Oiran
Jinxiu and Liang Hongyu lived in the same room, and Jinxiu took care of Liang Hongyu's daily life.
Liang Hongyu, her hands calloused from swordplay, was prepared for the hardships she endured, but she hadn't expected the pain of cutting her hands while playing the pipa to be unpleasant. To complete her apprenticeship as quickly as possible, she barely rested during the day and, at night, practiced in the woods outside the city to avoid disturbing others.
A month later, Liang Hongyu was finally able to play a complete piece of music. The "Pipa Xing" she played was melodious, sad and mournful, which was very suitable for her mood at the time.
During this year, the tutor not only taught them music, but also taught them how to walk, write, and how to please men with their beauty.
A year later, in the selection of new talents, among the female members of the Liang family, only Jinxiu, Qiufeng and Liang Hongyu became first-class artists, while the others went to the backyard to do hard labor.
The Oiran Conference was held as scheduled a year later.
The main building of Zuixinlou is a three-story wooden building.
The hall on the first floor is the largest, with a circular stage built in the middle.
The second floor is for private rooms. There is a circular platform five meters above the stage. Although there are not many private rooms, one can see everything happening on the stage below clearly from all directions.
The third floor is a private room where guests can see the stage from their windows. A passageway beside the main building connects to the annex building, which is larger than the main building but not as magnificent and luxurious.
Behind the main building and the auxiliary building is where the servants and the old and ugly Hua sisters live. Some of the old and ugly Hua sisters are assigned to do cleaning, laundry and tea pouring work here.
In the hall, although the Oiran Competition has not yet begun, it is already crowded and brightly lit.
The lobby on the first floor was already full of people, and most of the private rooms on the second floor were already booked.
The private rooms on the third floor were also booked out in advance, and both the elegant rooms and the private rooms were reserved for dignitaries.
Mother Yan stood on the circular platform on the second floor and gave the order: "The Oiran Competition begins now."
On the first-floor stage, various beauties emerged one after another, their clothes colorful, their hair styles varied, and each one of them was extremely charming and stunning.
In the first talent show, Jinxiu was the first to appear. Her flute music was melodious and touching.
Qiu Feng's guqin played a melodious sound, like a fairy melody.
Liang Hongyu was the last to appear. She stood on the second-floor circular platform, her hair tied high in a bun, adorned with a gorgeous red and green gold hairpin and a golden hairpin, a gorgeous peony slanted diagonally. She wore a flowing, light-colored scarlet gown. Her lips shone brightly, her face was as beautiful as a peach, and she was incredibly beautiful. Her stunning beauty alone eclipsed the other women on stage.
Her way of appearance was even more special. Two red lotuses floated out from the second floor. Liang Hongyu grabbed the red lotuses with one hand and walked down. Her posture was like a goddess of Dunhuang descending from the sky.
Although she plays the pipa to perfection, her dancing skills are even more amazing.
Her chosen talent today was dancing. A pair of delicate hands emerged from her red sleeves, gently twirling, her movements as light as a fairy alighting amidst a sea of flowers. Her dancing was graceful, her body seemingly boneless, captivating the audience.
The second competition was calligraphy. Liang Hongyu had already learned to write well when she was still in the boudoir, so it was naturally no problem for her.
Finally, Mother Yan announced, "Today's top beauties are... Liang Hongyu."
Although Qiu Feng's piano skills are unparalleled, Liang Hongyu is better in all aspects. She is superior in appearance, music, calligraphy, and dancing skills.
As soon as Mother Yan finished speaking, the guests burst into applause. It had been a long time since Jingkou had seen such a beautiful and talented courtesan.
As soon as the courtesan conference ended, Liang Hongyu became famous. Many literati and poets came to visit her and spent huge sums of money just to see the courtesan.
Among them, there were many dignitaries who coveted Liang Hongyu's beauty and wanted to take her as their concubine, but they were all rejected by Liang Hongyu.
In order to prevent guests with bad intentions, Liang Hongyu specially chose the day when Zuixinlou was full and performed sword dancing to entertain the guests.
