Chapter Text
A body jostling against him made Shen Yuan jump, his heart beating hard. What the hell?
It took Shen Yuan a few moments to orient himself. The dirty wooden floor beneath him scratching his legs with every movement. The just as dirty small children huddling around him, not looking in his direction. At least one of them was whimpering under their breath, barely audible over the creaking of the carriage and the muffled voices coming from outside.
Right. The slavers. Shen Yuan could kick himself.
After weeks, maybe even months, of living on the streets, it was a comment he overheard that made him careless enough to get caught. Just a merchant saying something about Cang Qiong sect – Shen Yuan thought the merchant’s son wanted to try out at the next disciple selection? – made Shen Yuan falter in his steps, hit by the realization. Proud Immortal Demon Way? Really??
He had considered that he might have transmigrated pretty early on after waking in this unfamiliar surrounding, probably as some nameless NPC. Shen Yuan had tried calling out to a System – without success – and none of the village names rang any bells, so he just shrugged and went with it. But really? Proud Immortal Demon Way of all the possible places?? Oh, if Shen Yuan ever got his hands on Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky, it was on sight!
That moment of inattention was enough – the slavers chasing after him had caught up and thrown him in their carriage together with the other unfortunate kids sharing his fate.
A quick look around left him with a sigh of relief. At least A-Mei and A-Qing had gotten away.
It didn’t take long before the carriage stopped and one of the slavers came around, opening the doors in the back and scanning over the kids cowering within. He picked a few of the children out, mostly girls but also a few boys, some of them crying. He pulled them out and handed them over to someone outside, like they were nothing more than a sack of rice. In a way, they weren’t, Shen Yuan supposed.
The slaver’s gaze stopped on Shen Yuan. Oh shit. Shen Yuan tensed. “Hey!”, he protested when he too was painfully pulled up and pushed out of the carriage.
“Shut up, brat!” The slaver just outside the carriage waiting for the merchandise gave him a sharp slap. Ow, that HURT like a bitch.
Shen Yuan was led towards a loose line of the other kids sharing his fate. The slavers standing around them herded them into position like sheep about to be sold, readying them to be shown off.
The street the slavers had chosen was quiet, closed off almost. Aside from them nobody was around, but voices drifted over from one of the neighbouring streets. Likely the busy bustling of a market, with the group of slaves right there in the middle of it yet hidden away. Freedom was so close, yet just out of Shen Yuan’s reach.
After him, one more little girl, probably no older than five, stumbled when that same slaver (and Shen Yuan’s new least favourite person in the world) pushed her. Shen Yuan caught her, glaring grimly at the back of the man that didn’t waste any more attention on them once his task was done. Then he focused on the girl with the dirty yellow hair ribbons, lovingly bound by someone to hold her hair together. Both the girl and her ribbons had seen better days.
Shen Yuan’s heart twitched. “Are you alright?” He whispered.
Though Shen Yuan could hear the tears in her voice, the girl didn’t cry, just kneaded her fingers nervously. “Yes, jiejie. Thank you.”
Shen Yuan cringed slightly. It had been months (probably. Who knew, time on the streets was weird), but he didn’t think he would get used to that any time soon.
The little girl gripped his hand and Shen Yuan let her.
A hush fell over their already quiet line. Shen Yuan craned his neck to see what had caused it.
A middle-aged woman in long flowing robes had come out of one of the doors leading onto their quiet street and exchanged a few words with the head of the slaver group. Shen Yuan tried to look inside the house she had come from, not fully taking his attention off the woman, but the angle was off and he didn’t see anything but the door being open from his position.
Meanwhile, whatever the conversation had been about concluded, and the woman was now walking down the line they had been pushed into. She briefly looked over each of the children before her, showing none of her thoughts on her face, before she moved on to the next one. A few times she stopped a little longer, a calculating look in her eyes.
Then it was Shen Yuan’s turn. The woman looked him over. Defiantly, he looked back.
Shen Yuan didn’t know how long they stared at each other, but his attention was diverted by a stifled sob and a tug on his hand. He looked over to the little girl, squeezing her hand reassuringly. He just couldn’t help it. She was practically a baby!
