Whаt саn оne even sау about hеr? Scold hеr fоr bеing frivоlоus? Yеt at the сritical moment, she aсtuаlly knеw to shiеld him frоm thе аrrows. Рrаisе hеr fоr being brаve and feаrlеss? But nоw she’s sitting here оn the ground, аcting shamеlеsslу.
"Тwо hаirрins, is it?" Looking dоwn аt her frоm аbоve, hе said, "I’ll соmpensаtе yоu."
"The hairрins are eаsу еnough, but whаt about cоmреnsatiоn fоr sсаring this роor girl’s littlе hеart intо a frаntic thumping!" Fеng Yue роutеd, blinking her еуеs, аnd poked аt her own chest. "You sсared me tо death~"
Рerhарs it was thе night wind being too cold, but Yin Gezhi shuddered, a shiver running through his entire body.
The little temptress on the roof ridge felt no shame at all, wearing an expression on the verge of tears, as if saying, "If you don’t compensate me, I’ll cry for you to see, cry until snot bubbles come out!"
His expression softening slightly, Yin Gezhi walked over, bent down slightly, and scooped her up into his arms, holding her close as he headed back the way they came toward Dream Return Pavilion.
Yin Gezhi wasn’t much of a person, and the smell of blood on him was heavy, but when he truly spared both hands to hold someone, his embrace felt exceptionally solid—so solid that Feng Yue nearly fell asleep.
Tucking her into the blankets, Yin Gezhi turned and tossed the corpses in the room down the stairs, closed the windows, locked the door, and then changed clothes and got into bed.
"Whatever you want, go buy it tomorrow, as compensation from me." Looking at Feng Yue’s back, Yin Gezhi said sternly.
Feng Yue mumbled in agreement, and then no more sound was heard.
Just as she thought he was going to sleep directly, unexpectedly, warmth pressed against her back, the entire outline of her back fitting snugly against him. Yin Gezhi was tall, and curled around her like this, it easily reminded Feng Yue of the meat rolls from the end of Flamboyant Street—he was the outer wrapper, she was the slice of meat inside, wrapped up tightly.
Something pressed against her from below, but Feng Yue pretended not to notice. The person behind her actually didn’t move either, closing his eyes and falling asleep after saying those words.
His breathing was long and steady, warm breath exhaling by her ear, momentarily making her feel as though this wasn’t a brothel, but the quiet and peaceful main room of a residence, where an immortal-like couple slept embraced, warm and beautiful.
However, a brothel was still a brothel, destined to have its peace broken. Early in the morning, Feng Yue was awakened by the noise from downstairs—rarely, it was a man’s voice.
"Aren’t brothels places where you can redeem someone as long as you have money? Why won’t you let me redeem someone? Bullying people?"
"Sir," Mama Jin said with a soft, apologetic smile, "Feng Yue has a guest."
"It’s already daylight, if she has a guest, she should be done serving him by now!" Sun Li slammed the table fiercely. "If you dare play any tricks, I’ll tear down this building!"
Mama Jin frowned, rather displeased. These days, anyone dared to shout about tearing down her building—the less capable they were, the louder they yelled. This man clearly wasn’t a good person; even if he had money, she wouldn’t let him redeem Feng Yue!
The early-rising girls on the other side of the third floor were smiling as they watched the commotion. Looking at Sun Li below, Duanxian clicked her tongue. "Feng Yue’s business has really been good these past couple of days. Someone’s even willing to redeem her now—what good fortune."
"Listen to you talk," Weiyun shook her head. "That man downstairs doesn’t look as distinguished as the guests Feng Yue has been receiving these past couple of days. If she really gets redeemed by him, what kind of fortune would that be?""You can't say it like that. In our line of work, having someone willing to pay for our freedom is already a blessing. How can we afford to be picky?" Duanxian snorted. "If we really refuse this man's offer, wouldn't it be obvious that we're just snobs? Who would come to redeem her in the future?"
After thinking about it, that seemed to make sense. Even courtesans have reputations to uphold. The more refined the brothel, the more they emphasize integrity. If word got out that they "looked down on the lowly and fawned on the high," it would ruin them.
The clamor of voices continued unabated. Yin Gezhi opened his eyes, his face dark with displeasure.
Seeing this, Feng Yue immediately rolled off the bed, tumbling behind the partition to hide. She whispered, "It wasn't me making noise, sir. There's a commotion downstairs."
Yin Gezhi was always irritable when woken up. He got up and, without even opening his eyes, grabbed the carved, red-lacquered round table in the outer chamber. He opened the door and hurled it downstairs!
Crash! The table shattered in the middle of the main hall, startling Sun Li into silence.
With the noise gone, First Prince Yin relaxed his brow and went back to sleep.
Feng Yue wrapped herself in her clothes and called in Lingshu to help her put up her hair. Only when some noise resumed downstairs did she tiptoe out of the room, darting down to see what was happening.
"What's going on?"
Beside the shattered wooden table, Mama Jin smiled calmly and pointed at Sun Li, whose face had turned pale with fright. "This gentleman wants to redeem you."
"Oh, redemption?" Feng Yue glanced at Sun Li, then smiled, holding her handkerchief. "Thank you for your kindness, sir. But here at Dream Return Pavilion, if a guest wants to redeem a girl, and the girl is unwilling, you cannot take her away."
"You're unwilling?" Sun Li narrowed his eyes, his face once again showing a fierce, threatening expression, like a street thug.
