After the car arrived in downtown Xi'an, Peng Fei looked at Zhuang Rui in the rearview mirror. It was already dark, and the ancient city of Xi'an was very quiet under the night lights. Sitting in the car, you could see through the glass that the ancient city wall, which was more than ten meters high, looked so majestic and solemn in the night.
Since entering the Central Plains, one can feel the profound historical atmosphere almost everywhere. Whether it is the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang or the ancient city wall of Xi'an in front of us, they have stood for thousands of years, silently telling people about the vicissitudes of history and the great changes in the landscape over the past millennium.
"Go stay in Lintong District, it's closer to Mount Li. Where did your frugal and hardworking spirit from the army go?"
Zhuang Rui understood what Peng Fei meant. This kid had been following him for several years and had become a bit picky. Just yesterday, he complained to him about sleeping in a tent all day.
Zhuang Rui wasn't the kind of person who was reluctant to spend money. The key issue was that a few days ago in Henan, especially near the cemeteries, there were very few hotels, and even guesthouses were hard to find. Staying at a farmhouse was less comfortable than sleeping in a tent. Of course, now that he had the means, Zhuang Rui naturally wanted to find a hotel to stay in.
Lintong was originally a county, but was later incorporated into a district of Xi'an. It is the eastern gateway to the ancient capital of Xi'an and is only about 30 kilometers away from Xi'an. Peng Fei did not save Zhuang Rui any money. Half an hour later, the three cars drove into the parking lot of the only five-star hotel in Lintong.
"Hehe, Brother Zhuang, I'm getting in luck because of you..."
Three students got out of the other two cars—one girl and two boys. All three were graduate students in the Department of Archaeology at Peking University and were graduating this year. They also had another identity: after graduation, they would all work as administrators at Zhuang Rui's Dingguang Museum.
"Yeah, Brother Zhuang, this is my first time staying in a five-star hotel, but I think staying in the wild is more exciting..."
The girl who spoke was named Xiao Lei. She grew up in Xinjiang and had a very straightforward personality. She was also very brave. For example, during the first few days in Henan, when they were camping, there were two times when they were not far from an ancient tomb. The two male classmates were so scared that they couldn't sleep at night, but Xiao Lei didn't care at all. One day, she even went to look for dead people's bones with Zhuang Rui in the middle of the night, saying that she wanted to see what will-o'-the-wisps looked like.
Dr. Ren once jokingly told Zhuang Rui in private that Xiao Lei was born to do archaeology, and it was a waste of talent for Zhuang Rui's museum to poach her.
Since the opening of the Dingguang Museum, Huangfuyun has poached many talents from the museum and archaeology majors at Peking University. However, none of these three people knew that the man in front of them, Brother Zhuang, would become their future boss. Although many people in the industry knew that Zhuang Rui was the owner of the Dingguang Museum, these students in the ivory tower were unaware of it.
"Hehe, once we get to Gansu and Inner Mongolia, you'll have a hard time finding five-star hotels even if you want to. You've all worked hard these past few days, so have a good rest today..."
Zhuang Rui smiled and waved his hand. After a week of getting to know these students, he was quite satisfied with them. Their enthusiasm for their work made Zhuang Rui feel a little ashamed. When he was their age, he was probably still working in a pawnshop.
"Oh, right, let's go to Huaqing Pool for a soak in the hot springs tomorrow..."
After completing the formalities and receiving the room keys, Zhuang Rui smiled and said to the group, "These past few days have indeed been quite tiring, and we've all been under a lot of stress. I'd like to help everyone relax a bit."
"Haha, long live Brother Zhuang..."
The group burst into laughter and cheers, their faces beaming with genuine joy. Zhuang Rui was momentarily lost in thought. How long ago it seemed he too had been like them, playing and joking with his older brother and his friends. Seven or eight years had passed in the blink of an eye; his innocent student days were gone forever. ...
The hot springs of Lishan are truly unique, with a long history. Despite the vicissitudes of time, they have never run dry and are known as the "Number One Spring Under Heaven". The hot springs of Huaqing Pool were formed two to three million years ago and were used by the ancestors of Jiangzhai 6,000 years ago.
