Chapter 18 Amidst Peril, Bonds Arise (Part 1) All must go through...
She was like a helpless little boat in a storm, forced to passively endure the sudden tempest.
"Knock knock knock—"
Just then, a clear knock came from outside the door, accompanied by a maid's cautious inquiry: "Miss Ye, are you awake? Miss instructed me to bring you breakfast."
The voice was like a bucket of cold water poured over her head, instantly bringing Ye Yixiang back to her senses, which were on the verge of collapse. She suddenly came to her senses, and shame and anger surged up in her heart again. She began to struggle more violently, her fingers digging hard at the front of his shirt, trying to push away this heavy and dangerous body.
Chu Huaili finally lifted her head, panting, ending the kiss that had almost suffocated her.
The desire in his deep eyes hadn't subsided, but it had gained a cold clarity. He raised his hand and roughly brushed the ambiguous wetness on the edge of her swollen lips with the pad of his thumb, the action carrying an undeniable sense of possession.
Then, to Ye Yixiang's astonishment, he leaned down again, but not for a deep kiss; instead, he gave her a brief but warning peck on the lips.
“You should think carefully about your situation,” his lips were almost touching hers, his breath hot, his voice low and husky but every word clear, “whether you will be treated as the wife of a disgraced official, sent to the camp or even reduced to a prostitute. Or, will you follow me?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he stopped looking at the humiliation and anger surging in her eyes and nimbly got out of bed.
Ye Yixiang immediately curled up, grabbed the brocade quilt beside her and held it tightly to her chest, as if only in this way could she gain a sense of security.
Her eyes were red and glistening with tears as she glared fiercely at the tall, cold back. Her lower lip was bitten until it was bloodless, but she stubbornly refused to make another sound.
Chu Huaili straightened his slightly disheveled robes, pushed open the door with a blank expression, and walked out. Surprisingly, the maidservant from the Nie family who was guarding the door did not show much surprise when she saw him come out of Ye Yixiang's room. She simply lowered her eyes respectfully, curtsied, and said, "Greetings, General."
However, the little beggar Wuluozhu, whom Ye Yixiang brought back from Qiankun Workshop yesterday, has now washed up and changed into a clean set of coarse cloth clothes. He is looking up at him with a pair of clear but timid eyes, full of doubt.
Chu Huaili didn't stop walking, and his gaze didn't even linger on the maid and the little beggar. He left straight away.
Only after stepping out of the courtyard, the cold morning breeze brushing his face, did he raise his hand and gently touch his lower lip, which she had bitten, with his fingertips. A trace of stinging pain and her faint fragrance lingered there. A barely perceptible smile curved his lips.
Last night, after interrogating the traitors in the military camp and the assassins who had infiltrated the camp with Nie Huaizhang, he intended to rest at the government office, but Ge Shulin came with several of his subordinates, claiming that they had not had enough fun during the day.
After several rounds of drinks, the Left Wise King of the Northern Barbarians quietly left his seat. His intuition told him this man was up to something. Although he had drunk the last two cups of strong liquor laced with sleeping potion from the Northern Barbarians, he had mustered his willpower and rushed back, and sure enough…
Thinking of the way she had looked at him like he was a monster, Chu Huaili felt a surge of inexplicable irritation. He had risked his life to come here, and instead of appreciating it, she looked at him with such wary and distant eyes, as if he were some kind of despicable opportunist.
However, the soft touch of her fingertips brushing against her lips and her panicked expression... didn't seem so bad after all.
Inside the room, Wuluozhu carried a basin of water to the bedside. Seeing Ye Yixiang's swollen lips and the several ambiguous red marks on her fair neck and shoulders beneath her slightly open collar, the girl's eyes immediately reddened. She whispered with heartache, "Sister... that wicked man, he has no sense of chivalry at all! How could he hurt you like this..."
Ye Yixiang was unwilling to say more, and only said softly, "It's alright."
I had a simple breakfast.
After she finished washing up, Wuluozhu stood behind her, carefully tying up her cascading black hair. Ye Yixiang's serene face was reflected in the bronze mirror, but a layer of unyielding melancholy shrouded her brows.
“Urozhu,” she suddenly spoke, her voice calm, “where are those people waiting to be sold in Qiankun Workshop usually kept?”
The hand that was tucking her hair in paused slightly, and Wuluozhu's voice became somewhat suppressed: "In the backyard... in a heavily guarded attic. My brother and I were locked up there before."
“Then I will go and redeem your brother today,” Ye Yixiang said, already having a plan in mind. “That way, he won’t have to go on stage tomorrow and suffer the humiliation of being scrutinized and chosen by everyone.” More importantly, if she could enter Qiankun Workshop as a buyer and investigate, she might be able to find clues and evidence of their wrongdoings. This Qiankun Workshop is a den of iniquity; if she could take it down with this opportunity, it would be a way to seek justice for those innocent people.
