Ji Yunwan's face turned pale and then red, as if a vat of dye had been overturned, and her hands, resting on her knees, crumpled her sleeves.
The room fell silent. Even Yao Youqing felt awkward for her and was thinking of how to change the subject when she suddenly stood up: "I have something to do, so I'll take my leave!"
After saying that, he turned and left without looking back, leaving behind only a disheveled figure...
Chapter 22 Snacks
"Miss, you actually believe what that Princess Qin said?"
Panxiang frowned and said from inside the carriage.
"I don't think the Princess Consort ever sent anyone to find the Prince. She just made those up to upset you! The Prince and our Ji family are such good friends, how could that be..."
"shut up!"
Her incessant chatter was interrupted, and Ji Yunwan's face turned ashen, her breath coming in shaky gasps.
"Is it any of your business whether it's true or false? I'll ask the Prince when I see him another day!"
Now that he's obviously nowhere to be found, he keeps saying these things in her ear, is he trying to upset her on purpose?
Panxiang had never seen her so angry before, and she shrank back in fear, not daring to utter a single word.
I said so.
Ji Yunwan did not leave Hucheng immediately. Instead, she stopped in front of a restaurant a few streets away from the Prince's Mansion, went up to the second floor and entered a private room on the back street, and asked the waiter to bring some tea and snacks.
When I was drinking my third cup of tea, there was a noise outside the door. A woman walked in timidly, closed the door behind her, and then stood up straight with a sigh of relief.
Is it really necessary?
Ji Yunwan laughed and said, "You're not serving the Princess Consort, so why would you be afraid of anyone noticing you?"
The person turned around, revealing a face that looked about seventeen or eighteen years old; it was none other than Chi Zhu, a maid from the Prince's mansion.
“Miss Ji, you don’t know, but the stewards of our Prince’s Mansion seem lenient. If you really commit a crime, they will treat you the same way, whether you are a man or a woman! I don’t want to risk my life for a few benefits.”
When Ji Yunwan saw Chu Yan at the Prince's Mansion last time, she knew that the maid named Chizhu must have deliberately led her to her.
She was looking for a spy in the Prince's mansion, but being new to the place, she had no connections. This person just happened to walk right into her life, which suited Ji Yunwan's needs perfectly.
Chi Zhu personally saw Ji Yunwan off, and Ji Yunwan secretly slipped her a purse filled with silver. The two then agreed to meet again at this inn.
Today, she returned to Hu City after more than a month. Since Chi Zhu had received her money, she naturally had to come and see her.
Ji Yunwan asked Chizhu to pour her a cup of tea and asked, "Has anything interesting happened at the Prince's mansion lately?"
Chi Zhu's eyes lit up, and she lowered her voice, her expression revealing her excitement.
"That's exactly what I came here to talk to Miss Ji about."
She told Ji Yunwan about Wei Hong's sudden visit to the main courtyard in the middle of the night last night and his angry departure, saying, "Although I don't know what happened in the main room at the time, the princess must have angered the prince, because the prince looked particularly bad when he left the main courtyard, and many of the servants on night duty saw it."
However, very few people would dare to speak up for her, and it took her a considerable amount of money to pry open someone's mouth.
Ji Yunwan's eyes darkened slightly, and she pondered for a moment: "If the Princess sends someone to see the Prince today, will the Prince meet with them?"
Wei Hong's words in the military camp were not taken as a secret and quickly spread in the front yard, even drawing laughter from the gatekeeper and others.
Chi Zhu had already found out by asking around before leaving the Prince's mansion, so she guessed why Ji Yunwan asked that question. She smiled and replied, "The Prince has a bad temper, and few people dare to offend him. Those who do usually don't have a good ending. Even if the Prince is magnanimous and doesn't stoop to a woman's level, the Princess Consort just angered him last night, so he probably won't see her today."
"If the person who went to the military camp to deliver the message to the prince today was a former servant of the prince's mansion, then what they brought back must be true, because no one would dare to spread the prince's words on their own initiative."
"But the one who went to deliver the message today... was the princess's servant from beginning to end, so it's hard to say."
It's common knowledge that new servants are always unruly.
Moreover, it's not surprising that the servants of the Yao family would favor Yao Youqing and speak up for her.
"I suspect the person who delivered the message never actually saw Your Highness. They wanted to help the Princess Consort by deliberately provoking you, so they said those things. They thought that no one would bother to report such a trivial matter to Your Highness, and that no one would mention it after you left. That's why they dared to act so recklessly."
"Of course, these are just my guesses. As for the specifics, Miss Ji will know when she meets the Prince in person another day."
Everyone assumed that Ji Yunwan, having stayed here for so long and been humiliated like this today, would surely leave soon.
But Chizhu knew that she would never leave before seeing the prince.
Ji Yunwan knew that her words might not be reliable, but this explanation still made her feel a little better.
"I also think His Highness wouldn't say such a thing..."
She murmured.
Chizhu quickly chimed in, "Isn't that right? Let alone you, even that Chu woman in our household, she's all looks and no substance, yet the Prince has never said a harsh word to her. She's treated like a pampered young lady from a wealthy family. And you're Miss Ji's own sister, aren't you?"
Ji Yunwan felt her anger dissipate somewhat and asked Panxiang to bring out a purse.
"What I gave you last time was just a small gift. If you continue to keep an eye on things in the Prince's mansion for me, I won't treat you unfairly."
The purse looked heavier than the last one, but Chizhu didn't accept it this time.
She pushed the purse back and said, "Miss Ji, let's not beat around the bush. I'll be frank with you. I'm not helping you for money."
Although the monthly allowance from the Prince's residence was not much, it was not small either.
