June 13 was an auspicious day on which everything was favorable.
There were indeed quite a few good things happening in Jinling City today.
On this day, the government opened the granary and distributed grain, setting up congee stations in the southern part of the city. This immediately relieved the urgent situation outside the city. On this same day, the Embroidered Uniform Guards who had come from Chang’an also thoroughly inspected Jinling’s grain shops and forced the inflated grain prices back down. The merchants were now only allowed to raise their prices by twenty percent compared to before the disaster. Although it was still not exactly cheap, it was no longer unaffordable for the common people.
Moreover, Young Master Jun, who was overseeing the construction of the embankment in the northern part of the city, had posted a notice recruiting laborers from the refugee camp in the southern part of the city to go north and repair the embankment. Their wages would be settled each day. Although the pay was not generous, after saving for two days, they could at least afford to let their whole family eat a full meal.
For a time, Jinling City was full of vitality.
And that very night, Spring Water Alley in the southern part of the city was decorated with lanterns and colored streamers.
Before the sky had even grown dark, the front of a pleasure house in Spring Water Alley was already surrounded by people dressed in splendid silk robes. The admission fee had been raised several times over, yet people still continued to arrive without end.
Jun Huailang followed Xue Yan out of the carriage, and this was the grand scene he saw.
The pleasure house was decorated with lanterns and colored streamers, with colorful lanterns stretching across half the street. Colored silk ribbons hung from the upper floors, and the entire building was brightly lit.
The signboard was carved with decorative patterns, with three large characters written upon it:
Qingyue House.
“They should make these merchants contribute some grain, silver, and gold.” Jun Huailang frowned as he looked over the luxurious and extravagant decorations. “With such a great disaster upon us, how can they still be enjoying themselves like this?”
Xue Yan chuckled softly beside him.
“Fine. Make them contribute,” he said.
Jun Huailang withdrew his gaze and looked at him in confusion.
“What are we doing here?”
Ever since that day when Xue Yan had said that the money Guo Rongwen had embezzled from the grain funds had found its destination, he had refused to tell Jun Huailang anything else. Today, he had even personally gone to the construction site in the north, taken Jun Huailang away, and brought him here.
Xue Yan raised a hand and made a “shh” gesture in front of his lips.
Jun Huailang stopped speaking in confusion.
Xue Yan lifted his chin toward Jinbao. Jinbao immediately went forward and called over the madam who was soliciting customers at the entrance.
The moment the madam saw Jinbao, her face immediately blossomed into a smile. She handed the main entrance over to someone else and personally came forward, gracefully curtsying to Xue Yan.
“Master, you’ve arrived!” Although the madam looked rather old, she had not lost her charm. When she smiled, her brows and eyes were full of allure.
Xue Yan glanced at her.
The madam covered her lips and smiled suggestively.
“Master, everything has been arranged for you. Just sit back and enjoy the show.”
As she spoke, she led the way, taking the two of them upstairs and into a private room.
One entire wall of the private room consisted of windows. At this moment, the decorative windows were wide open, facing directly toward the stage in the center below, giving them an excellent view.
After leading the two of them to their seats by the window, the madam personally poured tea and placed it beside them.
“There’s nothing else for you to do here. Go downstairs,” Jinbao ordered arrogantly.
The madam hurriedly agreed, leaving two maids behind to attend to them before withdrawing.
Downstairs was bustling with noise. The enormous hall was already packed with people.
Even so, people continued entering the building one after another. Several more tables had been added and packed tightly together, making it somewhat difficult even to walk through the middle.
Jun Huailang withdrew his gaze and looked at Xue Yan, only to see him leisurely drinking tea, his eyes glancing toward Jun Huailang with a smile.
Jun Huailang vaguely understood what he meant.
“You mean…?” He gave Xue Yan an inquiring look.
Xue Yan set down his teacup and nodded. His eyes were filled with a smile of absolute confidence, like a wolf that had already locked onto its prey.
“In a moment, I’ll let you see where the silver Guo Rongwen embezzled went.”
——
As the sky darkened, a drumbeat sounded from the stage, and the entire hall immediately fell silent.
