Chapter 30 The Good Girls in the Brothel [New Book, Please Collect! ]
Chunmanlou is the only brothel in Yuhang Town.
Originally, even if there were prostitutes in Yuhang Town, they were just prostitutes who were not presentable. Since Chun Man Lou opened, it has quickly become a gathering place for local "literati and scholars" with its beautiful environment and first-class service.
This is the land of comfort for men in Yuhang Town, but also the thorn in the eyes of women in Yuhang Town. Whenever it gets dark, wives in every household have to keep an eye on their husbands, lest they find excuses to go for a stroll around the street where Chun Man Lou is located.
Most people have no chance to visit, but it's nice to just wander around and see those half-dressed "good girls" leaning against the door railings and flirting with each other. Sometimes you might even catch a flirtatious glance, which is also great.
Senior scholar and elegant man, Young Master Wang Longqi, once said that Chun Man Lou was in no way inferior to the brothels and brothels in Hangzhou.
What he compares here is naturally the most critical part of the brothel - good girls.
A large brothel must have all-round talents. Young girls who have just entered the world of prostitution, experienced and charming women... these girls who can meet the various requirements of customers can only be considered good girls at the bottom. Above these, there must be some famous prostitutes who can show off their talents.
The requirements for prostitutes are not just about beauty. To become famous in the entertainment industry, they must have the ability to amaze people. To be treated like a treasure, they must be both beautiful and talented.
And there are several such famous prostitutes in Chunmanlou.
The person who died last night was one of them.
"The deceased's name is Ruan Hongmei, her stage name is Meixiang, and she was a prostitute in Chun Man Lou."
Standing outside the elegant and sophisticated pavilion, Li Xinyi introduced.
She pouted her lips and reminded him, "Don't look around when you go in."
"Yeah." Li Chu nodded.
Literati and scholars have always liked to gather at night. During the day, the Chunmanlou is deserted with few pedestrians, and no one is seen entering or leaving the two open doors. It is quiet inside, with a lazy smell of powder.
Occasionally, one or two women in disheveled clothes would open the window, stretch, yawn, take a few breaths, and then close it again.
But today, the closed window was immediately opened again.
The sleepy girl rubbed her eyes, turned around and screamed: "Sisters——"
Li Xinyi still made a mistake.
When Li Chu entered the brothel, it was not a question of whether he looked around or not, but a question of being looked at by others.
Even if women from other places see handsome men and feel admiration for them, at most they will just look at them shyly and coquettishly.
The girls in the brothel didn't care about that. In a blink of an eye, a large group of them surrounded Li Chu, chattering and almost touching him, which made Li Xinyi very angry.
Li Chu blinked. He had no experience in dealing with this kind of situation, so he could only use a cold expression to signal strangers to stay away. Fortunately, there was Li Xinyi, who was standing by and helped him to drive everyone away.
"What are you doing? What are you doing? You look like you have never seen the world." A lazy voice came from behind the crowd.
The group of good girls immediately restrained their behavior and stepped back one after another. It seemed that the person who came was quite majestic.
Li Xinyi finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked in the direction where the crowd was parting.
The person who came was Chun Sanniang, the owner of Chunmanlou.
It is said that Chun Sanniang was a famous person in Shenluo City in those days. Later, when she had saved enough money, she redeemed herself and came to Yuhang Town to open Chunmanlou.
Shenluo City is the second largest city in the Heluo Dynasty. Unlike Chaoge, it does not have the majesty of an imperial capital. Its entertainment industry is extremely developed. It has always been known as the "Flower City" and is a place of endless romance.
The annual Flower City Conference is the most important event in the Heluo Dynasty.
Chun Sanniang is worthy of her origin as she is from Shenluo City. The girls she has trained are all very professional, which is why she was able to build up the reputation of Chun Manlou in such a short time.
She was wearing ordinary home clothes, a white silk shirt with a front opening, plain lining and trousers. The clothes were not eye-catching, but her voluptuous figure could not be hidden. Her breasts were like mountains, her hips were like full moons, and she had been a boss for several years but still had a willow waist that had not gained weight. She was tall and swayed when she walked, which gave her a natural charm.
In comparison, the nice girls around suddenly looked tacky.
She had met Li Xinyi in the morning, so she smiled with eyes as bright as crescent moons, "Sir Li, the government has already come to investigate and confirmed that Meixiang committed suicide. The body has also been collected, so why are you here again? Oh, and you brought such a handsome young Taoist priest with you, are you here to pray for Meixiang's soul to rest in peace?"
Li Xinyi looked at her with a rather unfriendly look, and said with a straight face, "It is a foregone conclusion that Miss Meixiang committed suicide. We are here for other matters. This is Taoist Priest Li from Deyun Temple. I invited him to exorcise evil spirits. Please show some respect."
"Oh? Anything else?"
"Take us to Miss Meixiang's room, and I'll talk to you in detail. With so many people around, how can you... behave properly?"
