Chapter 11, Drunken Linglong
"Honeysuckle, hurry up and peel the orange for me. I want to eat oranges. Oh, and remember to separate them into segments, otherwise I won't like them."
"Yes, Miss, Honeysuckle will do it right away."
"Honeysuckle, I want to drink your ginseng and black chicken soup for lunch."
"Yes, Miss, Ren Dong understands."
"By the way, remember to serve a bowl of soup to Young Master Bai after the soup is ready. We've been staying at his place for so long, so we must add something special to his soup, understand?"
"No, Miss."
"What do you mean 'no good'? I'm perfectly capable! Let me tell you, you can't just use the word 'no good' like that!"
"Miss, my father taught me that I must not use my medical skills to harm people."
"Why are you so stubborn? I didn't ask you to kill Bai Yuxiao. I just asked you to give him some medicine that makes him have diarrhea or itchy skin, anything that tastes bitter. What's wrong with that?"
“Miss, Honeysuckle cannot do it.”
"Forget it, if you won't make it, give me the medicine and I'll administer it myself."
"I'm sorry, miss, I can't give you honeysuckle."
"Honeysuckle! Do you still consider me your young lady?"
"Yes. But, it really can't be."
"Alright, you can go now."
After her fifty-first failed attempt to persuade Ren Dong to join her in a prank, Qin Xiaoyou lay listlessly on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. She just couldn't understand why Ren Dong was so stubborn; no matter what she said, even resorting to threats and inducements, she resolutely refused to cooperate. Sigh, life is so boring.
Counting the days she'd spent in Youzhou with Bai Yuxiao, she'd eaten her fill of good food and done her fill of fun. The only thing left to keep Qin Xiaoyou energized was playing pranks on Bai Yuxiao, but the only person she knew who knew a little medicine, Rendong, refused to help her. Sighing inwardly, Qin Xiaoyou pulled the blanket over herself, wrapping herself up like a cocoon in frustration.
Suddenly, Qin Xiaoyou, wrapped up in her blanket, seemed to remember something and tried to run out, but she forgot she was still under the covers and fell off the bed. Luckily, the blanket cushioned her fall, so she wasn't hurt too much. Kicking away the obstructing blanket, Qin Xiaoyou put her hands on her hips and shouted with great enthusiasm, "Honeysuckle, honeysuckle, honeysuckle!"
Upon hearing this, Ren Dong, who had rushed over, wiped the sweat from her brow and asked, "Miss, what do you need me for?"
"Come here." Qin Xiaoyou beckoned with her finger and grinned mischievously.
Ren Dong twisted her fingers, pondering whether she should immediately flee through the door or raise her voice to call for Young Master Bai, hoping that this might distract her mistress.
Seeing that Ren Dong was dawdling at the door for a long time without coming over, Qin Xiaoyou lost her patience and shouted, "Are you coming over or not?"
Honeysuckle's small frame jolted at the roar, then, head held high, she walked towards Qin Xiaoyou with a look of grim determination. Qin Xiaoyou, preoccupied with her grand plan, paid no attention to what Honeysuckle was thinking. Seeing her approach, she immediately took out two sets of men's clothing she'd specially ordered from a tailor shop during her last shopping trip, saying, "These are yours, hurry up and change. Also, I remember you can disguise yourself, right? Disguise yourself for me after you've changed. As for yourself, you don't need to disguise yourself; you'll look like a man in men's clothing anyway."
"Miss." "Miss what? This time I don't care, you have to do the disguise whether you like it or not." Before poor Ren Dong could say anything, Qin Xiaoyou pushed her outside. Actually, she just wanted to subtly argue that she didn't look that much like a man. If she dressed up a little, people could still tell she was a girl.
Although she didn't understand what Qin Xiaoyou was up to this time, her father had only said that she shouldn't use her medical skills to harm people. It was just a disguise, so it didn't count as harming anyone. Therefore, Ren Dong didn't refuse Qin Xiaoyou's request this time. After Qin Xiaoyou changed into men's clothes, a pair of small hands wiped her face. After a while, a... well, how should I put it, a very ordinary man appeared in front of her.
Qin Xiaoyou looked at herself in the mirror from left to right for a long time before finally asking Ren Dong, "Why did you disguise me to look so ugly?"
