"There was a young girl who lost her parents in childhood and was adopted by a 'gentleman' with a rather pleasant appearance.
In her memory, the time she spent living with this 'gentleman' were her happiest days.
This man would teach her music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, dress her in the most beautiful clothes, and feed her the sweetest candies in the world. She thought her life would continue to be this happy until one day when she was thirteen, the man went out and never returned.
She waited and waited. After several days, when there was no more food at home except for water, a group of people suddenly broke in, led by the madam of Huamanlou.
At first, she didn't quite understand, thinking the man had fallen into debt from patronizing courtesans. Only later did she realize that the moment the man left home, he had already sold her."
Zhong Li spoke as she flipped through the small booklet in her hand, afraid of missing any detail, speaking strictly according to the drawings within the booklet.
"Initially, the young girl resisted like the others, but what kind of person was the madam? Having seen so many such incidents, she locked her in a small dark room. She hadn't eaten much to begin with, and after such torment, within two days, she naturally compromised in order to survive.
She thought that after compromising, she would face the same fate as her other sisters, having to entertain clients early and ending up with a body full of ailments. She never expected this; instead, she was re-educated by the courtesans brought by the madam.
In just two years, she learned how to use charm to seduce men. Her every smile and glance could stir the hearts of all the men in Jincheng. On the day she turned fifteen, she met him."
Speaking of this 'him,' Zhong Li presented the booklet in her hand to Lu Wuxie and pointed.
Lu Wuxie followed Zhong Li's fingertip and looked down. The man in the painting was tall and slender, seated at a table with his back to the viewer, holding a cup. Opposite him was a woman playing a zither.
The woman had a beautiful face and a slender waist. Upon closer inspection, it was Tian Lianxue herself.
"The painting is good!" Lu Wuxie exclaimed sincerely.
Zhong Li smiled and continued, "He was the first man she received. She played the zither, and he sat quietly at the table listening. That night, he was extremely gentle. She expected pain but instead experienced bliss as if flying into the clouds.
Afterward, she received a lot of silver. It was the first time she had seen so much money. She was somewhat taken aback, but more so, she was delighted.
She served him his bath, helped him undress, and assisted him with his hair and makeup. She felt her heart stir and wanted to ask for his name but knew the rules of the brothel.
Until it was time, the door from the outside was knocked upon, and a familiar figure entered, calling him 'master.' Only then did it hit her like a hammer blow. That figure was none other than the 'benefactor' who had sold her into the brothel two years ago."
Upon hearing the word 'benefactor,' Lu Wuxie's eyes narrowed instantly. A daring thought seemed to flash through his mind.
Zhong Li glanced at him and continued, "The young girl instinctively tried to cover her body with her clothes. In her eyes, she was shameful in front of her 'benefactor.'
Until she realized, it was he who had sold her into the brothel. She watched as the 'benefactor' respectfully escorted out the man she had just been intimate with. Seeing them about to leave, she summoned her courage, threw on some clothes, and chased after them. She tugged at the 'benefactor's' clothes, wanting to ask for an explanation.
The benefactor remained silent. Instead, the man who had gotten into the carriage lifted the curtain and looked at her. She was stunned and blushed.
Seeing her like this, the benefactor smiled, leaned down, whispered a few words in her ear, then took out a piece of paper from his embrace and thrust it into her hand before leaving.
She watched the carriage disappear into Cat Alley and remained stunned for a long time before reacting. She opened the paper in her hand. On it was a drawing of a woman who looked remarkably similar to her, but their temperaments were vastly different."
As Zhong Li said this, Lu Wuxie didn't need to listen further; he had already guessed what came next. "Afterward, did she draw me?"
"Yes!" Zhong Li nodded. "She explained in the drawing that she had fallen for the man she had her first experience with. To see him, she followed the 'benefactor's' instructions to approach you, pass information to the person above, and sometimes help that man with other matters."
Lu Wuxie then asked, "Did she also explain how she came to Jinzhou?"
"Yes, there is a drawing of it." Zhong Li turned to a page further back in the picture album and presented it to Lu Wuxie.
Lu Wuxie looked down. It was an image of a doorway, and outside the door were two identical faces, but with vastly different temperaments: the one inside was alluring, the one outside was dignified.
He raised his eyebrows slightly and turned to the next page.
Following this were the two figures sitting at a table, facing each other, seemingly in an argument. The dignified-looking woman's expression had turned fierce, uncharacteristically so, while the alluring one appeared defiant, as if to say, "What can you do to me?"
He raised his eyebrows slightly again and turned another page.
This page depicted a more gruesome scene: the dignified woman, with a ferocious expression, pinned the alluring woman to the ground, holding a hairpin in her hand. It looked like the jade orchid hairpin Zhong Li and he had found in the stilt house earlier, with blood flowing from it.
"Look at her face. It's roughly outlined with ink lines; she must have been disfigured," Zhong Li pointed to the alluring woman's face, reminding Lu Wuxie.
Lu Wuxie leaned closer to look. Indeed, there were lines, but why was it drawn so unclearly?
Zhong Li explained, "Perhaps Tian Lianxue didn't want to accept the fact of her disfigurement, so her strokes were hesitant."
Lu Wuxie nodded in agreement and continued to look.
He saw the disfigured woman covering her face and weeping, with a man standing beside her. Although it was his back, Lu Wuxie knew it was the man she longed for, the one who had taken her virginity.
He flipped further down. As he expected, Tian Lianxue was sitting in a carriage, and the scene depicted the city of Jinzhou.
"She was tricked into coming to Jinzhou by the man in her picture album. After that, it should have been Shen Ying who was in Huamanlou all along. After all, as the most popular courtesan of Huamanlou, how could she continue to be one without her face?" Zhong Li analyzed further.
Lu Wuxie nodded in agreement. He continued flipping through the booklet. There wasn't much content left, mostly fragments of her life in the secret room, stolen firewood, and chilblains covering her hands and feet...
"Oh, right." Zhong Li saw Lu Wuxie close the booklet and suddenly remembered what he hadn't finished saying when they were in the stilt house. "What did Mo Cang want to tell me earlier? Do you have any leads on this Young Master Hong?"
Lu Wuxie pointed to the booklet and said, "If I'm not mistaken, this Young Master Hong is the same person as the heart's desire of Tian Lianxue in this booklet."
Zhong Li agreed, "Otherwise, who could have such great ability to make Tian Lianxue so fixated, even willing to ruin your agreement with the madam.
But Tian Lianxue has reached this point, knowing that this man only used her, yet she still refused to draw his face in the booklet."
Lu Wuxie smiled and said, "Actually, Li'er, you don't need to be so curious. You've also met this person."
"I've met him?" Zhong Li was very surprised. Then, recalling the attire of the man's subordinates and the man's own clothing in the booklet, she suddenly realized, "So it was him."