Chapter 60 You're unwilling?
After enduring countless hardships, she and her mother finally arrived in Qianzhou, their place of exile.
Unable to bear it any longer, the mother hanged herself, entrusting herself to the kind and honest old village chief.
But even the old village chief and his wife couldn't protect her; she was tied up and sold to a brothel.
The madam saw that she had a fair and delicate face, so she kept her and forced her to learn music, chess, calligraphy, painting, singing, and dancing.
At first she refused, so the madam beat her severely and locked her in the woodshed.
Her injuries, coupled with two days of hunger, caused her to develop a high fever.
When she was in a daze and almost dying, she saw her mother squatting beside her, stroking her head repeatedly.
"My dear, promise your mother that you will live on strongly."
She survived the high fever, then learned her lesson and accepted reality.
She learned whatever the madam told her to learn.
From the age of nine to fifteen, she spent six years in a brothel, where the madam promoted her to become the most beautiful courtesan.
Then she was bought back by Shen Cong.
It was actually an accident that Shen Cong bought it.
The madam had already spread the word that she would officially begin accepting customers on the day she came of age.
Therefore, they made many preparations in advance, sending out invitations throughout Qianzhou to local wealthy and powerful families.
She felt fear and disgust.
He used the excuse of going to the temple to burn incense, thinking he would go out for a walk to clear his mind.
After returning from offering incense, she keenly detected a bloody smell in her carriage.
Immediately afterwards, a cold dagger was pressed against the back of her neck, and a chilling voice came from behind her.
"Don't move, or I'll cut your neck right now."
A maid's question came from outside the carriage.
"Miss, what's wrong?"
She trembled, clearly feeling the dagger pressing down on the back of her neck, pressing against her throbbing veins.
She forced herself to calm down and instructed, "It's alright, let's go back inside."
The carriage stopped after walking only a few steps.
"It looks like government officials are arresting thieves ahead. All carriages entering and leaving the city are being checked."
The maid explained from outside.
Li Nanke's heart skipped a beat, and he lifted a corner of the carriage curtain to look outside.
Under the scorching sun, a group of yamen runners in black uniforms shouted and drove the people in front off their carriages for inspection.
She frowned slightly, tore off a corner of her petticoat, and handed it to the back of her.
The person behind him did not accept it.
She lowered her voice and said, "You're injured. If you don't treat your wound, the strong smell of blood in the car will attract their attention."
The person behind her hesitated for a moment before taking the petticoat.
Then came a rustling sound, as if someone was bandaging a wound.
Li Nanke bent down to pull out the drawer under the small table.
The moment he moved, the dagger pressed down again.
"Don't move."
She raised her hand and said softly, "I'll take out some incense to cover up the smell of blood."
She pulled the dagger back slightly, opened the drawer, took out the incense sticks she usually used, and lit them in the incense burner.
Soon, a faint aroma of fruit wafted from inside the carriage.
She then placed the camellias she had picked from the mountain on a small table and sprinkled some fragrant powder on them.
Just as they finished doing all this, the impatient voices of the yamen runners came from outside.
"The people inside must get out of the car for inspection."
The dagger behind her slid down and pressed tightly against her lower back, as if it could pierce her the moment she moved.
Li Nanke's heart skipped a beat, and she softened her voice, instructing the maid to open the carriage door.
"I twisted my ankle while going up the mountain today and am unable to get out of the carriage. Please forgive me, sir."
She then instructed her maid to take a tael of silver, saying, "Gentlemen, you've worked hard. Take this to have some tea. We'll go to Hua Man Lou for tea another day, and I'll personally accompany you."
She did sprain her ankle on the mountain, but it wasn't serious.
But her maid was clever; knowing she didn't want to get out of the carriage, she immediately took out some silver to bribe her.
"Please understand our young lady, gentlemen. She is Wang Yu of Hua Man Lou. She will personally invite you gentlemen to the building for tea another day."
The constables, who had been looking impatient, lit up with excitement when they heard her name and began to scrutinize her without restraint.
"So this is the courtesan, tsk tsk, truly a beauty of unparalleled grace."
"Would the courtesan really be willing to drink with the brothers?"
"Looks like we brothers are really lucky with the ladies."
Several constables practically stared at her, and their words became increasingly vulgar.
She lowered her eyes to hide the hatred in them, and her voice became even more melodious and gentle.
"I'll definitely have a good drink with you gentlemen another day."
The constables laughed and joked for a while, then took the money and left.
She ordered her maid to close the carriage door, "Back to Hua Man Lou."
The dagger behind him slid down, making a soft thud.
She turned around and saw a man half-huddled in the partition of the carriage, his face pale and bloodless.
One hand was covering her lower left abdomen, with her petticoat draped over it, and her fingers were stained red with blood.
The man had already fainted.
She made no sound and quietly led the person into her small building with her maid.
Thanks to her reputation as the most beautiful courtesan, she had her own small building in the Flower Pavilion.
The man remained unconscious for a full day and night before waking up.
He opened his eyes, his narrow pupils radiating a violent aura, cold as ice.
His first question to her was, "Why did you save me?"
She hardly thought about it.
"Because I hate those yamen runners, I hate them so much."
Her father and grandmother died at the hands of the yamen runners, and her mother suffered even more torture at their hands.
In her mind, all the yamen runners wearing those black uniforms were bastards.
The man seemed surprised by the answer; a look of astonishment flashed across his pale face. After a long silence, he uttered another sentence.
"I'm not used to owing people anything. What do you want?"
What do you want?
She wants so much.
She wanted her father, mother, and grandmother to be alive!
But she knew that wasn't realistic.
Therefore, her only wish in life was to avenge them.
But she didn't even know who the enemy was who caused her family's tragic fate, so how could she talk about revenge?
After thinking for a long time, she came up with the most practical suggestion.
"I'll be of marriageable age in three days, and the madam of Hua Man Lou wants to force me to start taking customers. I don't want to. Do you have any ideas?"
The man remained silent for a long time, then nodded and leaped out of the window.
Two days later, the madam came to see her overjoyed and congratulated her as soon as she entered.
"People from Prince Xuan's residence have arrived, saying they want to buy you back to serve Prince Xuan. You've really risen to a higher social status."
"Hurry up and pack your things; people from the Prince's mansion will come to pick you up tonight."
She was both surprised and panicked. King Xuan's fief was in Chengdu Prefecture, so why would he come all the way to Qianzhou to buy people?
As expected, someone came to pick her up that evening and took her all the way to Chengdu.
Two maids helped her wash and dress, and then took her directly to Prince Xuan's room.
The room was dimly lit, and before she could react, she was forced onto the bed.
The cold hand stroked her neck, making her tremble all over and shake uncontrollably.
"You don't want to?"
The voice that rang out from above was cold and sharp, like a sword that could pierce through a person.
She unconsciously tightened her grip on her clothes, her teeth chattering uncontrollably.
"No...I...I won't..."
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