When Huo Fenglie stood up, his expression was very ugly.

Liu Zhenqing felt somewhat embarrassed, and reached out to drag Huo Fenglie back.

Huo Fenglie turned and glanced at Liu Zhenqing with a restrained expression, but seemed unable to hold back his anger as he said in a deep voice: “I’m a bit stuffy, so I will go to the deck for some air. Apologies.”

After saying this, he turned around and walked out the door. He had to force himself to leave and go out alone to calm down.

That movement like thunder and wind was comparable to a suppressed volcano that might erupt at any time.

Once he left, the temperature in the room that had been lowered by Huo Fenglie stabilized.

Xi Ran said softly: “Did what I said about Young Master Liu offend him? As an acquaintance of Young Master Liu…..”

“How could this be?” Song Xingmu was also puzzled, and turned to look at Liu Zhenqing. After all, he was not familiar with Huo Fenglie, but Liu Zhenqing would definitely know what was going on.

“What is wrong with him?”

He saw Liu Zhenqing slowly sip his tea, looking a little relaxed and complacent. He said shamelessly: “It’s because he liked that person. And…..he was almost promised by his brother to be that person’s wife. With a relationship like that, you can’t blame him for being rude.”

The three people present were stunned when these words came out.

Goosebumps immediately rose on Yi Chuan. “He liked Liu Zhenqing?”

Liu Zhenqing nodded heavily.

“Were they a couple?”

Liu Zhenqing said seriously: “Not yet.”

“Yes, that person died,” Yi Chuan said directly.

But Song Xingmu was in a bad mood. Staring at Liu Zhenqing, he said in disbelief: “Wait, what did you say? Are you telling the truth? Seriously? That little demon?”

Liu Zhenqing said with dissatisfaction: “What, do you think that person didn’t have enough charm to attract a little demon?” He was so good, wasn’t it normal for Er-gou to be obsessed with him?

Song Xingmu nearly choked to death. He couldn’t help but curse inwardly, still so loathsome and shameless! But no matter what, that person had the capital to be shameless. He gritted his teeth and said: “But…..Liu Zhenqing was not a cut-sleeve.”

Liu Zhenqing said innocently: “That is not wrong, but feelings are something different.”

“You!” Song Xingmu was alarmed. The good brother who accompanied him to admire beauties and the didi of another good brother? This stimulation was almost equal to his brother’s rebirth.

“Ai, stop that.” Liu Zhenqing feared that Song Xingmu’s stimulation would expose him. “I’ll go out and talk some sense into him.”

Xi Ran to the side finally returned to her senses. She naturally understood that a person like Liu Zhenqing must have countless admirers, but didn’t expect to meet one. And he was a formidable man who was rather different in age from them. She said in astonishment: “Sure enough, Young Master Liu back then really had countless peach blossoms, and was famous all over the country. After so many years, there are still people who miss him. It is my fault. Please tell that young master that I was only joking. Young Master Liu indeed stayed with me for three days and three nights, but he was very polite and did not cross the line. Young Master Liu and I…..just had a platonic friendship.”

As she spoke, Xi Ran’s eyes dimmed.

“En, all right.” Liu Zhenqing chuckled and gave Xi Ran a respectful gentleman’s salute.

Startled, Xi Ran instantly recalled the time when Liu Zhenqing stepped into her Fragrant Pavilion for the first time. The seemingly wanton and lazy dandy actually bowed respectfully to her like a gentleman. This was a very ridiculous thing. After all, which wealthy scholar would perform this etiquette for a prostitute?

She had only encountered this twice in her life. 

The first time, she was shocked and forgot to return the gesture. She often woke from her dreams feeling lost, and in her imagination, she returned the gesture over and over again countless times.

But this time, Xi Ran was caught off guard and quickly stood up to reciprocate. When she did so, the jade pendant around her neck fell out.

And after waiting for Xi Ran to return the gesture, he turned around and left. His eyes did not linger on the jade willow leaf pendant.

Seeing this, Song Xingmu wanted to call out to Liu Zhenqing and stop him, but he saw him walk out with a smile on his lips, as if he was looking forward to something. This truly made Song Xingmu feel indescribably complicated.

“This young master is quite interesting. Are you unable to say his name?”

Song Xingmu sighed. “What a coincidence, his last name is Liu.”

Xi Ran was taken aback. “I thought he looked familiar.”

“It is true that he is a distant relative of Liu Zhenqing.” Song Xingmu smiled and raised his cup to drink tea.

Xi Ran’s eyes flashed, and she suddenly said: “Oh? Can Captain Song help bridge the gap between us?”

“What?”

