Although Jiang Si had never frequented brothels or courtesan houses, she had lived among the Wumiao people in her past life, where women held high status. Having grown accustomed to the bold and uninhibited Wumiao women, she felt less intimidated by such places now.
She walked in with composed steps, discreetly observing her surroundings.
The boat housing the Yan Chun Troupe was a mid-sized pleasure boat with two levels. The lower level was a spacious hall for guests to enjoy song and dance performances, while the upper level consisted of a series of boudoirs. Patrons arriving eagerly under the cover of night would, if the mood struck them, ascend the wooden stairs at the four corners of the hall, embracing their chosen courtesans to spend a night of passion.
Jiang Si glanced upwards.
Above the two floors was a small attic, seemingly poised to take flight on the wind. She had heard from A Fei that it was the quarters of the top courtesan on this pleasure boat.
Generally speaking, the Yan Chun Troupe was just an ordinary pleasure boat on the Jin Shui River. Even their top courtesan didn’t rank among the most famous on the river, let alone the young maids serving her.
Pondering this, Jiang Si walked into the hall. Soon, a woman in her thirties approached her.
The woman had a voluptuous figure and a flirtatious demeanor. Despite the season, her shoulders were half-exposed, irresistibly drawing one’s gaze down the deep cleavage.
Jiang Si surmised this must be the madam of the pleasure boat.
Her guess was correct; the woman was indeed the madam.
Such a modest-sized pleasure boat couldn’t compare to the top-tier floating brothels. Even the courtesan’s entertaining guests were ranked into several tiers. One madam was sufficient to handle things, while the more attractive courtesans had to entertain clients to earn money.
Seeing Jiang Si’s appearance and attire, the madam’s eyes lit up, her voice more enthusiastic than usual: “Oh my, what a handsome young gentleman we have here. Please, come in.”
Jiang Si nodded slightly, suppressing the urge to sneeze.
The madam’s perfume was a bit too strong for her liking.
However, the initially enthusiastic madam’s expression soon darkened, eyeing Jiang Si suspiciously and stopping in her tracks.
Jiang Si wasn’t afraid. She simply halted and gave the madam a slight smile.
The madam’s face grew even more somber. She stepped closer to Jiang Si and lowered her voice angrily: “If you’re a young lady here to cause trouble, don’t blame me for being unkind!”
Having been in this business for long, she had seen all sorts of strange occurrences. Young ladies disguising themselves to sneak onto pleasure boats weren’t unheard of, and nine times out of ten, they were here to catch cheating husbands.
What kind of place was this? A paradise for men to indulge in their pleasures freely. If word got out that wives were storming the boat, how could the Yan Chun Troupe continue to operate?
There were hundreds, if not thousands, of pleasure boats on the Jin Shui River, and the competition was fierce.
The madam’s anger rose at this discovery, but she couldn’t make a scene just yet.
If nothing else, if this young lady were the impulsive type, it would be all too easy for her to do something drastic – she could jump off the pleasure boat in an instant…
The madam inwardly cursed her bad luck.
Jiang Si pulled out a small purse from her sleeve and placed it in the madam’s hand.
The madam was taken aback. Feeling the weight of the purse in her hand, she wavered slightly but quickly firmed her stance: “This won’t do either. The Yan Chun Troupe is not a place for you to act recklessly!”
Was she such a shallow person to jeopardize the Yan Chun Troupe’s future for a few pieces of silver?
Jiang Si chuckled softly, her voice clear and faint. Speaking so low, it was hard to tell if it was a young man or a young woman: “Madam, you misunderstand. I’m not here to cause trouble at the Yan Chun Troupe, but to find someone.”
The madam’s face hardened, the once charming middle-aged beauty now looking like a furious demoness. She sneered, “Coming to find someone is causing trouble!”
“No, no. The person I’m looking for is you,” Jiang Si smiled again, raising her hand to slip another purse into the madam’s hand.
The madam was stunned.
Looking for her?
She pondered, realizing she hadn’t been in the business herself for a long time. Surely this delicate young lady couldn’t be here to pick a fight with her?
If that were the case… the madam inwardly sneered.
The bouncers the Yan Chun Troupe kept weren’t just for show!
As long as she wasn’t here looking for men, the money was acceptable.
The madam immediately tucked the two purses into her bosom and put on a smile again: “In that case, young sir, please follow me.”
After just two steps, she stopped and turned back to ask: “Young sir, do you have any particular preferences for the location?”
“No,” Jiang Si replied promptly.
The madam then led Jiang Si to her quarters.
The madam’s quarters were in a corner of the great hall, a spacious room divided into two parts by a folding screen. The outer part was a small parlor, while the inner part, hidden behind layers of curtains, was for resting.
A table and chairs were set by the window in the small parlor, outside which was the ink-black night sky and the Jin Shui River, its flickering lights resembling a sky full of stars.
A cool breeze wafted in through the open window, refreshing the senses.
However, the madam leaned over to close the window, her smile not reaching her eyes as she said, “Now, young lady, you can tell me why you’re looking for me.”
Even with those two purses, the madam couldn’t relax. In her view, a respectable young lady coming to a pleasure boat was uncouth, shameless, and improper.
If all women in the world were so unruly, wouldn’t that ruin their livelihood? Such deviant behavior absolutely couldn’t be encouraged!
“I’m here to inquire about something from Madam,” Jiang Si said.
She leaned back in her chair, looking self-assured. If the madam weren’t so good at reading people, she might have thought Jiang Si was a courtesan from another pleasure boat paying a visit.
She was far too at ease. Were respectable young ladies all so brazen these days?
“Madam, have you heard of a girl named Yu’er?” Jiang Si asked.
The madam’s eyes narrowed, her gaze towards Jiang Si growing wary.
As mentioned before, the Yan Chun Troupe was a small operation. Even matters like redeeming the maids who served the courtesans had to go through her. Of course, she knew the name “Yu’er”.
But she couldn’t be sure of Jiang Si’s intentions, so naturally, she wouldn’t say a word more than necessary.
Jiang Si smiled faintly: “I want to know about the person who redeemed Yu’er. Anything Madam knows, I’d like to hear.”
“That’s against the rules,” the madam pointed towards the door. “If a young lady is asking about this, then please leave.”
“Don’t be agitated, Madam. I just want to learn about that person’s information. I won’t commit murder or arson, nor will I bring any trouble to the Yan Chun Troupe,” Jiang Si reached into her sleeve, her fair fingers producing a silver note and pushing it towards the madam.
The madam glanced at it and smirked.
Just a ten-tael note? Did they think she hadn’t seen money before?
Jiang Si looked at the madam and pushed another note of the same value towards her.
One, two, three… She said nothing as the stack of silver notes quickly grew before the madam’s eyes.
The madam’s eyes flickered.
While a ten-tael note wasn’t much, such a stack was no small sum. There were plenty of wealthy patrons who would throw thousands of taels around on the Jin Shui River, but they wouldn’t come to the Yan Chun Troupe.
Jiang Si continued to add more notes to the pile.
One, two… The madam unconsciously started counting.
The young lady dressed as a man seemed to be producing waste paper, her casual manner giving the madam an inexplicable sense of pressure.
No, no, she’d lost count!
The madam grew anxious, wishing the other party would start over, but the stack of silver notes continued to grow.
She finally couldn’t resist placing both hands on the stack of notes: “Wait!”