Lead the distinguished guests to the entrance of Youlan Courtyard.
The pretty maid completed her task, lowered her head and quietly retreated.
Not far away, she turned around a small rockery pool, passed through the screen wall, and walked into a dark courtyard next to Youlan Courtyard.
There were no lights on in the small courtyard next door.
The pretty maid walked silently into it,
In the dark lobby, there was a lady in a black dress wearing a purple and gold silk fabric. She was alone, sitting gracefully, with a gauze on her cheeks, her head raised and her eyes closed.
A sweet and melodious pipa music was leaking from the brightly lit plum forest courtyard next door and passed into this dark lobby.
The lady in black skirt seemed to be immersed in the sound of pipa and didn't pay attention to the people outside.
"Mrs. Pei."
The pretty maid shouted cautiously, knelt down obediently, and opened her mouth to report:
"Lord Chang Shi has introduced Miss Qin's courtyard."
The lady surnamed Pei didn't seem to hear the words. She didn't move at all. She tilted her chin slightly, turned her head towards the direction of Meilin Courtyard, and closed her eyes to listen to something.
The pretty maid bowed her head deeply and did not dare to say a word.
The sound of pipa played melodiously in the unlit lobby for a while.
Pei Shisanniang, who was listening attentively, suddenly said:
"Why is there still sound of pipa?"
Her voice is lazy and magnetic, with a slight Nuo Mian Wu accent.
At this moment, the small round face with closed eyes was full of doubts.
The pretty maid was slightly stunned: "Huh?"
Pei Shisanniang frowned slightly and suddenly changed the question:
"Did you say anything to Mr. Changshiro when you brought him here just now?"
The pretty maid thought for a while and replied truthfully: "My lord asked me my name, and then I didn't speak."
In the darkness, Pei Shisanniang opened her eyes, looked at the pretty maid in front of her, and asked the same question:
"May I have your name?"
"Madam, my nickname is Hongxiao."
Pei Shisanniang stood up and walked around the red ribbon. When she walked behind her, she suddenly stopped and raised her beautiful hands:
"Snapped--!"
With a crisp sound, the slap landed firmly on the maid Hong Xiao's butt.
"Ah!" Hong Xiao exclaimed.
Pei Shisanniang nodded to herself: "My hips are very perky, and I know how to dress well. The waist of the skirt is cut tightly to complement these strengths, haha."
He commented with a chuckle.
Hong Xiao looked stunned.
Pei Shisanniang, who had a floor-length purple and gold silk draped on her arms, suddenly stretched out her index finger, pointed at the Orchid Courtyard next door where the sound of pipa could still be heard faintly, and said calmly:
"Take off your skirt, take off your underpants, bring a plate of cakes, go in naked, kneel down and ask Mr. Nagashiro to enjoy the delicious food."
Hongxiao's face flushed red to her ears, and she knelt down and trembled: "How can this slave, a broken branch and a fallen leaf, be able to reach such a high level as the young and promising Lord Changshi? No... I don't dare to humiliate myself."
Pei Shisanniang was condescending and said in a cold voice: "How old are you?"
"This slave girl is two... twenty-eight this year."
Pei Sanniang chuckled: "Oh, no matter how old a man is, he will always like girls between eighteen and twenty-eight."
After a pause, "Unless he has any special hobbies. That Qin Siyu is a bit too young. If you are eighteen, you can't do it, so let's try it if you are twenty-eight."
She pinched the pretty maid's chin and spoke calmly:
"Okay, take off your clothes, serve the dishes, and walk in before the sound of the pipa next door stops."
Hongxiao's face turned red and she kowtowed desperately:
"Mrs. Pei, please, please let me go. It has been ten years since I came here. I have worked hard and never done anything wrong. My boss takes pity on me and tacitly agrees that I will not sell myself..."
"After the winter solstice at the end of this year, I will redeem my life and return to my hometown. Madam Pei, please let me go. I know all the girls in the building who are willing to sell themselves. I can help Madam call her immediately. I will definitely satisfy you and make you happy. Mr. Shi is satisfied."
