Chapter 9: Caught Red-Handed

IT WAS AN EXTREMELY well-crafted little pouch, embroidered with a landscape of mountains and rivers, as well as the sun and the moon. A rosy dawn was stitched in golden thread, the winding rivers and mountains in silver, and a red agate pendant hung from the bottom. It was clear at a glance that this item was expensive.

Mo Xi stared at the brocade pouch for a long time, rage boiling in his heart. Slowly, he spat out a few words. "Who gave that to you?"

Gu Mang seemed to have noticed the rancor in his eyes and didn't reply right away. He tucked the pouch back into his robes, against his heart. "Mine," he said, without answering the question.

His? That was absurd. Gu Mang had fallen to such depths, and his jar was completely empty—how could he afford that kind of brocade pouch? Mo Xi was about to laugh from anger. "With what money?"

"I exchanged it."

A pause. "With whom?"

"I exchanged it," he repeated, and that was all.

Mo Xi lost his temper. "What did you exchange for it? What do you have? You—" He stopped.

Gu Mang lived in a brothel. What kind of people did he meet? What could he give in exchange for this pouch? The answer was self-evident, but Mo Xi was still interrogating him like a fool.

His heart felt as if it had been scraped with sandpaper, painful and itchy. Mo Xi closed his eyes, wanting to soften his voice, but his pale and elegant face couldn't hide the way he clenched his jaw. In the end, as if in defeat, he opened his eyes again, his voice dangerously hoarse. "Why would you want something like that?!"

Gu Mang didn't seem to know what this pouch could be used for either. But he clutched it tight, then stared at Mo Xi, not making a sound.

"Because it's pretty?" Mo Xi asked. "Because you like it? Shouldn't you do something so ridiculous for a reason ?"

Likely because he couldn't handle Xihe-jun's interrogation, when Gu Mang finally began to speak, it was slowly. "Someone gave it to me…"

"Didn't you say you exchanged something for it? Even now, you'd still lie to me?"

"Someone…" Gu Mang looked as if he wanted to keep talking, but something stopped him. He bit his lower lip, and the end, he again chose silence.

This silence seemed to be the straw that broke Mo Xi's sanity. His gaze was like a sharp knife wrenching open a seashell, suddenly severe. "Continue."

Mo Xi stared at Gu Mang's face. Perhaps due to his extreme anger, or perhaps because the light in the room was too dim, Mo Xi again failed to notice there was something different about Gu Mang's eyes.

"Why did you stop? Is there anything on earth you can't say out loud?" Mo Xi swallowed thickly, each word grinding out between clenched teeth. "Speak. It won't be anything new, no matter how absurd it is. You—

"Someone was good to me," Gu Mang cut in, unmoving.

It was like a sudden blow. This time it was Mo Xi's turn to be speechless. His throat felt terribly dry.

Someone had been good to Gu Mang? Preposterous… Who would treat a traitor with kindness?

Then Mo Xi remembered: Right, whenever Gu Mang had needed him, he always used smooth talk, teasing and flirting. Now that Gu Mang had fallen on hard times at Luomei Pavilion, it wasn't strange to see him employ silver-tongued lies to entice another person into helping him in his time of need.

But…but…

Mo Xi was so angry his vision flashed dark. For a long time, his mind was stuck on the word but, unable to continue.

"Very well… Very well…" Mo Xi stopped, his eyes red with overpowering fury. Only after a long while did he continue, nearly choking on his words. "Gu Mang, Gu Mang…you truly impress me."

Gu Mang didn't make a sound as he leaned against the wall, gazing at Mo Xi's face.

Mo Xi lifted his head; it was as if he was trying to will any wetness from his eyes. He stood there, looking up for a while, before he suddenly brought a hand to his face and burst out laughing. "I really don't know what I was clinging to all these years. I have no idea why I came to see you tonight…"

The more Mo Xi thought about it, the more anger and sorrow filled him. By the end, his voice was shaking. He slammed his fist into the wall beside Gu Mang, scraping his knuckles and leaving gruesome bloodstains behind. As the lamplight flickered between them, Mo Xi pressed Gu Mang against the wall, his face full of hatred, like he was ready to tear the man apart.

Mo Xi clenched his jaw. "General Gu, you truly live a blessed life. Even after rotting so far, you still have someone who treats you kindly. I…"

"Gu Mang!" Madam Qin's shout came like a clap of thunder, echoing from far away. "Zhou-gongzi is here! Hurry up! Change into clean clothes and make the young master nice and comfortable!"

Her voice pulled Mo Xi back to the present. He came to his senses almost immediately; although his chest was still heaving, the uncontrollable rage in his eyes was now restrained.

Mo Xi lowered his head slightly, his ragged breaths rising and falling in Gu Mang's ear. He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, that vicious beast stirring inside its cage had disappeared. Those eyes remained but slightly damp; in the darkness, they shone like morning stars. "Zhougongzi? Did he give you the pouch?"

Gu Mang didn't seem to understand Mo Xi's hatred. He continued to gaze at Mo Xi's face, as tranquil as ever, and shook his head. Zhou-gongzi… Zhou-gongzi. As Mo Xi repeated this name in his heart, he realized this was probably the youngest son of the Zhou Clan. Mo Xi had heard of this young master; among the nobles of the capital, he was regarded as the most brutish piece of trash. What he lacked in competence, he made up for with an unending stream of malicious ideas.

