Chapter 12: How Terrifying

Hmm?

Everyone looked at him with puzzled expressions.

Only then did Luo Zijun realize he had lost his composure; he had no choice but to sit back down, saying somewhat awkwardly, "I am just concerned for Brother Xu, fearing he might encounter bad people."

Snake demons are inherently bad.

Bad and stupid!

If one wants to repay a debt of gratitude, just giving money is enough; why must one covet someone's body and offer oneself in marriage? In the end, it only leads to heartless betrayal and death, alas, how tragic!

Why bother?

Liu Mama gave him a strange look and smiled, "The book boy only said those few words, and I didn't ask in detail. I suppose Young Master Xu is kind-hearted and helped lead the way; they are just two weak women, nothing will happen."

At this moment.

The sunset had already dipped below the mountains, and the lanterns on the Flower Boat had all lit up.

The Literary Gathering was about to begin.

Liu Mama did not linger, taking her maid and hurrying behind the flower stage.

Seeing Luo Zijun's expression was off, Su Bie quickly said, "Zijun, no need to be disappointed. I will go and invite him personally tomorrow; there will be plenty of opportunities, and I will certainly be able to let you see him."

Things had reached this point.

Luo Zijun did not dare to appear too urgent again, lest he be misunderstood.

In this day and age, the trend of men with men is quite popular.

Many scholars keep young book boys at home, and sometimes they are not just for reading; occasionally, they whisper sweet nothings and have secret affairs.

At this time, the Literary Gathering had already begun.

Liu Ju walked onto the flower stage, first thanking everyone, then introducing several venerable old gentlemen in turn, and finally stating the purpose of this Literary Gathering.

Tonight, Tianxian Pavilion has dispatched eight women to compete for the title of Flower Chant.

There are only two spots for Flower Chant.

Tonight, besides exerting all their skills to perform, the eight women must also solicit votes themselves; the ones with the most votes will be selected.

"These eight young ladies are the ones with the best appearance and talent in my Tianxian Pavilion. The two Flower Chant spots for tonight will be selected from among them. Perhaps even the spot for Flower Courtesan will be selected from them later..."

"You are all talented scholars of my Lin'an City; I hope everyone will contribute generously to tonight's selection of Flower Chant..."

Liu Mama stood on the stage, speaking with a face full of smiles.

Su Bie whispered an explanation to Luo Zijun: "Contributing generously means those with money contribute money, those with talent contribute talent; if you contribute both money and talent, that is even better."

Wang Dafu, who was to the side, laughed: "That is what they say, but if you only contribute talent and no money, you will certainly be despised by the young ladies; you will have put in the effort without getting any favor."

At this moment, Liu Mama stepped off the stage and announced the start of the competition.

The eight young ladies began to take the stage in turn, displaying their most proficient talents while also saying things to solicit votes.

Some performed dances, some performed songs, and others played the zither or the flute.

The crowd below the stage applauded continuously and cheered repeatedly.

After the fourth young lady finished her performance and left the stage, Wang Dafu gave a lewd laugh and clapped, saying: "I choose Number Three, Mei'er. The way this young lady wiggles her wasp waist and plump buttocks is simply deadly; if she were to sit on one's lap, tsk tsk..."

Su Bie mocked: "If she is selected as Flower Chant, you might not even be able to see her."

Wang Dafu was immediately somewhat unconvinced: "With my appearance and talent, wouldn't it be easy to win her over!"

"Heh, you've been to the Brothel so many times, and I've never seen any Flower Chant meet you."

"That's because I haven't made my move yet! Recently, I've read a few good books and suddenly feel my literary inspiration flowing like a spring; in a moment, I will let you see my true ability!"

"I'll be waiting."

The two of them bickered while watching the performances on stage.

Cheers rose and fell all around.

Luo Zijun looked out the window alone, appearing preoccupied and absent-minded.

After the last young lady finished her performance on stage, the cheers and discussions below became even more intense.

"I choose Number Five! Number Five, Ziwei, played her jade flute so mournfully and plaintively that it brought tears to one's eyes; it can be called heavenly music."

