Lu Qinyi was a pushover for those he was close with. That unfortunately left him in odd situations… much like today.
Song Lin had unfortunately figured out from whatever sources she had planted in Fei Li’s home that Chen Chyou was the key to getting Lu Qinyi to do something he didn’t want to. And she hadn’t given up on her dreams of seeing Lu Qinyi as the one dressed up. Chen Chyou seriously owed him for this one….
They kept saying something about his handsome appearance being perfect for it or whatever, he didn’t truly care that much. He simply stood impatiently while they adjusted the fancy flowing garments, pulling them tight at his waist. He wanted this over with quickly, but he would hardly stay still or make it easy for them. And he would not stop complaining every chance he got.
He couldn’t help lightly scratching at his exposed collarbone, his brows scrunching slightly. This garment was designed to have a wide but shallow neckline. This meant that his neck and a decent amount of his shoulder line was exposed, but it closed in underneath his collarbones unlike the version Fei Li was to wear. Lu Qinyi wasn’t used to having so much of his neck and shoulders exposed to the open air. He preferred the tight cover of high necklines and long sleeves as it felt much too vulnerable to wear something like this. Nor was he used to the billowy and long sleeves that overflowed far past his wrists. In frustration, he shoved them out of the way in order to expose his hands.
He frowned slightly as Chen Chyou claimed his hand, pulling it down and tugging the sleeve back over it. She clicked her tongue. “Even if you look gorgeous now, you don’t act it. If you at least tried to look a little delicate it would complete the look! Like those beautiful dancers that perform at the palace.” She claimed and adjusted the neckline of his extravagant robes, met only with Lu Qinyi’s eye roll in reply.
“She’s right. Act a little and it would be perfect. Here, hide your lips behind your sleeve like this.” Song Lin instructed and demonstrated by doing the motion herself as she was still banned from touching Lu Qinyi.
Lu Qinyi still didn’t look impressed but he eventually relented under Chen Chyou’s expectant gaze and raised his hand as he had been shown.
“Yes that’s better~”
“Ah! This would look great on you, hold still a moment.” Chen Chyou had been poking about in the jewellery boxes. Both she and Song Lin had brought along accessories to adorn him with. She returned with a skip in her step and tugged at him. Lu Qinyi had to lean down to give her access to his neck.
Song Lin helped by holding aside his hair, albeit carefully as Lu Qinyi’s cautious gaze stared her down. His hair had already been tied into a high ponytail. Both women were in agreement that his trademark hairstyle suited him best.
After a few moments of fidgeting, the tight but soft fabric necklace was tied in place. It rested high on his neck and just on top of his Adam’s apple.It was a tad tighter around his neck than he was used to, so he raised a hand to adjust it. But his hand slapped away and the sleeve pulled over it again.
Lu Qinyi frowned slightly, narrowing his eyes but Chen Chyou had been around him long enough to not feel intimidated. “Leave it! You’ll ruin it if you touch it.” She declared surely.
Song Lin smiled with great amusement as she observed from the side lines.
“Why’s it so tight? Loosening it a bit isn’t going to ruin it, surely…”
“It will! It’s meant to be like that. Don’t complain so much.”
“It really does look quite good as it is. You have to leave it like that.” Song Lin chipped in.
Lu Qinyi still seemed discontent, his fingers twitching as he resisted the urge to lift his hand again. He opened his mouth to argue some more but before he said anything, he seemed to hear something. His head snapped towards the direction of his bedroom door.
There was a soft knock before the door slid open.
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.
Without any further warning, he pulled himself free from his two stylists and dove to hide behind his bed. “No, no, absolutely fucking not. Get him out!”
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“Huh?” Both girls looked visibly confused. “You said you didn’t care?” Song Lin mentioned, her brows raised as she assessed the hiding figure. Lu Qinyi hadn’t seemed to care less so long as they got this over with quickly, but now he was completely freaking out.
Chen Chyou also didn’t feel at ease around Fei Li. But seeing that Fei Li was quite obviously confused and a little curious, she asked, “You don’t want to show him our hard work, A-Qin?”
“No! I don’t care who else sees me but he absolutely can’t. I want him out! Now!”
“Hm?” Fei Li tilted his head slightly as he tried to work out what was happening. His eyes roaming over the discarded garments strewn across the floor and various other accessories and jewellery about the room. “Are you two… dressing him?”
“Mhm. He looks quite breathtaking too. It’s a shame he won’t let you see.” Chen Chyou replied.
“Chyou, not another word!” Lu Qinyi fumed and ducked his head further into hiding.
“So.. you’ll let anyone but Fei Li see you then?” Song Lin asked slowly, looking at Lu Qinyi curiously.
“Yes, anyone but him and if you don’t get him out now, this will be the last time I ever let you two do anything like this to me.” There was a pause before something else seemed to occur to him. “That bastard Xi Ming can’t see me like this either. I’d have to pluck his eyes out if he did.”
