Chapter 54 It was already late afternoon when they left the Nanfeng Pavilion…

It was early afternoon when Zhu Mingyue came out of Nanfeng Pavilion. He waved to Xu Linguang, who was secretly watching him from upstairs, and received a haughty back of his head in return.

Zhu Mingyue smiled and put the two taels of silver into her purse.

The silver was given to him by Huanxue before he left. No one knew what Xu Lingguang had instructed him to do, but Huanxue looked slightly frightened and apologized to him a lot.

Zhu Mingyue didn't know why Huanxue apologized to him. Huanxue was a good person, so he secretly slipped fifty coins into the man's sleeve as a thank you for the payment. Fifty coins was a considerable sum for a low-level male prostitute like Huanxue, especially since it was done without any explicit charges or a madam taking a cut.

He looked around, and when the madam wasn't looking, he leaned closer and whispered to him that the two taels of silver were actually the madam's doing. He didn't need to pay to see anyone else; he just wanted to squeeze money out of Xu Linguang. Anyone who wanted to see him had to pay, and the madam couldn't care less what he did afterward. He didn't dare to openly reach out to Xu Linguang.

Xu Linguang was carefree and never cared about such things. At first, when he learned from Zhu Mingyue that the threshold for seeing him was only two taels, he was very dissatisfied, feeling that the price was set too low and completely inconsistent with his status.

Zhu Mingyue thought it was too high, ridiculously high. This price would have been enough for him to visit the zoo dozens of times in the past.

But Xu Lingguang clearly didn't realize this. "If you feel you're at a disadvantage, why don't we do something else? Not only will the two taels be settled, but you'll also make a profit." He said this reluctantly, but his eyes kept drifting towards the bed, and his face was full of obvious excitement.

Zhu Mingyue sneered: "Did I really make a profit?"

Xu Lingguang suddenly felt uncertain as he looked at the gaze directed at him. He had never actually served customers before, so how could he know the value of his body? He was neither a pure male prostitute nor a full-time male prostitute, and all those words he had used to tease Zhu Mingyue with such seriousness were just empty talk.

What a joke! If anyone dared to actually make him sell his body and perform, he would tear the roof off this Nanfeng Pavilion.

However, if the object of his servitude is a specific person, it's not necessarily a bad thing. He stared at Zhu Mingyue's breathtakingly beautiful face, and his abdomen tightened, as if something was starting to rise slightly.

Holy crap! It must be the food Zhu Mingyue sent that worked. Xu Lingguang will never admit it was his fault. He even wants to hold him in his arms, tell him that whoever started the fire is responsible for putting it out, and then make love to him from head to toe.

"Please take back your lewd assumptions, or my short-lived husband might come looking for you tonight." Zhu Mingyue rolled her eyes at him, reasonably suspecting that he was just trying to take advantage of her by talking so much. He had taken two taels of silver from her and wanted to eat and take more? What kind of good deal was that?

Xu Lingguang immediately deflated. He had acted too hastily. A widow is still a married man. He would have to find a way to get Zhu Mingyue to divorce her physically deceased husband...

After Zhu Mingyue walked away, she passed by the restaurant where Li Zhengyang was eating. She glanced at it from afar, then looked up at the sky. It was still bright. She calculated the time to go back and then turned and disappeared into a small alley.

When he first arrived, he spent half a day familiarizing himself with the county. Later, in order to buy a gift for Cui Jian, he walked all over several streets. Nothing in the county had changed yet, and even though nearly a year had passed, Zhu Mingyue was still quite familiar with it.

The street he went to was parallel to Nanfeng Pavilion; he walked through two alleys to reach the center of the street.

He walked a few steps further and stopped in front of a small, dilapidated blacksmith shop. He looked up at it and then stepped across the threshold.

The shop was tiny and dimly lit, with only a master craftsman and his apprentice silently hammering away at iron tools.

