Chapter Text
Shen Yuan had been living in the setting of Proud Immortal Demon Way for about ten years before he caught so much as a glimpse of the titular Proud Immortal Demon, Luo Binghe.
He’d been working in a ‘teahouse’ -read: barely disguised brothel- for most of it first as an errand boy and then later as a server, which was what you apparently called the courtesans while they were still in training. By day he learned to dance and sing -both of which he did badly- and by night he poured wine for old rich people while his senior siblings entertained them with conversation, music, and dance.
His conversation was better than his performances and the madam seemed to think his face was better than average so Shen Yuan was one of the more exclusive dining companions. On the one hand that was good because it meant he got tips every so often and that meant he could pay his debt down faster, but on the other hand that was bad because it meant he had potential as a future courtesan so if the madame was smart then she’d be on the lookout for every opportunity to increase his debt to keep him from slipping away into freedom.
To be honest, he had only figured out that the Xianxia fantasy world he’d transmigrated into was Proud Immortal Demon Way in the past few years when Luo Binghe had really begun to make a name for himself in places where normal mortals were likely to hear about it. He’d probably been a big deal in cultivator circles for longer, but the common folk had trouble telling cultivators apart when they weren’t wearing helpfully color coded uniforms so it took longer for them to start remembering names.
He wasn’t available when Binghe’s party arrived and took over Birdsong Hall -the best entertaining room in the tea house- because one of the more obnoxious regulars was in and Shen Yuan was better than most at walking the tightrope of that guy’s temper so he’d drink and leave without throwing anything. Even so, the patrons who reserved that room frequently could go for days though so his time arrived soon enough.
The madame dismissed him for a power nap and a wardrobe change as soon as his client left then loaded him down with a tray of their most expensive wine.
“You’ll be serving the woman in red,” the madame informed him, briskly making last minute adjustments to his robes and swapping one of the step-shake ornaments in his hair for a slightly nicer one from the jewelry box in the small desk she used as a deployment station. “Most of the party are full demons except the leader so watch yourself.”
If most of them were full demons did that mean one of them was a partial demon?
“Oh wow," he murmured to himself. “Is it that half demon?” They did not use names in the teahouse for confidentiality purposes, especially when cultivators were around. You never knew what security magic they had going on.
The madame pursed her lips and nodded once as she considered his wrists and added a pair of enamelled bangles to each wrist. “Alright, go.”
Birdsong Hall was uncharacteristically quiet when he entered. There was the sound of voices and music, but the room took its name from the long ornamental aviaries full of songbirds that lined the long walls. The birds were all clustered high along the ceiling as far from the guests as they could possibly get.
There were four guests and Shen Yuan could identify all but one of them. Sha Hualing was unmistakable in red gauze scarves, silver bells, and nothing else. Across from her sat a forbidding demon in black and dark blue. He was pale with black hair and light eyes. The frost spiderwebbing across the glass wine cup in his hand told him that one was Mobei-jun. He was being attended to by someone Shen Yuan didn’t recognize; an unremarkable man dressed like a cultivator, albeit barely. He looked more like a minor clerical official than anything else except he had that ethereal prettiness that you could only attain when you became immune to sun damage and all the other physical ailments of mortality. Their server knelt at a slight distance, closer to the wall, as the unknown cultivator took point on topping off Mobei-jun’s cup and placing food in his bowl.
Luo Binghe -there was no mistaking his aura, his black and silver wardrobe, or the red huadian between his brows- lounged at the front of the room on a black lacquered couch like a grumpy lion flanked by the shop’s two premier female courtesans. He was a little surprised that Sha Hualing wasn’t up there herself, but then again she was a demonic saintess. She was a little above pouring drinks even for a demon lord. You wouldn’t know it from the way she acted in canon sometimes, but she was.
Shen Yuan didn’t have the luxury of staring despite the fact that he really wanted to. That was the Luo Binghe! The protagonist himself!
She Hualing had to be his premier concern though. For one, she was his client for the rest of the event and for another he knew she had no problems opening up someone’s face if they irritated her.
He sank to his knees on the abandoned cushion at her side and asked quietly. “May I refresh your cup, dear guest?”
She Hualing was stunning in person; beautiful as the glittering edge of a knife. She gave him a lazy and slightly drunk smile full of very sharp teeth as she held her silver cup out.
“Aren’t you a precious morsel?” She leaned in as he poured. “Where were they hiding you when I got here?”
“This servant was detained at another table earlier," Like everyone in the teahouse, Shen Yuan had his own style of dealing with guests. Some people flirted. Some people were bashful. He just talked and the guests who liked him appreciated his candor. “Am I to your liking?”
“Very," she purred and he had to squash some surprise that she was flirting this hard in front of her probable husband. He wasn’t too sure where they were in the PIDW chronology, but Sha Hualing got locked down pretty early on hadn’t she? “I like a pretty boy who can look me in the eye. If you aren’t careful I might just carry you away in my pocket.”
