However sharp or keen he might be, he still couldn’t guess what Gu Bai was thinking in that moment.
“A tragic…… past?”
Gu Bai knew immediately he’d let his mouth slip and coughed lightly, saying: “I recognize that person.” His finger pointed towards the Wu Shang girl.
Qi Guan Rui looked over, squinting his eyes.
Of course, he also recognized this person. It was clearly the one Zi Che Shu Bai had noticed in the restaurant a couple days ago, why was Zi Che Shu Bai still paying attention to them right now?
Then he said softly: “It does seem like we had the fate to meet them once before.” He paused, “What’s wrong, Gege?”
Gu Bai said: “That’s a girl.”
Qi Guan Rui already knew and said: “Right.”
Gu Bai then said: “The one she has her arms around is also a girl.”
Qi Guan Rui raised his eyebrows: “A girl and…… a girl.”
Gu Bai nodded: “I saw a fellow traveler with that girl dressed in men’s clothing before, they seemed to be her elder. The elder’s face was dark and heavy… if that girl wanted to be together with the girl she liked, that elder probably wouldn’t just stand by and watch.”
When he wrote about the Wu Shang girl, he had indeed written it in one sitting. But in that sitting, he also wrote how Wu Shang would lose her first love due to the trouble her Master caused, causing her heart to crumble and dissipate like dead ash. But her Master also had the kindness of nurturing her, so later on, when she avenged her Master, she put her life on the line in hopes of finally breaking free of living in such torment if she were to die. It was only until she fell in love with the twisted protagonist, that her heart would come back to life again.
Actually, aside from being pretty efficient when it came to killing people, Wu Shang really was a morally upright girl that paid a debt of gratitude where due and sought revenge when necessary. It was just that she would take a liking to that freak afterward, and then her views would become just as equally crooked.
Qi Guan Rui laughed: “So that’s what it is. But each person has their own destiny, it has nothing to do with us.”
Gu Bai sighed, although he couldn’t bear to see it happen, there really wasn’t anything he could do.
Firstly, even if the Wan Yue girl was pitiful, if she didn’t die, Wu Shang wouldn’t lose hope. And if Wu Shang didn’t lose hope, then this part of the plot would need to go through a huge change. If the twisted protagonist lost this loyal pawn of a girl, then the harem’s situation would also change… since this wasn’t a normal girl after all, but one of the four fairies. She would go on to form alliances with other girls in the harem, splitting the group up left and right… lord knows why such a manly author like him wrote an imperial harem struggle.
Secondly, he’d been in this universe for quite some time. He started out with some benevolence, but it had all pretty much rubbed off by now. Even if he did have a surge in kindness again, could he really tell Wu Shang, “Your Master wants to kill off the girl you adore?” If he said that he’d probably come off as crazy. And if he didn’t say anything……he and Gu Xiao Shan came out to play, he wouldn’t know when Wu Shang’s Master would go off, was he expected to follow her every day?
And so, a sigh could only be a sigh, there was really nothing he could do.
Qi Guan Rui watched Gu Bai nod, thoughtfully pondering.
Since a girl and a girl could be together, then a man and another man…… should, presumably, be okay too.
Although he’d never heard of such a thing before, Zi Che Shu Bai didn’t seem to be fazed.
Then did Zi Che Shu Bai actually……. not hate it?
Qi Guan Rui’s gaze darkened.
Zi Che Shu Bai was keen on others’ businesses, but when it came to his desires, he seemed to be completely oblivious.
It just wasn’t known if he really didn’t know or had already detected it early on…… no, if he really was aware of it, then he wouldn’t behave like this.
Even if he couldn’t see Zi Che Shu Bai’s thoughts clearly, his change in feelings towards Zi Che Shu Bai has always been crystal clear.
Because of all kinds of worries, Gu Bai couldn’t do anything, so all he could was pretend to have not seen the ill-fated ducks.
…Forget it, my own life isn’t even secured yet, no use thinking about others.
He had way too many girls in this novel that were forced to live a hard life, if he looked after every single one he ran into…… then what use was the sadistic protagonist?
Stealing the show didn’t work like that!
So, the two tossed thoughts of the two girls to the back of their minds. In the split-second Qi Guan Rui turned around, a shadow quietly crept out, and only later did he take Gu Bai to the inn with a face full of gentle attentiveness.
This inn was carefully chosen, and even had to be booked many days in advance, or else it would have been awfully overcrowded.
Gu Bai saw the peacefully beautiful atmosphere and gave Qi Guan Rui a thumbs up.
Very well, this was meticulously prepared… but this kid was way too confident, was he so certain he would come out and play with him?
This gave Gu Bai the sudden, eerie realization, that his status as an older brother was precarious……
Qi Guan Rui took his hand and pulled him into the inn.
Gu Bai silently contorted his face.
Forget it, it doesn’t matter.
The two stayed in the eighth room of the Tianzifang[1]. This was still considered early… if they had gone up any later, they wouldn’t have been able to stay here, as they only had ten rooms.
After finding a place for their stuff, the two brothers settled down in Hua Zhao city.
Qi Guan Rui really made an effort. Over the next two days, he would take Gu Bai everywhere, practically even more familiar with the place than the locals.
After having visited almost all the surrounding areas, the Hua Chao festival arrived.
The sight of people packed foot to foot and shoulder to shoulder…… was also here.
Gu Bai stood apart from the crowd, slightly perplexed.
Ah, I don’t want to be pressed against other people, if I just walk in like this, won’t I just work up a full body of stinking sweat?!
He turned to look at Qi Guan Rui.
Gu Xiao Shan, how about we go back……. hm?
Qi Guan Rui smiled slightly: “Gege, go with me?”
