Although Xinglou has many beautiful and talented women, they are all prostitutes. After all, this is a restaurant. Unlike those brothels, there are few things that are not worthy of being in a refined place. Therefore, literati and scholars love to come here and they will not be criticized.
If one really likes a girl in the building, those who are capable can ask the girl to go out of the building to accompany him, or spend a large sum of money to redeem her and take her away. There is only one rule: doing dirty things in this Xinglou is not allowed. This is why daughters of officials like Xue Qingshang can come here without worry.
After hearing Xue Qingshang's words, the young ladies from the noble families in the room knew their place and did not ask any more questions. They stood up one by one, and went downstairs and left through the backyard with their personal maids.
Yu Jiao also stood up and was about to leave with the others, but was stopped by Xue Qingshang, "You can come with me later."
Yu Jiao stopped and sat back at the table.
Seeing her calm expression, Xue Qingshang raised her eyebrows slightly, wanting to say something but stopping herself. She just let Yu Jiao stay in the room and hurried outside.
An incense stick later, Xue Qingshang came back. Yu Jiao looked at her and asked, "County Lady, what happened?"
Xue Qingshang frowned and stared at Yu Jiao for a while without saying anything.
At this time, there was a noise outside the door, "Girl, are you in there?"
Yu Jiao recognized the voice as Jian Jia's. She seemed to be stopped by the maid guarding the door. Yu Jiao said to Xue Qingshang, "County Lady, this is the maidservant beside me."
"Why isn't he with you?" Xue Qingshang asked, and ordered the maid to let the person in.
Yu Jiao explained, "When I came here just now, I asked them to eat downstairs. I thought something happened in the building, so they were worried and came here."
Sure enough, after Jianjia and Bailu brought Daibi in, the three of them looked unhappy. Seeing that Yu Jiao was safe and sound, they seemed relieved. After greeting Xue Qingshang, Jianjia whispered to Yu Jiao, "Miss, something happened in the building. I saw that many girls have left. Let's go back home quickly."
Yu Jiao glanced at Xue Qingshang and asked, "County Lady, what happened? Who dared to cause trouble in Xinglou?"
Xue Qingshang also heard what Jianjia said. Seeing that Yu Jiao really seemed to be unaware of the situation, she dispelled her suspicions and said to her, "Do you know the daughter of Lord Yang, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel?"
"It's her?" Yu Jiao seemed a little surprised and said, "Before Lord Yang was promoted, he was the prefect of Qingzhou. I have been a doctor for Madam Yang and have met Miss Yang several times. Before I came to the back pavilion, she even invited me to the private room to talk about something."
"You said you met her just now?" Xue Qingshang saw that Yu Jiao looked calm and didn't seem to be faking it, so she asked, "When you left her room, was there anyone else with you?"
Yu Jiao shook her head. "On the day when Governor Cheng held the banquet, the maidservant beside her came to me and asked me to redeem her." Yu Jiao pointed at Dai Bi and said, "That maidservant was her. I met Miss Yang just now to redeem her."
"Why did she ask you to redeem her?" Xue Qingshang became suspicious again.
Yu Jiao sighed softly, but before she could say anything, Dai Bi took a step forward and knelt on the ground, "It's all my fault. Female doctor Yu was soft-hearted. I begged her to redeem me."
She rolled up her sleeves, revealing two arms covered with purple scars. Some of the scars were caused by pinching, and some were caused by whipping. Debbie choked up and said, "I really have no way to survive with Miss Yang, so I had no choice but to ask for help from the Third Miss."
Xue Qingshang frowned when she saw her wounds, and said to Yu Jiao, "Someone downstairs went to the wrong private room and saw Miss Yang and the young master of the Zhou family of the Imperial Household Department having an affair in the private room. Miss Yang said that it was you who caused her to do that."
Yu Jiao was stunned, "How could it be... When I left her place, there was no Young Master Zhou."
Dai Bi, who was kneeling on the ground, said, "I know something. Miss Yang and the young master of the Zhou family are about to get engaged. They have been meeting secretly frequently these days."
"But Miss Yang keeps saying that it was you who did it. If you are really blamed for this kind of dirty thing, it will inevitably ruin your reputation." Apart from other things, Yu Jiao is now Cheng Ying's adopted daughter, so Xue Qingshang naturally wants to protect her. Seeing that Yu Jiao's face was a little pale, Xue Qingshang softened her tone, "Don't panic, her words of accusing you were not heard by others. The housekeeper in the building handled the matter properly. She took the person away early and drove away all the onlookers."
Yu Jiao bit her lip, as if she had made up her mind. "At this point, there is nothing I can't say. I was concerned about Miss Yang's reputation and didn't want to elaborate on the dispute between the two of us. In fact, this matter is also related to my fifth brother."
"Are you talking about Young Master Yu Wu?" Xue Qingshang couldn't hide her surprise. She really couldn't figure out why he was related to Yu Qizhe.
Yu Jiao nodded and sighed, "During the Autumn Examination, when Miss Yang was sending Lord Yang to the Imperial Examination Hall, she saw my fifth brother outside the Imperial Examination Hall. Since then, she has been obsessed with my fifth brother and wanted to marry him. Lord Yang also went to my fifth brother and expressed his intention to betroth Miss Yang to him..."
Before Yu Jiao finished her words, Xue Qingshang angrily said, "She is not worthy!"
Xue Qingshang's face was slightly filled with anger, and she snorted coldly, "A dissolute and lowly woman like her, who is even worse than the prostitutes in this building, dares to dream of marrying your fifth brother?"
Seeing her so angry, Yu Jiao knew that she had guessed right. Xue Qingshang did have some feelings for Yu Qizhe, otherwise why would he be so furious just after hearing that Yang Jiyan was obsessed with him.
"My fifth brother had no interest in Miss Yang, so he politely declined Lord Yang's offer. However, Miss Yang kept pestering him and even went to my fifth brother's home in the countryside to show her affection. My fifth brother was determined to study and become an official, so I tried to drive Miss Yang away. That's how we became enemies." Yu Jiao said slowly, "Later, I met robbers in Danzhou and captured this maid. Only then did I know that Yang Jiyan had always hated me and wanted to kill me. She bribed the robbers to take my life."
Xue Qingshang had not expected that there would be such a entanglement. She became angrier as she listened. She slammed her palm on the table and coldly cursed her for being shameless. "How dare she harm you like this? She is too arrogant! I must help you get rid of this anger!"
Yu Jiao smiled faintly, knowing full well that Xue Qingshang was so angry not because of her, but because of Yu Qizhe.
"This maidservant was coerced by Yang Jiyan to do something that harmed me. After the plan to kill me failed, Yang Jiyan sold her and her elder sister to Zhixiang Street in South City. Later, this maidservant escaped from Zhixiang Street. With nowhere to go, she returned to Yang Jiyan and was tortured to the point of being worse off than dead." Yu Jiao took a sip of tea and continued, "I also met her on the day of my adoptive father's banquet and learned about these things. I felt sorry for her and agreed to redeem her."
Eighty percent of what Yu Jiao said was true, and twenty percent was false, in case Xue Qingshang became suspicious and sent someone to investigate.
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