Chapter 30: It’s Impossible Not to Make the Connection!

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At those words, Jiang Luan’s first thought was:

Oh, god above, please strike me dead! At my age, I’m still wetting the bed?

He wore an awkward, sheepish expression as he fumbled his way upright. Suddenly, his vision swam, and his body went limp.

Qi Shaolin caught him swiftly.

“Wife, what’s wrong?” Qi Shaolin asked.

Jiang Luan lay sprawled like a lump of mud in Qi Shaolin’s sturdy arms.

His heart began to race. He could almost hear the blood rushing through his veins.

This is bad, Jiang Luan thought. But by then, his reason had completely lost control of his body. All he knew was that lying against the little fool felt so comfortable. He could not help wanting to rub against him a little…

And that was exactly what he did.

Qi Shaolin stiffened when Jiang Luan rubbed against him.

This… He could neither keep holding him nor push him away.

“I think I’m… a little…” Jiang Luan mumbled.

Before he could finish, he lowered his head and fell silent.

“Wife, what’s wrong?”

Qi Shaolin had just reached out to lift his face when Jiang Luan suddenly raised his head. His eyes wandered as he asked, “What are you hiding on you? Why does it smell so good?”

Qi Shaolin: “…”

“Are you all right?” Qi Shaolin asked, gently patting Jiang Luan’s cheek.

Jiang Luan’s cheeks were frighteningly hot—or rather, his entire body was burning.

The aphrodisiac had accelerated Jiang Luan’s rutting period, while Doctor Xu’s medicine had forcibly suppressed it. Neither was in accordance with the natural order of things.

Now, in the stillness of the night, with Qi Shaolin’s blood acting as a catalyst, Jiang Luan’s body suddenly collapsed under the strain. His last thread of control snapped.

“Are you all right?” Qi Shaolin asked again, realizing that Jiang Luan seemed to have lost himself once more.

“No,” Jiang Luan mumbled. “Brother Lin, I feel awful…”

His eyes were unfocused, and he instinctively rubbed himself against Qi Shaolin’s chest. Clearly, he had lost all reason.

Qi Shaolin’s breathing grew heavy. “I’ll go get you some cold water.”

The way he released Jiang Luan could only be described as panicked.

But Jiang Luan had no intention of letting him leave.

“Don’t go!” He clung tightly to Qi Shaolin’s waist and asked innocently, “What delicious thing are you hiding on yourself? Let me see…”

“There’s nothing,” Qi Shaolin said impatiently.

He twisted one of Jiang Luan’s arms with what could only be called roughness, yet with great care, and pressed him face-down onto the bed. He intended to repeat his earlier trick and tie him up with the quilt.

But the moment Qi Shaolin pushed Jiang Luan down, the sick man suddenly fell quiet and became perfectly docile.

Qi Shaolin stopped, suspicion flickering across his face.

Jiang Luan’s face was forced into the bed. He gave a soft sob. “You’re always bullying me…”

Qi Shaolin: “…”

Who was really bullying whom, usually?

Qi Shaolin bent down and leaned close to Jiang Luan’s ear. “You were the one who molested me first. Are you really going to accuse me of wrongdoing before I’ve even spoken?”

The moment he said it, Qi Shaolin himself found it ridiculous.

Because of his rutting period, Jiang Luan’s temperament had changed completely. Once sober, he would remember almost nothing of what had happened before.

Trying to reason with him in this state was childish in the extreme.

Yet Qi Shaolin could not help himself.

Jiang Luan ignored him completely and continued speaking to himself. “You lied to me. You hit me, too. Did you think I wouldn’t know…?”

Qi Shaolin paused faintly at his words, unsure whether Jiang Luan was conscious or delirious.

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In the instant Qi Shaolin’s attention wandered, Jiang Luan seized the opportunity to turn over and burrow into his arms, still asking, “What are you hiding?”

Jiang Luan rubbed against him until Qi Shaolin’s clothes were disheveled, revealing the bloodstained bandages beneath.

