Hua Shiyi Niang was a little disappointed, but the tune she had just heard had given her a lot of inspiration. She didn't bother to greet the guests anymore, since these guests didn't seem to be there to play with girls; they were just looking for a place to drink and have fun.
So she let the girls continue playing while she went back to her room to compose.
The girls all surrounded Gu Xin and Gu Si, asking them for advice.
Gu Xin learns faster and knows more than Gu Si, so she can really teach them.
She chatted with the girls out of curiosity: "Sisters, you're not from Kunzhou, do you miss your hometown?"
“I don’t want to. What is there to miss? To miss a place, there must be someone or something in that place that you miss. I don’t have that, so I’m willing to stay in Kuncheng.”
"I do miss her. I miss my grandma. She probably doesn't know that my husband sold me! It's been five years already, and I wonder how she's doing?"
"..."
"Alas, young masters, you are all children from good families. You don't understand the hardships of us courtesans. Even if I told you, you wouldn't be able to comprehend it."
Gu Xin shook her head: "Yes, I can't understand. But it would make me sad too! If you had the chance to not be courtesans, would you all be willing?"
A dozen or so girls looked at Gu Xin as if she were a fool: "How could there possibly be such an opportunity?"
"Judging from the young master's clothes, he should be from a wealthy family. This is his first time here, so he may not know that the sisters in our Jieyou Pavilion are not particularly outstanding. They have no interest in redeeming us from our servitude."
"Besides, Aunt Hua is very good to us. Actually, business in the building isn't good, and we can't make much money. It's all thanks to Aunt Hua writing songs to sell that we can support the building's expenses."
"That's right. If someone redeemed me, I might not necessarily leave. Being redeemed would just mean being someone's concubine. It's better to stay with Mama Hua and my sisters; at least I'd have someone to look after me. Who knows if I'd be redeemed and then given away again?"
“Speaking of which, this place is a brothel, and we do business in the flesh. But in Kuncheng, the Peng family army has 100,000 troops, and they don’t allow their soldiers to enter the brothel at all. The people of Kuncheng can’t even get enough to eat, so where would they get the money to come here? Mama Hua has even thought about whether we should open a restaurant to make a living this year.”
"So, young master, we've developed a bond with Mama Hua, and we won't just leave if someone gives us a chance. Besides, there won't be such a chance."
Gu Xin then asked, "If it were a woman who redeemed you, instead of making you someone's concubine, but instead letting you earn money through your own abilities, would you be willing? Of course, by 'through your own abilities,' I don't mean what you did before, but rather using your talents in singing and dancing. Singing and dancing can make people feel happy and pleasing to the eye, and that is also a kind of ability."
A dozen or so girls covered their mouths and chuckled: "Young master, usually when a woman pays to redeem us, there's only one reason: that woman works at another brothel. Madam Hua's place is much better than other places. Even if she wanted to redeem us, we wouldn't agree!"
Gu Xin: ...
However, she didn't ask any more questions, letting them continue bouncing. She pulled Gu Si to sit down to the side, thinking about how to help Cai Xiaolian. However, she only heard Princess Jinghe and Gu Nian talk about it, and didn't hear the specifics.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com