Chapter 8: No Way to Escape, Initial Discipline
Zhu Mingyue was struck dumb upon hearing these words; he had just escaped one pack of wolves only to fall into another!
"Look, his mouth seems to have moved slightly. Is he about to wake up?"
Zhu Mingyue didn't want to wake up at all; he'd rather just sleep and die.
The term "top courtesan" sounds shady; he was probably sold to a place similar to a gay bar in modern times.
The problem is that he neither performs nor sells his body. Making him the top performer would be more difficult than herding a pig up a tree. It would be better to just let him faint and be done with it.
Zhu Mingyue had been pretending to be asleep since he became conscious. He pretended until he actually fell asleep. When he woke up, he found the room quiet. Since no one was there, he mustered up his courage and opened his eyes slightly.
The first thing that catches the eye is a bright red bed curtain. Looking around, the room is beautifully decorated, and sunlight shines through the window lattice paper, casting a dazzling light on the dressing mirror.
Zhu Mingyue's mind was now clear, and he began to think seriously. He had been arrested in the evening, but now it was broad daylight outside, so it must have been noon the next day.
These things are irrelevant; what he cares about now is how to escape from here.
A series of footsteps came from outside the door, and then the door was opened again.
Zhu Mingyue quickly closed her eyes and continued to pretend to be asleep.
Before long, a clear, youthful voice rang out, its tone tinged with confusion:
"Huh? That shouldn't be the case. What went wrong? Why is he still unconscious?"
Zhu Mingyue could feel someone approaching him. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his chin and the thumb dug hard at his philtrum.
In an instant, the pain shot straight to the top of her head, and Zhu Mingyue's eyelids twitched in pain.
Does this person have a grudge against me? With such long fingernails digging into my flesh, I have every reason to suspect that this person came with the intention of disfiguring me.
"It really works! Brother Linguang, look, his eyelids are twitching, he should be waking up soon, give it a try."
Zhu Mingyue was so frightened that his body went limp. What? They were going to continue? He couldn't guarantee that he would cry out in pain if he was pinched for a while longer.
So even though he was scared, he pretended to slowly wake up and opened his eyes.
A handsome, large face was almost touching his own, staring intently at him.
Zhu Mingyue awkwardly moved his body to the side, trying to get away from the other person's gaze, but the other person's eyes seemed glued to him.
"May I ask you two where I am?" Zhu Mingyue knew perfectly well where she was, but she pretended to be completely unaware.
“Nanfeng Pavilion,” one of them replied.
"What is Nanfeng Pavilion?"
Do you know about the Grand View Garden?
Another older man asked first, his tone harsh and gloating.
Seeing that Zhu Mingyue only frowned and did not answer, he felt awkward and asked himself, "Yihong Courtyard is a place where women sell themselves, and Nanfeng Pavilion is the same, except that it is men who sell themselves."
After saying that, he stood up, looked Zhu Mingyue up and down, and then let out a sneer: "You! Your good days are yet to come!"
Why does this sound so familiar?
It seems that since he transmigrated to this world, more than one person has told him, "Your good days are yet to come." So, what exactly does "your good days" refer to? Why haven't his good days come to him yet?
Fortunately, the man only verbally attacked him and did not do anything illegal. After saying this, he left with his men.
Not long after the man left, a servant came in and brought him a tray of food. Zhu Mingyue got out of bed and walked to the table to take a quick look. There were two meat dishes, a soup, a vegetable dish, and a bowl of rice.
The meat dishes consisted of a small plate of sliced mutton and steamed chicken, the soup was tofu soup, and the remaining vegetable dish was stir-fried Chinese cabbage.
The portion wasn't large, similar to the small dishes at fast food restaurants in his original world, but it was rich in oil, especially the cabbage, which looked so oily that it made his mouth water.
Zhu Mingyue plopped down on the stool, beginning to consider the possibility that the food had been spiked.
The final conclusion was: the possibility is slim.
He had just woken up, so there was no need to drug him back to sleep. Besides, the other party was counting on him to run that business, so they probably wouldn't tamper with the food.
With that thought, his anxiety subsided slightly, and he picked up his chopsticks to start eating.
He was so hungry that he hadn't eaten a single grain of rice since noon yesterday, and was now starving.
The aroma of oil bursting in his mouth as he chewed the cabbage intensified his hunger. He choked because he ate too fast, so he poured soup into his mouth.
As for the two plates of meat, Zhu Mingyue ate one piece from each and then stopped eating. It wasn't that he was being pretentious.
The chicken and mutton seem to have been simply blanched, which means they were just boiled in water with a little salt and then taken out. The result of not removing the gamey smell is that the gamey smell is so strong that it is difficult to swallow.
This time he finally understood why the fish he stewed a couple of days ago had received such high praise from Aunt Huayi and Cui Jian; it seemed that his cooking skills were truly top-notch here.
Zhu Mingyue stuffed the last piece of cabbage into her mouth and let out a satisfied burp.
Having eaten and drunk his fill, he was finally able to concentrate on the problem at hand. Looking around, he fixed his gaze on the window.
He walked very quietly to the window and tried to push the window open, but couldn't. So he used some brute force, but still couldn't push it open.
Zhu Mingyue then noticed that the door frame was nailed shut, making the window just a decoration that could be looked at but not opened.
The plan to jump out of the window at night failed, and as for escaping through the front door, that was out of the question. There were guards inside and out, and they would be discovered even if they didn't make a sound.