Before Shen Yuan could fully process what was happening, one of the slavers separated them. He was herded towards one group while the girl was taken to another, bigger one. The girl was crying, but the older children around her ignored her, too occupied with their own misery to shoulder another’s. Shen Yuan’s heart bled.
“Please follow me,” the deep, calm voice of the woman who had chosen them sounded – and wasn’t that something, somebody had paid actual money for him. Take that, meimei! Whose life was worthless now?
“From now on, you will be part of the Warm Red Pavilion,” the woman told them, leading the group of children she now owned down the street and inside the house she had come from. She closed the door behind the last girl, cutting off the distant sounds of the outside world. “Our establishment has certain standards. You will be treated well and you will be able to work off your contracts.” By now they were led to a small kitchen. The woman instructed some of the workers to give them food and show them to their rooms once they had eaten, before she left to do whatever rich women who owned slaves tended to do.
Well, Shen Yuan supposed that could have gone significantly worse. At least he was getting fed here.
***
It didn’t take long for Shen Yuan to realize he had been sold to a brothel and freak out about it. A brothel! Him! Once he calmed down, he thought of the little girl with the yellow hair ribbons the slavers—those bastards—offered the woman – the madam – as well. He didn’t know whether to be grateful the madam hadn’t picked her or to worry what fate awaited her now instead.
Well, nothing he could change now.
Shen Yuan settled into a routine. It could be worse, he supposed. He shuddered just thinking of the whispers he had always heard on the streets, of cruel masters and pleasure workers only being treated marginally better than animals, and only as long as they brought in the money. Compared to that, Zhao Xinyi was rather fair. Shen Yuan couldn’t say he liked her; she still owned him. (Which was such a weird concept to him, it hadn’t really sunk in yet.) But he had to acknowledge that she treated her workers with some minimum amount of dignity and that the woman indeed had standards she went by.
So Shen Yuan was stuck serving wine and tea in the public areas as well as running errands, while a jiejie – Lu Yan – taught him together with two other girls to play both the guqin and the pipa once she discovered he was not horrible at it. Shen Yuan knew she was setting him up so he could contribute to the entertainment program in due time. This, too, did not sound like too horrible a chore. At least it wasn’t… that.
One thing Shen Yuan grudgingly respected about Zhao Xinyi was her zero tolerance policy when it came to letting her youngest workers do the sort of work one would expect from a pleasure house before they reached maturity. Keeping his ears open, he learned the girls usually started to get instructed on how to pleasure someone once they reached the age of 13. Shen Yuan, being in the body of a probably around 8-year-old girl judging by his size, was spared for now, but he dreaded the time when he wouldn’t be any longer.
It was a particularly busy night when Shen Yuan was called to the kitchen. Everybody was busy preparing the food the patrons both requested and didn’t but would still pay good money for once they got it.
Once Shen Yuan came through the door, sidestepping Zhu Xinyue leaving at the same time to avoid colliding with her, Yang Mei pushed a tray with a teapot and a plate of sweets into his hands. “A-Yuan, be a dear and bring this up. Last door on the right.”
“Yes, jiejie.” Balancing the tray, he bowed slightly in acknowledgment, the way Xinyue-jie had taught him.
“Good girl.”
Shen Yuan hid his cringing. At some point he would get used to it, right? Not like there was any other option.
While it didn’t occur often, it wasn’t too out of the ordinary for him to be sent to bring something to the more private rooms. Not drawing more attention than absolutely necessary from the clients, he mostly prepared the tables in rooms that were about to be used.
Shen Yuan pushed open the door and was met with the soft glow of the candles, strategically placed to create an inviting atmosphere. One afternoon, before the brothel got busy again with preparations for the night, he had checked how exactly they were set down in between all the fabric hanging from the walls without becoming the worst fire hazard. To his excitement he discovered that someone had put some kind of array onto them, basically fireproofing the rooms. He wished he knew how exactly it worked – PIDW never went into detail on that – but without that option available to him, he settled with carefully memorizing the array until he could recreate it without having to look.
Setting the tray on the low table close to the door (and definitely not gazing longingly at the plate of sweets as he put it down), Shen Yuan looked up and was met with a gaze from startingly green eyes. Shen Yuan froze. Abort, that was not supposed to happen!
Finding his wits, Shen Yuan quickly lowered his gaze. “Qianbei,” he murmured.