Since the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties, emperors of all dynasties have built hot springs here for bathing, gradually making it a royal hot spring. It was also considered a great honor for court officials to bathe here.
Among them, the most famous is Huaqing Pool. The famous lines from the poem, "In the spring chill, the emperor bestows a bath at Huaqing Pool; the hot spring waters are smooth and cleanse her delicate skin. A maid helps her up, her body weak and limp; this is the moment she first receives the emperor's favor," are a true depiction of the imperial concubine being granted a bath at Huaqing Palace by the great Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi.
Huaqing Pool Hot Spring has thus become world-renowned and sought after by people all over the world, becoming an "Oriental Divine Spring" on par with the Baths of Carricara in ancient Rome and the Baths of Bath in England.
Chapter 1085 An Ancient Profession
After paying their respects at Huaqing Pool, the place where Yang Guifei and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang once bathed together, Zhuang Rui and his group returned to the hotel. The bathhouse used by Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei is now a historical site, and no matter how rich you are, you can forget about taking a bath there.
Of course, Huaqing Pool has more than just one hot spring. There are dozens of hot spring bathing centers of all sizes next to the Huaqing Pool scenic area. For example, the five-star hotel where Zhuang Rui stayed is called Huaqing International Hot Spring Hotel. As the name suggests, the hotel has Huaqing Pool's premier hot spring spa project.
The hot springs in hotels are generally divided into indoor and outdoor hot springs. Indoor hot springs are separated for men and women, so everyone can be naked, while outdoor hot springs require swimwear and men and women share the same hot spring pool.
Zhuang Rui asked for everyone's opinions. Being able to see beautiful women in public, especially since they were wearing very little clothing, the men naturally clamored to go to the outdoor hot spring. Even Xiao Lei, the girl, wanted to soak in the outdoor hot spring. So everyone bought a swimsuit and went into the changing room. After changing, they went to the hot spring area.
The hotel's hot spring area is quite large, roughly the size of a football field, with a dozen or so pools of varying sizes. There are also many pavilions and terraces built in between, and various precious evergreen plants are planted. The pools are filled with mist and steam, making the entire hot spring area look like a fairyland.
Upon entering, Zhuang Rui noticed an exquisite wooden plaque next to each pool, detailing the benefits of the water, including beauty, fitness, and weight loss. Beside each pool, there was also a wisp of sandalwood incense to dispel the stale sulfur smell of the natural hot spring water.
However, after looking around, the group of men were slightly disappointed. Xiao Lei hadn't come out after changing her clothes yet. Perhaps it was because the weather wasn't the right time for hot springs yet. The huge hot spring area seemed to be deserted, with only a few of them around.
The weather in Shaanxi in May was still a bit chilly, and staying up there for too long was unbearable. Zhuang Rui found the largest pool, saw that the label said it could relieve fatigue, and immediately reached out to test the water temperature. He then turned to the others and said, "Alright, everyone, let's go in..."
Although Zhuang Rui felt that his superpowers could help him relieve physical fatigue, he was still mentally tense during this period. After submerging his body in the water, especially when the water outlet on his back felt like a massager pounding on his waist, Zhuang Rui almost groaned from the comfort.
"Hey, you two, what are you wandering around for? Why aren't you coming down here?"
Zhuang Rui leaned his head against the edge of the pool, opened his eyes, and found that only Peng Fei and Dr. Ren had gone into the water. Not counting Xiao Lei, who hadn't come out yet, the two graduate students were just floating around.
Laughter came from more than ten meters away: "Hehe, Brother Zhuang, we'll be down right away. There's a thin mist everywhere, we need to observe carefully..."
"Damn, never seen a woman before? She's not naked, there are plenty at swimming pools and beaches in the summer..."
Peng Fei muttered something in annoyed, but his eyes kept glancing at the two boys. Peng Fei was quite fond of life; he had been fantasizing about meeting some foreign girls, but he was rather disappointed after coming in.
