Hua Rongjian flicked the servant’s forehead, tossed the wine jug into the river, and strolled along the riverbank with his hands behind his back.

After leaving, An Jiu didn’t rush back to the palace but wandered the streets alone for a while.

The lights were just coming on.

The Great Song had a curfew, but two streets were allowed to keep their shops open until midnight. These streets were mostly filled with official and private courtesans, with other shops benefiting from their presence.

The private brothels on this street all had powerful backing, and the girls inside were bought from poor families.

An Jiu watched the elaborately dressed girls on the upper floors coquettishly calling to customers, her thoughts drifting. When she first arrived, this body of hers had just escaped from a brothel and was still evading capture. Now, without realizing it, she had been here for nearly three years, her hands stained with more blood. But she could feel that her life was different from before. Her long-closed world finally had more than just herself in it.

Even now, walking alone on the street, she felt much more fulfilled, no longer having that sense of being abandoned by the world.

Dark clouds obscured the moon, and within half an hour, a light rain began to fall.

Many people on the street opened their folding umbrellas. An Jiu, who had been walking quickly, slowed her pace and opened her umbrella to stroll in the rain.

Though there were many folding umbrellas, only hers was lethal.

With the umbrella for cover, An Jiu moved more leisurely. She noticed a bustling crowd in front of a shop not far ahead and curiously approached.

The shop owner, seeing the rain, had brought out portable folding umbrellas to sell under the eaves. The price was the same as usual, seemingly not taking advantage of the rain to make a profit, but genuinely providing convenience to people.

An Jiu looked up and saw the sign that read “Zhu’s Miaosi Hall.” Her lips curved slightly as she closed her umbrella and entered the shop.

The shop assistant was very perceptive. Seeing that An Jiu’s folding umbrella was more exquisite than those they sold, he guessed she might be a friend of the owner and smiled more eagerly. “What would the gentleman like to buy?”

An Jiu didn’t waste words with him. “I’m looking for Zhu Pianpian.”

Seeing her cold expression, the assistant didn’t dare to chat further. “Please sit and wait here, I’ll have someone inform her right away.”

An Jiu didn’t follow his suggestion to sit but stood straight in the middle of the room, exuding a faint aura of cold lethality. Water dripped from her umbrella onto the wooden floor, but no one dared to mention it.

Shortly after, a plump woman came out to greet her.

Zhu Pianpian first met An Jiu when she was wearing this human skin mask, so she recognized her at once. She approached familiarly, “Good little brother, how do you have time to visit your sister? Look at you, all damp. Come, let’s go to the back for some tea.”

An Jiu followed her silently to the back courtyard before speaking. “Staying on this street, you’ve picked up the habits of those girls.”

Judging by her earlier words, one might have thought they’d come to the wrong place!

Zhu Pianpian spat, “We haven’t seen each other in ages, and you skip the pleasantries. I just naturally don’t get along with you!”

Hearing this, An Jiu looked at her carefully. She wasn’t like this before, always acting coy and referring to herself as “this humble one.”

Zhu Pianpian was too shocked at suddenly seeing An Jiu and forgot her act. She quickly tried to recover, covering her mouth with her sleeve and saying coyly, “This humble one was just too excited seeing an old friend and forgot herself.”

Since she wanted pleasantries, An Jiu obliged with one: “You’ve gotten fat.”

Zhu Pianpian’s eye twitched. She stopped covering her face and nervously touched her plump cheeks. “Where have I gotten fat?”

An Jiu raised her hand and methodically pointed at her face, neck, chest, and waist. “Fortunately, the places that should be fat have gotten fat.”

The scholars of the Great Song didn’t appreciate plump women like Zhu Pianpian. They believed a woman’s figure should be as slender as an orchid, her face as delicate and pure as a pear blossom, and her temperament as otherworldly as a lotus.

“Life feels less beautiful when you appear!” Zhu Pianpian said, flapping her wide sleeves. Without Chu Dingjiang watching, she couldn’t be bothered to pretend in front of An Jiu.

An Jiu rather liked people like Zhu Pianpian. Although she could be fake and affected at times, overall she was a straightforward and positive person.

