Xin He had initially planned to go to Yihong Courtyard for the excitement, but upon seeing the multitude of people there and realising that no one had a VIP room available for her, she frowned slightly then turned to go to the Flower House instead.
Xiaoyu walked by her side, lowering her voice to whisper, "I just saw the servants of Yihong Courtyard rush out hastily, they must be off to find someone."
Xin He lifted the corner of her lips: "To look for ’someone’ only now... isn’t it too late? The performances should start soon, with so many people waiting. I’m curious about who Yihong Courtyard will eventually present to carry out their duties."
"Regardless of whom they pick, they already lost the game."
Xin He let out a faint smile, "It doesn’t really matter! The Flower House and Yihong Courtyard are not that far apart. Wouldn’t watching the drama from either place be the same? It’s better to go somewhere quieter, otherwise, what if we happen to witness Sun Yaowen making a scene at Yihong Courtyard. That’d simply hurt our eyes for no good reason."
There was a hint of excitement for the drama in her tone.
The Flower House was certainly quieter than Yihong Courtyard at the moment. When Madam Chen routinely greeted guests, she always asked with a smiling face, "There’s a grand event at Yihong Courtyard today, why isn’t Master going over to watch?"
"Hmm, aren’t you generous? Are you trying to persuade me to go over there instead?" the grand elder laughed.
"How dare I! It’s an honour if the grand elder would visit our Flower House. I’m just worried that Master will miss the rare excitement over at Yihong Courtyard." Madam Chen replied with a playful smile.
The grand elder simply dismissed Madam Chen’s comment as a joke, gave a chuckle and walked in surrounded by girls.
Madam Chen wasn’t joking, however. She hoped that as many people as possible would go over to Yihong Courtyard to watch their embarrassment. What’s the issue with making a little less money for one day? After tonight, once Yihong Courtyard fell, who would care about losing a little money?
When Xin He leisurely walked in waving a fan, Madam Chen’s eyes gleamed, she rushed forward to greet him: "Oh, sir! Please come inside, the girls have been waiting for you!"
Xin He never revealed her identity publicly, so naturally Madam Chen was tactful about it.
Xin He waved her fan and walked into the upstairs VIP room with a lazy gait.
Finally, following Madam Chen’s circuitous path through the second floor, she entered a room where ten girls were waiting respectfully.
Seeing Xin He enter, they quickly bowed in respect, "Greetings to the young master."
Xin He raised her lips and smiled, "No need for the formalities, sit down."
Although the girls have met Xin He multiple times, the sight of her handsome face and elegant appearance still made them blush slightly: "Thank you, young master."
Xin He laughed, "Did you suffer any injustices while staying at Yihong Courtyard?"
"No, we followed the instructions of the young master, always acting obediently. We did not feel wronged. On the contrary, Yihong Courtyard valued us a lot and were never harsh to us", the girls truthfully reported.
Xin He nodded, "Good, now that you have returned, let Madam Chen arrange for you to rest for some days. The Yihong Courtyard must be in disorder due to your sudden departure, but you don’t need to worry. I will take care of everything outside."
"Yes, we feel reassured with the young master around," the girls nodded in agreement.
Xin He nodded and gave a few more instructions before leaving.
Sun Yaowen would never have imagined that ten high-quality girls he had snatched from Flower House had made their way there yet again.
But right now, he didn’t have the time nor the mental capacity to think about it!
At the moment, Yihong Courtyard was busting with a commotion.
"What is going on here, the scheduled time has already passed right? Why hasn’t it started yet? You’re surely not kidding us, right?"
"Do you know how long I have been waiting? In this time, I could have listened to the girl Qing Lei singing a few songs at the Flower House. Are they just making a fool of me?"
"What on earth! Are they making a spectacle of us? We’ve been waiting for so long and there’s still no sign of any performance, they’ve just been leaving us to wait here. I recall when Flower House staged such a major Oiran competition, it never failed to start on time. I’ve never seen such grandstanding from any other Flower House!"
The scheduled time for the start of the event had long passed and naturally people were running out of patience. Yihong Courtyard was packed with people, bustling with chatter. What was meant to be an event of grandeur was on the brink of becoming a major fiasco.
Sun Yaowen was stressed out, as the people he had sent out returned in waves, all reporting that they couldn’t locate those they were looking for.
Even if Sun Yaowen wanted to vent his anger by punishing the servants, he didn’t have time now!
With so many people outside urging him on, he had no one to present. And after such grand publicity, he felt chained and clueless on how to solve the issue.
"Stop the chit-chat! Go tell them that today’s event is cancelled and they can all scram!" Sun Yaowen yelled in exasperation.
Upon hearing this, Madam Zhao’s forehead clenched; she knew that it was inappropriate to follow Sun Yaowen on such a rash decision.
She immediately said, "That’s unacceptable! Everyone came today to see the talent presentation of these ten girls. Everyone who came in paid five pieces of silver for admission."
Even watching required payment, a rule that was learned from the Flower House.
Sun Yaowen waved his hand impatiently. "Refund them!"
"This is not simply a matter of refund. Today many notable figures from Lian’an Town have come. This five silver is a small matter, but our credibility is much more significant. If people start to believe we duped them, won’t that lead to big trouble? If they protest, there will be no peace."
If this were an issue with common people, it could be disregarded. However, anyone who had enough riches to frequent a flower house would not be ordinary.
Madam Zhao continued, "Particularly, after all the publicity, making everyone wait so long tonight, people’s resentments are already high. To add fuel to the fire is certainly not wise!"
Sun Yaowen was pulling his hair out in frustration, "Then what do you suggest we do! The mean girls have run away and can’t be caught in a short while, what do you suggest we do now?!"
How should Madam Zhao know what to do? She is not a god!
However, seeing the increasing impatience and uproar outside, with the possibility of an imminent riot, she suggested, "Let’s find a few people to go on stage."
It was truly a last resort, left with no other choice.
"What are you waiting for? Go and handle it!" Sun Yaowen, having no better ideas, could only order her to do so.
Madam Zhao immediately ran to make arrangements.
The commotion outside was getting worse, people’s anger was on the rise, a clash was imminent, but finally, there were signs of movement on stage...
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