Xi Ran smiled sweetly and said: “I wonder if he would like to stay the night?”

Song Xingmu froze in his tea-drinking posture and stared at Xi Ran in astonishment. Yi Chuan beside him spurted out a mouthful of liquid.

Xi Ran smiled, her expression charming and free. “I was not lucky enough to get Young Master Liu. Now that I have met this person who is so similar, perhaps the heavens intend to compensate me. If Captain Song becomes my lobbyist, I will definitely provide better information to Captain Song in the future.”

Song Xingmu was stunned for a long moment, and finally couldn’t help but laugh. “All right, I’ll ask him later. Ai? Wait, that fellow really didn’t do anything for three days and three nights back then? So what did he do?”

Xi Ran smiled and said: “He told me stories.”

At this time, Liu Zhenqing had already found Huo Fenglie standing alone at the guardrail on the deck. The night wind caused his black hair to flutter, dispersing the cold hardness of his body, but it could not dissipate his loneliness.

For a moment, he was like a pitiful guard dog crouching in the night and waiting for his master to return.

Liu Zhenqing crossed his arms and looked at him for a while, feeling a little regretful. He usually just let it go, but this time it seemed to have been too much and made him this unhappy.

But he didn’t blame himself, ah. Who made Huo Fenglie stay frozen and not say anything? It was unknown what was holding him back.

Liu Zhenqing had not stood there long before Huo Fenglie turned around, apparently having noticed him come.

“Er-gou, are you still stuffy?” Liu Zhenqing strolled forward with a pure white smile on his face.

“Why did you come out?” Huo Fenglie asked in a dull voice: “Don’t you want to reminisce about the past?”

Liu Zhenqing stopped teasing him and took the initiative to explain: “Song Xingmu and I had old history to talk about, but I wasn’t familiar with Xi Ran. She didn’t know my identity and it was inconvenient to speak, so I simply came out.”

Huo Fenglie watched Liu Zhenqing approach, but then turned his back, seemingly unwilling to face him.

“The first taste of love, three days and three nights of companionship. You don’t think that is familiar?”

It seemed like a question, but he severely restrained his emotions, and the sourness almost turned the river water into vinegar.

Liu Zhenqing suppressed a smile. “What nonsense are you talking about? Didn’t I tell you before? When I was in the capital, I only went to places like that to watch performances. Your brother would vouch for me.”

“It was Da-ge who brought you back.” The implication was that Huo Feihan couldn’t possibly have known what he had done.

Huo Fenglie was not here at the time. Later, when Liu Zhenqing returned from his hometown and stayed in another courtyard here, he heard the exaggerated rumors about Liu Zhenqing and the entertainment house. At that time, he just instinctively felt it was troublesome. He disliked it and was unhappy. But they were busy catching pirates, and Huo Fenglie and Liu Zhenqing spent little time together, so the matter was just a rumor and passed quickly.

When they met again this time, Fuo Fenglie was reminded of the incident and felt like he was being given acupuncture at all times.

Just as Song Xingmu had said, he was worried that Xi Ran had a special place in Liu Zhenqing’s heart.

Huo Fenglie’s eyes became dark when he thought of this.

Liu Zhenqing scratched his head helplessly and then pretended to be mysterious, gesturing to Huo Fenglie: “Then let me tell you a secret.”

Although Huo Fenglie had a stomach full of emotions, he still couldn’t resist any of Liu Zhenqing’s demands. He leaned over with a sullen expression and felt Liu Zhenqing reach out to pull his ear, getting closer as he said: “Actually neither body has ever tasted the fruit of love. You must keep it a secret.”

Huo Fenglie was stunned for a moment, and the feeling of desolation vanished into nothingness. Turning his head to look at Liu Zhenqing, he saw the other’s happily smiling face and sparkling eyes. “I am absolutely not trying to trick you, I swear. In two lifetimes, your Qing-ge has never touched a man or a woman. Even his first kiss…..is still there.”

When Liu Zhenqing said this, he got stuck. It was true that he didn’t have any experience kissing even in his previous life, but in this life, cough, cough, he was infatuated with Huo Fenglie.

It was just that Huo Fenglie was completely muddled-headed and didn’t notice Liu Zhenqing’s dilemma at all. He didn’t expect that Qing-ge had observed such etiquette in his previous life. After all, it was completely different from his daily behavior, ah. Then it could be said that Qing-ge’s first time was with him…..Thinking of this, Huo Fenglie’s eyes suddenly widened.

Liu Zhenqing was still thinking about what had happened when Huo Fenglie went crazy, and was a little surprised. Yes, ah, it was such a fierce attack for a first time. Was he self-taught or did he have personal experience?