Flames rolled and crackled inside the furnace, and the charcoal burned with a popping sound. Under the high temperature, the iron block was quenched until it was red-hot and soft. The two men made a hoarse sound as they hammered the iron block hard. After repeating this process, the iron block gradually began to take the shape of a machete.

The two were so engrossed in their fight that they didn't notice anyone arriving. It was only after a long time that they caught a glimpse of red out of the corner of their eyes, and they both looked up at the spot.

The young apprentice was so engrossed in his work that he forgot what he was doing.

"Focus on your work!" the old master sternly reprimanded.

After reprimanding his apprentice, he picked up a cloth from his shoulder to wipe the sweat from his face, and stepped forward, saying, "May I ask what brings this young lady to the blacksmith's shop?"

What else could it be for? Of course, it's to have him forge the blacksmith! Zhu Mingyue thought to herself, and then softly explained her purpose: "I have long admired your reputation for forging knives, Master. I have come here today to ask you to forge two knives for me."

"Oh? You know my name?" The old man's tense face relaxed a little. Since he was young, he had created a unique forging formula on his own. With this small place, he was able to compete with the big forging workshops in the county.

Zhu Mingyue had no idea what his name was. He was just offering a few words of flattery. In fact, there were very few blacksmith shops in the county, and he happened to notice one when he was passing by, and then he remembered it.

He clearly couldn't answer the question posed to him, so he chuckled awkwardly and changed the subject, asking, "The knife I need to make is different from what ordinary people use. I wonder if you can make it?"

"Different from the ones ordinary people use?" The old man stroked his beard, clearly intrigued. "Tell me about it." He had spent most of his life forging iron, and he had seen and forged all kinds of knives. He didn't believe there was any knife in the world that he hadn't forged. He was afraid that this young lady was just ignorant and underestimated him.

Zhu Mingyue didn't reply. Instead, she took out a piece of cloth from her sleeve and handed it to the old man. "This is a drawing I made. Please take a look." Words alone wouldn't suffice, because this thing looked completely different from the swords and knives. The cloth was a three-dimensional drawing he had made with charcoal, and he had tried his best to make it as intuitive as possible so that anyone could understand it at a glance.

The old man stared at the cloth for a long time, speechless. After a long while, as if he had carefully considered it in his mind, he finally spoke in a deep voice: "It can be used."

Zhu Mingyue's face lit up with joy, "It's good that you can fight."

"I haven't finished speaking yet, don't be too happy." The old man glanced at him indifferently and continued, "I have indeed never made this style before, and it will take some time to study it. In theory, it only takes about ten days for other people's knives to be forged and scabbarded. Yours may look small, but it will probably take longer. If you can wait, come here to find me in half a month."

"Half a month?" Zhu Mingyue pondered. That would be early November, which would be barely enough time.

"You don't want to? Then go to the blacksmith's shop. They should be faster there than me." The old man's face showed a hint of displeasure. He said this, but he didn't mean it. In his heart, he thought that the blacksmith's shop was full of useless people. The only advantage was that there were many people there. Even if those people looked at this thing eight hundred times, they might not be able to figure it out.

"I'm willing!" Zhu Mingyue quickly replied. Everyone knows that a forge is actually the same as an assembly line in later generations, except that it's a purely manual assembly line. Although it can make things quickly, the quality is not as good as that of a blacksmith shop.

"Hmph," the old man snorted, "Are you going to make two pieces? What about the other one?"

If he hadn't reminded her, Zhu Mingyue would have almost forgotten the other item. She quickly said, "I also want a short knife." He gestured with his hand, indicating that it was about shorter than his upper body.

The old man understood immediately after looking at it and nodded: "I can make this too." Few people make this kind of knife. Long knives are the most popular on the market now, and the longer they are hung on the waist, the more powerful they appear.

Zhu Mingyue pursed her lips: "I also want the refined steel one."

"You, a young lady, know about tempered steel? That's not cheap."

