Entering the southern private room, Chen Yu greeted the Ninth Prince with a greeting, “I did not know that Ninth Prince had a guest today, and I came late, please forgive me! To convey my apologies, I am willing to make up for it with a dance, I wonder if Ninth Prince is alright with this?”
Upon seeing the beauty, the Ninth Prince’s mood immediately became better, and laughed as he raised his eyebrows, “Oh? Chen Yu knows how to dance? Then I must take a good look as to whether your dance is as beautiful as your playing.”
Chen Yu gave a charming smile, turning her gaze towards her target for today—the man in white, but once she saw him, she couldn’t help but freeze. She thought that the gongzi next door was already perfect, but compared to the man in front of her, although that gongzi was a gentle beauty, he lacked the sharp features and the characteristic masculine aura that the man in front of her had.
Zongzheng Wuyou quietly sat there, indifferent to the female that was legendary for her zither playing and beautiful looks in Jingcheng. His thick eyelashes covered up the inky black and sinister eyes.
The bright sunlight filtered through the thin paper plastered on the windows. The sounds of someone playing the guqin drifted out from the room, as melodious as the sounds of nature. The beauty held a white jade guqin in her embrace as she waved her red gauzy sleeves, her figure as fluttering about like a butterfly. She was holding the qin while she danced.
The Ninth Prince clapped his hands and laughed, “Wonderful, wonderful! Seventh Brother, look at that, Chen Yu’s music matched her dance, it was truly wonderful.”
Zongzheng Wuyou slowly lifted his eyes and took a quick glance, the indifferent expression on his face never changing as if none of the women in this world had anything to do with him.
Chen Yu’s lithe figure gently twirled in circles, her slender waist dancing like a willow branch trembling in the wind. Her back facing the man, she bent backwards into a beautiful arch as she threw her fire-red long sleeves out, aiming between the two gentlemen. With a flick of her wrist, it looked like waves crashing onto the shore, delicately beautiful.
The Ninth Prince straightened his posture to seriously appreciate it, his mood full of happiness. Zongzheng Wuyou continued to look downwards at the finely crafted porcelain teacup he was playing with in his hands.
This was the first time Chen Yu ever danced in this brothel, and her eyes couldn’t help but continuously drift back to the white-robed man. As if there was some unknown power that was pulling on her, she unconsciously moved closer. At this moment, she was completely bewitched by that perfect face, forgetting about her original intentions as well as the reminders that the gongzi from before told her. Walking around to the man’s back, the red gauze slowly drifted down before the man’s eyes, breaking his gaze from the teacup in his hands. Losing herself in the emotions of her hands, she didn’t see the Ninth Prince’s expression suddenly change, and she didn’t see the coldness flashing through the man’s eyes in front of her. When her long and slender finger brushed against the white robe of the man, in an instant, everything changed.
The red gauze in front of his eyes was shredded into pieces, as if the air became millions of tiny little swords, continuously cutting them without her even seeing him lift a finger. She didn’t have enough time to be confused or surprised when she was directly blown back by a strong force. Crying out painfully, a fiery red silhouette broke through the window and fell down from the building. Halfway down, she was caught by someone.
Looking at the woman that Xiao Sha caught, Man Yao saw that she was vomiting blood and in pain. Surprised, she furrowed her eyebrows, “You, touched him?”
Chen Yu’s eyes were glistening and unfocused as she only thought about the immense pain in her chest, as if her internal organs wer shattered. If it weren’t for her inner force shielding her as well as someone catching her, then she would have died without a doubt.
The surrounding people slowly formed into a crowd and Qin mama yelled out in surprise, “Who dares to injure my precious daughter? Hurry up and tell mama, I’ll punish them for you.”
Right as Qin mama finished her words, an icy cold voice drifted over, “It was benwang(1)! How do you want to punish me?”
The crowd separated to form a path, and when Qin mama saw clearly the male who said those words, her heart trembled in fright as her face drained of color. As her legs turned into jelly, she kneeled on the ground and crawled forward before she suddenly remembered Prince Li’s taboo and then immediately crawled backwards. Suppressing her voice, she angrily whispered to Chen Yu, “What exactly did you do? You actually angered Prince Li, are you trying to kill me?”
Chen Yu held her hand to her chest and lowered her head without making a sound.
Zongzheng Wuyou gazed at the female on the ground and ordered the guards behind him, “Leng Yan, each and every finger of this female…chop them off for benwang.” His voice was calm and free as if he was ordering someone to prepare food for him.
Chen Yu’s face turned as white as a sheet and raised her head in surprise only to see those chilly and sinister eyes. Her heart tremored, why did she only notice his outwardly perfect looks, but not those pair of hellish eyes?
Qin mama hurried begged for mercy, “Wangye please have mercy…” She was only able to speak these words halfway before Zongzheng Wuyou swept his gaze over to her, forcing her to choke on the rest of her sentence.
Seeing Leng Yan walk towards her in large steps, Chen Yu’s whole body was shaking. Ignoring the pain in her chest, she turned around and grabbed the edge of Man Yao’s clothes, begging, “Gongzi, save me, you must have a way…I just, I just only very briefly touched wangye‘s clothes with my fingernail…” Finishing, she spat up another mouthful of blood.
Man Yao took a look at her and lightly let out a sigh, raising her hand, “Your Highness Prince Li, please wait a moment!” Even if Chen Yu didn’t beg her, she wouldn’t have idly stood by either, especially since this situation happened because of her. When the surrounding girls heard that Chen Yu only brushed against Prince Li’s clothes with her fingernail, and received such serious injuries as well as almost having her fingers cut off, they frantically backed away to hide in the doorway, secretly peeking at the situation happening outside.
Zongzheng Wuyou coldly looked over. Even though there was still quite a distance between them, his gaze still contained a heavy pressure as always. Man Yao took a deep breath to calm her expression, “Your Highness Prince Li, what treacherous crime did Chen Yu guniang commit that Your Highness wants to treat her like this? Do you know that for someone who plays the qin, to destroy their hands is worse than taking away their life?”
Zongzheng Wuyou didn’t even bother to look at her, his face full of indifference, “She violated benwang‘s taboo, naturally she must pay the price.”
Man Yao lightly smiled and asked again, “May I ask what Prince Li’s taboo is?”
Zongzheng Wuyou glanced at her, his gaze full of ice, yet Man Yao pretended to not have felt it and answered her own question, “Prince Li’s taboo is wine and women! Then…may I ask, where is Prince Li at right now?”
“Of course we’re at the brothel.” This time, it was the Ninth Prince who answered, his face looking as if he was watching a good play.
Man Yao lightly laughed, “Ninth Prince is correct, this is the brothel! What type of place is a brothel? A place of entertainment! While this place doesn’t have anything else, it has a lot of women. Since Prince Li has a taboo, then he shouldn’t have come. If you had no choice but to come, then that’s alright too, but at least your subordinates should have carried a sign, best if it was a bright gold or red one that read: This is Prince Li, no alcohol nor women should come near. This way people would know, otherwise, there are so many people coming and going through here every day, who would know that you’re the great Prince Li?”
The surroundings were silent. It was so silent to the point where even the lightest breathing couldn’t be heard.
The crowd seemed to have seen a ghost, staring at this handsome man whose courage exceeded even the heavens, not even the slightest bit afraid that his impolite words would anger Prince Li and implicate the rest of them.
The tension in the air churned and welled, seeming to get ready to explode at any second. Suddenly, a burst of fearlessly loud laughter sounded, frightening the crowd so much they shook and broke out into a cold sweat.
(1) benwang: What princes use to refer to themselves in front of those of lower status.