Hongzhu is only twenty-seven this year.
And because he has enough food and clothing and proper maintenance, his appearance has not changed much from when he was young.
Only the eyebrows are a little less sultry and springy, and a little more demure and gentle.
She asked her servants to welcome Lu Jing and the others in.
After listening to Mr. Fei's explanation of his purpose, tears flowed down his cheeks.
"I feel sorry for Mr. Zeng. He was playful and ruthless when he was young. Moreover, I heard from my mother and the sisters in the building that a man's words are unreliable. In our line of work, it is most taboo to be emotional. But as long as I don't be emotional, with my appearance, I can naturally do it." Let all men give me money willingly.
"In this way, even if you don't meet your beloved, you won't have to worry about your livelihood when you get old and lose your luster in the future."
Hongzhu sighed, "At that time, I always believed in this sentence, so when I met Zeng Lang, I thought he was no different from my other patrons.
"When I first met him, he came with his friend, but he was not as relaxed as his friend. He seemed a little reserved. When he saw me, his eyes immediately moved elsewhere. I knew what to do. Deal with such a man.
“I didn’t flirt with him right away. Instead, I chatted about poetry with him and played the piano for him, so that he slowly started to talk.
"He and I got along very well after that, and he kept lamenting that it was a pity that my talent fell into the dust."
"I feel a little funny in my heart. If I hadn't been sold into a brothel since I was a child, where would I have learned these poems and songs? But it's nice to get money for chatting. Unfortunately, the man named Zeng is a bit stingy. You talked to me enthusiastically, but when I left, I didn’t give you a penny in silver reward.”
"As a result, he came to see me again within a few days. Not only did he make up for the reward he forgot to give last time, but he also brought two books of poetry to me.
"I saw that he was dull, but his actions were quite generous, so I braced myself and continued to deal with him. The things we talked about were no longer limited to poetry and songs.
"He shared with me his daily life, his friends, and the strange things he encountered on his way to Beijing twice to take the exam. It was quite interesting. After all, in our line of work, we usually don't go out much. Not to mention leaving Wujiang City, I have always been curious about the outside world.
"He also asked me about my life experience, but my life experience was very boring. My parents were sharecroppers. When my father got anxious on a bet, he got me involved, and then I was sold several times, and finally he was sold to me. My mother fell in love with it and joined this industry.
"Fortunately, my mother taught me what to say at this time, so I told him that I came from a scholarly family, but later my father met a robber when he went out and lost his life, and then the people in the clan embezzled what my father left behind. The family property swept my mother and me out of the house.
"My mother died of illness not long after. In order to raise money for my mother's burial, I sold myself. In fact, if you ask other girls in the building, their stories are similar.
"Most experienced patrons would just laugh it off, and would not even ask such childish questions like ours, but he took it seriously and even swore to marry me and protect me from being bullied again."
"I'm not opposed to getting married, but after getting to know him, I found that he's actually not too rich, so I'm not very interested in marrying him, but on the surface I still have to act like I'm moved.
“Mom said that’s how men are, only if you satisfy them first, will they use their own money to satisfy you.
"But I have to say that when I was getting along with him, I was indeed moved by his sincerity and fell in love without knowing it. Even on the last night, when he said he wanted to take me away, I There was indeed a moment of hesitation.
"But I still chickened out because I didn't know where the two of us could go. Even if we escaped from the city, we would still be desperate when all our money was spent.
“So I advised him to calm down and think about it in the long term, but he looked very excited and said that he had spent all the money and if I didn’t go with him, I would never see him again.
"He also said that this was our only chance. I was driven into a panic by him, so I told him that I had lied to him before, and that I said the same to other men in order to squeeze out the last penny of their money."
"As soon as I said these words, I regretted it. I will never forget the expression on his face at that moment." Hongzhu said, "It wasn't even disappointment, it was just... hollow. His whole body seemed to be ripped apart. It was empty and had lost all its vitality.
"I was a little worried about him, so I advised him to go home, but I didn't expect him to jump out of the window without saying anything."
Hong Zhu paused for a moment when he said this, and his expression became extremely bitter, "I hurt him... I made him jump. I shouldn't have said such hurtful words to him. If I had to choose again, , I would rather go out of the city with him, even if we will soon be cornered.
"When we are young, we always meet a lot of people. When we meet people who are really good to us, we don't take it too seriously, because we feel that if we miss this, there will be others waiting for us later, but the truth is often very different. cruel.
"After he died, I couldn't go back to the days of indulgence and sensuality, because I would always think of him unconsciously and think of his leap that night. Fortunately, I was still alive at that time. When she was young enough, she married a former benefactor and became his concubine."
After Hong Zhu finished speaking, she looked at Lu Jing and the others, "I wonder why you are suddenly interested in this old matter?"
Lu Jing did not speak in a hurry, but glanced at Fei Captou first, who immediately understood, "Master Lu, Xia Nuxia, I suddenly remembered that there was something to do at the Yamen, so I took a step forward. If you two still have something to do, If you need my help with other matters, you can go to the Yamen to find me."
"Thank you for your hard work." Lu Jing thanked him again.
After Capt. Fei left, Xia Huai spoke again, "We want to ask you for a favor."
"Help? How can I help?" Hongzhu looked a little confused.
"Have you ever heard of the recent murders in brothels in the city?"
"I've heard something." Hong Zhu nodded, then thought of something, and her expression changed slightly, "Do you think this matter has something to do with Zeng Lang? Is... his ghost coming back to take revenge?"
"Maybe." Xia Huai still remembered what he learned in class and did not intend to expose the existence of strange things. Pretending to be ghosts and gods was also a good choice.
"Then why didn't he come to me directly?" Hongzhu murmured.
Xia Huai did not answer her question, but instead asked, "If there is a way to put the ghost of Zeng Shusheng to rest, would Madam be willing to take a little risk?"
Hongzhu nodded without hesitation, "Of course, what should I do?"
