Yin Gezhi’s expression remained unchanged as he stood silently, allowing Feng Yue to press against him with her swaying movements.
While he showed no reaction, Yi Zhang Zhu’s response was dramatic. Her face flushed red as she pointed at Feng Yue: “You… this is the street!”
“The street?” Clinging to Yin Gezhi’s arm and leaning her head against him, Feng Yue replied matter-of-factly: “What’s wrong with the street? I belong to Young Master.”
His person? Yi Zhang Zhu laughed in anger: “Have you officially married him?”
“Such empty titles mean nothing to me. As long as I can stay by Young Master’s side, I don’t need anything else.” Matching her words with actions, Feng Yue looked up at Yin Gezhi with deep affection: “I only need Young Master to keep me in his heart.”
“Shameless!” Yi Zhang Zhu cursed, her noble demeanor completely forgotten as she looked at Yin Gezhi with grievance: “Brother Yin, say something!”
“It’s getting late,” Yin Gezhi finally spoke, looking at her: “You should head home. Don’t wander the streets so much. If you need anything, just send someone to let me know.”
Every word showed his concern for her. Yi Zhang Zhu’s expression softened, and she cast a somewhat smug look at Feng Yue. However, the latter paid her no attention, staying glued to Yin Gezhi with adoring eyes. When Yin Gezhi walked away, she followed his every step, looking utterly detestable.
“Brother Yin!”
Perhaps they had walked too far, as Yin Gezhi didn’t hear her. He didn’t look back, only addressing the person still hanging onto him: “You have legs. Walk by yourself.”
Placing all her weight on him, Feng Yue contentedly draped herself like seaweed, saying softly: “Young Master is so handsome and dignified, I’m too captivated to walk!”
Yi Zhang Zhu’s face darkened. She stamped her foot and ran away.
“Miss!” Dian Chai followed after her, quickly trying to console her: “Why are you competing with a mere maid? Look at how lowly she is. How is she worth your anger?”
“How can I not be angry? She’s clinging to Brother Yin, and he’s not even refusing her.” Yi Zhang Zhu frowned deeply: “Even if I can’t be with Brother Yin, I can’t watch him fall for someone else’s tricks!”
“If you want to get rid of her, there are plenty of ways. Why upset yourself?” Dian Chai said: “Last time you were too hasty and chose the wrong method, which left us with trouble. Leave it to me this time. I’ll make sure she doesn’t have an easy time.”
Yi Zhang Zhu stopped walking and turned around: “Really?”
“I’ll handle it.”
Somewhat calmed, Yi Zhang Zhu pressed her lips together: “It’s not that I’m deliberately making things difficult for her, but someone like her simply isn’t worthy of Brother Yin.”
“You’re right, Miss. You’re thinking of Young Lord Yin’s best interests.”
Nodding, Yi Zhang Zhu composed herself and continued walking with dignity.
“Do you like Miss Yi?” After walking for a while, the human seaweed hanging on his arm finally spoke up.
Yin Gezhi kept his eyes forward and replied coolly: “She’s quite interesting.”
“Indeed she is,” Feng Yue nodded: “A Bodhisattva’s heart, is extremely kind, just that her kindness is often misplaced. Seems like she’s not too bright.”
Yin Gezhi’s eyebrows twitched as he turned to stare at her: “You dare slander General Yi’s legitimate daughter? Quite bold.”
“Just telling the truth. If Young Master wants to blame me, so be it.” Releasing his hand, Feng Yue said: “But this romance probably won’t end well. Young Master is so wise, yet unfortunately ruled by emotions.”
For some reason, hearing her sardonic words made Yin Gezhi feel quite pleased. When they reached the envoy’s mansion, he even personally moved a chair for her to sit and continue talking.
But Feng Yue stopped speaking. Looking at the sky, she pouted: “I should head back. Dream Return House reopens today, I should go help liven things up.”
Yin Gezhi nodded slightly and stood up to walk out with her.
Feng Yue: “Where are you going?”
“Aren’t you going to liven things up?” The Crown Prince said casually: “I’m going to show my support.”
Feng Yue: “…”
You should just take care of Miss Yi, what support do you need to show?
Though cursing internally, her face still maintained a smile as she curtsied: “Thank you for Young Master’s kindness.”
Thanks to Yin Gezhi’s generous gifts to Dream Return House despite past grievances, and with Zhu Laicai’s verdict already passed, the establishment had finally escaped disaster and reopened. Madam Jin had reminded her early on to prepare well, preferably performing a proper dance in the evening to help restore her reputation.