Bang bang bang——!
A series of muffled kowtows from the pretty maid rang out in the lobby.
Pei Shisanniang looked at her strangely:
"Why are you kowtowing to me? I will not ask the owner of Xunyang House to force you. I have never done such obscene things. I am a businessman, and I am willing to do whatever I want. This is the headline of our Yangzhou Merchant Gang's business rule.
"The ancestors said that if you walk in the world, you must be harmonious and make money. How can you buy and sell by force?"
Pei Shisanniang shook her head.
"real?!"
Hong Xiao was startled, and immediately knelt forward, hugged her calf under the black skirt, wiped the corners of her eyes, and said timidly:
"Madam, please let me go... When I marry into a good family, I will burn incense and pray for my lady every day."
"Okay." Pei Shisanniang nodded, touched the head of the pretty maid with a perky butt at her feet, and said with a smile:
"I didn't expect that you, a maid, are also 'performing your art but not your body'. You are exactly the same as Miss Qin next door. This side of Jiangzhou is really different from our Yangzhou. I remember who said it, this is called Kuangzhou. The mountains and rivers of Lu are beautiful, and they cultivate the spirit of high moral integrity."
Hong Xiao forced a smile to please and agreed a few times.
Pei Shisanniang pushed her head away and walked towards the door.
Hong Xiao exhaled carefully and wiped his sweat.
The next moment, a magnetic and lazy voice belonging to a lady came along with the faint sound of pipa next door, and fell into Hong Hao's ears:
"Thirty taels."
Hong Xiao was stunned.
Pei Shisanniang continued to quote quietly: "One hundred taels."
Hong Xiao's mouth opened wide.
Without much pause, the lady's voice came slowly:
"Five hundred taels."
A slight pause:
"If five hundred taels doesn't work, then one thousand taels. If one thousand taels doesn't work, then two thousand taels. Now you can get naked immediately and put the plate in. After tonight, you can take two thousand taels back to your hometown."
There was dead silence in the lobby.
Finding that there was no movement behind her, Pei Shisanniang curled her lips:
"Three thousand taels."
In the center of the dark lobby, a pretty maid was kneeling in a daze, her expression unclear.
"You won't go even if you have three thousand taels?"
Pei Shisanniang did not look back, she smiled and nodded:
"Well, I can only deliver it myself. However, the price of three thousand taels is valid for one hour. If you change your mind, you can come next door to find me."
Pei Shisanniang smiled, carrying a plate of pastries, and slowly walked out of the darkened lobby.
It was as if nothing had happened, no anger at all.
She walked towards the courtyard gate with a normal expression.
Before he had taken two steps, a figure suddenly ran out of the dark lobby behind him, eager to stop Pei Sanniang.
"Mrs. Pei! Go, slave! I'm willing to take off my clothes!"
The red face was filled with an abnormal flush, and her trembling hands stretched out anxiously to take the pastry plate worth as much as its weight in gold from the purple and gold noble lady in front of her.
She took a chance.
It turned out that it was Pei Shisanniang who took a step back lightly and nimbly to avoid it. She held the plate with one hand, tilted her head and smiled:
"Aren't you selling yourself as an artist? Aren't you going to redeem yourself and marry into a good family? Are you sure you want to go? I never force anyone. Qin Siyu next door can testify to this."
"Yes, yes! This slave volunteered."
Hong Xiao nodded vigorously, as if to prove it, he took off his clothes and took off his belt directly in the open-air yard, without fear of being chilled by the biting cold wind in winter.
She untied her belt with trembling fingers and took off her clothes one by one. The cold wind was blowing on her back, but at this moment, Hong Hao felt hot all over her body.
She swallowed her saliva and asked in a low voice:
"Madam, when will you give me these three thousand taels..."
Pei Shisanniang shook her head and interrupted, raising a finger:
"It's not three thousand taels now. It took me so long. I'm so unhappy. I only have one thousand taels."
