Chapter 45: 43

In the brothel, the red gauze tent was full of fragrance.

Because it was the afternoon, it was not as noisy as it was at night. Most of the girls were still resting, and only a few maids and the Madam poured wine for the two at the table.

“Li-gonzi is so powerful that he even brought someone like Zhao-daren here,” the Madam said with a smile.

“That’s right, my popularity is not just average.” Li Yucheng laughed loudly. Seeing that she was about to pour wine for Zhao Yelan, he reached out and stopped her. “Zhao-xiong doesn’t drink wine, go and fetch a cup of tea.”

“Don’t worry, I have a very good Mingqian Longjing here, which is only used for entertaining distinguished guests.” The Madam had already changed the kettle. She smiled coquettishly at him, and reached out to touch Li Yucheng’s face, which made him giggle non-stop. If she didn’t have the scar on her face, her charm could be considered stunning.

Zhao Yelan turned his eyes away and simply didn’t look.

Seeing this, Li Yucheng swiftly corrected his posture. Instead of joking with the Madam, he said seriously: “Are the doors closed?”

“Naturally, since Li-gongzi has already reserved the venue, I have done so for you. There will not be a third guest coming in.” The Madam smiled.

“Then can we ask Lady Miaoyin to come up now?” Li Yucheng asked eagerly.

“Wait a moment, she is dressing. Don’t worry, young master.” The Madam lit incense in the censer on the table, and a wisp of white smoke drifted out from the crack, overflowing with fragrance after a while.

“The fragrance of Hongxiu House is really varied. Don’t you love sachets? You can ask them where they get so many strange fragrances. There are always seasonal ones throughout the year, no wonder the business here is getting better and better.” Li Yucheng continued introducing the benefits of brothels to Zhao Yelan, as if he came here for the incense and pastries. “Don’t scholars and sophisticated guests like a few tunes with their wine? This Hongxiu House has everything you could want, auspicious days, good wine, and beautiful songs. This is one of the greatest joys in life!”

Zhao Yelan saw that he had only had a couple of sips, and drank the tea by himself. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the Madam passing by downstairs. Coincidentally, the other party looked up and their eyes met. The Madam smiled and said: “Zhao-daren, don’t worry. The person you want has already arrived.”

Li Yucheng looked down excitedly and saw the woman following behind her. She walked up slowly while holding a pipa, opened the bead curtain, and saluted whole-heartedly: “Li-gongzi is safe and well.”

“Safe and well, safe and well.” Li Yucheng’s face was full of joy, and he stepped forward to hold her hand. “A-Chang, this is Zhao-daren. Quickly sing a tune for him to listen to, and maybe he will intercede for me to marry you back…..”

A-Chang unobtrusively pulled out her hand and looked at Zhao Yelan, saying with a nod: “This one will show her inadequacy.”

“Not inadequate, not inadequate!” Li Yucheng said.

Zhao Yelan had truly used up his patience to come and listen to music with this fellow, and pushed the wine glass in front of him: “Can you please shut up!”

A-Chang pursed her lips and snickered. Li Yucheng was stunned, and immediately drank three cups. The sound of the pipa was mournful. The lingering sorrow, coupled with A-Chang’s ethereal voice, complemented each other just right. As she sang emotionally, Li Yucheng actually cried, drinking his wine silently.

Zhao Yelan: “……” Revolting.

After one song, Li Yucheng wanted to hear it again. A-Chang got up and drank a cup of wine with him, then continued to play and sing. As Li Yucheng listened, he felt that the alcohol was coming on. His head became dizzy, and he fell on the table with a bang.

The sound of the pipa did not stop, and when A-Chang finished singing the song, only then did she carefully put away the pipa, walk to the table, and see if he was breathing. She called out: “Li-gongzi, wake up.”

“He won’t be able to wake up for more than two hours, so take him down.” The Madam opened the bead curtain and walked inside. A few maids behind her carried him out and to a side room.

“Yes.” A-Chang stepped back slowly and went to guard Li Yucheng’s room.

There were only two people left in the room. The Madam took up the jug and poured the wine mixed with sleeping medicine on the ground. Then she poured a cup of tea from the tea kettle and smiled: “I thought you wouldn’t be able to drink my tea this year.”

“If I hadn’t come in person, would you still have to hide this tea for the next year?” Zhao Yelan asked.

“How can this be? It would be a waste if it stayed with me. I was planning to send it to you in a few days, but I didn’t expect you to come here of your own initiative. Has everything been arranged outside?”

“En, thanks to this kid, I’m afraid there are rumors that I was dragged along to become a brothel patron by Li Yucheng.” Zhao Yelan sneered. 