"Why are we so unlucky? There are only a few of us here. Oh my god... where are the beauties?"
Among the graduate students who went on the field archaeology trip with Zhuang Rui was a man from Tianjin named Xiao Jia. He was very lively. After wandering around the hot spring area, he came back with a depressed look on his face and went down into the pool. He shouted exaggeratedly, and his Tianjin dialect, which made people all over the country laugh, filled the quiet hot spring area with laughter.
Peng Fei had been getting along well with the cheerful Xiao Jia these past few days, and upon hearing this, he laughed and scolded, "You little rascal, you're lucky to have a hot spring to soak in. What, you want to enjoy the treatment of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang? I'll get you a Yang Guifei!"
"Brother Peng, Yang Guifei is here..."
Suddenly, Xiao Jia stared blankly at Peng Fei's back, looking like a complete lecher, with drool practically dripping from his mouth.
"Wow...it really is Yang Guifei! I never would have guessed. Xiao Lei has such a great figure..."
Peng Fei turned his head and saw Xiao Lei coming out of the changing room after changing into her swimsuit. Xiao Lei, who had previously seemed unremarkable, immediately showed off her figure after putting on the swimsuit. Her slightly plump, fair skin really did resemble the portrait of Yang Guifei that he had seen that morning.
After Xiao Lei arrived at the hot spring area, she was also captivated by the scenery and stopped there, unable to move forward. Xiao Jia, in a hurry, shouted loudly, "Xiao Lei, over here... over here..."
"You brat, are you in such a hurry? Xiao Lei wouldn't even look at you..."
Peng Fei laughed and patted Xiao Jia on the head.
"Huh, is there someone else behind us?"
Xiao Jia, with his sharp eyes, suddenly noticed that three more women had appeared behind Xiao Lei.
Compared to Xiao Lei's relatively conservative swimsuit, the three women were all wearing bikinis. It's estimated that the combined amount of fabric on their bodies was only slightly more than Xiao Jia's swimming trunks. Their snow-white skin dazzled the eyes of the men, and even Dr. Ren couldn't help but take a few more glances.
Zhuang Rui glanced at them, then turned his gaze away, lightly splashing water from the pool at the group, and said, "Don't stare at others, it's impolite..."
Although these women had good figures and were quite beautiful, their makeup was a bit too heavy. Zhuang Rui didn't really like this type. However, at this moment, he was fantasizing about what it would be like if Miss Miao wore a swimsuit.
"Zhuang...Brother Zhuang, they...they don't care..."
Xiao Jia's stammering words interrupted Zhuang Rui's reverie. Zhuang Rui frowned upon hearing this, and when he looked up again, he saw that, just as Xiao Jia had said, the women began to flirt with the men in the pool, constantly throwing them seductive glances, making Xiao Jia's mouth water.
"Damn it, can't you grow up a little? This... she's obviously a prostitute. Xiao Jia, wipe your mouth, you're embarrassing..."
As soon as Zhuang Rui turned around, he saw that Xiao Jia was actually drooling. Zhuang Rui was both amused and exasperated. These women must have been brought by some customers, otherwise they wouldn't have acted so promiscuously. But then again, in terms of figure and looks, the quality of the women working in this ancient profession is getting higher and higher.
In my country, the earliest origins of prostitution can be traced back to the time of King Xiang of Zhou. Guan Zhong of Qi established brothels, making him the first pimp. From the beginning of brothels, prostitution reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty. There were two types of prostitutes: private and public. These were called "Beili," "Pingkangli," and "Jiaofang." Jiaofang was originally an officially established art performance institution, which was in charge of actors, acrobats, and teaching court music. Highly skilled artists could frequently perform for the emperor. It was established starting with Emperor Gaozu of Tang and continued to be established in the Song, Jin, Yuan, and Ming dynasties.
During the reign of Emperor Wuzong of Ming, he recruited the best performers from the Jiaofang (Imperial Music Bureau) into the palace, where they performed year-round. As a result, the Jiaofang outside the palace began to decline due to the loss of its best performers, eventually merging with nearby brothels. Thus, after the Ming Dynasty, the Jiaofang became a brothel.
