41 A Beautiful Young Man by the Stream (1/2)
Chapter 41: A Beautiful Young Man by the Stream
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
Even though Mistress Jian had now become Madam Jian, Ning Que would not reject her suggestion, since he had not forgotten the real reason why he had been searching relentlessly in the brothels of the Chang'an city. Moreover, the opportunity to visit the best brothel in Chang'an as a VIP was nonetheless pretty valuable for the humble young man that he was.
Walking down the stairs of the west court, there was a finely mowed lawn behind the building lined with a pebbled path that extended across a white wall, through which a small stream flowed under the starry night. A few small houses were built along the two sides of the stream, emanating sound of music and string instruments. That would be the dancers preparing for the imperial celebrations.
The maidservant wasn't in a good mood after being scolded, and her face looked even sterner as she saw Ning Que strolling and looking around comfortably, as if he really was a casual tourist sightseeing. Mockingly, she said, ”I don't know what got into Mistress Jian today, and why would she treat a pauper like you so kindly. And you, being a poor scholar you really shouldn't have agreed to this. But oh well, someone who'd want to visit a brothel despite being so poor is obviously thick-skinned.”
Having been called thick-skinned, Ning Que decided to honor the name and do as if completely oblivious to her sarcasm. Then he replied gently, ”I couldn't possibly turn down the good intentions of Mr. Chu as he really offered to pay for me, and these matters between us men are quite complex, but quite simple too after all.”
”You're just a boy, how dare you boast about your manhood.” The maidservant sneered. ”it would be fine if it were a few drinks only, but how are you so shameless to let him pay for your other expenses too? You don't even know him!”
Hearing her words about being boy or man reminded Ning Que of the first time when he saw Lee Yu in Wei City. At that time, Lee Yu posed as a mere maidservant and not a princess, and today, another maidservant said the same thing. It hadn't been long since her first encounter with Lee Yu, but somehow it felt like years ago.
That maidservant had already returned to the depths of the imperial court, and countless officials and commoners celebrated her return. And now, he had also arrived in Chang'an, visiting a brothel for some strange reason, and was now listening to the melodies that were specifically composed for her before she was going to. Thinking about the strange circumstances in life, he couldn't help laughing.
”What's so funny?” The young maidservant chid.
Ning Que extended his palms to show that he had nothing to say. Right now he only wanted to collect some intelligence, and he wasn't really into arguing with the young maidservant since he didn't want to waste this rare opportunity of strolling around this brothel.
Upon finding out about the status of House of Red-Sleeves among the rich and famous, he had a feeling that, this must indeed be the place where Censor Zhang Yiqi frequented, because this was the only place that provided enough privacy and prestige at the same time.
How should I probe into that? Playing dumb or naive won't work, so I should start talking casually about fun facts and anecdotes of the border town, which would certainly appeal to this young handmaiden who lives among pretty girls but enjoys hearing about the legends of the border town warriors.
Ning Que had always been quite good at dealing with people like this maidservant, and that's not because of the princess who was now in the palace but because of the little handmaiden of his who was so cold and seldom smiled. If he was able to tame someone like Sangsang, or at least he thought he did, it should be a piece of cake to handle Mistress Jian's young maidservant.
And indeed, a few moments after, the young maidservant was already all smiles and began exchanging all kinds of gossip of the trade with Ning Que with great excitement. By then Ning Que had great knowledge about matters such as why the music and dance band had to take on prostitution, and which of the pretty girls here was the most popular, who had got a sugar daddy, and which of their sugar daddies had the highest title in the government.