Jun Huailang looked outside and saw a long strip of silk hanging down from the top of the building. Immediately afterward, a woman dressed in moon-white gauze, holding a pipa in one hand and the silk ribbon in the other, floated down from above.
The silk ribbon intertwined with the woman. For a moment, her sleeves fluttered, the light gauze danced, and flower petals drifted down like rain, falling onto the stage and among the seats.
With a loud drumbeat, the woman landed on the flower drum at the very center of the stage.
She had her back to everyone. Her ink-black hair was gathered into a high bun, revealing a long, snow-white neck. Her figure was especially graceful, her slender waist wrapped tightly in silk, appearing barely a palm’s width and so delicate it seemed it could be encircled with one hand.
The strings of the pipa sounded.
With her back still facing the crowd, the woman began to dance atop the flower drum.
Her figure was graceful and her dance enchanting. She played the pipa in accompaniment, while the movements of her feet struck the beats of the drum, one beat after another, as though stepping directly into people’s hearts.
Everyone present was completely entranced. Even Jun Huailang stopped his teacup halfway to his lips and looked toward the stage through the decorative window.
This woman truly was a rare beauty in the world. Such musical skill and bodily technique must certainly have been painstakingly trained from childhood. It seemed that the establishment had invested an enormous amount of effort into cultivating her.
Could it be that the grain funds Guo Rongwen had embezzled would be used to obtain this woman?
But he had spent a year and a half interacting with Guo Rongwen and knew that although this man concealed thoughts of harming others, he was not someone who frequented brothels and wine houses.
Could Xue Yan have used some method to lure him here?
But making such a huge public spectacle of spending money to buy a woman would be far too conspicuous. Surely he would not do something like that…
His eyes remained fixed on the woman, but his mind had already wandered elsewhere as he began thoughtfully considering the matter.
He did not notice that the person beside him, who had barely looked toward the stage from beginning to end, was gradually looking rather strange.
Suddenly, the woman’s drumbeat stopped.
A single note rang out from the four strings. Holding the pipa in her arms, she moved her waist and slowly turned around.
Instantly, the men below stretched their necks to get a better look.
Jun Huailang had not noticed what was happening on the stage at all. His gaze remained fixed there, still thinking about how Guo Rongwen would be willing to spend money to bid for the woman on the stage.
Suddenly, everything before his eyes went black.
Immediately afterward, Jun Huailang heard an excited wave of exclamations coming from downstairs. The pleasure house, which had been so quiet that one could hear a pin drop just moments ago, suddenly erupted into an uproar.
Jun Huailang froze, only then realizing that a hand was tightly covering his eyes. He blinked in confusion, his eyelashes brushing across the palm.
Then he heard Xue Yan’s voice, slightly hoarse and fierce as he warned him:
“Don’t move.”
Jun Huailang froze for a moment and could only close his eyes.
“Why are you covering my eyes?” he asked, somewhat helplessly amused.
Xue Yan, whose hand was covering his eyes, glanced down at the stage with an ugly expression.
At this moment, everyone in the pleasure house was practically going crazy.
Today was the first time the woman named Yujing had appeared in public. Holding the pipa in one hand, she used the other to untie the veil covering her face and tossed it down toward the audience.
Instantly, that breathtakingly beautiful face was exposed before everyone’s eyes.
The people below all cried out in astonishment. The small group of customers closest to the stage even threw themselves together in a scramble to snatch the veil.
Xue Yan glanced at that stunningly beautiful, absolutely gorgeous face, which had only needed a fleeting glimpse to captivate men’s souls, then turned away with a dark expression.
What was so interesting about twisting one’s waist and dancing?
Was it worth Jun Huailang staring at that woman for so long that he had even forgotten to drink the tea he had been holding for ages?
Xue Yan’s mouth felt sour, and his brows drew tightly together.
Jun Huailang waited for quite some time without getting a response from Xue Yan. He raised his hand and patted the back of Xue Yan’s hand.
“What happened?”
Previously, whenever Xue Yan covered his eyes, it had always been because someone was being killed. But judging from the commotion below at this moment… surely nobody had died?
