Brother, Brother, But I'm a Profligate! - Chapter 15

It was night, and the residence of the Duke of Cao was brightly lit. From a distance, two figures could be seen playing chess under a pavilion.

Gao Zhi, the Duke of Cao, placed a chess piece down and scanned the spot where Fu Jing immediately followed with his own move. “You brat, playing chess at my residence while being so absent-minded; you are mocking this old man!”

Fu Jing smiled gently. “Duke Cao’s style is overbearing and powerful. It is my lack of skill that has made me a laughingstock before you.”

Gao Zhi had survived a hundred battles and spent half his life on horseback, earning his merits in the saddle. Even now, far removed from the battlefield, as he waved his hand to mess up this half-hearted game, one could still vaguely see the imposing aura of a general commanding troops.

At that moment, Qiu Yuan appeared and stood under the circular archway. Fu Jing glanced at him, rose, and cupped his hands to take his leave of Gao Zhi.

“The men stationed in the alley said the young master has returned. He is resting in the small courtyard he rented and is unharmed,” Qiu Yuan reported.

Fu Jing stopped in front of his carriage and turned his head toward Qiu Yuan. “Since he is back, withdraw the others. Leave two men to watch the courtyard. What about Gao Yi?”

“Gao Yi is alert; he shook our men off in the alley.”

Fu Jing let out a soft laugh. “Duke Cao is the soul of integrity, and his eldest son is honorable and straightforward. Yet, his second son, Gao Yi, is a profligate rebel who does nothing but cause trouble in Shengjing.”

“If he is truly that idle, find something for him to do.”

Gao Yi was the top profligate in Shengjing. It was not that he was addicted to drinking or gambling, but rather that his conduct was far too eccentric. Two years ago, he had brought young male entertainers into the Duke’s residence every day, infuriating several potential matches and ruining his marriage prospects.

Fu Sili’s usual behavior was already somewhat stubborn and erratic; paired with someone like Gao Yi, there was no telling what path he might take. Fu Jing did not want to interfere with whom Fu Sili associated with, but Gao Yi was a different matter.

A thin layer of snow pressed upon the gray roof tiles. After a night, it had turned into icicles hanging from the eaves.

Once Fu Sili returned to his rented courtyard, he packed away everything he used for raising quails and placed the feed in a corner. He could not stay idle; as soon as he stopped, he thought of the sixty taels of silver he had lost. This did not even include the money spent on raising the quails, and the fact that he had rented this courtyard specifically for those Harlequin quails.

Unable to stay in the rented yard any longer, he decided to return to the “Yaozhi Chunxin” courtyard to see how much of his family assets remained.

The path inside the courtyard had been cleared into a narrow trail, but the ground was still muddy with slush. Fu Sili felt stifled, his footsteps splashing loudly through the slush all the way. Reaching the corridor, he saw Fu Jing sitting composedly in the pavilion, playing chess against himself. Behind him was a screen of emerald bamboo, with frost and snow weighing down the sturdy stalks.

Fu Sili did not wonder why this man was not at the Imperial Academy; seeing him so at ease only made him feel more frustrated. He turned to take another path, but footsteps approached from behind. Someone stepped forward to call him: “Young Master, the Eldest Young Master invites you up for tea.”

Fu Sili looked at Fu Jing in surprise. The man sitting leisurely in the pavilion was looking down, adjusting the chessboard. Fu Sili pursed his lips and, with his hands behind his back, walked over slowly.

Fu Jing was still wearing that crow-blue engraved silk robe. The deep, heavy color of the garment complemented his gentle temperament perfectly; no trace of that day’s loss of composure remained.

Fu Sili sat down without speaking, his gaze wandering over Fu Jing to see what he was up to. Only then did he notice that Fu Jing did not seem to have rested well; there were faint dark shadows under his eyes. Perhaps he was tired from a heavy workload.

