Looking at the Moon and Picking Flowers
Nianhua subconsciously dodged a little, but still maintained her smile. However, her panicked eyes betrayed her thoughts.
"You are too kind, sir."
Only after she had opened the bead curtain and stepped completely onto the moon-viewing platform did Yuanli let go of her wrist, picked up the flower and breathed a sigh of relief.
Good wine and delicious food have been prepared. Nianhua sat down first and considerately poured Huadiao wine for her. The wine poured from the pot into the cup, and the aroma of the wine filled the air.
"You are here for the corpse that died in the water two days ago. Am I right?"
"What do you want?"
Nianhua smiled sweetly, put down the wine pot in her hand and said, "Young Master, you are really a smart man, but I just like dealing with smart people like you, without me having to think too hard about what to say. If you don't want the news to leak out, you'd better sit down and talk."
After a moment of stalemate, Yuanli finally sat down as he was told.
"His status is special and cannot be revealed. We all call him Sanlang. He has been involved with all the most famous courtesans in Yanliu Lane. More than half of the top ten are his lovers. His body couldn't withstand such excessive indulgence. Since late autumn last year, he has been weak and has had to rely on drugs to relieve his symptoms. He deserves it because he visits too many brothels and is prone to illness."
When Nianhua mentioned him, there was disgust and disdain in her eyes, and her words were full of sarcasm, as if she was describing an enemy.
"When you saw him recently, was he acting strangely? Did he mention any grudges?"
"Before the Peony House opened, he'd come to see me almost every night. Even if I didn't let him stay overnight, he'd still be so eager to come and sit for a while. On the day the Peony House opened to the public, I just stood on the second floor for a while, and he was fascinated and never came back. The last time I saw him was three days ago. He hurried past me, looking panicked and carrying a bag. The next time I heard from him, he was already dead."
"Peony Tower?"
"Well, there's a strange rule at the Peony House. They accept guests based on their status, not power, but solely on the liking of the raccoon slave, and they only receive one guest. If no one meets her eye, the raccoon slave would rather leave the entire Peony House empty than accept a box full of jewels and money carried outside. It's said that the raccoon slave is the only one in the Peony House. Not to mention a mother, there's not even a maid to help with the housekeeping. No one knows how she manages to keep the entire building in such perfect order."
Looking at the noisy and extravagant life below the platform, those brothels with bustling business and endless stream of guests, each one of them employs hundreds of servants.
There are more than ten people doing housework in the courtesan's room alone, not to mention those who serve the guests.
It is really unusual that a brothel like Mudan Tower, which is firmly ranked as the number one in the imperial capital, can be run by only one top-ranked courtesan.
Just as Yuanli was deep in thought, trying to sort out the clues in her mind, Nianhua spoke again: "Although the Peony Tower is called a tower, it is actually a water boat."
Upon hearing this, Yuanli perked up and looked at him. Nianhua's tone of voice rose, and the smile on his face became even wider. Even his eyes were fixed on her, with mixed emotions in them. For a moment, it was difficult to discern his meaning.
Picking the flower seemed to be... hinting her the direction.
"The emergence of the Peony Tower must be a threat to you, the top-ranked flower kilns. Regardless of whether what you said is true or not, your words and actions have drawn my attention to the Peony Tower. Is there some personal grudge involved? I can't help but be curious. What exactly does Miss Picking Flowers want?"
Nianhua put away the ambiguous smile in her eyes. "Personal grudge, indeed. You want to investigate his case, and I want Sanlang to be disgraced and ridiculed by the world. It's a win-win situation, what's not to like?" She leaned closer and lowered her voice, "But I also want the skin of Mudanlou's raccoon slave."
"Since you know why I'm here, you should know that I won't help you kill anyone."
"You can't kill it. I just need your friend to get the government to admit in three days that the headless female corpse in the river is a raccoon. If there's nothing in the river, just pretend I never asked you for help. Is that a good deal?"
Heng Jin is the God of War after all, an untouchable god in heaven. How could his fate be bad when he was reborn into the lower world? Even if he becomes an official after going through hardships in the human world, he will only be a good official praised by all people and live a clean life.
How dare she add a touch of collusion to her clean and honest career?
"I'm not as powerful as you say. I can't help you."
Nianha was not angry because of her refusal. She stood up and took out a notebook from the secret compartment in the room and handed it to her.
As soon as Yuanli took the book, the title made her feel particularly hot.
"The Record of Sexual Activities in the Flower Garden" is a treasure book on the affairs of men and women in the mortal world. It ranks first on the list of the best-selling banned illustrated books in the imperial capital, and almost everyone in Yanliu Lane has a copy.
Without even opening it, Yuanli could imagine how shocking the scene inside was.
Yuanli's mind inexplicably flashed back to him that night when he was reluctant but willing to accept her, and how he was a strong and honest man from a good family. Her cheeks flushed, and she threw the "hot potato" back with an evasive look in her eyes.
