Flower Queen Han Jiuhua

The madam gave a few instructions to those inside the door, then turned to Tang Feng and said, "Young master, please wait a moment." After a while, the guide who had been called away returned and spoke a few more words to the madam. The madam nodded and pointed to the guide, saying, "This is Amu; that's what everyone calls him. Young master, please go with him. Jiu Hua lives far away; you'll definitely get lost if you try to walk on your own."

Tang Feng responded softly and followed Amu into Qinghui Fang. Upon entering, he immediately saw a two-story building directly opposite the entrance. Looking up, he saw over a dozen wooden doors lined up, each adorned with a wooden plaque adorned with red tassels. Courtesans stood at the wooden doors of the long corridor, ready to greet guests. A few blindfolded customers darted out from the passageway, seemingly to abduct people for their amusement, while servants busily served tea.

Once on the second floor, Tang Feng followed Amu through the crowded corridor. "Make way, make way. Can't you see the guests are here? Why don't you all move inside? Otherwise, Aunt Wang will start nagging again," Amu said, leading Tang Feng forward while shooing the prostitutes into the room.

"Oh, young master, would you like to come and play? I'll keep you company." A woman with heavy makeup leaned against the wooden door, tapping on the wooden sign on the door as if to attract Tang Feng's attention. "Ah! No, no," Tang Feng waved his hand and took a symbolic step back.

"Stop it!" Amu, who was walking in front, roughly pulled the woman away. "Young master, you're a nobleman. If you anger me, my mother will punish you. When you cry and beg for mercy, no one will care."

"Is he looking for Han Jiuhua again! If you ask me, we should kick such an incompatible person out as soon as possible. Go out and ask around, apart from Wang Mama who treats him like a treasure, who among the sisters of Qinghuifang can stand up to him?" The woman shouted at the top of her lungs as Tang Feng walked away. Tang Feng couldn't help but turn around and ask, "Do they not like Han Jiuhua?" Amu glanced at the woman who had just been jumping up and down as he turned the corner and said, "That's how it is here. They can't stand others being better than themselves, but they also look down on those who are worse than themselves."

"How much longer?" Tang Feng asked after walking for a while. "It'll be soon, young master. Just go through this courtyard and up to the next pavilion." Amu responded and smiled. "Does it feel quite far?" "It's alright, it just feels a bit winding." "That's what all the first-time guests say. Our top courtesan has a high status, so naturally, her place should be quieter. Those who seek out Han Jiuhua are all nobles. How can we let ordinary people disturb their enjoyment?"

As they approached the end of the courtyard, it became increasingly quiet. "Your business must be booming. I noticed that long corridor was quite lively just now." "Haha, is this your first time here, young master? My business is the best in this alley."

Tang Feng felt a little embarrassed by what Amu said. He wanted to refute himself but didn't know what to say. Indeed, not only had he never been to this place before, but he had never even been in a relationship in his past life. He had originally planned to ask his grandmother to find him a partner after graduating from university, but his grandmother passed away before he even graduated. Thinking about it, he was quite miserable. He died before he could even have a single relationship.

"Young master, we're here now. I won't follow you in." With that, Amu flipped over the wooden sign hanging on the door, took two steps back, and said, "Please, young master." He then bowed to Tang Feng and turned to leave.

"Just... just left like that?" Tang Feng turned to watch Amu's departing figure, a little flustered. "Knowing it's my first time here, they didn't even bother to get me properly dressed." Tang Feng pressed his ear against the wooden door, listening for any sound inside, before pushing it open. A warm breeze carrying a fragrant aroma wafted out as soon as the door opened. "Um... I'm coming in," Tang Feng slowly moved into the room, glancing around. "Young Master, we really are destined to meet."

"Ah!" Tang Feng was startled by the sudden sound. Looking in the direction of the sound, he vaguely saw a person sitting in a gauze curtain with a guqin on their lap. Tang Feng was stunned.

"You're Han Jiuhua?"

"Indeed, we met once on the night parade float."

"Hehe, you still remember?" Tang Feng said a little embarrassedly.

"Young Master Tang, is that right? Please take a seat." She said, gesturing for Tang Feng to sit down at the table next to him. The table was set with some food and a pot of wine.

"May I see you?" Tang Feng didn't sit down, but he didn't move either. He just silently stared at the person behind the gauze curtain. Tang Feng was somewhat curious about Han Jiuhua. He had seen many courtesans parading through the streets in TV dramas, and those were always ostentatiously showing off their beauty. But this Han Jiuhua, when she paraded through the streets, was covered by a gauze curtain and a flower fan, so he couldn't see what she looked like at all. Tang Feng just stood there, quietly waiting for Han Jiuhua's reply.

"Haha, young master, I, Han Jiuhua, sell my art, not my body."

"Just take a look from afar and let your curiosity die down."

"Since I am a performer, whether I am male or female, ugly or beautiful, it is naturally not so important. No matter what I do, it will not affect the sound of this zither. Why should young master care about my appearance? Why not sit down and listen to a piece of music to cleanse your mind?"

Tang Feng, seeing that he had been rejected, was not angry. He knelt down and said, "Do you think I'm a minor and therefore you can't see me?" Then he picked up an orange from the fruit plate in front of him and threw it into the gauze curtain.

