Li Xuan pondered for a long time, but no matter how he tried to continue the poem, it would only be an anticlimax.
He thought about it, and rather than messing it up himself and ruining the good poem's artistic conception, it would be better to leave it as is.
If there were a talented scholar in Great Xing who could create a good continuation for this line, it would also be a beautiful tale.
At this moment, Ankang was almost unable to hold on under Qing Ci's burning gaze.
Ankang could only maintain a smile, waiting with a grin for Li Xuan to help her out.
But she waited and waited, yet Li Xuan did not use his tail to write on her body.
"Stinky Li Xuan, you're teasing me again!"
Ankang, in her haste, squeezed Li Xuan's backside hard, and only then did Li Xuan begin to write on her belly with his tail.
At this moment, Ankang and Qing Ci were naked facing each other in the bathtub, and if Li Xuan wrote on Ankang's hand, it would be easily seen by Qing Ci.
Therefore, he extended his tail underwater, using the cover of the water surface and steam, to write on Ankang's belly.
Ankang's smile suddenly froze, and then her body twisted unnaturally.
Li Xuan's wet tail sliding across her belly made her feel a burst of itchiness.
But at this moment, facing Qing Ci who was staring intently at her, Ankang could not make any sound or show any abnormality.
Therefore, Ankang could only endure, and in a short while, her little face turned completely red from holding her breath.
"Miss Li..."
Qing Ci did not receive an answer from Ankang for a long time, and seeing her expression was a bit strange, she couldn't help but call her name, wanting to move closer to see if she was feeling unwell.
At this moment, Li Xuan's tail finally stopped, Ankang awkwardly exhaled a hot breath, and then raised her hand to stop Qing Ci from approaching.
"Wu..."
"Miss Qing Ci, I'm fine."
"Regarding the continuation of the poem..."
Upon hearing this, Qing Ci's attention was immediately drawn, and she stopped her approaching body, waiting for Ankang's next words.
Qing Ci's eyes gradually grew eager; she was extremely fascinated by poetry and songs.
The beauty brought by words always made Qing Ci linger.
The fact that she could become one of the mentors of Qinglou meant her talent was beyond doubt.
Moreover, Qing Ci also loved words very much, whether it was poetry, songs, or novels and storybooks, as long as they were beautiful things constructed with words, she liked them all.
"A composition is inherently natural, a masterpiece achieved by chance."
"With such an astonishing opening, how wonderful must the continuation be..."
Qing Ci silently clamped her jade legs together underwater, filled with both apprehension and anticipation.
"Miss Qing Ci, I'll tell you the truth."
"I only have this one line here, and there is no so-called continuation."
Ankang was not lying; Li Xuan indeed did not know the continuation.
"As this line suggests, such poetic lines are naturally formed, and I was fortunate enough to obtain them by chance. In fact, I am also very much looking forward to the continuation to complete it into a full poem."
Ankang's words made Qing Ci unable to hide her disappointment, and she asked unwillingly:
"Miss Li, is there really no continuation?"
Ankang nodded helplessly.
She wouldn't dare to show off in front of others so casually again.
"This Li Xuan fellow is very unreliable. How can there be a poem with only one line?"
If she attracted attention again in the future and people asked her for the continuation, and it was like today again, that would be too embarrassing.
Qing Ci looked at Ankang unwillingly, hoping she would suddenly smile and say that everything before was a joke.
Unfortunately, until the very end, Ankang only shook her head gently at her.
At this point, no matter how unwilling Qing Ci was, she could only face the reality.
"Then, that's truly a pity..."
Qing Ci said disappointedly, but she quickly cheered up and said:
"Miss Li, if you can write a continuation in the future, please be sure to inform Qing Ci immediately, okay?"
Qing Ci pleaded earnestly.
"As long as I can hear the continuation of this poem, Qing Ci is willing to pay any price."
As Qing Ci spoke, her face suddenly flushed, and she shyly lowered her head.
And following her downward gaze, Li Xuan then discovered something floating on the water surface in front of Qing Ci's chest.
"Ah!?"
"So it really can float!"
"This..."
Li Xuan's cat eyes widened, observing the magical scene before him without blinking.
As the saying goes, read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles.
Coming out is indeed to see the world.
Hu Yu House has its splendor, and Qinglou has its elegance.
Li Xuan gulped, swallowing with difficulty.
Seeing that Li Xuan was about to drool into the bathtub, Ankang quickly wiped his mouth and casually knocked him on the head, resulting in a clanging metallic sound.
Li Xuan's Copper Head Iron Arms were not for nothing.
Ankang was helpless against Li Xuan, so she could only rub his cat head hard.
But Li Xuan's eyes were fixed like nails, observing the two white rabbits floating on the water surface.
