Liu Erniang?

Jingrong raised an eyebrow slightly and lifted his chin, saying, “Liu Erniang—I haven’t heard of her.”

The servant then began to speak, “Then it seems you two gentlemen are not from Gaoding! Our Drunken Moon Pavilion’s Liu Erniang is famous throughout all of Gaoding City. Everyone knows her, everyone has heard of her! Her song ‘Cinnabar’ is sung by every household! Over these years, countless sons of officials and wealthy young masters have come in an endless stream to hear this song, and even after many invitations, she still cannot be moved.”

“Oh?” Jingrong was curious. “Is your Liu Erniang really so difficult to invite?”

“It’s not that she’s difficult to invite! It’s just that Erniang has never liked going to residences to sing. She finds it tedious, so many people queue up to come here to listen. You two gentlemen came at the right time today—Erniang is free today! The listening rooms are still available. If you gentlemen are interested, you can move to the third floor. I’ll arrange everything for you and guarantee that your visit to Gaoding will not be in vain.”

How exaggerated!

Jingrong furrowed his brow.

As if expressing doubt about this boastful pitch!

The servant knew these two before him were wealthy patrons.

Naturally, he had to serve them well!

Therefore, seeing Jingrong frown, his heart grew nervous as well.

He asked cautiously, “Could it be that you gentlemen don’t like listening to our Liu Erniang sing? If you don’t like it, we also have young ladies who dance, located on the second floor. How about it? Shall I arrange something for you two gentlemen?”

His face was full of smiles.

But Jingrong clicked his tongue twice!

Neither agreeing nor refusing.

Instead, Ji Yinshu across from him lowered her gaze, then said to the servant, “To be honest, we’re indeed not from Gaoding, so regarding whether Liu Erniang’s singing is good or not, we don’t know. However…”

“However what? Please speak freely, sir.”

“Along our journey, we did hear about your Drunken Moon Pavilion. We heard that your establishment is famous far and wide, and the young ladies inside are proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting—each one is a talented woman! However, I heard there’s a young lady whose single name contains the character Lan, who seems to be quite formidable. I wonder if such a person exists in this pavilion?”

That hit the key point.

The servant was stunned for a moment.

He searched through his mind for a young lady whose single name contained the character Lan.

But…

“There isn’t one!” The servant shook his head. “None of our young ladies here have a single name with the character Lan. Could it be that you two gentlemen have made a mistake?”

Ji Yinshu stated decisively, “There’s no mistake! It’s your Drunken Moon Pavilion!”

“But there really isn’t one. Since this place opened, I’ve been here the whole time. Although the character Lan is quite common, I really haven’t heard of any young lady whose name contains Lan.”

Hearing these words, Ji Yinshu and Jingrong exchanged glances.

Could it be… that Fang Tong and Jiang Wen were mistaken?

Or were they simply lying?

Just as the two were deeply suspicious, a delicate voice came from beside them.

“How can there not be one? There clearly is!”

Looking toward the voice, they saw a beautiful young lady dressed in purple walking over, holding a pink handkerchief in her hand.

Immediately! Ji Yinshu and Jingrong clearly saw that the pink handkerchief was embroidered with the three characters “Drunken Moon Pavilion,” and beside them was also embroidered a character “Zhu.”

It seemed that the young ladies of the Drunken Moon Pavilion indeed uniformly embroidered their names beside it.

As the woman approached, she lightly brushed the handkerchief across the servant’s face and said, “You have no memory! To say there isn’t one.”

The servant was confused. “There… there is? How come I don’t know?”

“That’s because your memory is poor,” the purple-clad woman said.

Ji Yinshu immediately asked, “Miss, do you truly know?”

The purple-clad woman smiled gracefully and said with great certainty, “It’s Du Xing’er!”

Du Xing’er?

The servant immediately interrupted, “How is that possible?”

The purple-clad woman replied, “I also heard Miss Xing’er say it herself. Her original name is Du Lan! The Lan of orchid. In our entire Drunken Moon Pavilion, only her name contains Lan. I wouldn’t make a mistake.”

“This… I actually didn’t know.” The servant was somewhat embarrassed.

Then, the purple-clad woman looked at the two distinguished guests before her and asked, “But you two gentlemen, why are you looking for Miss Xing’er? Her singing isn’t as pleasant as our Erniang’s. Besides…”

Before she could finish speaking, Ji Yinshu interrupted her, “It will be Miss Xing’er then!”

“Sir?”

“As long as she sings, we’ll pay any amount of silver!”

“…” The purple-clad woman was speechless.

“What? Is that not possible?”

The servant immediately said, “It’s not that it’s impossible, it’s just that, you two gentlemen, when Miss Xing’er plays music and sings, she’s accustomed to having a curtain between herself and the audience before she’ll sing.”

Ji Yinshu asked, “Why is that?”

“That’s not convenient to disclose. You two should choose Erniang instead.” The servant tried hard to persuade them.

But Ji Yinshu had come with a purpose—she was here specifically to find that young lady whose name contained the character Lan.

Her mind was made up, and she insisted, “No, let it be this Miss Xing’er. Please trouble yourself to arrange it for us.”

As she finished saying this, Jingrong across from her very naturally took an ingot of silver from his waist.

He placed it on the table.

The servant and the purple-clad woman’s eyes immediately lit up.

In the face of money, no one would say no.

Even though there were many difficulties involved, they ultimately accepted the silver.

And said in a pleasant voice, “Then please wait a moment, you two gentlemen. We’ll arrange it for you right away.”

They left with the silver in hand.

Jingrong lightly tapped his finger on the table once and said, “I hope this Du Xing’er is the person we’re looking for.”

Ji Yinshu replied, “Nine times out of ten, it’s her.”

“But to sing behind a curtain—that’s unheard of.”

“The world’s unusual people and strange events often involve those who don’t like to show their true face.”

Jingrong smiled. “I truly hope this Miss Xing’er is an unusual person who can help us solve this case quickly.”

After saying this, he drank a sip of tea.

Before long, the servant came over with a smile.

He said, “You two, everything has been arranged. Please proceed to the third floor.”

He then led Ji Yinshu and Jingrong all the way up to the third floor.

They stopped outside a room.

“Miss Xing’er has already prepared inside. Please enter.”

He pushed open the door.

A wave of fresh fragrance came rushing toward them.

Unlike the rouge and powder in brothels, this scent didn’t feel overwhelming. Instead, it made people feel very comfortable.

Ji Yinshu hadn’t yet entered, but had already surveyed the room with several glances.

The room wasn’t large, but it wasn’t small either!

The furnishings inside were also very elegant, not gaudy. One could see that the woman living here was also someone refined.

This made Ji Yinshu even more curious!

Du Xing’er—what kind of woman was she?

Ji Yinshu and Jingrong slowly stepped inside.

The servant stood bowing at the doorway and said, “Then I won’t disturb you two. If you need anything, feel free to give orders.”

After saying this, he gently closed the door.

The room’s soundproofing was very good! The moment the door was closed, the sounds from outside became much quieter.