“The servant looks forward to it," he chuckled and began to clear the delicate little dishes that lay empty on her tray, replacing them with the new ones he’d brought with him. He noted that she’d left the majority of any vegetable that wasn’t pickled. Actually, going by her teeth she probably couldn’t digest plant material all that well. “May I bring you more meat dishes?" he asked before he thought better of it.
Her gaze sharpened, losing a little of her tipsy ease. Then she smiled. It still looked a little bit like she was thinking about eating him, but was slightly more genuine. “More of the brined fish," she directed. “The sour chicken as well.”
From what he recalled from the novel a lot of demons ate carrion as a matter of preference so maybe it made sense that she leaned more towards bitter and fermented meat dishes. The kitchen wouldn’t have sent that sort of thing out without a direct request since it was all stuff that was on the cheaper end of the menu. Who would want to offend these guests with anything less than the best? “This servant will return shortly.”
The madame made a thoughtful noise when Shen Yuan scurried out to make his report, but didn’t argue with him. She issued a series of curt orders to the kitchen runner that sounded about right so he left her to it. She didn’t need him holding her hand, but Sha Hualing would take note of any neglect she received.
However, the mood in the room had changed drastically by the time he arrived. The conversation had come to a dead halt. His two senior sisters were hurriedly collecting their instruments and backing away from Luo Binghe’s couch. They scurried past him with apologetic looks, but no explanation.
He didn’t get a chance to look in his own guest’s direction to gauge her mood.
“You," a low-pitched, commanding voice rolled through the hall.
When he followed the sound, Luo Binghe was looking straight at him. A wave of cold swept through Shen Yuan’s entire body.
Yes, he’d wanted to get a peek at the infamous stallion protagonist, but he hadn’t wanted to draw the man’s full attention.
“Come here.” Luo Binghe pointed at the soft cushion at his right side, the one recently vacated by their top performer. “You will attend to me for the rest of the evening.”
Ah.
This was because Sha Hualing had been flirting with him. They were definitely hitched and her husband did not appreciate her harassing the waiter. At least he didn’t seem like he was interested in taking it out on Shen Yuan.
“It will be as my lord wishes.” Shen Yuan curtseyed. It was a weird affectation that the madame had forced on him. Most of the male courtesans bowed like normal people, but anyone who was on the prettier or more delicate end of the spectrum had to adopt feminine manners; hence his elaborate hair ornaments and extra jewelry.
Luo Binghe handed Shen Yuan his cup without looking as soon as he’d taken up his new position. The dishes on his tray were largely untouched and Shen Yuan recognized the wine in his jug as one of their better vintages, albeit not one of the most expensive ones.
Slowly the guests began talking again. Shen Yuan carefully did not pay attention exactly to what. In these circumstances it was best to let the guests’ voices meld into white noise. He paid attention to the face of his main concern.
There was a little crease between Luo Binghe’s brows. It was camouflaged by his demon mark, but present. Shen Yuan considered what could be the matter. Maybe it was lingering annoyance with his wife, but Shen Yuan couldn’t help but look at the untouched plates on the tray. They were all rich foods; heavily spiced and a bit greasy. Tranquil Bamboo Grove wasn’t really known for their kitchens so much as their wine cellar and with good reason.
Come to think of it, Luo Binghe was a bit of a foodie in canon. He cooked most of his own meals so his standards were probably hard to meet. Was he hungry? It was a bit late in the evening and neither Sha Hualing nor Mobei-jun were acting like they’d already eaten so probably their leader hadn’t either.
Shen Yuan considered it and decided, yeah, that was probably the issue. If he was still mad at Sha Hualing then he’d have shown it somehow. He was fully capable of disguising his irritation in the name of eventual retribution, but as Shen Yuan recalled the protagonist of Proud Immortal Demon Way did not lower himself to wreak vengence on wait staff for bad service unless they tried to do something really dumb like poison him.
He got his chance to test his theory when the wine pitcher ran dry. “May I exchange these dishes as well?" he asked and was rewarded with a weird look from Luo Binghe.
The man had been ignoring Shen Yuan for the most part, but stopped to look at him every so often when Sha Hualing and the forgettable man looking after Mobei-jun went off on a side tangent.
“Go ahead.” His tone was unreadable, but Shen Yuan felt eyes follow him out of the room.
Luo Binghe’s expression was still opaque when he returned with more of the same wine and a selection of the kitchen’s more tolerable offerings; namely stuff like fruit and other delicacies that were too much trouble to make in house so were brought in from other, better shops. It wasn’t a proper meal, but it’d be better than drinking on an empty stomach.