"So rabbits can swim too?"
"Gulp—"
Perhaps from soaking in the hot bath for too long, Li Xuan's head suddenly felt dizzy.
"Miss Li, your cat is so cute."
Qing Ci chuckled, noticing Li Xuan, who had been held in Ankang's arms all along.
"Haha."
Ankang smiled politely, not bothering to expose the fact that Li Xuan was a perverted cat in front of an outsider.
Ankang also couldn't understand why Li Xuan, being a cat, had such a great interest in human women.
Especially when he saw something white and fleshy, he couldn't move at all.
Of course, Ankang believed that these things also contained some biological instinctual factors.
Because as fellow women, Ankang couldn't help but glance at Qing Ci in front of her a few more times.
"So, she was truly so well-endowed and kept it hidden?"
Ankang also felt a faint sense of unwillingness in her heart.
But she also knew that she was still young, and her future was promising.
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, do not bully a poor young girl!"
Li Xuan helped Ankang shout out the slogan.
Next, Qing Ci and Ankang discussed the phrases from her mouth tonight: "Smoke locks the pond willows" and "A composition is inherently natural, a masterpiece achieved by chance."
With Li Xuan guiding her from the side, Ankang handled the discussion flawlessly.
Moreover, Ankang proactively steered the conversation towards Qing Ci, speaking little herself.
Qing Ci saw that Ankang was exceptionally talented, yet her temperament was modest and steady, and she even took the initiative to turn the conversation to herself, which further increased her admiration.
Putting herself in Ankang's shoes, Qing Ci felt that if she possessed Ankang's talent, she would wish for people to revolve around her every day.
Although many people already revolved around Qing Ci now, she knew it was different.
There were indeed people attracted by her talent, but Qing Ci understood that more of them coveted her body.
Don't look at how those literati and scholars in the main hall pretended to be proper; once invited up, they would become unrestrained.
At first, Qing Ci was quite disappointed, but later she gradually got used to it.
As Qing Ci gradually raised the requirements for her intimate guests, the unrestrained ones slowly became her.
As the two spoke, Qing Ci's body unconsciously moved closer.
Li Xuan silently swam between the two, blocking Qing Ci's approach.
If Qing Ci got too close, Li Xuan would kick her face with his hind legs, making it impossible for her to get close to Ankang.
After a while, Qing Ci, who initially found Li Xuan quite cute, immediately felt that this cat was truly annoying.
Qing Ci tried to bypass Li Xuan, but how could she be faster than him?
Then she tried to force her way through, but Qing Ci never imagined that a cat could have such great strength.
After Qing Ci was kicked back into the water by Li Xuan, she crawled out of the water, feeling like life wasn't worth living, and asked Miss Li, "Miss Li, isn't the breed of your cat a bit off?"
"It's too strong."
Ankang had been watching the show for a long time and knew that Li Xuan was deliberately teasing Qing Ci.
Ankang covered her mouth and chuckled, "Li Xuan is just an ordinary Little Black Cat, perhaps Miss Qing Ci is too delicate."
"I'll teach Li Xuan a lesson and tell him not to bully you anymore."
As Ankang spoke, she gently patted Li Xuan's backside twice, with no intention of punishment, but rather full of doting affection.
Qing Ci also understood that she probably wouldn't succeed tonight.
She had previously thought Ankang was so cute and sweet, and wanted to hold this adorable little beauty and have a good night's sleep.
It seemed tonight was out of the question.
Not only was there that wary maid, but also this incredibly strong Little Black Cat; Qing Ci knew she had no chance of winning.
Next, Qing Ci honestly took her bath and told Ankang about her life in the Hu Yu House.
Qing Ci found that Ankang had very little experience and was curious about everything.
She estimated that Ankang must be a young lady from a deep boudoir, which was why she knew so little about the outside world.
The two of them soaked until their palms were wrinkled before getting out of the tub and changing into clean pajamas.
After drying themselves and changing into plain white pajamas, Ankang and Qing Ci were both incredibly beautiful.
Looking at the two beauties, one big and one small, Li Xuan also felt a sense of delight.
"Miss Li, my bed is very big, would you like to lie down together?" Qing Ci asked temptingly, her eyebrows dancing, clearly not having good intentions.
Ankang smiled, "I don't sleep very well, and I'm used to sleeping with Li Xuan."
"Uh..."
Qing Ci was speechless.
Ankang's poor sleeping posture was actually just what Qing Ci wanted, so when she woke up, she could say that Ankang had rolled into her arms herself.
But as for this Little Black Cat...
Qing Ci silently looked at Li Xuan, who bared his teeth and gave her a mischievous smile.
Qing Ci immediately felt nervous.
