Zhong Li rushed out of the door leading from Zui Hong Lou to the back courtyard. The vast courtyard was empty; there was no sign of Shen Tuju anywhere.
She pondered for a moment, thinking she had seen an illusion, and turned to return to the building. A crisp sound came from the house behind her again.
Zhong Li looked back and saw a shaded room not far away. It was pitch black, and suddenly candlelight flared, casting a swaying shadow on the windowpane.
It was Shen Tuju's shadow.
Zhong Li's heart was set. She had not spent much time with Shen Tuju, but due to her profession, she had a deep, ingrained memory of a person's appearance and habits, so she would not mistake him.
"Shen Tu... Brother Jue!" she thought for a moment, then changed her address to the dark figure. At the same time, she walked to the door and pushed it open.
The candlelight was extinguished as she entered, and a crisp cracking sound echoed in the room.
Because it was bright outside, the sudden darkness inside made Zhong Li's eyes uncomfortable. She took out the tinder from her懷 and lit it.
Now she could see the situation in the room clearly. The candlestick had fallen onto the table, a silver thread was faintly hanging from the candlestick and connected to the bolt, and a piece of paper cut was placed in front of the candlestick. She had indeed been tricked. The person who designed this mechanism had used silhouette art.
But what was his purpose in doing this...
"Not good, Young Master!" Zhong Li muttered to herself and ran quickly into Zui Hong Lou.
The back door of Zui Hong Lou was burst open by Zhong Li. At this moment, Lu Wuxie, who should have been sitting in the main hall waiting for her, had vanished without a trace. As for Xiao Hong and Xiao Lu who were accompanying him, they were nowhere to be seen.
"Lu... Master!" Zhong Li called out, her gaze scanning the building.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up. Lu Wuxie's back appeared at the entrance of a private room on the second floor.
"Master!" she called out, following Lu Wuxie's steps to the second floor.
"Young Master, where are you going?" As Zhong Li stepped onto the stairs, the proprietress blocked her path.
"I'm going to find my Master, he went up..."
"Are you talking about that generous spender?" The proprietress smiled and took Zhong Li's hand, leading her back to the table where they had been sitting.
"He ordered 'Double Cranes Spreading Wings,' and Xiao Hong and Xiao Lu are serving him. Why don't you sit here and wait?"
Zhong Li looked at the proprietress and said, "Mama, do you know what you're saying?"
"How could I not? That gentleman has money, and you are just a follower. What your master does, can you control it?" the proprietress asked with a smile.
Zhong Li raised her eyebrows and said, "I... cannot control it."
"So, you just obediently sit here and wait for him to finish his enjoyment before you leave together," the proprietress said, glancing at a maid following behind her.
The maid reacted quickly and brought over several small dishes.
Zhong Li glanced at them, nodded, picked up the chopsticks, and began to eat.
After only a few bites, she felt a little dizzy. She shook her head twice, didn't make a sound, and slumped heavily onto the table, falling asleep.
Seeing this, the proprietress smiled, turned, and walked towards a room not far away.
"Mama, how is it?" A woman sat in the room, leaning against the door. She was slender and alluring, and when she spoke, her voice was like a yellow oriole, exceptionally pleasant.
"Miss Yi Yi, just as you predicted, the young girl outside is a little fool. She's been tricked several times. Now she's completely pacified by me, Mama. She ate some things obediently and has fallen asleep." The proprietress said, wiggling her plump hips as if seeking praise.
The woman smiled, took out a banknote from her embrace, and placed it on the table. "One hundred taels. Good work."
When the proprietress saw it, her eyes almost popped out. She grabbed it and put it into her embrace.
The woman saw her and laughed mockingly, "Didn't that man who was with the girl give you a lot of money just now? Why are you still treasuring this hundred taels, Mama?"
"Oh, Miss Yi Yi, who would dislike having too much money? Would you?" the proprietress asked.
The woman smiled and shook her head. "No, otherwise I wouldn't have been doing these things for so long."
The proprietress nodded like a wooden mallet, as if she had found a confidante. "By the way, Miss Yi Yi, after that young girl wakes up, will she still follow the original plan?"
"Yes!" the woman nodded. "Don't worry, you follow your original plan. If the Prefect's manor investigates, you just say as you always do, and your Zui Hong Lou will not be implicated."
The proprietress listened and nodded obediently, but she remained standing in the room, not leaving.
"What? Mama, is there something else?"
"It's like this, Miss Yi Yi, you said that the young lady saw her husband go upstairs with a prostitute, isn't she anxious?" the proprietress asked. She knew that brothels were legal in Nanyue Kingdom, but which woman could witness her own man patronizing a prostitute in person?
"Yingzhou and Nanyue Kingdom have different customs. Their country is more open in this regard, understand?" Yi Yi's tone was clearly impatient.
"I understand! I understand!" the proprietress nodded.
"Then why aren't you leaving?"
"Alright!" Hearing this, the proprietress quickly exited the room.
The moment the room door closed, a man walked out from behind the screen.
Seeing the woman sitting at the round table, he spoke with some anger, "I want that young lady, why did you get me a gentleman? Did you take a liking to him?"
Yi Yi raised her eyes to look at the man opposite her and snorted, "Elder Brother said you were stupid, and you really are stupid. No wonder you can only use your strength, carry corpses, chop meat, dig holes, and so on."
"You!" The man was so angry that he raised his hand.
Yi Yi stood up and leaned her face forward slightly. "Do you dare to hit me? With your little bit of mediocre skill, can you beat me?"
Hearing this, the man angrily withdrew his hand.
Yi Yi rolled her eyes, sneered, and explained, "Didn't you hear Elder Brother say before? Shen Tuju has an important identity in Yingzhou, and his family background is extremely distinguished. We've encountered the biggest fish in the past five years, so of course, we have to eat all the meat.
That young lady is from the Shen family. Don't be fooled by her silly appearance. The man who came with her has to indulge her, and the money is definitely decided by her. You saw just now that the two of them had banknotes like paper.
So the best way to squeeze her dry is to first tie up that man as a hostage, and then consider tying up that woman and extorting their family. Do you understand?"
The man listened, his face filled with realization. "So, for that young lady, I still have hope?"
"Yes!" Yi Yi gave a displeased, sideways smile.
Seeing this, the man rubbed his hands together and apologized repeatedly, "It was my narrow-mindedness. Yi Yi, please don't hold it against me, okay?"
Yi Yi rolled her eyes at him, stood up, and pushed open the window. "Time waits for no one. Hurry up and follow me, don't mess up the plan."
"Yes!" They said, and with a flash, they jumped out of the window and landed in the adjacent room.
Zhong Li didn't know how long she had slept. When she woke up, the sky was filled with the glow of sunset.
"You're awake?" The proprietress from Zui Hong Lou was still sitting opposite her.
Zhong Li nodded, rubbing her sore neck. "Mama, what time is it?"
"Just past the Hour of the Monkey!"
"Hour of the Monkey?" Zhong Li feigned surprise and looked around, finding herself alone in the vast hall. "Mama, are there no guests?"
The proprietress put the half-eaten melon seeds back into the plate and clapped her hands. "We've earned enough for today. I don't want to take any more guests."
"Oh." Zhong Li nodded. "Then what about my Master?"
"What Master?" the proprietress asked.
Zhong Li looked surprised. "The man who came with me, didn't you say..."
"Young Master, aren't you mistaken? You came in alone when you arrived!"