"Young master, you jest. Even the highest officials and nobles have never seen my face," Han Jiuhua said, bending down to pick up the orange Tang Feng had tossed to him and wrapping it up. "Look," she continued, "you clearly knew it was an orange, yet you insisted on peeling it. Once you peel it, you'll find that it's actually..." After wrapping, Han Jiuhua tossed the orange pulp back to Tang Feng. "Still an orange."

"Hmph~ Perfunctory," Tang Feng muttered under his breath, breaking open the orange in his arms and putting it in his mouth. "Showing off, huh? You can play anything?"

Ah, of course.

Tang Feng had no idea what pieces could be played on the guqin. This was the only one he had ever heard on his grandmother's old radio when he was a child.

"Three Variations on Plum Blossom? Autumn winds are sweeping away fallen leaves outside the window now. Young master, listening to 'Three Variations on Winter Plum Blossom' would lack the same evocative atmosphere as 'House of Ambush from Ten Sides.' You'd be better off listening to 'House of Ambush from Ten Sides.'"

"Just wait and see."

Hearing Tang Feng's permission, Han Jiuhua began tuning her zither, then suddenly asked abruptly, "I heard... Young Master fell from his horse a few days ago."

Tang Feng was stunned for a moment, unable to recover for a while. "You knew too?" He thought that no one knew about his fall from the horse, but Han Jiuhua's question made it seem like everyone knew.

Han Jiuhua smiled and said, "No secrets are secrets here, so young master, you don't need to be surprised. I was just asking casually." After saying that, she swept the strings of the zither, and the zither on her lap seemed to transform into countless swords and shadows. In an instant, the world came alive, roof tiles fell, and the atmosphere was magnificent.

Tang Feng had heard the song "Ambush from Ten Sides" played on a pipa during a university elective course, but he had never heard it played on a guqin before. Compared to the pipa's majestic and powerful sound, the guqin music was more melancholic, as if it were a heroic song written for Xiang Yu. Tang Feng was gradually drawn in by Han Jiuhua's guqin music, and he tapped two fingers lightly on the table to keep time with the music.

The music gradually intensified, like a military review on a battlefield, with warhorses neighing. The piece reached its climax, and Tang Feng stopped tapping along and instead closed his eyes to appreciate it.

With his eyes closed, Tang Feng vaguely saw a person in a black cloak and mask riding a horse. The horse reared up, and he was sitting on the ground, wanting to run but unable to move. The person in black drew a sword, the silver light flashing in his eyes, and the horse's hooves slammed heavily towards him. "Ah!" Tang Feng suddenly opened his eyes, panting heavily. He looked around and found himself still in Han Jiuhua's room. The music was still playing, but it was nearing its end. The bamboo forest outside the window rustled in the wind. Tang Feng rubbed his forehead, thinking, "Was this a dream? It felt too real."

"Young Master, it's getting light." Tang Feng was still thinking about what had just happened and hadn't noticed that the song had ended. Han Jiuhua's voice slowly rang out, and Tang Feng gradually came to his senses.

"Huh? When is it?"

It's past 9 AM.

"Ah, it's already 9 AM? Then I have to hurry." Tang Feng remembered what Liu Yiwan had said last night, that he should pay his respects at 7 AM. Judging by the time, it must be quite late. He turned to leave.

"Young master, it seems we are destined to meet. Please come again soon!"

"What a load of rubbish! I risked coming out just to hear a song, what a load of crap!" Tang Feng cursed inwardly, but said aloud, "Of course, of course, haha." With that, Tang Feng left the house and rushed home like the wind. He didn't know what he was afraid of. His parents had died early, and his grandmother had never cared for him. Suddenly having a father in this world made him a little uneasy.

He rushed to the wall he had jumped down from yesterday, and with a few wooden crates on tiptoe, he finally climbed over it. "Speechless, they didn't even put a crate down there," Tang Feng muttered as he jumped onto the haystack. He brushed the loose dirt off his clothes and looked up to see Liu Yiwan kneeling before him. "Why are you kowtowing to me so early in the morning! Get up!" he said, reaching out to pull Liu Yiwan up.

Liu Yiwan seemed determined, remaining motionless. She grabbed Tang Feng's clothes and pulled them down forcefully. "What are you doing?" Tang Feng asked, confused. He looked down at Liu Yiwan.

"Master" Liu Yiwan glanced behind Tang Feng and whispered a reminder to him.

"Huh?" Tang Feng followed Liu Yiwan's gaze and saw an elderly man in fine clothes sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard, staring intently at him, holding a teacup, his expressionless yet stern. "Who are you?" Tang Feng asked. This question nearly made Liu Yiwan vomit blood. She tried to get up, but then remembered she was still being punished by kneeling, so she tugged at Tang Feng's clothes and whispered, "He is the master."

Tang Feng didn't hear clearly, so he pointed at the old man and asked again, "Who exactly is he?"

"You, your father..." Liu Yiwan knelt on the ground, trembling, almost crying. Why couldn't her little ancestor understand her advice after all that?

"My dad? Him?" Tang Feng pointed to the sitting old man, somewhat surprised.

"Insolence!" The old man suddenly smashed the teacup on the ground and shouted, startling Tang Feng so much that he reflexively knelt down next to Liu Yiwan.