He had been to Lehe Town a few times in his previous life, so he was quite familiar with the terrain. He brought the group of people around to the back of the brothel. Wen Tian asked the big man to call the madame out, and sent another man to the side of the drugstore to buy a bottle of Jinfeng Power.
Most of the pharmacies along the flower streets and willow alleys1 sold some drugs to help people get excited, and the Jinfeng Powder that Wen Tian had asked for was among the most powerful ones.
The man who bought the medicine returned quickly. Wen Tian uncorked the bottle, pinched Jiao Changxian’s chin, poured the entire bottle of Jinfeng Powder into his mouth, and then gave him a mouthful of wine to ensure that all of the medicine got into his stomach.
As soon as he finished feeding him, the madame came over, swaying her hips and shaking her fan.
Her eyes slid around these few people, and she asked with a smile: “Are the guest here for a girl?”
Wen Tian nodded, took out a piece of silver and put it in her hand. “I want a room. Find a few more girls to come over.”
“Follow me.” The madame looked at the unconscious Jiao Changxian with furtive eyes, but the big man was holding him up, so she couldn’t see his face clearly. Then she looked at the money in her hand, smiled fawningly, and turned around to lead the people in.
The private room was on the second floor. The madame and several pretty young girls stood in a row and let Wen Tian choose.
Wen Tian casually ordered four to stay and asked the others to leave.
Jiao Changxian had long since been thrown onto the bed. Presumably because of the effects of the medicine, there was some movement within the red curtain from time to time. Wen Tian took out two more coins and put them on the table. “You four, take good care of the one inside.”
The girls stepped forward to collect the rewards and answered yes, before they sashayed into the inner room.
“Young Master Jiao!” There were two or three exclamations from inside. Jiao Changxian was obviously a regular customer, and the girls who received Wen Tian’s orders recognized him.
After a few panicked exclamations, there was the sound of pushing, shoving and collision, and a moment later, the dull sound of a body falling onto the bed.
Wen Tian sat motionless outside and kept watch. After a while, lewd sounds came from inside.
The three big men swallowed hard after hearing this. Wen Tian sat there for a while to make sure nothing went wrong, and then quietly left with the others.
A whole bottle of Jinfeng Powder was enough for Jiao Changxian to toss and turn for a day and a night.
Once the Jiao family realized that that person was missing tomorrow, and found him in the brothel, that would be enough to disrupt the wedding.
Back at the dock, the old fisherman was still waiting . The group boarded the boat and quietly returned to Sifang Town in the moonlight.
According to their agreement, Wen Tian paid the rest of the silver to the three men and, after thinking about it, added ten more taels. “Don’t say anything about tonight’s affairs. If you do a good job, I will look for you for more work in the future.”
They earned thirty taels in one night, which was enough for them to be happy for a while.
The leader took the money, his attitude much more respectful than before. “Don’t worry, Sir, we brothers won’t say a word about anything that we shouldn’t talk about.”
Wen Tian nodded and behaved as he did when he first arrived; with his shoulders slightly hunched and his hands tucked, he slowly disappeared into the night.
It was dark at night, and the side door of the Wen mansion was closed. Wen Tian looked up at the wall that was as tall as a person, took off the bamboo hat and threw it away, found a place to step on, and nimbly climbed up.
The wall was not high, but the bricks and tiles were uneven, which made Wen Tian’s palms hurt. He has been pampered since he was a child, and his skin was much more delicate than an ordinary person’s. Even the many years of hardship in his previous life hadn’t changed his delicate skin; those hardships had just made him more enduring.
His current body had never experienced pain before. His white and tender palm accidentally pressed against the edge of a sharp tile, drawing a deep gash immediately.
Red blood flowed out from the wound while a heart-aching pain slashed across the palm of his hand. Wen Tian grit his teeth, endured the hurt and jumped off the wall. Then he pulled off the cloth around his neck to wrap his hand, and hurried back to his yard.
Dai Fu was taking a nap at the door. Wen Tian stepped lightly and walked around him as dozed and entered the house.
Ignoring the wound on his hand, he hurriedly changed back into his clothes, took off the longevity lock from his neck and put it aside. Wen Tian haphazardly tied his loose hair up again and looked into the mirror. Except for his eyes being red and him looking like he’d been crying, everything else was the same as before he left the house.
He breathed a sigh of relief, frowned and removed the cloth from his hand. The cloth was soaked in blood and stuck to the wound. When he pulled it off, he was in so much pain that he teared up. He bit down hard as he held back tears, wiped the blood on the palms of his hands, and then called for Dai Fu with a trembling voice.