Why couldn't a woman know about refined steel? Zhu Mingyue was not happy, but she didn't dare to offend him, since she was still counting on him to make the product.

In his previous life, he was a liberal arts student with little knowledge of physics and chemistry. While others who transmigrated to ancient times had cheat codes, he had none. However, he did have some knowledge of ancient weapons.

He hadn't expected the old master craftsman to know about refined steel. This was an alternate world with a completely different historical trajectory. Many things that existed in the original history didn't exist here, and similarly, many things that existed here didn't exist in the original history.

Unexpectedly, this time and space also has refined steel. Judging from the old man's subconscious expression just now, this refined steel is indeed of excellent quality.

Without thinking, he said, "Money is not a problem, as long as you can do it."

“I can do it. I can do anything that others can do, and I can do anything that others can’t do.” The old man put on a stern face again and asked him for money. “Pay me a deposit first.”

Seemingly afraid that the other party would think he was ripping him off, he explained, "I didn't ask for much from you. Your first item is too small and doesn't require much iron, so I won't take your deposit. But that knife is different. I only take two hundred coins as a deposit for an ordinary knife, but I'll have to take one tael for yours."

This was already a reduced price considering Zhu Mingyue's sincerity. Refined steel is different from other crafts; he wasn't bragging, but in this entire county, no other blacksmith shop besides his could make it. The forging workshop did, but he had privately compared them, and his knives made from the same refined steel were sharper and harder than those from the forging workshop. This was why the forging workshop had been openly and secretly trying to buy his secret formula at a high price for over a decade.

Zhu Mingyue readily took out an ounce and slapped it on the table, "This is an ounce as a deposit."

The old man paused and then emphasized, "Come and collect it all in half a month. Just give me two ounces later."

Zhu Mingyue was somewhat dazed upon hearing this.

"Too expensive?" The old man frowned again.

"It's not expensive, it's not expensive." He knew the other party had misunderstood, so he waved his hand and said. He had just thought of the madam secretly earning as much as two taels of "tickets" behind that idiot Xu Linguang's back.

He thought to himself that it was good that Xu Lingguang got the two taels of silver back for him in the end. The thought that the silver almost ended up in the brothel owner's pocket made him feel extremely disgusted.

Two real weapons would take half a month to forge and only cost three ounces. This madam is really greedy.

Next time he visits Xu Lingguang, he will definitely have a good talk with him. After all, he is not afraid of the madam at all, given his domineering attitude at Nanfeng Pavilion. How can he let the madam use him to make money for nothing?

It doesn't matter who collects the "ticket" money, so rather than letting the madam embezzle it, it's better to let Xu Linguang collect it himself.

Zhu Mingyue left the blacksmith's workshop in less than 15 minutes.

It was still bright outside, but he dared not delay any longer. Winter days can turn dark in an instant, and if he was even a little late, he might have to walk home in the dark.

He returned to the tavern where Li Zhengyang had rested without stopping, but did not go inside.

Li Zhengyang had somehow ended up at someone else's table with his back to the door, and started chatting with them casually, regardless of whether he knew them or not, acting very familiar with them.

He has a good personality and is straightforward and generous. People from all over the country can chat with him. At this moment, he is listening with great interest to the stories told by the people at his table about their experiences in the south.

"Huh?" He was just getting to the point when his deskmate suddenly fell silent. He scratched his head, a little puzzled. "Hurry up and say it, why did you suddenly stop talking?" he urged.

"So beautiful." The group of men stared blankly at the doorway. What was there to talk about with those burly men? Nothing was more important than admiring a beautiful woman.

How beautiful could she be? Could she be as pretty as Zhu Mingyue? He wasn't exaggerating, but Zhu Mingyue was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. However, such a beautiful person had now abandoned him and gone to Nanfeng Pavilion alone. He subconsciously turned around and stared wide-eyed.

Zhu Mingyue waved to him from outside the door, causing everyone to tense up. Who was she calling? Could it be them? Everyone thought so. But before they could muster the courage to act, Li Zhengyang stood up.