Gu Bai: “…….okay.”
Damn it! Raising a child is so hard!
After putting on a black gauze outer layer, Gu Bai went out with an elegant air of nobility.
Qi Guan Rui led the way with laughter, while Gu Bai’s aloof temperament intimidated some civilians, causing them to make way for him, one after another.
That finally made it tolerable for Gu Bai.
Walking all the way, the two came to the front of a garden.
While the garden was said to be a garden, there actually wasn’t an enclosure surrounding it, more like an open square instead. There weren’t many trees planted there either, but the flowers bloomed, one after another, as colorful and beautiful as could be. All sorts of exotic flowers vied for beauty and spread their fragrance lazily, making the garden look like a wonderland.
Gu Bai glanced over at it and found it quite pretty.
But apart from peonies, chrysanthemums, and orchids; he didn’t recognize a single one of the other flowers, so obviously, he couldn’t tell whether they were good or bad either.
At the time, he’d written about the Hua Chao festival, but he hadn’t really described the actual, real flowers. The focus was placed on the “flower” instead, so now, when he looked at the flowers it was merely observational. If you really had to have him name one, two, or three… please, just spare him.
On the other hand, Qi Guan Rui was simultaneously pointing at the flowers and explaining them to Gu Bai… his knowledge was profound.
Gu Bai was expressionless, nodding at his explanation. It was simply too elusive to understand.
It could also be called ‘Acting like a pretentious dickhead to the highest extent’, no one could tell that he didn’t understand!
After the two of them had strolled around, they noticed the surrounding people were all flowing toward a specific place.
Qi Guan Rui suddenly understood, “Gege, the flower viewing convention has started.”
Gu Bai nodded, and followed him there.
Not long after, they saw a plaza bundled in fresh flowers, and on the plaza was a tall platform also filled with blossoms. There was colored silk in the sky, and far in the distance was a small building… exquisitely elegant and gorgeously beautiful.
Amidst the crowd of flowers, there seemed to be plenty of curvaceous shadows and moving waists, gracefully charming.
Gu Bai glanced at the alluring shadows, then at Qi Guan Rui, and quietly exclaimed.
Xiao Shan is indeed at the age to start pursuing young women, he wants to fall in love! He’s already flirted with girls, and now that he’s drifting towards areas with even more girls, should he prepare more dowry so he can marry lots of wives and concubines in the future?
Qi Guan Rui was taken aback by the complex notions behind his eyes.
This gaze…… why does it feel so weird?
He’d brought Zi Che Shu Bai here because he had his own intentions. Since he wanted him, he needed to know if Zi Che Shu Bai was interested in women.
……and also help him decide what to do next.
The two’s thought processes didn’t align, but the fact that they were both observing the other’s attitudes was very real.
So, after the flower viewing convention began, their “flower viewing” was also exceptionally serious.
Even in the real world, a female’s body strength was always less than that of a male’s, and they most definitely couldn’t compete in martial arts ability either. What’s more, in harem novels, written especially for men, the status of women was even more insignificant. Although the sadistic protagonist had a couple brutal, capable girls by his side, the general environment still revolved around males being superior to females. The girls that weren’t gifted in martial arts often had a hard life, may or may not have to rely on a man. Take those ferocious girls, didn’t they rely on the twisted protagonist as well? The harem didn’t necessarily have to be composed of true love; those girls weren’t stupid.
To put it plainly, the flower viewing convention was a performative chance for the men to flirt with the women, and for the women to also openly flirt with the men.
As for the host, that would be the *Baihuamen[2].
As the name suggested, all of them belonged to the school of girls[3].
When Gu Bai and Qi Guan Rui arrived, their clothes were both considerably fashionable. With one of them radiating an imposing aura, and the other looking gracefully chivalrous, their appearance was a lot stronger than the crowd of rough faces and crooked heads. The girls loved the strong, but they also liked the handsome too, so some of the schools’ girls were exceptionally considerate and caring when serving them.
One girl was just about to deliver a cup of tea directly into Gu Bai’s hands, her whole body was leaning towards him…… but was stopped by Qi Guan Rui, who swiftly took the teacup.
The girl’s body stiffened, and just as she timidly raised her head, she was met with the eyes of Qi Guan Rui… filled with malice. Her face immediately paled in fright.
“I, I……”
Gu Bai was puzzled, and so turned around, only to see Qi Guan Rui’s frown. Now he understood.
The girl was timid, and seeing Gu Xiao Shan’s troubled expression, was probably simply scared of being reprimanded.
He then said coldly, “You don’t need to tend to here, just send some tea and pastries… that’ll be enough.”
The girl left hurriedly, her little heart nearly about to jump out, going “thump thump” in fear.
She’d never seen such a chilling look her whole life, hey… was he trying to eat someone or kill them?!
Thankfully, she dealt with guys year-round, so her mental tolerance was pretty tough or else she’d have been paralyzed right then and there.
After Qi Guan Rui scared off the girl, he was satisfied.
He placed the teacup in Gu Bai’s hand: “Gege, drink this first to warm your palate. They have pretty good pastries here, they should suit Gege’s taste.”
Although Gu Bai hadn’t seen Qi Guan Rui’s vicious look just now, he had caught on to Qi Guan Rui’s behavior.
……it always felt like he was pushing girls away.
This actually wasn’t the first time, he’d always felt that the kid, Gu Xiao Shan, had extremely possessive tendencies. It might be fine for him to cling onto him now since he wasn’t married yet, but with Gu Xiao Shan’s personality, he would probably marry three to five wives in the future… what would he do then?
But on the other hand, Gu Bai was also triumphantly pleased.
Other than this problem, his Gu Xiao Shan was absolutely perfect, only he could rise such a child~