“But…” Wuluozhu looked worried, “If we want to redeem it in advance, the market will demand a huge sum of money, several times higher than the starting price of tomorrow’s auction…”
"It's alright," Ye Yixiang comforted, her gaze falling on her wrist. It was a translucent, lustrous white jade bracelet, of excellent quality, warm to the touch. It was a gift from her mother when she came of age.
When she bought the Uro Pearl yesterday, even in her difficult circumstances, she never considered using it. But now, to save a child and to investigate clues, she was willing to give it a try. If the jade bracelet wasn't enough, she would have to find a way to use Chu Huaili's half of the gold hairpin as collateral.
Ye Yixiang instructed the servants of the Nie family to prepare carriages and horses, and then took Wuluozhu to Qiankunfang again.
The brothel was still bustling with activity, filled with singing and dancing. The handsome male waiter from yesterday, with his beautiful face and supple figure, immediately came forward, his smile perfectly timed: "What would you like to see today, young lady? I can show you the way."
"I want to buy a man, today," Ye Yixiang said bluntly.
A hint of surprise flashed in the waiter's eyes, then he smiled and said, "Miss, this is against the rules. The auction must be held tomorrow..."
Ye Yixiang said no more, simply raised her hand, took off the white jade bracelet from her wrist, and handed it over.
The waiter's eyes narrowed, and he immediately pulled a snow-white silk handkerchief from his sleeve and placed it in his hand before respectfully accepting the jade bracelet. He examined the jade's texture and luster carefully against the light, and a more sincere smile instantly bloomed on his fair face, his attitude becoming even more respectful: "Please follow me, young lady, this way please."
He led the two through the noisy hall and toward the corridor leading to the backyard.
The backyard was a hidden gem, with red plum blossoms blooming proudly in the snow, their fragrance wafting in the air. What surprised Ye Yixiang even more was that a winding stream flowed through the courtyard, and in the dead of winter when breath turns to ice, the water not only did not freeze, but instead emitted a faint, warm white steam.
The handsome waiter seemed to notice her confusion and explained with a smile, "Miss has a good eye. The water in this courtyard comes from a hot spring deep in the back mountain. It is warm, so it never freezes, which is why this courtyard has a spring-like scenery all year round."
Before they even got close to the heavily guarded pavilion, a series of off-key and intermittent musical notes drifted over, mixed with a few suppressed cries of pain.
"The men and women we buy from outside all need to be 'trained' so they know some rules and skills before they can fetch a good price," the waiter explained calmly, as if he were talking about something perfectly ordinary.
Upon hearing this, Uroju, who was following behind him, clenched his fists tightly, his body trembling slightly with anger.
The waiter led them into the attic. Inside, they saw several boys, no more than ten years old, with delicate features but still bearing the innocence of childhood, clumsily practicing musical instruments such as the pipa and guqin.
Several expressionless musicians stood nearby, holding slender and flexible rattan canes. If any child played a wrong note or had the wrong posture, the rattan cane would strike without mercy, landing on the child's thin back or arm with a dull thud that sent chills down one's spine.
"Smack!"
A crisp sound.
A boy of about eleven or twelve years old immediately had a bloody welt on his arm. He trembled in pain, but bit his lip tightly, not daring to cry out.
The worst-looking child's white clothes were torn to shreds, the seeping blood staining the fabric a horrifying sight. The children seemed numb, too afraid to even flinch at the falling vines, their eyes empty and filled with despair. Only the youngest child, barely able to reach the piano table, had tears in his eyes, his small body trembling—a heartbreaking sight.
Ye Yixiang felt a pang of sympathy as she read this.
The handsome waiter, observing her expression, immediately asked, "Does the young lady have any favorite boys here? If you don't like the more innocent ones, we have many other styles, those who are charming and sophisticated..."
"They're still so young!" Uroju could no longer hold back and spoke out angrily.
The waiter's smile remained unchanged, but his tone carried a hint of indifference and self-righteousness: "Miss, please don't be angry. If it weren't for Qiankun Workshop giving them food and teaching them a skill, they might have already frozen to death on the roadside, or died in some unknown corner. We are doing good deeds."
He was about to lead Ye Yixiang elsewhere when he saw a man in a magnificent cloud-patterned brocade robe, with an extraordinary bearing, slowly walking towards them. The man had a handsome face, but his eyes were deep and unfathomable. He was Yun Yi, one of the managers of Qiankun Workshop.
The handsome waiter respectfully greeted, "Lord Yun."
Yun Yi approached, her gaze falling on Ye Yixiang. She slightly cupped her hands in greeting, her tone respectful yet scrutinizing: "May I ask, are you Miss Ye Yixiang?"
Ye Yixiang felt a slight chill in her heart, but her face remained calm: "Exactly."
“Our shop owner invites you,” Yun Yi stepped aside to make way, “and please, Miss Ye, accompany me.”
The shop owner? Ye Yixiang's heart was filled with doubts.
She had never met the owner of Qiankun Workshop before, so why did he suddenly want to see her? Although she had doubts, she did not show any fear. Apart from the bracelet and Chu Huaili's gold hairpin, she seemed to have nothing that this supposedly incredibly wealthy workshop owner would covet.
A note from the author:
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