La luna brilla intensamente sobre las montañas desiertas y las flores llenan el cielo

Capítulo 87

"What are these for?"

"To sneak in, you'll definitely need to disguise yourself."

Feng Ning found the small-sized men's shirt, unfolded it, and held it up against himself. He beamed with excitement: "I want to wear this. I'll be a dashing young man when I go to see the ladies."

"I thought you were tracking down a killer and looking for clues," Long San teased her, feeling quite pleased with her playful and happy demeanor.

Feng Ning glared at her: "We're looking for clues, so we won't keep getting scammed." She's quite adept at seizing opportunities to bring up old grievances these days.

Long San touched his nose and sighed, "Feng'er..."

"Tell me first, what were you planning to do after making that trip to Yixiang Pavilion?" Feng Ning interrupted him, not wanting to hear any more apologies from him. She had been following him, so she knew exactly where he had gone.

Long San gave a wry smile, walked over and picked out a few ornaments: "If we don't go to Yixiang Pavilion to inquire, how will we know if they have anyone backing them up? Who is the top courtesan? What are the rules? What kind of people are their customers? What is the relationship between that assassin you mentioned and them? Do they know any girls there? What are the girls' preferences?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Ning's mouth gaped open in surprise. Taking advantage of the moment, Long San hugged her tightly: "How can you run a brothel or gambling den without power and connections? Every establishment has its own background and rules. If you go and cause trouble without understanding the situation, you'll easily get yourself into trouble. You need to find out the backgrounds of the top girls and their clients, cater to their preferences, and follow the clues to find out what you want to know, right?"

Feng Ning stared at him for a while, then suddenly punched him: "Third Master Long, you really are a womanizer and a rogue. How do you know so much about the ways of the pleasure quarters?"

"You little jealous pot." Long San hugged and kissed her, then got punched a few more times. He chuckled, hugged her and kissed her twice more, but Feng Ning pushed him away: "Stop messing around. Now that we've found out everything, what should we do tonight?"

"Ah, that's not difficult. It's just that a spoiled young master takes his pampered son to a brothel, and coincidentally, he and a certain assassin both choose the same girl. Then, it depends on whether they become friends after a fight or if they are destined to meet. Just be flexible."

"Spoiled boys?" Feng'er was taken aback: "Why not two spoiled young masters? I don't want to be a spoiled boy."

"No matter how you dress up, you can't hide your girlishness. It's reasonable to say you're a spoiled young master, but to say you're a young nobleman would make it obvious to everyone."

Feng Ning pouted, knowing Long San was right; to find clues, this was probably the only way. She looked at her clothes again and again before changing. Long San helped her comb her hair, drew thick and dark eyebrows, and used powder to darken her skin. Then he put on various men's accessories, and in no time, a handsome young man appeared. Feng Ning looked left and right, picked up a fan and gestured, then opened it to cover her mouth and laughed, turning to ask Long San, "How is it?"

"Yes. That's exactly how it looks." Long San's praise made Feng Ning's eyes crinkle with laughter, and she started striking poses playfully. Long San also changed his clothes and got ready. The two checked the time and prepared to go out.

"You'll have to improvise when we get there, right? That's my specialty." Feng Ning skipped and hopped as she opened the door, but after taking just two steps out, she suddenly turned back: "Long San, you haven't asked the innkeeper for a room yet, don't think you can stay here with me when you come back." She made it clear from the start.

Long San was taken aback, then smiled wickedly: "If you won't let me renege, then I'll just stay at Yixiang Tower for one night. Anyway, there are plenty of rooms there."

"How dare you!" Feng Ning was furious when she heard this, but then she realized that she had been tricked. She frowned, kicked him, and ran away.

The two rode in a sedan chair, bickering all the way to Yixiang Tower. Long San alighted from the sedan chair, instantly transforming into the dashing Third Master, his smile utterly wicked. He expertly greeted and questioned the young servant at the entrance, clearly a regular at brothels. He was accompanied by Feng Ning, dressed in lavish clothes and adorned with expensive jewelry. Even before entering, he tipped the servant at the entrance, whose eyes gleamed. The servant fawned over Long San, showering him with auspicious words and introducing him to the top courtesans, relentlessly pushing Long San inside, paying no heed to his beloved Feng Ning.

Feng Ning cursed Long San in her mind as she swaggered inside. Once inside, she quickly looked around, but didn't see the assassin. Long San, by this time, had already adopted the persona of a spoiled young master, sitting calmly and casually picking out girls.

"No, none of these will do." Long San said seriously to the old woman in the building, "I must find someone prettier than my little Feng'er, otherwise he will blame me. I finally agreed to bring him here to see the world, how can he be not as good as him? That won't do."

