"Go on, scream! No one will come save you even if you scream your throat raw!"

Li Ziye spoke with an arrogant expression.

Beside them, Yu Qingxuan realized that Li Ziye was only frightening the Prince of East Lin's heir, and a helpless look appeared on her face.

The Li Family's third young master really had a temperament that was... all over the place.

Li Ziye carried the Prince of East Lin's heir to the bank of the Xiangshui River. The corners of his mouth curved slightly as he asked sinisterly, "Are you going down yourself, or shall I throw you in?"

"H-help! I-I don't want to go in!"

Wu Duoduo was so frightened he was on the verge of tears, his voice trembling.

"You won't go in?"

Li Ziye smiled sinisterly. "Still going to play the hero and save the beauty?"

"N-no, I'm not."

Wu Duoduo trembled as he spoke.

"Really not?"

Li Ziye asked again.

"I'm not."

Wu Duoduo spoke with a hint of a sob.

"No backbone. You could at least have held out a little longer."

Looking bored, Li Ziye casually flung him onto the riverbank.

With a thud, Wu Duoduo landed on his backside. Looking at the unfathomably deep river before him, he nearly wet his pants in fright.

"Miss Yu, let's go."

Li Ziye turned and walked back to her, flashing a smile that showed eight teeth. "I also have a piece called 'Guangling Melody' that I'd like to give you. It is certainly no less fine than the pipa score you have."

A glint of something different flashed through Yu Qingxuan's eyes at his words. Then she nodded. "Then please come to my humble home for a chat, Young Master Li."

"Mm."

Li Ziye answered, then looked back at Wu Duoduo on the bank and flashed another toothy grin.

Little brat, daring to take him on!

Sensing the threat in his gaze, Wu Duoduo jolted in fright and hurriedly looked away.