“Replying to Miss, Ren Dong only knows the simplest disguise technique, which is to slightly modify one’s original appearance. Father said that human skin masks are too cruel and doesn’t want me to learn them.” Ren Dong lowered her head and answered in a very sincere tone.
"So, you mean that because I'm ugly, I'll still be ugly even after disguising myself?" Qin Xiaoyou asked, pinching Ren Dong's chin.
Forced to look up and meet Qin Xiaoyou's gaze, Ren Dong blinked her large, watery eyes and said, "No, Miss is the most beautiful girl I have ever met."
"Really?" Qin Xiaoyou let go of his hand and looked at herself in the mirror again, beaming. Although her face was still sallow, her nose wasn't high, and her eyes weren't big, the only slightly pleasing thing about her was her thin lips, Qin Xiaoyou found them pleasing to the eye no matter how she looked at them. In a good mood, she gave Rendong a banana, stuffed a few silver notes into her pocket, and happily went out.
Seeing Qin Xiaoyou walking straight towards the most famous red-light district in Youzhou City without stopping, Ren Dong couldn't help but tug at her sleeve and ask, "Little one, young master, where are we going?" Luckily, she almost called her "young lady" out loud. Ren Dong stuck out her tongue.
Qin Xiaoyou turned around and tapped Rendong's head with the handle of her fan, saying, "You're really stupid. Of course you went to visit brothels. Didn't you realize?"
“I can see it, but young master, who goes to a brothel in broad daylight?” Ren Dong said speechlessly.
"Isn't your young master a person? It's just that there are too many people at night, and the girls can't handle it all, so I go shopping during the day. There are so many girls for me to choose from; I could pick ten or eight at a time without any problem," Qin Xiaoyou said proudly. After saying that, she didn't care what Ren Dong wanted to say, and pulled her along, striding towards Zuiyunxuan, the largest brothel in Youzhou City that she had inquired about earlier. Ren Dong swallowed hard, swallowing the words she was about to say, "But the girls need to rest during the day," and jogged after Qin Xiaoyou, lest her young mistress disappear without her noticing.
"Hey, how do you treat your guests here? Where are the girls? Call the girls out to greet us!" As soon as she entered Zuiyunxuan, Qin Xiaoyou familiarly picked a table and sat down, then started shouting at the top of her lungs.
The shout didn't summon the girl, but it did bring out the still-charming proprietress of Zuiyun Pavilion. Watching the proprietress sway her lithe waist, Qin Xiaoyou silently felt a pang of envy and jealousy. Then, looking at that lightly powdered, captivating face, Qin Xiaoyou slammed her hand on the table and made a decision, "I won't order the girl, I'll order you!" With that, Qin Xiaoyou pulled out the largest denomination silver note she had and placed it in front of the proprietress.
But the proprietress just covered her mouth and chuckled, saying, "Which young master has never tasted meat before? But you've come at the wrong time, young master. We at Zuiyunxuan don't do business during the day. But since you're so adorable, Linglong would be happy to have a drink with you."
"Am I cute?" Qin Xiaoyou was so overwhelmed by Zui Linglong's compliment that she was completely disoriented. She touched her face and asked with a silly smile.
"Of course, would I lie to you? Come, let's go to the room." Zui Linglong said, pulling Qin Xiaoyou's hand and leading her upstairs. Ren Dong was anxious, worried that something had happened to her young mistress, and wanted to follow, but a burly servant blocked her way, making her stamp her feet in frustration. After waiting for a long time without Qin Xiaoyou coming down, Ren Dong suddenly remembered Bai Yuxiao in her panic and hurriedly ran towards the Bai residence.
Chapter 12, Unexpected Wealth
Following Zui Linglong into the room, as soon as the door closed, the person who had been smiling just a moment ago immediately shook off her hand with disgust and asked, "So, what important trouble have you gotten yourself into this time that requires my help?"
Qin Xiaoyou was taken aback by Zui Linglong's abrupt words. What was going on here? Zui Linglong, unsurprised by Qin Xiaoyou's lack of response, poured herself a cup of tea, drank it, and then spoke earnestly, "Qin'er, I'm not trying to criticize you, but you're not a child anymore. You can't keep playing around like this. I can manage Zuiyunxuan for you for a while, but I can't manage it forever. Besides, it's not good for a young lady like you to run a brothel. If you happen to meet a kind person, it would be best to sell it."
