Multiple kinds of women's perfume are all over the place to the point it's irritating to the nose. The slow music that the guqin makes sounded but the giggling and soft voices belonging to ladies dominated.
A voice of a lady sounded near Xu Zhengming's ear. The whisper sounds sweet and seductive, "Lao Xu, it's been a while since you visited us here. We missed you so much." She caresses his cheek and it tickles him.
With a wide grin, he looks at her and asks, "Did you miss me, jiejie?"
Xu Zhengming is currently sitting at a table good for two and drinking wine. Three women are surrounding him. They're all have slender bodies, fair-skinned, and wearing smiles on their lips. These ladies are wearing thin clothes and exposing too much skin. Their faces have a strong smell of rogue.
The lady answered, "Of course, you're one of our regular customers after all."
The lady on his left side asks, "Lao Xu, you've got a companion this time. Why won't you introduce him to us?"
"Yes, of course. Ladies, this man with me is Renshu."
Sitting on the opposite side to him is no other than his majesty the emperor of the eighth generation himself, Yin Renshu. The short-tempered emperor is sulking on his seat and throwing sharp glares to Xu Zhengming for more or less an hour now.
Just like his eunuch, he's wearing a lame commoner's cloak and refuses to remove his hood. Annoyance is written all over his face but surprisingly, he didn't say anything since they entered the brothel that Xu Zhengming usually visited before he entered the imperial palace as a eunuch.
Yes, Xu Zhengming and the emperor are inside of a brothel.
"Sisters, look, isn't he the shy type? He isn't exposing his face to us." The lady is talking about Yin Renshu.
"I bet he's handsome." Says the other.
Xu Zhengming immediately reacted. "Uh, yeah? But I'm more good-looking than him."
Maybe it is because of the liquor that he dared to be bold in front of the emperor. Whether it is the case or not, Xu Zhengming couldn't care less if he offends him or not. He's dying anyway, there's no problem if his death comes earlier.
Yin Renshu on the other hand has his phoenix eyes narrowed and his lips pressed tightly together. Never did he wondered if he's handsome or not, and he doesn't care about it. But now that someone claims that this person is more good-looking than him, he can't help but feel annoyed.
No one, even his brother Yin Wenyan, dared to do that in front of him!
But now that he thinks about it, why would Yin Wenyan claim that he's more handsome than him when they have the same face?
"Of course, you're the best man in the town." The ladies giggles again.
Xu Zhengming is fluttered and chuckles. He said, "But really, don't get near him, he's not a gentleman like me. He's--- Ouch!"
Xu Zhengming got interrupted when his foot got stepped upon by Yin Renshu. In every split second that passes, the force that he applies gets greater.
"Lao Xu? What's wrong?" The ladies look at him with a confused look.
The more Xu Zhengming's face gets unreadable, the wider Yin Renshu's smirk gets. Yes, this is the least that one gets if someone dares to declare to be more handsome than the emperor himself, regardless if it is true or not.
His eunuch blinks twice to him as if relaying a secret message. Realizing this isn't effective, Xu Zhengming looks at him with puppy eyes. Annoyed, Yin Renshu averted his gaze and withdraws his foot.
So, how did his majesty end up getting dragged by his silly eunuch to this kind of place?
Well, it all started a few hours ago...
"Pardon, your majesty?"
Xu Zhengming raised his eyebrows waiting for the emperor to make things clear to him. This emperor really is... unpredictable.
Right after the empress existed in the emperor's hall, the emperor starts to act strange... well, at least for Xu Zhengming.
Yin Renshu averted his gaze. "I said I'm bored to death. What should we do?"
The eunuch slightly tilts his head. "Don't you have a lot of things to deal with, your majesty? You can perhaps forget your boredom if you start working with it."
And besides, didn't he told him that he'll help him with his situation? How come he's so free to even spare some time to seek ways of eliminating his boredom? Why not find him a cure?
However, no matter how thick-faced he is, he can't make him bring this up to his majesty.
"Aiyah. Are you sure you're loyal to me and not to my sister?" Yin Renshu complains.
The truth is, Yin Renshu couldn't remove the thought that his first servant who forgets about formalities at times, even sometimes dares to speak nonsense to him, and had silly moments with him is dying. Among all of his subordinates, he's the one who's closest to be considered as a friend to the emperor. Although he's still full of energy now, who knows when will he ran out of vigor?
The time they spent together is much lesser than two weeks but he can't deny the fact that his boring life in the palace got 'somehow' interesting thanks to this clown. Despite the fact that his brother, Yin Wenyan will do everything to his extent to find him the spirit herb Yueguang Hua, this alone can't assure his salvation. They aren't even sure if the herb will work on him. He feels sorry for this eunuch's misfortunes and short life. The emperor also feels guilt since the eunuch got this illness because he served the imperial palace that he once wishes to run away from but got bumped onto his majesty instead. And this emperor, on the other hand, brought him back to the palace to serve him. If they didn't run to each other that night, will he be able to avoid this kind of fate?