Feng Yue didn’t care much about reputation since it served little purpose, but to help polish Dream Return House’s image, she prepared a proper red dance dress, styled her hair in a high bun, inserted golden hairpins, and waited in a room behind the first floor.
Yin Gezhi was already seated in the main hall. Perhaps because things had gone smoothly today, the young lord was in a good mood—the courtesans who approached his table weren’t frozen away, but instead smiled as they served tea. He didn’t refuse them either, righteously enjoying the attention.
“How shameless!”
Eh? Feng Yue blinked. While these were her thoughts exactly, the voice sounded strange.
Peering out the door, she saw Miss Yi dressed in men’s clothing, her delicate features and skin making her gender obvious to anyone. The fake mustache under her nose twitched up and down, her almond eyes so bright that anyone could tell she was female.
However, probably because she had paid handsomely, Madam Jin didn’t stop her, just assigned a servant to follow her as she wandered around freely.
“Do all men like this kind of woman?” Yi Zhang Zhu asked Dian Chai beside her.
Dian Chai’s expression was uncomfortable. Their mistress was of such high status—how could she come to such a place? But since the mistress insisted on coming, she couldn’t stop her and could only pray no one would recognize them.
“I don’t know, but let’s quickly find a seat. There might be performances.”
Looking at the stage ahead, Yi Zhang Zhu suddenly became interested: “Will they play music and dance?”
“Probably.”
Glancing at Yin Gezhi, Yi Zhang Zhu turned and walked toward the room where Feng Yue was.
Feng Yue raised an eyebrow and quickly covered her face with a fan, hiding in the corner.
The room was full of other courtesans nervously preparing when suddenly this ambiguous figure entered and reached out: “Give me a guqin.”
The servant boy was startled and hurriedly said: “Sir, you can’t come in here, these are all ladies…”
“Money can’t buy entry?” Yi Zhang Zhu frowned. Beside her, Dian Chai helplessly stuffed a silver ingot into the servant’s hand.
Seeing the weight of the silver, the servant stopped interfering, allowing her to go to the back where many clothes were hanging. After some time, she emerged as a refined beauty.
To be honest, young ladies from noble families did have a different air about them—even wearing green gauze robes, she still looked dignified. However, her behavior was too reckless, and all the courtesans in the room looked at her unfavorably.
Yi Zhang Zhu paid no attention, picked up someone’s abandoned guqin, and prepared to go out.
“Everyone,” Madam Jin stood on stage, smiling brightly: “For Dream Return House’s reopening, our ladies have brought out their best skills to celebrate. We hope you’ll continue to favor us with your patronage.”
The world never lacks those who chase beauty. As one group left, another arrived, shouting: “Madam Jin, bring out the beauties!”
“Yes, yes! The flower queen has been redeemed, you need to find even more beautiful ladies. Otherwise, who are we supposed to look at?”
Madam Jin smiled, waving her handkerchief: “Everyone please be patient, the ladies will be up shortly.”
As she spoke, she shot a meaningful glance toward Feng Yue’s direction.
Leaning against the doorframe with folded arms, Feng Yue was originally supposed to go first, but now she had no interest, wanting to see what tricks this Miss Yi would play.
How blessed it was to be held in someone’s palm—while so many girls dreamed of escaping this fire pit, here she was, voluntarily walking in.
Seeing no one move, Yi Zhang Zhu naturally took the initiative. Despite Dian Chai’s attempts to dissuade her, she covered her face with a veil and stepped onto the stage.
Madam Jin was startled. After carefully examining this face, she hurriedly ran to Feng Yue and pointed at the stage: “What’s going on?”
“Don’t worry, Madam,” Feng Yue said: “We don’t have her contract of sale. If she volunteers to perform, we can’t refuse.”
“I’m not worried about her performing, but what if she ruins our business?” Not knowing Yi Zhang Zhu’s identity, Madam Jin frowned with concern: “We barely survived. We can’t die at the hands of some mysterious girl.”
“Don’t worry,” Feng Yue said: “Noble ladies are trained in the four arts from childhood. She won’t ruin anything.”
However, this spoiled young lady acted without considering the consequences, rashly performing on a brothel stage—it wasn’t proper. But since she didn’t mind, Feng Yue, as the secret owner, had even less reason to worry.
Looking toward Yin Gezhi, she saw the young lord had noticed Yi Zhang Zhu and was watching with a displeased expression.
Yi Zhang Zhu was determined to show him how unrefined courtesans were, so ignoring everything else, she began playing. Fluid notes cascaded through Dream Return House.