The dozing Dai Fu was startled awake and ran in hurriedly. “Young Master, you’re finally back!”
Before the smile on his face could complete form, he saw the injury on Wen Tian’s palm again, and the tone in his voice changed to fear. “Gongzi, what happened to your hand!?”
Wen Tan’s head hurt from his yelling. He wiped his tears with his sleeve and said in a tearful voice, “Bring me a basin of hot water. Don’t disturb the others.”
Dai Fu immediately covered his mouth, nodded carefully, and ran towards the small kitchen like a rabbit – there was still hot water on the stove.
Hot water was brought over. Wen Tian endured the pain and cleaned his wound, then asked Dai Fu to bandage it. Then he sniffed and regained his composure. “Is Mother…” He paused before continuing: “…asleep with Father?”
The distressed Dai Fu felt blew on his palm. He suddenly remembered the occasion and said in alarm: “The Master and Madam are still waiting. They said to have you go to the main courtyard when you come back.”
Wen Tian had guessed as much. He wiped his eyes with cold water. When his eyes were no longer so red, he picked up the longevity lock that he had taken off, preparing to wipe it clean and put it on. However, the longevity lock that had just been bloodstained was now spotless.
Wen Tian’s eyes widened in surprise. He held the longevity lock in his hand and looked at it again.
Counting his previous life, this longevity lock had been with him for thirty years now. It was a little strange to say: the Fu family had all kinds of precious objects, but it was this seemingly-worthless and inconspicuous longevity lock that had been passed down to the eldest sons from generation to generation. Since Wen Tian’s mother’s generation had no sons, it fell into Wen Tian’s hands.
Wen Tian looked at it suspiciously for a while, thought that he must have been mistaken, and put the longevity lock back on, then walked to the main courtyard with Dai Fu.
The main courtyard was brightly lit. Wen Tian glanced at the main hall and could vaguely see two figures through the paper window.
He lowered his eyes, collected his emotions, and walked in slowly.
Fu Youqin was worried all night. She originally thought that her son would be back by dinner time, but by the time the doors were locked, he still hadn’t shown up. She hurriedly called for servants to go out and look for him, but no one found out where Wen Tian had gone.
Once she saw Wen Tian, she anxiously pulled him over, slapped him on the back, and said in a feigned rage: “Where have you been? Why are you only back now?” As she said this, she saw the palm of his hand. She pulled his hand to her, thoughts of blame disappearing, and said in distress: “What happened to your hand?”
Wen Tian curled his fingers, pulled his hand back and hid it behind his back, lowered his head and lied, “I tripped and fell on the road, and scratched my skin a little against the ground. It’s not serious.”
“Tomorrow is your sister’s wedding day, yet you’re still wandering around in the middle of the night. What kind of behavior do you think that looks like if people heard?” Wen Boli, who was sitting at the head of the table, scolded.
Wen Tian’s body trembled a little, and he raised his eyes to look at him furtively.
Wen Boli usually wore a plain robe, his hair pulled up with a white jade crown. He had a dignified face and elegant temperament. Even when he rebuked angrily, he was not the type to strike fear in others.
A humble gentleman, as gentle as jade: this was what the people of Sifang Town said about Wen Boli.
However, Wen Tian, who had already gone through a lifetime, only found it ridiculous and hypocritical. He looked directly into Wen Boli’s eyes and asked softly: “Is Father worried about me, or is he worried that I will ruin the Wen family’s reputation?”
Wen Boli choked and looked at him in disbelief. Wen Tian had been pampered since he was a child, but had a very gentle personality, and he had always trusted and respected his father. Wen Boli never expected to hear such a question from him.
He looked at Wen Tan in astonishment, his expression changing from shock to anger. “What are you talking about! Is this how you treat your father?!”
Fu Youqin pushed him gently and said, “Stop speaking.”
Then she pulled Wen Tian to the other side, looked at his pale face and red eyes, and touched his face sadly. “Your father is also worried about you. The next time you return late, get the servants to pass a message.”
“You still have to get up early tomorrow. Let Dai Fu change your bandage and go to bed early.” After patting Wen Tian on the back, Fu Youqin pushed him out and asked Dai Fu to send him back with a lantern.
Wen Tian obediently walked to the door. Before leaving, he couldn’t help but look back. He happened to see Wen Boli frowning tightly, looking at his wife who had his back turned to him with a gloomy expression.
Sensing Wen Tian’s gaze, his face stiffened, curling up the corners of his mouth in an attempt to put on a fatherly face. “Go back and rest early.”
Fiercely pinching his palms, Wen Tan resisted the urge to reply, telling himself that now was not the time for confrontations, then straightened his back and walked out step by step.
