Chapter 536 A wife is not as good as a concubine, and a concubine is not as good as a stolen affair
While drinking her hot tea and chewing on two plates of pastries, Li Sanniang listened intently as Mr. Bu Ke slowly recounted how the unscrupulous people had been caught in the crossfire today.
The reason these scoundrels were injured was because of a couple who were having an affair.
Among the disciples under the Prince of Xiang was a swordsman recruited from the martial arts world; let's call him the Great Swordsman.
Logically speaking, the affairs of the martial arts world and the government are in opposition, so why would the man with the big knife come to the Prince of Xiang's gate to become a retainer?
They're called "retainers" to put it nicely, but they're really just thugs.
This is because, since ancient times, even heroes have found it hard to resist the charms of beautiful women.
The man with the big sword arrived in Chang'an with a few of his underlings. While visiting Pingkangfang, they encountered a courtesan named Hongniang who had once been the most popular courtesan in the brothel.
He fell in love at first sight with the matchmaker and wanted to redeem her from her servitude.
But aren't brothels, places where men spend their money, all about making money?
When the madam in the brothel saw that the man with the big knife was infatuated with the matchmaker, she immediately raised her price, saying, "Oh my, although the matchmaker is no longer an inexperienced young woman, our matchmaker's face and figure are still very attractive."
Not to mention back in the day, five or six years ago, our matchmaker was the top performer in the brothel.
"To be honest, I know that the second young master of the Zou family, who lives on Zhuque Street, is quite fond of our matchmaker. He comes to visit every five days."
The mother smiled and whispered in the man with the big knife's ear, "If it weren't for the tigress in Zou Erlang's family, Hongniang would probably have been redeemed and bought by Zou Erlang to be kept as a mistress."
The man with the big knife knew perfectly well that the mother just wanted more money to redeem herself. He slammed his hand on the table, making a loud bang, and said, "Just tell me, how much money will it take to redeem Hongniang!"
Don't say such nonsense in front of me.
"One thousand taels!"
"As long as you have a thousand taels of silver, the chivalrous knight can go and take Hongniang away himself."
Even if the man with the big knife is completely ignorant, he would know that a washed-up courtesan in a brothel wouldn't be bought for such a high price.
However, once someone falls into love, even if he was once a skilled swordsman in the martial arts world, he has to admit defeat.
But how could a swordsman who usually only takes on escort jobs at a security company, who is always living for the moment and doesn't care about money, possibly come up with such a large sum of money?
Therefore, the man with the big knife came up with a plan. In the middle of the night, he secretly entered the matchmaker's room, grabbed her, and said he had to leave.
"Come with me, and I'll take you to live a free and carefree life."
The matchmaker panicked at first, but she had spent over a decade in the brothel district and had seen hundreds of different kinds of men.
Although the matchmaker worked in a brothel selling smiles and flesh, she was never mistreated in terms of food and clothing.
The matchmaker knew she absolutely could not follow the man with the big knife in such an ambiguous way.
Not to mention that the man with the big knife couldn't give her a life of ease where she could have everything done for her, even if she followed him, she would become a runaway slave.
In the future, we might not even be able to enter the city gates. How can that be acceptable?
How could a matchmaker possibly live the life of a savage?
However, the matchmaker quickly came up with a clever idea. She lowered her head and sobbed, her soft, whimpering cries seeming to reach the heart of the swordsman.
The matchmaker's tears were effective; she managed to coax the swordsman away and make him realize that he had to be redeemed through the right path.
A thousand taels of silver is indeed a considerable sum.
The man with the big knife had only a little over a hundred taels of silver on him. Where was he going to find the missing nine hundred taels?
Desperate to save the beauty, the man with the big knife suddenly had the idea of breaking into the house to steal, but he was persuaded to stop by the little brother who was with him.
"Brother, this is Chang'an City!"
This is where the sages lived!
If we did something bad at the feet of a sage, wouldn't the Imperial Guards have shot us right through the neck with an arrow?
Brother, you must not do anything bad in this area!
If you urgently need money, brother, we can leave the city, find the knife we've hidden, and with your skills, we can easily rob a few wealthy merchants on the mountain path.
The man with the big sword remembered the Golden Guards he had seen on the street, riding tall horses, with long swords at their waists, wearing golden armor, and carrying longbows on their backs, so he abandoned the idea of breaking and burgling.
The swords and arrows of the Imperial Guards are not just for show; they can actually kill.
If you cause trouble in Chang'an, the Imperial Guards have direct authority to make decisions. If an arrow is shot into the neck, you can be meeting the King of Hell within a few breaths.
Just as the man with the big knife was pondering whether it was feasible to occupy the mountain road and extort travelers and merchants, a young man who was usually not very talkative cautiously spoke up.
"Brother, I heard someone in the teahouse say that not only can you get paid to be a henchman for a rich family, but you'll also be given a nice house to live in."
Moreover, they have a prestigious title: "Guests Come".
Brother, you have such great skills, why don't you give it a try?
Who knows, he might even get an official position?
Three cobblers are equal to one Zhuge Liang.
The young man's words gave the swordsman an idea, and after many twists and turns, he actually found a good place to go.
Yes, the man with the big knife eventually got into the Prince's mansion as a retainer through the introduction of a swordsman who had also left the martial arts world but was recruited by the Prince's mansion.
From then on, the man with the big knife and his seven or eight underlings lived a good life with food and drink provided and houses assigned to them.
Of course, the man with the big knife had already withdrawn the money from the steward of the Prince's mansion in advance, and used the money to redeem Hongniang from the brothel.
Not only that, the man with the big knife also specially arranged a wedding ceremony for himself and the matchmaker, truly letting the matchmaker go through the proper marriage process and making her look good.
If everything goes well, and it's as written in the storybooks, then this should be a beautiful tale of a chivalrous knight-errant and a beautiful courtesan.
But how can reality truly follow people's ideals?
At first, the matchmaker genuinely wanted to settle down and live a proper life with the man with the big sword. However, having grown accustomed to a life of luxury and having seen many wealthy young men who frequented brothels, she was not the kind of person who could settle down and live a stable life with the man with the big sword.
In just six months, the matchmaker grew tired of the man's crudeness and hated the uneventful, predictable life.
Although the man with the big sword worked as a retainer in the Prince Xiang's mansion, there were still different ranks among the retainers.
The man with the big sword was only of the lower-middle class, and his monthly salary was only a few dozen taels of silver.
Although Hongniang used to work in brothels, selling smiles and flesh, and was seen as a plaything or an object by others, the things that wealthy young men brought to please her were definitely worth more than a few dozen taels of silver.
Therefore, after a period of peaceful days, the matchmaker's heart began to itch.
It was at this time that the matchmaker, who was out shopping, met a scholar, whom we'll call "pretty boy" for now.
The pretty boy set up a stall outside the bookstore, helping people write letters and contracts. He met a matchmaker who came to the bookstore to buy storybooks. One day, the pretty boy deliberately caused an accident and ended up putting his arm around the matchmaker's slender waist.
With mutual affection, their love blossomed like lightning, fueled by the most primal hormones between them. The young man and the matchmaker eventually found an opportunity to sleep together.
It was during their first affair, when the matchmaker was lying in the young man's arms, that she heard him talk about his wife, who was considered unattractive at home.
Only then did the matchmaker realize that the young man not only already had a wife at home, but also a son who was still learning to walk and was less than three years old.
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