Fu Jing had the chessboard cleared. As he pushed a cup of freshly brewed tea toward Fu Sili, he finally looked up at the youth. “Zhengshan Xiaozhong from Minzhong, brewed with melted snow water. Have a taste.”

Fu Sili could not distinguish between different waters or tea qualities. Guessing that Fu Jing meant this as an olive branch, he picked up the tea and took a pretentious sip. He could not taste anything special.

Fu Sili nodded. “Not bad.”

Fu Jing looked down and smiled softly. “Then I will have someone send an ounce over to your place.”

Fu Sili raised his hand to refuse. “Oh,” he started, but Fu Jing cut him off.

“One ounce of Zhengshan Xiaozhong costs twenty taels of silver.”

Fu Sili lowered his hand as if nothing had happened. “This tea is indeed delicious. I feel my whole body warming up.”

The corner of Fu Jing’s mouth twitched imperceptibly. He glanced casually at a bruise on Fu Sili’s cheek. “What happened to your face?”

At the mention of this, Fu Sili felt a surge of irritation. He was thin-skinned; since recovering from his illness, his face was fair. When he got angry, his face flushed slightly, making him look much more spirited.

Fu Sili said, “I bumped it.”

Fu Jing lowered his eyes. “I have some ointment at my place. I will have someone send it over with the tea later.”

“I have some too.” Fu Sili shifted his gaze to a wintersweet plant nearby. “But the medicine at your place is surely better than mine. Thank you, Big Brother.”

Fu Jing smiled. “Then I will have them send more.”

Fu Sili hung his head and picked at his fingers until the tea before him went cold. He wondered if this counted as a reconciliation. Perhaps it did.

At that moment, Qiu Yuan walked in from outside and stopped at the base of the steps, looking at the two of them. Fu Sili lowered his head to bid Fu Jing farewell and rose to leave.

He had only walked two steps when he felt a gaze settle on him like something physical. When he stopped, the gaze did not disappear. He turned back and met Fu Jing’s calm eyes directly.

Qiu Yuan, who had just stepped onto the first stair, retracted his foot upon seeing this and looked at Fu Sili in surprise.

“I am sorry.”

Fu Sili walked back to the man. Hanging his head, he said, “About what happened before.”

“No need to apologize. It was my own fault.”

Fu Sili swallowed his insincere words. Suddenly, his wrist tightened. He looked up in surprise, first at the large hand gripping him, and then further up at Fu Jing’s grim expression.

“I told you before that it is best to have someone with you when you go out.”

Fu Jing’s gaze slowly moved down, taking in Fu Sili from head to toe. His brow furrowed slightly; the dark shadows under his eyes added a touch of coldness and gloom to his expression. He did not want to reproach Fu Sili, but seeing the boy with fingerprints left by someone else on his face caused that strange sensation to surge within him again.

Having not seen him for several days, he looked the boy over. The youth tilted his head slightly, the bewilderment in his eyes suggesting he found his brother’s actions strange. The irritation of unknown origin ceased abruptly when their eyes met. Fu Jing’s grip loosened slightly. He looked down at Fu Sili’s robes, which were soaked with slush.

His tone softened. “Why did you step in the slush on your way here? I could hear the splashing from far away. If you freeze your feet in the dead of winter, you will not be able to get out of bed for the rest of the season.”

Fu Sili was stunned and quickly replied, “I think it is fine. It is just some snow water. I will go back and change my clothes in a moment.”

It was strange. Fu Sili’s shoulders shuddered; the look in Fu Jing’s eyes just now had made his skin crawl. He lifted his gripped wrist tentatively. “Then, shall I go back to my courtyard to change now?”

He waited for the man to release his wrist, but Fu Jing gripped it even tighter instead. He stood up and pulled Fu Sili toward the outside of the pavilion.

Fu Sili trailed a step behind, noticing that the direction Fu Jing was walking was not toward his own courtyard. “You are going the wrong way. I am in the east.”

