Work at the Verdigris House
Working at the Verdigris House again wasn't that bad... is what Maomao would have said if all she had to do was serve food and drinks and occasionally warn patrons to follow the rules.
Getting kidnapped and almost killed, again, while also being faced with knowing Jinshi's true identity and the upcoming famine put Maomao's back against a wall. With a new mouth to feed in the form of Chou-u she needed to secure extra money.
If she had taken Jinshi's offer at working at the palace again she would leave her apothecary shop, and the little brat, all alone. Many workers of the Verdigris dotted on Chou-u but he was still a little kid and Maomao couldn't leave him to fend for himself after what he'd been through in the Shi Clan.
So she had been working in the Verdigris House for a little under a year now. During this time Jinshi, now known to be the Moon Prince, stopped by at least once a week. He only ever asked for Maomao, something that so many courtesans felt sad over and the Granny exploited. Of course even she had to be careful when the Crown Prince was involved.
Due to his visits Maomao gradually became more popular and others wanted to know what was so special about this young lady that caught the Prince's eye. They quickly found out for she looked at each of them with less affection then a bug. Some were put off by it while others, the more privy kind, reveled in being looked at in such a way.
This extra attention she was getting made Jinshi jealous but it wasn't like it was Maomao's fault. She wasn't dressed any fancier, she certainly wasn't prettier than most who worked there, she barely even made small talk with the men who wanted to see her, she was cold towards them.
And still somehow, through all of that she and Jinshi became a popular topic of discussion among the courtesans of the Verdigris House. Now when ever he arrived Maomao was promptly brought to his assigned room by a group of giggling women.
"Maomao, your favorite costumer is here!" Pairin announced right before she let her sister be dragged away from Joka's protective grasp.
Namely it was her three sisters who seemed to cheer this on the most. Pairin teased her the most, Meimei gave advice most often, while Joka was the one who vowed to make Jinshi a real eunuch if he hurt Maomao.
Maomao didn't think of Jinshi as a costumer, but not a friend or a lover either. He was the Moon Prince, someone she could never defy regardless of the blood of the La Clan flowing through her veins. She liked seeing him the most out of anyone though, he never made strange requests and he let her sleep for the entire duration of his visit.
Jinshi knew she had to be tired, working two jobs for almost a year. The only thing she complained about was that he never woke her up, instead they would be found sleeping in bed together and rumors would start all over again.
Yes, that was about her only complaint.
Well... the other one was the progress of their relationship. Their first kiss was an accident, Jinshi liked to be a gentleman and would often kiss Maomao's hand or cheek when leaving but that one time she turned her face at the wrong time and he ended up kissing her on the lips instead.
It was Maomao's first kiss. She felt like she somehow lost it so the moment she had Jinshi alone she won her kiss back and left a blushing Jinshi to figure out what the hell happened. However he took it in stride. Since then they kissed every time before parting ways, Jinshi would do it first and Maomao right after cause she refused to let him win.
This competitive nature of their kisses escalated to make out sessions during visits. "I would appreciate it if you stopped moving like that. You're making things hard for me." Jinshi placed his hands on Maomao's hips when she didn't listen. "Hey, aren't you supposed to do as I say?"
"Right now I'm a courtesan and our job is to please our customers. If I let you leave here with a hard cock I wouldn't be doing this efficiently." No matter what her work was she always gave it her all, be it medicine, poison or courtesan work.
Jinshi's lips pressed into a thin line. "Yes, but... aren't you worried people might want you to do this with them too?"
"Everyone knows I don't. I don't sell my body, just my knowledge. There have been offers but I'm not interested." The only one that even came close to sleeping with her is Jinshi. "It would also please you to know that I don't kiss other people. Only you." Jinshi's cock twitched when he heard that.
"That's... good." He breathed a sigh of relief but his face still showed concern.
Men and their egos. At this rate he'll mope around for the rest of the day.
"If you would like you could mark me."
"M-Mark you?! What do you mean? Where?!" Jinshi's whole face went pale. He heard of husbands branding their wives and concubines and the stories made his skin crawl. He could never do something like that to Maomao.
"By the grim look on your face you've gotten the wrong idea again." Maomao supposed she would need to spell it out for him. She took her top off and let it pool at his feet. He made a choked noise. "If you made it seem like I'm taken then my value would go down."
"Don't talk about yourself like that!" He shook his head and embraced her tight.
"It's simply how it works here. You already know this." His hug only got tighter.
"I want to cherish you." Jinshi whispered before gently kissing her shoulder.
She sighed. This romantic that he insisted on being made things rather difficult at times. "Jinshi, sir, you do make me feel cherished. So much that I don't know what to do with myself after. It's... confusing for me. Besides I'm not telling you to take my virginity, merely to make it seem so. Right now quite a few men only look at me because they think they can deflower me. If that were no longer the case then the only people seeing me would be those who enjoy me looking at them like they're a lower than worm."
Jinshi turned his face away at that.
"None of them would be seeking me out for sex. That would solely fall on you." Maomao leaned in and whispered into his ear, "Won't that make you happy, sir? To know you're the only man looking at me like that?"
Even he couldn't stay calm when hearing that. Jinshi moved his hands to Maomao's shoulders and bit into the spot he previously kissed. As he moved along Maomao's neck his hands made their way to her hips as his lips left little red marks all over her throat, shoulders and collarbone.
Right as Maomao was about to praise him for a job well done and reward him with a kiss she found herself on her back and her legs thrown over Jinshi's broad shoulders.
"Jinshi! What are you doing?!" She tried to press her legs closed but his hands held them open with ease.
"I can't only mark you there. I've seen some of your other outfits, they expose your legs as well. I should leave some marks here just in case." He pressed his lips to her inner thigh and Maomao didn't slap her hand over her mouth fast enough to silence the little moan. "And here." He moved to the other one. "Here." A bit higher.
She sighed from the slight pain when he bit into her sensitive flesh. Her legs moved along his shoulders, almost falling off as she spread them open.
"Maomao! We brought your favorite..." Meimei and Pairin paused at the scene they saw.
"This isn't... he... tell them Jinshi!" But Jinshi didn't move, he was paralyzed.
Not from the now grinning and giggling duo but from Joka's murderous glare that appeared behind them. "Little Moon Prince..."
Jinshi gulped and carefully set Maomao's legs back down. No one had ever quite seen either of them blushing so hard, especially not a blushing Maomao.
"Right. Well, Maomao, thank you for the... nothing cause nothing happened. I think I'm gonna go now." Running was awkward with the raging boner he had but he had a feeling he had to run like his life depended on it. Maomao on the other hand couldn't believe he left her there at the mercy of her big sisters. Just for that she considered telling Granny to ban him from the House for at least a week.
"Joka stop glaring like that. You're gonna scare our little Maomao's future husband away." Meimei scolded the taller woman who promptly crossed her arms and did as she was told. "Good. Now Maomao... tell us everything!"