“This one has not seen xiaojie before.” The voice was cool and steady, not betraying any emotions.
Shen Yuan peeked up, noticing the dressed down state of the man, wearing only his underrobes. While Shen Yuan, modern millennial that he was, would still consider him fully clothed, he was intimately aware of how inappropriate it was seeing someone in this way. He blushed. “No, qianbei. This lowly one is usually serving in the public areas.”
A silence stretched between them. Shen Yuan waited for the other shoe to drop. Calculating the distance between him and the door compared to the distance between him and the patron... Shen Yuan really hoped whatever jiejie was to serve this customer would arrive soon and give him an opening to escape.
As if hearing his thoughts, someone entered the room behind him. “Oh A-Yuan, I see you’ve met Jiu-er.”
At that, Shen Yuan looked up, eyes wide. “This is Jiu-er?” he blurted out.
A small, amused smile played on the patron’s – Jiu-er’s – lips, cracking his previously impenetrable mask. “This one is indeed.”
Wei-jie came over. Reaching over Shen Yuan, she set down the special teacups she brought with her, the ones they didn’t get out for regular customers, and filled them up. “Lu Yan and Hao Limei are busy today, Jiu-er, but Ye Min might be able to join us in half a shichen.”
Jiu-er – it felt so weird thinking of a grown man that way. Jiu-ge, Shen Yuan decided, in his head he would refer to the man as Jiu-ge. He did kinda remind him of his former er-ge too, now that he thought about it…
Jiu-ge settled at the other side of the table and took the cup closest to him. “That’s acceptable. Thank you, Wei-er.”
Shen Yuan made to stand and leave, but Jiu-ge’s voice stopped him. “A-Yuan, was it?”
Shen Yuan turned back to him. “Yes, qianbei.”
Jiu-ge looked at him for a moment before pushing the plate with the sweets closer to Shen Yuan. “Here, take some.”
Was that really fine? From the corner of his eyes, Shen Yuan peeked at Wei-jie, as if asking for permission. She gave a small nod, so Shen Yuan picked up the smallest piece of the honey cake. He bowed quickly in Jiu-ge’s direction. “Thanking qianbei.”
Once he left the room, he put the sticky treat in his mouth. It melted on his tongue, tasting just as good as it looked – better even since Shen Yuan didn’t remember when he last got to eat something sweet. The honey soaked into the cake tasted stronger than he ever remembered honey tasting before.
He was in a good mood for the rest of the night, quietly wondering whether he would see Jiu-ge again.
***
It took a few weeks before Shen Yuan ran into Jiu-ge again. By now, Shen Yuan’s musical training had progressed enough that he started to get assigned to provide entertainment in the public areas on some of the evenings. Nothing complex, just a few simple songs. It was just supposed to provide some background noise anyway.
The stuffy air in the main hall on the ground floor started to get to him, the scents of incense and perfume mixing with the voices of the guests and the workers attending to them. And with how cold the evenings grew these days, opening a window to let some fresh air in was a recipe for disaster. Shen Yuan met Yan-jie’s eyes on the other side of the small stage they shared, making puppy eyes at her without letting the tune stutter. Yan-jie rolled her eyes but gave him a short nod.
With a thankful nod in her direction, Shen Yuan set down the pipa and slipped out of the room unnoticed to take a break, when he heard Wei-jie tell the kitchen to prepare Jiu-er’s usual tea. He perked up. “This one can bring the tea up,” he immediately offered, hurrying towards the open kitchen door where Wei-jie was standing.
Turning towards him, Wei-jie smiled knowingly at his barely hidden enthusiasm. “Thank you, A-Yuan.”
Balancing the tray with the tea – this time without any snacks, sadly – Shen Yuan knocked lightly on the door and waited. “Come in,” Jiu-ge invited, and Shen Yuan didn’t hesitate to enter.
Jiu-ge wasn’t alone in the room this time around, but Shen Yuan wasn’t put out by that, now that he knew who that man was. Limei-jie and Min-jie, two of the jiejies Shen Yuan knew to often keep Jiu-ge company during his visits if they were free, sat close to him in what Shen Yuan could only describe as a cuddle pile. They were all huddling close, touching casually the way family members might. Min-jie was lying on her stomach and rummaging through a box with colourful hair ribbons, trying to decide between several options with her other arm thrown over Jiu-ge while Limei-jie was brushing out Jiu-ge’s hair, his head resting on her lap and his eyes closed. Even if Shen Yuan didn’t already know, there was absolutely no doubt that Jiu-ge wasn’t here for the usual reasons.
