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Chapter 41: Going Home

Both families handed over money to the constables to settle the matter and avoid further trouble.

Since the elders from both families had stepped in, naturally Lu Jinnian and Song Lin couldn’t continue arguing and had to follow their respective family stewards home to report.

After about half an hour of commotion, Wen Ruyu finally saw Lu Jinnian return.

Although the corner of his mouth was injured, at least his face wasn’t disfigured and he didn’t lose any limbs—that was already considered lucky.

Lu Jinnian was a candidate for the imperial examination. If he were maimed or disfigured, he would no longer be eligible to become an official.

Although Wen Ruyu never really expected him to succeed as an official, she still hoped he would at least keep trying.

Having a son with scholarly honors is always a benefit, and never a harm to her.

First, she had Lu Jinnian go stand in punishment at the side. Then Wen Ruyu asked Lu Cheng for a detailed account of the incident.

It turned out that Lu Jinnian had befriended a young official named Pei Xiao from Lihua Alley the year before.

Pei Xiao had an adoptive brother named Dai Gongren, and the two of them lived together though they weren’t related by blood.

Zheng Qiao was the one who introduced them. He was known for his romantic arrangements, catering to both men and women, and often matched attractive, young officials with wealthy patrons.

In doing so, he gained both social connections and financial rewards.

Pei Xiao was introduced to Lu Jinnian by Zheng Qiao last year.

Lu Jinnian became close with him and frequently visited. By this point, Pei Xiao had already received 20–30 taels of silver from the Lu family—about what an average household would spend in a whole year.

In this era, young male officials involved in such trades had a limited shelf life.

Wealthy patrons preferred boys aged fourteen to eighteen or nineteen—the prime years for such work—since at that age, their masculine traits were not yet obvious, and their bodies were still soft and slender, able to be dressed up like women.

Once a man reached twenty, his facial hair became coarse, his voice deepened, and his bones grew more defined—traits that pushed him into the lower-tier category.

Pei Xiao was currently around seventeen or eighteen—his peak time for selling his looks. In another couple of years, he likely wouldn’t be able to continue in the trade.

Even those in this line of work were still influenced by traditional societal expectations. Eventually, they planned to earn enough and settle down with a wife and children.

Originally, Pei Xiao had planned to devote himself to Lu Jinnian and make a living that way.

But recently, Lu Jinnian had been confined at home by Wen Ruyu, and she had been watching him closely, forbidding any contact with Zheng Qiao.

As a result, Lu Jinnian hadn’t left the house, not even managing to send a letter.

Pei Xiao and Zheng Qiao assumed he had turned over a new leaf.

So Pei Xiao asked Zheng Qiao to find him another patron—someone rich to latch onto and make one last big profit.

Zheng Qiao agreed and found him Song Lin.

Song Lin had always preferred men, but he kept a low profile, so few knew the details of his preferences. Today’s incident, however, laid everything bare.

Pei Xiao hadn’t initially intended to sell himself. He had only resorted to it due to financial desperation.

Had he simply broken things off with Lu Jinnian, it would have been understandable. Lu hadn’t spent too much on him, and even if he felt wronged, he could’ve just walked away.

But the issue was that Lu Jinnian was completely unaware. Pei Xiao and Zheng Qiao, without informing him, had already started seeing Song Lin.

That day, Lu Jinnian was finally granted a day out. Before heading to his exam, he wanted to drop off a few taels of silver and visit his “good brother.”

By coincidence, it was Dai Gongren’s servant who opened the door. Not knowing the situation, Lu Jinnian just asked for Pei Xiao and Dai Gongren.

The honest servant said Pei Xiao was unavailable but that Dai Gongren was home and let Lu Jinnian in.

Upon entering, Lu Jinnian saw Pei Xiao entangled with Song Lin.

What man could tolerate such betrayal?

Furious, Lu Jinnian immediately started fighting with Song Lin.

Song Lin had no idea what was going on and thought Lu Jinnian was just some mad dog attacking for no reason.

Naturally, he fought back, and the two scuffled violently.

Their servants rushed in to protect their masters.

Pei Xiao and Dai Gongren tried to break up the fight, but Pei Xiao ended up getting slapped a few times by Lu Jinnian in the chaos.

Dai Gongren, afraid things would get out of hand, called Zheng Qiao for help.

When Zheng Qiao arrived, both Lu Jinnian and Song Lin demanded answers from him.

Since Pei Xiao was effectively involved with both of them, they blamed Zheng Qiao, the matchmaker.