What?! Zuiyunxuan is hers? Wait, no, it should be Qin Qin's. At this moment, Qin Xiaoyou really wanted to grab the heavens and kiss them. They were being too good to her! Although she hadn't been transmigrated into some noble lady or royalty, owning a large bag of silver notes and a brothel was still pretty good. You see, when Qin Xiaoyou was looking at that pile of silver notes and figuring out how to make a living, her first thought was to open a brothel. It seems Qin Qin and she are kindred spirits; no wonder she hasn't had any adverse reactions since transmigrating—they're such a perfect match.
Overjoyed at the news that she owned a brothel, Qin Xiaoyou was practically jumping for joy. Zui Linglong, seeing Qin Xiaoyou grinning like an idiot for ages with no sign of stopping, finally couldn't help but tap the table in front of her with her finger and ask, "Qin'er, what are you grinning about? Are you even listening to me?"
"Yes, yes, of course I listened," Qin Xiaoyou replied, nodding as she wiped the drool that was about to drip from the corner of her mouth.
Seeing that Qin Xiaoyou was still acting like a complete idiot, Zui Linglong glared at her angrily: "Now that you've heard me, when are you planning to sell this building?"
"What? Resell it? Why would you sell it? It's so much better to keep it; you could make so much money!" Qin Xiaoyou exclaimed in surprise.
"Make money?" Zui Linglong raised an eyebrow and said irritably, "You have dozens of pharmacies, banks, restaurants, and casinos in the capital alone, not to mention branches in other places. I don't even know how much money you have. What more do you want to make? Just browsing through your existing shops is enough to make your hands sore. I don't care this time. I only agreed to help you manage the brothel because you were in a playful mood. Now that you've had your fun, obediently sell the brothel to me!"
Qin Xiaoyou pretended to take a sip of tea, actually to hide the drooling she was swallowing. Zui Linglong's words had almost made her dizzy and disoriented. Good heavens, who exactly was Qin Qin before? A child prodigy? A female financier? My god, she was incredibly wealthy. Even if Qin Xiaoyou did nothing, she could live a life of luxury.
After taking a few deep breaths to calm her excited emotions, Qin Xiaoyou suddenly realized that she couldn't let Zui Linglong notice anything amiss. This woman exuded a queenly aura just by sitting there. If she found out that she was just an imposter, well, Qin Xiaoyou couldn't help but reach up and touch her neck. She would probably be in big trouble.
Having made up her mind, Qin Xiaoyou slowly put down her teacup and stared intently at Zui Linglong, saying, "Sister Linglong, Zuiyunxuan cannot be sold! Because..."
Before Qin Xiaoyou could even finish her elaborate lie, the door was kicked open. She forced a smile, looking at the struggling door that refused to fall, and then at Bai Yuxiao and Rendong, who stood there like bandits. At that moment, Qin Xiaoyou just wanted to cover her face and say she didn't know them. But Rendong clearly wasn't going to give her a chance to pretend. Seeing Qin Xiaoyou trying to hide herself as a tablecloth, she pounced on her, grabbing her sleeve and asking, "Miss, are you alright? Miss, that woman didn't do anything to you, did she? Miss, please don't let her force you into prostitution!" Hearing Rendong's increasingly absurd words, Qin Xiaoyou finally gave up pretending and revealed her face, saying, "Alright, alright, I'm fine. Miss Linglong just invited me up for a cup of tea. She thought I was cute and couldn't help but chat with me a little longer."
Hearing Qin Xiaoyou's words, Zui Linglong smiled and said to Bai Yuxiao, "I really don't know what kind of good fortune I have accumulated in my past lives to be able to make Young Master Bai condescend to come to my little house."
After confirming that Qin Xiaoyou was alright, Bai Yuxiao put away his previously icy expression and replied coldly, "I heard that Miss Linglong invited Xiaoyou upstairs for tea, but Xiaoyou has always been impulsive, and I was afraid that she might offend Miss Linglong inadvertently, so I came to check on her."
