Although Chen Chyou was still a frequent visitor, Fei Li no longer felt that discomfort from before and so, everything was much like it was before.
“A letter arrived from Miss Song.” Fei Li brought up to Lu Qinyi while they were alone in his study.
Lu Qinyi was lazily laying on the floor of Fei Li’s office. He had a paper in his hand that he was reading since Fei Li felt he was stable enough to permit him to work again. Lu Qinyi tilted his head to glance at Fei Li.
“And?”
“Miss Song has advised she has located all of the information we need, but she won’t be releasing it until her conditions are met.”
“Oh.” Lu Qinyi looked back at the document. “That’s too bad. Best of luck convincing her.”
Fei Li’s lips twitched. “All you have to do is wear different clothes.”
“I’m not going to, so perhaps you should consider alternatives to offer her.” Lu Qinyi replied without a care.
There was a soft knock before a servant entered, bowing low. “Mister Lu, Miss Chen is here.”
Lu Qinyi immediately jumped up, setting the paper down neatly on Fei Li’s desk as he passed.
Lu Qinyi left the room, and just before the servant turned to go follow him Fei Li stopped her. “Bring Miss Chen here to me. Lu Qinyi isn’t to accompany her, I wish to talk to her alone.”
The servant immediately acknowledged the order and returned shortly with one incredibly nervous looking Chen Chyou.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
She immediately dipped half her body into a bow. “Did you… Did you need something from me?” She asked meekly without raising her head.
“P kjcafv ab jrx obg sbeg jrrlrajcmf, jmaejiis.”
Jtfc Jtsbe olcjiis rabif j qffx ja tlw klat j mbcoerfv fzqgfrrlbc bc tfg ojmf. “P vbc’a xcbk tbk P mbeiv qbrrlyis yf bo jrrlrajcmf ab atf Xfcfgji.”
“Pa lrc’a jcsatlcu vloolmeia. P rlwqis cffv sbe ab mbcnlcmf Oe Hlcsl ab kfjg yfaafg mibatfr. Lf tjv cfk mibatfr yea kbc’a kfjg atfw, jcv tf kbc’a ilrafc ab jcsbcf firf.”
Chen Chyou brightened. “Oh, something so easy?” She seemed to ponder it, as if she had never really noticed it before. “You’re right, he does seem to dress like a poor man these days. Okay! I’ll get him to wear his new clothes.”
Surely it couldn’t be that easy, Yang Xun, Zhao Mei and himself had all been unable to convince Lu Qinyi this entire time.
But to Fei Li’s unfortunate surprise, Chen Chyou had succeeded within a day. The following morning, Lu Qinyi was wearing soft patterned blues. He looked much more like himself with the high collar and the long-sleeved undergarments beneath his outer robes. He seemed particularly grumpy, clearly unwilling but even Fei Li had to admit, Song Lin had been right. Lu Qinyi looked much better when he dressed properly.
—
Song Lin seemed quite pleased with her handiwork as well when they finally met again. Her painted lips were curled into a satisfied smile, and she was blatantly staring at the tight cinch of the sash at Lu Qinyi’s waist. She sighed happily. “Truly it is one of life’s greatest pleasures to gaze at handsome men.”
Lu Qinyi uneasily shifted to sit further away from her. “General Fei, can you do something about her? She’s creeping me out.”
Fei Li shook his head. “Unfortunately I can’t, or I would have done something long ago.”
Song Lin took a folded paper from her bosom and held it out to Fei Li, but her lecherous gaze never left Lu Qinyi. While Fei Li read it, Lu Qinyi was too busy trying to close his robes tighter around himself and scowling at Song Lin.
“If I gifted you clothes, would you wear them?” She asked him hopefully.
“No.” Lu Qinyi answered immediately.
“They are using a brothel as a cover for their operations.” Fei Li explained what he read to Lu Qinyi, frowning as he addressed Song Lin. “You aren’t able to investigate further? We can’t act with this little information. We need to know more about how they operate and what they are doing.”