She frowned, fumbled the teacup with her fingers, and smiled peculiarly: “Become a brothel patron……you are not afraid of what other people see or say. Aren’t you afraid of General Yan?”

Zhao Yelan hesitated slightly: “Afraid of him doing what?”

“Afraid that he will become furious and flatten my little brothel. You’re not distressed, but I am. Aren’t you afraid that he will overturn a jar of vinegar, ah? Last time, he carried you back from this brothel in front of everyone. This time, I am not sure how to get you back if you are imprisoned for life……”

“Gu Niaoniao!” Zhao Yelan set his teacup down on the table heavily.

“Aiyo, he’s getting angry from embarrassment.” Gu Niaoniao giggled behind a handkerchief.

“Stop messing around and get down to business.”

“It’s rare to get together and reminisce about the old days. You really have a heart like iron~”

“Is that what you call reminiscing about the past?”

Gu Niaoniao grinned, then suppressed the smile on her lips and said seriously: “The cell boss is in the cellar now. What do you want to do with him?”

Zhao Yelan tightened his grip, clutching the teacup with bulging veins: “Are you sure you didn’t identify the wrong person?”

“No mistake, I would recognize him even if he turned to ashes,” Gu Niaoniao said in a dark voice.

Zhao Yelan stood up and suddenly heard the sounds of soldiers’ horseshoes outside. He walked to the window, glanced out, and saw that they had returned from the training grounds. Looking at the sky again, Yan Mingting should have also already left the training grounds.

“Bring that person here.”

Gu Niaoniao left for a while, and when she returned, the maids behind her dragged in a tall, burly man. After throwing him down, they were sent to guard the gate.

“Wuwuwu –!”

The man was filthy, bound with his arms tied behind his body and a rope looped around his neck. His mouth was stuffed with a dirty cloth, and he hadn’t eaten in two days. The cloth strip covering his face was abruptly torn away, and his pupils shrank before adapting to the bright light. When he opened his eyes, he saw a young, handsome man with a gloomy expression, who seemed as if he wanted to eat him alive, but he couldn’t remember when he would have provoked such a person.

“Wuwu –”

Zhao Yelan glanced at Gu Niaoniao, and she pulled the cloth bundle from his mouth.

“Are you wondering who we are?” Zhao Yelan crouched down and looked at him levelly.

The man instinctively recoiled, nodded, and was about to speak, when a reflected light suddenly lit up before his eyes as a sharp dagger was pressed against his mouth.

“But I don’t want to hear your voice. You just need to nod and shake your head, understand?”

“You……” As soon as the man made a sound, he felt the knife dig in a little bit. Blood oozed from his lips and he nodded in terror.

“Have you ever served as the head of a prison?”

The man continued to nod, staring anxiously at the knife in front of him, but he didn’t dare to nod too hard for fear of poking his nose onto the blade.

Zhao Yelan looked at him in disgust for a moment, then got up and asked Gu Niaoniao for a jar of salt.

“Who are you? What are you going to do!” The man finally had a chance to catch his breath, and ask a few questions. “I have no grievances nor enmities with you, why did you tie me up?”

“Who let you talk?” Zhao Yelan looked back at him with dark eyes and slowly wiped the salt on the blade. Then he walked in front of him and said with a voice like a demon crawling out of hell, “Listen well, if you dare to make a sound in the future, I will make another cut. The harder you scream, the more I will make you hurt.”

The man stared at him and the knife in his hand, as if guessing what he intended to do. With sweat dripping down his face, he fell headlong onto the ground and crawled forward to flee. In the next moment, his waist was stepped on by a woman’s foot. Then there was a sudden pain as his hamstring was severed. The wound was bloody and stained with salt, excruciatingly painful.

“Ah ah ah ah ah!” The man cried out in agony.

“Hush.” Zhao Yelan comforted him softly. “Didn’t I tell you to keep quiet? Why are you disobedient?”

The man’s forehead was bulging with blue veins as he watched the other stop in front of him again. Another tendon was cut.

The man still couldn’t hold back, and screamed sharply, writhing on the ground.

Zhao Yelan’s ears hurt from hearing this, and he said: “If you scream again, I still have other ways to play with you. Skinning, cooking, sticking with bamboo sticks, or quartering the body? Which do you prefer?”

The cell boss cowered suddenly, forgetting the pain for a moment and only looking at him with tear-filled eyes.

“You, fellow, don’t you enjoy using the death of a thousand cuts on people the most?” The corner of Zhao Yelan’s mouth twitched, and he plunged the knife into his chest without hitting the vitals. The knife was covered in salt, and the pain brought him to within an inch of his life.