"I have to go now. I hope we'll meet again someday." With that, she turned and left gracefully with Zhu Mingyue without looking back.

The others were left looking at each other blankly.

"Am I seeing things? Such a beauty exists in such a small county as Shangyang."

"I never expected that Brother Li, who is not good-looking, would have such a beautiful wife at home."

"Oh! What a pity!"

As for what was regrettable, they all tacitly agreed on it.

Zhu Mingyue and Li Zhengyang didn't even have time to exchange a few words before heading straight to the clothing shop. The shopkeeper was still introducing clothes to customers. Zhu Mingyue's red dress was already on display in the shop, and quite a few pieces had already been sold. Everyone who came into the shop would pick it up and try it on.

As soon as Zhu Mingyue entered the shop, the girls who were hesitating looked at the clothes in their hands and then at Zhu Mingyue, and immediately bought the clothes with a wave of their hands.

The shopkeeper spun around the shop like a top, feeling dizzy and disoriented. In his daze, he saw Zhu Mingyue and his eyes lit up with joy.

He had his men take over and led Zhu Mingyue and Li Zhengyang to the backyard.

"You're truly my lucky charm!" the shopkeeper exclaimed exaggeratedly. "You have no idea, in just half a day, all the ready-made clothes in my shop have sold out, and the red dress you're wearing has sold the most."

Li Zhengyang was also pleased and quickly asked him, "How many did you sell?"

The shopkeeper was so busy he almost forgot how many items he had sold. He went to the front to get the ledger, looked at it, and truthfully replied, "Sixteen items."

Li Zhengyang began to count on his fingers with difficulty, and the shopkeeper, seeing this, pretended to go and get the abacus again.

“No need to bother,” he said. He could solve this simple elementary school math problem with ease. After doing a quick mental calculation twice, he was quite certain: “It’s a total of nine hundred and sixty coins.”

"Ah, right, right, right!" the shopkeeper echoed. He couldn't do mental arithmetic, but he knew roughly what was going on. Zhu Mingyue's calculation should be correct. Even if it was wrong, it didn't matter. He was infinitely tolerant of those who could bring him benefits.

"Are you two here to settle the bill now?"

Zhu Mingyue nodded. It was getting late, and he couldn't stay in the county any longer, no matter what.

Without hesitation, the shopkeeper took out one tael of silver, then, after thinking for a moment, reluctantly added another five hundred coins.

"Thanks to you wearing these clothes, my shop is doing much better than before. You two deserve a lot of credit. The original price was 960 coins, but I'll round it up and add another 500. If you have any further ideas, remember to consider cooperating with me first! I will definitely not treat you unfairly."

The fact that the shopkeeper could scrape together five hundred coins to give him shows that he had earned far more than that during this period. The commission from that red robe alone was nearly a tael of silver, and that was in just a few hours. As more people in the county wear this garment, it will naturally attract even more buyers.

Besides, the shop also subtly promoted other clothes under Zhu Mingyue's name, and sold quite a few.

It's no exaggeration to say that Zhu Mingyue is his lucky charm.

The money was already in his hands, so there was no reason to refuse it. Zhu Mingyue accepted the money without any qualms. She then turned around and forced two hundred coins into Li Zhengyang's hand. Although she had used her charms a bit, Li Zhengyang hadn't been idle either, shamelessly helping to promote the product all the way.

"I didn't expect the shopkeeper to be so kind and honest." Li Zhengyang was straightforward and didn't expect such a roundabout way of thinking. He was still sighing halfway through the journey.

He couldn't believe it, but Zhu Mingyue understood perfectly. This old fox hadn't suffered any loss at all, and had even gained a favor from him for nothing. Even Li Zhengyang had been fooled by him and praised him for his benevolence.

The two chatted casually, talking about the clothing shop and then about Nanfeng Pavilion.

