Yu Mei never thought she would have to enter the House of Splendor ever again. Her first time was bad enough, but he had to bring her back here.
"If we win the bid tonight, you have to have dinner with Lady Liu Yi, that is my wish," Gu Shao wrapped his arm around Yu Mei's neck once again as if they were close buddies. This time his grip was tight, making sure that "he" wouldn't try to escape.
At first, Gu Shao thought about having Xu Ren run around the neighborhood in only his undergarment but when he thought about it, he decided to go against it. He had made a new friend; of course they should support and help each other, what better way than to have Xu Ren fall for the beauty, Liu Yi.
The House of Splendor was packed with men, from normal classes to the high class dressed in splendid silk. The room was stuffy and hot, and started to smell like the scent of men. Yu Mei wanted to cover her nose, the mix smell of strong sweat and cologne did not sit well with her stomach. She stood frozen next to the entrance with her eyes widened in horror. She could not bring herself to make another step forward. The scene in front of her was something new, definitely opened her eyes to the world of men. The center stage for performances was decorated with bright red decorations, much more extravagant than the last time she came to visit. On ground level was where men sat and watched the show but today, all the furniture were replaced...replaced with a bunch of foolish men. They were like animals, pushing and squeezing to get the closest view next to the stage. As she stared at this scene, she didn't know how to react. Before she could rethink the situation, Gu Shao who still had his arms wrapped around her neck dragged her toward the crowd. "What are you doing?" Yu Mei lost it as her voice cracked from nervousness. Why were they heading towards the crowd, weren't they supposed to move away. It was a clear sign of danger. "We're going to win the bid of course."
"WHAT!" Yu Mei lost it. Why should she bet on a woman? Not to mention, she didn't carry enough money with her. Just by looking at the other men in the room, she could tell there was no chance she would win the bet. "Don't worry, it's my treat today," Gu Shao replied after seeing the tense look on Yu Mei's face. "Can you let go first, it's too hot in here," he immediately let go of her and shrugged his shoulders, "Fine,"
"I'm going to go in, try to keep up with me," he looked at Yu Mei's figure and smiled. Yu Mei's tiny figure could not compare to the tall and manly men in the room. He wanted to see if she could squeeze herself into the crowd with her little stature. Gu Shao slightly shoved the people in front of him, creating a just big enough gap for him to squeeze in. Yu Mei was behind him, ready to squeeze in too but the gap closed. She tried to push her way like Gu Shao did but her tiny hands were no match for the men in front of her. She huffed and puffed and exerted all her energy to get through. [What the hell? Men are crazy, let me through] she bit her lips. Finally, she got through the first barrier. "Ah" she let out a small gasp, she was cornered in all 4 corners. Yu Mei wanted to cry, this feeling was too terrifying. In her entire life, she has never even held a man's hand but now, she was squeezed between dozens of men on all sides, their body touching hers. Of course they had no intentions of harassing her, they were only eager to try to get closer to the stage like a bunch of bulls running. Her body spun crazy as they constantly bumped into her from both sides. Yu Mei put her hands in the air yelling, "Brother Shao, where are you? I'm stuck,"
It was as if her prayers were answered, a hand grabbed her, pulling her further into the crowd. She looked up to see Gu Shao. Yu Mei had never been so thankful before, a spark in her eye could be seen. If he didn't come to her rescue, she didn't know where she would have been pushed to.
With her small stature, it was easy for people to run into her shoulder. Gu Shao pulled her to his side and blocked her from the crazy men. "Brother Xu, you should eat more in the future. What would you do if I was not here to protect you. With your small stature, how can you …" *Bump* *Thump* some crazy asshole backed into Yu Mei, pushing her right into Gu Shao's arms. He was too shocked to finish his sentence. Her face hit his chest and her hands accidently touched his thighs. [JADE] Yu Mei was suddenly reminded of her reason of appearing in front of him. Luckily her hand had hit the jade instead of his thigh.
Gu Shao was even more shocked then her. His face went deadly pale. This was the first time any man has dared touch him, even if it was an accident; it was still an unknown feeling for him. He quickly pushed Yu Mei away with both hands, widening the distance. All Yu Mei could think of now was the jade. This was it, this was her chance to steal the jade. "Sorry," Yu Mei immediately apologized.
"It's no problem, this is how it is here," he let go of that sudden harassment; it was after all an accident.
Next moment, the crowd got even crazier when the lady boss stepped up onto the stage. [Push, push, push!] Yu Mei eagerly prayed the person in front of her or in back of Prince Shao would push with full force. All she needed was a good push. Once she fell into his arms again, she would quickly snatch the jade. Just the thought of it, Yu Mei cracked up in her head. Her plan was truly to smart. Of course, there was pushing but why was no one pushing her side. Impatiently, she turned around, facing Gu Shao after she realized that maybe she wouldn't get lucky. "Brother Shao, why don't we just leave," Yu Mei couldn't stand being here anymore. If she wasn't going to get a chance to steal his jade, she would rather go somewhere else and try a different approach. "Do you have somewhere you have to go? Are you planning on turning back from my wish?" he gave her a look as if he was wronged and she, the guilty party. He was right, they were here for his demand. How could she just back out like that. A date was better than to actually sleep with someone. Yu Mei was about to turn around but was suddenly pushed. This time, the push was much harder, too hard. She was not prepared when her nose hit his chest first, and then her lips smacked his lips. [Son of a banana!] Yu Mei swallowed the pain. She bit her lips, she actually bit her lips. She could taste the fresh blood on the tip of her tongue. No matter the pain, there was no time to be crying out in pain.