The man didn’t dare scream anymore. He clenched his mouth shut and endured it. The veins on his forehead were nearly popping out, and his entire body was covered in sweat.

“I can still hear you, ah.” 

After an incense stick of time, there was a sudden knock on the door downstairs: “Zhao Yelan, Zhao Yelan, are you in there!”

“Open the door?” Gu Niaoniao glanced at Zhao Yelan, and he nodded.

The door opened, Yan Mingting ran in two or three steps, and the door closed again. He looked around. The whole building was empty, which was very strange, and he subconsciously searched for Zhao Yelan’s figure. Then muffled groans sounded from upstairs, and he dashed up quickly, opened the beaded curtain, and saw Zhao Yelan holding a short knife. A vast amount of blood stained his sleeves and robes, and there were a few drops of blood on his fair cheeks, extremely bewitching.

A dying man lay on the ground, riddled with stab wounds, blood and flesh flung everywhere. It seemed as if he couldn’t feel the pain, breathing in vain as he looked at the ceiling blankly.

“What are you doing?!” Yan Mingting took a few steps forward, only to see the large bloodstains obscured by the table. Some had dried up, and new ones covered the old. Zhao Yelan stepped on these bloodstains and smiled faintly.

He was clearly smiling, but Yan Mingting only felt that the environment was very cold, so he stretched out his hand to grab his wrist: “Come back with me.”

“Let go!” Zhao Yelan withdrew his hand, pointing the knife at him. The corner of his mouth lifted up. “Don’t you always say my knives are useless? Let’s see if it works today.”

After saying this, he crouched down and slashed the prisoner’s leg again. The man on the ground twitched twice and passed out once more.

Zhao Yelan splashed the tea on the table into his face: “Don’t play dead, wake up for me.”

“Zhao Yelan, enough is enough.” Yan Mingting reached out to stop his knife, looking at him with heavy eyes. “It’s getting late, follow me back.”

Zhao Yelan looked at him with a complicated expression, and then his eyes turned hard: “Leave, you are in my way.”

“Come back with me!”

The two were in a deadlock. Zhao Yelan said: “Yan Mingting, we are not the same kind of people after all. You go back to your high road.”[1]

Yan Mingting took a deep breath as he was pushed aside by him. Then the other continued to torture the cell boss.

Yan Mingting took one last look at his back, turned around, and strode away.

As soon as the door opened and closed, the silence returned and Zhao Yelan paused, turning to look at the closed door downstairs. The knife fell to the ground weakly and was picked up by Gu Niaoniao.

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“You……I really don’t know what to say about you. You’ve been tossing around for so long just waiting for him to come. Do you care about him or not?” As Gu Niaoniao spoke, she slit the cell boss’s neck and spit on a corpse a few times. It seemed that she had not vented her anger, so she stabbed the knife into his heart. Seeing that his breathing had stopped completely, her eyes suddenly turned red as tears welled up in them.

After a while, she wiped away her tears, looked upward with a sigh, and said weakly: “It’s over. It’s finally over……”

Zhao Yelan was a little fatigued. He stood up slowly and sat to the side, then picked up the teapot to pour a cup of tea, but it was empty. He threw it aside so hard that it shattered into a pile of porcelain when it hit a pillar.

Gu Niaoniao wiped her face, fixed her makeup, and ordered someone to tidy up the room. Then she took the hairpin from her hair to the dark case next to the porcelain, inserted it into a crack, and a secret door slowly opened.

“Let’s go get the medicine, ba,” Gu Niaoniao said.

Zhao Yelan regained his composure and followed.

Ten years ago, relying on Zhao Yelan, Gu Niaoniao went from a servant doing odd jobs to the new owner of Hongxiu House, and she procured news for him while doing business. The brothel was a mixed bag of crooks mixed in with the honest folk, and there were many high-ranking guests, including officials. In this way, it was easy to grasp the handles of many people in the court. There were also merchants and strange people traveling from north to south, and Gu Niaoniao was in communication with a group of Westerners as well. She learned that there was a sort of false death medicine in the Western Regions. After taking it, a person would appear to be dead, without breath or feeling, and would not revive until seven days later.

“This medicine is not completely safe. It is very potent, and after taking it, the memory will gradually decline and the mind will not be as good as it was before. In short, there is a chance you will become a fool,” Gu Niaoniao said, pretending to be at ease. She opened a drawer and took out the box inside, opening it with a step shaker[2] to reveal a smaller box inside.

This one she opened with a hairpin, and there was yet another small box inside.

“Are you finished?” Zhao Yelan frowned. “What is the point of hiding it in such a way?”

