OTFSC Chapter 19

Qin Chen let the words go in one ear and out the other.

He was a concubine-born son. Qin Luo had always looked down on him, but that didn’t matter—they weren’t born of the same mother anyway.

It was simply the rule of the Jing’an Earl’s Manor: not only the hereditary title but also everything in the estate could be inherited solely by the legitimate son. It was said that only in this way could the Qin family’s wealth and prestige be preserved for generations. As for concubine-born sons like them, once the family divided, each would receive at most one thousand taels of silver and then have to make his own way in the world.

In ordinary times, a concubine-born son’s monthly allowance was only two taels of silver—hardly enough to afford even a visit to a pleasure house or a gambling den. The Qin family therefore had no need to worry that these idle concubine-born sons would stir up trouble outside.

Qin Chen, however, didn’t particularly care whether he received a share of the gold, silver, or shops. He simply didn’t want to loaf around the manor like a useless man, living off others and waiting for death.

He wanted to secure a proper post, then quietly save up enough to buy a house. That way, when the family eventually divided, he could bring his concubine mother out to live with him.

Years ago, when the Eastern Palace was selecting study companions for the Crown Grandson, the heir apparent busied himself trying to push Qin Luo into the Eastern Palace and had him accompany Qin Luo to the selection.

Before setting out, the heir apparent gave him many instructions, telling him to deliberately pick quarrels with Qin Luo in the palace—to argue and bicker with him—so as to showcase Qin Luo’s composure without arrogance and his humble, self-effacing nature, allowing Qin Luo to stand out before the Crown Prince.

That was the first time he disobeyed the heir apparent’s orders.

He, too, wanted that opportunity!

Unfortunately, he was merely a concubine-born son. In the end, the Crown Prince did not choose him. Upon returning to the manor, he was subjected to a savage beating that nearly cost him his life.

Somehow, the Young Master learned of it. He personally went to the Earl Jing’an Manor and brought him out.

From then on, he was able to remain in the Eastern Palace.

Qin Chen straightened up and replied indifferently, “There’s no need for Fifth Brother and the Heir Apparent to trouble themself.”

Qin Luo pointed his riding whip at him and immediately began to curse, “Don’t tell me you’re still reluctant to part with that master of yours—”

“Fifth Qin!” someone cut him off. “If you keep dawdling, the Hongyan pastries will be sold out.”

“You promised Miss Xian’er you’d bring her some Hongyan pastries. If you don’t get any, be careful—she might not even let you through the door.”

“Who knows, maybe Sixth Brother Zhou will end up winning her favor instead.”

They chimed in one after another, then burst into laughter.

Miss Xian’er of Zangxiang Pavilion had been the top courtesan in the capital’s pleasure houses this past year. Quite a few young noblemen who frequented such places were betting on who would win her favor and earn the honor of combing her hair¹梳拢 (shū lǒng) literally means “to comb and arrange the hair”; in this context, it is a courtesan term meaning to formally take her first night / become her patron.

Sixth Young Master Zhou picked up his fan and lounged lazily on horseback.

He had long heard that in the Earl Jing’an Manor, concubine-born sons were treated worse than servants, but he hadn’t expected it to be true. This man was, after all, one of Young Master Chen’s people—if not for the monk’s sake, at least for the Buddha’s²不看僧面也得看佛面 (bù kàn sēng miàn yě děi kàn fó miàn) idiom: even if you don’t respect the person himself, you should respect the powerful figure behind him. Just listen to the outrageous nonsense this Fifth Qin was spouting. If he were allowed to go on, they might all end up implicated.

If one wanted to be a proper wastrel, content to eat, drink, and make merry, the most important thing was to stay far away from court politics—never get involved in the slightest.

He lightly shook his fan and steered the conversation back to romantic pursuits, saying with a flippant smile, “Fifth Qin, if you still can’t coax Miss Xian’er, I won’t hold back out of courtesy anymore.”

The moment Qin Luo heard this, he grew anxious.

Xian’er was both delicate and alluring, especially that soft, seductive charm of hers—he was utterly infatuated with her.

If he could be the one to comb Miss Xian’er’s hair, then his life would not have been lived in vain.

As expected, Qin Luo no longer had the mind to bother with Qin Chen. With a tug on the reins, he went straight to the very front of the line. The people waiting were seething but dared not speak out, afraid that one wrong move might offend those young nobles and earn them a few lashes for nothing.

Qin Luo didn’t even dismount as he said, “Get me ten bundles of Hongyan pastries.”

Ten bundles?!

The shop assistant’s eye twitched, but he kept his smile natural, maintaining a cheerful, amiable demeanor. “Sir, we’re sold out. Please come again tomorrow.”

Qin Luo frowned: “Then five bundles.”

The shop assistant replied patiently, “Not to mention five bundles—we don’t even have half a bundle left.”

Qin Luo’s frown deepened: “Really none left?”

“None left.” The shop assistant didn’t dare offend him, so he put on a humble smile and bowed low as he said, “The filling for Hongyan Pastry is quite difficult to prepare, so our shop only bakes one batch a day. The last two bundles were just bought by the previous customer. Sir, we still have Duck Fat Pastry and Pine Nut & Lily Pastry—would you like to take a look?”