"Hehe, Young Master Bai, you really know how to joke. It's a good thing you only came to take a look, otherwise, my little room wouldn't be able to withstand your antics." As she spoke, Zui Linglong glanced at the door panel that had finally given way and collapsed.
Bai Yuxiao understood the veiled sarcasm in her words, but in all the world, he had never met anyone with a thicker skin than him. So, Bai Yuxiao replied with a forced smile, "This room of Miss Linglong is not one that just anyone can enter. I am only here today thanks to Xiaoyou. In the future, I guess Miss Linglong will not even let me step into the Zuiyun Pavilion."
The two of them were playing a game of cat and mouse, leaving Qin Xiaoyou completely bewildered. This feeling of being ignored annoyed her greatly; she was clearly the main character! So, unwilling to be left out, Qin Xiaoyou spoke up: "Hey, are you two done flirting?"
Upon hearing Qin Xiaoyou's words, Bai Yuxiao and Zui Linglong stared at each other as if they had swallowed a fly. At this moment, Ren Dong, who was standing to the side, put on the spirit of always asking questions when she didn't understand, which she had learned from Qin Xiaoyou recently. She looked at the two who were frozen in a daze with curiosity and asked, "Miss, what does 'flirting' mean?"
"You're really dense, you don't even know this." Qin Xiaoyou smacked Ren Dong on the head before continuing, "You saw how they were just now, right? That's flirting."
"Oh, I see. I understand now." Ren Dong said, looking at Bai Yuxiao and Zui Linglong with a look of enlightenment.
"Damn it, who's flirting with him?" Zui Linglong, who always presented an elegant demeanor, couldn't help but swear under the repeated provocations. She then gave Qin Xiaoyou the order to leave: "Miss Qin, you've finished your tea, shouldn't you be leaving? If you don't leave soon, I'm really worried that my Zuiyunxuan will be open until tomorrow."
"This time, I'm truly sorry to have troubled Miss Linglong. I'll take my leave with Xiaoyou." With that, Bai Yuxiao, without waiting for Qin Xiaoyou to express her opinion, grabbed her by the collar and left. After a moment of stunned silence, Rendong also got up and followed. Watching their figures disappear, Zui Linglong nodded thoughtfully.
Sitting in the carriage back to the Bai residence, Qin Xiaoyou was far from still, vividly explaining to her studious child, Rendong, what flirting was all about. She concluded her explanation with, "Did you notice? From beginning to end, they only had eyes for each other. Even when they said they wanted to leave, they completely ignored my opinion. Bai Yuxiao said goodbye and left on his own."
Bai Yuxiao tried to interject several times, but couldn't find an opportunity. Now that Qin Xiaoyou had finally quieted down, he was about to give her a proper talking-to about how dangerous it was for her to go to a brothel alone. But before he could speak, the carriage stopped; they had arrived at the Bai residence. Qin Xiaoyou cheered and jumped off the carriage first, heading towards the mansion. Bai Yuxiao shook his head helplessly, swallowed the words he was about to say, and followed her. Perhaps he could talk about it after dinner tonight, Bai Yuxiao thought.
Chapter Thirteen: A Night Meeting with Drunken Beauty
"I used to read 'the moon is as cool as water' in books, and I always wondered what it meant. I never imagined I'd experience it firsthand today. The moon, separated by thousands of years, certainly looks much more beautiful." Qin Xiaoyou, instead of sleeping late at night, stood alone in the pavilion gazing at the night sky, lost in thought. If Bai Yuxiao saw this, he'd probably think he'd seen a ghost. It was truly unbelievable that Qin Xiaoyou could be so sentimental.
After standing for a while, probably tired, Qin Xiaoyou sighed and sat down on the stone bench. She reached out and toyed with a small teacup in her hand, her eyes deep and thoughtful. After a while, as if she had made a great decision, Qin Xiaoyou got up and walked towards the backyard of the Bai residence. Finding the dog hole she had discovered a few days ago with practiced ease, she didn't hesitate at all, bent down, and crawled out.
But when she stood a few steps from Zuiyun Pavilion at the entrance, Qin Xiaoyou suddenly felt she had been a bit reckless. Going into a brothel, she should at least change into men's clothing; going in women's clothes might get her kicked out as a troublemaker. Just as Qin Xiaoyou hesitated, a pretty young maidservant approached, gave a slight bow, and asked, "Excuse me, are you Miss Qin?"