Besides the types mentioned above, there were also official prostitutes in various dynasties of ancient China. Most of these women were slaves, often criminals, relatives of criminals, human traffickers, or prisoners of war. They received no payment. Because they had absolutely no personal freedom, with very few exceptions, they had no possibility of changing their status.
For example, Zhang Chuchen, the wife of Li Jing, a general of the Tang Dynasty, was originally a courtesan of Yang Su, a powerful minister of the Sui Dynasty. Liang Hongyu, the wife of Han Shizhong of the Song Dynasty and a famous heroine who resisted the Jin Dynasty, became a courtesan in Jingkou due to the decline of her family. These were courtesans managed by the government of various prefectures and counties. These two can be considered as figures who achieved a happy ending among the ladies of ancient times.
In the beginning, the ancients mostly referred to women engaged in this profession as courtesans or women of the night. The names varied from place to place. For example, in Beijing dialect, they were called "anmenzi"; in Hangzhou dialect, they were called "chituierfande"; in Hunan dialect, they were called "baidipanzi"; and in the northern Jianghu dialect before liberation, they were called "changmazi". However, after the Northern Song Dynasty, the lower-end brothels were uniformly called "yaojie".
For a long time after liberation, this profession, which had been passed down for thousands of years, disappeared. However, starting in the 1980s, with men who loved life pursuing a higher quality of life and a sublimation of their spiritual lives, and in response to the calls of the masses, this profession was revitalized in various places. Of course, the name also became more elegant, and they were uniformly called "Miss". However, the term "Miss" had a slightly bourgeois connotation before liberation. After it was given to practitioners of this profession, people in society turned pale at the mention of "Miss". Those eighteen or nineteen-year-old girls would rather be called "Big Sister" when they were older than be called "Miss".
Of course, just like in ancient times, this profession was also divided into different classes. For example, Li Shishi of the Southern Song Dynasty, Chen Yuanyuan of the early Qing Dynasty, Xiao Fengxian of the late Qing Dynasty, and the so-called Four Famous Courtesans and Eight Beauties of Qinhuai were all top-ranking courtesans, who were incomparable to the women in the Eight Great Hutongs of Beijing before liberation.
Zhuang Rui often went to various places in Beijing with Ouyang Jun. The quality of the women there was much higher than that of the women in front of him. They were not only good-looking and had good figures, but they were also highly educated. At the very least, they would never do such lewd things in public.
As Zhuang Rui watched with amusement as the "ladies" charmed the two naive young men, Xiao Jia, and his companion, Zhuang Rui was about to offer a word of advice when three or four men emerged from the exit of the men's changing room next door.
Chapter 1086 Conflict (Part 1)
The "snow-white" young ladies immediately composed themselves upon seeing the men emerge from the doorway. They instantly became dignified, their cat-like steps, devoid of high heels, leading them to the men's sides. They immediately pressed their bodies against each other, a performance so striking that Xiao Jia's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"Damn, it's good to be rich. Oh, sorry, Brother Zhuang, sorry, I wasn't talking about you..."
Xiao Jia grumbled sourly, only realizing afterward that Zhuang Rui, who had privately paid for their stay in a five-star hotel, must also be considered a wealthy man. He had inadvertently implicated Zhuang Rui as well.
"Alright, stop embarrassing yourself. A few girls have you completely bewitched..."
Zhuang Rui glared at Xiao Jia with annoyance. It's a person's right to seek out prostitutes if they have needs. If Xiao Jia's words were to reach other people's ears, it might cause some trouble. Zhuang Rui wasn't afraid of trouble, but no one likes to get into trouble for no reason, and Zhuang Rui was no exception.
"Brother Zhuang, how did you know they were prostitutes?"
Xiao Jia was somewhat unconvinced. In his opinion, he had attracted the girls just now purely because of his fit physique and dashing demeanor. Wasn't Zhuang Rui's words just undermining his confidence?
