Chapter 23: Sordid details

Lan Yin realized the severity of her mistake when Wei Xiangsi's gaze remained fixed on that gorgeous young master.

He was exactly his type. How could she have forgotten?

Wei Xiangsi was the type of patron who came into Blooming Fragrance because he preferred it to his own house. He cultivated a worldly air, but he was still very young, barely twenty. It was easy for Lan Yin to forget that Wei Xiangsi had his preferences outside of the two courtesans he usually visited with.

For one, both A-Su and A-Xun were older than him, and she knew from talking with them that they doted on Wei Xiangsi excessively. "Such a tender and good-looking young master, I feel as if I should be paying him," A-Su once said.

Lan Yin was a good judge of character and she was fairly sure that wasn't exactly what Wei Xiangsi was looking for. Although he was never anything if not courteous.

This gorgeous young master though...he looked as if he had been pampered his whole life. He would never regard Wei Xiangsi's attention as his good fortune.

Which was why Wei Xiangsi was already making his way towards him. Lan Yin hurried after him, the least she could do was introduce him. She feared her favourite patron was about to have his heart broken and her to blame.

---

When Xie Bian saw the attendant who always glared at him approach them with Wei Xiangsi in tow he struggled not to let out a sigh of relief.

The sooner they could be done with this leg of the investigation the better. If he was propositioned one more time he was going to scream. At his side, Fan Wujiu remained serene as always. He wasn't bothered, not by the curious questions, not by the lascivious looks thrown his way.

Xie Bian would envy him if he wasn't furious with him already.

The attendant stopped outside the curtain closing off their booth and asked in a polite tone: "Honored guests, the esteemed Young master Wei would like to make your acquaintance. He invites both honored guests to share tea and refreshments with him."

Fan Wujiu raised his hand and motioned him forward. "Let him in."

The attendant lifted the curtain for Wei Xiangsi to walk through and bowed one last time after saying: "I'll bring the tea presently."

There was an empty cushioned chair to Xie Bian's right, which Fan Xiangsi took at once. He saluted both of them. "This one is called Wei Xiangsi and is pleased to make your esteemed selves' acquaintance."

They both introduced themselves with their fake names, Xie Bian as Xi An and Fan Wujiu as Fan Jiu.

Forgive me for the impertinence, but I think I'm correct in assuming your esteemed selves aren't from Longbei."

Fan Wujiu answered him with a frosty. "We're from the south."

"So further south it's almost another world," Xie Bian said, unable to help himself.

Wei Xiangsi's eyes widened. "I've always wanted to travel through Jianghu," he said, looking longingly at Xie Bian's face as if it held some secret trace of the south, a lingering impression of faraway lands.

"Why haven't you?" Xie Bian said, rudely and with a look of utter boredom.

"I'm afraid my family has other expectations for me. I failed to show any cultivation ability, unlike my eldest sister and brother, so my father expects me to take up the family business."

Before he could elaborate further the attendant walked in with their tea. She served everyone and left, her presence as hostile as all the other times Xie Bian had seen her.

That woman absolutely didn't like them. Which was fair, because Xie Bian wasn't certain he liked himself much the past few couple of days.

Fan Wujiu picked up his teacup and flicked the foam with the lid, apparently deep in thought. "Wei...didn't someone from your family just get married?"

Wei Xiangsi's sunny expression darkened at once. He took a sip of his tea and winced when it burned his tongue. "Yes, my sister."

"Congratulations," Xie Bian said, nodding towards him in a short salute. "I'm told it was quite the event. Several people still talk about it."

"I wouldn't know, I wasn't invited," he said it with genuine relief, which surprised Xie Bian.

"Oh?" He turned sideways on his chair, laying one arm across the back in a display in insouciant hedonism that had Wei Xiangsi's ears growing bright red. "It sounds like there's a story there."

Xie Bian had three days to observe the behaviour of several patrons and courtesans around the public halls. It didn't escape his notice that there was a certainly lassitude about the way people moved in the Blooming Fragrance.

"I'm sure I'd bore young master if I told it," Wei Xiangsi said, averting his eyes with a bashful flicker from the sliver of Xie Bian's pale inner wrist on display

"You wouldn't," Fan Wujiu said, taking an imperious sip of his tea. He was acting as if their conversation was beneath him. Which probably suited Wei Xiangsi's amorous aspirations just fine. "He is naturally curious."

Xie Bian affected a pout. "That depends," he toyed with the hem of his sleeve in a way that revealed more of his skin, "I'm sure if young master Wei includes all the sordid details he'll be able to keep my interest up."

Wei Xiangsi chuckled. He was nervous but Xie Bian's provocations were making him feel bold, an emotion he rarely experienced.

"I suppose I should say that I am my father's child from a dalliance. It was a great embarrassment for everyone when my mother refused to abort the child. She wasn't from a family associated with any sect like ours, but her father was respected in Longbei. He was furious. In the end my father took me in, and my mother married one of his distant cousins, to smooth things over."

Xie Bian drank his tea instead of commenting.

Wei Xiangsi smiled crookedly, gaze turned inward. "My father's wife was forced to raise me as her own, to hide the family's shame. She never forgave me for being my mother's child. My mother never forgave me for not ensuring her my father's love, and my father never forgave me for not having the decency of at least being born with some cultivation talent to make up for his humiliation."