Such intimidation naturally couldn't frighten Feng Yue. The little enchantress batted her eyes and said, "That's right, I'm unwilling."
"You!" Sun Li angrily slapped the table. "It's already generous of me to want you. What more do you want? Do you look down on me?"
"Sir," Feng Yue replied with a smile, "If you want others to respect you, you must first respect yourself. You keep saying that Dream Return Pavilion looks down on you and refuses to let you redeem me, but that's just your own insecurity."
"My insecurity?" Sun Li sneered, wiping his square face, his small eyes filled with disdain. "I work for a living, earning clean money. I'm far better than you women who spread your legs for money. How dare you talk to me about insecurity?"
His words had become offensive, and even Mama Jin's expression darkened. "Sir, please show some respect."
"If you think the girls here are unclean, then why are you eagerly offering money to redeem me?" Feng Yue's eyes turned cold as she walked step by step toward him. The seductive charm around her faded, replaced by an inexplicable sense of pressure.
"You curse us as lowly, yet you shamelessly offer money to buy us, who you call lowly. Sir, who is truly more despicable—you or the girls? A man of your age, nearly thirty, still speaks so crudely. Was your family perhaps not very attentive to teaching you manners?"With each word spoken, she took a step closer to him. Feng Yue’s gaze was icy. Though she wore gauzy red sleeves, she seemed to wield a chopping blade while riding a tall horse, forcing Sun Li to keep shifting aside until he nearly stumbled to the ground.
“I…”
“You what?” Feng Yue narrowed her eyes. “Want to redeem me? Fine. The price for redemption is negotiated between the girls and Mama Jin. Mama, I’d like to set my own price at ten thousand taels of gold. Do you agree?”
“Agreed!” Without a moment’s hesitation, Mama Jin nodded in approval.
Sun Li’s face flushed crimson. It took him a long moment to regain his senses. When he realized he had been frightened by a courtesan like this, he grew both furious and ashamed. Rising to his feet, he shoved Feng Yue aside. “Do you really think I’m so easy to bully? Let me tell you, I was sent here by the General’s Mansion’s eldest daughter to redeem someone. Insulting me like this is an insult to the General’s Mansion! What Dream Return Pavilion? Pah! I’ll make sure you can’t keep this place open tomorrow!”
Mama Jin was stunned, and all the girls were frightened. Duanxian and the others upstairs rushed down in a flurry, anxiously saying, “How can we afford to offend the General’s Mansion? Mama, why did you go along with Feng Yue’s nonsense?”
Weiyun looked at Feng Yue and said, “We can’t let the entire Dream Return Pavilion be ruined because of you! Go apologize to this gentleman and talk it over properly. Let him redeem you.”
“Yes, why should your business drag us all down?”
Feng Yue sighed as she glanced around at them. The girls in this pavilion truly couldn’t wait for her to leave.
“No.” If it were anywhere else, she might have hesitated, but it was the General’s Mansion and this Sun Li. She absolutely would not agree.
As soon as these two words left her mouth, the girls erupted. “How can you be so selfish? We’re just asking you to go with him, not to give up your life. Why must you drag us all down?”
“Exactly! Mama Jin has treated you well, providing you with good food and drink. How can you be so ungrateful?”
Ignoring their words, Feng Yue stood in the center of the hall, coldly staring at Sun Li, unmoving.
Sun Li sneered, watching with satisfaction as she was besieged by the crowd. Crossing his legs, he looked at Mama Jin and asked, “Well? Will you let me redeem her now?”
“No.”
Two icy words fell from the staircase, startling everyone.
The girls turned their heads to see Yin Gezhi draped in an outer robe, looking as though he hadn’t fully woken up, his brows furrowed with deep anger as he gazed in their direction.
Feng Yue’s fierce demeanor instantly softened. She innocently stuck out her tongue at him, as if she would have wagged an imaginary tail to curry favor.
The great demon king had finally been awakened by the noise!
With displeasure, Yin Gezhi looked at Sun Li and slowly descended the stairs. The crowd parted to make way for him.
Sun Li naturally recognized him. He chuckled twice, intending to ingratiate himself, but suddenly his neck tightened!
Yin Gezhi lifted him by the neck, examining him with a puzzled expression. “Who did you say sent you?”
Choked until his face turned pale, Sun Li struggled briefly before gasping, “Your Highness, please calm down… I… I am a servant of the eldest daughter of the Yi family. Don’t you remember?”
The eldest daughter of the Yi family? After a moment of sluggish recollection, Yin Gezhi tossed him aside and said expressionlessly, “A fox borrowing the tiger’s might.”His face alternating between red and white from these four words, Sun Li still had to crawl back and kneel properly, gritting his teeth as he said, "It really was the young lady's order. She said this girl had done her a favor, so she told me to redeem her and give her a good life."
"Bah!" With Yin Gezhi present, Feng Yue instantly felt emboldened. She scurried behind him like a lackey, poking her head out to glare fiercely and say, "You call that giving me a good life? At the General's Mansion, you tried to force yourself on me but failed. Now you probably want to buy me back to make my life a living hell!"
His body stiffened. Yin Gezhi frowned and slowly turned to look at Feng Yue. "What did you say?"
Feng Yue blinked, suddenly remembering she hadn't told this gentleman the truth yesterday. Immediately feeling guilty, she forced a dry laugh. "Nothing."
OpenNovel