Chapter 375
Chapter 375: The Night Of The Building Opening And Murder
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Just as Fan Xian often said, no matter what happens, life will always continue .
When time slowly crept into the fourth month of the sixth year of the Qing calendar, there was not much change in Jiangnan compared to previous years . The Ming family property case, which had caused such a momentary sensation, was still ongoing . After the palace treasury opening, the various royal merchants began the work of collecting the goods and selling . The officials were still secretly collecting silver, and the people of Suzhou were still discussing matters of country, home, and love .
There were some small changes . Since the Ming family property case had gone on for too long, both sides had repeated this for too long, and it gradually lost its original feeling of freshness and excitement . Every day, the crowds that stood outside the Suzhou government to watch became fewer and fewer . The Suzhou Zhizhou and two litigation masters could not hold out much longer in this marathon-like torment . The daily opening of the court became once every three days and now, the court had not opened for six days .
Song Shiren and Chen Bochang, with the help of their respective powers, were still buried in piles of ancient paper and moldy Qing laws in search of evidence beneficial to themselves . However, the focus of the Ming family and Xia Qifei had already moved on from the case .
The Ming family knew they couldn't allow the imperial envoy to put all their attention on the family property trial anymore . They forcefully strengthened their spirits and began to manage the palace treasury business that was certain to be a cost this year . They only hoped they could limit the loss .
Xia Qifei also needed to start learning how to run a business . With his swift change, he had become the biggest royal merchant in Jiangnan, besides the Ming family . The route to the North that had been used by the Cui family had already mostly been taken by him . He had to create a new path through the various provincial security measures to connect with the merchants in the North . Although he had Fan Xian behind him to help, it was still a complex job .
The day before he left Suzhou, Xia Qifei, with the identity as the Seventh young master of the Ming family, invited the giant Jiangnan merchants still in Suzhou for a meal . That night, it was a gathering of powerful figures, and there was an endless stream of carriages . The merchants coming and going were imposing in their wealth and noble air . They frankly stole 70 percent of the noble air in Suzhou .
All of this noble air gathered at the place Xia Qifei invited his guests—the Suzhou branch of the Baoyue Brothel .
Although delayed by many days, the Suzhou branch of the Baoyue Brothel finally opened for business . The building had originally been the Ming family's Zhuyuan Restaurant, which was in the liveliest area in Suzhou . Shi Chanli had taken the 50,000 liang silver and cleaned up everywhere . All levels of the government had given Fan Xian plenty of face and waved their hands to allow them to go ahead . Once the renovations were done, it was supposed to open for business at once . However, because some issues arose, it was delayed .
An issue had been that the Baoyue Brothel did not have a presentable girl to headline . In this world, everything needed the effect of a brand . Although Shi Chanli had bought some prostitutes from the bosses in the romance industry, he had not found someone whose name rang through Jiangnan as the lead role .
Without a lead role to support the endeavour, Baoyue Brothel, which wanted to make a bang in Jiangnan, definitely did not dare to open like this . So they had delayed until Sang Wen reached Jiangnan . Using her jianghu position in the profession, they managed to attract a few jianghu master musicians . Shi Qing'er of Jingdou's Baoyue Brothel taxed herself in body and mind to invite a recently emerged performing prostitute from the Liujing River as well as a West Lake beauty that the Great Prince had taken from the West Lake . She sent these two girls to Suzhou two match with those famous musicians . Only then did Shi Chanli have the confidence to officially open for business .
Tonight, Xia Qifei laid out a feast for the giant merchants of Jiangnan on the second floor . The red lanterns were strung higher, and the music was gentle . Coincidentally, it gave the opening of the Baoyue Brothel a beautiful start .
They didn't widely invite guests for the first day of the opening, since they only invited the richest people in Jiangnan to come . Once this reputation got out, those young masters who thought of themselves as romantics would soon all come leaping to them like dogs with their tongues out .