She was unlucky, unlike the first time. This time the palm of her hand slightly touched Gu Shao's left side of the thigh instead of the jade. Prince Shao himself felt all the touches, starting from her nose, lips and then hands freely roaming below. The most shocking to him was Yu Mei's naughty hand. He wanted to push Yu Mei away again but the crowd, it was as if they were against him. He was tightly squeezed all around. This gave Yu Mei a good chance to explore.
[Sorry Prince Shao, please forgive me.] Yu Mei mentally apologized to him as her hand slowly slid to the right. "Move your hand," Gu Shao whispered into her ears.
"I can't, i'm stuck," Yu Mei lied, clearly taking advantage of this moment. Gu Shao was irritated, how could he let his royal body be touched by a normal person. Even if Xu Ren didn't do it on purpose, he would get even with her in the future.
The jade! Yu Mei wrapped her hands around the jade as she exhaled happily. But what next? How was she supposed to get it off without him noticing? Fall! Or course, a dramatic fall. There was nothing Yu Mei couldn't do, she was ready to make a dramatic fall as she tripped herself. She felt her body lose balance, falling more and more and the tightening of the string on the jade, it was happening. She was going to get the jade.
Before her fall could even get off way to the ground, she felt her waist tighten. A strong pair of arm wrapped themselves around her tiny waist, swiftly pulling her back on both feet. An angel? Yu Mei blanked a few times; it was not an angel but Prince Shao. Within that few seconds, it was as if he could read her intentions. She lifted her chin up to face him, eyes meeting his. A spark? Could there be a spark between the two? Any normal girl would have blushed and died from the charming Prince Shao who was literally inches away but not Yu Mei. All she could think about was, "Why did you save me? Are you stupid?" there was not a single romantic bone in her body. But why was Gu Shao's face getting red. That question would not get answered as the boss lady stopped everyone.
"Stop, everyone calm down. Liu Yi will be out soon, but only after everyone stops fighting," she yelled out to the audience. Immediately everyone stopped moving after hearing the serious threat. They were all here to see Liu Yi, how could they do anything that would make her mad.
Gu Shao let go of Yu Mei as they watched on as if nothing happened between between the two. Once the crowd calmed down, a soft melody from the guzheng came from the back stage.
Men gasped the moment Liu Yi stepped on stage. At first Yu Mei laughed at these foolish men who came to see one woman but when she saw Liu Yi, she understood all the gasps and admiration. It was as if a fairy descended down to earth. With her white robe, long hair and perfectly sculptured face, Liu Yi left the room mesmerized. "Beautiful right?" Gu Shao bent down and whispered into Yu Mei's ear. She smacked her ear lightly, it was ticklish. She slightly turned and gave Gu Shao a dirty look. Gu Shao let out a small laughter when he realized how silly Xu Ren was.
"Good evening everyone, I am Liu Yi. I am glad to see so many faces here," even her voice was pleasant.
After the beautiful woman spoke a few words, boosting the crowd, she stepped back and let the Lady boss take the stage. "Gentlemen, as you know, Liu Yi is very special to our House of Splendor. As you all know, Liu Yi only takes one man a year. The man with the biggest bid tonight will win a night with her," she spoke enthusiastically. Not even a second later, one man raised his hand bidding, 1,000 liangs.
5,000 liangs…1 silver ingot
1 gold ingot
Yu Mei couldn't believe her ears; these people were wasting money like it was nothing. How did it start from silver liangs all the way to gold ingot. Did they not know how much one gold ingot was? A house filled of roast duck, dumplings, fried fish...one gold ingot could fill her belly for days. Just how rich were these people. It was not worth it for Yu Mei, she wanted to go home. She attempted to persuade Gu Shao once more. "Brother Shao, the price is really too much. Why don't we go somewhere else? It's not worth it," she spoke in a very nice manner but deep inside, what she truly wanted to say was, "Are you crazy? What man spends this kind of money? I know you are super rich but let's get the heck out of here,"
When he saw the nervous look on Xu Ren's face, he couldn't help but smile, reassuring her. "I told you not to worry; I will take care of it," He was a prince, how could he not be able to afford this girl. But he would never let Xu Ren know that he was a prince.
Of course she knew he could take care of it, she even knew he could buy this whole place if he wanted to. But that wasn't what she wanted. She turned back to face the stage once more, in the one minute she turned to talk to Gu Shao, the price had jumped to 5 gold ingot. She needed to think of a way to leave this place. If he wanted to spend that much money here, he might as well give it to her.
After 5 ingots, everyone backed down. 5 ingots was really not worth it to all of them.
"Ahh…" Yu Mei cried out in pain, knees bent in a squatting position holding her stomach. In the corner of her eyes, she saw that Gu Shao was about to raise his arm and place a bet. She wouldn't allow it, there was no other way but to fake a stomachache. It worked.
Gu Shao worriedly squatted down, looking at her with full concern. "Are you alright?"
"I don't know. I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my stomach, argh,"
"Let's go see a doctor," without looking once at the stage, Gu Shao helped Yu Mei up, holding her for support as they walked out.
Yu Mei had no choice but to fake the stomachache all the way to the doctors. She was lucky her acting was good and got the doctor to prescribe her medicine, or else she would be dead meat. "Brother Shao, I'm sorry," Yu Mei gave him a sad puppy eye once they left the doctor's place.
"Do you know how worry I was? You owe me one next time," he pointed his finger.
"En,"
"But you haven't fulfilled my wish," he then looked at the sorry figure in front of him and changed his words. "Forget it, I will let you off this time. Let's meet three days from now at the western gate. By then, I should have another wish in mind,"
"Sounds good, until then," Yu Mei bowed to him before taking her leave. Once she was sure he left, a sinister smile appeared on her face. There was no next time. She reached inside her sleeve and there it was, the jade.