The ducal residence's imposing vermilion gates slowly opened.
Outside, curious commoners and aristocratic sons eager for a spectacle stood packed several rings deep. In the middle of the long street, Xie Wei knelt on the blue-gray paving stones, his back straight, his blue robe washed pale. Both hands raised above his head, he held something tightly wrapped in white cloth. His face was as cold and hard as winter frost.
“Young Master Xie, what performance is this?”
Su Mian's lazy voice drifted out before he appeared. Stepping over the threshold, still waving that ostentatious gilded fan, he looked down at Xie Wei.
At the sound, Xie Wei's long lashes trembled. He lifted his cold, bloodshot eyes. Seeing Su Mian looking freshly woken, refreshed, and every inch the wastrel, the humiliation and anger in his gaze almost became tangible.
“Young Master Su.” His voice was hoarse, but each word rang clear. “I have come today to restore my reputation and return the Grand Princess's gold token to its rightful owner.”
“Oh?” Su Mian raised an eyebrow, descended the steps, and prodded the bundle with his fan. “Restore your reputation? What's in there, then? Your head? Some bloody object for a protest unto death?”
The onlookers held their breath. Such fierce integrity from this poor scholar. Had he truly brought a petition written in his own blood?
Drawing a deep breath, Xie Wei pulled back the white cloth through gritted teeth.
Pure gold blazed dazzlingly. The Grand Princess's token lay perfectly intact inside. Beside it sat ten copper coins, neatly stacked, and an IOU written in precise regular script.
Xie Wei spoke word by word. “I know my humble origins do not qualify me for the ducal household's bed. This token is precious. I used it to register for the spring examinations the day before yesterday, and now return it. As for the ten-coin printing fee required for registration, I have drawn up an IOU. If I succeed in the examinations, I will repay it tenfold. I will not live off another man for even a single coin!”
He bit out the words “live off another man,” clearly driven furious by the rumors of the past two days. He had come to rub Su Mian the wrong way and avenge his public humiliation.
Su Mian stared at the ten coins and the IOU for a second, then burst out laughing.
Incredible. A world-class overachiever indeed. Even drawing boundaries came with a formal KPI ritual.
“Brother Xie, your fur really does grow against the grain.” Closing his fan, Su Mian crouched until he was level with that handsome face, faintly flushed with anger.
Xie Wei snorted and turned away. “If you wish to charge me with grave disrespect, I will not complain. But if accepting this unearned ‘charity’ is the alternative, I'd rather bear a ruined name and never enter official service!”
He expected Su Mian to be angry, to bully him with his power.
Instead, Su Mian merely sighed. Before the entire crowd, he pocketed the coins and the IOU. Then he suddenly reached out, caught Xie Wei's chin with unerring precision, and forcibly turned his face back.
“You—how dare you!” Xie Wei went rigid. The roots of his ears blazed red.
“Don't move.” Su Mian leaned close and laughed softly, his voice low enough for only them, carrying a modern man's particular casualness and dark humor.
“Young Master Xie, do I look as though I care about saving face? I've given up on everything beneath it too. The whole capital says you climbed into my bed. I'm not complaining, yet you're the one feeling wronged?”
Eyes wide, Xie Wei shook with rage. “You have no shame!”
“Well said.” Far from getting angry, Su Mian picked up the solid gold token and once again brutally stuffed it into Xie Wei's robes, even giving his chest a provocative pat.
“Su Mian!” Xie Wei completely lost his composure.
Su Mian stood, dusted his hands, and announced loudly to the watching sons of officials:
“Listen carefully! As of today, this token is officially renamed ‘Xie Wei's Personal Cheat Device.’ Brother Xie objects to my bad reputation? Fine. If he won't accept a patron's support, I'll force-feed it to him! Xie Wei, I've taken the money and the IOU. I'm your creditor now. You will sit those spring examinations, and you will bring me back second place. Dare miss them, and tomorrow I'll have my mother buy every sheet of Xuan paper in Great Qi. You won't even have paper to wipe your ass. Understood?”
The long street fell deathly silent.
Force-fed patronage! The capital had never seen a more domineering or baffling form of compulsory trade.
Xie Wei sat on the ground with the heavy gold token wedged firmly inside his collar. Looking at Su Mian's brazen “I'm rich and powerful, so I'll do as I please” expression, he understood helplessness for the first time in his life.
“Back inside. I need more sleep!” With a sweep of his fan, Su Mian turned elegantly toward the gates.
Just before crossing the threshold, he looked back at the dumbstruck Xie Wei and silently scoffed.
Amateur. In my last life, even those impossible clients never beat me at a performance wager. Handling one obsessive ancient overachiever? Child's play. Be good and go take your civil-service exam for me, wage slave!