"With the strength this cat used to kick me earlier, wouldn't he kick me off the bed?"
Qing Ci rubbed her still somewhat aching cheek and silently abandoned the idea of sharing a bed with Ankang tonight.
Qing Ci also had guest rooms, so she arranged for the Three Little Ones to rest in the guest room.
However, before going to sleep, Qing Ci refused to leave and chatted with Ankang in the guest room for a long time before yawning and wishing each other good night.
Li Xuan found that Qing Ci didn't actually have any malicious intentions; she just wanted to be close to Ankang.
But since they were strangers meeting for the first time, Li Xuan naturally wouldn't let Qing Ci get close to Ankang freely.
The night passed without incident.
The Three Little Ones woke up early the next day, feeling refreshed.
After taking a hot bath last night, they all had a good sleep, and the fatigue of the past few days was swept away.
The hot bath prepared by Qing Ci was quite something; Li Xuan could detect that many things were added to it, and judging from their sleep quality last night, it was very effective.
In the morning, Ankang changed into a new dress.
These were all ordinary clothes that the Internal Affairs Bureau had prepared for them earlier, and Yu'er, for convenience, had the Flower-Clad Eunuchs carry a few pieces with them.
After changing into their new clothes, the Three Little Ones came to the main hall of the Hu Yu House.
At this time, Hu Yu House had not yet opened for business.
Some servants of the Hu Yu House were cleaning, preparing to open for business later.
According to Qing Ci, they also opened for business during the day as a place to drink tea and eat snacks; because of the affordable prices and elegant atmosphere, it was a good place for some scholars.
In the evening, with instructors hosting games, it became even livelier.
Upon arriving at the main hall, Qing Ci, who had already gotten up and dressed, was waiting there.
In addition, breakfast had been prepared for them.
The breakfast looked very light, but the presentation was exquisite and very appetizing.
Qing Ci quickly invited them to sit down and eat together.
As a guest, all of Ankang's expenses, from the moment she left the Hu Yu House today, were covered by Qing Ci.
While they were eating, many instructors from the Hu Yu House came to the second floor and curiously watched them.
Li Xuan looked at the dazzling array of other instructors, each with their own unique characteristics, and was simply bewildered.
The instructors in the Hu Yu House were absolutely no less beautiful than the courtesans on Flower Street in terms of appearance, and they also had a cultivated temperament from arts like zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, which made people feel that they could only be admired from afar and not be defiled.
It must be said that this ethereal thing called temperament really has a great impact on one's looks.
They had all heard about last night's events, so they specifically came to see what Qing Ci's guest looked like.
Upon seeing Ankang, their eyes lit up even more.
Such an adorable beauty was truly endearing.
And hearing that she also possessed literary talent far beyond ordinary people made her even more attractive to these talented instructors.
"What a lovely little girl."
"Like a porcelain doll, with rosy cheeks, I really want to hug her and take a bite."
"She clearly comes from a distinguished family, I advise you all to rein it in."
The instructors on the second floor whispered and laughed amongst themselves.
As a result, Li Xuan, with his keen hearing, heard everything clearly.
The topics women discussed behind closed doors were even more direct than men's.
Li Xuan hadn't listened for long before he himself started to blush.
He couldn't help but look up at those instructors of the Hu Yu House and couldn't help but secretly think to himself:
"You are all so horny."
After breakfast, Ankang prepared to say goodbye and leave.
Qing Ci saw them off at the door, reluctantly parting.
"Miss Li, if you miss me in the future, come find me again; my free accommodation will always be open to you."
Qing Ci had also heard last night why Ankang came to the Hu Yu House, so she deliberately teased her.
Ankang blushed and nodded earnestly.
"Miss Qing Ci, thank you for your hospitality."
"If I have the chance in the future, I will come to see you again."
With that, Ankang left the Hu Yu House with her people.
Qing Ci leaned against the door, looking at Ankang's departing back.
"I wonder when the next time will be?" she murmured, her eyes filled with reluctance.
But this was their fate; even if they met someone they liked in the Hu Yu House, they could never avoid the moment of farewell at the door.
No one would stay here forever for them.
Qing Ci was very clear about this.
She sighed and turned to enter the house, only to see a figure behind her.
"Boss, good morning."
Qing Ci smiled sweetly and greeted him.
The person in front of her, referred to as the boss, was actually a young man, seemingly about the same age as Ankang.
More importantly, he was also in a wheelchair.
The young man nodded, then asked Qing Ci, "Has last night's guest already been sent off?"
Qing Ci nodded, pointed towards the door, and replied, "Boss, you've returned at an inconvenient time; she just left not long ago."
The young boss of the Hu Yu House didn't mind too much; he glanced out the door, then turned his wheelchair and left.