Don’t Be a Kept Man

ing to hear, 

“Nothing, but to ask, for such a good play in the theatre, why would Min Gong-zi come to ruin this for the crowd.
Look at all these chairs and tables that have been flipped and scattered all over the place.
Have I offended you somehow?”

Min Si Xing’s face grew red like a rotten tomato.
He didn’t make a sound for a while and seeing this, Chen Shao-ye quickly said, 

“Alright, it wasn’t a big deal, so there is no need to keep fighting or otherwise all of you will be thrown in jail for a couple of days and beaten quite a few times!”

Xiao Feng Wu didn’t care and he looked quite indifferent, but he did give a meaningful look at Min Si Xing.
Then he looked at Qin Ming Yue, and then at Chen Shao-ye before flipping right over the railing to jump down onto the first floor in the midst of everyone’s cries of shock, leaving without a trace.

Chen Shao-ye didn’t pay him much mind, only gently saying, 

“Ming Yue, look, now that there is no one ruining the show, would you go back and sing again?”

With his face full of makeup, the moment Qin Ming Yue turned, the butterfly hairpin in his hair trembled slightly and he used his sleeve to cover up his face as he lazily sighed.
He causally swept a glance over Chen Shao-ye and weakly turned to walk down the stairs, 

“No, I have no more interest in doing so.”

Chen Shao-ye’s mind had flown away with his soul by Qin Ming Yue’s little side glance and he stood frozen on the spot, unmoving, and his senses did not come back for quite a while.

Quite a few people had come for Qin Ming Yue, and with the drama that just happened, they had not been listening to him.
Seeing him unwilling to sing again, they all sighed with despair and said, what a crowd ruiner and cursed out Xiao Feng Wu and Min Si Xing in their hearts.

Qin Ming Yue took off his makeup and quickly rushed back to where he saw Xiao Feng Wu sitting in the hallway, talking with Zhong Bo.
Who knows what he was on about but when Xiao Feng Wu saw him come in, he could no longer hear a sound.

Qin Ming Yue snorted and spoke with a weird undertone, 

“And what were you running away so fast for just now, was there a wolf chasing you?”

Xiao Feng Wu waved his hands in the air and shook his head, 

“No, no, I only saw that Chen Shao-ye looking at you with so much love, I did not dare to bother the both of you.”

Qin Ming Yue’s face slightly changed, and for whatever reason, he started laughing again.
He walked over to sit beside Xiao Feng Wu and said, 

“What, you jealous?”

Xiao Feng Wu indifferently nodded his head and then reached over with his sleeve, shaking it a few times, 

“Can you smell it? What a strong scent of vinegar.”

Although he didn’t know if he was speaking the truth or not, Qin Ming Yue’s heart was happy and he lightly knocked at Xiao Feng Wu with his shoulder, 

“I could see very clearly from below, that Lady Xu had even helped you.
Technically speaking, should I not be jealous!”

Xiao Feng Wu looked towards him, 

“Let me see you being jealous?”

Qin Ming Yue looked at him, smiling yet it was as if he was not.

 

When the old servant was not paying attention, he shuffled over to quickly kiss Qin Ming Yue, 

“Hmm, not sour, smells very good1.”

Qin Ming Yue did not shy away or become embarrassed, only saying, 

“Truly so shameless.”

And then urged Xiao Feng Wu again, 

“Min Si Xing is a vicious man.
Today you pulled his face down, tearing away his pride, who knows when he’ll return to take it back.
Be careful.
Don’t leave the house for the next couple of days.”

Xiao Feng Wu thought about it for a bit, 

“Should I go and poison him to death tonight?”

Qin Ming Yue: “……”

Poison was impossible, as after all, it was only a joke. 

Zhong Bo was going to make dumplings today, the dough he made just about rested at noon.
In the afternoon, he went to the market to buy some meat to chop up with some vegetables for the filling.
The water in the pot just started boiling when he heard a kick at the door.

 

For him, someone who was almost deaf, to hear the sound, the action must have been quite loud.
Zhong Bo just walked out of the kitchen when he saw the front door fall down.
And then a gang of servants rushed in, carrying waterfire sticks2, and shocked as he was, he stumbled and ran back, hiding underneath the stove.

Xiao Feng Wu heard the sounds as well and his eyebrows furrowed slightly, thinking about something before they smoothed back out.
He held Qin Ming Yue down, signaling for him to not worry.

The room was pushed open and a group of servants along with an old man crowded around the entrance way, not leaving a single inch of space between them and blocking any chance of escape.
Qin Ming Yue was surprised, recognizing that this was the Min family head, Min Shang Shan, and he looked back at Xiao Feng Wu.

Xiao Feng Wu was very calm himself and even took the time to pour himself a cup of tea, 

“Beloved Uncle, for what business have you come here for? With such a racket, I really can’t take this much shock.”

Min Shang Shan’s face was glowering with a shadowed face, and he walked over, sitting right across Xiao Feng Wu: 

“Since you call me uncle, I will shamelessly acknowledge the hierarchy of our relationship.
Si Xing could be considered as your half brother, and whatever past conflicts you both had, I do not care and will consider it as fights between youngsters, looking past them.
But the Min family only has this son, and no matter in a million years, through heaven or hell, you should not have cursed him as such.”

Xiao Feng Wu sipped his cup of tea, 

“Uncle, what do you mean? Your nephew does not understand.”

Min Shang Shan narrowed out his eyes, and then slammed his fist down on the table, causing the candle on top to flicker, 

“He fought with you today at Sheng De Lou, and when he came back, he fell ill, his entire body covered in red bumps and blisters, burning with a high fever, like a person on their deathbed.
I have invited all of the top physicians from Yan Cheng’s 32 apothecaries and all of them said they are powerless!”

Xiao Feng Wu hummed in acknowledgement, not looking at him, and instead had quite the interest to stare at Qin Ming Yue’s changing face, 

“And what’s it to do with me?”

Min Shang Shan’s chest was heaving irregularly, and his teeth were tightly gritted as he glared at Xiao Feng Wu as if he had lasers in his eyes, 

“Today, have you not cursed my son in the bright and open public eye to be filled with blisters and bumps all over his body, turning him into a living dead person?”

Xiao Feng Wu nodded his head, and then counted his fingers, saying, 

“Yes, but that’s not the only time.
I’ve cursed quite a lot of other people too.”

“Don’t try to play games with this old man here!”

Min Shang Shan flung his sleeves in anger as he rose and said to his servants, 

“Take him with me! I, Min Shang Shan, only have this one son, and if he’s dead, I have nothing to live for, and I will bring the culprit who instigated this with me!”

 

TL Notes:

Hi all, Plum here.
Here’s the last chapter of the year! We’ll see you with Chapter 133 on Jan 8, until then Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! 

Notes:

 

*1 As you might have remembered from previous volumes, vinegar = jealousy, so their whole conversation is using vinegar/the sourness of the smell as to mean being jealous

*2 waterfire sticks: I’m not sure why it’s called water fire, but it’s basically a specific type of plank/bat thing that is used to “punish” criminals or use them to force confessions for their crimes.
They’re usually black at the bottom and red at top and usually associated with guards/”soldiers” who work for officials who could also be a judge at a court (basically an official who manages an area also has their own “court” for judgment).