The towering New Moon Brothel was lit by brilliant lights and music can be heard coming out of the tall building from time to time, echoing through the night sky of Chong Ming Town, like a palace in heaven.
Chu Li and Xue Ling left the public house when the sun was setting. They went to Sky Inn for dinner first and enjoyed the delicious food in Sky Inn. After that, they went to New Moon Brothel.
The architectural style of New Moon Brothel was a walled building [1] and a stage was set up in the middle where songs and dances were performed.
The first floor was the main hall. It was very spacious between the tables and the tables were all set up along the railing, thus the customers can sit at the table and watch the performance on the stage at the center. The first floor was the liveliest.
The second floor had folding screens that blocked both sides of the tables so the customers cannot see each other, while the third floor had separate rooms.
Each floor’s table had different prices: two hundred taels silver for the first floor, three hundred taels silver for the second floor and five hundred taels silver for the third floor.
“Master, let’s stay on the first floor,” Xue Ling blinked her eyes and looked around, “It is livelier.”
Chu Li smiled, “You are reluctant to use the silver, right?”
Xue Ling was in charge of the Glory’s Will Courtyard’s silver. Chu Li did not care about anything and let Xue Ling manage the pay given by the public house directly.
Xue Ling was born in an official’s household so she had never been in a shortage of silver since young. However, she knew when to spend and when not to spend money. Going up a floor meant paying extra one hundred or three hundred taels silver. This amount can be used to buy a small house in the town so she really did not want to spend the money on this.
“Master, we come here to join in on the fun, not looking for a woman,” Xue Ling scoffed, “Are these commonplace women really to your liking?”
“Xue Ling, what you said is wrong,” Chu Li laughed, “The women here are not mundane. They are all gorgeous and extraordinarily beautiful.”
“Comparable to the women in the public house?” Xue Ling was unconvinced.
Chu Li smiled and said, “Each has their own beauty, otherwise, who would be willing to spend two hundred taels?”
“Then I’ll have to take a good look,” Xue Ling pulled him to a table.
She was dressed as a man, looking extraordinarily handsome, causing the maids around to glance over from time to time.
A maid served a teapot and teacups, Xue Ling reached out her hand and took them from the maid, waving her hand to indicate the maid to retreat. She poured the tea herself and steam came out of the tea. Using her nose, she sniffed it lightly a few times, “Not bad. They didn’t trick us. This tea is considered a fine tea.”
She lifted the teacup with both hands and gave it to Chu Li.
“Those who can come here are either rich or of high status. New Moon Brothel will not show their ignorance in these aspects,” Chu Li took the teacup, “Relax, don’t be so picky. The main thing is still looking at beauties.”
“I really don’t know what is there to look at,” Xue Ling pursed her lips.
She looked around and found that a dozen tables were occupied and each table was accompanied by a woman.
The women were not flirting with the men beside them. They were just accompanying the customers by talking to them. They were demure and elegant like a lady.
This made Xue Ling feel less objectionable to the women here. She looked at Chu Li with a smiling face, “Master, do you think we should ask a woman to accompany us?”
“Sure,” Chu Li said.
Xue Ling beckoned and a maid came.
Xue Ling said, “Ask a girl to come and sit with us.”
“Is there anyone whom Master is familiar with?” the maid smiled and asked, “These are the girls tonight.”
She pulled out a paper from her sleeve. There were some girls’ names written on it and each name was followed by a price.
Xue Ling took a glance and curled her lips, “How black-hearted, just accompanying for a while and it needs a hundred taels!”
The maid pursed her lips and smiled but she did not refute.
Chu Li said, “Since we had come, don’t be too stingy. Pick a better one.”
“You mean the expensive one?” Xue Ling snorted.
Chu Li sipped a small mouthful of tea.
“Very well, we want the most expensive one!” Xue Ling pointed at the last name. She felt that the cheap ones were not worthy of Master. She cannot think of saving money at this moment.
“That’ll be Miss Bi Liu. Please wait for a moment,” the maid said with a smile.
Xue Ling sighed, “Worth to be a money-squandering establishment. Five hundred taels silver gone just like that!”
Chu Li laughed, “Since we had come, we should enjoy ourselves.”
The two were talking when a girl dressed in a fresh floral gown came elegantly, like a willow branch trembling in the wind. She curtsied gracefully, “I’m Bi Liu. Greetings to both masters.”
Her facial features were delicate, making others cannot help but feel like protecting her and could not bear to speak loudly to her.