She held a long sword in the center of the stage. Wherever the sword passed, there was a sound of wind, and it was like a dragon flying through the air. The sword was sharp, like a ray of cold light passing through.
Everyone in the audience applauded. After she finished her sword dance, she placed the target in the center of the stage, drew her bow and sword, and fired three shots in a row, all of which hit the bull's eye.
From then on, those literati and poets no longer regarded her as an ordinary courtesan who used her beauty to please men, but treated her with great respect, did not dare to act rashly, and only spent a lot of money to appreciate her talent.
On this day, a group of soldiers came to the Jiaofangsi to perform music. The leader was Xin Xingzong, an official with the rank of Defense History and said to be the godson of the current Grand Tutor Tong Guan. Having heard of Liang Hongyu's great name, he specifically asked Liang Hongyu to perform music.
Xin Xingzong waited for a moment, and a woman with a rosy face and a slender waist walked towards him. At the first sight, he was already drooling over her.
Liang Hongyu finished playing a piece and was about to leave when someone sitting in the middle said to her, "Why are you leaving in such a hurry? Come and pour me some wine."
Liang Hongyu put down the pipa in her hand and patiently poured a full glass of wine for the official who looked like a bad guy.
"Come, sit next to me." Xin Xingzong said as he reached out to pull Liang Hongyu. Liang Hongyu pushed him away and said angrily, "Sir, please respect yourself. I only sell my art, not my body."
"Oh, I like this young lady's temperament." As he said this, he was about to go forward to hold Liang Hongyu's hand. Liang Hongyu kicked the desk next to her away, and the desk hit the pillar and shattered into pieces in an instant.
Xin Xingzong sobered up immediately after seeing this scene. "Damn it! How dare you destroy my place? Do you know who I am? I am Tong Guan's godson."
"Oh, who was he? Turns out to be someone's godson!" Liang Hongyu said in a contemptuous tone.
Xin Xingzong drew his sword and was about to strike when Mother Yan rushed over in time and said to the official with a smile, "Sir, this slave is ignorant. I will replace her with another one. She is from a military family and has a bad temper."
It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned that he was from a military family. When Xin Xingzong heard that he was from a military family, he was furious. Why didn't this old brothel owner take him seriously? He was also a veteran of the battlefield and had held the rank of general in charge of defense.
"I'd like to see how powerful the descendants of military families are." Xin Xingzong said as he raised his sword and stabbed Liang Hongyu. Liang Hongyu dodged, bent down, grabbed the teacup on the table, and threw it towards Xin Xingzong.
Xinxing Zong only felt a sharp pain in his head. He raised his hand and touched it, and found it was covered in blood. His blood was boiling, and his anger was beyond words. He gripped his sword tightly and chopped again.
Liang Hongyu kicked her sword away and grabbed Xin Xingzong's wrist with her bare hands. With a reverse grip, Xin Xingzong was unable to move. She bent down and said to her men, "What are you standing there for? Come on!"
The men finally reacted and attacked Liang Hongyu with their knives. Liang Hongyu beat them for several rounds until they lay on the ground, unable to move.
"Get out of here!" Liang Hongyu scolded.
Several people supported Xin Xingzong as he left in a dusty state.
Seeing this, the people in Zuixinlou murmured, "This woman is really amazing."
Some people also said: "She is in big trouble now."
After cleaning up the mess, Madam Yan came to Liang Hongyu's room and said to her, "My dear aunt, please save yourself some trouble. The official just now was the godson of Tong Guan, the most powerful master in the capital. You are really provoking others. Do you think you can afford to offend him? It doesn't matter if you lose your life, but do you want the people around you to be buried with you?"
After scolding Liang Hongyu, Mother Yan left.
Sure enough, in less than an hour, Xin Xingzong brought dozens of soldiers to Zuixinlou.
"Catch her for me." Xinxingzong ordered.
Liang Hongyu knew that she was outnumbered and could not defeat four hands with one punch, so she surrendered.
