socalfunplaces Page 494
Page 494
Xu Qi'an, a modern man, was well aware of this, so he had to blend in with the crowd. After all, he could go to the brothel without staying overnight and go home early.
"It's good to scout the location as soon as possible. We can come back and avenge our defeat once we break through to the Qi Refining stage."
When Xu Qi'an and his five colleagues arrived at the entrance of the Jiaofangsi (a government office) on Yongkang Street, they realized that it was not far from Li Chang'an's residence.
"If I run into Master here, will it be awkward...? Probably not. Master is quite devoted. When he comes to the brothel, he only dotes on Miss Fuxiang."
As dusk settles, all sorts of horse-drawn carriages line the alleyways, and the sounds of string and wind instruments, along with enchanting songs, drift from the courtyards.
Xu Qi'an remembered the feeling of walking into a nightclub in his previous life; the excitement was almost identical.
After entering the brothel, the group separated and went to find girls they knew.
Since Xu Qi'an was already there, he couldn't just turn around and leave, so he paid some money and chose the most popular courtesan's tea set.
Since I can't sleep anyway, and I can't afford to sleep, I might as well choose the best one and experience the atmosphere.
The courtyard he chose was Qingchi Garden, which was the courtyard of the courtesan Mingyan. It is said that Mingyan was the best dancer and also had good poetry and prose, so she was very popular.
"I am Yang Ling, a scholar from Changle County. Greetings, gentlemen."
Xu Qi'an entered the courtyard and greeted the guests sitting around, trying his best to appear polite.
Among those present were wealthy gentlemen dressed in fine clothes and students from the Imperial Academy. Although they came from different backgrounds, they all shared the same hobby.
After Xu Qi'an finished speaking, he turned his gaze to the courtesan who was "Xi Jiu".
The woman's face was flushed with spring, her movements were gentle, her fragrant shoulders were half-exposed, and her graceful body was faintly visible under the red gauze. In particular, her slender waist seemed capable of twisting 360 degrees, flexible and supple.
If this talented dancer, Mingyan Niangzi, were in his previous life, she would definitely be a borderline female anchor, or even a big internet celebrity.
As his eyes darted around, he noticed a pale-faced man with an unfriendly expression staring at him, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally.
The man was dressed as a scholar, stiffly waving a folding fan in his hand. He was clearly a martial artist posing as a scholar, just like Xu Qi'an.
Xu Qi'an was puzzled. He didn't recognize this person, so why was he staring at him like that? It was really strange.
"Could it be that my handsome appearance made him feel threatened...?"
Xu Qi'an steeled his resolve. They were all here to solicit prostitutes, so who was afraid of whom? He immediately glared back.
When the man saw Xu Qi'an glaring at him, he glanced at Xu Qi'an sideways before looking away.
As Xu Qi'an stared at Ming Yan, the man's gaze turned extremely unfriendly towards him.
There's a limit to jealousy, Xu Qi'an thought to himself, cursing inwardly, "Is this guy sick in the head?"
Afterwards, several guests arrived in the courtyard one after another. Among them was a middle-aged man with a long beard, a square face, and a stern look. His triangular eyes gleamed with intelligence, indicating that he held an official position and was usually quite serious.
As soon as the man entered, he saw the pale-faced young man from before, and his expression immediately became somewhat uneasy. However, he had come with a friend, so he couldn't leave even if he wanted to.
When the fair-skinned young man saw the middle-aged man, he also showed an embarrassed and nervous expression, appearing somewhat uneasy and his whole body stiffened.
The two men who came with the middle-aged man also saw the fair-faced young man and both looked embarrassed.
Xu Qi'an, with his vast experience, immediately understood that this was a case of running into an acquaintance while out soliciting prostitutes—a social death situation indeed.
Xu Qi'an was secretly pleased. Serves you right for keeping an eye on me. You've run into someone you know.
The serious-looking middle-aged man was clearly embarrassed because his two friends were present. He never expected that he would run into his own son on his occasional visit to a brothel.
The problem was that both of his colleagues and friends knew his son, which made things incredibly awkward for his mother to open the door for him.
Unfortunately, the young master's companions were spoiled brats and immediately started making a fuss.
"Brother Zhou, your father is here too."
"Like father, like son; it's truly a heartwarming story."
"The Zhou family indeed has a long tradition of scholarship."
……
Madam Mingyan was clearly a sensible woman. She had received both the father and son before, so she couldn't refuse to receive Master Zhou when he arrived.
"Master Zhou, you've arrived..."
The worst thing about this kind of thing is having acquaintances around. It's a romantic affair, but if it gets out, it won't sound good at all.
Master Zhou's face turned ashen, and he suddenly roared, "You beast! You neglect your studies and instead come here to fool around. Today we've finally caught you!"
