SBCEJM -Chapter 187 Hidden Relationship Exposed! Two Handsome Men Turn Out to Be “Homewreckers”?

Zhao Xuan pulled a handful of melon seeds out of her spatial storage.

【System, spill it. What’s the gossip?】

【Host, there are two top-tier handsome men in the crowd!】

Zhao Xuan’s eyes lit up instantly as she scanned the crowd.

And indeed!

Not far away stood two men side by side, both strikingly good-looking.

The man on the left wore a cyan robe. His features were slender and refined, lips slightly curved, giving him a clean, elegant air.

The man on the right wore red. He had sharp brows, bright eyes, a tall build, and a heroic, masculine aura.

They were chatting with others separately, looking perfectly normal.

【System, I don’t mind looking at handsome guys, of course.】
Zhao Xuan happily cracked sunflower seeds.

【But what’s the real gossip here? You can’t just be letting me enjoy eye candy, right?】

【Host, guess what they’re doing right now?】

【Talking? I can see that.】

【No! Their hands—hidden under their wide sleeves—are tightly holding each other!】

【What the hell?!】

Zhao Xuan nearly dropped her seeds.

【Don’t tell me… it’s that kind of relationship?!】

The surrounding onlookers who had been about to leave suddenly all locked their gaze onto the tightly overlapping sleeves.

But the robes were too wide—nothing could be seen clearly.

Still, the two men remained calm and composed, as if they couldn’t hear Zhao Xuan’s thoughts at all.

Inspector Li had originally planned to personally search Liu Quan’s residence, but after hearing this inner monologue, he froze mid-step.

He casually glanced at the two men.

They looked normal enough… the man in cyan was even smiling, while the man in red had a cold expression, looking serious and proper.

Tsk. Truly, one cannot judge a book by its cover.

【Uh… it’s still in the ambiguous stage! The cyan one is actively pursuing the red one!】

【Host, can you really not tell who’s the top and who’s the bottom?】

Zhao Xuan: 【Don’t you know about gap moe and “short-but-dominant” archetypes?】

【……I admit my ignorance in this area!】

【So pursuing counts as… turning someone?】

Zhao Xuan imagined it for a moment and felt a bit excited.

The system also grew enthusiastic.

【Yes, and it’s almost a success!】

Zhao Xuan nearly choked on her seeds.

【Wait… sexuality can be “turned”?】

【Of course! The man in red is actually a latent bisexual—he just hasn’t realized it yet!】

【The man in cyan has sharp instincts and already figured it out!】

【So he’s been deliberately arranging encounters and subtly flirting all this time!】

The surrounding crowd began whispering:

“Good heavens… two men courting each other?”

“How indecent!”

“Look! The man in cyan is flirting again!”

Zhao Xuan looked closely.

The cyan-robed man turned slightly and gave the red-robed man a wink, his eyes soft and teasing.

She shivered.

【System, are they married yet?】

【Don’t tell me they’re planning to use women as cover or something.】

That would be too shameless.

【No, no! They’re both refugees from Jiangzhou and now working in the capital.】

【Each of them lives alone—actually neighbors, just separated by one wall.】

The system paused, tone turning meaningful.

【But… they both already have children.】

Zhao Xuan’s melon seeds fell to the ground.

【What? Unmarried and already fathers?!】

【Don’t tell me these two bastards tricked women into having kids and then abandoned them to run off together?!】

The crowd’s anger flared instantly.

Scum!

How could such trash deserve to be fathers?!

In this era, entertainment was scarce, and a rare “royal gossip” from the Prince of Zhenbei was not something anyone wanted to miss.

Several aunties immediately crowded toward the cyan-robed man.

“Oh my, young man, what do you do for work?”

The cyan-robed man paused, then politely cupped his hands.

“I work as a minor clerk in the Ministry of Revenue.”

“Oh! That’s a good position!”

They turned to the red-robed man.

“And you, young man?”

“In the Ministry of War.”

“Both of you are outstanding young talents!”

An elderly man chimed in.

“You’re both from Jiangzhou, right? That region suffered from floods. It must have been hard to escape.”

The cyan-robed man sighed.

“Yes. Thanks to the court’s disaster relief, we survived.”

“Being able to settle in the capital now is already a blessing.”

The red-robed man nodded as well.

Seeing this, Inspector Li stopped rushing and instead had the guards casually investigate Liu Quan’s identity while arranging chairs and tables.

“Your Highness, please rest for a while.”

The neighbors were extremely enthusiastic.

Some brought drinks, others brought peanuts and melon seeds, and someone even brought roasted chicken.

The two handsome men were temporarily held back by the officers for questioning.

Zhao Xuan felt slightly embarrassed.

【Everyone is too enthusiastic… I’m just catching a thief.】

【Host, just keep doing more good things in the future!】

The crowd felt warm upon hearing this.

As expected, the Prince of Zhenbei was kind-hearted!

But… what about the gossip?

Inspector Li grabbed a chicken leg and took a bite.

“Your Highness, I haven’t eaten all day, I’ll just have something quick.”

“Go ahead,” Zhao Xuan said, waving it off while continuing to eat melon seeds.

【How did they even become fathers?】

【Did they really trick women?】

【Nope!】

The system’s tone turned mischievous.

【Because… they’re both “kept men.”】

The crowd froze.

What did that mean?

Then they quickly understood through Zhao Xuan’s thoughts.

【Kept by whom?!】

【By wealthy official wives in the capital!】

【And they’ve been doing it for years!】

Inspector Li choked on his chicken and started coughing violently.

W-which families?!

Could it be someone from court?!

Zhao Xuan casually handed him tea.

He gulped it down and finally recovered.

【System, are you sure?】

【These two handsome men are kept by women?】

【Official wives at that?】

【That’s… too exciting.】

【Host, this is tonight’s biggest gossip!】

【Spill it, spill it! What exactly happened?】

Zhao Xuan’s eyes sparkled again.

The crowd leaned in closer.

【The cyan-robed man is named Gu Qingshan. The red-robed man is Xiao Liefeng.】

The system began its reveal.

【Four years ago, they arrived in the capital with nothing and were starving on the streets.】

【Then they were “taken in” by two official wives.】

A pause.

【Taken in… as private lovers.】

Zhao Xuan imagined the scene and shivered.

【So they lived off rich women?】

【Exactly. And quite happily.】

【Gu Qingshan is kept by the wife of a Ministry of Revenue official and now works in that ministry.】

【Xiao Liefeng is kept by the wife of a Ministry of War official and works there too.】

【And those wives have been secretly taking money from their households to support them.】

The crowd buzzed:

“So shameless!”

“The wives are even more outrageous!”

“Cheating on their husbands like this!”

“I’m jealous… why don’t I get this kind of luck?”

Inspector Li suddenly thought of his own wife.

She… wouldn’t do something like that, right?

An image of his wife suddenly popped into his head—surrounded by young men.

The chicken leg in his mouth suddenly lost all flavor.

【Wait!】 Zhao Xuan suddenly realized something crucial.

【If they both have wives keeping them, why are they still together?】