After Cui Buqu stopped talking, he covered his mouth and started
coughing.
His coughs followed one after the other, sounding increasingly
severe, causing him to bend down slightly. His whole body shook
when he coughed, like a bamboo in the midst of a tremendous wind.
During these two months, the Zixia Daoist Temple's name rose
within the City of Six Crafts. Not everyone present here were locals,
but there were still a few who knew Cui Buqu, so they shouted,
"Master Daoist Cui, are you alright? Do you need any help?"
"In broad daylight, I cannot believe there are still people who would
do these kinds of disgusting things. Master Cui, please come down
here, let us call the bureau!" Someone else shouted.
Cui Buqu coughed a few more times and laughed bitterly, "This is
Feng Xiao from the Jiejian Bureau. He came here to investigate the
case of the Khotan ambassador's murder. He insisted that I had
something to do with the case, so he held me under custody. Even if
you went to the magistrate, it would be pointless. I appreciate your
kindness. Just now, I just… could not hold it in anymore!"
He had coughed quite violently, so his eyes were brimmed with
tears, yet no one was concerned for him. Everyone simply saw that
Cui Buqu's face was pale and weak, the tears making him look very
pitiful.
Even Lin Wei who held romantic feelings towards Feng Xiao could
not help but grow suspicious: Could it be that Feng Xiao was only gentlemanly on the surface, but in reality, his hobbies were eccentric
and beyond horrifying. Not only did he sleep with both men and
women, but he also desired for the sickly and ill types?
If he thought about it in this manner, then as to why Feng Xiao was
not interested in him… it all made sense.
Lin Wei was beginning to wonder about the last time he tried to act in
front of him to get his attention, yet he did not know Feng Xiao's
background or origin, it made him stunned for a moment. The Lin
family was very close with the people in the palace. Lin Wei's
network was also often quicker than others. He knew what to
imagine when he heard the words 'The Jiejian Bureau'. He did not
know who Feng Xiao was at first, and he even dared to have sexual
thoughts about him? Now that he thought about it, he felt that he had
gone a little out of his place.
The Linlang Guild's auction was cut off in the middle. The middle-
aged man panicked a little and did not know how to respond until
Feng Xiao laughed loudly.
"I said it myself; I insisted that I would want both. Your sister is fragile
and beautiful, and you are intelligent. So what if I owned both of
you? With the power the Jiejian Bureau holds in front of the Emperor,
these sort of trivial matters do not suffice to flaunt the imperial laws!
A-Cui, I've trained your sister, and now, all that is left is you. If you
are willing to follow me, I guarantee that from now on, regardless of
what you want, I can give it to you!"
He flashed an evil laugh at Cui Buqu as if Cui Buqu truly had such a
sister who had married into Feng Xiao's house.
You have a plan, but so do I. Is this not merely throwing stones at
each other? Who is afraid of whom? Cui Buqu laughed coldly, "But
are these the habits of a gentleman? I have told my sister before,
that when she is with you, you seem to have some sort of weird hobby. Yet she refused to listen to me and loved to take off
everything to let you spank her. She also said she loved it when it
hurt; the more painful, the better. You tortured her until she is half
dead. I wager these are things you are too cowardly to let others
know!"
The entire hall gasped.
Pei Jingzhe: ...
He was thoroughly immune to it, his entire face was expressionless,
as he watched these two ruin each other's reputation, stomping the
other's name down into the mud.
Lin Wei opened his mouth widely, shocked beyond words.
In his heart, he spoke: Who knew Feng Xiao looked all proper and
gentlemanly, yet he hid such a hobby. On the other hand, while he
himself was a cut-sleeve, and was considered unusual, at least he is
still normal in other aspects....
The corner of Feng Xiao's lips twitched.
He thought that he was cruel enough to himself and that he was also
swift to think of a backup. Who knew that someone else was even
quicker than he had been. That Cui Buqu was even crueller than
him.
Both of them glared at each other, big eyes glaring at smaller eyes.
After a while, Feng Xiao decided to let go of the matter and deal with
the serious one at hand.
He flipped his sleeves and spoke to the middle-aged man, "This is a
personal matter. There is no need for everyone to be so concerned.
If you hold any curiosity, you may come forth to the Jiejian Bureau. Today the auction has yet to come to an end; we cannot dally here,
can we?"