The newest performing prostitute to emerge in the Liujing River in Jingdou was Liang Diandian, who was no more than 16 years old . She had a natural romantic air . Between her still childlike brows floated soul-stealing charm, but there was also a hidden thread of coldness . The moment she began her career, she stole the attention of tens and thousands in the field of love . She was said to be—after Yuan Men and Si Lili, who had become a legend of the brothels—the one with the most potential and steadiest of girls in a lead role .
However, Liang Diandian hadn't even had time to show herself off in Jingdou when she was bought . Unwillingly on her side, the Baoyue Brothel forcefully sent her to Suzhou . She couldn't help but feel unhappy in her heart, but knowing the background of the Baoyue Brothel, she couldn't really fight it . After she arrived in Suzhou, the first thing she did was sign a contract, a novel idea for her, with Sang Wen . What surprised her was that the contract seemed to benefit her…how could there be such a brothel owner in the world?
The other beauty from West Lake was different to the women born in the middle plains . Her eyes were slightly sunken without any sense of it bulging . Rather, it was the intense outline that deepened the allure of her face . Her slightly dark skin did not appear to be rough, rather, it had the mysterious beauty of a black pearl . Furthermore, this West Lake beauty's figure was very full, rounded in the front and perky at the back . It made the mouths of the Qing Kingdom peoples, who were used to the light flavor of the local women, go dry .
However, this West Lake beauty's origins were even more…strange than that of Liang Diandian . This West Lake beauty, Ma Suosuo, was a princess of one of the West Lake tribes .
When the Great Prince led the army on an expedition to the West and completely defeated West Lake, no one knew how many tribes he conquered . The chief of the second biggest tribe, to show his sincerity in surrendering, presented his precious daughter to the Great Prince, with some intention of marriage . Unexpectedly, the Great Prince was a rough bloke and considered his enemy's daughter like a female slave . After marrying the Great Princess of Northern Qi, it became even more inconvenient to have the West Lake beauty stay in his manor . Once he heard that Fan Xian was missing a lead role in his opening of a Jiangnan brothel, he urgently sent her to Baoyue Tower and then Suzhou .
As these two girls were traveling from Jingdou to Suzhou, before the opening of Baoyue Brothel, the Eight Bureau had helped Fan Xian advertise sufficiently . Although the Eighth Bureau did not have many ways to use this against the Jiangnan Ming family, making these two ladies into peerless beauties that could only be found in heaven and certainly not on earth was an easy task . Shi Chanli coordinated with the rumors and guesses that circulated around the marketplace . He cleverly had the two girls make a trip to Suzhou in a carriage .
The trip was for nothing but reputation and to let those lascivious people of Jiangnan catch a glimpse of their beauty from afar . Along the way, there were countless lechers following the carriage . All around the carriage, the green plans were flattened by countless pairs of male feet and horseshoes . The so-called trip was more like flattening the land .
Thus, everyone in Jiangnan knew what kind of girls the Baoyu Brothel now had, and their appetites had been whetted .
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At the opening, the two headlining girls did not come out to greet the guests . Even guests with identities such as the masters of the Quanzhou Sun family and Lingnan Xiong family did not have the privilege to have them come out and sit with them for a while .
The two were sitting obediently and quietly in a room, at the sides of a young man . They gently raised bowls and cups, feeding the young man food and alcohol . In front of him, no matter how much resentment was in these two girls' hearts, they would not dare show it at all . They didn't even dare to use the tricks they were most proficient at to bewitch men .
Their existence in this world depended solely on their appearances and their ability to meticulously guess other's thoughts . Fight now, the young man sitting peacefully and quietly between them had a delicate appearance . As for his thoughts…everyone knew that Sir Fan junior had a crystal heart . There was nothing in this world that he did not know, and there was not one person he couldn't see through .