When he returned to his own courtyard, Dai Fu brought him hot water to wipe his body, changed into soft and close-fitting clothes, and then Wen Tian burrowed himself completely into the quilt.
Seeing him fall asleep, Dai Fu blew out the candles on the table and quietly retreated to the outer room.
As the footsteps walked away, a very light and thin whimpering sound suddenly came from the dark room. Wen Tian bit the corner of the quilt tightly, letting salty tears flow down his face.
All kinds of memories from his past life were running through his mind like a revolving door. The feelings of helplessness and the joy of recovery were intertwined into complex emotions. During the day, he could force himself to be calm. But late at night, when no one was around, he finally couldn’t hold back from feeling on the verge of collapse.
Especially when he had just met the person he hated the most.
In his previous life, he never understood how a person could pretend to be someone else for so long. He still remembered the resentment that twisted his face when he confronted his father. It didn’t match his gentle face at all, as if an ugly, evil ghost had put on a hypocritical human skin, making Wen Tian’s heart feel sick.
As he hid under the quilt and cried for a long time, the intense emotions seemed to flow out with the tears. Wen Tian sniffed, and in his head, carefully planned out events since his rebirth.
He had no special abilities and could only rely on the prophet-like knowledge of someone who lived a lifetime over in order to carefully reverse the tragedy of his previous life.
After carefully turning his plans over and over in his mind to make sure that he missed nothing, Wen Tian fell into a deep sleep.
The next day was a bustle of activity that started even before dawn.
Dai Fu came in with toiletries and got Wen Tan to wake up. As the bride’s brother, Wen Tian had to go to the husband’s house to support the newlyweds, so he dressed up in a grand manner and had to wake up early to prepare.
After he washed up, Dai Fu held up the robe and assisted Wen Tian in dressing.
On this big day, his clothes were red from the inner to the outer robe. The dark red satin was embroidered with delicate floral patterns with gold thread along with black brocade piping, making it appear festive but also solemn.
Dai Fu helped him straighten and smooth out his clothes and tied up his loose black hair with a red coral hair crown.
“Young Master, you look really good in this outfit. If you go out for a walk, you’ll definitely entice those ladies to throw flowers again.”
Wen Tian stood in front of the bronze mirror and swept his gaze down to look himself over, but didn’t care much.
The people of Da Chu were liberal, men and women alike admired beauty. A good face was always sought after by many in Da Chu, but the water that can carry a boat can also capsize it. In good times, this face was the icing on the cake, but in bad times it would also cause more trouble.
In Da Chu, where the south wind prevailed, many dignitaries liked to keep men as pets. In his previous life, he almost became one of them. If his mother hadn’t cruelly cut a line across his face, disfiguring him for life, he figured that he probably would not have been able to survive for even a few years more.
“Let’s go.” Wen Tian averted his eyes and walked to Wen Shuyue’s courtyard first.
Wen Shuyue’s courtyard was even noisier and more lively. Fu Youqin and the housekeeper were counting dowry boxes, which were then moved onto the carriage one by one. These were Wen Shuyue’s dowry.
Seeing Wen Tian, Fu Youqin handed the account book to the housekeeper and came over to take Wen Tian’s hand and look at it.
The wound on the palm of his hand had been deep and narrow, but the bleeding had stopped overnight. Only a slight dull pain remained. Dai Fu had specially bandaged it with a red cloth, so it was hard to notice in his sleeve.
Seeing how meticulously the wound was bandaged, Fu Youqin felt relieved and turned to talk about the day’s wedding ceremony.
Lehe Town was adjacent to Sifang Town, but there were going to be many carriages and horses in the wedding procession, and it took more than two hours to walk through the main road. The Jiao family’s wedding procession should arrive at around 7 a.m. at the beginning of the morning. But it was now only a moment away from the hour of the dragon2, and there was still no news at all from the groom’s wedding party.
Fu Youqin was a little worried. “Could something had gone wrong on the way?”
Wen Tian pursed his lips to suppress his smile, thinking that it was a question of whether or not the Jiao family had found a certain someone, but he comforted her, saying: “Maybe they had a late start, please be patient and wait.”
Fu Youqin nodded and touched her right eye uneasily. Her right eyelid had been twitching all morning.
===Author’s Notes===
It hurts but there is no coaxing from Lao Gong, it’s sweet and miserable√
It’s a weekend where you can spend as much time as you want, so keep giving out red envelopes =3=
===Translator’s Notes===
- Red light district. I could just translate this as “red light district”, I guess, but this phrasing is just so much better ↩︎
- Chenshi, corresponding to 7am-9am ↩︎
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