Shen Yuan set down the tea on the low table by the door and took a moment to just watch the scene before him. The relaxed poses of both the jiejies and the man between them. The scene exuded comfort and unlocked a longing in Shen Yuan. For a second, he thought of his family from a lifetime ago. They were never as touchy or as close, and yet, Limei-jie and Jiu-ge for some reason reminded him of da-ge and er-ge, close in an almost matter of fact way, even though Limei-jie wasn’t even a guy. Even Min-jie had a similar vibe around her as his meimei had. Something Shen Yuan promptly Did Not Think about once he made that particular connection.
It took a moment for Shen Yuan to notice the make-up. Between Jiu-ge’s eyebrows sat a huadian, in a similar design to the ones some of the jiejies wore during their work shifts. Some subtle red accentuated his eyes, and his lips were painted with a tint several shades darker still. The image it created was magnificent – it softened the hard lines of Jiu-ge’s face, giving him an almost feminine look. He seemed more approachable, though Shen Yuan didn’t know how much of that was the make-up and how much was due to how relaxed he looked in this moment.
Self consciously, Shen Yuan touched his own hair that he got put into an intricate updo by Min-jie earlier that night before he was sent out to perform.
“Doesn’t Jiu-er look pretty, A-Yuan?”
Shen Yuan startled out of his thoughts and looked towards Min-jie, before turning back to Jiu-ge. Wait, had he been staring? Oh no, oops. “The prettiest, Min-jie,” he replied dutifully. And he did! Shen Yuan hadn’t thought before that a man could be described as pretty, but to be fair, he also hadn’t seen a man as beautiful as Jiu-ge before.
“Is A-Yuan already done with playing for the night?” Limei-jie asked mildly without looking up from Jiu-ge’s hair.
Shen Yuan pulled a face just thinking of the crowd down there, mostly ignoring him (aside from a few very disconcerting looks he’d rather not think about) and giving their attention to their companions for the night. That was not something Shen Yuan needed to see! Hadn’t any of them heard of PDA?? Get a room already!! “Not quite. This one is taking a break.”
“A-Yuan is pretty good with playing instruments for her age, Jiu-er. You should hear her play someday.”
“Is that so?” Shen Yuan looked up to see Jiu-ge’s eyes open and already looking at him. Shen Yuan blushed slightly under the attention. “Maybe A-Yuan could play something for this master next time.”
Could Shen Yuan really decline the request? “Sure.”
Having picked a hair ribbon – a light green one with some subtle stitching embroidered on it that Shen Yuan couldn’t make out – Min-jie came over to the table where Shen Yuan was sitting and poured tea in two of the cups. She pushed one of them towards Shen Yuan. “Here, take this. I won’t tell the madam, but A-Yuan should go back soon, before anyone else notices.”
“Yan-jie is covering for me,” Shen Yuan protested as he took the cup. Inhaling the warm, sweet scent rising from it, he smiled a little into his cup. Shen Yuan took a sip from the tea. It was a little too sweet for his taste, but the high quality was unmistakable. He took another sip – yeah no, that left an even sweeter taste in his mouth. He put the cup down.
Having finished Jiu-ge’s hair into a simple braid and tied it off with the green ribbon Min-jie had picked out, he and Limei-jie joined them at the low table as well. Jiu-ge took the other cup on the table and inhaled the steam as his eyes closed, a mirror image to Shen Yuan from only a few moments ago. “Jujube tea?” he asked.
Min-jie sat down next to him. “Yes. We just got a shipment two days ago and Yang Mei set some aside for you.”
Jiu-ge hummed in acknowledgment and took a sip, by the looks of it appreciating its taste a lot more than Shen Yuan had. “An excellent blend. Please extend my thanks to Mei-jie.”
“This one is sure A-Yuan will do that on her way back,” Min-jie offered.
