“But what can we use to invite her out?” Ji Mo scratched his head and asked, “Should we use silver?”
“You are exactly right! We use silver!” Chu Yang nodded.
Ji Mo was immediately dumbfounded. He thought it would have to be some genius who spoke in verses or something. Money was the one thing that even he, himself, thought would be the least likely answer. He never expected that money would be it.
“This place is where the zither master perfects her craft, but it is also the place for amassing wealth!” Chu Yang said in a low voice, “It was said that when the zither master made her appearance here, it cost ten thousand taels of silver for her to play one song!”
“Ten thousand taels?” Luo Ke Di’s eyes widened, “I… damn! Can you directly jump to Emperor level after hearing the zither’s melody?”
“Is ten thousand taels expensive?” Chu Yang glanced at him, “Since that time on, the zither master does not show her skill for anything less than ten thousand taels! Yet the rich and powerful of Iron Cloud Citadel never grow tired of it. In fact, they even competed with each other… Therefore, the zither master’s income becomes increasingly high… Plus, this House of Exceptional Beauties does not have just a zither master.”
“After the zither master finishes her melody, the person who gave the highest price could listen to her play a melody alone! This melody has the name ‘The Only Ecstasy’. This is a symbol of the person’s status. As for the rest of the people, they could choose from the remaining ladies. While they only sell their talents and not their bodies… if you catch their eyes, you can negotiate further…” Chu Yang laughed.
“…” Luo Ke Di’s eyes widened, “If you catch their eyes… you still need silver, right?”
“No kidding!” Chu Yang stared at him.
“Brilliant…” The four people gasped. That’s right, they were only there to entertain and did not sell their bodies, but if one had enough sincerity, the beauties would surely be in admiration. The problem was, how much silver would be enough to show one’s sincerity?
“Then that zither master… is also up for grabs?” Ji Mo asked.
“This is a no!” Chu Yang shook his head, “This is absolutely not possible. You are not even allowed to think about it.”
“Big brother, you seem to be the real adept when it comes to these brothels.” Rui Bu Tong said in admiration.
Chu Yang smiled wryly; he never thought he would ever become a brothel adept. How could he have not researched about this House of Exceptional Beauties and its rules when he was interested in it?
While the five were still busy in their discussion, someone had already raised his sign.
“Ten thousand taels! Ah, Boss Qian bid ten thousand taels.”
“Fifteen thousand taels. Official Wang bid fifteen thousand!”
“…” (walkthejianghu.com)
“They are really rich!” Ji Mo stuck out his tongue. While he was a descendant of a great clan that was much more powerful than these people, putting out ten thousand taels of silver just to hear a melody would probably get him skinned alive once he returned to the clan…
“Young master Lian has given out a bid of thirty thousand taels! Are there any higher bids?” There was a loud call from the stage.
Chu Yang blinked and said, “Watch as big brother makes his move!” He suddenly raised his sign and yelled, “One hundred thousand taels!”
A young master sitting near the stage was shaking his head and laughing; he was saying something to the person sitting next to him. Thirty thousand taels was his bid. That thirty thousand was already considered very high, and he was certain that he would win. He never imagined that somebody would suddenly jump out and bid one hundred thousand. He could not help but frown and turn back to look at Chu Yang.
“This young master, you gave a bid of one hundred thousand! One hundred thousand taels! Are there any higher bids?” On the tall stage, the graceful lady was shocked, but she had time to recover.
Jumping to ten thousand taels from thirty thousand taels… This was truly… the first!
“One hundred fifty thousand taels!” Young master Lian stared at Chu Yang with raging anger.
“Three hundred thousand taels!” Chu Yang sneered.
The entire great hall was in total silence! Three hundred thousand taels just to hear one melody… The term wasteful spending could no longer be used to describe this behavior.
Young master Lian’s face darkened. He gave Chu Yang a ferocious look then turned his head icily and sat back down. He muttered in a low voice, “Where did this punk crawl out from? Does anyone know this punk?”
All of the young men around him shook their heads. One of them said, “It seems that he is new wealth with money to burn. Young master Lian could easily squish him to death!”
Young master Lian sneered, “None of you recognize him?”
Everyone shook their heads.
Young master Lian smiled icily.
He had pursued this zither master for half a year already. These past six months he had tossed out countless wealth. Now there was a great snow fall in the citadel, he knew that the zither master loved snow and she must be in a great state of mind. He had planned to do this a few days ago, but with the old emperor’s sudden death and the coronation of the new emperor, he did not dare to stick his head outside during such a sensitive time. Thus, after everything became peaceful once more, he immediately rushed here.
He never thought that a country bumpkin of an upstart would crawl out and steal his thunder!
“In this Iron Cloud Citadel, who would dare to compete with me? Haha, I want to see what kind of character he is!” Young master Lian sneered. He turned around and said, “Follow this punk. Afterward, break his legs and bring him to me!”
