"Sir, would you like to come in and sit for a while?"
"Seeing how thin your clothes are, why not come here and sit? Let me pour you a cup of warm wine to warm up~"
The woman let out a coquettish laugh, her light and airy gauze barely concealing her delicate, snow-white skin. It seemed as if wearing it or not made little difference, but the allure of partially revealing, partially concealing was hard to look away from.
The passing scholar blushed, clearly unaccustomed to such scenes.
Although Qingshui County is just a superior county, it is, after all, located on the border of East Continent. Its size and economic development are quite impressive, especially since travelers from other places and nearby military officers often visit this area, and one thing leads to another...
This led to the creation of the bustling Firework Alley.
Face flushed, fists clenched, heart in turmoil, these women were nothing like what the books described, leaving him utterly at a loss for words.
The woman simply flashed a seductive smile and crooked her finger, beckoning the scholar uncontrollably as if hooking a soul, but alas, with limited money, stepping inside for fun might mean he could only fill his stomach by going up the mountains this month.
Digging up clayey soil to make tea.
"Oh~ I'm probably going to get beaten by mom again."
Seeing the scholar unwilling to enter, the woman couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed, her bittersweet helplessness causing a tremor in his heart.
With arms crossed and hugging herself, she slowly rubbed her gauze, seemingly warding off the cold. As the weather turned cooler with the arrival of autumn, the hesitating scholar suddenly realized, yes, these girls are out here catering to clients with so little clothing, how hard must their lives be?
And she mentioned being beaten again—forced by life's demands? Is it the heartless madams forcing them into prostitution!?
If I remain indifferent, not rescuing them, how will they survive in this cruel society?
"I, I'll come warm you up now!"
Without hesitation, he rushed over and held the woman tightly in his arms, using his lean body to warm her, convincing himself at least.
A boy hiding in the darkness couldn't help clicking his tongue.
He witnessed yet another innocent young man's fall from grace. He found that every time he came to Firework Alley, there would be a few naïve youngsters wanting to see the world, only to be tricked and left without a bone to spare.
This one might never make it out, thinking he could afford to play here as a poor scholar; in the end, it's either notifying his family to redeem him or paying with goods. Given the scholar's appearance, he probably had nothing valuable, and manual labor couldn't be expected from a weak scholar.
"Congratulations, brother, your clean and neat appearance should be quite appealing to rich madams. I hope you can withstand the scourging of a steel wool."
A hint of sympathy showed on his face. Human lives aren't as valuable as livestock in this era. Those who owe money or freeload are merely squeezed dry of their last bit of value, in an era without the practice of organ harvesting.
Otherwise, daring to pass through these high-spend areas, you'd be walking around with your kidneys and corneas up for grabs.
He shifted his gaze back, continuing to look toward the opposite side of the street at the "Ethereal Violet Pavilion," which was elegantly decorated but deserted in front, because the carriage parked there looked somewhat familiar.
Yes, it was indeed the carriage that deliberately blocked Yan Yurou's path near his house in the afternoon, with a stocky coachman on board who was dozing off. Examining the coachman closely, he looked familiar.
"A few years ago, when I went up the mountain to pay tribute to my ancestors, that masked man must have been him."
He glanced at the striking knife scar on the back of the other party's hand, remembering clearly that it was these very hands that wielded the large knife, nearly chopping him into two halves.
The dark red lanterns made the atmosphere in Firework Alley somewhat eerie, but thankfully, there were plenty of drunkards boasting and courtesans soliciting outside, patiently waiting. His purpose for sneaking into Firework Alley today wasn't to watch a play or to patronize these services.
Having lived for so many decades, he still had some self-control. Besides, Jiang Feng didn't like things too greasy; he preferred plain food, or rather, food that looked plain but turned out to be oily when eaten... ahem.
His thoughts quickly retracted.
From a few months ago when he had barely escaped death and returned home, he began paying attention to these uneducated young masters. Every day, he asked someone to help move him to the balcony, claiming he wanted to bask in the sun, but in reality, he observed every carriage that passed by on the street below from his elevated position.
He was not one to have a good temper, describing him as vengeful was not an exaggeration. On his way to the State City for the imperial examinations, Uncle Yan had arranged for seven or eight skilled guards to protect him, yet this time there were no assassins, but instead, the horses went mad and dashed off a cliff.
Calling it an accident would fool no one. This text is hosted at NoveIꜰire.net
Especially now as Yan Yurou's coming-of-age ceremony was approaching, according to the marriage arranged then, she would marry him once she reached adulthood. Once married, he would logically become the son-in-law of the Yan Family, and by then if anyone still dared to make a move on him...
Guess if father-in-law would lead people to scatter your family's ashes?
Indeed, the current Yan Family was not as robust as when Mr. Yan was alive, which was truly a pity since Mr. Yan passed away a few years ago. Yet this did not mean that the Yan Family had lost its local influence.
He vaguely remembered that a cultivator mentioned that there were no considerable cultivators in Qingshui County, but even lesser cultivators represented a significant threat to ordinary people.
Whether it was the cultivators or skilled fighters employed by their family, along with financial resources and connections left by their ancestors, these formed the capital for them to dominate locally as influential figures.
Put it this way, should any issue arise with Mr. Yan's descendants, neither the imperial court nor the Immortal Sect he had joined could ignore it. It wasn't impossible that they'd send someone to cleanse the whole Qingshui County.
But all these thoughts belonged to after marriage. Currently, he was merely the prospective son-in-law, a stranger essentially. Having someone escort him to the State City and ensuring his safety within the county was already quite considerate.
As he pondered over recent events and linked them together these past few months, he suddenly spotted a startling issue.
Was the timing of Liu Tangxi leaving just before he was attacked a coincidence?
Or was it an inevitable consequence of her departure?
Just as the young man sank into his thoughts, the tightly closed doors of the Ethereal Violet Pavilion were slowly pushed open, and the person stepping out caused Jiang Feng to hold his breath.
The heavily made-up madam led a fragile young man out the door. The man appeared barely twenty, thin and gaunt, his face etched with fatigue and excitement.
Supporting this esteemed guest, the madam wore a broad smile.
"Mr. Xue, be careful, the threshold is quite high here, you must watch your step."
"Do I need to watch my step? With this threshold, I could just step over it with one foot..."
His legs gave out, and he fell straight forward.
Really, completely wiped out.