“Unfortunately not. It’s a very dangerous situation. I have very few people I could place there who I am confident would be able to protect themselves. Those that would be able to I already have placed in other locations. You must understand that I have very high standards, I won’t let any risk befall those under my care. I’m afraid I can’t help you this time.”
Fei Li frowned further. “I no longer have any spies that work for me since the time I was compromised. We can’t afford further delays either. The more time that passes, the more strength they can amass.”
Fei Li mentally went through the list of all the skillsets he had working under him. But Song Lin had been correct, there were few with the capabilities for a mission so dangerous, and even fewer who could be trusted with such a risk. “…Zhao Mei, what are her fighting skills like?”
“Forget it. She won’t agree. Mei Mei hardly goes out into the field.” Lu Qinyi narrowed his eyes as he was certain Song Lin had just tried to inch closer.
Song Lin sighed lightly as she gave up. She had only wanted to come a little closer, why was this man so fussy? She turned to Fei Li and smiled gently. “Why don’t you have Lu do it? He is skilled, and he was from the South. He will blend in much more easily.” This didn’t seem like a bad proposal until Song Lin added with far too much glee, “All he has to do is dress as a courtesan and he’ll easily be granted access!”
“NO! Are you insane?! There is no way I’m doing that! Let there be an uprising and everyone can die for all I care, I won’t do it!”
“Relax.” Fei Li said softly to ease Lu Qinyi’s clear agitation. The other looked about ready to dive out the nearest window and run off. “I wasn’t going to ask you to.”
The tension in Lu Qinyi’s body eased, no longer like a bow string drawn taut.
Song Lin pouted. “Aww. That’s really too bad, it would have been so fun. Then, why don’t you go as the patron? High quality courtesans always have a patron they serve. That person is the one to own their contract, and it isn’t always the brothel owner. It isn’t uncommon for there to be private patrons who hire out their courtesan, for a good price of course.”
This time Lu Qinyi considered it. Finally he nodded. “I can accept that.”
Song Lin supposed that would have to do. And since she was somewhat satisfied, she felt willing to provide a tidbit of advice. “It is best not to be alone anyway. Although it isn’t good to have too many with you either, it will attract attention. You should choose the person to pose as your courtesan carefully as it would be for the best if they are the only other person with you.”
Fei Li also looked to Lu Qinyi for his decision, feeling it might be best for the other to pick the person himself. He had expected it to be Yang Xun, or perhaps Chen Chyou might have hidden skills that made her suitable. But Lu Qinyi had hardly spent any time thinking about it when he answered “Then General Fei, will you do it?”
Fei Li was so stunned it took him a moment to respond. “…Yes?”
Lu Qinyi nodded. “It’s settled then.”
Song Lin was practically glowing with interest. Even she was pleasantly surprised by this turn of events, and couldn’t keep herself from asking “Why him?”
“To be honest, he’s a rotten spy. He isn’t suited to the work at all. But there is no one more skilled and capable, nor will he falter under the pressure.”
“How interesting! Then, shall I help you both prepare? There’s much work to be done before you’re ready to play your roles.”
Lu Qinyi gave her a distrusting look. “Only if you swear not to touch me.”
Song Lin clicked her tongue. “Yes, yes, fine. The one I need to touch isn’t you anyway. It’s him.” She said, gesturing to Fei Li who was only now beginning to wonder if he should have thought this through more before agreeing…
Author’s Note:
This entire arc was actually inspired by an early fan who reached out to chat to me on Insta and suggested an idea similar to this, all the way back in early 2022. Thank you Laura!
This arc sounds fun and promising, bring it on!
OMG
I can’t believe you remembered my idea, put it in writing, and gave me credit!!!
(º///º)
Thank you very much for making this a reality, I am really enjoying this novel, its characters, and everything else.
AND I’M REALLY GOING TO LOVE THIS ARC<3<3<3<3
(By the way, you exceeded my expectations ; ))
looking forward to it!! xD