At the same time, Jiang Yan, who had just entered the Shihua Pavilion, was surrounded by several smiling hostesses, waving handkerchiefs dipped in powder in front of him:
"Looking at my brother's outfit, he must be a distinguished guest from the Yuling Army, right? Does he want to drink wine or find a girl? Do you want to go with the slave family to bathe and change clothes first, and then play in the water together?"
Before today, Jiang Yan had already learned in advance that this Chinese restaurant was divided into three entrances: the front, middle and back. There was also a kitchen in the back hall for cooking. The front hall where he was currently was just a few bags.
This is a place where shy young men of letters drank flower wine and recited poems. Here, as long as you had some loose money, you could rub and caress the body of the drinking girl, and it was just like doing it.
Nothing else to do.
The second entrance from the front hall is the Yinggeyanwu place, which is staffed by a dedicated person and requires additional payment to enter. The women here are not just barmaids who can only sing a ditty and compose limericks to entertain, but
She is a charming beauty who can easily make men fall under her pomegranate skirt.
Going forward to reach the third courtyard, you need to pass through a long corridor that winds between rockeries and flowing water. The feeling of this entrance is completely different from the previous two entrances. There is no drumming, noisy sound, and the sound of licentiousness. Instead, there is a small bridge.
The flowing water, the music of the harp and the music, make it look like a mansion of a wealthy family, or a fragrant pavilion of a famous lady.
It is precisely with such distinctive features that the Shihua Pavilion has become famous in Mulu City. And the four famous stone cherry blossoms, crane pansy, purple kite, and lily of the valley that live in the third courtyard are even more famous.
An extremely talented woman who has been practicing music, chess, calligraphy and painting since she was a child caused famous officials and dignitaries in the city to compete with each other to raise their prices. They even fought with each other and spent a lot of money to see her beauty. Jiang Yan's trip was also a rush.
It was the third person who entered the courtyard.
The black-eyed boy had known that he would meet someone like this. As soon as he entered the door, before the girls blocked his way, he rushed straight to the second courtyard, taking out more than ten yuan from his arms as he walked.
A piece of silver comes:
"I would also like to ask all my sisters to make it convenient for me to come in. I am here today just to find a girl——"
"Oh, sir, you are really good at joking. You are not looking for girls here, but are you looking for men? There is no need to be in such a hurry. Sit down and drink two glasses of wine first, and then my daughter will naturally help you.
Looking for someone."
One of the waiters had quick eyesight and quick hands. Although she accepted the money, she did not move out of the way like the others. Before the generous young man in front of her had time to react, she had already taken two quick steps to reach General Yan.
He hugged his strong arms tightly to his side:
"My lord, since you have spent money, I will serve you wholeheartedly. How can I let you dry your throat and leave?"
The warm touch of the woman's body immediately spread to Jiang Yan's hands, causing his whole body to become hot and hot. The young man was forcefully dragged to a small round table in the corner and sat down. Just as he was about to get up and leave,
However, he found that the woman had tied the cage gauze on her shoulders to her belt at some point and tied it tightly. He couldn't help but sit down patiently and drank all the wine in the glass.
:
"The wine has been drunk, please let the girl go."
"When will the slave family not let the official leave?"
The voice of the bartender was extremely coquettish. If it were an ordinary person, her bones would have gone numb. As she spoke, she grabbed Jiang Yan's hand and reached under her thin gauze skirt.
The black-eyed boy hurriedly pulled his hand back, but his heart was still beating hard. He knew that half of the silver reward for drinking flower wine would fall into the bags of these hostesses, so they did their best
He flirted with the guests and refused to let him go easily. He couldn't help but become anxious, and hurriedly took out another silver coin from his arms and pressed it on the table:
"Girl, I'm really here to see someone today. I don't want to chat with you. If you don't mind, girl, I will use the money to buy some rouge and gouache. Please let me over quickly."
But as a result, the woman became more and more unwilling to let this money tree go. She twisted her waist and sat in Jiang Yan's arms: "Young master, please tell me the name of the girl you are looking for."
, I might as well go inside and report it for you."
"Girl, please don't push yourself too far! Although you are not allowed to bring weapons here, I can still hurt people with my bare hands! If you deliberately obstruct me again, don't blame me for turning against you!"
