The Flower Queen election had a surprising process and an unexpected outcome. No one quite understood why that young lord had favored He Chou’s dance. Though some clever observers analyzed: “Perhaps it’s because he doesn’t know how to dance himself.”
That made sense—even for someone accomplished in both civil and martial arts, being a man, how could he possibly know women’s dances? Looking at it that way, He Chou’s victory seemed quite reasonable.
Now that she had become the flower queen, naturally many clients came forward to request He Chou’s company. She smiled and chose Young Master Zhao. Thus, the evening’s flower queen competition concluded amid general excitement.
“Young Lord, you were amazing!” Ling Shu followed behind the pair, her eyes sparkling with admiration. “Heavens, that was incredible! You should have seen the expressions on Miss Duanxian’s group’s faces—they looked terrible, haha!”
Feng Yue’s mouth twitched. She turned back to look at the girl: “Little miss, weren’t you disliking this young lord earlier? Could you be a bit more consistent?”
Frightened, Ling Shu glanced at Yin Gezhi and quickly lowered her head into silence.
How could she dare dislike him now? What if he shot her through with an arrow?
Yin Gezhi didn’t even look back as he entered the room, letting Feng Yue in before closing the door, and leaving Ling Shu and Guanzhi outside.
Feng Yue froze for a moment, looking up at him.
Her waist was gripped as she was pressed against his burning body, facing directly into his eyes that roiled with dark desires.
She understood—he was aroused.
Truthfully, dealing with someone like Yin Gezhi was extremely easy. He never played games—if he wanted to bed you, he simply wanted to bed you. Simple, direct, and straightforward.
Yet he was completely unsentimental, making her acutely aware of her status as a courtesan.
She began unfastening his clothes. Feng Yue playfully stroked his chin, smiling, “Since I’ve earned the young lord’s praise for my martial prowess today, this humble one mustn’t slack off.”
Lord Yin lay on the bed, making no move to help, just watching the person above him display countless charms, seductive and enchanting like a soft snake.
If the flower queen were chosen based on bedroom art, this enchantress before him would undoubtedly win without any suspense. If even he couldn’t resist her, how many men could escape her magical grasp?
An inexplicable discomfort arose in his heart. Yin Gezhi lowered his gaze and suddenly asked, “Tomorrow you start serving the Crown Prince, right?”
Feng Yue paused, giving him a rather dissatisfied look, saying coquettishly, “Is this the time to ask such things?”
Her waist was suddenly gripped tightly. Feng Yue stopped moving, her cheeks flushed red as she looked at him through gritted teeth and answered, “Yes.”
The grip on her waist loosened slightly, then inexplicably tightened again. The person beneath her had an inscrutable expression, his eyes showing shifting emotions.
It was rare for a woman to make him feel this comfortable. Should he, perhaps, buy her freedom? After all, if others were to touch her and then she came to him again, he would find it dirty.
But what was so special about this person that warranted his favor? There must be others equally skilled in bed—he simply hadn’t encountered them yet.
It was rare for him to hesitate over matters between men and women. Crown Prince Yin seriously pondered this.
The person above seemed oblivious, carefully lowering her head to gently bite his lip.
Drawing in a sharp breath, Yin Gezhi came back to his senses and frowned at her.
“Earlier when you were on stage, this humble one thought that if your lips had a touch of rouge, you would truly be devastatingly beautiful,” Feng Yue chuckled softly. “All the ladies in the building would pale in comparison to you. Looking now, it’s indeed so.”
Smelling blood, Crown Prince Yin narrowed his eyes at this daredevil enchantress for a long while, then grabbed the back of her head and pressed his lips to hers.
Feng Yue was startled, her heart seeming to be struck by something, as she looked at the person below her, almost losing herself.
He pulled her head away, gripping her chin to examine her. Yin Gezhi spoke flatly: “Like this, you could indeed be called a supreme beauty.”
Hmm?
Looking down into his eyes, she saw reflected in his pupils a lady with cheeks like peach blossoms and lips red as fire—truly a supreme beauty.
“Oh my, this humble one looks quite good even without makeup,” Feng Yue turned her head away somewhat nervously, saying offhandedly.
“Oh?” Yin Gezhi became interested. “Wash your face and let me see.”
“…”
Why had she lifted a stone only to drop it on her foot? And such a massive stone at that!
Feng Yue laughed awkwardly. She reached into his clothes: “On such a beautiful night with lovely flowers and a bright moon, why should we do such boring things? Let’s enjoy ourselves instead?”
Yin Gezhi frowned, wanting to say more, but her mischievous hand made him groan. He glanced at her, then flipped her over, grabbing her to teach her a good lesson.
As the moon set and crows cawed, a palace in the Eastern Palace still had lights burning. Ye Yuqing looked at the items in his hand, his eyes full of curiosity.
“Your Highness,” Guard Captain Feng Chuang bowed beside him: “Wang Han has been imprisoned in the Justice Court. From Miss Yi’s meaning, she may want to conduct a trial tomorrow before passing judgment.”
“What’s there to try?” Ye Yuqing laughed lightly. “Since the evidence is conclusive, he should commit suicide out of guilt. That would save trouble.”
Feng Chuang paused, then lowered his head in agreement.