After all that struggling, Qi Shaolin’s wound had, unsurprisingly, split open again.

But Jiang Luan, lost in his rutting period, had no other thought in his mind. He did not care whether Qi Shaolin was in pain. All he knew was that he had finally found the good thing.

“So that’s where you hid it. And you still lied to me…”

He bit through Qi Shaolin’s bandage and licked up the blood flowing down from Qi Shaolin’s shoulder.

Because of what he had endured in his early years, Qi Shaolin’s response to pain was extremely dull. His entire body was like a block of wood, with no particular sensitivity anywhere.

Yet when Jiang Luan touched him inch by inch, it was as though something deep within his soul had been awakened.

Qi Shaolin avoided him as if he were a venomous snake, lifting Jiang Luan bodily away from himself.

Jiang Luan still refused to give up. His two hands clung to Qi Shaolin’s lapels like a cat’s paws.

“It isn’t time yet,” Qi Shaolin said quietly. “If you’re uncomfortable, I’ll help you.”

“?”

Jiang Luan’s eyes wandered, his face full of bewilderment.

Qi Shaolin made him sit obediently, pulled away the quilt covering Jiang Luan’s legs, then bent down and buried his face beneath it…

…

…

The next morning, Jiang Luan stretched lazily as he got out of bed.

He had slept wonderfully, refreshed from head to toe, but it seemed that something had slipped from his memory.

“Damn it, where are my trousers?”

When Jiang Luan pulled back the quilt, he discovered that he was completely naked.

Not only that, but the bedding seemed different from the one he had used the night before.

“…”

Jiang Luan felt his heart sink. Even his backside had gone cold.

Nothing happened last night, did it?

Yet he remembered nothing, and his body seemed perfectly fine. In fact, he felt so good that he was almost too comfortable.

“Qi Shaolin!” Jiang Luan shouted.

The other half of the bed was cold. Qi Shaolin had disappeared to who knew where.

Jiang Luan was trapped in bed without even a pair of trousers. For the moment, he could not even get out of bed.

“Damn it, is anyone there?” he called irritably.

Someone pushed open the door and entered at the sound of his voice.

“Wife, were you calling me?” Qi Shaolin asked curiously.

He looked rather strange. His sleeves were rolled high, his hands were wet, and he was holding a piece of soapberry.

Jiang Luan took one look at him and asked, “What are you washing so early in the morning?”

“The bedding,” Qi Shaolin replied. “And your trousers, wife.”

“…”

Jiang Luan’s heart clenched. His voice trembled as he asked, “Why are you washing those for no reason?”

Qi Shaolin let out a deep sigh. “Wife, how embarrassing. You’re a grown man, yet you still wet your pants. Lin’er is too ashamed to even say it.”

Jiang Luan: “…”

It was not the terrible answer he had feared…

But it was not much better!

Although he knew Qi Shaolin would not lie about something like this, Jiang Luan still asked again in disbelief, “What did you say?”

“You wet the bed, wife,” Qi Shaolin answered unhappily. “How embarrassing.”

“…”

Was there a rocket in this ancient world? One that could take him far, far away from Earth tonight?

Qi Shaolin gave him a mysterious smile. “But don’t worry, wife. Lin’er would never tell anyone this secret!”

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The corner of Jiang Luan’s mouth twitched. “Well, thank you very much…”

Qi Shaolin found Jiang Luan a pair of trousers and helped him put them on.

After washing up and leaving the room, Jiang Luan saw the bedding hanging out to dry. He had no idea where to look. Lowering his head guiltily, he hurried away.

Following behind him, Qi Shaolin watched Jiang Luan flee with his tail between his legs. His feelings were complicated, though he could not help finding it somewhat amusing.

Most of the guests at the Qi residence had woken by then. They passed through the main hall and made their way to the central courtyard.

The servants bustled about, setting up tables and placing breakfast beneath covers at every seat, ready for the guests to eat once everyone had arrived.

Jiang Yanshu had gone to bed early and missed the grand spectacle King Siping had caused the previous night. She regretted it terribly.

