At this moment, Que'er raised her eyes and glanced at Chen Shou, and as expected, she did not recognize him.
The two sat there awkwardly, neither of them saying a word.
"What kind of music would you like to hear, young master?" Sparrow finally couldn't help but ask.
Sister Yun wouldn't let her serve people like this. If she doesn't listen to music or drink alcohol, how will she earn money?
The imperial court had an explicit rule that officials were not allowed to visit brothels.
The women in these entertainment venues openly made a living by performing, and from time to time, they were invited by officials and wealthy families to perform in their homes.
Of course, some people do come to listen, but on the surface, the women here don't sell their bodies.
Secretly, some officials also kept women as mistresses, but these women could never escape their status as courtesans. In this respect, they were even more tragic than the women in brothels. Just like those in the Imperial Household Department who were confined to the inner palace as slaves for committing crimes, they were slaves for life, and could only be allowed to go out and be married off by special favor from their masters.
The same applies to the geisha in these brothels; once they are branded as government geisha, they are no longer allowed to be married off.
How did the sparrow end up here? I only heard that after Li Shi's accident, all of them who served her were reassigned to the head nanny's place by the Fourth Master.
However, as Li's trusted maid, Que'er should have been beaten to death!
This was something Lanqin had said to Chen Shou before, and it also became a question in Chen Shou's mind at this moment.
At this moment, Cui Nong's sparrow noticed that this young master only allowed her to sit with him, and when she asked him questions, he just stared at her blankly without answering. He kept staring at her; could it be that he had taken a liking to her?
“Young master, would you like me to have a drink with you?” Cui Nong asked softly, “professionally”.
"Play one of your best pieces. And have them bring you a pot of Pear Blossom White wine," Chen Shou said, snapping out of his daze.
Cui Nong nodded in agreement, then picked up the pipa and plucked the strings a few times.
The wine is first poured, intoxicatingly rich. A beautiful face, lips painted crimson.
Chen Shou listened to only one song and drank a few cups of pear blossom wine before leaving. He was worried that the silver in his sachet wouldn't be enough.
It was almost night when they returned to the South Courtyard. After finishing her dinner, Lanqin, supported by Nianxue, took a walk in the courtyard.
"Princess, this servant has seen her." Chen Shou changed his clothes before reporting to Lanqin.
Nianxue knew what Chen Shou was doing, but she still had some doubts about him. It was always a little unsettling for a princess to entrust such an important matter to a new and unfamiliar servant.
"Well, did she recognize you?" Lanqin asked.
"No, I only delivered flowers to the east courtyard a few times, and she didn't see them every time. So naturally she doesn't remember. I was thinking of going a few more times, and once I'm more familiar with her, I'll use the promise of helping her get away as bait to see if she'll tell me."
Lanqin nodded, gave a few more instructions, and then told Chen Shou to go and rest.
"Princess, let's go back inside. Although it's summer, the wind is a bit strong. You mustn't catch a cold." Nianxue saw Lanqin standing in the bright, watery courtyard, gazing at the moon as if lost in thought.
"It's alright. Now that my belly is big, I can't sleep peacefully. I guess the little one inside me sleeps at the opposite pace," Lanqin said.
“Princess, I think you’re trusting Chen Shou too much. What if he’s working for the Fujin?” Nianxue said.
"When that **** saw him being slapped dozens of times by Princess Yu, he didn't feel wronged or resentful. That shows he's a man of his own mind. Hai Dayou is very good at judging people, but he's not like that. It's clear he can't be on the same side as Hai Dayou." Lan Qin was usually all smiles and laughter, but her detailed explanation to Chen Shou was quite different from her usual self.
“Your Highness is right, I was overthinking it,” Nianxue said, her worries about Lanqin gradually lessening, because she noticed that the princess had become more composed since becoming pregnant.
"Nianxue, go and see how much silver I have left," Lanqin said.
The mistress and servant returned to their room, and Lanqin lay down on the chaise lounge to rest. Xicha took a French hair clipper and massaged Lanqin's calves. Because of her growing belly, Lanqin often felt soreness in her calves. Sihua took some cool mint water and sprinkled it on the ground around Lanqin; this was also a "mosquito repellent" that Lanqin had made herself.
Well, without modern electric mosquito swatters or Raid mosquito repellent tablets, people in the Qing Dynasty three hundred years ago had to hide indoors early at night because there were so many mosquitoes.
Following Lanqin's instructions, Nianxue went to the inner room to check the silver. Besides the monthly gift money, the large red envelope that Anjia had given Lanqin was worth twenty thousand taels. Usually, Lanqin used the silver to reward the servants and didn't need it for anything else; she had her share of food, drink, and other necessities. However, over the course of a year, she had taken quite a few small purses out of there.
Nianxue counted the silver notes and then counted the loose silver in the box one by one. There were still more than 13,600 taels left.
"Sihua, tomorrow go to Doctor Wu and get some mugwort powder. Burn it in the brazier and then pour vinegar on it. It's very effective at repelling mosquitoes. Take some to your rooms and burn them. There are just too many mosquitoes." Lanqin suddenly remembered a folk remedy her mother had taught her.
Nianxue moved to Lanqin's side, squatted down, whispered a few words in her ear, and then picked up another franc and gave it to Lanqin for a massage.
"Nianxue, tomorrow take five thousand taels to Chen Shou," Lanqin said generously, without even blinking.
"What are you going to do with all this silver?" Outside, Fourth Master's long legs strode in first, and then Fourth Master, dressed in a gray-blue robe, walked in.
The maids all greeted the Fourth Master and then automatically withdrew. This had become the custom; Lanqin didn't like them watching the Fourth Master while she spoke, always feeling like she was being stared at.
"Grandpa, your son is bullying me again," Lanqin said, changing the subject.
"Nonsense, he's in your belly, how could he bully you?" Fourth Master walked to Lanqin's side, squatted down, and placed his hand on her large belly.
"He won't let me sleep. I'm exhausted during the day and can't sleep at night. Isn't he just bullying me?" Lanqin's sleep schedule is indeed completely reversed. When she tries to sleep at night, the little one in her belly kicks and punches, making Lanqin only able to catch up on sleep during the day.
"Alright, when he comes out, I'll spank him. He'll be the one who bullied his mother." That was the only way Fourth Master could coax him.
The people standing outside were all sweating profusely.
Aunt An was initially quite uncomfortable with the way Lanqin and the Fourth Prince interacted, but out of respect for the Fourth Prince, she didn't dare say anything. After all, Consort De had sent her to take care of Lanqin, not to interfere in her private life. As long as Lanqin was happy, why should she go looking for someone she disliked?
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