Chapter Text
Let it never be said that Shen Yuan couldn’t admit when he was wrong.
He has been wrong on several occasions before, but he was pleasantly surprised when Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky managed to release an extra that didn’t make him regret humanity’s ability to read. The 79 extra was such a good throwback to when he thought Airplane had the makings of a solid writer before the stallion genre fully took over what was otherwise extremely promising work! Who knew it only took him going more than 5 pages without papapa and/or wife acquisition plots to be a half decent author? Shen Yuan certainly did!
But it also only served to piss him off even more at the sidelining of Shen Qingqiu’s and Luo Binghe’s potential dynamic in favor of (retrospectively tasteless, given what he learned abt his backstory) torture porn! Imagine what could’ve been if Shen Qingqiu had remained out of the water prison for just a while longer! All the conversations that could’ve been had, the parallels Airplane could’ve explored! But no, he was a coward who refused to expand on how Luo Binghe ended up as an overblown caricature of what Shen Qingqiu was only accused of being! Not that Shen Qingqiu was perfect by any means. Still a child abusing asshole with an inability to consider self preservation at any turn regardless of what opinion he himself might’ve had about it, but that only made him more interesting!
Honestly, he could’ve been satisfied with his ending if any of the truth got out at any point! Imagine the potential rift it would’ve caused with Ning Yingying, the growth their relationship would have to go through! God forbid Luo Binghe does any wrong at all towards one of his wives that leads to him meaningfully engaging with the relationship, noooo all the intrigue they get is infighting and being yoinked into the harem in the first place. Give at least one of them something to do!!
And just, at a certain point wasn’t Shen Qingqiu (and by extension, partially Yue Qingyuan) just the most engaging character in PIDW? The missing potential, the subtle dynamics, what could’ve been- It was all so good! Luo Binghe was the point of view character so there was honestly little intrigue left from a character standpoint and the novel has gone on so long that there’s no new interesting plots. In fact, he’s positive Airplane is just reusing random chapters and giving the girls a different name. At this point, character wise, Binghe’s brought a whole new meaning to “nothing new under the sun”!
So yes, Shen Yuan went from advocating for his castration to being known as “that user who’s really into Shen Qingqiu, for some fucking reason” on forums. Outside his usual infamy, of course.
It all made him want to kick and scream and spit blood. All the makings of a generational villain! Just gone! And for what?? For shitty porn that made him never want to look at a woman ever again?! It was so unfair!
But maybe he should’ve been just a little less weird about the novel as a whole because now he was in the body of one of Warm Red Pavilion’s flowers.
It wasn’t his fault that his constitution was so shitty it took slightly off food to lead to his unfortunate demise! Sure, he may have devoted a truly unnecessary amount of time to shit talking randoms online but why was his karma so bad he transmigrated into a female brothel worker?! Female! Shen Yuan, a 20 year old average male, was now a late teen at best younger sister! Not even a relevant character, nor one of the many countless wives! He didn’t even know where in the story he was!
“Lanhua, pay attention.”
Shen Yuan jerked to attention quickly, bowing his head in deference. “Sorry, Tao-jie!”
Taohua sighed, reaching over to fix one of his shoddily done hair pins. “Lan-mei, I know you’re nervous. You’re not stupid, of course you would be, but you need to pay attention. The better you get at these things, the less you actually have to take customers since you’ll be so expensive. Why do you think I have enough time to be teaching you? You have a few years yet to hone your skills before you’re expected to actually take customers for the night, so use them well to learn all you can from me and your other Jiejies.”
“Of course, Jiejie. Lan-mei is grateful for your guidance.” The words tumbled awkwardly off his tongue.
Honestly, he didn’t feel weird about the body change, at least not nearly as much as he was expecting to. His only real struggles right now was adjusting to the height difference and referring to himself as a woman. He also didn’t really mind being referred to as a girl since he was so comfortable in his masculinity!
“You’re already one of the better girls at the pipa at least.” Taohua noted. “You catch a lot of eyes on the first floor.”
His hands twitched nervously, hidden in his long sleeves. He’s only been in Lanhua’s body for two days and only performed once. Apparently the poor girl had been bed ridden with a fever since being bought by the brothel, but he couldn’t help but be quietly grateful he was starting from scratch socially with embedded skills to boot. To his untrained ear, her (their?) playing was amazing. She had to have practiced a ton for that.