The black-eyed boy had no choice but to lower his voice and threaten. Seeing the unkind look on his face, the bartender in front of him knew that he would not get any more benefits if he continued to pester him, so he snorted and left angrily.
Jiang Yan, who was finally able to escape, used five more silver cents to successfully enter the second courtyard gate. He didn't stay here for too long, but when he went forward to the third courtyard gate, he was no longer using it.
You can easily pass the customs with some money.
When the madam in the store heard that a rich man had arrived today, he immediately rushed over from the front door with a flattering look: "Master, look at you, you are so impatient, what are you trying to do with the four people in the courtyard?"
Which one of these girls is it?"
"I wonder if Miss Ziyuan is convenient today?"
"Hey, my guest has really good taste. But do you want to listen to Zi Yuan's piano playing, or see her paintings?" As soon as he saw the young man's dress in front of him, the madam remembered the scene that happened outside the door.
, I already knew it in my heart, but I still had a smile on my face.
"no."
"Do you want to drink a pot of tea brewed by her?"
"No. I'm not here to have fun with the girl."
"Hey, you didn't come here to have fun with the girl? Then why did you specifically name our Ziyuan girl?" The madam rolled her eyes fiercely.
"I heard that Miss Ziyuan comes from the Yushui River estuary in Changzhou, and she has a mole on the tip of her nose. This appearance is somewhat similar to that of an old friend of mine, so I want to say a few words to her face to face and ask
Ask clearly."
Jiang Yan, who had never been to a brothel, was a straight man, so the other party told the truth with just a few words.
"This young master really loves to joke. Miss Ziyuan is the courtesan in our royal palace. She stays at home all day long. There are many rumors about her outside. You can be sure that what you hear is true.
?”
The old bustard finally figured out the purpose of the other party's visit, and his attitude immediately became cold, "The country of Ye is so big, so many princes and ministers under the king have to go to great lengths to see Zi Yuan.
One night after another. You just barged in so recklessly, and if I allow you to see her, will I still be able to do business in this store in the future?"
"I understand. You can tell me how much silver I need. I won't bargain for a single copper coin. I left immediately after talking to Miss Ziyuan. It shouldn't be considered a violation of the rules here, right? I hope you can be accommodating.
Accommodating.”
Jiang Yan cupped his hand again and looked at the old bustard with a sincere face.
At first, the madam didn't expect that the young man in front of her, wearing the uniform of a captain of the Mo Ling Guards, would be so generous. She thought that this guy was either hiding something secretly, or he was really stupid and dared to ask her to make an offer. She rolled her eyes.
, intending to explore the other party’s background first, he put his hands on his hands and said with a smile:
"Oh, it's not impossible for you to have a few words with Miss Ziyuan across the bead curtain. However, I can't set the price. I have to ask Miss Ziyuan what she wants. I also
I just want to send a message to her for you first. If she is willing to see you, it will be easier to arrange later. If she is not willing to see you, then the guest officer can only think that the trip was in vain. "
"Okay." The black-eyed boy didn't know that the other party was testing him at this time. He thought it was the same as before, just asking for money in a different way. He actually nodded and agreed, and then directly took out a gold coin.
The baht was handed into the hands of the madam, "This is the errand fee for you. I'll be waiting in this courtyard. Please tell Miss Ziyuan to get back to you as soon as possible."
After a while, several maids who were not so coquettishly dressed came over with candied fruits and snacks, and they beat Jiang Yan's legs and shoulders, chatted and joked, but their actions were not as wild and wanton as before. Although the young man still resisted a little, he still
I felt that it would be less boring to wait with someone beside me, so I stopped making any sound to drive him away.
After half an hour, a well-dressed girl came out of the small building deep in the courtyard, with a smile on her face. She seemed to be the personal maid serving Zi Yuan. Yan Xin said
There was something going on, so he stood up with a loud noise and went to greet him:
"Is it possible that Miss Ziyuan is willing to see me?"
"I agree, and she only wants to charge you 12 gold bahts, and she will make a fortune and bring good fortune to the guest." The other party said and spread his hands in front of the young man.
"As long as Miss Ziyuan is willing to see me." Without saying anything, Jiang Yan took out another twelve gold bahts from his arms and put them into his palm - this was all the money he had left.
