The waiter was speechless. Why was this guy so persistent? Even if you're rich, if the girl doesn't want to chat, are you going to force her to? But he couldn't say it out loud, so he could only force a smile and say...
"I'll go ask for you."
Wei Ci nodded and followed the servant to the private room upstairs.
The waiter knocked on Chunying's door, but there was no response after about an incense stick's time. He could only go and report to Wei Ci.
"Sir, the courtesan is not in the building today. Would you like to..."
Wei Ci was annoyed by these words and waved for him to leave.
"Sister Chunying went outside to offer incense today and should be staying at the temple. Don't spoil the fun!"
Ruyi spoke softly, dressed in white, her veil brushing against Wei Ci's face as she swayed.
The servant standing behind thought to himself: Pingyang County is truly a place where hidden talents abound. Not to mention anything else, just look at the girls, each one more beautiful than the last.
Wei Ci grabbed Ruyi's wrist, pulled her close, and said...
With you by my side, the mood isn't spoiled.
The girl blushed and lowered her head, not daring to look at him.
In reality, Ruyi had already cursed him to the core: You bastard, you dragged my wrist until it hurt, you brain-dead idiot!
Cen's mother had already seen Wei Ci upstairs. He wanted to come and investigate, so she let him come. If he could figure out something, then Wei Ci's broken leg wouldn't have been in vain. If someone really had a brain, would they do something like colluding with an enemy country?
Before coming over, Ruyi had been instructed by Cen Ang to find out what he wanted to know.
Ruyi is the best at dealing with men in the building. Although she is not as good at dancing as Chunying and her talent is not as good as the other girls, men are all drawn to her charm. Poor little white flower, she is the most likely to arouse their protective instincts.
"Are all the girls in your building this pretty?" Wei Ci asked.
"I didn't know anything before, but now, I'm probably the prettiest girl in the brothel."
"Oh? Why?" Wei Ci asked, holding his wine glass.
"Because you are by my side," the girl said, her eyes crinkling with affection as she looked at him.
"Sweet talker!" Wei Ci downed his drink in one gulp and continued.
"Come! Light a hundred lanterns for this young lady!"
Ruyi raised an eyebrow. "Damn, this kind of man is both stupid and rich! It's just that he's not very bright. If he were, she could easily squeeze more money out of him."
"Thank you for your kindness, sir."
As the girl spoke, her eyes were already glistening with tears, and her voice was trembling with sobs.
"Why are you crying?" Wei Ci asked, lifting his chin.
"This is the first time...the first time someone has been so kind to me. You don't know, Master, only those who receive lanterns in our brothel can order the dishes they want to eat the next day. I've never...never had so many lanterns before."
Ruyi's inner thoughts: If I don't lie to you to death today, I'll write your name backwards!
"In fact, no other sister in the building has ever received so many lanterns, so I should be able to live a good life for a while."
The girl touched her eyes with a handkerchief, looking deeply moved.
Wei Ci smiled and said
"If you want, come with me. If you come with me, I can let you eat whatever you want day and night."
Are you out of your mind? Ruyi was speechless. Just because I flattered you a couple of times, you think you're a savior? I'll follow you, or I'll get my family wiped out!
The girl looked at him with a pained expression.
"I want to go with you, but... Mom won't release me from my indenture."
"I'm from the capital. Do you think she'll let it go?"
Wei Ci turned to stare at Ruyi, and the girl feigned surprise.
"You wouldn't happen to be... that high-ranking official from the capital that the people in the county were talking about the other day..."
The man was about to nod when Ruyi continued...
"Probably an attendant of a high-ranking official from the capital."
Several officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Rites accompanied Wei Ci, but their official ranks were not high enough to surpass his.
"Sir, you are a high-ranking imperial envoy from the capital."
The girl pretended to be surprised.
"real?"
Wei Ci smiled, downed a glass of wine, and nodded at her.
"This slave is so lucky."
Ruyi made him very happy, and Wei Ci genuinely wanted to take her away. It wasn't like he was taking her back to be a concubine. Having such a confidante as a personal maid would be good, wouldn't it? It's better than her being in a brothel.
"Waiter, call your madam over here."
"What do you want?"
"Redeem this girl from her servitude."
Upon hearing this, the waiter looked at Ruyi with a helpless expression: "Sister, please go easy on me. I beg you, a man will redeem you in half an hour, right? Tell me, how many times have you done this before?"
Ruyi gave the waiter a look, signaling him to call Cen's mother over. In the past, the waiter could have easily gotten away with it, as he was already quite adept at it. But this time, it was Wei Ci who came.
When Cen's mother heard that Wei Ci wanted to redeem Ruyi, she burst out laughing. "Minister of Rites, do you want to see what kind of good-for-nothing you've given birth to? You have to buy a woman to investigate a matter of information."
"I heard you want to redeem our Ruyi?" Cen Ang, dressed in black, asked Wei Ci as he approached her.
"I came at the wrong time last time and didn't get to enter the brothel. Little did I know that every woman inside was a beauty, especially Miss Ruyi, who has captured my heart. I wonder if Mother could bear to part with her?"
Mrs. Cen's thin lips curled into a smile as she spoke.
"My daughter, some men will take her away for a thousand taels of gold, but for others, even ten thousand taels of gold is not negotiable."
The more Wei Ci looked at Cen's mother, the more familiar she seemed. He had felt that way since their first meeting, but he just couldn't remember where he had seen her before.
"Just name your price."
Cen's mother stood up, looked down at Wei Ci sitting in front of her, and said...
"You must have a fortune in gold, right?"
Wei Ci narrowed his eyes, about to get angry, but was overwhelmed by the imposing aura of the woman's phoenix eyes. Looking at Cen Ang's gaze, his wine glass fell to the ground with a thud, and he then sat back and took two steps back, supporting himself with his hands.
He remembered! He remembered everything!
It's that look, that 'You think you're worthy?' look.
She was the head maidservant of the former Crown Princess!
That palace maid who was known for her ruthlessness in the imperial palace!
In those years, he followed his parents, kneeling before this woman's master, bowing and paying his respects.
Cen Ang followed behind his master, head held high and chest puffed out, exuding arrogance and looking down on others.
She shouldn't be here, isn't she dead! Everyone who was related to her should be reunited in the underworld by now!
Seeing his expression, Cen's mother knew he recognized her. The woman in black gestured, and Ruyi got up from the ground and followed her out of the private room.
Wei Ci was startled by a single glance. No wonder one of those people came and one was spared; it turned out she wasn't dead. If the head maidservants of the former Crown Princess were all alive, did that mean the former Crown Prince and Crown Princess were also alive?
The man used alcohol to calm his flustered mind; he had to go back, Wei Ci thought.
He had to return to the capital to tell the emperor that the former crown prince and others might still be alive and were in the border town!
Wei Ci hurriedly left the brothel. From the balcony railing, Cen Ang watched the man's retreating figure, as if being chased by a dog, and sneered.
"Not very capable, but very ambitious."
"Mom? So the matter of him bullying us is over just like that?" the little dumpling in Ruyi's arms asked.
"Of course it's not over yet."
The woman in black pinched Huo Xiaolong's cheek.
It feels so good.
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