"I choose Number One! The singing voice of Number One, Shuixiu, is what can truly be called heavenly music!"

"I think the zither playing of that young lady Number Six, Chujian, is the heavenly music, but she is wearing a veil and hasn't shown her face; I wonder what she looks like..."

All the scholars were arguing.

At this time, the eight young ladies also sent their respective maids down to distribute gifts one by one to ask for votes.

Wang Dafu asked for brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, beginning to display his talent, while a ten-tael silver ingot was also prepared.

Su Bie got up and went to a seat on the other side to discuss with other classmates.

Zhang Yitian also followed.

For a time, the cabin was filled with flying spittle and was exceptionally noisy.

Luo Zijun's heart was tethered to Xu Xian outside, and his mind had long since flown to the shore; seeing this scene, he felt somewhat annoyed and prepared to go out for some air.

Wang Dafu was lowering his head, frowning and pondering over his poem, not noticing him.

Luo Zijun left the cabin and came to the railing, his gaze looking toward the shore and the Broken Bridge above, hoping to see the figures of Xu Xian and Bai Niangzi.

Unfortunately, he didn't know either of them at all.

There were indeed some young men and women dating on the shore, and some people standing on the Broken Bridge looking down at the excitement in the Flower Boat with envious expressions.

Luo Zijun was truly burning with anxiety at this moment, wishing he could go ashore immediately.

Unfortunately, the wooden bridge had been removed, and he could not fly, so he could only worry in vain, secretly hoping that Xu Xian wouldn't be so lecherous and that Bai Niangzi wouldn't be so foolish.

"Perhaps those two women are not Bai Niangzi and Xiao Qing at all."

He could only comfort himself this way.

At the same time.

In a side room behind the flower stage in the ship's cabin, a delicate young girl in a pink dress was sitting before a dressing mirror, removing the pearl flowers from her hair.

A young maid stood behind her, anxious: "Miss, everyone else is handing out gifts to solicit votes. If we don't go, I'm afraid we'll fall behind the others!"

The young girl stroked the pearl flower in her hand with an indifferent expression: "It doesn't matter; I don't care about that Flower Chant title anyway."

The young maid said: "But if you become the Flower Chant, you can earn more silver, and that way, Miss, you can redeem yourself and pay off your debts sooner."

The young girl looked at her own beautiful face in the Copper Mirror and murmured in a low voice: "I do indeed want to redeem myself quickly and leave this place of right and wrong, but..." She did not continue.

With so many people watching just now, she hadn't even dared to show her face; how could she dare to go and hand out gifts one by one, using sweet words to beg for votes?

She could not do it.

"Miss, then... then this servant will go!"

The young maid naturally knew her own Miss's temperament.

If it weren't for the fact that her Miss was shy and unwilling to compromise or curry favor with others, let alone a mere Flower Chant, even the title of Flower Courtesan could be easily obtained.

The young girl glanced at her: "You dare to go?"

The young maid's face instantly flushed red, and she said with a face full of trepidation: "This servant... this servant..."

In truth, she was even shyer than her Miss.

But now that things had come to this, if she didn't step up for her Miss, who would?

"This servant dares!"

The young maid gathered her courage and immediately took a stack of flower papers and walked out.

!

However, when she arrived at the ship's cabin and saw so many men, she immediately became afraid again and wanted to retreat.

After hesitating for a long time, she looked at the small side door and thought to herself: I will look from the outside first, and when I see which Young Master looks kind and easy to talk to, I will go over.

Thinking of this, the young maid immediately walked out through the side door, and while walking forward, she looked inside from the outside windows.

"That Young Master is fat and has big ears, and his voice is loud; how terrifying..."

"That Young Master is looking down and not speaking; he looks so serious, how terrifying..."

"That Young Master is dressed in gold and jade, with a face full of fake smiles, and he is peeking at Miss Mei'er's bottom; how terrifying."

The more the young maid looked, the more afraid she became, and she had already started to tremble.

Should she just go back?