. At this time, the young man was still grateful in his heart that the other party did not offer a high price that he could not afford. And the expenses just now had already spent all the salary he had saved in the past two years.
"Please ask this guest to wait in the Xufeng Pavilion. I will take Miss Ziyuan to see you. Come back as soon as you go."
The girl in front of him bowed and saluted, and ordered several maids to lead Yan to the Xufeng Pavilion on the side of the second entrance courtyard to continue waiting. He never thought that it would take three more sticks of incense for him to leave. Only then did the young man realize the situation.
Something was wrong, and he was about to open the door and go out to question, but he saw the madam, who had not been seen for a long time, running towards him with a sad face, and kept mumbling in his mouth, looking very regretful:
"Oh sir, you don't know. Just now a well-known commander in the city came and wanted to hear Miss Ziyuan play the piano by name. Miss Ziyuan hurriedly packed up and rushed over."
"Which commander? What do you mean by this?"
"Who else can there be? In the entire Mulu City, there is only one commander in the Baisha Camp of the Marine Division! Oh, by the way, that general's name seems to be Baili, and he should be the leader of your Royal Ling Army.
Right? He paid a lot of money to buy Miss Ziyuan for the whole day. I'm afraid you won't be able to see her today, so why not come another day?"
After hearing this, Jiang Yan finally realized that he had tricked the other party, and immediately frowned and hummed heavily:
"Could it be that when you saw me wearing the brocade robe of Mo Lingwei, you wanted to find an excuse to scare me away? To tell you the truth, General Baili is very familiar with me. If he comes, then I will go there too.
With his light, let’s ask Miss Ziyuan carefully in person, please lead the way!”
The Madam originally thought that the reason she had carefully concocted was quite legitimate, but she didn't expect that it would backfire, and she became a little panicked for a moment:
"Or maybe I remember it wrong, but the other party is definitely one of the top figures in this city. In short, you can't meet Miss Ziyuan today, so please come back! If you are destined to be the right person, you can meet her next time."
"Are you still thinking of cheating me out of my gold baht next time? I thought this brothel had a good reputation and the money should be earned more openly!" Jiang Yan couldn't help shouting angrily, "It's okay to let me go.
Give me back the twelve gold bahts you just collected!"
"The money given out is like water thrown out. Besides, I have already handed over all the gold baht to Miss Ziyuan. Now that you want to get the money back, do you mean you never want to see her again?" The old madam also said.
Completely torn apart.
"Aren't you afraid that I will smash up this illegal store of yours? Those thugs in the store can't possibly be my opponent!" The black-eyed boy was furious, and he threatened the other party in desperation. Unexpectedly, the madam opposite him refused to eat at all.
With this, he smiled more and more confidently:
"I think you dare! Do you think that our Shihua Restaurant can operate in Mulu City for so many years with the help of a few helpless girls? To tell you the truth, this store is owned by Jinghaihou
Master, it was also raised and run by the current king’s brother. If you dare to smash the store, you are going against Mr. Jinghaihou and the king! Even if General Baili in the boat division really has nothing to do with you.
Relationships will definitely not be able to save you!"
Hearing that the old bustard mentioned the title of Marquis Jinghai, and said it with nose and eyes, Jiang Yan couldn't tell whether he was telling lies or not. But he knew clearly that Qi Shouyu was quite powerful in the city.
If Xiang Baili had not defended the incident at the General Temple three years ago, he would have been kicked out of the palace, and his mentor had a new grudge against the prince. Now, although he can achieve his ambition for a while with his extraordinary martial arts,
But if the interests of the rich and powerful are really affected, it may be like poking a hornet's nest, and it will be difficult to end.
Since there was no way to defeat the other party at the moment, he had no choice but to find another way. So under the disdainful eyes of the old madam, the young man angrily withdrew from the Shihua Pavilion. However, just as he turned the corner, he suddenly felt a look from behind.
He gave him a sharp look. When he turned around, he saw two men with long beards staring at him among the crowd.
Seeing that Jiang Yan was suspicious, the two men immediately looked away, acting extremely unnaturally. The black-eyed young man was frightened and could not help but quicken his pace.