Fan Xian shook his head, indicating to the two girls beside him they didn't need to serve him anymore . To say that the two beautiful girls beside him, whose charms were gradually becoming known in Jiangnan, did not cause him, a normal man, to have any thoughts or think about being the first to experience them, was definitely a lie . However, his mind was indeed not on matters of this kind .
He looked at Liang Diandian and sighed, wondering how could this 16-year-old girl be so alluring? Her watery eyes seemed to be able to talk . This made him think of another question that had plagued him for a long time—how old exactly was Duoduo?
Seeing the action in Liang Diandian's eyes, Fan Xian knew the girl was just being a professional and currying favor from him as a means of support . However, turning his head back to see that West Lake beauty, Fan Xian's heart began to cry out bitterly .
The slave was once a West Lake princess, and now she was helplessly stuck on this road . Ma Suosuo had probably already accepted her fate . In this world, women were nothing more than goods in the hands of men to be casually sold and bought . She had been sent by the Great Prince to Jiangnan, so Baoyue Brothel did not seem that scary . Shopkeeper Sang and owner Shi were also not cruel . Sir Fan in front of her was also very pretty . It seemed much better than being left in the manor doing hard labor and being watched coldly by the prince's wife .
Fan Xian sighed sorrowfully at Sang Wen sitting opposite him . "What is this? Isn't this the Great Prince being a bully?"
Sang Wen was startled, then opened her slightly wide mouth and chuckled . "Suosuo is naturally very beautiful . Only, you haven't met many of the Hu people, so you are not used to it right now . The Great Prince is not purposely deceiving you . "
Fan Xian huffed . In his previous life, he had seen countless western beauties and was once an avid fan of Adjani . Of course, he was able to see what was attractive about this West Lake beauty…however, the Great Prince was someone who feared neither the heavens nor mother earth, yet he was scared enough to send this girl to Suzhou . It was clear that months after the Great Princess of Northern Qi married into the distant South Kingdom that she had finally changed herself into a lioness of Hedong . The Great Prince had sent Ma Suosuo to Suzhou because he wanted to protect Ma Sousou's life . Since it was so, it meant that although the Great Prince had no romantic interests in this West Lake beauty, he did have a thread of pity .
Under these circumstances, did Fan Xian really dare to let Ma Sousou go and greet guests? He probably had to look after her carefully in case the Great Prince suddenly became interested . What if thinking of the girl in his drunkenness and waking up to the sound of horns in an army camp, he then came to ask him for her . What would he do then?
"You're really not going to let them go out to see guests?" Shi Chanli walked in . He had probably had something to drink with the merchants . His face was slightly red, and his words were slightly unsteady . Se stared directly at Fan Xian .
Fan Xian furrowed his brows and thought for a bit . He turned to glance at Liang Diandian's thoughtful expression and knew that if he really did look after Ma Sousou, he would have to compensate Liang Diandian a bit . After steadying himself he said, "At the moment we are just making our name . There is no rush to have them go out and see guests . "
He smiled slightly and said, "Just occasionally, you two should go out and play a piece and dance a little or something . "
Liang Diandian was slightly startled and bowed down at the same time as Ma Sousou . Ma Sousou was not yet familiar with the way the officials spoke, but gratefulness for Fan Xian still shone out from her eyes .
"Wife is not as good as a concubine, a concubine is not as good as stolen, stolen is not as good as not able to be stolen, not able to be stolen is not as good as have people able to see it every day and feel their hearts itch but not be able to touch[JW1] …have the Jiangnan men endure for a few days and learn what it is like to distantly see but not closely touch . "
He finally said to Sang Wen and Shi Chanli, "Men are a very base kind of animal . If you can understand this point, this business will be easy to run . "
Hearing these words, Shi Chanli was a bit embarrassed and not happy . Sang Wen, on the other hand, covered her mouth and smiled .
"Take the two of them out to meet Xiong Bailing and his old friends . With these merchants bragging, our reputation will be even better . "
Fan Xian closed his eyes and waved his hand .