Nianhua was startled for a moment, but then quickly reacted. She opened the book to cover the exciting picture and pointed to the small words at the bottom. "Sir, you misunderstood. I have revised this book. The small words at the bottom are all useful to your friends."
After hearing that she could help Qi Heng, Yuanli turned her head and glanced at a few words.
Seeing that these were not words describing an action, Yuanli took the book and took a closer look.
"Although you say you don't have that kind of power, your friend does. His eyes are all on you. My business is just a matter of a girl saying something. It's not difficult."
Yuanli suddenly stood up, holding the book in her arms, and looked at her warily.
The round stool behind him was knocked to the ground due to the excessive movement, making a loud noise, and the sound of footsteps approaching could be heard from the stairwell.
Nianhua reacted quickly, making some indescribable sounds.
The people downstairs stopped in their tracks when they heard it. Her performance of picking up flowers was so vivid and colorful that it made people's blood boil. She was worthy of being the most popular courtesan in the imperial capital.
She didn't stop picking flowers until the person standing on the stairwell left and the sound of footsteps completely disappeared from her ears.
"Sir, don't get excited. With your two friends here, I dare not do anything to you. Making too much noise will attract the people guarding me. If we are discovered, both you and I will be in trouble."
Hearing this, Yuanli sat back down without hesitation. Since she was already here, she had to bring something useful back.
"Everything in this book was said by him himself. I only dared to write it down when he was away. Under the compartment with the paintings are letters I stole. They're all evidence. What he burned was just my imitation. Before he started his flower business, my father was a dealer in fake calligraphy and paintings. I've been exposed to him since I was a child, so I've learned a little bit."
"Aren't you afraid of being discovered by him and getting into trouble?"
"If I had been timid, I wouldn't be in this position now. I was going to use it as a foundation to threaten him in the future, but he turned out to be a short-lived person. Now I have no use for it, so I'll give it to you."
Nianhua's tone was helpless. She was smiling all the time, but her eyes were numb and empty.
He handed it to her very casually, as if it were a treasure book among flowers that could be found everywhere.
"When I first heard about him, I scoffed at him. He's a dissolute loser, not to be liked. Don't worry, sir, I'm not afraid of you making fun of me. People in our line of work may be dirty, and we've come into contact with countless patrons, but the ones we least want to take on are those who linger in various brothels. No one wants to cause trouble."
She looked at the bright moon in the sky, her eyes gradually turning red and moist, her tone becoming more helpless, "If I get sick, my job will be ruined."
She gently pulled down the clothes on her wrists, revealing her slender and fair arms. There were still white spots on her wrists, but as she moved upwards, the spots became larger and formed into light pink flowers.
"Mother Yu never imagined that the box of silver she greedily accepted and the jar of calming incense she lit for me would destroy her cash cow."
"What are these flowers?"
"Have you heard of syphilis? It's what people call a dirty disease." He paused, glanced at her reaction, and then silently stepped away from her before adding, "Don't worry, my lord. My disease is only contagious after sex. It doesn't bother anyone normally."
Yuanli hesitated to speak, not knowing how to tell her that she didn't mind, but she was afraid that inappropriate words would cause her to misunderstand and hurt her self-esteem.
"It was Sanlang who gave me this disease. Although syphilis won't kill you right away, it will cause problems. People who know about this disease can recognize it at first sight. If there are customers and they pay enough, there will still be girls to take them. But if we get it, no matter how beautiful our skin is or how famous our reputation is, people will stay away from us."
Yuanli pointed at the flower on her arm and said, "I've also seen this on his body."
"It's wax. If you have a growth on your body and want to hide it from others, you can only dig it out while it's still small. But losing a piece of flesh will inevitably leave a scar, which is unsightly. I carved it into petals and filled it with melted red and white candles. It turned into a pink flower, which is quite attractive. Experienced mothers know that this method only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. This way, the money tree can continue to survive for a while."
She picked up the flower, lowered her head and gently stroked the peach blossoms, her tone relaxed, as if that cruel method had never been used on her.
I guess the white wax spots on the useless third brother's body were learned from Nianhua.
Digging out flesh and filling it with wax was something he had to do out of helplessness, but since he was a man and a prince, having peach blossoms on his body would only attract more attention.
On the day of the autopsy, Yuanli had suspected that these wax spots were something he used to cover up his tracks.
But when she wanted to check her private parts to see if there were any lesions that had not been cleaned yet, Qi Heng stopped her, so she failed to check.
Qi Heng came here to investigate the case, and he must have come to Yanliu Lane because he discovered the problem.
Yuanli felt upset. If she had figured it out earlier, she wouldn't have been so jealous and confused by Xiang.
Thinking of the fragrance that day, Yuanli suddenly realized that Picking Flowers had also mentioned some kind of calming fragrance.
"Miss Nianhua, I'd like to ask, could you please tell me specifically about the ingredients and effects of the tranquilizing incense you just mentioned?"
Nianha had a puzzled expression on her face. She took out a book from an inconspicuous place on the top of the bookshelf and began to flip through it skillfully.
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