Cypress Boat Floating

Chapter 173 Close Relationship

No matter how glamorous a city is, there are always some dark corners.

Even in the capital, at the feet of the emperor, it is not as gold-covered as others say, and everyone who comes here can make money.

With more opportunities comes more risks. Some people make a lot of money here, take countless gold and silver treasures back to their hometowns to marry beautiful wives; some people are appreciated by dignitaries here and work for them; but more people can neither leave nor survive.

Their home is here, but they have no land of their own and no way to earn money by growing food. They are forced to do hard labor outside, or women do needlework at home to barely make ends meet.

Some people make money here, but naturally there are also people who lose all their money and don’t even have a penny left.

But some of them are ignorant and squandering, squandering all the property accumulated by their ancestors, and finally have to live in slums, but they still retain the temperament of rich young men, they can't get used to this food or that living place, and they are still thinking about the few pounds of meat under them.

Where there are people, there is demand; where there are people, there is desire. In response to these people's desires, a hidden trading place was born in an unknown corner of the capital.

These people had no money to find beautiful girls, and no money to go to places like Chunmanlou where only dignitaries could enter. They could only turn around and go into a small courtyard at the end of the alley next to them.

There are more than a dozen rooms hidden in the small courtyard. Each room can only accommodate a bed, a table and chairs. There is only a wall between the rooms. Whatever you do on one side, the people on the other side of the wall can hear it clearly.

There are no windows in the room, and in order to save money, even candles are not lit, which makes the room dark and damp all year round.

But these people just spend a few coins to satisfy their desires, they don't care about these environments. No love, no romance, people who come in are just here to do business.

Once they get here, they take off their pants, do whatever they want, and vent their desires however they want. Those women cannot complain, and after they are done, they leave a few coppers behind, which are enough for them to live on for a while.

These women are the so-called secret prostitutes.

Secret prostitutes are usually those who have stayed in brothels until no one redeemed them, those who are old and ugly, those who have lost their beauty or health. Such people have no special skills, no household registration of their own, and do not know where to go if they go out, so they generally choose this path.

There are also some women who have lost their source of income at home and can't survive, and can only rely on selling their bodies to get some money to make ends meet. These women are the most pathetic and pitiful. Some of them don't even come here voluntarily, but are sent here by their families.

The lights in Chunmanlou were bright, and it seemed that every girl in there was living very comfortably. Even the madam, Auntie Chun, seemed to be very kind to them.

But who knows that the beauty of Chun Man Lou and the courtesans who appear in Chun Man Lou every year are all sacrificed by these women.

In the past, Ye Jianqing often went to see Jiang Wanyin, so he naturally knew the side of Chunmanlou that was not known to the guests.

The girls in Chunmanlou are divided into two groups. One group is able to compete for the title of the most beautiful girl. These girls do not need to receive customers when they first enter Chunmanlou. What they need to do is to learn music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Aunt Chun will invite professional teachers to teach them, striving to make them the best, able to speak eloquently, and able to shock the world with a dance like Jiang Wanyin.

The other part is to receive guests. They have to maintain their beauty and have sufficient performance. Only when they receive more guests can they get more money from Aunt Chun.

These women are not like the former. They only know some simple poems, some simple dances and talents, and they cannot achieve the ultimate.

The women in Chunmanlou have to receive guests at night and train during the day. Everyone's hard work is obvious to all. Everyone wants to do their best here, perhaps in this way they can get rid of the identity of prostitutes. If they are lucky, they will meet a young man willing to redeem them.

At this point in time, Ye Jianqing couldn't care less. Ever since she heard from Yuqin that something happened between Lu Zhixing and Jiang Wanyin, she was so anxious that her mouth was bubbling.

She didn't understand. Didn't Lu Zhixing love Wei Wangshu very much? Why did he suddenly fall in love with Jiang Wanyin? Although Jiang Wanyin was indeed beautiful, she could be said to be stunningly beautiful, but Wei Wangshu was also very beautiful, intelligent and gentle. She took care of such a big family for him and gave birth to a daughter for him.