Now that he still has the energy to run all he wants, the emperor thinks, maybe, just maybe... In three months, maybe he can give this eunuch a happy life before he dies at the very least.
Yin Renshu added, "Fine, what do you want to do? Do you have a place you want to go? Let's go out."
"You mean 'sneak out', your majesty?" Eunuch Xu stretches his neck to meet his majesty's gaze.
Yin Renshu, "If that's how you call it then so be it."
Xu Zhengming's eyes shine. With full of hope, he asks, "We're not doing official business?"
With a straight face, Yin Renshu shakes his head as a response. This makes Xu Zhengming's eyes curve upwards and a wide grin shows on his lips.
"There's indeed this place I want to visit again, your majesty."
Without thinking much, he said, "Sounds good. Let's go."
Yin Renshu immediately regretted why he didn't ask Xu Zhengming first where is this place he wanted to visit. Turns out, the great Casanova in town wants to flirt with women before he dies.
Xu Zhengming forces a smile on the three women. "It's nothing, ladies. Please bring us the bill."
"Right away, Lao Xu!" Then the ladies quickly left their table.
All in all, Xu Zhengming drunk three jars of liquor. Despite the fact that he took much, he's not affected by the alcohol even a bit. Yin Renshu on the other hand didn't drink even a single drop of wine. He just got himself a cup of jasmine tea.
"Renshu." Xu Xhengming calls. He raises his jar of wine that's half empty, offering it to the other. With a wide smile, he said, "You should try this. This is the best rice wine in town."
"I don't drink." Yin Renshu said sternly without giving it a second thought.
"Really?" Xu Zhengming puffs a laugh and said sarcastically, "I wonder who was that who initiated a toast during the grand empress dowager's banquet."
Yin Renshu inhales deeply and tried to calm himself. If only this eunuch of his is not dying, he'd probably hit him twice on the head by now. One from the very moment they entered this brothel and another one now.
"It's not that I wanted to do it. It's just for formalities. I really don't drink alcohol."
"Is that so? This is the first time I've heard about an emperor who doesn't drink." Xu Zhengming sips on his wine jar. "Do you have a low alcohol tolerance?"
"..."
"I want to drown myself in alcohol to forget my worries even just for a while." Xu Zhengming sighs.
To be honest with himself, he still couldn't believe that he'll die in three months. The royal physician isn't playing pranks on him, is he? And after that old man whispered something to the emperor, his majesty had an unreadable expression. And when he told him that he'll definitely save him, he looks so sincere.
Up to this moment, Xu Zhengming still can't bring himself to ask about what did the royal physician told him nor to ask what is he really suffering from. It's not just a simple sore throat, right? But he just can't. He's too afraid to know.
Xu Zhengming smiled lazily to the emperor and continued, "But I don't have a drinking buddy. I was hoping to drink with you but all you're drinking is just tea."
"Of course not!" Yin Renshu suddenly yells at him. Some customers even look in their direction for a while. This left Xu Zhengming dumbfounded. He's just staring at the other, then blinks, then stares again cluelessly. He's not what?
The emperor continued, this time, his voice is lower than usual, "Since I'm not into drinking, I do not know my limits but I'm pretty sure it's not low. I'm not that weak."
"Oh..." Xu Zhengming finally gets it. So that's it? He's just defending himself.
"Why did you ask for the bill already? I thought you're planning to get drunk?" The emperor asks.
Xu Zhengming can't help himself but chuckle. "Do you really want to stay here? From the looks of your face, it seems you want to send me to the underworld right here and now."
"..."
He smiles at Yin Renshu and said, "Let's just move somewhere else. I know a wine house."
"Lao Xu, here's the bill." The lady from earlier is back with a paper in her hands. She handed it to Xu Zhengming. Eunuch Xu looks at it for a while then looks to Yin Renshu with a grin.
"Renshu, my friend!" He handed the bill to Yin Renshu with a wide smile.
The emperor didn't say anything and slowly shakes his head then gets the bill from Xu Zhengming's hand.
"You only see me as a friend whenever you want me to pay for you." Yin Renshu reaches for his money pouch underneath his sleeves.
"Oh? What's this? You've hurt me, my friend." Xu Zhengming put his hand on his chest and acted like he really got hurt from his words. But then again, his acting is so bad that only Yin Wenyan would believe it. He continued with a 'pained' expression, "I already considered you a friend since day one."
Hearing this made the emperor stop in a split second. With a straight face, he asks, "Really?"
"Of course! Now pay for it." Xu Zhengming then stopped acting and raised his eyebrows up then down several times with a mischievous smile.
Yin Renshu shakes his head again for the nth time and handed a few gold coins to the lady. The woman bows her head before leaving again.