Looking at the maid in front of her with suspicion, Qin Xiaoyou quickly analyzed in her mind who this person was. Perhaps sensing Qin Xiaoyou's doubt, the maid took the initiative to speak, "It was Miss Linglong who asked me to invite you upstairs."
"Linglong? You mean Zui Linglong?" Seeing the maid nod, Qin Xiaoyou's lips curled into a playful smile. It seemed this Zui Linglong was indeed no simple woman. Fine, since she had already foreseen that she would go to see her, she might as well go openly. After all, judging from the afternoon, her relationship with the body's original owner, Qin Qin, seemed quite good. Having made up her mind, Qin Xiaoyou nodded and followed the maid through the side door of Zuiyun Pavilion, returning to the room she had visited that afternoon.
Zui Linglong seemed to have been waiting for her for a long time. Upon seeing her, she waved her hand to dismiss the maid, then asked in a rather irritated tone, "Why are you only arriving now tonight?"
After quickly considering it in her mind, Qin Xiaoyou carefully said, "Now that I'm in the Bai residence, it would take quite a bit of effort for me to go out at night."
Zui Linglong nodded knowingly and said, "That's right. Although I can't find out Bai Yuxiao's background, he's definitely not a simple person. There are many experts in the Bai family. Although you're quite skilled, it will definitely take some effort for you to get out. Alright, I won't waste any more time. Shouldn't you tell me why you reappeared with Bai Yuxiao after disappearing for three months without any reason? Did you find out something?"
"Um, what did you find out? I'd like to know what you're looking for. Ideally, someone would come right now to sort out Qin Qin's background and relationships for me. These days, a familiar face keeps popping up, and it's making my heart race." Qin Xiaoyou muttered to herself, but her face remained serious: "This is a long story, and now is not the time to go into details. I'll tell you what happened slowly when I have the chance."
"Alright," Zui Linglong nodded, not pressing the matter further, but only adding with concern, "I know you always know your limits, but you still need to be careful in everything you do. By the way, I heard from someone a few days ago that you went to Chunfeng Yidu?"
Unexpectedly, her every move was being controlled by someone else. Qin Xiaoyou's palms were sweating profusely, but she still forced a nod. Zui Linglong didn't notice Qin Xiaoyou's unusual behavior, and only stared at the incense burner beside the table, slowly saying, "Although you have a past relationship with Wenren Qi, the owner of Chunfeng Yidu Pavilion, it doesn't mean he will really help you. Wenren Qi is as unpredictable as Bai Yuxiao. By the way, did you find out anything at Chunfeng Yidu Pavilion this time?"
"Huh?" Qin Xiaoyou didn't react for a moment and asked subconsciously. It wasn't surprising; Chunfeng Yidu was just a brothel, what could she possibly inquire about? Did they think it was some kind of intelligence agency disguised as a brothel? That was ridiculous! Did they think they were in a James Bond or Mission: Impossible movie? However, Zui Linglong's next words made Qin Xiaoyou's laughter stop. Because, indeed, Chunfeng Yidu was an intelligence agency, and the most accurate and mysterious one in the entire martial arts world. Accurate because their intelligence was never wrong. Mysterious because practically no one knew where to find Chunfeng Yidu. And those who had traded intelligence there were extremely tight-lipped, resolutely refusing to reveal a single word about it.
Seeing that Qin Xiaoyou hadn't reacted at all after all her talking, Zui Linglong turned around curiously and saw Qin Xiaoyou's stiff face and extremely unnatural expression. Zui Linglong assumed that something she had said had inadvertently triggered Qin Xiaoyou's unpleasant memories of her time at Chunfeng Yidu Tower. After all, in all these years, Qin Xiaoyou was the only one who had left empty-handed and returned unscathed. Although she had heard that Qin Xiaoyou and the tower owner, Wenren Qi, had been childhood friends, she knew that people's hearts were unpredictable. So, Zui Linglong stopped talking and didn't ask about Qin Xiaoyou's time at Chunfeng Yidu Tower. She only casually mentioned the operation and income of Zuiyunxuan this year. Seeing that it was getting late, Zui Linglong clapped her hands and called the maid who had brought Qin Xiaoyou in earlier, instructing her to see her out again.