“I thought I’d get to see that brat Jiang Luan make a fool of himself,” Zheng Peiluan said with a mocking laugh. “But the Prince of Siping is hardly any better.”

“Hmm. The prince hasn’t shown up this morning either. I suppose he won’t be coming back,” Jiang Yanshu said regretfully.

“Hmph. How could he possibly have the face to return?”

Madam Zhou sat at the same table as Zheng Peiluan that morning, alone with her.

Pressing a handkerchief to the corner of her mouth, she said softly, “There may have been some misunderstanding…”

“Whether it was a misunderstanding or not, it can no longer be explained clearly.” Jiang Yanshu glanced toward a corner of the courtyard. “I wonder who invited those people. Were they afraid the embarrassing incident wouldn’t spread far enough?”

A peculiar group of people occupied the table in the corner.

They were all young men—some tall, some short, some plump, some thin.

Some wore brocade and jade ornaments, with folding fans tucked into their belts. Others wore straw sandals and patched clothes, with stalks of grass stuck in their hair.

It was a thoroughly mismatched collection of people. Yet, led by a plainly featured man in lavish clothing, they sat together laughing and chatting.

“Who are they?” Zheng Peiluan asked. She rarely went out and did not recognize them.

Jiang Yanshu was just about to explain that they were nothing more than a gang of ruffians from the Star-Gazing Pavilion when Madam Zhou gave a light cough.

“The one in the middle is the old ancestor’s god-grandson, Qi Baili. He rarely appears at the Qi residence, so you probably don’t know him. The others are likely his companions.”

Jiang Yanshu: “…”

Jiang Yanshu knew only that this gang of ruffians had long occupied an inn called the Star-Gazing Pavilion, spending their days writing lewd poems and lascivious tales, as well as erotic songs and spring paintings, which they even circulated throughout the city.

She had never imagined that the leader of these ruffians was Qi Baili of the Qi family.

Moreover, Qi Baili looked utterly ordinary, with an unremarkable bearing that revealed nothing extraordinary about him. Yet the entire group followed his lead, raising cups and exchanging toasts with him.

Perhaps sensing Jiang Yanshu’s gaze, Qi Baili looked over as well.

When his sticky, suggestive gaze met hers, Jiang Yanshu shuddered as though bitten by a snake and quickly looked away.

When Jiang Luan and Qi Shaolin entered the courtyard, that was what they saw.

Jiang Luan had always felt an inexplicable affinity for this cheap “younger brother” of his and liked him quite a bit.

So when he saw that his “younger brother” was being teased with lecherous looks by the ruffian from the previous night, Jiang Luan narrowed his eyes slightly.

As if on cue, the ruffian looked over too.

The two exchanged glances. The ruffian’s expression was deeply suggestive, while Jiang Luan rolled his eyes.

He pulled Qi Shaolin to the main table and sat down. Zuo Lang stepped forward to pour them tea.

“That man is Qi Baili,” Zuo Lang whispered when he saw Jiang Luan roll his eyes at the ruffian.

“He’s Qi Baili?” Jiang Luan asked, somewhat surprised.

The answer was entirely unexpected, yet perfectly logical.

This man had used Jiang Luan as the protagonist of several salacious tales. It was hardly surprising that he had taken advantage of Jiang Luan’s drunkenness to tease him the previous night.

“Everyone around Qi Baili is cut from the same cloth,” Zuo Lang murmured into Jiang Luan’s ear. “The man on his left is surnamed Wu. He’s the son of the owner of the Prosperity Silver Exchange and Qi Baili’s closest friend. He enjoys drawing erotic pictures and selling them in the marketplace.”

“The Prosperity Silver Exchange?” Jiang Luan remembered it. Wasn’t that their competitor in the Money Comes Calling business?

He never would have expected the son of such a large money house to privately enjoy drawing erotic pictures…

The corner of Jiang Luan’s mouth twitched. “Does the old master know that his god-grandson invited a business rival to the banquet?”