Zuixialou is the most luxurious restaurant in Yuhang County.
County Magistrate Hong Ying, County Assistant Magistrate Lin Shaotang, Registrar Zhao Wenkai, and Clerk Qin Jiang exchanged courtesies outside the door before entering the restaurant's main hall in turn.
Inside, the guests chatted and laughed, making a great commotion, accompanied by the coquettish laughter of the hostesses, creating an atmosphere of decadent luxury.
"please."
The magistrate invited "Qin Jiang" upstairs. Even though all four were dressed in plain clothes, the innkeeper quickly recognized Magistrate Hong and hurriedly stepped forward to bow: "Master Hong, your private room is ready for you. Waiter, please take the gentlemen upstairs!"
Having received the order, the waiter draped a towel over his shoulder, extended his hand, and bowed, saying, "Gentlemen, please come upstairs!"
Magistrate Hong gestured an invitation, saying, "Clerk Qin, today's banquet is to welcome you and wash away the dust of your journey. Please go first."
"Please go first, Lord Hong."
When Qin Chuan came to the local area, he followed the local customs and also practiced the etiquette of being modest and courteous.
"The Qin scribe will come first."
"Lord Hong, please go first."
After some back and forth, Hong Ying finally went first.
The waiter followed the four people upstairs, then walked ahead and led them into a private room.
They defered to each other for a while before Magistrate Hong finally took the seat of honor.
After the four of them sat down, food and drinks were served. However, Lin Shaotang suddenly left the table. When he returned, he brought with him four girls dressed in flamboyant attire.
"Greetings, gentlemen."
The four girls bowed gracefully.
Qin Chuan remained expressionless, never expecting that a minor official here would live such a luxurious life, daring to openly solicit prostitutes.
Even more unexpectedly, on his very first day in office, the county magistrate tried to pull him into the officialdom and corrupt him.
Lin Shaotang returned to his seat and said to Qin Chuan, "Let me introduce these four to Clerk Qin. They are the most popular courtesans in the county's music and dance halls. All four of you... come over and pay your respects to Master Qin."
"Greetings, Mr. Qin."
The four girls faced Qin Chuan, bowed gracefully, and then stood in a row.
County Magistrate Lin introduced them one by one:
"This lady is named Du Chunniang, and she plays the pipa beautifully."
"This girl is named Hua Lianlian, and she is skilled at playing the konghou (a type of Chinese harp)."
"This lady is called Liu Cuixiang, hehe, she's good at playing the flute..."
"And this one, Mu Yunyun, can not only sing and play instruments, but also dance very well."
After listening to Magistrate Lin's introduction, Qin Chuan glanced at the four women and saw that they all looked incredibly alluring. Naturally, he didn't find any of them appealing. Compared to the stunningly beautiful "fairies" like the Empress's wife and Yao Yao's wife, these women were nothing but ordinary beauties compared to Jiang Ran.
The powder on their faces, the fine wrinkles at the corners of their eyes, and their tired yet forced smiles were all clearly visible to Qin Chuan.
He had also given deep thought to whether to abolish the buying and selling of people, the system of classifying people as lowly, and whether brothels should be legalized. These seemingly unreasonable things had deep-seated social causes, and reforming them was not something that could be done overnight...
Thinking of this, Qin Chuan casually pointed at Hua Lianlian.
Hua Lianlian smiled, walked over gently, stood beside him, and poured him more wine.
Qin Chuan pointed to the round stool next to him and asked her to sit down. Hua Lianlian sat down with a smile.
Seeing this, Magistrate Hong smiled and said, "Clerk Qin, this young lady is most skilled at playing the konghou (a type of Chinese harp). Shall we ask her to play a tune?"
The other three girls also sat next to their respective servants, and the atmosphere became increasingly decadent as they drank and chatted.
Qin Chuan smiled ingratiatingly, but sat upright and did not speak.
County Magistrate Lin Shaotang smiled and said, "The konghou is inconvenient to carry. If you want to hear it, Clerk Qin will probably have to do it another day. How about Miss Mu dances a song and Miss Du plays a pipa song?"
"Excellent! Very good!" the magistrate said with a smile.
Next, Mu Yunyun danced, Du Chunniang played the pipa, while Hua Lianlian and Liu Cuixiang poured wine for the four gentlemen who were sitting and watching.
The music and dance brought the banquet to a climax. Apart from Qin Chuan, the three gentlemen at the table squinted their eyes and enjoyed themselves immensely, completely indulging in the moment.
Du Chunniang and Mu Yunyun sang and played a few more songs, and then the county magistrate called them to stop, inviting them to sit down and drink and play together. After a while, the girls all sat on the magistrate's lap.
That's because the gentlemen stuffed large sums of money into their breasts.
Hua Lianlian also sat on Qin Chuan's lap. Unlike the forced smiles of the other three girls, she seemed to be boldly looking at Qin Chuan's face...
Qin Chuan was speechless. He thought to himself, "If all the high-ranking officials are this corrupt and decadent, then the lives of ordinary people will never be any better..."
He concealed his identity and conducted a low-key undercover investigation this time. Faced with these ordinary women, he was naturally able to remain unmoved. If it were those poor scholars who had studied hard for ten years and then encountered such a situation after becoming officials, how could they not easily succumb?
Thinking of this, he felt a deep sense of sorrow and helplessness...
...
Meanwhile, Jiang Lianyue and Xiao Yue, who had been secretly watching him from outside the door, peeked through the crack in the window. Seeing that Qin Chuan was not in danger, they exchanged a glance and then walked out of Cuixia Tower.
"This lecherous bastard will take any kind of woman!"
Who are you talking about?
"Who else could it be? Your brother-in-law!"
"My brother-in-law remained unmoved by her presence; he was just being polite."
"Socializing? That's what men say. They just want to have fun."
After saying this, Jiang Lianyue left Xiao Yue, who was bewildered in the wind, and walked back alone to her rented courtyard in Hechi.
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