The old woman said sweetly, "Young man, you're so handsome. It's really hard to find someone prettier than you."

Feng Ning shouted in a gruff voice, "What kind of business can you do without pretty girls? Are you looking down on me and mocking me?"

"No way, no way!" the old woman quickly begged for forgiveness.

Long San then spoke up: "I've heard that your Xiangxiang is exceptionally beautiful and plays the zither beautifully. Let's choose her." As he had said, Long San thoroughly investigated Yixianglou.

But the old woman hesitated, saying, "Well, Miss Xiangxiang, we already have a guest who has booked it."

"You've booked it?" Long San flicked his fan, raised his eyebrows, and revealed his domineering attitude: "If others can book it, why can't I? How much silver do you want? Just tell me."

Feng Ning watched his movements and felt itchy to learn them, but she was also angry at his attitude. He must have done this before, otherwise how could he be so skilled at snatching girls?

She slammed down her cup with a huff, looking displeased, which perfectly suited the atmosphere. The old woman was getting anxious: "Gentlemen, please don't be angry. It's not about the money, but that guest is someone important, and we can't afford to offend him. Besides, we're in business, so we have to respect the order of arrival..."

A crisp "bang" interrupted the old woman's words. Feng Ning took a look and exclaimed, "Wow, what a huge gold ingot!" She was determined to complain to her second uncle when she returned to the Long family about her spendthrift husband squandering money.

The large gold ingot made the old woman stop talking, but she felt even more troubled. Judging from their demeanor, she couldn't afford to offend these two guests. She smiled and said, "Actually, the most beautiful courtesan in our brothel is Xianqin..."

"I don't like the zither, I like the incense." Feng Ning grabbed Long San's arm and shouted, "Big brother, she won't let me see that Xiangxiang, but I have to see her. She's hiding her so well, what is she like?" She portrayed the spoiled and willful young master vividly.

Long San patted her head to comfort her, then turned to the old woman with a sharp look in his eyes: "Are you really not going to let me see you?"

The old woman still wouldn't budge: "Sir, this guest is really..." She looked around, then lowered her voice and whispered in Long San's ear: "He's from the Soul-Slaying Pavilion. We can't afford to offend him. If we mess with them, we'll lose our heads."

Long San clapped his fan in his palm and said, "How about this? I won't make things difficult for you. I'll take my little Feng'er to greet this guest. Maybe he's not so difficult to talk to. We can listen to Miss Xiangxiang sing together, that would be fine."

"This..." Without allowing the old woman to refuse any longer, Long San stood up with Feng Ning and walked upstairs, saying, "Old woman, lead the way. If it really doesn't work, we'll leave after saying goodbye. We just need to take one look at Miss Xiangxiang." As he said this, he began searching on the second floor.

Seeing that she couldn't stop him, the old woman persuaded her all the way to Xiangxiang's door. Long San squeezed Feng Ning's hand, reminding her to be careful.

The old woman knocked on the door twice, and the sweet little maid opened it. A burly man inside shouted, "Who is it that's such a spoilsport!"

Long San stood at the door, staring into the room without saying a word. Feng Ning blinked and stared at the big man without speaking either. The old woman was sweating profusely. Weren't they supposed to greet each other and discuss listening to music together? Now that they've arrived, they've all become mute?

Helpless, the old woman could only try to smooth things over herself: "Is the young master eating and drinking to his liking? Xiangxiang, you should serve him well..."

"Wait a minute, didn't we agree that Miss Xiangxiang would be moving to my room to serve me?" Long San suddenly blurted out, startling the old woman. She exclaimed, "Young master, we didn't say that Miss Xiangxiang was going to your room..."

She tried to explain, but it was too late. The burly man surnamed Qu had already stood up abruptly and cursed, "Which blind bastard is causing trouble?"

"I don't know who that bastard is, but I'm the one standing here." Long San slowly waved his fan, his attitude arrogant.

"Big brother, didn't he see it? Doesn't he have eyes?" Feng Ning chimed in, adding fuel to the fire by indirectly insulting him.

The firecracker surnamed Qu lit up immediately: "Damn it, you dare to curse me? Do you know who I am?" He flashed the tattoo on his arm: "You dare to mess with the Soul-Slaying Tower? How many lives do you have?"

"The Soul-Slaying Pavilion? What does the Soul-Slaying Pavilion do?" Long San asked Feng Ning. The old woman beside her tried to interject, but Feng Ning kicked her aside. She blinked and replied crisply, "I don't know, could it be a vegetable shop?"

The people around gasped in shock. Long San then said, "A vegetable vendor with this name?"

Feng Ning nodded seriously: "I am a little cowardly." Everyone around gasped again.

The burly man carefully examined Long San and Feng Ning, then suddenly drew his broadsword and, without saying a word, swung it down.