What to do? Zhu Mingyue was at a loss, and a fine layer of cold sweat appeared on her forehead.
The door was opened again, and Zhu Mingyue scrambled back to the edge of the bed and sat upright in a precarious situation.
"Oh, I've finally woken you up." The man who came was about thirty years old. His face was covered in a pale powder, but it was not hard to see through the powder that his features were regular and that he must have been quite handsome when he was young.
Zhu Mingyue knew him, or more precisely, she recognized his voice; it was the same voice that had told her, while she was still unconscious, that she wanted to groom him to be the top courtesan.
"You're in good shape. Your brother from afar said that your family is struggling financially and had no choice but to sell you to make a living. Now that you're here, don't have any other thoughts. Just stay here peacefully."
Zhu Mingyue: "They're not my brother, they're human traffickers. I don't know them at all."
The madam was taken aback, but then pretended not to have heard him and continued:
"You've eaten this food; it's far better than what you usually eat. As long as you're obedient, you can have this kind of food every day, eat as much as you want—"
As the madam spoke, her gaze drifted to the leftovers on the table, and her pupils dilated in shock when she saw the almost untouched meat dishes.
What kind of thing did he buy? Judging from his clothes, he doesn't seem to come from a wealthy family. Why doesn't he even care about meat and only wants to eat cabbage?
This is the best dish at his Nanfeng Restaurant, and only he and Xu Linguang, the top courtesan, can eat it. Others can't even get a taste, yet this person doesn't even look at it.
The madam unconsciously clenched her teeth. This kind of person was often unmoved by the small favors he offered, which reminded her of a man she had taken in at the brothel a few years ago.
He was even tougher than the man in front of him. He smashed all the food that was brought to him and locked him in a dark room for five or six days without food. After he was released, he became much more obedient and is now an old man at Nanfeng Pavilion.
So if he won't take the soft approach, try the hard one; there's bound to be one that suits him.
Zhu Mingyue felt a chill run down her spine from being stared at. She remained expressionless on the surface, but her mind was racing.
This person has already set his sights on him; if he can't think of a way to escape, he'll really be forced to sell himself.
Under intense pressure, Zhu Mingyue suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
He has an allergy to almonds. He was fed almonds once when he was a child and almost died from them. He was rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night and was saved.
That was the time his family took him for an allergy test, and the results showed that he was severely allergic to almonds, a type of nut.
The specific symptoms are itchy, red, and swollen skin, a large number of red rashes on the body, and sudden asthma attacks, which are quite alarming.
This was an extremely dangerous act, a gamble with his life. Even he himself wasn't sure if he would survive after eating the almonds.
"I'll send someone over later to teach you the rules of our Nanfeng Pavilion. Study hard, and I'll guarantee you a life of luxury after you've mastered them."
The madam's words echoed in his ears, bringing Zhu Mingyue back to his senses. As if awakened, his eyes suddenly hardened.
Anyway, he's just a worthless life, and things can't get any worse. Even if it's life-threatening, he's willing to take the gamble. He'd rather die than have to submit to different men every day in the future.
A faint smile appeared on his face as he nodded to the madam.
The madam was surprised by his tact, but quite satisfied with his pragmatism and had no doubts.
Not long after the madam left, the man who had pinched someone's philtrum and mocked him earlier came in.
"My name is Xu Linguang. From now on, your behavior and speech will be under my control."
The man had a stern face and looked reluctant, as if he was afraid that teaching his apprentice would lead to his own starvation.
Zhu Mingyue had no intention of taking his job, and said listlessly, "Zhu Mingyue."
Over the next two hours, the other party taught her everything from drinking tea and pouring wine to sitting and sleeping postures. Zhu Mingyue was a modern person and had never learned so many rules. If she did something slightly wrong, she would be scolded mercilessly.
If it weren't for the need to build a relationship with him and use him to obtain almonds, he wouldn't be willing to learn this worthless feudal dregs.
After a long day, Zhu Mingyue was exhausted and lay motionless on the bed.
But Xu Lingguang was still unwilling to let him go, and cursed inwardly, "He's hopeless!" He then turned and left.
So be it! Zhu Mingyue didn't want to argue with him anymore. He was exhausted and wished he were a piece of wood that no one would pay attention to.
The dinner arrived, this time consisting of two vegetarian dishes and a soup. Zhu Mingyue immediately understood that the madam must have made the change because she saw that he had only eaten vegetarian dishes at noon.
The vegetarian dishes were also good; at least they didn't have any strange taste. With so much lard added, they probably wouldn't taste bad no matter how you made them.
Zhu Mingyue stirred the bottom of the bowl. The amount of oil was enough for an ordinary family to eat for five or six days. It was really extravagant. She was probably afraid that he would become too thin and look ugly.
After Zhu Mingyue finished her meal, the servant came in and took away the leftovers. A while later, he brought in a bath tub that was about half a person's height and filled it with hot water.
Zhu Mingyue raised an eyebrow; it had been so many days since he had taken a proper shower.
After a relaxing hot bath, Zhu Mingyue scrubbed herself clean and white.
The new clothes the servant brought were too flashy; wearing them made him look like a peacock with its tail feathers spread. He suspected it was a test of obedience from the madam, so he tossed the clothes aside without touching them. His own clothes, though a bit dirty, were warmer and more comfortable than these.
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