Xu Qi'an secretly praised, "Excellent method!"
He went to the brothel himself, and when he saw his son, he pretended to be there to take him back. Brilliant!
"Dad...Dad..."
Helpless, Young Master Zhou could only stand up shakily. In an era deeply influenced by Neo-Confucianism, if a father wanted his son to die, the son had no choice but to die; the father had absolute authority over his son.
Although Young Master Zhou knew perfectly well that he had stumbled upon his father's embarrassing situation, he could only swallow his pride and bear it.
"What are you all standing there for? Go back to the manor!"
Master Zhou spoke sternly, as if he were truly there to arrest someone for prostitution, his imposing face filled with an unwavering sense of justice.
Young Master Zhou stood up, sweating profusely, and walked towards the door. Seeing the other guests watching the commotion, his face turned even redder.
When his gaze swept over Xu Qi'an, he noticed that Xu Qi'an was suppressing a laugh, and his gaze immediately became even more ruthless.
"Kukuku..."
It's unbelievable that I could stumble upon such a juicy gossip just by casually listening to music at a brothel. I'm really lucky.
"I didn't laugh either. Why does this guy just not like me?"
"boom!"
As Young Master Zhou walked to the door, he was kicked out by Master Zhou, and the father and son left the brothel at the same time.
After the two left, Mingyan Courtyard became even more lively, with louder laughter and banter.
"Ms. Mingyan is so alluring, even Minister Zhou and his son have come."
"What a pity, the scene of father and son having tea together is gone just like that!"
"If you ask me, why does Vice Minister Zhou have to be so serious? There's nothing wrong with everyone having fun together."
"Today has been truly eye-opening, so interesting, so very interesting!"
While everyone was discussing it heatedly, Madam Mingyan was beaming with joy. Starting tomorrow, this matter would spread throughout the capital, and her reputation would soar once again.
Although her fame will never surpass that of Fu Xiang, she will have even more customers.
From the crowd's discussion, Xu Qi'an learned that the Master Zhou was a Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, a high-ranking official of the third rank.
Xu Qi'an couldn't help but secretly condemn how poor the privacy was in high-end clubs these days!
In his era, such important guests were specially received in clubs, so there was no need to provide tea.
However, upon further reflection, he realized that the Jiaofangsi was a state-run unit of the Great Feng Dynasty, so there was nothing he could do, given its limited resources.
That evening, Xu Qi'an fully appreciated Mingyan Niangzi's beauty and learned about the tea ceremony process, which gave him some confidence.
Once I break through to the Qi Refining stage, I will definitely come and patronize this Lady Mingyan's business.
Sure enough, the news spread throughout the capital the next day that Young Master Zhou had been arrested by Vice Minister Zhou at the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau) and taken home.
However, at most banquets, the rumor was that the father and son went to the same place, and that Vice Minister Zhou pretended to come to find his son in order to ease the awkwardness.
Even more shockingly, it is said that because of this incident, Young Master Zhou was punished according to the family rules of Vice Minister Zhou and received thirty strokes of the cane.
Xu Qi thought to himself, "Damn Neo-Confucianism! In order to take the blame for his father, his son is the one who suffers."
Xu Qi'an didn't delve into the matter, after all, apart from having tea together, he had no connection with the high and mighty Zhou family.
A few days later, Xu Qi'an encountered a pitch-pot stall on his way home from get off work.
An old Taoist priest, dressed in a tattered robe, with his white hair tied up with a rotten wooden hairpin, looked destitute and impoverished.
The stall was filled with copper coins, silver ingots, Taoist scriptures, small jade mirrors, and all sorts of other odds and ends.
Xu Qi'an watched for a while and understood how to play the pitch-pot game. He covered his eyes from thirty paces away, turned his back, and threw three arrows.
If you hit one of the three, you'll win a third prize; if you hit all three, you can choose any one of them.
Many of Xu Qi'an's predecessors had all suffered defeats, including some professional soldiers in armor.
When it was Xu Qi'an's turn, he blindfolded himself, turned around, and began to try.
In truth, he knew that the chances of hitting the target were not high for a ninth-rank martial artist.
But it only costs one or two taels of silver per game, so why not?
"Boom!"
In the end, only one arrow entered the pot, which was something Xu Qi'an had not expected.
"My luck is pretty good!"
You should know that after watching for a long time, no one had been able to make all the shots.
He removed the blindfold from his eyes and found the Taoist priest staring at him, his gaze sometimes filled with doubt, sometimes with clarity, and sometimes with a hint of admiration.
"Young master, the reward for hitting an arrow can only be chosen using this small mirror."
Xu Qi'an stared at the small jade mirror, which was simple and unadorned, and the mirror surface was not very clear.
He shook his head. "I want gold and silver. This little mirror can't reflect my image clearly."