“I just wanted to show off my jewelry,” Gu Niaoniao said proudly.

Zhao Yelan took a look at her hair full of pearls and didn’t know how long this process would take, so he simply found a chair and sat down, saying: “There is nothing to show off. These accessories are available everywhere.”

“I didn’t learn from you. If one has money, it must be spent in order for it to count, lest I have worked hard all this time in vain.” Gu Niaoniao smiled, and asked while opening a box, “Though I hear what you mean. Do you still have good accessories that can’t be bought?”

Zhao Yelan raised his chin proudly.

“Where is it? Let me see?”

“I didn’t bring it.” Zhao Yelan paused and added, “It’s a relic from the previous dynasty, and it is the only one.”

“Talk is useless, unless you bring it before me, I have seen as many treasures as you.” Gu Niaoniao gave a snort of disdain, and after hearing a click, she said, “Okay.”

Zhao Yelan looked up at her, and she picked up a pill and walked over.

“Before you take it, ask Xiao Gao to come up with a secret signal, so that I can prepare for the follow-up matters. If he really can’t bring any news, that’s fine, the General’s Mansion will definitely arrange for your funeral, and I will arrange for someone to pick you up at that time so that you can rest assured and die.”

“……” You certainly know how to talk.

Gu Niaoniao wrapped it in a brocade handkerchief and set it in front of him. Seeing that he didn’t put it away immediately, she teased: “What, can’t bear to part with life now?”

“It’s nothing.” Zhao Yelan packed it away in his pocket.

This was the plan two years ago, when the struggle for the throne was at its most intense, and Zhao Xuan had no time to take into account that he already had his own industry and arrangements in Beijing. He ordered Gu Niaoniao to take people and find the false death medicine, and at the same time helped Zhao Xuan ascend the throne, leaving a way out for both sides. But the medicine was not easy to find, and on the contrary, Zhao Xuan ascended the throne first.

He naturally understood the concept of casting aside the bow once the birds were gone.[3] After Zhao Xuan was firmly seated on the throne, Zhao Yelan had planned to resign and travel around the world, but there were still a few enemies in the officialdom that needed to be eradicated, so his departure was delayed for some time.

Unexpectedly, the long delay caused complications, and the sudden marriage decree broke his original pacing.

This Imperial decree also dispelled his plan to resign voluntarily. After many years of turmoil in officialdom, he and Zhao Xuan were no longer what they used to be. Even if he resigned sincerely, the other party would only think that he was planning a bigger conspiracy. That was why he restrained him with the Imperial decree without saying a word.

Zhao Xuan had long forgotten that his purpose from the beginning was revenge and survival.

If he didn’t leave now, he feared that he would not have a good end in the future.

“Here are the bank notes I exchanged, which can be used within the territory of the Xuan Dynasty. If you go to Nanjiang or the Western Regions and beyond……remember to send a letter occasionally to let me know whether you are alive or dead,” Gu Niaoniao said.

Zhao Yelan accepted them with a smile: “Aren’t you going with me?”

“No, you spend money like running water. Who will earn money for you if I leave?” Gu Niaoniao snorted softly.

“Many thanks.”

“Isn’t it a bit strange for us to say thank you?” Gu Niaoniao smiled helplessly. “Anyway……everything outside is ready, but what about the capital? Are you really willing to leave?”

Zhao Yelan glanced at her: “If you have something to say, just say it.”

“Yan Mingting……are you willing to part with him?” Gu Niaoniao said, “Although he didn’t recognize me, I discovered a lot of things. One day when I was having dinner in Huichun Tower, I saw with my own eyes that he was drinking too much and kept telling his subordinates how beautiful your paintings are, how beautiful your calligraphy is, and how beautiful your clothes are……he never left you out of any sentence, just short of printing the words ‘I like you’ on his forehead.”

Zhao Yelan’s fingers moved slightly, and he said: “So what? Do I have to take responsibility for those who like me?”

He was not a fool, so he could not fail to see Yan Mingting’s intentions.

Gu Niaoniao laughed: “There are many people who like you, but the only person you care about is that one, ah……” 

Zhao Yelan shot her a look, but said: “People’s hearts are subject to change. Even Zhao Xuan said in the early years that he would never look upon me with suspicion in his life, but what about now? Yan Mingting and I have only known each other for less than half a year, so leaving as soon as possible is a good thing for both of us.”

“En, it makes sense, it seems that you are still that heartless fellow.” Gu Niaoniao patted his shoulder. “Change your clothes, they’re full of blood. I can’t stand it anymore, it really dirties my beautiful eyes.”