His guest watched in silence as Shen Yuan arranged the dishes on his tray and poured another cup of wine. Then he made really weird and intense eye contact as he knocked back the wine and took something from each dish. Luo Binghe continued to stare for a long while afterwards like he was waiting for something until Shen Yuan finally had to say something.
Did he think the food was poisoned? Why? Who would bother? Even without his reader’s cheat-level knowledge of this world, word had spread about Luo Binghe’s immunity to poisons.
“Are these new dishes to my lord’s liking?” He pretended like he hadn’t noticed that he was being stared at by a weirdo. He’d always wondered if action heroes were as cool in person as they were in a carefully curated presentation about their lives and so far his conclusion boiled down to ‘sort of.’ It was more unnerving when you were the person being stared at and didn’t have access to the protagonist’s inner dialogue.
On the other hand, he was still really physically intimidating and also neat to look at. People in real life were rarely that attractive or put together on a regular work day.
“...yes.” The admission seemed to cost Luo Binghe part of his very soul and he thrust out his cup for a refill with his gaze averted. Maybe he was regretting calling the male server over. Sometimes people mistook Shen Yuan for a woman in this get up, but he was surprised to realize that Luo Binghe might have been one of them. Wasn’t he supposed to have godlike observation skills?
At least he wasn’t being a jerk about it.
From there it was a bit more like business as usual.
Shen Yuan still noticed the occasional lingering look from his guest, but felt less anxious about the extra attention than he normally would have. The courtesans were available for overnight service for an astronomical fee. So were the servers, but their price tag was even higher since most of them were genuine virgins and the madame didn’t want her trainees picking up bad habits before their formal investiture so she tacked on a steep nuisance fee to the base cost.
That didn’t mean it never happened. Luo Binghe could afford him easily, but was also intensely straight if canon was to be believed so Shen Yuan didn’t think he was in danger of anything except some lost sleep.
The party broke up somewhere around midnight when the human cultivator started nodding off. Mobei-jun hadn’t shown much interest in his companion up until that point, but reacted to that first stifled yawn like a dog who’d just caught a scent. He stood without ceremony and ripped a hole in reality with one clawed hand. There was snow on the other side and cold air slapped at Shen Yuan in his thin silk robes. Mobei-jun scruffed the protesting cultivator, stepped through the hole, and they were gone just like that.
“I suppose we’re done.” Sha Hualing rolled her eyes then turned a hungry look in Luo Binghe’s direction. “Shall we retire as well, my lord?” She purred with carnal intent clear in her eyes.
Luo Binghe made a surprisingly noncommittal noise that made Sha Hualing pout, but she didn’t linger behind either when he stood up to leave.
Shen Yuan and the remaining servers all lined up to bow them out of the room. It was probably his imagination, but it almost seemed like Luo Binghe paused for a second when he passed Shen Yuan at the door. Given the fact that he was in a low bow, Shen Yuan couldn’t see anything except his guest’s booted feet and the way his pace hitched for a second right in front of Shen Yuan’s face. It likely had nothing to do with him.
They took a few minutes to bus the room. None of them were dressed to do a proper clean, but it was early enough that someone else might want the room and anything they could do on the way out meant they’d be able to turn Birdsong Hall over faster. Their earnings were based on the night’s take rather than a flat per diem, which made everyone work harder and pay attention to the teahouse’s books. The madam had to be more transparent in her dealings this way, but Shen Yuan suspected she made better money overall.
To his surprise the woman in question was waiting for them outside Birdsong Hall with a pinched expression. He didn’t like that look.
He could not say that they were friends. She owned his debt and him by extension until it was discharged. Even so, she wasn’t the worst. He knew how bad debt peonage could get from his time in the brokerage while waiting to be sold on. She might charge his debt ledger for things like new clothes, training, damages, and medical care, but she didn’t charge him for basic food or water or bed space. Some people did that. He got paid for each day he worked and the numbers made it theoretically possible for him to work his way out from underwater in the next few years if he was smart, careful, and lucky.
Not all the courtesans at Tranquil Bamboo Grove were debt slaves. In fact, very few of them were still in the hole after their first few years out of the servers’ rank. They stayed because by then it was the work they knew and a stable lifestyle that would let them save against old age. It was the servers who had to be careful and who the madame had to be careful of, lest they get loose before she’d made a decent profit off her initial investment.
Even so, she didn’t send any of the teahouse workers into danger if she could help it. Sometimes, though, she couldn’t help it and when she couldn’t help it she often looked just like that.
“A-Yuan, stay.” The madame jerked her head towards the scullery. “Everyone else clear the hall and report downstairs for your next assignments.”
Shen Yuan gulped as the others left him behind. Had he messed up?
No. No, he hadn’t. It was worse than that.
“Go to the wardrobe master and get changed. Then report to the Room of Earthly Delights," she instructed and that explained why she looked so ticked off. “You have a private guest.”
Someone had bought him for the night.