Hearing Wei Xiangsi be so candid about his own life made Xie Bian feel bad about the pretensions of this whole encounter. Even if he wanted to, he had no way of returning his honesty -- he had not a single memory to furnish even the blandest of lies with a kernel of truth.
"That must have been hard for you," Xie Bian said. "You were not at fault for your parents actions."
Wei Xiangsi smiled into his tea. He had the air of one who had long made his peace with it -- which was commendable for one so young -- and probably the reason why he had shared such intimate details with strangers. "I assume young master found the details sordid enough."
Xie Bian found himself straightening up in his seat. This man was very direct, despite his initial fluster at Xie Bian's provocations he was rising to the challenge now. He cleared his throat. "Please, call me Xie An."
"Only if Xi An calls me Xiangsi."
That wasn't exactly the same thing. Wei Xiangsi met his gaze with a boyish grin. Xie Bian nodded once, and said, "Xiangsi."
Fu Wujiu kept quiet during this conversation but Xie Bian could tell he was listening out of the corner of his eye.
"To not attending ungrateful siblings' weddings," Xie Bian said, raising his cup of tea in a playful toast.
Wei Xiangsi drank with him. "I can call for wine, if Xie An is in the mood for toasting." As if remembering Fan Wujiu's presence, he added, "And young master Fan as well."
"Do as you like," Fan Wujiu said, tone even and gaze impassive, focused on the performers dancing delicately on stage.
Wei Xiangsi got up to his feet. "I'll go ask A-Yin to bring us some chrysanthemum wine. The flavor is exquisite, Xie An will enjoy it."
Xie Bian turned to Fan Wujiu as soon as he left. "You're doing a very poor job of getting any useful information out of him."
"On the contrary, I'm doing exactly what I need to, which is letting him flirt with you."
The words sounded like recrimination to Xie Bian who felt his face heat up. "Well, it was your idea." He didn't want to flirt with anyone. "Plus, I feel sorry for him. Being ostracized by his own parents like that...Growing up must have been awful."
Fan Wujiu downed the last of his tea and poured himself a fresh cup.
"He can cry into his gold. Didn't he mention his father expects him to look after the family business? And he has money to spend his days here," he looked around indicating the lavish appointments and the refined courtesans. "There are peasants from happy families who would kill for a single day of Wei Xiangsi's misery."
Xie Bian didn't have any arguments for Fan Wujiu's cold logic, but it didn't lessen his sympathy for Wei Xiangsi.
When he returned with the attendant in tow and wine for them, it wasn't hard for him to pick up the thread of their conversation.
"We don't know yet when we will return home to the South," Xie Bian said, accepting the drink Wei Xiangsi poured for him, "however we don't know anyone in Longbei, nor do we know the best places to visit or activities to do. It would be a shame to return without taking in the sights."
Wei Xiangsi fidgeted in his seat. "Uhm, I don't have my own estate, despite several arguments with my father. He insists I'm too young, and I'd have to invite the young masters to stay at my family home..."
It went without saying that this wouldn't be easily accomplished. "However, if your matters in Longbei included business, I'm sure I could persuade my father."
"They do," Fan Wujiu said, cutting in abruptly. "We are silk merchants."
Wei Xiangsi's eyes widened. "That is most fortuitous, one of our family's business enterprises happens to be the silk trade."
There was nothing fortuitous about it. Fan Wujiu had researched the Wei family and Wei Xiangsi extensively.
But that left Xie Bian to raise his cup in a cheerful toast. "It is as if the heavens wanted us to meet. It must be our destiny to meet each other in this life." He swallowed the fragrant wine down with his guilt.
---
Wei Xiangsi left them with a promise to send word whenever they could come to the Wei estate. Their task accomplished, Xie Bian no longer needed to parade himself in the Blooming Fragrance's main hall hoping to catch the man's eye.
Back in their bedroom Xie Bian laid back on the bed, looking up at the canopy and wondering if he had the stomach to lie to Wei Xiangsi for however long it took them to dig up the information they needed about the missing souls.
"What if we just ask him outright?" Xie Bian asked, turning around on the bed to face Fan Wujiu who was sharpening the blade of his chain-scythe with an expression of utmost concentration.
"You've just met him. How do you know you can trust him?"
"You heard his story. He probably hates his family as much as those servants at the Yu estate."
Fan Wujiu snorted. "Doubtful."
"I mean, I would, if all my life I'd been treated like less than dirt for the circumstances of my birth."
Fan Wujiu stopped what he was doing and looked up at Xie Bian his expression serious. "Even if that were true, I promise you he doesn't hate his family's money. He won't do anything to jeopardize their business ventures."
"You don't know that," Xie Bian said, feeling that it was a week retort even as the words left his mouth.
Fan Wujiu got up from his seat at the table, the chains rattling back in place around his forearm. Xie Bian sat up straight in bed, in anticipation of his approach.
He came to a stop a scant width away from Xie Bian's knees. His broad palm cupped Xie Bian's chin and then his neck.
Xie Bian's pulse quickened under his smooth fingers.
"Do you think he'll help you just because he wants to fuck you?" Fan Wujiu's breath ghosted over Xie Bian's cheek and his lips. "He can buy three of you."
He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look up into those cruel, red eyes.
"No one will ever love anyone enough to give up a life of privilege for them."