Chapter Thirty: The Brothel’s Top Courtesan

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After more than half a month on the river, the boat arrived in Hangzhou.

Hangzhou had always been a prosperous city, with exquisite buildings and countless shops lining the streets, while the cries of hawkers rose and fell all around.

Jiang Lie was in a hurry to take up his new post, so the group said their farewells at the wharf.

Before leaving, Jiang Lie seemed rather uneasy. He quietly drew Jiang Zhuo aside and gave her some advice.

“You should be careful around Bai Feijun.”

“I don’t think Brother Feijun seems like a bad person,” Jiang Zhuo replied innocently.

“It’s not a question of whether he’s good or bad.” Jiang Lie struggled to choose his words with his limited mental faculties. “His family background is that of a fallen noble house. One day, he may well rise again. Don’t offend him.”

Jiang Zhuo stared at her cousin speechlessly.

“Brother… don’t you think you already offended him when you punched him on the boat?”

Jiang Lie scratched his head awkwardly and said no more.

Unlike Jiang Lie, Jiang Zhuo planned to stay here for one night.

After all, once they continued south, it would be difficult to find streets with such a complete assortment of shops.

They needed to replenish their supplies of dried food and purchase another carriage.

But those matters could be left to Copper Blossom and the others.

After changing back into men’s clothing, Jiang Zhuo visited several shops selling candied fruits and pastries. Refreshed and in high spirits, she then led Bai Feijun directly to the entrance of the establishment she most wanted to visit in Hangzhou.

“…Are you sure this is appropriate?”

Bai Feijun cast a sidelong glance at Jiang Zhuo, who was brimming with enthusiasm, and voiced his doubts.

“What’s inappropriate about it?” Jiang Zhuo coughed twice to conceal her embarrassment, then rose onto her toes and patted Bai Feijun’s shoulder with some effort. “We’re both men.”

The two men did not linger for long outside the entrance of the Fragrant Blossoms Pavilion. They were soon ushered inside by a group of alluringly dressed young women.

Like the Fragrant Blossoms Pavilion in the capital, the main stage of Hangzhou’s establishment was hung with a lofty curtain, before which seven foreign dancers performed a tinkling whirlwind dance.

The difference was that most of those welcoming guests here were gentle, delicate women of the southern regions.

There were even—

Jiang Zhuo’s gaze drifted aside.

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A man draped in vivid red brocade came over, wine cup in hand.

“Miss, you certainly have a discerning eye. I, Xianchuan, am the most popular courtesan in our pavilion.” His eyes were limpid and alluring, with a faint wash of pink at their outer corners. He looked every inch the charming libertine. “Shule Guli mentioned long ago that a beautiful young lady disguised as a man would be coming here in the next few days, but I never expected—”

“—that you would bring a burden with you as well.”

At a glance from Xianchuan, two young women stepped forward from either side, pouring wine and slipping their arms around Bai Feijun.

“Get away!”

Bai Feijun tried to break free, looking thoroughly displeased.

Another group of graceful southern women drifted past, their long silk scarves floating behind them as they sang and danced.

Xianchuan took Jiang Zhuo by the arm and led her through a world of rouge, floral fragrance, gauze, and silks. After winding through one passage and then another, they entered a quiet chamber.

“No one will be able to find us here,” Xianchuan said, turning back to give Jiang Zhuo a faint smile, as bewitching as a demon among flowers.

“Master Xianchuan has gone to considerable trouble. Is there something you wished to discuss with me?”

There was no incense burning in the chamber, and it had windows as well. Judging by its position, it was probably on the second floor.

Jiang Zhuo quietly assessed her situation.

“This is a place devoted to pleasure. Why would there be so many serious matters to discuss?” Xianchuan poured a cup of wine and gently brushed the silk in his hand against Jiang Zhuo’s cheek. “Perhaps I merely admire the county princess’s beauty and skill upon the qin, and wished to grow closer to her. Perhaps I only wanted a private moment with you.”

“Then Master Xianchuan is going to disappoint me.” Jiang Zhuo accepted the cup from his hand but did not drink. “I thought you had greater ambitions—that you wished to establish a pavilion of your own.”

