Chapter 135: The Honorable Son-in-law of the Yin Gou Clan (1/2)
Chapter 135 : The Honorable Son-in-law of the Yin Gou Clan
May I ask where the wine tavern resides? Even scholars point to where the Supreme Beauty Pavilion presides!
TN: A poetic line saying that even gentlemen and scholars would visit the Supreme Beauty Pavilion, a high class brothel. I tried to make it rhyme.
At this time, the twilight basked in the glow of the setting sun painted the clouds red over the distant city walls, giving one last trace of warmth before nightfall. The evening breeze blew into the faces of bypassers.
Feng Feiyun and the four bandits were right outside of the Supreme Beauty Pavilion at this time!
“I heard the sixth beauty of the Godly Jin Dynasty had played the ‘Frontier Tune’ at this place. At that time, many famous people from the cultivation world came to admire her beauty, and they only wished to listen to her ethereal strings. From then on, the Supreme Beauty Pavilion was renowned throughout the Grand Southern Prefecture and was ranked second among the houses with red doors.” Liu Qinsheng lifted his head to look at the golden and jade pavilion with seven stories. The hall was magnificent, it was truly not inferior to a royal palace.
Is this really just a brothel? There was an even higher display of extravagance and prideful grandeur than the City Lord’s mansion.
On the grand street where the pleasure quarter sits east; the place where jade fences and immortal apricots pushing the roses meet!
TN: This is part of a poem describing how a brothel did not have the lustful appearance of one at all. What I’m thinking is the roses symbolize sex and wine while the immortal apricots are suppressing/pushing the sins away.
This place did not resemble a location for a social romantic outing nor a night outing of wine and sex. It had the appearance of a chamber that belonged to the scholarly young misses and royal daughters.
“Then where is the number one brothel located?” Feng Feiyun didn’t believe that there was a more stunning brothel compared to the Supreme Beauty Pavilion.
“Godly Capital, Beauty’s Smile Pavilion!”
TN: This name just sounds so much better in Chinese. A more literal translation would be Thousand Gold One Smile Pavilion. However, Thousand Gold 千金 also means a well-educated/favored beautiful daughter from a noble/rich family. The one here can also mean one smile or number one, meaning that they are number one.
Liu Qinsheng continued on: “If you want a woman from there to smile once for you, you have to spend one thousand gold coins. Moreover, sometimes, even if you give them money, they will not necessarily pay attention to you.”
Making a brothel into such a high level could be considered a miracle. As long as it was number one in the world, there was no need to care about other people’s opinions.
“I’m more curious about why the sixth beauty of the Godly Jin Dynasty is still staying at the Supreme Beauty Pavilion.” With his back hunched and head almost touching the ground, Luotuo Zi asked with laughter.
Liu Qinsheng shook his head and replied: “Two years ago, she already paid for her freedom and no one knew where she went. Only later did rumors say that someone saw her appearing at the Beauty’s Smile Pavilion on stage to — once again — play her strings as she sold cheap laughter. However, there was sadness in her smile and pain in her songs.”
Feng Feiyun slightly frowned and spoke: “If she redeemed herself, then this would be indicative of her hating this dirty lifestyle and wanting to escape from such a tainted place. Why is it that she joined the Beauty’s Smile Pavilion right after?”
No matter how beautiful and famous one was, there was another hidden facet that was filled with bitterness in their heart.
Liu Qinsheng shook his head to say: “No matter whether it is the Supreme Beauty Pavilion or the Beauty’s Smile Pavilion, to be able to stand strong and become famous in the cultivation world at the Jin Dynasty, there must be a monstrous backing behind them. The sixth beauty is a golden egg-laying hen in such a lustful place. Once she entered, how could she completely escape?”
“Even if she wants to escape, there will be those who will take her back.”
Even though these bandits were not hesitant when committing heinous acts, they still had a trace of morality. At this moment, they all sighed in lamentation and understood why there were tears in her smile along with pain in her songs.
“Do you see the red jade plaques hanging on top of the beam by the ceiling?” The five of them went into the main hall of the Supreme Beauty Pavilion, and Liu Qinsheng pointed at a red beam hanging horizontally above them with different red jade plaques hanging off of it. Each jade plaque was carved with the name of a woman.
“The nearer the jade plaque is to the front, the more popular the women is. If you want to see them, you must pay a higher price.” Liu Qinsheng explained.
Feng Feiyun and the three other bandits directly stared towards the jade plaque displayed at the front with the number one position.
“Nangong Hongyan.” Feng Feiyun murmured her name.
“Nangong Hongyan’s jade plaque has been hanging at the number one position for two years, and no one has been able to change this.”
Liu Qinsheng sighed many more times as he slammed his chest in exasperation: “Last year, I brought along ten thousand gold coins to the Supreme Beauty Pavilion just to meet her once. However, after all my gold coins disappeared, I didn’t get my wish. I didn’t even get to see one of her fingers.”
He was disappointed without end!
“Why is that?” Feng Feiyun was perplexed as to why one couldn’t even see her after spending ten thousand gold coins.
Paying money to see her was not anything unfair for a woman of a brothel.
“Nangong Hongyan is extremely arrogant. She made a rule that one must satisfy three conditions if they wanted to see her. However, even if these three conditions are met, they still wouldn’t necessarily be able to see her.” Liu Qinsheng replied.
Feng Feiyun initially wanted to arrange for these four bandits to stay at the pavilion before leaving in secret because he wanted to find the person named Zuo Qianshou. But at this moment, his curiosity was piqued by Nangong Hongyan, so he immediately asked: “What are the three conditions?”
“First, one has to be young and handsome.”
After hearing the first criteria, Luotuo Zi and Wu Jiu immediately turned their heads and coldly scowled with an uncomfortable feeling. They secretly cursed her at being “shallow,” and how she could not see the beauty of the heart!
“Second, they have to be young with a lot of money.”
After hearing the second criteria, Wu Jiu also turned around and cursed: “Women are all motherfucking realistic.”
“Third, they must be a king among the younger generation.”
After hearing these three conditions, Feng Feiyun was in silent contemplation for a bit while gently touching his nose before he opened his mouth without any sense of shame: “She has to be talking about me, right?”