Taking the hint, Shen Yuan stood up. “This one will get right to that.” He bowed towards Jiu-ge. “Thanking qianbei for allowing this one to stay during... her break.” Shen Yuan faltered slightly as he remembered that while it didn’t sound any different to anyone else, he was using female pronouns for himself. The pause was barely there, Shen Yuan was proud to say. He was so good at being a little girl, ha!
Jiu-ge didn’t seem to notice anything, just watching him over his teacup. “This master looks forward to seeing A-Yuan again.”
Lowering his gaze, Shen Yuan felt a small blush creeping up his cheeks.
A shout from the floor saved Shen Yuan from having to think of a reply to that. Oh no, Zhao Xinyi had discovered his absence. That was his sign to get the hell out of here.
“Until next time, qianbei!”
***
Shen Yuan was informed Jiu-ge was visiting and had been asking after him maybe about two or three weeks after he had last seen the man. To be honest, Shen Yuan hadn’t expected the other to remember that throwaway comment about Shen Yuan playing for him. Whatever Jiu-ge was up to when he wasn’t here, Shen Yuan was sure he was a busy man that had better things to do than follow up on a request he made to a young brothel worker. But well, here he was, doing exactly that.
Standing before the closet the instruments were stored in when not in use, Shen Yuan hesitated, considering, anxiety slowly taking root. While Jiu-ge had requested to hear him play, he never specified which instrument specifically he was interested in. He could go with the pipa; that was probably what Jiu-ge would be expecting and the instrument Shen Yuan found easiest to play. But on the other hand, he started practicing the guqin more seriously recently, and while he wasn’t that good yet, he quite enjoyed the kinda meditative state he got in when he played it, his focus on the strings and where his fingers should be. What if he picked the wrong choice and Jiu-ge decided to never come back to the Warm Red Pavillion? The madam might very well kill him, and Shen Yuan was not keen on a repeat of that experience.
Still hesitant, he ultimately thought fuck it and just took both, tucking each under an arm and carefully balancing up the stairs. Let Jiu-ge pick. He couldn’t complain if he was the one making the choice in the first place! (Of course he still could. But Shen Yuan had to hope for something, okay?)
Hands full, Shen Yuan kicked at the door and waited. Only seconds later, it was opened and revealed Jiu-ge standing behind it.
Jiu-ge wasn’t as dressed down as Shen Yuan had seen him the last few times. Instead, he was covered in several layers, the outermost one being a light pink robe flowing around him, with a flower pattern running up the loose sleeves hiding his hands as he pulled them back from the door. The neckline revealed a glimpse of skin, a subtly tasteful necklace catching Shen Yuan’s attention and pulling it toward the small purple pendant hanging near Jiu-ge’s throat.
“Is that Min-jie’s dress?” Shen Yuan burst out. He immediately wished he could take it back. Who asked something like that?
Jiu-ge didn’t seem put out by it. (Why was he so chill??) “Indeed.”
“Doesn’t that feel weird? Wearing a woman’s clothes?”
Jiu-ge locked eyes with Shen Yuan, all emotions carefully hidden away. “A woman’s robes are a very particular kind of armour, Xiao Yuan, especially a brothel worker’s ones. Deliberately designed with a specific purpose in mind. One might even consider them art, if so inclined.” His tone left no doubt that Jiu-ge indeed was so inclined. He lifted a hand and the sleeve flowed down in a smooth movement, rippling like water. A heated glint flashed in his eyes that Shen Yuan would have missed if he wasn’t frozen in place, attention fully focused on Jiu-ge. “This master does not see why he should consider wearing a woman’s robes weird, just because ignorant fools would.”
Shen Yuan lowered his gaze, feeling awkward. It was just clothes, in the end, he supposed. It wasn’t like Shen Yuan never heard of cross-dressers in the modern world. If it was that important to Jiu-ge, it was fine! He’d accept it, he would not be one of those ignorant fools. Shen Yuan could be a great ally! (But still, wasn’t it a little weird?)
Jiu-ge let the topic go and stepped aside. “A-Yuan should come in. This master looks forward to hearing her play for him.” He let his gaze wander over both of the instruments in Shen Yuan’s arms.
Relieved, Shen Yuan slipped past, setting down the pipa and then the guqin on the low table in the room and turning to Jiu-ge. “This one wasn’t sure what instrument qianbei preferred.”