"What? You don't believe me? Go back and wait until those girls are alone, then see if you can get their phone numbers?"
Zhuang Rui glanced at the rookie beside him. Guests who could stay in five-star hotels were generally not short of money, and they were the customers of those "ladies". Judging from the performance of those ladies just now, they definitely did not mind "serving" a few more guests.
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Peng Fei chuckled maliciously and said to Xiao Jia, "Kid, listen to Brother Zhuang, you're still a virgin, right? Or... I can help you get his number later, those girls might even give you a red envelope..."
"You...you're the virgin, I...I..."
Xiao Jia is usually quite cheerful, but when it came to this kind of thing, he suddenly stopped talking, and his stammering surprised Peng Fei: "No way, you've really never been with a woman?"
Xiao Jia is a 23-year-old with a combined bachelor's and master's degree. In this day and age, it's really rare for a man to still be a virgin. Men and women are different. If a woman like Sister Feng has money, she probably would have a hard time finding a "young master." But if a man wants to find a woman, there are always people in that "ancient profession" who can provide that service.
"Hehe, Xiao Jia, you're quite the catch, a 23-year-old virgin. Come on... let me teach you some tips..."
Peng Fei, who was accompanying Zhuang Rui this time, was now a formal member of the archaeological team. However, apart from driving, he couldn't help much and was bored all day. Now that he had something to amuse him, he immediately perked up.
Peng Fei joined the army at a very young age. When he was on a mission alone, he was only eighteen or nineteen years old. He often frequented the border areas between Myanmar and Thailand, where the red-light districts were no less than those in Europe and America, and perhaps even more so. Under such influence, even a man as virtuous as Liu Xiahui would probably be captivated by lust if he were there.
Although Peng Fei served in the disciplined forces, he grew up in the capital and was quite daring. Especially when he was an undercover agent working as someone's henchman, he had been involved in many such things and could be considered a veteran in the world of women.
"Alright, Xiao Lei, come here. Stop talking about this pointless stuff. Should I go home and tell Zhang Qian about your romantic encounters?"
Zhuang Rui suddenly glared at Peng Fei.
"Hey, Brother Zhuang, just pretend I'm talking nonsense, okay?"
Peng Fei was genuinely intimidated by Zhuang Rui. Seeing Zhuang Rui's stern face, he immediately quieted down, but secretly he was thinking, "Such a big reaction? Could it be that our boss wasn't as good as Xiao Jia back then?"
Peng Fei was right. It seems that Zhuang Rui was a virgin when he was 24 years old. He met Qin Xuanbing after his eyes changed. By the time he lost his virginity, he was already over 25. Isn't Peng Fei just insulting a monk in front of a monk?
"Hmm, where's Xiao Lei? Why isn't she here yet?"
Zhuang Rui also felt that he hadn't been able to pick up a girl in his four years of college, which was a bit embarrassing. He didn't want to dwell on the matter and changed the subject. However, upon looking around, Zhuang Rui frowned because he saw that several people seemed to be pulling at something where Xiao Lei had been standing.
Because the largest hot spring pool is located in the middle of the hot spring area, about 20 to 30 meters away from the exit of the changing room, when Zhuang Rui and the others first entered, the fog in the hot spring area was relatively light, and they could clearly see people dozens of meters away.
However, now that there are more tourists bathing in the hot springs, the hotel has somehow managed to increase the steam in this area. In just two or three minutes, people could only be vaguely seen from a distance of twenty or thirty meters.
"You pervert, get out of here! I'm a college student, not a prostitute! Stop the pervert!"
Just as Zhuang Rui stood up, preparing to go and take a look, Xiao Lei's exclamation suddenly came from over there, clearly reaching Zhuang Rui and the others' ears.
"Hurry up and go check it out..."
Zhuang Rui grabbed a towel from the edge of the pool, wrapped it around his waist, and prepared to go over. However, Peng Fei was faster than him. He pushed off the edge of the pool with both hands, jumped up with a splash of water, draped a wet towel over his shoulder, and ran out.