One of the young noblemen teased, “Fifth Qin, you’re finished—Miss Xian’er will definitely ignore you now.”

Qin Luo’s face fell. A thought suddenly struck him, and he raised his hand, pointing at Qin Chen, who hadn’t gone far, asking, “Were the last two bundles bought by him?”

The shop assistant smiled and nodded, then briskly turned to attend to the other customers.

Then Qin Luo called out, “Third Brother, wait for me!”

Qin Chen pretended not to hear and quickened his pace.

Unfortunately, no matter how fast two legs were, they couldn’t outrun four. With a few bounding strides, the fine horse caught up with him.

Qin Luo swung down from his horse and patted his shoulder. “Give it to me.”

Qin Chen looked completely baffled.

“Hand over the Hongyan pastries you’re holding.” Qin Luo arrogantly pulled out a piece of broken silver and tossed it over. “I’m not taking it for free—I’ll buy it from you.”

The broken silver struck Qin Chen, slid down the front of his robe, dropped to the ground, and rolled to a stop at his feet.

Qin Luo extended his hand toward him as if it were only natural.

Qin Chen pressed his lips together, said nothing, and simply stepped past him and walked on.

“Stop.”

Qin Luo blocked his path.

Qin Chen smiled faintly: “Fifth Brother, are you planning to take it by force?”

Qin Luo said impatiently, “I’ve already given you the silver.” Utterly ungrateful.

“Not for sale.”

Qin Luo refused to let him go and, thinking himself perfectly reasonable, explained, “I promised Miss Xian’er I’d bring her the Hongyan Pastry.”

Qin Chen had only just returned to the capital—how would he know who this Miss Xian’er was. His answer remained the same: “Not for sale.”

“Shameless ingrate.” Qin Luo cursed angrily, grabbed his riding whip, and lashed it down at him without restraint.

Qin Chen swiftly dodged, so the first lash missed him, but it was immediately followed by a second.

Qin Chen struggled to suppress the urge to kick him. He kept telling himself over and over that he had to endure it. He had no choice—his concubine mother was still firmly in the hands of the legal wife.

This was never going to end! Qin Chen steeled himself, and when the third lash came, he simply didn’t dodge.

Back when he was still in the manor, it was always like this—he would have to take a beating before Qin Luo was finally satisfied.

Smack! This lash landed squarely, and a muffled grunt escaped Qin Chen’s throat.

Having vented his anger, Qin Luo felt a little better and sneered coldly, “Is this all you’ve got, Third Brother? I thought that after following that person, you might have improved at least a little. Don’t tell me that while you were in Liang, all you learned was how to wag your tail like a dog at that person’s side, begging for your life.”

After speaking, he raised the hand holding the whip again.

Qin Chen’s narrow eyes suddenly turned cold.

If before, Qin Chen simply hadn’t wanted to make an issue of it, then now he was like a wild wolf baring its fangs.

He grabbed the tip of the whip in one swift motion, yanked Qin Luo closer with a sharp pull, and drove a hard kick straight into his stomach.

“Aagh!”

Qin Luo let out a miserable scream, his whole body curling up like a shrimp.

In front of so many people, he had actually been beaten by a concubine-born son.

“You’re courting death!”

Clutching his stomach and grinding his teeth in fury, Qin Luo drew the sword at his waist in one swift motion.

The thin blade flashed with a chilling gleam under the sunlight, so sharp it made Qin Chen’s eyes sting. Caught off guard, he instinctively raised the oil-paper wrapping in his hand to block it. The sharp sword edge came down, slicing the wrapping cleanly in two. The Hongyan pastries inside were scattered all over the ground, their flaky crusts crushed to pieces.

Qin Chen smacked his forehead in annoyance. Well, now these couldn’t be eaten anymore.

“You did that on purpose!” Qin Luo shouted angrily.

He would rather throw away the Hongyan pastries than give them to me—he did it on purpose, just to make me lose face in front of Miss Xian’er!

This concubine-born son was just as hateful as ever.

The moment Qin Luo made his move, the tip of his sword went straight for Qin Chen’s chest—every strike aimed at a vital spot. Qin Chen retreated again and again, then suddenly threw aside the torn oil-paper wrapping. His body swerved nimbly to the side, stepped forward, and reached backhanded to seize the sword.

Unexpectedly, Qin Chen stepped on a piece of Hongyan pastry scattered on the ground. His foot slipped at once, and his body pitched forward uncontrollably—his neck went straight toward the sword tip.

I’m done for! He could almost feel the icy chill of the sharp blade piercing his skin and the excruciating pain that would follow.

There was only one thought in his mind: Eldest Young Miss Gu’s prediction was truly accurate!

It really was a bloody disaster!

“Murder!”

The people on the street screamed one after another, chaos erupted, and everyone scattered in panic like startled birds and beasts.

Damn it! Sixth Young Master Zhou came rushing over, shouting, “Fifth Qin, don’t do anything reckless!”