Jiang Zhuo remembered that in her previous life, Shule Guli had once complained to her. A large number of the singers, musicians, and dancers at the Hangzhou Fragrant Blossoms Pavilion had bought their freedom. One male courtesan had led his sisters in establishing another venue, the Floating Fragrance Veranda. The performers there offered their talents but not their bodies, creating an atmosphere of refined elegance that had briefly attracted the attention of the capital’s young nobles.

In the end, it seemed that Ling Heng himself had intervened, suppressing the Floating Fragrance Veranda’s momentum to some degree.

“County Princess Zhaoning, are you truly willing to help me?”

Xianchuan’s gaze burned as he leaned close. Jiang Zhuo could see the faint red beauty mark at the corner of his eye and smell the subtle fragrance of honeyed incense on him.

At this point, three years remained before Xianchuan would establish the Floating Fragrance Veranda.

“It isn’t a question of whether I can help you, but whether you want to do it.” Jiang Zhuo set down the wine cup and looked directly into his eyes. “Right now, you are merely a beautiful male courtesan in a pleasure house, while I am only an orphaned county princess whose father is dead. We are alike. We both need to prove our abilities to the other.”

Xianchuan lowered his eyes and avoided her gaze with a trace of inferiority. “Your Highness is nobly born. How could I possibly be someone like you?”

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Jiang Zhuo suddenly fell into a daze.

She remembered how, in her previous life, while living in Ling Heng’s inner household, she had once envied Xianchuan’s dazzling beauty upon the stage—even after her own face had been disfigured.

“We truly are alike.” Jiang Zhuo sighed and made him a promise. “If you trust me, give me one year. I will take you away from here.”

“When the time comes, we can establish a new singing house in the capital, one employing only people of our own kind. I will provide the funds, while you will have complete authority over its affairs. I will not interfere unnecessarily, nor will I force any of you to receive guests. We will divide the profits equally.”

“The county princess makes it sound very fine.” Xianchuan’s gaze shifted to the untouched cup of wine on the table. “Yet you will not even drink my wine. Clearly, you do not trust me.”

Having once been drugged herself, how could Jiang Zhuo possibly fall for such a simple trick again?

She cast a cool glance at the wine cup and silently concluded that the Fragrant Blossoms Pavilion truly was one of Ling Heng’s properties. Even the intoxicating incense and drugged wine used here followed the same methods as those in his household.

“You have spent so long in the world of pleasure that you should know better than anyone that love between a man and a woman is the least trustworthy thing in the world.” Jiang Zhuo’s explanation was cold. “If I drink this wine today and become close to you, then what happens if I later fall for someone else’s scheme and betray you?”

Xianchuan froze for a moment, then quickly smiled. His smile was deeper than before, making his features appear even more radiant.

“The county princess is indeed an intelligent woman. Xianchuan likes intelligent people, and I am willing to cooperate with you.” He removed a jade bracelet from his sleeve and held it out to Jiang Zhuo. “Let this bracelet serve as proof. Xianchuan is willing to pledge himself to your service, and you may use it to seek me out whenever you wish.”

It was only proper to exchange tokens. Jiang Zhuo wanted to produce something of her own, but then remembered that she was dressed as a man and had worn almost no jewelry. She could not help feeling awkward.

“It is only right that you have no token to give me. I am merely a lowborn creature of the pleasure quarters. If one day someone were to use me to implicate you, I would have no face left to show anyone.”

Xianchuan himself seemed remarkably magnanimous about it.

“Since you put it that way, you certainly would never do such a thing.” Jiang Zhuo frowned and tried to reassure him. “I believe—”

“—Believe what?”

The door to the chamber suddenly swung open.

Bai Feijun stood in the doorway, his face livid, and demanded, “What do you believe?”

“This gentleman certainly found his way here quickly.”

Xianchuan continued smiling beside her, looking rather entertained by the spectacle.

Bai Feijun shot him a glare, seized Jiang Zhuo by the hand, and turned to leave.