Peng Yizhu suddenly understood Cai Xiaolian's meaning and said, "Madam Gu's suggestion is excellent. I am willing to join Madam Gu's plan. I just don't know the specifics of Madam Gu's plan."
Cai Xiaolian said, "There is no specific plan yet. We only have this idea. We still need to understand the situation of Jieyou Pavilion and talk to the person in charge of Jieyou Pavilion."
Madam Peng said, “I know quite a bit about this Jieyou Pavilion. The madam, Hua Shiyi Niang, used to be a girl at Jieyou Pavilion. The previous madam was taken away by a wealthy family from Jiangnan, along with some of the better-off girls from the pavilion. She bought Jieyou Pavilion with her money and then took care of the other girls, raising them to adulthood. Madam Gu is right; most of the girls were sold or abandoned by their families, or they weren't pretty, or they had some kind of physical defect. Hua Shiyi Niang accepted them all. Generally, such girls don't require much money. Girls like Miss Sun didn't have a penny from their families, and the person who bought her was very trustworthy, sending her to Kuncheng. If no one took care of her, she probably wouldn't be able to leave for the rest of her life. Hua Shiyi Niang has a talent for composing music, so she can support Jieyou Pavilion with that.”
Cai Xiaolian was somewhat alarmed: "The source of the name 'Jieyou Pavilion' is not a guest, but a song written by Hua Shiyi Niang?"
Madam Peng shook her head: "That's not entirely true. Writing music is not an easy task. Even if she only writes one piece a year, she can't support the entire Jieyou Pavilion."
Cai Xiaolian nodded, having already made up her mind.
The Gu family spent the whole day at the Peng family's house, and only returned home after having dinner.
After returning home, Cai Xiaolian told Gu Shouxin about the Jieyou Pavilion.
Gu Shouxin agreed with this; he was willing to support whatever his wife did.
"After the third day of the lunar new year, I'll have Wang Cheng summon Hua Shiyi Niang to the yamen. You can talk to her then?" Gu Shouxin asked.
“No need, I’ll take Yumei with me. Yumei will be living in Kuncheng from now on. She doesn’t want to go out, but she just doesn’t want to see the people from Jieyou Pavilion, and she doesn’t want to recall those things. But what’s done is done, and she has to face it. Once she gets through this, she won’t be so reluctant to go out anymore. And once Jieyou Pavilion stops doing business as a brothel, she’ll be able to face it more calmly,” Cai Xiaolian said, shaking her head.
"Madam, you are so kind! You always think of others first." Gu Shouxin said with emotion, holding Cai Xiaolian's hand.
“It’s not entirely because of Yu Mei. If this Jieyou Pavilion is managed well, it can even make money! Didn’t the Emperor say that you have the final say in the governance of Kunzhou? Although we can’t change the entire Great Zhou, in the place where we have the final say, we shouldn’t let brothels exist. Perhaps some people are willing to degenerate for their future or other reasons, but I believe that most girls are virtuous. Let Kunzhou be clean and tidy, just like we want to clean up the environment of the city, clean and tidy,” Cai Xiaolian said.
"Alright! We'll do as Madam says!" Gu Shouxin put his arm around Cai Xiaolian and then silenced her with a kiss.
That night, the two didn't make a fuss for long like before; it ended after just one time.
Cai Xiaolian felt a little tired and fell asleep leaning against Gu Shouxin. Gu Shouxin, still feeling unsatisfied and also feeling sorry for her, held her and slowly fell asleep as well.
The next morning, Cai Xiaolian felt unwell and listless. She wondered why she was so tired, especially since the previous night had been the most relaxing. She was so exhausted that she had no energy in the morning.
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