Neither side backed down and they ended up trying to report each other to the authorities on charges of sodomy.

That’s when the constables arrived and the situation escalated to what happened afterward.

After hearing the whole story, Wen Ruyu dismissed Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng looked at Lu Jinnian, still standing in punishment, and hesitated as if to speak up in his defense.

But what Lu Jinnian had done was truly disgraceful—fighting over a male prostitute, nearly getting involved with the authorities, and all this right before the important exams.

The old matriarch had only just punished him for harassing Qin Rong, and now he was causing trouble again.

If this went on, he’d end up like Second Master.

So Lu Cheng dared not plead for him and bowed as he left.

Zhao Shu watched quietly from the side, full of guilt.

She remembered how Lu Bainian had told her to keep an eye on Lu Jinnian after they returned from the village.

She had been cautious at first, but then let her guard down when Lu Jinnian was locked up at home for days.

She thought, what could happen at home?

And now, with the exams coming up, anyone would normally avoid trouble at this time.

But Lu Jinnian insisted on walking the road less traveled.

“Old Madam…” Zhao Shu tried to speak.

But Wen Ruyu raised her hand, signaling her to stop.

Zhao Shu shut her mouth again.

Madam Qian, though curious to gossip, had already quietly exited when Lu Cheng returned with Lu Bainian, not wanting to get in Wen Ruyu’s way.

Knowing he couldn’t escape punishment, Lu Jinnian stepped forward after Lu Cheng left and knelt before Wen Ruyu.

Wen Ruyu sighed and asked, “Tell me honestly, do you like men or women?”

Lu Jinnian froze. No one had ever asked him such a thing.

Sodomy was considered disgraceful—liking someone didn’t matter as much as whether you could perform with a woman.

Not quite grasping Wen Ruyu’s question, Lu Jinnian kowtowed and said, “Mother, I won’t dare again!”

Wen Ruyu pressed her lips together. She didn’t think liking the same sex was some great sin.

What was wrong was liking men while also toying with women.

She rubbed her forehead, staying silent. The others assumed she was furious.

“Don’t be angry, Old Madam,” Zhao Shu said. “Fourth Master is still young and just took the wrong path. Once he earns his degree and starts a family, he’ll change.”

Wen Ruyu sighed again. “You don’t understand. This isn’t some crooked path. What kind of person you’re drawn to—man or woman—is something innate.”

Zhao Shu was confused, and thought Wen Ruyu’s words were wrong, but since she was the elder, whatever she said had to be right.

“Enough, Shu’er, you may go,” Wen Ruyu said.

“Old Madam, I’d rather stay—”

Before she could finish, Wen Ruyu cut her off.

“Go.”

Seeing Wen Ruyu insist, Zhao Shu dared not argue. She bowed and left.

Wen Ruyu gave a glance, and all the servants in the room left as well.

Once it was just the two of them, she asked again, “Do you truly like that young official? How do you feel about women?”

Lu Jinnian was stunned by the question.

“I…” He hesitated but couldn’t say anything clear.

Wen Ruyu said gently, “Don’t worry. Just speak from your heart. There’s nothing wrong with liking men. Your mother won’t mock you.”

At most, I just won’t arrange a wife for you.

After all, the Lu family still has Lu Qing. There’s no concern about continuing the family line. Even if Lu Jinnian has no descendants, it doesn’t matter.

And with so many orphans and vagrants out there, he could always adopt. That’d be a good deed, too.

In every era, it’s easy to raise a child—as long as you have money.

“Mother, I was wrong!” But Wen Ruyu’s calmness unsettled Lu Jinnian even more. “I was just curious! I won’t do it again!”

He knocked his head on the ground again and again. When he looked up, his forehead was red.

Wen Ruyu saw this and knew there was no talking sense into him.

Thinking of how he had harassed Qin Rong earlier, she figured he was probably bisexual.

Did Lu Jinnian really like men?

Maybe… about 40%?

Maybe he leaned more toward men, or maybe, as he said, he was just curious and wanted to try.

Wen Ruyu wasn’t inside his head—she couldn’t know for sure.

“No matter what,” she said, “if you truly like someone, you should treat them sincerely, not as a game.”

“From now on, you are forbidden from seeing male prostitutes. You are also forbidden from fooling around with women, whether inside or outside the household. If there’s someone you truly like, and you’re serious about being with them long-term, bring them to see me. As long as you can remain virtuous, I’ll accept them—even if it’s a male spouse.”

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