Just as she was shivering and preparing to go straight back, she suddenly heard a "whoosh" sound of water from the side, and when she turned her head to look, her eyes widened instantly!

A young scholar was unzipping his pants and peeing... peeing at the railing!

That sound of water was the sound of urine spraying out and landing in the lake!

The young maid was tongue-tied and frozen in place, her mind a blank; at this moment, it was as if she had been scared to death.

Because that young scholar was also staring at her at this moment.

This person was none other than Luo Zijun, who had been looking at the shore anxiously by the railing; because he had drunk too much wine earlier and suddenly needed to pee, he saw that there was no one around, so he had taken it out right there to relieve himself.

Who would have known that a young maid would suddenly walk over.

There was too much urine, and he couldn't stop it for a moment, so he could only watch helplessly as this young maid turned her head and looked at him.

"That... are you also out to pee? Do you want to do it together?"

Luo Zijun decided to strike first.

At a time like this, one had to compare who was the most shameless.

Whoever cared about their face would be the most embarrassed.

The young maid widened her eyes, as if her soul had left her body, and she did not move at all.

Finally finishing, Luo Zijun skipped the shaking process, immediately put it away, and prepared to go inside; after thinking for a moment, he turned his head and asked: "If you aren't peeing, why did you come out?"

As he spoke, he looked at her hands.

In the young maid's hands was a stack of flower papers; those flower papers were cut into the shapes of various flowers, and the girl's name was written on them—it was clearly for soliciting votes.

"I'll cast a vote for your young lady; you aren't allowed to tell anyone about what just happened, how about that?"

Luo Zijun proposed.

The young maid remained frozen in place, not moving at all, as if she hadn't heard a single word he said.

Luo Zijun took a flower paper from her hand and asked: "How do I vote?"

The young maid remained dazed for a long while before finally slowly coming back to her senses; she hurriedly lowered her head, her small face flushed red, and her small hands gripped her skirt tightly as she said with a trembling voice: "Silver... or... or send a... poem praising my Miss..."

Luo Zijun thought for a moment, fished a copper coin out from his bosom, and handed it to her.

The young maid: "..."

"My family is poor and I have no money; this one coin is something I earned through my own hard work."

Luo Zijun stuffed the copper coin into her small hand, and just as he was about to go inside, he suddenly remembered something and said in a low voice: "Remember, don't tell anyone else about what you just saw. If... if you really can't help but tell someone, try to... *cough cough*, exaggerate it a bit."

After saying this, he waved his hand and went into the room.

The young maid stood outside, her face red and ears hot, looking completely bewildered.

Luo Zijun entered the ship's cabin and saw that the seats were already empty.

Su Bie and Zhang Yitian had not yet returned, and he didn't know where Wang Dafu had gone either.

The brush, ink, paper, and inkstone were still on the table.

Luo Zijun sat down and turned to look out the window, seeing that the pretty young maid was still standing outside, dazed and not leaving; he thought to himself: Could it be that she thinks I gave too little?

After thinking for a moment, he looked at the flower paper in his hand, on which the two characters "Chujian" were written.

Was that girl named Chujian?

"Forget it, I'll just consider it a way to salvage some of my image."

After pondering for a moment, he pulled over a sheet of rice paper and picked up the brush from the table.

A moment later.

He stood up, blew the ink dry on the paper, folded it, walked out, and handed it to the Young Maid, saying, "For your mistress."

The Young Maid felt dizzy; she reached out and took it instinctively. Just as she was about to speak, her face flushing red, Luo Zijun had already turned and left, entering the room.

"So, so terrifying..."

The Young Maid muttered in a trembling voice, glanced once more at the person who had walked into the cabin, and then hurriedly turned and fled with a "whoosh."

Once inside the room.

She said with a sobbing tone, "Miss, Miss! It's so terrifying outside, so terrifying! A Young Master actually peed in public, gave me one copper coin, and threatened me not to say that his is small..."

"Oh right, he didn't wash his hands after peeing, and then used that same hand to write a poem for you..."

The young lady: "..."

(End of this chapter)