Who in the world does not know you?

Chapter 45 Years, 03 Months, and 8 Days

Qingchuan woke up the next morning.

He slept in a study in the villa last night. Although it was called a study, it was mostly just a place for him to sleep, since there were many such rooms in this huge general's mansion.

He sat up in bed, trying to clear his mind, but was momentarily stunned as the dream from the previous night unconsciously resurfaced in his mind.

The place was bustling with people. As he walked down the street, he looked up and saw the courtesan dressed in a plain white dress, waving a round fan, and leaning half her body out of the window, beckoning to him.

In a brothel, the woman who can be crowned the queen of flowers must be the most beautiful and elegant among them.

With the death of Mu Li, the most beautiful courtesan in Rouge Pavilion, Qingchuan, in his capacity, could easily exert pressure on the government to find the real culprit or seek outside help to investigate the truth by following the clues.

Qingchuan didn't care who killed Mu Li; he wasn't angry at all, nor did he care how much wealth he had given to the beauty before.

Even if he set up a mourning hall at home and wept bitterly to mourn Mu Li, that was yesterday.

Qingchuan sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at the stool by the window, on which sat a blue-patterned porcelain vase with a bunch of white orchids.

The general's mansion is filled with orchids because the steward's name is Lanxiang, so Qingchuan always instructs the servants to see orchids often.

Qingchuan's father, Qingsheng, who was General Yunque, was away leading troops in battles all year round. To him, the steward Lanxiang was a teacher, a father, and a friend.

A maid carrying a copper basin stepped over the threshold and into the room. She had a white cloth draped over her shoulder, which she used to wipe Qingchuan's face.

Her name is Luo Xin, and she is only seventeen years old this year. She is not tall and has a slender figure. She always combs her beautiful black hair into two long braids. When she walks, the two braids sway and ripple along with her girlish thoughts.

"Young Master, you're awake."

Her tone sounded somewhat excited. Despite the difference in status between master and servant, she never showed the slightest bit of timidity in front of Qingchuan, the young master.

The servants in the general's mansion were not afraid of Qingchuan, even though his behavior was always unpredictable. As time went on, they were willing to go along with the young master's antics, since it was their duty.

"Just leave it there, I'll do it myself."

Qingchuan responded, and Luo Xin placed the copper basin filled with water on the side rack, took off the cloth from her shoulder and draped it over the basin, then turned to leave.

Her behavior was perfectly normal, but just as she was about to turn and leave, Qingchuan called out to her.

"Luo Xin".

"Hmm? Is there anything else you need, young master?"

Luo Xin turned around and tilted her head to look at Qing Chuan sitting on the edge of the bed, her big, bright eyes filled with sincerity and innocence.

"Where are you going?"

"Young Master, aren't you just talking nonsense? Of course I'll go and do the work."

"I am, after all, a young master. You can't take advantage of my good temper to dare to be disrespectful. Be careful, or I'll..."

"Be careful, what's wrong?"

Luo Xin smiled and looked at Qing Chuan, who pretended to be fierce, but the threatening words he was about to say couldn't be uttered and he swallowed them back.

"Are you suggesting that if I continue to be so disrespectful, you'll sell me to a brothel? I'm not only a servant in the General's Mansion, but also your personal maid who has served you, young master, in your daily life. If you sell me to a brothel, it will be you who loses face. But that's fine too, if I go to a brothel, I can still see you often, young master. After all, you're a regular at all the brothels in Ningzhou Prefecture."

"..."

Qingchuan felt a tightness in his chest and wanted to argue, but he was powerless to do so.

"Everyone in this general's mansion knows that you have a sharp tongue but a soft heart, young master. But even though you have a sharp tongue but a soft heart, you're afraid of hurting me by threatening to sell me into a brothel. You're really quite adorable..."

As Luo Xin spoke, she walked to the bedside and then sat down directly next to Qing Chuan.

She turned her head to look at the handsome young man beside her, and then she remembered when she first entered the general's mansion and got lost in this huge mansion. She was so anxious that her eyes reddened and she burst into tears. He peeked out from behind the rockery and his words startled her and made her quite angry.

"Why didn't Dad pick a pretty one for me when he was choosing a child bride? All that crying and whining is such a hassle."

For a long time afterward, Luo Xin believed that she would marry this young master when she grew up. It wasn't until she asked others that she found out that this was not the case at all, and he even laughed at her after finding out. Just thinking about it made her so angry that her teeth itched.

Qingchuan didn't take Luo Xin's sitting side by side on the bed to heart. In this general's mansion, everyone who could breathe was family to him.

"Luo Xin, how long have you been in the manor?"

Qingchuan's question came abruptly, but Luo Xin answered very quickly, without the slightest hesitation.

"Ten years and three months plus eight days."

"Remember so clearly? What, have you been longing to escape from here day and night?"

"That was the first time I met you, young master."

"Oh, that sounds so sentimental, even I'm moved."

"Then why don't you hurry up and marry me?"

"I must marry him."

"Alright, I'll go tell them to make the arrangements. There's going to be a happy occasion at the manor."

"..."

After Luo Xin finished speaking, she was about to get up and leave, but Qing Chuan pulled her back down to sit.

"What, is this young master going back on his word? Won't people laugh at us if word gets out?"

"I was just joking with you, why did you take it seriously?"

"Does the young master often joke about a woman's chastity?"

"Hey, hey, you can't just say things like that. It doesn't have to be this serious..."

Seeing Qingchuan's dilemma, Luo Xin crossed her arms and turned her head to the other side, leaving only the back of her head for him to see.

"The unfaithful man."

"Hmm? I heard that!"

I wasn't complimenting you.

"I know……"

Looking at Luo Xin, who was clearly sulking beside him, Qingchuan sighed softly, unsure of what to say.

Luo Xin had grown up with him in the General's Mansion since childhood, and their relationship was not simply that of master and servant. Otherwise, no outsider would dare to speak to this famous young master of the General's Mansion like that.

A brief silence fell over the room.

Qingchuan, who had just woken up, wanted to talk to someone, and he felt that Luo Xin's appearance on this morning was just right for him.

"Luo Xin, I have something I want to say to you."

"If it's something I want to hear, then please don't say it, young master."

How am I supposed to know what you like to listen to?

"What do you usually talk about with those prostitutes outside?"

"I have plenty of money, you..."

Before Qingchuan could finish speaking, he saw the girl beside him looking at him with a cold frown, and he swallowed his words back.

Two sparrows landed on the branches outside the window and stood side by side on the windowsill, tilting their heads to look at the two people inside.

Qingchuan is talking nonsense.

He had long forgotten what he had said to those brothel women.