On the second-floor balcony, a woman gracefully tossed her sleeves, warmly inviting the two men below: "Now that you two brothers have arrived, why are you hesitating at the door? Upstairs, there's fine wine and food, and your humble servant is waiting for you~"
These warm and straightforward words made Wei Shuwan blush and feel hot in her ears. She looked up at Li Qingchen.
"What, you don't want to go in?" Li Qingchen asked her.
While Wei Shuwan hesitated, she could already smell the aroma of food wafting from inside. She unconsciously swallowed and finally couldn't bear to refuse Li Qingchen's good intentions. "Since you're here, let's go in."
Having said that, she walked backwards ahead.
As soon as the two stepped into Xunfang Pavilion, many girls were drawn to them, their eyes filled with anticipation.
This place of pleasure has never lacked wealthy patrons, but most of them are either rich playboys or merchants from all over the country. They may be rich, but they exude a vulgar air. Unlike these two, who are upright and refined, they are truly rare!
The two men, one tall and one short, each had their own unique charm. The taller one was elegant and graceful, with a striking and imposing figure, while the shorter one had a long and slender neck, with a graceful and elegant bearing. Both men possessed extraordinary bearing.
Grandma Zheng hurried over, her eyes shining with excitement, thinking to herself that whoever was chosen by these two today would be truly blessed!
However, Li Qingchen, with a stiff face, coldly instructed, "Please arrange a private room and prepare a fine feast. Do not let anyone disturb you." Then he took a step to go upstairs.
Grandma Zheng felt a little discouraged. Although the fine banquet did earn money, it wasn't double the income. With a forced smile, she turned to order the dishes when she heard a most pleasant voice behind her:
"This is your tip."
Grandma Zheng turned around with a smile, saw a silver ingot handed to her, her eyes lit up as she took it, and thanked the tall young man repeatedly.
Seeing Li Qingchen's lavish spending, Wei Shuwan suddenly remembered the handful of silver coins she had given him last night, and felt her face flush.
As soon as Grandma Zheng returned, the girls rushed over, calling out, "Grandma~"
She knew exactly what they were thinking about, and shook her head regretfully, saying, "They're just here for a treat. You guys don't have that kind of luck!"
On the second floor, Wei Shuwan followed Li Qingchen into a private room. After sitting down, she looked around and found that the private room here was quite different from the private rooms in ordinary teahouses.
An ordinary private room is just a separate room, but this one has walls on three sides and a waist-high vermilion railing on the other, with a view directly facing the brothel in the center of the first floor. At this moment, several women are dancing to music in the brothel, their flowing sleeves swaying and fluttering like butterflies.
Wei Shuwan had never seen such a scene before and found it fascinating. When she came to her senses, she looked at Li Qingchen's expression and found that he was not looking at the brothel at all, but was playing with a jade pendant.
"Is it pretty?" she asked softly.
Li Qingchen frowned and glanced at her.
"Even prettier than the beauties in the audience?" she continued to ask.
Li Qingchen clenched his palm: "This was left to me by my mother."
Wei Shuwan was suddenly taken aback, belatedly realizing that she had made a joke about something she shouldn't have.
She had heard that Princess Qiaochuan had passed away when Li Qingchen was very young, and the current princess was originally a concubine who was promoted to the rank of princess after Princess Qiaochuan's death.
"I... I didn't mean to just now." She apologized cautiously, but when she looked down at the jade again, she noticed that there was a small chip on one corner of the jade.
"It was damaged by an arrow during the assassination attempt last night. If it weren't for it, I would probably have been hit by two arrows."
Wei Shuwan didn't dare to ask any more questions, but Li Qingchen took the initiative to speak, though his voice was low and languid, which made her afraid to continue the topic.
Just as the atmosphere grew tense, the dishes were served, quickly filling the entire small round table. Grandma Zheng specially brought up a pot of wine, personally filling the cups for both of them before retreating with a beaming smile.
Wei Shuwan was so hungry she was seeing stars, and now, staring at the table full of dishes, her mouth watered. However, Li Qingchen was of high status, and she felt embarrassed to be the first to start eating if he didn't start.
Perhaps sensing her hesitation, Li Qingchen picked up a piece of braised meat with his chopsticks and put it in his own bowl, then said, "Eat."
Wei Shuwan then stopped being polite and began to feast heartily amidst the music and singing coming from the brothel.
When she wasn't so hungry anymore, she turned to look at Li Qingchen and realized that the piece of braised meat he had picked up at the beginning was still lying safely in his bowl, untouched.
Wei Shuwan then remembered that he was still seriously injured and should not eat anything too greasy. So he glanced around at the dishes on the table and finally focused his attention on the steamed sea bass.
She simply brought the whole plate closer, then used bamboo chopsticks to carefully remove the fish bones one by one, and then cut the fish meat into small pieces and mixed it into a bowl of congee.
She pushed the porridge in front of Li Qingchen: "Eat this. Fish porridge is light and nourishing to the liver and blood."
Li Qingchen then realized that all that she had been doing was to keep herself busy.
Even though he had eaten in the evening and didn't feel hungry, he still gladly accepted the bowl of fish porridge and took a bite.
"How is it?" Wei Shuwan raised her eyebrows as she looked at him. She knew that people who were injured or ill were the least likely to eat.
Li Qingchen forced a smile: "It's acceptable."
As Li Qingchen looked up, their eyes met. Just a moment ago, he was struck by her clear and bright eyes, but the lights around them went out and they could no longer see each other in the darkness.
The sudden lights out made Wei Shuwan, who was visiting such a place for the first time, a little flustered, but the other guests were extremely excited, and the atmosphere became restless. Some even whistled to urge them on.
"Is there a grand finale performance?" Wei Shuwan guessed, sensing the excitement of the crowd.
In fact, this was Li Qingchen's first time here, so he naturally didn't know what was going on next. Although he had been to many places of entertainment, he had mostly done so to meet with various forces and avoid being noticed. Those places had hidden agents, so he couldn't take Wei Shu there late at night. That's why he chose this place he had never been before.
Footsteps echoed outside the door as many people groped their way downstairs in the dark, intending to join the excitement in the area closer to the brothel on the first floor.
They walked and talked animatedly. Wei Shuwan wanted to listen but couldn't hear clearly. She was so anxious that she tried to get closer to the door, but she tripped over something and almost fell!
Li Qingchen helped her up, knowing her curiosity, and whispered what he had overheard in her ear: "A master recently came to Xunfang Pavilion. She is skilled in disguise and holds an auction every night at midnight. The highest bidder can have her disguise herself as the person she desires and spend time with them..."
After a moment of hesitation, he finally managed to utter the last two words: "A beautiful night."
After hearing this, Wei Shuwan blushed, not because of what Li Qingchen said, but because every word he said was like a burst of hot fire, making her ears feel hot and itchy.
But something even more embarrassing happened the next moment:
The auction outside the brothel had concluded, and the young master who bid the highest won the right to set the topic for tonight. He climbed onto the brothel and arrogantly shouted, "Tonight you will dress up as Wei Shuwan, the most beautiful woman in Jiangzuo, and have some fun with me!"
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