Xu Zhengming laughs in victory and rises from his seat. "Let's go, Renshu my friend! My time's running out. Let's stop wasting it!"
"Wait." Yin Renshu said expressionlessly.
"What?" Mingming asks impatiently.
"The change..." Yin Renshu responds, "I'm waiting for my change."
"Huh? Aren't you letting them keep your change?" Xu Zhengming quickly walks closer to his majesty's side and whispers to him. "You're losing your coolness points, your majesty."
Yin Renshu looks at him with disbelief. "What coolness points are you talking about? Of course, I'm not letting them keep the change! I may have the money now but I didn't grow up rich. Every copper coin counts to me."
"..."
With a hint of hesitation, the emperor added, "You usually do that? Is that etiquette or something?"
"..."
So after Yin Renshu got his change they immediately left the brothel. As usual, Xu Zhengming is spouting nonsense again. This time, Yin Renshu didn't stop him from doing so and even listens intently to his every word. Even though he finds it somehow annoying, listening to him is actually better than doing nothing, even much better than being the emperor than the imperial palace.
The emperor thinks, does having a friend requires one to tolerate nonsense?
The time sure flies when you're enjoying the moment. The sun is about to set again to the west. The sky turns orange and the clouds turn into pinkish gray.
They walk through the street where Xu Zhengming got chased by the emperor's concubines and imperial guards. The street is getting busier again as the twilight approaches. The lanterns have been lighted and hung. The stalls for the night market are starting to open. The vendors call possible customers in the crowd.
While walking, Xu Zhengming's attention got captured by a certain stall. This stall sells water lanterns of different designs and patterns. The vibrant colors used are truly eye-catching. Yin Renshu saw him staring at the stall.
He asks, "Do you want one?"
"Mn." Xu Zhengming nods.
Yin Renshu, "Why don't you buy one?"
"..." Xu Zhengming thought that the emperor would buy him one since he asked. With a disappointed tone, he said, "Well, someone asks me to sneak out so suddenly and I forgot to bring money with me."
Yin Renshu sighs, "Fine, I'll buy you one."
Xu Zhengming's upset face lightens up in an instant. His lips form a wide grin. "Renshu, my friend, you're so kind to me."
The little eunuch hurried to the stall and looks around to find the best lantern, leaving his benefactor behind. The emperor, on the other hand, snorted as he followed his silly eunuch with his gaze but eventually finds himself slightly smiling.
"Old man, I want the most expensive lantern you have here!"
Yin Renshu's smile immediately faded when he heard Xu Zhengming's words.
He thought, "Look at this silly eunuch, so thick-faced."
"Young man, this is the most expensive lantern that my stall has." The vendor presented the phoenix-shaped lantern to Mingming. However, for some reason, Xu Zhengming seems he doesn't really like the lantern although the phoenix lantern is beautifully crafted and has vibrant colors.
He shifted his gaze to the lotus-shaped lantern. A weak smile appears on his lips. "Old man, I like this lantern more. I'll take this one."
The emperor finds it confusing but he didn't ask him anything about it and paid for the lotus lantern. After that, they went to the river nearby.
By the time they arrived at the place, it's already nighttime.
"..."
The two stand shoulder to shoulder by the riverbank. No one speaks for some time. Even the noise from the night market is more audible than the voices inside their heads. The emperor patiently waits for Xu Zhengming who was really talkative earlier but is now silently staring at the lantern in his hands.
Well, the short-tempered emperor isn't very generous with his patience after all. He asks impatiently, "What is it this time?"
Xu Zhengming slowly raises his head to meet his gaze and gradually smiles at him bashfully. "I don't have a match with me. I can't light the lantern."
The emperor averted his eyes and shifted his gaze towards the other side of the river. Out of nowhere, he said, "Did you know what's the first requirement that the Princess General seeks among the applicants of her Ministry of War and Defense?
Xu Zhengming doesn't know why he suddenly asks him this. It's too out of the context. Perhaps he wants his eunuch to join the Ministry of War and Defense? Although he didn't know why he changed the topic, Eunuch Xu still goes with the flow.
"What is it?" He asks.
"A soldier must be ready at all times." Emperor Yin Renshu looks back at his eunuch and continues, "You can't pass the first requirement. Therefore, it's impossible for you to become one of the empire's soldiers."
Xu Zhengming made a face. He said to himself in the back of his mind, "Oh, so that's it. He just wants to insult me. But there's no way he could bring one with him, right?"
He smirks, "Then how about you, your majesty? Do you have a match with you?"
"No, but I have this." Yin Renshu grabs a talisman underneath his sleeve. He made a hand seal and in an instant, the tip of the talisman ignited a red flame.
The bright color of the flame reflects on his eunuch's eyes. Amusement can be seen in those pair of eyes as he stares at the warm light. Yin Renshu then lights the lantern on Xu Zhengming's hands.
For a moment, his majesty the emperor got stuck staring at his silly eunuch.