Hong Xiao's flushed face was stunned.
"Slave...slave..." She hesitated, her face full of regret, and she wanted to explain.
Pei Shisanniang held out the pastry tray in her hand, motioned for her to take it, and asked lightly:
"Whether I want to do it or not, I don't dare to say it quickly. Why are you still with my mother-in-law and mother-in-law?"
"Do it! One thousand taels, slave! Do it!"
Hong Xiao quickly went to pick up the pastry tray, but her hands were empty again.
I saw Pei Shisanniang suddenly changed her face and ran away. She coldly avoided the anxious Hong Hao, walked out of the courtyard, and said sarcastically:
"You don't even look in the mirror. Do you think you are worthy of a thousand taels? You are a despicable thing. The concubine can only be worth a hundred taels at most. If you don't do it, there will be others who will do it. There are a lot of girls selling themselves in Xunyang Tower. Yangzhou Thin I also raise a lot of horses, and I can buy two good seedlings for a hundred taels.
"It's only one hundred taels. If you want to do it, kneel down, crawl over, and take the plate. If you don't want to do it, get out immediately."
After a sudden ups and downs, like a bolt from the blue, the pretty maid fell to the spot.
Pei Shisanniang didn't even look at her, and left the courtyard with a leisurely pace and an unhurried expression. As soon as she reached the entrance of the courtyard, as expected, she felt that her calf was tightly hugged by two arms again.
"Mrs. Pei, I can work as a slave for only one hundred taels. Please give me a chance, Madam..."
Hong Xiao buried her head deeply, her voice hoarse.
Pei Shisanniang bent down, touched the obedient head underneath, and finally handed over the pastry tray with a smile.
"This is so good. It's much better than Qin Siyu, and it saves a lot of time." She patted Hong Xiao's lowered head with her palm:
"Let's go, don't keep Changshi Langjun waiting. It's interesting for someone like you to have a good family temperament. Don't change the uniforms of the maids in Xunyang Tower. Men like this kind of seriousness."
Shao Qing looked at the white shadow in front of him, holding a tray and tremblingly walking into the Orchid Courtyard.
Pei Sanniang straightened the purple and gold silk she loved on her arm, and a bright smile suddenly appeared on her face.
She is good at spending money and making money.
It's still true tonight.
…
In Youlan Courtyard, the lobby is brightly lit.
Ouyang Rong stepped into it.
Surrounded by a rather familiar pipa piece, it was being played by a lady with a world-weary face, but it was a little different from the way Lady Qin played it that Yuan Huaimin vividly described to him when he was on duty every day.
Ouyang Rong silently raised his hand and held the knife on his waist.
Make sure again and again that you are not dazzled.
He looked at Miss Qin who met him openly and didn't treat him as an outsider at all.
Well, I guessed it right before. This world-weary man with a clean face not only looks very thin from the outside, but also looks very thin from the inside. Not only does he look very thin from above, but also from below...
Ouyang Rong looked away.
Anyway, combined with her melancholic and frowning little face, in her previous life, she would have been called a high-end skinny beauty.
In addition, he can now be very sure that what happened tonight has nothing to do with Yuan Huaimin, and about this matter... it would be better for him not to talk to his friends who like to "chasing stars" later...
There were many lamps and candles placed for free in the lobby, and the room was extremely bright. The lights from all directions fell on Qin Siyu's body, shining like a white sheep, showing every detail.
She lowered her head deeply and hugged a pipa tightly. She could only barely cover one white rabbit and leaked the other.
The beauty of Pipa wanted to get up to greet her.
"Keep playing, don't stop yet."
Ouyang Rong waved his hand to stop her, and without looking at her, he walked around the lobby with his knife in his hand.
Make sure there are no "audiences" hiding.
Ouyang Rong turned around and returned.
He walked directly to Miss Qin, pinched Pipa Qingguo's chin, and took a closer look at her world-weary face with a melancholy frown.