Fighting was one thing—even if someone got beaten black and blue, it wasn’t considered a big deal; no one would bother reporting it over such a small matter.

But if someone were to lose their life…

“Stop!”

If a concubine-born son died, then so be it! Qin Luo chuckled coldly and pushed the tip of his sword forward. “Go to hell!”

Sixth Young Master Zhou could hardly bear to watch.

He turned his head slightly, and in the very next instant, his pupils contracted sharply.

Reflected in his pupils was a black arrow tearing through the air. With a sharp, piercing whistle, it struck Qin Luo’s right hand—the one holding the sword—with a single shot.

Qin Luo cried out in pain, and the long sword slipped from his grasp.

The arrowhead pierced straight through his palm. The remaining force of the shot made him stumble backward, and he fell hard onto the ground.

Blood dripped from his palm, and Qin Luo’s face contorted in agony.

Who was it?!

When he looked up, what he saw was a young woman striding quickly from the end of the street, a black bow in her hand.

The Qin family and the Gu family were related by marriage. Staring at the veil covering her face, Qin Luo recognized who she was.

“Hey, you, surnamed Gu, stop right there!”

His voice was shrill and piercing.

“You bitc—mmph mmph—”

Sixth Young Master Zhou came rushing over from the side, drenched in sweat, and clamped a hand firmly over his mouth.

Gu Zhizhuo paid them no mind. Without slowing her steps in the slightest, she went straight to Qin Chen’s side.

Qin Chen lay face-down on the ground, completely motionless, with blood all around his face and neck.

Gu Zhizhuo’s heart skipped a beat. She gently nudged his arm with the tip of her shoe and asked, “Young Master Qin, are you still alive?”

“A-Alive…” Still lying on the ground, Qin Chen forced the words out with difficulty.

He had really thought he was done for! Making it out alive was a huge stroke of luck.

Qin Chen struggled to sit up, clutching his neck. Fresh blood streamed through the gaps between his fingers, impossible to stop. In no time, the front of his robe was already soaked red, and a pool of blood had begun to gather on the ground.

His face was frighteningly pale—whether from fright or from losing too much blood, it was hard to tell.

Gu Zhizhuo crouched down and took out a brand-new needle case from her sleeve and picked out a long needle.

She said, “Move your hand away.”

Qin Chen obediently removed the hand covering his neck. The moment he did, the blood immediately flowed out even faster, welling out in a steady gush.

Among the long needles in this set, there were only nine in total, based on the principle: “The Nine Needles correspond to the great number of Heaven and Earth; they begin with one and end with nine³https://ctext.org/huangdi-neijing/jiu-zhen-lun.”

Gu Zhizhuo pinched a needle between her fingers and inserted it.

Her movements were steady and swift. By the ninth needle, the bleeding had stopped.

Qiongfang assisted her from the side, using the fine cloth brought from Baiji Hall to carefully wipe the blood from Qin Chen’s neck. Once it was cleaned away, a wound nearly three inches long became clearly visible—almost cutting all the way across his neck.

The wound was deep; the flesh split open and turned outward. The only fortunate thing was that the sword strike had not severed the neck artery.

As long as the neck artery was intact, no matter how frightening the wound looked, it was still only a flesh wound. Since the bleeding had been stopped in time, with proper rest and recovery, he would heal.

“Hand.”

Qin Chen stretched out his right hand, looking at her expectantly.

Gu Zhizhuo placed three fingers on his wrist to take his pulse, her brows knitting slightly as she examined it carefully.

After a few breaths, she patted his shoulder. Her tense expression finally eased as she said, “Congratulations—you survived.”

Qin Chen was still shaken, and upon hearing this, he nodded instinctively. The movement of his neck immediately sent a sharp pain through him, making him wince.

“Don’t move,” Gu Zhizhuo warned him with complete seriousness, deliberately trying to scare him. “If you lose too much blood, you can still die.”

“Don’t pull the needles out yet. You’ve lost too much blood, and your yang energy is insufficient.”

The moment she said that, Qin Chen immediately sat still and behaved himself, extremely obedient.

No matter what, if one could stay alive, no one would want to recklessly seek death.

“Eldest Young Miss Gu… has my bloody disaster over now?”

He asked cautiously.

“It’s over!” Gu Zhizhuo replied lightly.

Qin Chen’s hanging heart finally settled, and his stiff shoulders gradually relaxed.

This really was… huh?

Wait, something wasn’t right. Qin Chen suddenly thought again. Earlier, Miss Gu had switched from his left hand to his right while taking his pulse and had also calculated for quite a while. Could it be that she had already figured out his great calamity was going to happen today?!

• 1
  梳拢 (shū lǒng) literally means “to comb and arrange the hair”; in this context, it is a courtesan term meaning to formally take her first night / become her patron
• 2
  不看僧面也得看佛面 (bù kàn sēng miàn yě děi kàn fó miàn) idiom: even if you don’t respect the person himself, you should respect the powerful figure behind him
• 3
  https://ctext.org/huangdi-neijing/jiu-zhen-lun