“A-Yuan should pick the one she prefers; this master has no preference.” He sat down on one of the cushions by the table.
Shen Yuan considered that. That felt very much like a test, ugh. Was he expected to showcase his abilities the best way possible? Though Jiu-ge said to pick what he preferred. Why had he even bothered bringing both if Jiu-ge wouldn’t make the choice for him?
Well, if he followed the request to the letter, Shen Yuan preferred the guqin. The madame wouldn’t let him perform on it until he became more proficient, but whatever. He set the popa to the side and picked up the guqin, moving it down the table opposite Jiu-ge and sitting down before it. A quick glance towards Jiu-ge; the man didn’t object, just gave an expectant short nod. So Shen Yuan put his hands on the strings and played. A little hesitant at first, but he soon forgot about his audience, losing himself in the melody and harmony of the tones he plucked.
Shen Yuan didn’t know how much time had passed when he looked up and remembered about Jiu-ge, the last tones still hanging in the air between them. The other’s face was unreadable.
“Not bad. How long has A-Yuan been playing?” Jiu-ge finally said.
Shen Yuan sighed in relief – it felt like he was back in school, having just received a passing grade he’d been anxious about. “Maybe two months?”
Jiu-ge’s lips twitched. “Is that a question or an answer?”
The image of a teacher strengthened before Shen Yuan’s inner eye. “About two months, qianbei.”
Jiu-ge looked him over with renewed interest. “Well, that is some quite impressive progress for two months of training. A-Yuan’s enthusiasm certainly doesn’t hurt.”
Shen Yuan blushed and lowered his gaze to his hand resting on the guqin’s strings. “Thank you.”
Jiu-ge wasn’t done yet. “However, there is much to work on still.”
“This one knows,” Shen Yuan scrambled to assure. “Yan-jie is currently instructing this one when she has the time, but she is busy a lot.”
Silence settled. Shen Yuan swore he could feel Jiu-ge watching him as he seemed to think something over. Whatever it was, he seemed to come to a decision. “This master would be amenable to take over A-Yuan’s guqin instruction, if she herself is amenable.”
Startled by the unexpected offer, Shen Yuan looked up. “Qianbei plays the guqin?”
“Certainly. This one is quite proficient in the four arts.”
Shen Yuan hesitated. But it was Jiu-ge himself who had brought up the offer after all. Zhao Xinyi could not complain about that. “Then, if qianbei is sure, this A-Yuan would be honoured to be instructed by qianbei.”
While Jiu-ge’s expression didn’t change, Shen Yuan got the feeling that he was pleased as he picked up a piece of candied fruit from a plate Shen Yuan swore wasn’t there yet when he had come in earlier.
With a warm feeling in his chest (he would get actual guqin instruction, by someone who knew what they were doing!! Shen Yuan wished he could tell meimei about it. She would have been thrilled!) Looking away, Shen Yuan’s gaze fell on the pipa laying discarded on the side. “Is qianbei interested in hearing this one play the pipa as well?”
***
A few months passed in this manner. Jiu-ge took some time out of his visit to sit down with Shen Yuan and instruct him on the guqin whenever he came, before he was sent down to work the rest of the evening. Shen Yuan appreciated it, already he could feel his skills progressing. Jiu-ge was a stern teacher, but not unreasonable. He lacked patience, but still, he was ready to explain small details Shen Yuan struggled with. Those lessons quickly became his highlights, Shen Yuan looking forward to Jiu-ge’s next visit each time.
It was on an afternoon that it happened. Shen Yuan walked up the stairs to their usual room, guqin tucked under his arm. He didn’t notice the carpet that was put outside one of the rooms for cleaning in time. Shen Yuan stumbled, quickly clutching the guqin close to his chest, and hoped he would not land on it. The madam would not take it lightly if he destroyed one of the valuable instruments. Her putting it on top of his debt towards the establishment would be the least of his problems!
Before Shen Yuan met the floor, two strong arms stopped his fall and pulled him back up. Luckily, the guqin survived everything without a scratch.
Shen Yuan looked up and directly in the face of Jiu-ge, who still held him until he found his balance. “Is A-Yuan okay?”
But Shen Yuan didn’t listen. At the same time, another noise sounded, like it came directly from inside his head.
[Power source detected. System activating…]