Li Xinyi glanced around and frowned. Compared to those good girls, she looked like a lady from a wealthy family.
"Okay, follow me." Chun Sanniang agreed, turned around and waved her hand: "Go away, go away, look at you all, it's like you have never seen a man since you were born."
"I've never seen such a handsome man." A good girl whispered.
"I will send you to Deyun Temple to become a monk tomorrow!"
Chun Sanniang glared at her, scolded her, and raised her hand to slap her plump butt, which was a thump.
The two followed her upstairs, and after taking two steps, Li Chuji said seriously, "We are not accepting visitors at this time."
Chun Sanniang glanced at him and smiled, "Little Taoist Priest, you are really interesting."
Li Xinyi looked at her smiling face, then at her chest.
As if facing a formidable enemy.
The second floor is the prostitutes' rooms. Each bedroom is much larger than the ones downstairs and has a living room. Each room has an elegant name.
As soon as I went upstairs, I heard a pleasant piano sound. The sound was not loud, like a trickle of water, but it penetrated deeply into people's hearts and made people feel peaceful unconsciously.
After passing the front yard, they saw the person playing the piano on the terrace in the center of the attic.
This is a woman wearing a lotus-colored gauze, her body is behind eight screens, only a graceful shadow can be seen. Behind her is the distant sky with flowing clouds, in front of her is a jade harp.
The picture is quite artistic.
Li Chu suddenly stopped here and paused.
He felt that the woman looked a little different, but he couldn't tell what the difference was. Looking closely, he saw that she was covered with an extra veil, making it difficult to see her face clearly.
Chun Sanniang laughed again and said, "This is Miss Biluo, our newest prostitute. But Miss Biluo only sells her art and not her body. Not to mention selling her body, she won't even show her face."
"Oh." Li Chu agreed and wanted to continue walking.
Suddenly, the music stopped, and Miss Biluo put away her slender jade fingers and asked, "Little Taoist priest, do you want to see my face?"
Her voice is soft, continuous and very pleasant to hear.
"That won't do." Chun Sanniang shook her head first: "You said at the beginning that you would marry whoever saw your face."
Miss Biluo stood up, her sleeves fluttering in the breeze, and said with a smile: "If the young Taoist priest is interested, it would be fine to let him take a look."
The implication of this is indeed worth pondering.
Then, Li Chu said seriously, "That's not necessary."
Li Xinyi immediately smiled and pulled him away.
Only Miss Biluo was left alone, disheveled in the wind.
The interior of Chunmanlou is very large, so it took quite a distance to reach Meixiang's bedroom.
As one of the prostitutes, Meixiang's bedroom was also spacious and elegant, with a hall and inner and outer rooms.
The maid who served Meixiang was also called over. The little maid was only twelve or thirteen years old. Although she had been scared for a while, she still cried uncontrollably when she was questioned.
"I slept in the outer room last night, and the girl slept in the inner room. She was fine before we went to bed. Who knows, who knows how she could have hanged herself without making any noise!"
Chun Sanniang stroked the little girl's shoulders, patted her, and glanced at Li Xinyi again, saying unhappily, "I asked this question this morning, why do you have to ask this child again?"
"Because Meixiang's death was strange." Li Xinyi replied calmly: "She was holding a copper coin in her hand when she committed suicide, right?"
"Yes, the copper coins were also collected by the constables in the yamen." The maid replied.
Li Xinyi was silent for a moment, and then said, "We can conclude that Meixiang will turn into a vengeful spirit after her death."
"ah?"
Chun Sanniang was shocked. She was knowledgeable and knew what vengeful spirits were.
After being shocked for a while, she shook her head and said, "That's not right. Meixiang has never been wronged. Even if she is unhappy, why would she be so resentful?"
"That's what I want to ask you." Li Xinyi said, "Who has Meixiang had grudges against? Who does she want to take revenge on the most?"
This is the crux of the matter. Although Meixiang died in Chunmanlou, her resentment will always go to where her resentment is gathered. If you want to prevent her from harming others, you must first find out where her resentment is.
She stared at the maid and asked. The maid was frightened by her gaze and kept shaking her head, unable to say anything.
Chun Sanniang hugged the little maid and replied, "The girls in our building only come into contact with so many people. Meixiang is usually arrogant and has a bad relationship with several prostitutes in the building. But to say that she wants revenge after becoming a ghost is really not the case."
Li Xinyi thought for a moment and changed the question, "Has Meixiang ever complained to you about anything? Did she curse anyone before she committed suicide last night? You have been following her all the time, so you should have heard it."
The little maid sobbed twice, thought for a while, and said, "Last night, the young lady did scold a man for being heartless, unfeeling, and ungrateful..."
"who?"
"Yes...it's the seventh young master of the Wang family."
Thanks to "天杀孤星命不良" for the 2,000 recommendation votes.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