He tried to stop, but Fu Jing continued forward without looking back. He had no choice but to follow, eventually realizing that Fu Jing had brought him to his own living quarters.

The courtyard was clean and spacious but sparsely furnished. At first glance, it even seemed simpler than Fu Sili’s own yard. There were cracked stone tiles and worn corners on the tables and chairs. A celadon-glazed jade vase held a single branch of wintersweet on a curio shelf. A landscape painting hung in the room, its style simple, unlike other parts of the Fu residence, which were all carved beams, painted rafters, and golden rooms.

This was Fu Sili’s first time inside. He could not discern any of the owner’s preferences from these items; he could only offer a blunt compliment: “Disciplined and frugal.”

He withdrew his gaze and sat at the table. Fu Jing brought out a bean-green garment. “Change into this.”

Fu Sili was surprised. “Is it your clothes, Big Brother? I have my own in my courtyard. I can just go back and change.”

Fu Jing asked, “Besides the injury on your face, there are none on your body, are there?”

Fu Sili replied, “No.” He did not even have a scratch on his face; how could that be called an injury?

Fu Jing looked at him with a slightly reproachful, noncommittal gaze. Seeing that Fu Sili had not taken the garment, he placed it on the boy’s lap. “Change, then. I will watch you.”

Fu Sili’s face twitched. “Did you not rest well today? How about I leave first so you can get some good rest?”

He braced his hands to stand up, but Fu Jing pressed down on his shoulders, forcing him back down. “Change before you leave. It is cold outside.”

Fu Jing held him down. His fingers subconsciously measured the thickness of Fu Sili’s shoulders. He remarked with surprise, “What is wrong? It is not like you have not changed in front of me before.”

Fu Sili slapped the table, wondering if this man wanted to start another argument just after they had reconciled. He glanced sideways at Fu Jing, who only looked back at him with a faint smile.

“But your clothes are all too big. I cannot wear them.”

“These are my clothes from three years ago. They were made too small at the time, so I never wore them.”

Fu Sili stared at him for a few moments, then rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine, fine.”

Fu Sili gripped the clothes. A cold wind blew in, and Fu Jing turned to close the door. Fu Sili caught a glimpse of Fu Jing hesitating for a moment, but that hesitation was quickly cast aside. He untied his wet outer robe and set it aside, reluctantly picking up Fu Jing’s clothes. A thought flashed through his mind: he did not know why he was standing there so brazenly changing his clothes when there was a screen right next to him.

Fu Jing suddenly turned around. “The inner shirt is wet too. Take it off as well.”

Fu Sili became a bit annoyed. “It is not like I do not know how to dress myself!”

Fu Jing smiled. “I was overthinking.”

Fu Sili sulkily put down the outer robe and continued to strip off his inner layers. For some reason, he felt a sudden surge of panic. Seeing that Fu Jing was not looking at him, he quickly turned his back and stripped himself bare.

Since arriving in Shengjing, Fu Sili was still as thin as he had been in Chuzhou, though the sickly pallor had faded from his face, making him look much better at first glance. Now, with his undergarments removed, his thin back was exposed. Pale skin tightly wrapped over his bones; it seemed that if one were to press those prominent, bony ridges with a bit of force, they might snap.

He was thin, far too thin; it was a thinness that bordered on the sickly.

Fu Sili threw on the outer robe. Looking down and seeing the hem dragging on the floor, he could not help but complain, “I told you your clothes would not fit me. If I walk out in this, it will get wet immediately, and I will have to change again when I get back.”

He took a deep breath, about to let out a long sigh.

Fu Jing held a faint smile. “The cook made a table of Huaiyang cuisine today. I will have them bring it here in a moment. Have your meal before you leave.”

The melancholy was still gathered between Fu Sili’s brows. “Eh?”

How did the conversation jump to eating?

Support Brother, Brother, But I’m a Profligate!