Why are you going out to pick wild flowers?

But to know the truth, one had to see it with one's own eyes and ask in person to see what Jiang Wanyin's attitude was and whether Lu Zhixing really went to Chunmanlou to watch Jiang Wanyin dance every day as Yuqin said, and even the news spread outside.

Ye Jianqing didn't dare to think about what would happen if Lu Ci Qiu knew about what happened between Lu Zhixing and Jiang Wanyin. Lu Ci Qiu had always been on guard against Jiang Wanyin's contact with Lu Zhixing, fearing that his second brother's good family would be destroyed because of Jiang Wanyin.

She was even more afraid that Wei Wangshu would know about this. That woman was very friendly to her and treated her like a sister. Ye Jianqing really liked her gentle temperament. She didn't dare to think about what it would be like if this woman cried. She thought that this woman should always be like this. Her husband doted on her. Her daughter heard that the palace was well managed. She didn't have to play palace fighting with other women, and she wouldn't be depressed every day.

Ye Jianqing was very worried, and quickly ordered Yuqin to keep the matter to herself and not tell anyone else about it, let alone let other people know about it. If anyone else in the mansion knew about it, he would make them shut up immediately.

Before she had investigated it thoroughly, Lu Ci Qiu must never know about this matter.

Originally, he was just thinking about Jiang Wanyin and had no plan to go to Chun Man Lou to find her. But now, knowing this, it seems that he has to go to Chun Man Lou.

This is also good, go and see what Jiang Wanyin's situation is. No matter what, she can't really get together with Lu Zhixing.

If the two of them really got together, what would happen to Wei Wangshu? What would happen to Wei Wangshu's second child? Lu Ciqiu would be furious if he knew.

Although we don’t know whether the Jiang Wanyin before her rebirth is the same Jiang Wanyin now, this trajectory certainly cannot be allowed to continue moving forward. Some things have to be nipped in the bud early.

Ye Jianqing deliberately changed his clothes into the men's casual clothes he wore every time he went to see Jiang Wanyin. He dressed like a man and fixed his hair with a hairpin. After making sure that there was no problem, he left Yuqin behind and set off for Chunmanlou alone.

Ye Jianqing spent a lot of time in Chunmanlou before she fell into a coma. The guards in the backyard of Chunmanlou basically all knew her, and she was the one that Aunt Chun specially let in, so she had a smooth journey and walked in without any obstruction.

After some calculations, Jiang Wanyin should be practicing dancing at this time. Ye Jianqing walked straight to the room where Jiang Wanyin practiced dancing. She had walked this road for a long time and was very familiar with it.

In the room, the sound of piano came out slowly. Through the light and shadow, Jiang Wanyin's figure could be seen. She was dancing gracefully to the sound of piano.

Her figure was graceful and her dance steps were light, like a butterfly flying in the air. Ye Jianqing thought it was very beautiful just by looking at her shadow.

Jiang Wanyin's dance was beautiful, which reminded her of a sentence she had read in a book some time ago: "There is a beauty in the south, dancing with a light green waist. At the feast in the evening of the ninth autumn, her flying sleeves brush the clouds and rain. She is as graceful as a green orchid, and as graceful as a flying dragon. The beauty of Yue stopped dancing in the front stream, and the beauty of Wu stopped dancing. Her slow movements are endless, and her various postures are endless. The lotus turns low and breaks the waves, and the snow is tossed in the wind. When the earrings fall, the eyes flow, and the long skirt is about to rise into the sky. Only autumn cannot be caught, and it flies away to chase the startled wild geese."1

Beautiful, really beautiful.

Her dance always makes people feel like she is a fairy who is about to ascend to heaven but is still attached to the mortal world and is reluctant to leave. People always want to let her go and let her ascend, but they are reluctant to let her go.