“Today? You don’t know the exact time?” Qiao Mu raised an eyebrow.

The madam noticed Qiao Mu’s displeasure and immediately spoke up. “Elder Brother… do you have something important to attend to?”

Elder Brother? What on earth?

She was a woman in her twenties, being called “Elder Brother” by a woman in her thirties, and that voice was so…

Qiao Mu forced down the churning in her stomach and said, “I wanted to go out for a walk.”

She no longer looked at this woman, standing up and walking toward Feng Jiu’er.

Could this woman’s sense of the situation possibly be any worse? The one worth a thousand taels wasn’t her!

Qiao Mu came to the low table in the hall, sitting down almost right beside Feng Jiu’er.

“Just do what you need to do. Elder Brother won’t let you suffer!” she said, her voice indifferent.

At this point, the madam in blue-green and the woman in goose yellow finally turned their attention to Feng Jiu’er.

Just now, the blue-green-robed madam’s thoughts had been entirely on Qiao Mu—something everyone present had clearly noticed.

But no one had expected that the woman who’d worn pink last night to lead them into the brothel, now in goose yellow, had been staring intently at Gong Xinyue the whole time.

Feng Jiu’er had kept her head lowered the entire time, making others think she was terrified, making them think she hadn’t noticed anything at all.

But Feng Jiu’er had seen through both women’s intentions completely.

The madam liked Qiao Mu, the other woman liked Gong Xinyue—should things develop in such an interesting direction?

At this point, the madam and the goose-yellow-robed woman finally noticed that Feng Jiu’er’s complexion had truly changed.

“Lift your head and let me see.” The madam looked at Feng Jiu’er and spoke.

Perhaps because of her connection to Qiao Mu, her voice wasn’t especially forceful.

Feng Jiu’er bit her lip hard, set down the needle and thread in her hand, and lifted her head.

With a “pak,” the madam sank down onto her knees on the other side of the low table.

“You—you—you’re really the woman from last night?” Looking closely, she could still make out the outline of her features.

Feng Jiu’er’s skin was fair and translucent—not just her face, but her neck and hands too, all like fine jade, with none of yesterday’s dark, sallow tone at all.

However, this wasn’t Feng Jiu’er’s true face—to avoid ruining things, she’d used a human-skin mask.

The thin layer of the mask hadn’t changed the contours of her face, only slightly altering her features to confuse others’ eyes.

Unless one was very familiar with her, looking at her like this, one wouldn’t know she was Feng Jiu’er.

And those who had spent time with her, like Gong Xinyue, could still recognize her—let alone Qiao Mu.

Qiao Mu frowned, looking at the person leaning against the low table.

“So, do you understand now why we’re asking this price?”

“Of course, it’s worth it—only your little sister is worth this price,” the madam quickly nodded.

The goose-yellow-robed woman also looked utterly disbelieving, stunned for a moment before going to sit beside the blue-green-robed woman.

“Beautiful, truly beautiful, and so captivating too.”

“Madam.” The goose-yellow-robed woman turned her head to look at the madam. “Let the boss come over—he’ll surely love her.”

“And the city lord is also in our town. Since the city lord is so generous, we…”

She didn’t finish the rest of her sentence—she couldn’t very well say, in front of the seller, that they’d make a fortune.

But anyone within earshot of what she’d just said understood exactly what was going on.

“No matter—the price we agreed on won’t change!” Qiao Mu said indifferently.

“All right!” The madam immediately stood up.

It was all silver, all gold—how could she possibly wait any longer?

Having presided over this brothel for over a decade, how could the madam not know which kind of woman was most valuable?

“Well then, we’ll await your news!” Qiao Mu waved a hand, wearing an expression of “safe travels, don’t bother seeing us off.”

In the madam’s lovestruck eyes, she certainly wouldn’t believe Qiao Mu was being this dismissive of her.

Back in her day, she’d been a top courtesan—even after all these years, she still had plenty of confidence in herself.

“Elder Brother, wait a bit longer. I’ll have someone send word right away.”

The two women left, and Feng Jiu’er, Qiao Mu, and Gong Xinyue each went about their business.

Right now, going out in broad daylight wasn’t easy—if that person didn’t come, they planned to head out after nightfall.

However, the madam truly didn’t disappoint Qiao Mu.

At lunchtime, the madam arrived early, still accompanied by that same woman.

By this point, Jian Yi had already left; inside the private room now were only Feng Jiu’er, Qiao Mu, and Gong Xinyue—these two “men” and one woman.

“Elder Brother, Second Brother, cousin, the town chief is on his way, and—and the city lord has come too.”

“Elder Brother, should we have little sister get ready?”

The madam waved a hand, and a woman carrying a stack of clothes approached the group.

“There are some clothes here—would it be all right for cousin to change into them? They’re all new, and should suit cousin well.”

The madam assumed that by calling Feng Jiu’er “cousin,” it fit with her being paired with Qiao Mu.

And so this address of “cousin” rolled off her tongue quite naturally.

“Cousin.” The woman holding the clothes looked at Feng Jiu’er. “I’ll help you change, how about it?”

Feng Jiu’er, Qiao Mu, Gong Xinyue (inwardly): Another one trying to claim kinship?

The three of them showed no unusual expression at these two women’s words—whatever complaints they had, they’d keep to themselves for now.

“No need.” Gong Xinyue stepped forward and took the clothes from the goose-yellow-robed woman’s hands.

How could she possibly let anyone touch Jiu’er? Gong Xinyue grumbled inwardly.

But unexpectedly, the very next moment, she was the one who got touched.

That woman, right after Gong Xinyue took the clothes from her, deliberately brushed the back of her hand.

Gong Xinyue immediately frowned and turned away.

Seeing Gong Xinyue looking so put out, Feng Jiu’er felt a pang of sympathy.

Were all the women here this lecherous?

Feng Jiu’er hid her anger, meekly stood up, lowered her head, and went over to take the clothes.

“Second Brother, I can manage on my own.”

As she took the clothes, her hand beneath them patted Gong Xinyue’s hand in comfort.

Gong Xinyue said nothing, but her breathing eased somewhat.

Feng Jiu’er carried the clothes into the room and closed the door.

She set the clothes down on the table nearby, spread them out, and examined them carefully.

Fortunately, they were fairly normal in style—perhaps because the two Mao brothers both preferred women of simple, unadorned taste.

Thinking of how these two brothers had preyed on young girls, Feng Jiu’er itched to cut them down with her own hands!

Feng Jiu’er suppressed the anger in her heart, changed into the clothes, and pushed open the door to go back out.

The madam and the goose-yellow-robed woman stared at Feng Jiu’er unblinkingly, their eyes gleaming with golden light.

Qiao Mu and Gong Xinyue already knew how beautiful Feng Jiu’er was, yet they still couldn’t help glancing at her again.

“So, so beautiful! Even without a trace of makeup, she’s still this ravishing—cousin really is a beauty one encounters once in a century.”

No sooner had the madam finished speaking than she glanced sideways at Qiao Mu.

“No wonder, with two such handsome, dashing brothers—truly impressive!”