Like Han Qing and the others, she was an orphan with no relatives or elders to support. This amount of money was more than enough for her. If she were to leave the mansion and get married, she would receive an additional dowry. Therefore, she was not short of money.
Ji Yunwan raised an eyebrow and looked at her without saying anything more.
Chizhu continued, "You're a smart person, you should have guessed it by now. I've served in the Prince's mansion for much longer than that woman surnamed Chu. Even if I haven't done anything meritorious, I've certainly worked hard. There's no way she should climb over me."
"...You want to replace her?"
“Yes,” Chizhu said with a smile, “just like you want to replace Miss Ji.”
...
Wei Hong stayed in the military camp for several days. Apart from Yao Youqing sending someone to visit on the first day, there was no further news from him.
On the fifth day, Cui Hao reported that Young Master Lian had come to Hu City and asked to meet him at the usual place.
Wei Hong hummed in agreement, stood up to accept the invitation, and then asked, "Has anyone else come by in the last few days?"
other people?
Cui Hao thought about it carefully for a moment, and said, "Apart from the day you first arrived at the military camp, when the Princess Consort came to visit for Miss Ji's sake, then..."
"Miss Ji?"
Wei Hong frowned.
“Yes,” Cui Hao said, “that day, when Miss Ji came to visit, you were not home. The Princess sent someone to ask if you could go back, but you kicked me out before I could finish speaking.”
Wei Hong: "..."
So that woman wasn't there to apologize to him at all, but to ask him to come back for another woman?
Wei Hong gritted his teeth, his fists clenching so tightly they cracked.
He strode out of the military camp and headed straight for the small bamboo house located in the east of Hu City.
Xiaozhulou was not actually a building made of bamboo. Despite its name, it was the largest brothel in Hucheng.
This brothel has three floors, with a large courtyard in the middle and a stage set up. Whenever the small bamboo building opens its door, there will always be girls singing or dancing on it, with music playing and singing never ceasing.
Even people without money can gather on the first floor, occupy a table, listen to music and watch dancing, order a pot of wine and some cold dishes, and sit there all day without anyone kicking them out, as long as they don't cause trouble.
Wealthy people can sit wherever they feel like. There are places with better views on the second and third floors. If they prefer quiet and dislike noise, they can book a private room, close the door, and invite their favorite girls to perform inside. The more expensive the room, the better the soundproofing, so it's not easy to be disturbed from the outside.
Of course, there's a charge for listening to music and a charge for staying overnight; we need to calculate that clearly.
After entering, Wei Hong went straight to the third floor, pushed open the door of a room and went inside. The sign hanging at the door read "Ascending to Immortality Platform".
It's called that because this room has an extra floor compared to the other rooms; after going inside, you can go up one more step to reach a large terrace.
During festivals, this terrace is used for popular young women to perform songs and dances, attracting people from the streets to watch and enjoy the festivities.
It is open to the public at a high price when not in use, but because the price is more than three times that of other rooms, few people choose it, except for rich young masters like Liancheng who have money to burn.
When Wei Hong arrived, Lian Cheng was sitting on the terrace with two women on either side of him. Despite the sweltering summer heat, he had a thick blanket under him, as if to prevent it from hurting his precious bottom.
Several popular girls from the small bamboo houses surrounded him, their voices jingling and chattering, completely ignoring Wei Hong's arrival.
After staying here for a while, they all knew that the King of Qin was a stingy miser who didn't know how to cherish women. Apart from the money for wine, food, and entertainment, they couldn't expect him to spend an extra tael of silver as a reward.
Compared to him, Young Master Lian is the real hot commodity.
Liancheng had a piece of pastry stuffed into his mouth, and he mumbled a greeting to Wei Hong, telling him to sit down.
Before he could even swallow the pastry in his mouth, he was fed a sip of wine, and after drinking it, he took the opportunity to kiss the beauty on the cheek.
Wei Hong didn't move, standing there looking at him, and said in a deep voice: "This terrace is strictly forbidden for lewd acts, otherwise your manhood will be cut off. The last person who dared to do this has already been childless."
There was once a merchant who was incredibly audacious. After arguing with a prostitute, he ignored her struggles, took her to the terrace, and forced her against the edge of the terrace to commit indecent acts. After being detained by the authorities, he still brazenly said that this was a brothel and he had paid for it, so he could do whatever he wanted.
Some residents felt that the terrace should be demolished to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
When Wei Hong learned of this, he did not dismantle the terrace, but instead had the merchant castrated.
From then on, no one dared to do anything inappropriate on the terrace, and even fewer people paid to come to this room. Now, Liancheng is basically the only one left.
Liancheng paused, then looked at him with an embarrassed smile: "Your Highness, there's no need to be so serious, is there? I wasn't drinking and making merry on the terrace."
The terrace was large, and his blankets, tables, and other belongings were all on the inside, out of sight of ordinary people on the street, unless they were people like him living in high-rise buildings.
But there are no other tall buildings around here besides the small bamboo house, and even if there were, they wouldn't be there for this terrace.
Wei Hong's expression remained somber as he looked at him without saying a word.
Lian Cheng hissed and waved to the prostitute beside him: "Let's disperse, let's disperse, I don't want to be a eunuch."
The prostitutes left grumbling and looking dissatisfied, glaring at Wei Hong before they went, as if he was blocking their path to wealth.
After they all left, Liancheng sat up straight, closed his half-open robe, and tidied his disheveled hair. He immediately became a respectable and handsome young man, a far cry from his previous dissolute demeanor.
Why are you so angry today?
He poured Wei Hong a glass of wine and said.
Wei Hong then sat down, but still didn't speak. Anyone could tell from his gloomy face that he was unhappy.
Liancheng shook his head and sighed, then pushed the snacks on the table away.
"Alright, alright, have a drink and a snack to calm down. These are your princess's favorite snacks."