“……”

There were usually spare clothes in the building in case the guests needed them, so Zhao Yelan changed into clean clothes. He exited through the secret door, passing through the cellar to leave the small building, and hired a sedan chair to go back.

After getting off the sedan chair, he realized that he had arrived at the General’s Mansion. He estimated that Yan Mingting did not want to see him at this time, and didn’t want to quarrel with the other party, so he sat back in the sedan chair and said: “To Zhao Mansion.”

The streets were still very lively, and he could hear the discussions outside from where he sat in the sedan chair. They said that Zhao Yelan had gone to the brothel with a rich young master today, and that Yan Mingting rushed in angrily but came out alone, obviously catching him in bed, and was furious.

After the sedan chair stopped, he stood in front of Zhao Mansion. The two guards were about to speak, but he raised his hand to stop them. He didn’t want to listen to their polite nonsense, and only wanted to go to his room and lie down.

Who knew that as soon as he stepped through the gate, a voice would ring in his ear: “You still know how to come back, ah.”

Zhao Yelan was startled. He turned to look over and saw Yan Mingting emerge from the darkness, and couldn’t help saying in surprise: “What are you doing here?”

“I knew you wouldn’t go back honestly.” Yan Mingting clasped his wrist. “Now you can go back with me.”

“Go back for what?”

“To sleep, of course.” Yan Mingting picked him up without another word.

Zhao Yelan couldn’t evade in time. The world spun for a while, and when he came to his senses, he was already sitting on horseback with the other person behind him.

Yan Mingting rode the horse through the busy city, immediately attracting countless eyes. Some whispered, while others pointed at them and laughed.

Yan Mingting at once said sharply: “Good, Zhao Yelan, you’ve been dragged around by that Li Yucheng! He urged you to go to a brothel, so you went to the brothel? Although the girl who sang was not selling herself, you can’t go to such a place for fun, ah, the same tea is several times more expensive! Sooner or later, I must change your extravagant and wasteful habits, see if I don’t sort you out when we return!”

Zhao Yelan looked back at him and asked in a low voice: “What nonsense are you talking about?”

At this time, a commoner shouted in the distance: “The General is mighty, teach him a lesson!”

“And sort out that Li Yucheng too, that rich dandy, everyone hates that lowlife!”

“Hongxiu House’s tea is expensive, but it’s really delicious, ah!”

“Delicious, my ass,  I see that your brain is completely full of girls! This old lady will break your dog legs today, and see if you dare run off to that place!”

The common people quarreled amongst themselves, and it seemed that no one cared about Zhao Yelan going to the brothel for an hour or two, only that he and Li Yucheng listened to music and drank tea together.

Zhao Yelan was silent along the way, and when they reached a secluded area, he said: “You didn’t need to deliberately say those things. Anyway, I……”

“Don’t talk to me, I’m still angry.” Yan Mingting harrumphed.

Zhao Yelan shut up.

After a while, Yan Mingting said unhappily: “Aren’t you going to ask me why I’m angry?”

“You didn’t allow me to talk.”

“Right now you’re allowed.”

“Oh.”

“……Quickly ask me, ah!”

Zhao Yelan sighed: “Then, daring to ask this big brother, why are you so angry?”

“I’m angry with a certain person who promised me that he would tell me everything, and then went and broke his promise!” Yan Mingting said in a powerful, resonating voice.

Zhao Yelan was taken aback for a moment. He had thought that he would be blamed for his cruelty, or for killing innocent people indiscriminately, but had never entertained such a reason. He said: “What do you want to know?”

“Who was that person that you killed?”

Sure enough, this was what he asked.

Zhao Yelan would not tell him, so he simply kept quiet for a long time. Then he heard him say: “Do you really think I don’t know anything? If I wanted to check, the person’s family registry would be presented before my eyes. And yours, of course.”

Zhao Yelan’s eyes flickered, and he looked back at him suspiciously.

“Mengting, Zhao Mengting, that is not your courtesy name at all, but your original name, right?”

Zhao Yelan’s complexion suddenly changed.

Yan Mingting looked down into his eyes and said softly: “I won’t look into things about Mengting. I’ll wait for the day when he takes the initiative to tell me.”

[1] This is part of the idiom, “You take the high road, I will cross my single-plank bridge.” ⮐

[2] A step shaker (步摇) is a dangling ornament worn by Han women. It is usually made of gold bent into the shape of a dragon or phoenix, and decorated with pearls and jade. It jingles when you walk, hence the name. ⮐

[3] Casting aside the bow once the birds are gone (鸟尽弓藏) is an idiom that means getting rid of something once it has served its purpose. ⮐

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