Insufficient balance

  "Xiao Ting, you're here!" Bi Tao had been waiting at the stairs to scout for her mistress and as soon as she saw Xiao Ting arrive, she hurriedly went down to greet him.

  In the afternoon, the Phoenix still nestles in its resting time, without the hustle and bustle of the evening, only a few turtle slaves are doing preparatory work in the hall.

  Xiao Ting climbed the stairs while smiling and nodding at her, "Is your young lady in?"

  "Waiting for you all the time!" In the middle of the stairs, Bi Tao hugged his arm and leaned half of her body against him. The 15-year-old girl with double buns still looked a bit green and tender from the outside, but in fact, her figure had already developed quite well, and at this moment, the two soft mounds on her chest pressed against his arm, instantly showing their weight.

  This little girl always likes to tease Xiao Tiao like this.

  Or with fingernails painted with bright red nail polish, lightly scratch his palm a few times, making him feel itchy in his heart. Or from behind, hold him tight and press the already grown body tightly against his back, making his heart beat uncontrollably. Or... just like this now.

  Xiao Ting is not a saint, of course he will be moved, but being moved is just being moved, some things can only be thought about and that's it, many things in life are not meant to be taken seriously.

  "You little scamp, you're too full of tricks, be careful or I'll get angry with you!" Xiao Ting stretched out his hand and pinched her smooth, delicate cheek, laughing.

  Vivian playfully bumped her nose against hers, and soon they were both laughing.

  The young lady said that only men who can sit calmly and not be disturbed are worthy of girls taking the initiative to flirt with. What's the point of flirting with those lecherous men who come crawling with their wallets? Why do some men make women like them so much? Isn't it just because they have an air of arrogance on them, as if they don't care about anyone else?

  Women are also born to be inferior, just like men.

  Yang Liu as the top red aunt of Feng Huan's Nest, the first of the four great flowers of Chang'an City, naturally needs to have treatment that matches her status, so the fourth floor of Feng Huan's Nest belongs to her alone.

  When she reached the fourth floor, Bi Tao naturally had to restrain herself a bit. After all, everything has its own hierarchy, and even men have to be addressed as "Miss" first before being referred to as their own.

  Open the door and enter, Yang Liu's boudoir is tidy and elegant, giving people a sense of simplicity and cleanliness as well as luxury and elegance.

  The courtesan is after all a courtesan, and her thoughts are always more or less higher than those of ordinary prostitutes.

  "Miss, Xiao Ting is here!" Bi Tao entered the door and served tea to Xiao Ting. Seeing that her own miss was not yet out of the inner room, she called out to her.

  "Dead girl, Xiao Ting is also someone you can call, call the young master!" As she spoke, a pale white arm stretched out from behind the crystal curtain, and the person inside pushed open the curtain and walked out. Xiao Ting couldn't help but stare in surprise.

  She coiled the raven-black hair into a fluffy and pretty cloud-like bun, with a delicate golden hairpin with a jade pendant inserted at an angle. As she moved her head slightly, the pendant swayed back and forth, making her smile even more mischievous and lovely on her face.

  She wore a bright red dress with golden mud, which only wrapped around her two white and tender arms like lotus segments, but exposed her two plump and round shoulders outside. The light green silk bellyband tightly wrapped the two snow-white breasts in front of her chest, only the big red peony embroidered in the middle was puffed up and bloomed, making people feel hot and unable to breathe when they saw it. Moreover, the beautiful neck and the white and tender breast under the snow-like skin were also so charming that they made the already clever and lovely beauty even more stunning and unparalleled, making Xiao Ting, who had long been accustomed to her various charms, stare blankly.

  Yang Liu... today she's actually all dressed up!

  It's been two years since Xiao Ting became her painting and calligraphy teacher. In those two years, Yang Liu relied on the brushwork skills taught by Xiao Ting to suddenly elevate her status from a famous courtesan of Pingkang Li who sold art but not her body to the number one flower in Chang'an who excelled at both zither and painting.

  Even if it's just this, her relationship with Xiao Ting is already incomparable to others. So every time Xiao Ting comes to class on the 5th or 10th, she always meets him in casual home attire. And Xiao Ting is so poor that he can't afford to watch her performances, so even though he's been her teacher for two years, this is still the first time he's seen her dressed like this.

  Bi Tao saw Xiao Teng and indeed showed the same silly expression as other men, staring straight at his own young lady. She couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle, Yang Liu scolded with a glance, "Dead girl, you're getting more and more unscrupulous!"

  These two years, Xiao Ting had been spoiled, but Bi Tao was not afraid of her. Seeing Xiao Ting come back to herself and cough awkwardly, she winked at her own mistress and whispered a sentence in Xiao Ting's ear, the sound was small, but it just happened to be heard by Yang Liu as well.

  "Our miss is flirting with you!"