Liu Zhenqing felt a little mentally uncomfortable, but he was still a twenty-six-year-old man, and it was not something worth worrying about. But he was still curious, so he couldn’t help but say: “What about Er-gou? Have you ever been close to a woman? Do you still have your first kiss?”

When Liu Zhenqing inquired straightforwardly, Huo Fenglie looked extremely uncomfortable. Liu Zhenqing had a pretty good idea that Huo Fenglie had experience.  Suppressing his psychological discomfort, he couldn’t help but say: “Oh? Who is so lucky that General Huo was on intimate terms with them?”

Huo Fenglie quickly lowered his eyes to hide his panic. He had only…..only done something bad once.

It was on the wedding day of his brother and his sister-in-law. Qing-ge was so happy that he ended up drinking too much. In the end, he fell drunk on the rockery and was found by Huo Fenglie. He didn’t know if he was influenced by the happiness of his brother and sister-in-law’s marriage, or by some women who were close to Qing-ge attending the wedding. Perhaps he was drunk that night too. Gathering his courage, as Qing-ge was holding onto him in a daze, he lowered his head and kissed him. 

At that time, Liu Zhenqing sobered up and saw Huo Fenglie squatting beside him with a red face, looking at him. He didn’t know that his first kiss had been stolen by this puppy, and only asked with a smile: “Did Er-gou secretly drink? His face is all red.”

And at present, Huo Fenglie only buried it in his heart and did not dare to admit it. “I. Haven’t. Really.”

With such an obvious lie, Liu Zhenqing thought he had but was too embarrassed to tell him. After all, he was the one he liked now.

Liu Zhenqing was also a little dissatisfied that Huo Fenglie had traces of someone else in his heart, so he said teasingly: “Ah, I remember, didn’t you give me your first kiss?”

Huo Fenglie was so frightened that his whole body stiffened. “Qing-ge, I…..”

“You forgot, I took it as soon as you were born. Hahaha,” Liu Zhenqing said with a smile.

Huo Fenglie choked, and could only change the subject awkwardly. “Then what about the rumors?”

“Haven’t you heard? Your brother and I were working with Song Xingmu to investigate a case about a local tyrant official. Back then, Xi Ran was the entertainer and person closest to the wicked official. He wanted to take part in the night Xi Ran chose her customers, and in order to buy time to deal with the enemy, Song Xingmu and I wanted to retain Xi Ran. As a result, I was selected and entered the pavilion. When I went in, I asked the girl to play the pipa for me, and when she grew tired of playing, I told her a story. Little did I know that the girl had never heard fairy tales before. She got so excited that she practically didn’t let me sleep, and insisted that I tell them. I don’t even remember how many hundreds I told. In any case, I passed out in the end and when he finally finished his work, your brother came to take me back.”

“Fairy tales…..stories?” Huo Fenglie said.

Liu Zhenqing smiled and said: “Want to hear one? I’ll tell it when I give you acupuncture tonight. I’ll prepare One Thousand and One Nights for you.”

Huo Fenglie stared blankly for a moment, then nodded agreeably. “Then…..the jade pendant.”

“Oh, you saw that too. I stayed with this girl for three days and three nights, so of course I was too embarrassed to leave directly. Don’t all benactors use silver as a reward? I just gave her the most valuable jade pendant I had on me. After that, I was busy catching pirates, but then I discovered one thing.”

“What?”

“Xi Ran is not an ordinary woman. In fact, we were taken advantage of by her. Back then, the wicked official was not a good patron, and often tormented her. She didn’t dare to offend him, and just wished that something would happen to him. So when we showed up, she used the situation to choose me and played along with our acting in hopes that the bully would be caught without damaging her reputation. She is an extremely intelligent woman.”

“Then afterwards…..”

Liu Zhenqing spoke slowly: “We met again many years later. When I went south with Yuan Jue I stayed behind to deploy troops with Song Xingmu to continue catching pirates. When discussing things with Song Xingmu, we tried to keep away from eyes and ears, so we went to Xi Ran’s place. The relationship between us can only be regarded as…..the friendship between gentlemen, as light as water. Before leaving, I asked if she wanted to be redeemed. I wanted to help her regain her freedom. She refused, saying that she would leave by her own abilities. Then I never saw her again.”

Huo Fenglie could probably understand why Xi Ran refused at the outset. Because Qing-ge said he would give her her freedom, not…..take her away.

Huo Fenglie’s eyes flickered, and he said suddenly: “She never forgot you.”