Then he heard Xue Yan’s fierce voice.
“What is there to see?”
——
By the time Xue Yan finally removed the hand covering his face, the woman who had been dancing on the drum was already gone from the stage.
Only the madam who had welcomed them earlier was standing at the front of the stage, smiling with dazzling charm.
“Gentlemen, our Lady Yujing has danced and shown her face. Next, we’ll see whether our honored guests are willing to show their support for the young lady.” She smiled sweetly.
Jun Huailang looked out the window and saw everyone downstairs rubbing their hands in anticipation.
Each person had a small paddle beside them. The paddle bore the customer’s name, with one side red and the other green.
The madam announced that Lady Yujing’s first night would begin at a starting price of five hundred taels of silver. A green paddle would raise the price by one hundred taels, while a red paddle would raise it by two hundred taels. Customers only needed to raise their paddles and call out the price they were offering. After everyone competed, the person who offered the highest price would be able to spend the night with Lady Yujing.
Jun Huailang had been born and raised in Chang’an, where etiquette and propriety had always been strict. Even after spending a year in Jiangnan, he had never seen an auction conducted in such a manner.
But the wealthy merchants and powerful nobles of Jiangnan downstairs seemed to be thoroughly familiar with this method.
Immediately, voices calling out bids rose one after another. Before long, the starting price of five hundred taels had been raised to three thousand.
Once it reached three thousand taels, the voices calling out prices gradually became fewer.
No matter how beautiful Yujing was, she was still only one woman. Spending several thousand taels of silver to buy one night with her was not money that an ordinary person could afford.
Besides, Qingyue House had said that by paying ten times the price, one could redeem Yujing’s freedom. Three thousand taels multiplied by ten would be thirty thousand taels.
To spend such an astronomical price on a woman from a pleasure house was beyond the financial means of most ordinary wealthy merchants.
Gradually, the bidding stopped at three thousand five hundred taels.
Just then, a rather familiar voice sounded.
“Three thousand seven hundred taels.”
The man’s voice was filled with smug satisfaction.
Jun Huailang froze and hurriedly looked downstairs.
The person holding up the paddle and sitting there was none other than Xu Cong’an.
Xue Yan had said before that Xu Cong’an was the eldest young master of the Xu family in the capital, as well as Chancellor Xu’s only legitimate grandson.
So, the person Xue Yan was trying to lure out today was not Guo Rongwen, but Xu Cong’an?
Jun Huailang immediately understood.
The reason Guo Rongwen had taken such a desperate risk and hurriedly embezzled such a huge sum of money was to give it to Young Master Xu, so that he would have the money to buy this famous courtesan.
If that was the case, then both the evidence of Guo Rongwen’s embezzlement and the destination of the stolen money were completely clear.
Jun Huailang looked toward Xue Yan, only to see him curl his lips slightly at him.
His amber eyes were filled with laughter, along with two parts of unmistakable pride. There was something wild about him, yet also a hint of submission. He looked like a large wolfhound wagging its tail at its master, waiting to be praised.
Jun Huailang suddenly wanted to reach out and touch his head.
Just then, the madam’s voice came from downstairs.
“Young Master Xu has bid five thousand taels! Five thousand taels! Is there any honored guest who would like to bid higher?”
Jun Huailang turned his head and looked carefully.
It turned out that the merchant who had bid three thousand five hundred taels earlier had competed with Xu Cong’an for a while but had ultimately been defeated. At this moment, Xu Cong’an sat upright among the guests, his chest puffed out, looking as though victory was already in his grasp.
The surrounding guests had already stopped bidding.
Everyone applauded, saying that today, Lady Yujing’s beauty would surely belong to Young Master Xu.
The madam called out the second time.
The entire room remained silent.
The smile on Xu Cong’an’s face could no longer be concealed.
Just then, Jun Huailang saw Xue Yan put down his teacup.
That long, powerful hand lazily grasped the small paddle on the table and smoothly raised it.
“Six thousand taels.”
In the pleasure house, where one could hear a pin drop, Xue Yan’s deep voice rang out.
Jun Huailang looked at him in astonishment.