The audience below was stunned. Seeing the lady’s figure and features were quite fine, they immediately erupted in thunderous applause.
Duan Xian, returning from the bathroom and unable to find her guqin, was puzzled until she heard the music. Her face darkened as she stood before Feng Yue and asked: “Has your customer come to ruin my performance again?”
“It’s not him,” Feng Yue said with a smile: “See for yourself.”
Looking over puzzled, she saw the customers entranced, while on stage a refined beauty played with delicate movements. The music drifted elegantly, quite moving.
When the song ended, applause thundered and praise rang out endlessly. Those who recognized her discussed it in whispers, while those who didn’t boldly come forward to inquire about her price.
Madam Jin wiped her sweat and went on stage to ask quietly: “Miss, are you here to register?”
“No.” With an arrogant smile, Yi Zhang Zhu said: “I just heard the ladies here were talented, so I came to test them.”
Her expression changing, Madam Jin said: “Miss, we’re running a business here. We can’t let you make trouble as you please.”
“Business?” Yi Zhang Zhu sneered, standing up to look at the group of ladies by the stage. Filled with righteous indignation, she said: “You take money and make these innocent girls sell their bodies for you—what kind of proper business is that? What can you do if I ruin this place today?”
Everyone was stunned, not understanding the situation. Yin Gezhi stood up, his expression blank as he said: “If you’re done making trouble, leave.”
Hearing his words, Yi Zhang Zhu felt deeply wronged. She wasn’t here to cause trouble—why should she leave?
“No, I want to rescue these innocent girls!” Yi Zhang Zhu held her head high and glared at Madam Jin: “Either you release them, or I’ll shut down your establishment!”
Young in age but big in talk. Madam Jin gave a cold smile and looked at her: “Miss, everyone here has signed contracts. Even if we go to the authorities, we’re in the right. You can’t shut us down. If you want me to release them, why not redeem all the ladies?”
Yi Zhang Zhu was stunned: “Redeem?”
“They came here after taking my money. If they want to leave, naturally they must be redeemed.” Seeing the performance couldn’t continue, Madam Jin snorted and pulled Yi Zhang Zhu off stage, grabbing an abacus nearby: “Each girl’s contract here is worth a hundred taels, including maids. There are a hundred people total—ten thousand taels of silver. If Miss can produce that, I’ll tear up their contracts.”
Ten thousand taels? Yi Zhang Zhu’s face went white with shock. She shouted angrily: “You’re robbing me! You’re already doing something that offends heaven and reason, how dare you ask me for money?”
“You want to do good deeds, but why should I do good deeds with you? Business people need to talk about money.” Madam Jin sneered: “Otherwise, you just move your lips and I lose that much silver—on what grounds?”
“You…” Yi Zhang Zhu was truly angry: “I’ve done good deeds for so many years, but this is the first time I’ve met someone so unreasonable. Indeed, no good people can come from such a place!”
“Ha!” Madam Jin was also angry. In all her years of business, this was the first time she’d met someone so shameless—did she think other people’s money fell from the sky?
Just as she was about to argue further, Feng Yue pulled her back.
“Jin Ling, go up first,” calling to someone in the back, Feng Yue smiled: “Don’t be angry, Madam. This lady just doesn’t understand the rules.”
Seeing her, Yi Zhang Zhu was slightly startled, then her eyes brightened: “You’re not at the envoy’s mansion?”
Smiling at her, Feng Yue said with rouge-red lips: “I’ll return in the evening.”
Her face immediately darkened. Yi Zhang Zhu said: “There are many distinguished men down here, why must you cling to Brother Yin?”
“There are many who like you too,” Feng Yue smiled: “Why must you fix your attention only on him?”
“I…”
Unable to counter, Yi Zhang Zhu turned to look in Yin Gezhi’s direction, but his seat was already empty.
Where was he?
“Miss,” Dian Chai said softly: “Young Lord Yin has already left.”
Left?! Yi Zhang Zhu frowned and immediately dropped the guqin to chase after him.
Many patrons were still waiting for her to return to the stage, but that green figure headed straight for the exit. Several patrons chased after her, and onlookers joined the commotion. Dream Return House’s main hall suddenly became quiet.
“Such skill!” Picking up the fallen guqin, Duan Xian trembled with anger: “Coming to play hero and do good deeds, then leaving inexplicably—what’s that supposed to be!”
What indeed? Feng Yue thought about it but couldn’t find the right word to describe it. She gave up and lifted her skirts to go upstairs.