“Lord Chu sent me out to make money for him and others. When I think about all that silver going into other people’s pockets, my heart trembles with pain,” Zhu Pianpian rambled on, probably because An Jiu wasn’t speaking. “But then I think, running a business out here is much more interesting than being locked up in there. Besides, someone was able to provide the capital to secure this building in the capital.”

Zhu Pianpian wasn’t interested in small businesses, but she didn’t have any earth-shattering dreams either. She just felt a great sense of achievement seeing large sums recorded in the accounts.

The room was filled with a rich fragrance and looked opulent. An Jiu’s aesthetic sense was average, but she couldn’t compliment Zhu Pianpian’s taste.

Zhu Pianpian invited her to sit and had tea served. “What brings you here to see me?”

Come to think of it, Chu Dingjiang had brought Zhu Pianpian to the capital mainly to keep An Jiu company. She assumed An Jiu had come to seek her out for entertainment, which was why she had spoken in that tone earlier. Zhu Pianpian was a woman with a strong sense of self-mockery and was very open-minded. Regardless of societal views, in private she did whatever made her comfortable, though she did maintain some surface-level propriety, albeit half-heartedly.

“Just wandering around,” An Jiu couldn’t bring herself to drink the tea amidst the room’s overwhelming fragrance. “Did you convince Lou Xiaowu to cooperate with you?”

In her previous life, someone like Lou Xiaowu would have been purely academic, hating to be involved in any worldly matters and focusing solely on her interests. She would have considered even eating a waste of time, let alone coming out to do business and make money.

“It was both difficult and easy,” Zhu Pianpian said, calmly holding her tea. “Her experiments are quite costly, and the Lou family’s savings aren’t enough for her to squander. After cooperating with me, she only needs to speak, and I’ll have people search far and wide for whatever she wants. I take care of all the trivial matters for her. I’m not a profiteering merchant, so why wouldn’t she be willing?”

Zhu Pianpian was indeed skilled. She took care of Lou Xiaowu better than a Buddha statue, even thinking of foods that were both tasty and time-saving. She didn’t ask for things frequently. Apart from custom-made intricate mechanisms, for ordinary small items, she could exploit all possible profit channels with just one piece, planning to only bother Lou Xiaowu when she felt there was no more profit to be squeezed.

Moreover, the things Zhu Pianpian requested were challenging and exquisite, making Lou Xiaowu feel challenged. Sometimes when customers needed something Lou Xiaowu found uninteresting, Zhu Pianpian would use words to provoke her interest.

Lou Xiaowu’s emotional intelligence was even lower than An Jiu’s, making her an easy target. After just half a month of cooperation with Zhu Pianpian, she already felt she couldn’t do without her.

In short, since Zhu Pianpian’s arrival, Lou Xiaowu’s meals tasted better, her life became worry-free, and she worked with more enthusiasm.

Understanding Zhu Pianpian’s capabilities, An Jiu thought her judgment had indeed been good.

Zhu Pianpian put down her teacup and leaned forward, her expression serious.

An Jiu thought she was about to say something very important, but instead heard her ask, “Have I gotten fat?”

An Jiu paused briefly, then nodded affirmatively. Fearing she wouldn’t believe it, she described in detail, “Your features were already small, and your face was big. Before, you could barely pass for a Tang Dynasty beauty, but now your face is a circle larger than before, looking like a pile of flesh squeezing your eyes, mouth, and nose together.”

Zhu Pianpian stared at her woodenly.

An Jiu added salt to the wound, “Look, before you had a double chin, now you have a triple chin…”

“Xiaowu is much more likable than you!” Zhu Pianpian rolled her eyes, leaning back worriedly. Sheng Changying was a typical scholar, and most likely didn’t like fat people!

After pondering this, Zhu Pianpian glanced sideways at An Jiu.

An Jiu and Lou Xiaowu were of the same type, both specializing in one area but practically useless in others. However, they took completely different paths. Even when angry, Lou Xiaowu would just glare with her watery almond eyes, while the person before her was much more troublesome!

Zhu Pianpian didn’t know how to deal with An Jiu. Flattering her wouldn’t elicit any kind words, but not flattering her seemed risky.

“Aren’t you close with Mo Sigui?” An Jiu asked, seeing her troubled expression. “Why not ask him to make you a weight loss medicine?”

Zhu Pianpian’s eyes lit up with uncontrollable joy. “Oh my, you can be likable sometimes!”