“You wouldn’t mind if Zhao Mei and Yang Xun saw you then?”
“Mmm, yeah. That’s fine. They can’t get any more disappointed in me.”
“And Fei Li can?” Song Lin questioned.
“I’d also like to know why I’ve been excluded.” Fei Li said, feeling a bit discriminated against. Besides, surely he deserved to see after all the hell Lu Qinyi had been giving him when it had been Fei Li in that position.
“Oh I don’t know, perhaps I’d like the person who shared a battlefield with me as my equal to maintain some respect for me?”
Fei Li raised an eyebrow. “When did I ever say I have respect for you?”
“…”
Lu Qinyi had no response for that, having to resign himself to simply glaring to express his discontent.
The two remained in a cold stalemate with Fei Li still curious and Lu Qinyi unwilling. Finally, Fei Li’s gaze left Lu Qinyi’s hiding spot to share a look with the two women.
“Since he never respected you in the first place, couldn’t you-” Chen Chyou tried but Lu Qinyi cut her off just as quickly.
“No.”
Chen Chyou frowned slightly. “But you really do look rather good.”
“She’s right. You are truly impressive, Qinyi. It’s a waste to hide it.” Song Lin tried in her all too sweet voice.
“When did I ever ask your opinion? I said he isn’t seeing and that’s final.”
It was Song Lin’s turn to frown now.
“Surely it isn’t worth so much fuss…” Fei Li half muttered, finally breaking the stalemate by walking over. But before Fei Li even had a chance to look, Lu Qinyi had sprung up, rolling over the bed nimbly and hiding himself on the opposite side.
“Fuck off General Fei, I wont give you the chance. Just hurry up and leave already!”
Chen Chyou watched for a moment before she leaned in, whispering something to Song Lin who quickly got a gleam in her eye and a sly smile spreading on her face.
“QinQin, why must you be so stubborn? I want to show Lord Fei my best work.” Song Lin cooed, shooting Fei Li a hidden wink as she snuck within arm’s reach while Lu Qinyi was fixated on the man across from him. She curled around Lu Qinyi’s arm, pulling at him.
Lu Qinyi naturally went to shove her off. The moment he did, Song Lin let out a startled cry, stumbling back a few steps before seeming to trip on her skirts and falling to the ground. Lu Qinyi paused for a moment, brows knitting slightly.
She made a muted sound of pain and moved to hold her ankle.
…Lu Qinyi found her distasteful, but he hadn’t intended to seriously injure her. “Are you alright?” He asked, getting up from his crouch and stepping forward to help her up.
“I hadn’t meant to…” He began but his words quickly died out upon seeing the pleased expression she wore. Shit, Lu Qinyi thought and looked up to see Fei Li staring at him.
He turned an accusing gaze back to Song Lin. She fluttered her lashes as she gazed up at him. His eyes quickly narrowed, flicking from Song Lin to Fei Li. He’d been had. “That was dirty of you…”
He left her on the floor and crossed his arms across his chest in displeasure, however he knew he had been defeated. He didn’t try to hide any longer.
Fei Li had been silent for some time now, drawing the gazes of all three other persons.
Lu Qinyi really was gorgeous. He was hard not to stare at, but Fei Li had been too noticeable. So Fei Li commented “Are we certain we shouldn’t sell him instead? He would go for a far higher amount.”
“The point is that we aren’t selling anyone! Otherwise I would have already sold you in a back alley to whoever would take you!” Lu Qinyi barked angrily.
“A-Qin, you can’t say such a thing!” Chen Chyou exclaimed in horror. “He is the reason you’re still alive and here right now!”
“No, I’m the reason he’s still alive!”
“A-Qin what if he stabs you in the night because you made him mad?!” Chen Chyou wailed in despair. She seemed like she really thought Fei Li was some kind of devil that would kill Lu Qinyi in his sleep…
“I should be the one killing him in the night for suggesting he wants to sell me to a brothel! I really might.” Lu Qinyi huffed and offered his sleeve for Chen Chyou to dry her teary eyes on, while Song Lin seemed quite upset that such highly expensive fabric was being used for a handkerchief.
Chen Chyou sniffled and shook her head. “When you want to do something, you don’t talk about it, you just do it. He isn’t dead, so you’re not going to kill him tonight.”
Chen Chyou was unfortunately incredibly accurate with her assessment. Lu Qinyi made a grunt of annoyance and turned his head away.
Author’s Note:
It’s only fair we dress up LQ too right?
Editor Rae and I were cracking it laughing while reviewing, we even came up with our own memes for this one.
FL this chapter:
Vs LQ:
No I will not be taking criticism, these are 1000% accurate depictions because I’m the author and I control the canon now!
Hi everyone! Editor Rae here! curtsies😊I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter as much as I did! This chapter was soooo fun to review and yes the depictions are so accurate! 🤣 Many thanks for your continued support of our wonderful author-sama and of WWIO as always! 💜