Li Zhengyang glanced at Zhu Mingyue furtively. Seeing his calm expression, he composed himself and cautiously asked, "Mingyue, tell me the truth, do you have a lover at Nanfeng Pavilion?"

Upon hearing his words, Zhu Mingyue exclaimed in surprise, "How could you think that!"

He had just finished speaking when he thought about it again and realized that Li Zhengyang's idea seemed to make sense. Why would a good person like him go to such an improper place?

For anyone else, Li Zhengyang would have simply assumed he was paying to go to the brothel for some fun. But Zhu Mingyue was different. With Zhu Mingyue's face, going to the brothel was like throwing a meat bun into a doghouse—if something really happened, it was hard to say who would have the best time!

Moreover, he learned while resting at the tavern that most people who entered Nanfeng Pavilion would stay overnight, or at least not come out for an hour or two, but Zhu Mingyue came out not long after.

Was she trying to make things quick so he wouldn't have to wait too long? Li Zhengyang realized something was wrong. If Zhu Mingyue really wanted to do that kind of thing, why would she bring him along?

He considered every possible possibility and finally concluded on his own: Zhu Mingyue has a lover at Nanfeng Pavilion, and he's going to the county today to meet him and catch up.

The empty lunchbox is the most powerful proof.

“Actually, it’s okay if you have a lover. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about this. I’ll pretend nothing happened.” He thought for a moment and then advised him, “You’re a widow, so it’s fine if you remarry. It’s just that the person in the Nanfeng Pavilion is not a good match.”

Zhu Mingyue kept her head down, her shoulders trembling violently.

Li Zhengyang immediately panicked, a sense of guilt welled up in his heart, thinking that he had made the person cry, but he hadn't said anything harsh!

"I won't say anything more to you, don't cry!" He quickly changed the subject: "The male prostitutes at Nanfeng Pavilion aren't so bad, at least they're alive."

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhu Mingyue's shoulders trembled even more violently, and she even became unsteady on her feet.

Li Zhengyang broke down. He didn't know which of his words had touched a nerve with the other person, and there was no way to make amends.

"You... never mind, I misspoke. The person you love so much must be your perfect match!" Good heavens! He racked his brains but couldn't understand what kind of perfect match could come from a place like that, but he still lied to himself and said it, just to stop him from crying.

Zhu Mingyue covered her mouth, and soft, muffled sounds escaped through her fingers, barely audible.

He did cry, but he cried from laughing. Tears welled up from the corners of his eyes, wetting his eyelashes and making him look a little pitiful.

He saw Li Zhengyang walking sideways like a crab to coax him, the things he was carrying jingling and making a bit of a mess. He couldn't help but put his hands down and burst out laughing.

Li Zhengyang was completely bewildered. Was he supposed to cry or laugh?

He was a little unsure, "You didn't cry?"

Zhu Mingyue smiled, her eyes crinkling into crescents. "Why would I cry?"

He found it difficult to repeat the same words a second time: "Well, well, what I just said."

Zhu Mingyue: "Are you afraid that what you're saying will hurt my young heart?"

Li Zhengyang nodded.

Zhu Mingyue's smile faded, and she blinked her innocent big eyes twice: "But I don't have a lover at Nanfeng Pavilion!"

“But you…” He suddenly felt embarrassed to continue, because he realized that all his thoughts were just speculation. Perhaps he should listen to what Zhu Mingyue had to say.

“I really didn’t,” Zhu Mingyue sighed. “It’s a long story.”

As dusk approached, the two reached the village entrance. Li Zhengyang's apologetic voice startled the birds perched in the trees, "So that's how it is! Mingyue, I misunderstood. I'm sorry."

Zhu Mingyue waved her hand, "It's alright. It's good that you've made up your mind."

He couldn't possibly only meet Xu Linguang once today; they would definitely meet again in the future. Zhu Mingyue felt it was necessary to make things clear beforehand to avoid any misunderstandings about his relationship with Xu Linguang.