Mo Xi looked toward Gu Mang. Gu Mang's expression hadn't changed, but he was unconsciously rubbing a scar on his arm.

After a few seconds, Mo Xi laughed again, as if tormenting himself. "What's wrong? The person who was good to you doesn't care?"

Without a word, Gu Mang tucked the pouch away.

Mo Xi didn't move. "Is Zhou-gongzi a frequent guest too?" he asked.

Gu Mang nodded.

Mo Xi stared at him, his handsome features seeming to contain some unfathomable emotion. A moment later, he laughed once more. "Before, I thought you had changed. Now I see that you're still the same as ever—you know how to make anyone happy." The darkness in his eyes deepened, as though weighed down by the past. "Take care."

Rising from the round table, Mo Xi donned his cloak and strode toward the door.

"You're leaving?"

Mo Xi turned halfway. "I'm leaving," he said, frigid. "I won't stand in the way of your livelihood."

"But I—"

Mo Xi stopped. "What."

"I took your cowrie shell…"

Mo Xi paused. "Think of it as returning your past affections."

Gu Mang knit his brows in confusion. "Past affections…"

Mo Xi felt that Gu Mang was acting very strangely—but he was running out of time. As soon as Zhou-gongzi got upstairs, he wouldn't be able to leave even if he wanted to. Mo Xi glanced at Gu Mang one last time and turned to push open the door.

But at that moment, Gu Mang whispered, "You're rich. You have money. I want to know who you are."

Mo Xi's hand froze inches from the door. He stood stock-still for a long interval before whipping around. "What?"

"You're rich."

"The second part!"

"…You have money."

"After that!"

Gu Mang was confused by this reaction. He sounded hesitant as he repeated himself. "I want…to know…who you are?"

A crash sounded in Mo Xi's ears, like a massive stone falling from a cliff before his eyes. He stopped breathing and stared fiercely into Gu Mang's face, his black-brown pupils shrinking as light flared in the depths of his eyes.

"Gu Mang." His heart had frozen over, but he ground out his words menacingly, "Are you fucking toying with me?"

Gu Mang was confused. "You're the client. You paid, so aren't you supposed to toy with me ?"

Mo Xi's features were twisted almost beyond recognition. All the strange moments during their conversation flashed through his head like great waves battering his heart, stunning him so thoroughly that for a long time, he couldn't react.

But right then, the door behind them creaked open.

A man's lazy voice came from behind it. "Gu Mang, your Zhou-ge is here to patronize your business. Why haven't you scrambled over to kneel in welcome?"

Mo Xi whipped around, but it was too late.

That little Zhou bastard had swaggered in as he spoke. He looked around the room with bleary eyes, blinking in the low light.

Poor General Mo. He was such a proper person, and now, for the second time in as many hours, he was faced with the same annoying crisis. The last round had gone all right, but this time, he had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, and was seconds away from being caught red-handed by his own junior.

Mo Xi's head had just been upended by Gu Mang's: You're rich. You have money. I want to know who you are. But he couldn't think deeply on it right now, so instead he cursed inwardly and pushed Gu Mang against the wall. He pinned him there with his tall frame, pressing one hand against the wall to neatly obscure both their faces.

Gu Mang's eyes widened within his arms. "You…"

"Hush." Mo Xi lowered his head and lifted Gu Mang's chin. His fingers were rough and forceful as he turned Gu Mang's head and bent down to bring them closer.

Cool, thin lips drew near soft ones, their scalding breaths overlapping.

Mo Xi didn't want to touch this traitor again, so of course he wouldn't actually kiss Gu Mang's mouth. In his effort to create a convincing scene, however, he still pressed very close, so close they were almost nose to nose, their lips almost brushing. The narrow space between them became a wisp of willow catkin, its fluttering drift making Mo Xi's skin tingle.

When Mo Xi had hidden from Madam Qin, he'd thought his luck couldn't get any worse—there was no way anything more vexing could occur. How naive he had been.

Mo Xi caged Gu Mang inside his arms. "Don't make a sound," he rasped.

Gu Mang, trapped beneath him, didn't think much of this situation. All he thought was that Mo Xi was too strong; he bore down on Gu Mang like a mountain and made it hard to breathe. He didn't want to be crushed further, so he instinctively nodded.

"Lean closer."

Gu Mang did as he was told.

Thus, from the doorway, the two looked as if they were kissing with overwhelming passion and desire; as if in the next moment, they would roll into bed, utterly inseparable. This suggestive sight would make most normal people exclaim with shock and instantly turn to leave.

But perverts aren't like normal people.

Zhou-gongzi was taken aback at first. He backed up a few steps and checked the plaque hanging on Gu Mang's door. Rubbing his eyes, he muttered, "The words are black. There shouldn't be a client in here…"

But after the initial shock, this Zhou-gongzi became even more invested. He walked into the room, smiling. "Aiya, this is so embarrassing.

It seems like the spell on the plaque doesn't work anymore. I had no idea someone else was in the room."

No response.

"Hey there, you're so skilled. Our Great General Gu is the thorniest problem in all of Luomei Pavilion, but you've got him all pliant in your arms, letting you kiss him however you'd like. Why don't you teach me some of that impressive technique and let me have some fun as well?" He chuckled mischievously. "The more the merrier, right? Let's share."