Her bright and clever eyes gently swept across them and stopped momentarily on Xue Ling’s face, apparently, she had found out that Xue Ling was a girl.
Chu Li reached out his hand and laughed, “Miss Liu, please have a seat. This is our first time here so we don’t know the rules here. When will the performance begin?”
Liu smiled sweetly, “Tonight, I will be performing. It will begin after a quarter of an hour.”
Xue Ling said, “Miss Liu, what are you going to perform?”
“I’ll perform a dance,” Liu said.
Xue Ling sized her up. Her waist was so thin that it seemed like it will be broken if she was not careful. Her graceful body was slender and elegant, so her dance must be nice to watch.
Chu Li’s expression changed suddenly and he furrowed his eyebrows.
Xue Ling realized that something was wrong, “Master, what happened?”
Chu Li said, “Encountered someone who should not be encountered.”
“Who is it?” Xue Ling looked around and found out that there was a group of six people walking in, all looking very handsome. They were all women who were disguised as men.
“Master Chu Li!” Sun Li Hua saw Chu Li from afar and waved her hand at him vigorously.
Chu Li beckoned with a smile.
He could feel the murder-like gaze from Mei Ao Shuang. He gave a fist salute and smiled, “Senior Fong Xiao Feng, Valley Leader Mei Ao Shuang, what a good interest you have!”
Fong Xiao Feng gave a fist salute and laughed, “I didn’t expect to run into Master Chu Li here.”
“Humph!” Mei Ao Shuang sneered, “Men are all good-for-nothing!”
Chu Li maintained his smile, “Valley Leader Mei Ao Shuang is really a rare guest. I didn’t expect that you will come here to play.”
“Surnamed Chu, don’t get conceited!” Mei Ao Shuang was dressed in a pale blue robe, appearing like a handsome young man, “I will definitely take Young Chen Ying as my disciple!”
Chu Li smiled, “As long as Chen Ying agrees to it.”
“I cannot handle you but someone can!” Mei Ao Shuang sneered.
Chu Li laughed, “Well, I would like to meet that person…Valley Leader Mei Ao Shuang, do you want to sit together?”
He activated Omniscient Mirror and looked into Mei Ao Shuang’s mind. He was stunned by what he saw. He did not expect that he will see Siao Qi!
“Humph!” Mei Ao Shuang sat right across from him.
Fong Xiao Feng smiled charmingly, “Master Chu Li, then we’ll be bothering you.”
“I’m here to relax too and join in on the fun,” Chu Li laughed, “You guys are most welcome to join me.”
He Bing Hua and the others did not speak all this while. Since Fong Xiao Feng and Mei Ao Shuang were speaking, it was not their turn to talk, so they can only widen their bright eyes and stared at him.
“Miss Liu, you should go and prepare for your performance,” Chu Li smiled.
Liu saw the tense atmosphere on the table and knew that she should not stay for long, so she curtsied lightly and left gracefully.
“Since you have called a girl, why did you let her go?” Mei Ao Shuang scoffed, “Hypocrite!”
“Valley Leader Mei Ao Shuang, Miss Liu will be dancing later,” Chu Li said while smiling. The angrier she was, the more interested he felt, “Everyone can catch a glimpse of her dance.”
When they were talking, two middle-aged men in silk clothing walked in confidently with high spirit.
They were going upstairs when they suddenly saw Chu Li. They quickly came and gave Chu Li a fist salute, “Chief Chu Li.”
Chu Li turned around to look at them. He smiled and waved his hand, “Go and enjoy yourself. You don’t have to be so courteous.”
The two answered with a “Yes”, gave a fist salute and went up the floors.
They were the public house’s rank five Protectors and they had more than enough money in their purse so coming to New Moon Brothel was not surprising.
When Mei Ao Shuang was talking again, another silk clothing middle-aged man walked into New Moon Brothel and gave Chu Li a fist salute. Chu Li waved his hand to indicate that he did not have to be so courteous.
Subsequently, there were another three groups of people who walked into New Moon Brothel and they were all Protectors of the public house. When they saw Chu Li, all of them came to salute Chu Li.
Mei Ao Shuang sneered again and again, “What a public house! This is really eye-opening!”
Chu Li sighed inwardly. The Protectors of the public house were too free. They all liked to come to New Moon Brothel and this was all because they had too much money.
Translator Notes
[1] A type of building used by the Hakkas (people who speak the Hakka dialect) in southeastern Fujian, China. It is called Fujian tulou—a large, enclosed and fortified earth building. It has a circular configuration, resembling a small fortified city.
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