The middle-aged man looked as if he had woken up from a dream,
"Y-yes! No one has claimed this piece of jade yet. Everyone, please
take your seats!"
Cui Buqu sat back down again and looked perfectly calm. Presently,
even though he was in the hands of Feng Xiao, and it had all begun
with an accident; it had also been a part of his plan. Since he was
now playing his own game, of course, he could not leave the place.
At the very least, he could disgust Feng Xiao a little bit.
From the uproar before, everyone seemed to find it tough to sit in
peace. No one else bid for the jade, so it was ultimately owned by
Feng Xiao. After that, there were a few more treasures; and
naturally, it resumed to being fought for by everyone. Feng Xiao did
not participate again and only waited for the auction to come to an
end. He took Pei Jingzhe and Cui Buqu and left the place, turning to
the Qiushan manor.
"Master Cui, your mouth is so powerful. With just two or three
sentences, you ruined our lord's name!" Pei Jingzhe exclaimed as he
thought about the incident just now and felt a little frustrated. His
tongue was not as sharp as Feng Xiao, at that time, he could not
think of anything more to refute. If he had attacked Cui Buqu, it
would just prove that Cui Buqu was right.
"I still have the Naihexiang in my system. That cannot make up for
merely saying a few sentences. Just now, I did not vomit blood in
front of the audiences, and that is already being kind to you two."
Cui Buqu looked pale, no longer having the terrifying shade of colour
he had put on just now. He sat there peacefully, calm like mountains
and seas. Pei Jingzhe felt unhappy, "Then vomit a mouthful of blood for me to
see!"
Before he even finished talking, Cui Buqu opened his mouth and
coughed. A mouthful of blood-coloured liquid fell onto his robes,
creating a red stain.
Pei Jingzhe: ?!!
He was in for a shock. Immediately he leapt three foot into the sky,
almost running forwards to check on Cui Buqu.
Feng Xiao's light voice travelled to his ear, "Fool, it is just mulberry
juice."
He locked his eyes and looked. That colour did not seem dark red
like human blood, but a shade of red that looked purplish.
Pei Jingzhe: ...
Cui Buqu raised his sleeve to wipe the juice off the corner of his lips,
showing no guilt at being called out.
"I choked."
Pei Jingzhe's mouth twitched as he recalled. A while ago in the
Linlang auction event, the waitress did bring them a few drinks and
Cui Buqu had indeed ordered a cup of mulberry juice. But for him to
keep the juice in his mouth until now simply to spit it out, he thought,
it was not an easy thing to accomplish.
Feng Xiao smiled, "QuQu, you look even more pleasing to the eye
now. Would you honestly not consider coming to the Jiejian Bureau?
The position of the Fourth Commander of the Jiejian Bureau awaits
you. With a word from me, a gentleman, the best horses of the lands would not be able to compare in value no matter their speed or
might."
Cui Buqu, "Are you considered a gentleman?"
Feng Xiao, "Fine, I am not a gentleman, I am a vile man. A word
from a vile man could at least be worth two swift horses. Or should I
just say; your place in the Zuoyue Bureau is even higher than I had
imagined?"
Cui Buqu, "I have said it before, I have never heard of the Zuoyue
Bureau."
Feng Xiao, "Then let us talk about the jade."
Pei Jingzhe placed the jade on the table.
Under the sunlight, the jade reflected rainbows. They practically saw
their reflections on the jade.
"Of the men who participated in the bidding just now, including me,
there were six people. Do you know who they are?"
Cui Buqu responded, "Lin Wei from the Yandang Estate. Zhou Pei,
one of the top wealthiest businessmen of Khotan. Boling Cui Clan's
Cui Hao. Gao Ning, a Goguryeoian man. Anlu Zhang Clan's Zhang
Yingshui.
It was as though he had long expected Feng Xiao to ask such a
question and answered everyone's name without even stopping to
think.
Feng Xiao, "Among them, whom do you think is the most
suspicious?" Pei Jingzhe formerly thought that Cui Buqu would not know how to
answer, perhaps something along the lines of, "How would I know?",
but this time he was incredibly cooperative.
"Zhou Pei. His father is a Göktürk. According to rumours, he is a
cousin to Khan Ishbara's number one martial artist, Fo Shou. And
that, Goguryeoian man, Gao Ning."