When Jinxiu saw her daughter being arrested, she quickly went to inform Qiufeng, "Sister Qiufeng, this is bad. The girl has been arrested by the soldiers."
Qiu Feng heard this and said anxiously: "What should I do?"
Qiu Feng paced back and forth anxiously in the room for a few times, and suddenly an idea flashed in his mind: "Why don't we report it to the police?"
The two immediately went to the county government office to report the incident. When the local magistrate heard that it was Tong Guan's godson who had arrested someone, he drove them away.
Outside the county government office, Jinxiu squatted on the ground and cried anxiously, "What should I do?"
Qiu Feng also sighed, not knowing how to comfort Jinxiu.
Back at Zuixinlou, Mother Yan was surprised to hear that the government didn't want to intervene, so she said, "Master Tong is powerful and influential. Your daughter has provoked someone she shouldn't have provoked. It's a good thing for her to learn some hardship, so she doesn't always cause trouble for me." After saying this, Mother Yan snorted coldly and turned to leave.
After Liang Hongyu was brought to Xin Xingzong's residence, her hands and feet were tied by his men and she was thrown onto the bed.
When Xin Xingzong saw the beauty in front of him with her hands and feet tied, he became extremely bold and said, "Beauty, come and play with me." Then he walked towards the tied Liang Hongyu.
Liang Hongyu felt a chill in her heart and tried to struggle to free her bound feet. She warned him, "The laws of the Song Dynasty stipulate that officials cannot visit prostitutes. If they do, they will be punished with eighty strokes of the cane at the very least, or demoted to a commoner at the worst."
Xin Xingzong laughed and said, "My godfather, Grand Tutor Tong, is the law of the Song Dynasty." Then he pounced on Liang Hongyu. Liang Hongyu elbowed Xin Xingzong with her bound hands, took the opportunity to loosen her bound feet, and kicked Xin Xingzong in the chest.
Xin Xingzong suddenly felt unbearable pain in his stomach, tears streaming down his face, and shouted, "Someone come!"
When the men heard the shouting, they immediately rushed into the room and subdued Liang Hongyu, whose hands were tied.
"Take her to jail and beat her hard." Xin Xingzong ordered. After being kicked by her, he instantly lost interest in this woman and just wanted to return the kick he had just received.
Liang Hongyu's hands were tied to the horizontal pole, and her body was torn and bleeding from the whip. She immediately fainted. Xin Xingzong signaled his men to wake her up.
With a "splash", a basin of cold water was poured over Liang Hongyu's head. She woke up instantly, with flames of anger in her eyes.
"If you obey me, I can help you get rid of your status as a slut. Otherwise, I will make you live a life worse than death. What do you think?" Xin Xingzong said to Liang Hongyu as he approached her.
"Bah! Even if I am a lowly person, I am still much nobler than you, a man with a beastly heart." Liang Hongyu gritted her teeth.
Xin Xingzong was furious and said, "Keep hitting me."
The prison was so quiet that only the sound of the whip could be heard. Liang Hongyu never cried out in pain. Even if she was beaten to death, she did not want to kneel down to him.
She was beaten unconscious again, and Xin Xingzong left the cell. None of the enemy prisoners he had interrogated before were as stubborn as this woman.
The afterglow of the sun poured in through the window, casting spots of light on the floor of the cell. Liang Hongyu woke up at this moment and felt excruciating pain all over her body.
If she could go back alive, she would make Xin Xingzong suffer the same pain she suffered today, and she would also make those who framed the Liang family pay with blood, but she could not die before that.
Liang Hongyu was tortured for three days and three nights, but she still refused to surrender to Xin Xingzong. Finally, his subordinates could no longer bear it and warned him, "If this woman dies here, and the Grand Tutor blames us, it will be more trouble than it's worth, sir!"
Xin Xingzong suddenly came to his senses. Although the status of an official prostitute was low, this woman was a top courtesan and was sought after by many officials. It would be difficult to explain to the Grand Tutor if he killed her.
He waved his hand and said, "Then let her go."
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