Taohua tilted her head consideringly. “Maybe I’ll have you join Juhua and him tonight, actually.”
Shen Yuan immediately stiffened, opening his mouth to ask her what the fuck she meant because wasn’t he supposed to have a year or two before that- but his Jiejie cut him off. “Not like that, silly girl. A-Jiu doesn’t come here for those services.”
A-Jiu? A-Jiu? Like Shen Qingqiu? Like THE Shen Qingqiu? Huh????
“Oh.” Was what came out of his mouth. “Okay.”
“A-Jiu, would you be okay if our new meimei plays for you tonight?”
Shen Jiu gave an inquisitive hum, eyes closed as he enjoyed Juhua’s fingers running through his hair. “What’s she like?”
“Lanhua’s a sweet girl, very quiet. Only two years or so younger than you I think. Also an extremely talented pipa player, honestly it makes me a little jealous she’s so good so young.” Juhua laughed softly, inky hair falling over her shoulder.
“That’s fine then.” He nodded.
“Lan-mei!”
At her call, he opened his eyes and watched as a young girl ducked into the room. Her pinned up hair was an admittedly pretty dark brown and she had her head bent, causing her bangs to cover her face. He noticed how tightly her hands gripped the pipa and felt just a twinge of pity. She really did look very young.
She glanced up at him through her eyelashes, making an attempt to be sneaky. His lips twitched up as she examined him with wide eyes and a nervous flush covered her face. She must be very new if she couldn’t hide her reactions that well. She’d have to learn quickly. Regardless of her obvious nerves, she bowed politely and settled on a cushion to get ready to play.
“Is there anything umm… Jiu-ge would like to hear in particular?” Her voice was soft and she drummed her fingers on the neck of the pipa in an anxious tick.
Jiu-ge? That was new, but… Not bad. It settled better than A-Jiu, at least. He gave her the closest thing to a reassuring nod he was capable of. “Something calmer.”
She was silent for a moment before taking a proper playing posture. Ju-jie was right. She was very good. Her playing wouldn’t be out of place on Qing Jing. He sent a questioning glance up at Ju-jie and she leaned down to talk softly so as not to disturb Lanhua.
“Lan-mei grew up in a different brothel before her contract was acquired here. Her mother was a worker, so she’s seen a lot of performances.”
“I wasn’t under the impression brothels gave up free money so easily.” He remarked, speaking just as quietly.
Ju-jie gave a helpless smile. “It’s rumored the father was the brothel owner, so as not to upset the other workers or make them uncomfortable…”
“Ah.” He nodded easily. It always came down to what was most convenient for the parents and not the child it seemed.
Shen Jiu, satisfied, closed his eyes and settled back more fully into her lap. The lilting music drained the tension from his body and the kind, gentle hands in his hair soothed him in a way he never feels on his peak. Combined with the exhaustion from dealing with his peak mates and the Bai Zhan brutes, it was easy to slip into sleep this way.
Waking up in the morning was a disappointment, leaving the pleasant smells and soft treatment of the Jiejies and Meimeis was always a chore. As he left money for the room he nearly ran into the girl, Lanhua, from last night as she was slipping out of her room. She startled, a hand flying to her chest and her lips twisted in a scowl before she seemed to remember herself and properly looked up at him.
“Ah- A.. Apologies, Jiu-ge.” She quickly bowed as he watched in amusement.
“Watch your step.” His voice came out snappier than he wished it to, especially as she seemed to shrink into herself a bit. “Don’t give anyone a reason to demand repayment from you.”
There was his good deed for the year. Valuable advice for a young woman who’d be subservient to the men around her. A lesson hard learned by him, passed onto a girl who seemed so ill prepared for the world she’s in.
“Thank you,” Lanhua looked a little stunned, but a small smile tugged at her features as she looked him in the face for the first time. “For the sound advice.”
She bowed once more and he nodded in acknowledgment as she quickly passed him. He watched after her for a moment before turning on his heel to head back to the sect.
Her eyes were the color of honey, he noted.