Chapter 142 While in a brothel, one can remain untainted.
There's a saying that goes, "lifting a stone only to drop it on one's own foot," and Jin Shu now has a profound understanding of that saying.
Standing at the main entrance of "Baihualou" in Anshanfang.
Listening to the tunes coming from inside, looking at the girls dressed up and soliciting customers, and smelling the perfume and face powder from the shop.
Jin Shu swallowed hard, but before she could even lift her foot, Zhou Zheng beside her complained, "They're not even as good as Miss Xiao from Qu Lou." He looked disgusted, but his expression was serious and stern. "These are all just ordinary, common women."
“Miss Xiao? The manager of Qu Lou in the Yingge case last time?” Li Jin took two steps forward and looked at him in surprise.
When did these two people cross paths again?
Zhou Zheng nodded: "Yes, she's beautiful inside and out, makes excellent tea, and can play the piano and sing."
At this point, the big man blushed, which really startled Li Jin and Jin Shu.
A straight man, experiencing his first stirrings of love.
“…Very good.” Li Jin pursed her lips, raised her hand and patted his shoulder. “You wait outside, Mr. Jin and I will go.”
Zhou Zheng paused, "How can that be?"
Li Jin raised an eyebrow: "What, if Miss Xiao asks, are you going to tell her you were handling a case at a brothel today?"
His face was radiating an aura of "a clear conscience," and he declared righteously, "I'm investigating a case in a brothel, what's wrong with saying it?"
With a "pfft," Jin Shu quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth, waved her hand, and suppressed the laughter that was about to spill from her lips.
His words truly stunned Li Jin. His lips moved, his brows furrowed so deeply they were almost twisted into a knot, and he nodded while patting Zhou Zheng's shoulder heavily: "You wait here, this is an order."
After saying that, he flicked his sleeve, shook his head with a complicated expression, and walked forward.
Why are all the people around me so weird?
One is a stubborn, single-minded man. The other...
As he stepped onto the stairs, he raised an eyebrow, turned back, and looked at Jin Shu: "Mr. Jin, please."
He wanted to see when this guy, who was playing cat and mouse with him and thought he was foolproof, would come crying and tell him that she was a woman!
He refused to believe that Li Jin, who could defeat thousands of troops and solve all the world's strangest cases, could not break through a woman's defenses.
joke!
At this moment, Jin Shu was thinking about the same thing as him.
She forced a smile and politely greeted Li Jin at the door, bowing and saying, "Please, young master."
She didn't believe it either. If Jin Shuren couldn't even find out a woman's identity from the shadows of the Six Doors, how could she possibly be caught by Li Jin in this brothel?
impossible!
Even if you've never been to a brothel, you can't possibly have never seen one, right? You can at least try to imitate it!
The imagination was beautiful, but reality was harsh. Within fifteen minutes, she was almost in tears.
Jin Shu, who is not good at talking and does not flirt with women, and always hides at the back of the crowd, clearly does not have the necessary conditions to thrive in a brothel.
Looking at the two girls fawning over her, and then at Li Jin, who was quietly drinking tea with a smile on his face, Jin Shu felt a surge of anger stuck in her throat, unable to go up or down.
Prince Jing, who could chat for an hour surrounded by middle-aged women, was now completely silent, as if his mouth had been sealed shut, and he would glare at anyone who got too close.
As a result, several girls gathered around Jin Shu, pouring her tea, massaging her shoulders, and eagerly chatting with her.
I'm so tired!
"Ladies," he said with a smile, noticing Jin Shu's face growing paler. He finally put down his teacup, took out a few pieces of silver, and said, "Please ask Miss Biyue for help."
For the sake of the money, the girls, though dissatisfied, still took the money and left the private room.
Jin Shu felt as if she had been saved. She poured herself a cup of tea and took a big gulp.
"It seems they are all just ordinary beauties," Li Jin said with a smile, flicking her fan. "Not a single one of them has caught Mr. Jin's eye."
At this moment, feeling utterly exhausted, Jin Shu rolled her eyes at him: "The sect leader is quite leisurely, sitting in a brothel as if it were a teahouse."
“No,” Li Jin shook his head, glancing at her seriously, “the tea is bad, it tastes awful.”
Seeing his calm and composed demeanor, without the slightest hint of panic, Jin Shu clicked her tongue: "Sect Leader, have you really never been to a brothel?"
Li Jin paused, looking up at her surprised face.
"Isn't your heart racing the first time you've been here?" she asked very sincerely. "Can you really sit so calmly?"
He waved his fan as he looked at her, and said with a smile, "Let's not even talk about how I'm not particularly interested in women. Even if I were, with my looks, would I need to come to a place like this?"
These arrogant words were less an answer to her question and more a message meant for her alone.
Jin Shu's attention was entirely focused on the second half of the sentence.
Her mouth was half open. She couldn't hear anything else, but she could feel the overwhelming aura of nouveau riche emanating from the air, which felt like a devastating blow to her.
"That makes some sense..." After a long pause, she exhaled and took a sip of warm water. "Doesn't the sect leader have a girl he likes?"
This unexpected question made Li Jin frown slightly.
Listening to the playful chatter of women around him, hearing the music playing in the main hall outside, and seeing the pink curtains filling the room, he sighed, "Sir, let's find another place to talk about this."
He looked at Jin Shu's face and said, "Even if you have a girl you like, you can't say it in this place."
Beside her, the door to the private room was pushed open, and the old madam of the brothel, Biyue, who was covering her face with a round fan, walked gracefully in from outside.
Li Jin's expression was different from before; the smile had faded, and she became much more serious.
"Esteemed guests, Miss Biyue is the most beautiful courtesan in our Hundred Flowers Pavilion. She'd like to keep you company..."
Before she could finish speaking, Li Jin took out a gold ingot from his sleeve.
The old woman, who had only spoken halfway, suddenly stopped, her eyes completely drawn to the gold ingot.
Li Jin smiled without saying a word, placing the gold on the round table: "How about entertaining guests?" He smiled slightly, "The old lady hasn't finished speaking yet."
Before them, the old woman, her face contorted with laughter, stared intently at the gold on the table. She nudged the girl, saying, "Oh dear! It's nothing! It's nothing! Anything is fine! Anything is fine! As long as you're happy, sir!"
After saying that, he bowed, smiled, exchanged pleasantries, and left the house.
The Xiao family's younger sister, who was kidnapped years ago, is now sixteen years old and her stage name is "Biyue" (meaning "closed moon").
In terms of looks, she certainly has the beauty to make fish sink and geese fall from the sky.
She nodded in greeting, speaking softly with a hint of allure in her eyes. Just as she was about to speak, Li Jin uttered a name in a deep voice: "Xiao Pan'er."
She was taken aback.
This name was her real name, which should have been unknown to anyone.
Seeing her stunned expression, Li Jin took out the Black Dragon Token of the Six Doors from his pocket, pushed it with two fingers, and placed it on the table in front of him.
"What happened after Lin Zhongyi took you away from the Xiao family ten years ago?" Li Jin asked, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her suddenly pale face.
The girl's expression changed so noticeably when she heard the name Lin Zhongyi that even Jin Shu noticed her unusual reaction.
But neither of them expected that after a moment's thought, Xiao Pan'er's first words would be: "Help! Robbery! Help! Robbery!"
The change came so fast that Li Jin and Jin Shu were both stunned.
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