A person in black behind him coldly glanced at Chu Yang and smiled ruthlessly. He said in a low voice, “Rest assured, young master.”
How could Chu Yang not know that this zither master was the real person in charge of this House of Exceptional Beauties! This meeting was related to Chu Yang’s grand plan! Therefore, Chu Yang absolutely had to get this face-to-face meeting no matter how much it cost. In any case, it was not his money. He was just putting out an advance. If this young master Lian’s home had so much money, Chu Yang would not mind paying him a visit.
He certainly did not care who he offended…
A young master Lian, in Iron Cloud Citadel, there was only one wealthy family with such surname: The Minister of Revenue, Lian Cheng Gui. This youth must be Lian Cheng Gui’s son.
A minister of revenue’s son… was able to toss out one hundred thousand taels of silver to hear a melody. There was no need to contemplate how wealthy this family’s was. But where did all that money come from? The annual salary of a minister of revenue was only several hundred taels of silver…
Minister Chu had not seen any action for a while. In this snowy weather, he could now conveniently give the officials of Iron Cloud Citadel something fun. And at the same time, he could give everyone a little reminder, “Even if the reign has changed, Bu Tian Pavilion remains Bu Tian Pavilion! King of Hell Chu remains King of Hell Chu!”
Moreover, Chu Yang also used this big move to say to Diwu Qing Rou: King of Hell Chu is still fighting in Iron Cloud…
Using young master Lian as a sacrifice to start this campaign, Chu Yang was very happy!
“This young master gave the bid of three hundred thousand taels! Anyone else…” The middle-age beauty on the stage shouted and stopped midway. Three hundred thousand taels to buy a melody… Besides this big boss, no one else was that foolish.
She smiled and said, “Young master, what is your surname?”
Chu Yang smiled, “My surname is Chu.” Then he immediately took out an extremely thick stack of bills and patted it between his hands. The bill on top clearly bared the words “Ten thousand.”
“This is a small token of my sincerity toward House of Exceptional Beauties. Even if Miss Xiao Lu does not play her zither, this money still belongs to the House of Exceptional Beauties!” Chu Yang smiled and readily handed that thick stack of bills to the young lady in white next to him. He said, “No need to count, there are three hundred thousand taels, no more, no less. Would Miss Xiao Lu please come out?”
The young lady in white held the stack of bills with trembling hands. Since her birth, this was the first time she had ever held such a large amount of money. She could not help but feel a bit excited as she took them in.
Young master Lian looked coldly; the edges of his mouth curled up as he smiled and muttered, “He is really someone with money; what I like most… are people with money.”
The young masters next to him were also a little regretful: Such a fat sheep like this, why does he have to tease Lian Fan Lei? Why didn’t he run into me? If that was the case, wouldn’t all that money go into my hands?
Readily tossing out bills worth a few hundred thousand taels, what fat sheep is this… Such a pity!
After a while, there was suddenly a pop at the edge of the stage, faint white smoke rose up from six corners. The smoke immediately enveloped the entire stage.
Then a delicate thin curtain slowly came down and covered the whole stage.
Bells rang out as a slim and graceful figure dreamily appeared in the middle of the stage and slowly sat down. In the hazy fog, the zither master seemed to take a quick glance in Chu Yang’s direction.
Behind the swinging curtain and the lingering fog, her appearance could not be clearly seen. The only thing that could be seen was her clear and cold eyes that looked like the cold water of a bottomless autumn lake.
The fragrance of incense slowly diffused outward…
The entire great hall was silent. Everyone’s gaze was quietly directed toward the dreamy figure. The splendid figure sat down in front of the zither…
“Ting” was heard as one of the zither’s strings vibrated. The sound slowly rang out as if it was from some distance away.
The sound of the zither seemed as if it was coming from outside. It was soft and delicate like some soft music sound, but it was capable of making all worries, sadness, and uncertainties in life disappear and become no more than dreams…
The zither’s music rang out and diffused outward like smoke. It slowly flew up and gradually filled the entire great hall.
Chu Yang closed his eyes slightly; his mind unconsciously drowned in the wonderful sound. Before coming here, Chu Yang never imagined that a music melody could have such power. But right now, he believed.
With just a prelude, there was already limitless magical power to sway his spirit along.
Suddenly, a soft voice faintly came down from the stage, “This melody is called ‘Reincarnation’!”
The zither’s music suddenly disappeared, but still seemed to ring out from some distance. Within moments, even softer zither music sounded and slowly spread outward… But this time, the feeling was completely different!
Chu Yang felt as if he just appeared from nowhere and came into this world. An arm gently held him. Then he came to a snowscape… Every scene from the previous life appeared to him like so.
Boundless memories came and swept through Chu Yang’s mind.
Reincarnation! This melody had unexpectedly brought Chu Yang through reincarnation once more…