Liang Diandian took Ma Sousou's hand and rose to bow sincerely to Fan Xian, and then was led out by Sang Wen .
Fan Xian had Shi Chanli come closer . He then said in a low voice, "Keep an eye on Ma Suosuo and casually put the word out to let them all know that she is the Great Prince's…woman . "
Shi Chanli was surprised . "What if it gets back to Jingdou?"
"I want to let others know that my relationship with the Great Prince is good . " Fan Xian licked his dry lips and took a drink from a light alcohol . He smiled and said, "At this moment, everyone is showing their hands…most importantly, why should we wipe the butt of their family business?"
He huffed through his nose and said, "I came with the Great Princess all the way south, of course I know she isn't a kind one . The Great Prince is certainly very relaxed and also knew that in this world only I…the Great Princess would give some face too . Since I have to put in the effort, of course, sacrifices had to be made . "
Fan Xian's anger was pure as he thought, I am worked to death in Jiangnan while you brother princes are in Jingdou taking care of family matters . He felt the injustice in his heart .
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The Suzhou branch of the Baoyue Brothel was not only used for simple matters like laundering money and earning money . It was purely Fan Xian's own business, and it shouldered the heavy responsibility of becoming his second intelligence system . Deep in his heart, he could never fully trust the Overwatch Council . Whether or not he could have the Overwatch Council was, in the current situation, still dependent on the word of the Emperor .
When it was being renovated, the brass pipes had already been laid down like in the old building in Jingdou . The people his father had sent to be responsible for collecting the intelligence reports were hidden from the related officials and already stationed in the building before the girls came in .
The people in the building had become drunk, and their voices grew gradually louder, yet the room Fan Xian was in was strangely silent .
He rose and went to the toilet behind the bed to empty himself, then he adjusted his internal breath . He took off the common clothing he wore and took out what he had long ago labeled as "work clothes" from the cabinet . After trying it on, he found it still fit well . It looked like this half a year of noble living had not caused his figure to rapidly go out of shape .
He strangely sat down again . After confirming that he was beginning to get used to the feeling he had taken half a year hiatus from, Fan Xian finally pushed open the window in the room . His fingers dug strongly into the outside wall in the dark of night, and he slid like a gecko into the darkness below .
After the zhenyi in his body had exploded and caused massive damage, he began to be careful about this use of zhenqi . Without being in the necessary circumstances, he stopped trying to push the zhenqi to his palms and pulling it back . This kind of trick took up too much attention and zhenqi .
Both his feet landed on the ground, and he made a few turns in the complicated corridors before finding the back door of the Baoyue Brothel . He pushed opened the door and walked out . He saw the carriage that had long been waiting for him in the alley .
Deng Zi Yue sat in the driver's position with a straw hat on his head hiding much of his face .
Gao Da sat in the carriage . He lifted a corner of the curtain and peered out alertly .
Fan Xian flashed into the carriage and gently said one word, "Go . "
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"Sir, how is your injury?" Gao Da did not fear Fan Xian's cold gaze . His highest command was to protect Fan Xian's safety . Before he received confirmed information, he did not dare let Fan Xian go into danger .
Concerning Fan Xian's strange injury, the people under heaven could not agree on one explanation, but most believed he had recovered long ago . There were only a few people who knew the truth . Eunuch Hong was one of them, except the Emperor had Fan Xian very coldly maintained his silence . And those like Gao Da, although he had originally been fooled by Fan Xian, he had been constantly beside Fan Xian these few months and realized that the commissioner's zhenqi situation was completely different than when they were in Northern Qi .
Even with Haitang giving him the Heart of Tianyi Dao, only Fan Xian knew to what degree his injury had recovered . No else knew, including Haitang .
He lowered his head and said in a quiet voice, "I'm fine . " Then he quickly added, "Have you confirmed her location?"
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