The paper in his hand detailed Yin Gezhi’s recent activities. After looking at it for a while, Ye Yuqing couldn’t help but ask: “How did he find this evidence? By rights, he shouldn’t have been able to get something like an official badge. Wang Han may be retired, but he’s still a martial artist. He wouldn’t be so careless as to let someone steal his badge. Even if it was stolen, he should have reported it to the General’s Manor.”
Feng Chuang shook his head: “It seemed Crown Prince Yin obtained the evidence out of nowhere and went to pass judgment.”
Out of nowhere? Ye Yuqing smiled and shook his head: “I don’t believe things could be this coincidental. That lady from Menghui House—have you investigated her thoroughly?”
“That lady has no family or relations. Her only trusted maid says she came to Wu Country with refugees from Wei Country. She usually keeps to herself, rarely associates with anyone special, and doesn’t go out often. Apart from buying an unusual amount of green bean cakes, everything else seems normal.”
“However, as soon as Crown Prince Yin left the Yi Manor today, after changing clothes, he went straight to Menghui House to find that lady.”
Oh? Ye Yuqing’s gaze grew deep as he stared at a certain spot for quite a while. Then his smile returned: “Well, in that case, let it be.”
Since ancient times, heroes have always had a weakness for beauty. It doesn’t matter who he takes a fancy to, as long as it’s not someone troublesome.
Rising after a night of passion, Feng Yue looked around the room. Yin Gezhi was already gone.
“Miss,” Ling Shu entered carrying a water basin, clicking her tongue as she spoke: “It’s quite something! That young lord who won the flower queen competition rewarded Miss He Chou with fifty taels of gold!”
Gold was a rare commodity, with little circulating in the market. For this lord to give away fifty taels at once made all the other ladies green with envy.
“He Chou has good luck,” Feng Yue smiled. “This patron is generous. Come, let’s go see what all the excitement is about.”
Having won the flower queen title and received gold, He Chou’s door was indeed surrounded by excitement. Feng Yue, using her strength and shamelessness, successfully squeezed through and smiled at He Chou: “Congratulations, congratulations.”
He Chou wasn’t familiar with her but returned a polite bow. The gold ingots, each the size of a fist, sat squarely on the table, gleaming brightly.
Common people mostly used silver fragments, weighed with small scales, and often had to be cut smaller with pliers, so they weren’t uniform in shape. Only gold and silver from official sources would be perfectly formed.
Feng Yue lowered her eyes and casually gave her a bracelet as a congratulatory gift before leaving the crowd.
In this world, among officials of any country, nine out of ten were corrupt. Even those naturally honest couldn’t change the status quo in officialdom and had to go with the flow. So when someone needed to be removed, the best charge was always corruption.
Yin Gezhi wouldn’t bother with a mere playboy—his target was likely Zhao Lin, Zhao Xi’s father. Sending him a commoner’s petition accusing Zhao Lin of seizing farmland wasn’t enough. They needed to dig up more.
Lost in thought, Feng Yue wasn’t paying attention to the path ahead and accidentally bumped into someone.
“Miss Feng Yue,” the plump patron smiled pleasantly. “I don’t know which young lord has engaged your services, but I must apologize for any previous offense. I hope you can forgive me.”
This was the man who had stuffed banknotes at her last time. He had been so domineering then, yet today he was so polite. It seemed he must recognize Yin Gezhi.
Those in Bu Yin City who recognized Yin Gezhi were almost certainly important officials.
A brilliant smile instantly appeared on her face as Feng Yue nodded: “Not at all. What brings Your Excellence here today?”
“I just asked Madam Jin, who said you have another client tonight, so I dare not disturb you,” his eyes darting about like a weasel’s, the man smiled: “I just wanted to chat with you for a moment. Of course, I’ll pay.”
Daytime business indeed wasn’t the kind of business a courtesan should do.
Pretending to be greedy, Feng Yue’s eyes lit up: “What does Your Excellence wish to discuss? This humble one will certainly oblige!”
Seeing this, the patron thought this enchantress was truly a simple money-grubber. There was hope! So he immediately followed her upstairs to her room.
“To be honest, I deeply admire the client you serve,” after beating around the bush for a while, he finally said: “I wanted to ask if that young lord has any special preferences?”
Looking at his hands—palms without calluses, but yellow calluses on the sides of his index and middle finger joints—Feng Yue answered seriously: “It’s rather strange, that young lord seems to have a bad temper and doesn’t let this humble one talk much, so perhaps he likes quiet. As for special preferences, this humble one hasn’t noticed any yet.”
The fat man nodded, thought for a moment, and then smiled: “You see, I have a sister who has admired him for a long time. She wants him to try her handmade pastries but never has the chance. If you could help, I would certainly reward you generously.”
Without even thinking, Feng Yue agreed: “Of course! As long as there’s money, these favors are no problem at all.”
What a truly mercenary courtesan, Yang Fengpeng laughed coldly inside while showing delight on his face. He pulled out a hundred-tael bank note and tucked it into her belt: “I’ll have her make the pastries and send them over shortly. Next time that young lord comes, if he eats them, you’ll have several more bank notes to collect.”
Treating money like dirt? Feng Yue smiled until her eyes curved like crescents, responding with complete innocence: “Wonderful, this humble one will certainly accomplish this for you!”