Rubbed her slightly aching back, Qin Xiaoyou, with a few blades of grass stuck to her head from crawling through the dog hole, yawned widely as she walked towards her room. As she turned on the light, a face suddenly appeared in front of her, scaring her half to death. She pointed at the face, trembling, but her throat felt like it was being choked, and she couldn't utter a sound. Her legs felt like lead, too heavy to lift. The face drew closer and closer. Qin Xiaoyou wondered if she should pretend to faint. But before she could even roll her eyes and pass out, the face that was almost in front of her suddenly disappeared. Qin Xiaoyou rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things. At that moment, a cold male voice rang out in the quiet room: "You're back so late. Don't you think you should say something?"
"Say...say what?" After recognizing the face that had frightened her earlier as Bai Yuxiao's, Qin Xiaoyou didn't breathe a sigh of relief that she hadn't seen a ghost; instead, she became even more nervous. So late at night, a lone man and woman—did this mean something was about to happen?
Seeing Qin Xiaoyou remain silent, clutching her collar and staring at him with a look of fear, Bai Yuxiao realized what she was thinking. He walked over and tapped Qin Xiaoyou on the head, saying helplessly, "What kind of nonsense is going on in your little head? Look at yourself now. Even if I were desperate, I wouldn't lay a hand on you."
Clang! Qin Xiaoyou felt the huge weight that had been pressing on her heart finally lifted. Now that the level one alert was off, Qin Xiaoyou sat down at the table with peace of mind. She poured herself a cup of tea, took a big gulp to moisten her throat, and then slowly asked, "So what are you doing coming to my room tonight? Don't tell me you're having a long night and can't sleep, so you want to chat with your confidante?"
"A caring older sister?" Bai Yuxiao frowned. Realizing she had accidentally used the wrong word, Qin Xiaoyou quickly laughed it off, "Oh, I thought you looked too serious, so I was just joking, haha, just kidding. So, what brings you to me so late at night?"
"What is it?" Qin Xiaoyou actually had the nerve to ask him what was wrong? Bai Yuxiao really wanted to grab this woman by the collar and throw her out the window to get some fresh air and clear her head. He'd been incredibly worried when he heard she'd gone to Zuiyunxuan, and had almost stormed into Zuilinglong's room again to rescue her. And yet, Qin Xiaoyou acted so heartless. Bai Yuxiao snorted coldly, his face grumpy, and turned to leave without a word.
Watching Bai Yuxiao's retreating figure, Qin Xiaoyou silently scoffed in her heart: "Handsome guys really do have brain problems." Ignoring why Bai Yuxiao was angry, Qin Xiaoyou quickly washed up and went to bed, fleeing into the arms of the Duke of Zhou (a figure in Chinese mythology associated with dreams).
Chapter Fourteen: Just Kidding
The next day, Qin Xiaoyou didn't get out of bed until the sun was high in the sky. She called Rendong to help her wash and dress, and then, dressed in men's clothing, she was eager to go to the flower market again. Rendong looked at Qin Xiaoyou with a troubled expression, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated. After a long while, before Qin Xiaoyou could explode, she said, "Miss, why don't you stay in the manor and play today?"
"Why?" Qin Xiaoyou was puzzled. She had explored every nook and cranny of the Bai mansion, and she probably knew the layout of the Bai mansion better than Bai Yuxiao, the rightful owner. "Because, because this morning Young Master Bai placed you under house arrest," Ren Dong replied, staring at her toes.
"So it's just a stay-at-home order. What's the big deal? It's okay, we can crawl through the dog hole. Let's go." With that, Qin Xiaoyou patted Ren Dong's shoulder generously, and without waiting for her to say anything more, she dragged her away.
When she arrived at the dog hole, the sight before her made Qin Xiaoyou want to give Bai Yuxiao the middle finger and curse him for three days and three nights. That bastard Bai was too ruthless; he had actually chained up three fierce wolfhounds there, preventing her from even getting close to the dog hole, let alone crawling out through it.
She flung away Ren Dong's hand and angrily turned to confront Bai Yuxiao. But strangely enough, she couldn't find him anywhere. She tried asking the servants, but they all pretended not to know anything. "Hmph, you don't know? Fine, I'll find him myself!"