There was no sign of being manipulated, and all she could see was her shyly averted eyes, with some bloodshot eyes in the whites, as if she had cried. Even light makeup could not hide the red circles under her eyes.
Ouyang Rong took off his outer robe and threw it on top of her and the pipa.
He turned sideways, not squinting.
What's so good about the scrawny guy with the world-weary face of a supermodel in his previous life at the airport?
Ouyang Rong shook his head, it was like a young man who didn't know how good a "junior sister" was, and mistook skinny for a treasure.
Miss Qin hugged the masculine green and white robe with both hands, bit her lip and said, "Sir..."
"Shh, shut up and don't come near me.
"There may be a silly girl who is very important to me coming over later. If I misunderstand, I may not be able to see the sun shine tomorrow, but you will definitely be unluckier than me. You can't even see the moon..."
A certain senior brother, whose palm never left the skirt knife at his waist, curled his lips and continued to talk:
"Now listen to me, I was just invited by you to come here tonight, and I happened to see you playing the pipa with your clothes uncovered, maybe trying to cool off due to the heat, or having some weird quirks. I didn't force you, and I was kind enough to give you clothes to cover up your appearance."
He looked at the tea set on the table, poured a cup of tea first, and handed it out gently.
"That's it, it's your turn. If you really have a quirk, just drink tea and I'll leave immediately, as if nothing happened. If someone is coercing you, just nod, and treat it as a report immediately, and I will handle it. It's the end of the year. , to boost my performance."
Miss Qin quickly shook her head without drinking tea.
Ouyang Rong stared at her troubled and frowning face for a while, then suddenly nodded:
"Okay, I understand. Go and call your master. Tell him what you have to say, don't beat around the bush."
With a faint command, Ouyang Rong went to sit next to him and drank tea by himself.
Miss Qin felt disappointed: "Your Excellency, you are not satisfied with the slave's innocent body for more than ten years?"
Women's focus has always been quite strange.
Ouyang Rong was speechless.
At this time, a white figure suddenly walked in from outside.
He turned around and saw the pretty maid named Hong Xiao.
He saw her holding a plate of cakes in both hands, walking in naked, kneeling down in front of him with her legs bent, her ears red, lowering her head and presenting the cakes.
"You all like to enjoy the cool air, right?" Ouyang Rong shrugged helplessly: "I don't have any extra clothes."
Hongxiao and Miss Qin were instantly ashamed.
The sound of the pipa in the latter's arms also stopped in time.
Ouyang Rong turned his head and said calmly: "If you don't come out, I will leave and never come out again."
"Sir Chang Shi is indeed a gentleman with a reputation all over the world. His conduct is upright and admirable."
A smile came first.
The noble lady in purple and gold silk walked in from the outside with lotus steps, bent her legs and saluted: "Master Chang Shi, just call Pei Niang."
"So you're going to test me with this?" Ouyang Rong asked expressionlessly. Under the table, where no one could see him, he silently took off the skirt knife from his waist and pressed it against his abdomen.
He is a normal man after all.
"You guys really don't guard against gentlemen." He sighed.
Pei Shisanniang covered her mouth and smiled, then suddenly changed her face, turned around and shouted:
"Who told you to stop playing the pipa? I wonder if Mr. Changshi likes to listen to music?"
She stepped forward, raised her palm, and slapped Qin Siyu: "You bitch, you can't even play the pipa well!"
Qin Siyu fell down and covered his face sadly.
Pei Shisanniang wanted to slap her again with her backhand, but suddenly found that she couldn't do it. She turned around and saw that her wrist was firmly grasped by a big hand like an iron pincer.
Ouyang Rong nodded and said, "My little lady is as beautiful as a flower, but this aunt is so cruel."
"Auntie?" Pei Shisanniang stiffened slightly and glanced sideways at the weak-guan Changshi who had an unfathomable smile. The next moment, she meekly lowered her head, her charming eyes were as silky as silk, and she pouted:
"It turns out that Mr. Lang likes this tone and likes to play the role of an elder?"
"...?" Ouyang Rong.
(End of chapter)