“Who let your Qing-ge be so charming?” Liu Zhenqing gave a charming smile, then said deliberately, “Although I didn’t think much about it in the past, do you think I should renew our relationship now?”

Liu Zhenqing was only teasing Huo Fenglie to make him feel a little threatened. But the moment he said it, he didn’t even have time to tell Huo Fenglie it was a joke. As if he had been stabbed, his face became extremely frightening. That pair of eyes abruptly switched from restrained to wild and dangerous, staring at Liu Zhenqing like a wild beast.

Seeing Huo Fenglie this way shocked Liu Zhenqing. It was like if he spoke the wrong word, Huo Fenglie would pounce on him and bite his neck.

Look at this possessiveness, this jealous expression. So cute. Yet you still say you don’t like me.

Liu Zhenqing was frightened at first, but quickly shrugged it off and gave Huo Fenglie a provocative look.

Huo Fenglie suddenly said in a deep voice: “Qing-ge, don’t joke like that to me.”

Liu Zhenqing smiled and said: “How can you be sure I’m joking?”

“Because I know Qing-ge. Although you spare feelings everywhere…..”

“Hey, hey, hey.”

“…..If you really do fall in love with someone, you will stay with them until death. You said that you firmly believe in this kind of love, just like my brother and sister-in-law’s.” Huo Fenglie spoke very seriously, and his tone contained a warning. “You aren’t just casually talking about renewing a relationship, are you?”

If he could renew his relationship with Xi Ran, if he could be with someone else…..why couldn’t it be him?!

If Qing-ge wanted to choose someone else, wouldn’t his restraint and concealment be a joke? He could not, would not, tolerate it any longer. He would…..

As Huo Fenglie thought, he couldn’t help but grab Liu Zhenqing’s shoulders, and his tone became deeper and deeper. “Qing-ge, do you really want to be with someone else…..”

Liu Zhenqing regarded Huo Fenglie blankly, feeling that his words were a bit strange. He didn’t understand for the moment, but Huo Fenglie knew him quite well.

So he nodded and said sincerely: “You’re right. If I really fall in love with someone, I will definitely stay with them until death.”

Liu Zhenqing felt that he should reassure Huo Fenglie. Although there were rumors outside that he was romantically involved, he had to let Er-gou know that once he started a relationship, he would never change his mind. He didn’t want Er-gou to misunderstand that he was a frivolous person.

But Liu Zhenqing was unaware that his words were not a reassurance, but a critical hit, which silenced Huo Fenglie again.

But at the same time, he was relieved. Right, ah, hadn’t he known about this matter for almost nine years? What was there to be surprised about? He would only be surprised if Qing-ge fell in love with someone else.

Huo Fenglie slowly lowered his hands, and everything returned to how it was before.

However, Liu Zhenqing narrowed his eyes with a mischievous smile in front of him, then suddenly took a step forward, almost touching Huo Fenglie.Huo Fenglie was so startled that he instinctively moved back, but Liu Zhenqing grabbed his arm.

Liu Zhenqing raised his head and drew very close to Huo Fenglie’s face. He raised his eyebrows and said: “Er-gou, ah, what happened just now? So impolite? Someone who didn’t know better might think you were jealous.”

Huo Fenglie’s expression gradually stiffened, his eyes looking straight at Liu Zhenqing.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help becoming nervous.

But in the end, Huo Fenglie avoided Liu Zhenqing’s eyes and said: “Qing-ge misunderstands. I respect Qing-ge. Hearing such a frivolous story, I felt that I was not the person to hear it.”

Good boy, don’t say this. Liu Zhenqing nearly laughed out loud. He stretched out his hands and tugged Huo Fenglie’s lapel, forcing him to come closer. Liu Zhenqing’s eyes were like lightning. “Er-gou, ah, you…..”

But as soon as he spoke, the previously stable boat suddenly shook violently.

Huo Fenglie was able to keep his figure completely steady, and his whole body responded to guard Liu Zhenqing, who had been planning to interrogate him.

Neither of them ever thought that such an impossible situation would occur on the smooth water of the river. Now the boat was swaying, accompanied by sounds of chaos throughout the boat.

The two of them fell to one side at the same time, one leaning back and one leaning forward. The distance continued to get closer. Huo Fenglie’s well-trained body still instinctively reached out to grab the railing next to him to prevent the two of them from falling, supporting Liu Zhenqing’s body with the other hand. But his strength still couldn’t prevent it.

In an instant, Liu Zhenqing’s pupils shrank, and all he could see was Er-gou’s handsome features close at hand.

They had discussed their first kiss not long ago, and now this was happening.

---

Consider donating via Kofi here!

Chapter Seventy-Nine << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-One