The Sparrow in His Palm

Shen Xu was the most famous courtesan at the Nanfeng Pavilion. The year he made his debut at sixteen, he caused a sensation throughout the capital.

He blossomed into a stunning beauty, with skin as delicate as ice and jade. Every glance and smile of his could steal a person's heart.

Everyone wanted to spend a night with him. Shen Xu alone refused to accept that as his fate.

He used every trick he could to get the heir of the Jingyang Marquis to pay an astronomical sum to buy his freedom, only to discover that the heir was no good man either.

Shen Xu was nothing more than the heir's kept pet, summoned and dismissed at will, and a pawn pushed forward to curry favor with the powerful and trade for political favors.

It became routine for him to sing until his voice went hoarse and play the qin until his fingers bled.

Everyone treated him as a plaything, denying him even the slightest dignity. He lived worse than a dog.

There was only one exception.

When the heir sent Shen Xu to someone else's bed, the usually stern and unsmiling Prince of Zhenbei suddenly appeared. Without a word, he forcibly took Shen Xu away and carried him off to his estate.

The next day, the heir of the Jingyang Marquis, full of resentment, delivered Shen Xu's contract of servitude to the Prince of Zhenbei.

From then on, he went from the heir's pet to a caged songbird kept in the Prince of Zhenbei's hand.

.

For Shen Xu, changing masters was no different from going from a wolf's den to a tiger's lair.

He lived cautiously in the Prince of Zhenbei's estate, catering to Li Shu's every whim with gentle obedience and trying his best to be the perfect, compliant songbird.

The usually cold, unsmiling Prince of Zhenbei was a pervert in private, with a possessiveness over Shen Xu that bordered on the pathological.

If Shen Xu merely exchanged polite greetings with someone else or looked at another person for a moment too long, Li Shu would grow red-eyed with jealousy, lock him in a specially made golden cage, and demand again and again to know whether Shen Xu was trying to seduce someone else and leave him.

Shen Xu didn't understand. He just thought the Prince of Zhenbei was seriously ill.

While soothing Li Shu, he secretly saved up a great deal of money, waiting for the chance to escape.

When an imperial edict ordering Li Shu to war arrived at the estate, Shen Xu knew his opportunity had come.

On the day of Li Shu's departure, Shen Xu looked tearful and utterly heartbroken, weeping as if his heart were breaking.

Perhaps moved by Shen Xu's display of true affection, Li Shu promised him, “When I return in triumph, I will ask my imperial brother for permission to marry you.”

Shen Xu: “...”

Shen Xu didn't believe a word of it, but he pretended to be overwhelmed with joy. As soon as Li Shu left, he grabbed his money, stole his contract of servitude, and ran away.

#These lunatics with power and influence can go find someone else to serve them!#

Content warning: The bottom isn't a virgin. He slept with the heir. The top is a virgin.

Theme: Like wild grass waiting for spring, be tenacious and grow toward the sun