  "Shame on you! You're asking for death!" Yang Liu's face turned bright red. "This dead girl, can't even control you anymore!"

  Xiao Ting rubbed his nose and coughed, deliberately avoiding the topic, "Uh... let's go to class!"

  He's no fool, and he knows a thing or two about what's on his master's mind, only...

  Xiao Teng suddenly changed the subject, Yang Liu's face couldn't hide a hint of disappointment. Bi Tao saw this and quickly put away her playful thoughts, neatly tidying up Miss's skirt and asking her to sit down.

  Xiao Ting cleared his throat, "I said it last time I came, today... is the last lesson!"

  Yang Liu nodded silently, but Bi Tao couldn't help but pout her small mouth, "Why? Why didn't you continue teaching?"

  Xiao Ting smiled and pinched her tender face, "Because I've already taught what I should teach, I only have this little skill, it's all been emptied by your family's young lady in the past two years, if I continue to teach, I'll lose face!"

  He paused for a moment and then said: "Actually, your young lady's paintings are now better than mine. As her teacher, I should naturally take the credit!"

  Not to mention Bi Tuo, even Xiao Ting himself couldn't help but feel a little melancholy. It's really true that two years have passed without him realizing it!

  I'm already eighteen years old this year, and it's been eighteen years since I traveled back to the Tang Dynasty.

  He composed himself and forced a smile: "For today's last class, I don't plan on saying anything else. I want to draw you a picture, consider it a keepsake!"

  Yang Liu smiled and stood up, "Alright, Bi Tao, bring me a brush and ink!"

  Bi Tao puckered up her small mouth and put away the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone on the table. Yang Liu walked over to personally grind the ink for Xiao Zimei.

  A month ago, Xiao Ting had already decided to give Yang Liu a painting as a conclusion of their teacher-student relationship. The painting was already mature in his mind, so while boiling water, he simply picked up the brush and wrote the title: "Bodhisattva Barbarian".

  The painting's intention is naturally taken from Wen Tingyun's famous "Bodhisattva Mantra" more than 200 years later, but Xiao Ting simply didn't write the original lyrics. Nowadays, in the twenty-eighth year of Yonghui, even regulated verse is often looked down upon, considered shallow and rootless compared to ancient poetry and long songs, let alone ci, which is not even considered a legitimate genre, so there's no need to bring it up and embarrass oneself.

  Xiao Ting, after all, was a top student at the China Academy of Art, and his Chinese painting, especially figure painting, still had some level. Moreover, since it was given to Yang Liu, he put in extra effort, so this painting naturally made Yang Liu nod repeatedly.

  Bi Tao handed over the water, Xiao Zimei washed her hands and said while wiping them: "This painting is for you, today's lesson... let's just leave it at that!"

  Willow put down the painting, hesitated for a moment before asking: "Is Aunt's body better? I...I want to find some time to go and see Aunt, is that okay?" As she spoke, she raised her head to look at Xiao Ting, her eyes full of expectation, with a hint of pleading.

  "These few months have been much better than last winter, and her cough has also lightened up a bit. I just asked the doctor to prescribe a new medicine for her, hoping that she can take it several times this summer and get rid of the root of the disease!" Xiao Ting said with a smile.

  He paused and then said: "I didn't dare tell her about coming here to teach you painting."

  Although the words seem to be off-topic, both people understand the meaning inside. The Xiao family has declined and only mother and son are left to rely on each other for survival, and they can only live in a poor residential area like Changshou Alley. Moreover, the old lady is also ill, but the style of doing things in a big aristocratic family is still preserved. It's surprising that the young master of the Xiao family actually went to Pingkang Alley to become a teacher for a lowly courtesan from the Chapter of Tai, if the old lady knew about this, she would probably be furious!

  As for visiting her, it's even more unthinkable. The old lady is stubborn! No matter what kind of artist you are, no matter what kind of first-class courtesan you are, in the end, aren't you still a woman of low status? How could Shao Zhou allow his own son to associate with a woman of low status?!

  Willow silently lowered her head. At this time, even Bi Tao, the little maid who had been smiling and playing all day, lost her playful mood.

  What's the use of further temptation, after all, isn't it just a futile endeavor?

  Xiao Ting smiled and walked over to gently lift Yang Liu's face, the skin on her cheeks was even smoother than high-quality silk. He lightly kissed her brow and looked into her eyes, "I'm leaving!"

  Chang'an's number one courtesan, who was used to grand scenes, now looked like a little kid, turning her face away and refusing to acknowledge him. Xiao Zimei smiled, turned around, and walked back to Bitao's side, pinching his cheek, "Not even acknowledging me? Really leaving?"

  Bixia was just about to speak when she suddenly heard someone outside the house shouting, "Bixia, quickly ask your young mistress to come out, there's a guest!"