Chapter 88 Jade Flower Pavilion

So Zhao Ji, accompanied by the yamen runners, toured the city.

The last stop was Yuhuaxuan, a well-known entertainment and social club in Huzhou City.

Zhao gave some silver and sent the runners away. He looked at the building with carved beams and painted rafters in front of him and nodded secretly.

This brothel is located on the riverside and is quite an elegant place. The air is filled with a peculiar fragrance that is refreshing.

Zhao Ji was standing in front of the gate of Yuhuaxuan when two servants came up to ask him questions.

They had already noticed Zhao Ji's clothes and temperament, and knew that he was not an ordinary person, so their attitude was particularly enthusiastic: "Sir, please come in!"

Zhao Ji didn't answer and walked into Yuhuaxuan.

When the madam saw the distinguished guest coming, she immediately greeted him with a smile.

She looked at Zhao Ji again and saw that he looked dusty, so she asked, "This gentleman looks unfamiliar. Are you from out of town?"

Zhao Ji smiled and replied, "Yes, I am from Chang'an and passed by your precious place. I suddenly smelled a strange fragrance just now, so I came in to take a look."

The madam smiled and said, "Oh, you are here. This is the unique fragrance of our family's flowers. It can only be found in this place in the whole city of Huzhou. What is your name, sir?"

Zhao Ji looked around and answered, "My surname is Li, and I am the fourth child in the family."

The madam nodded and continued to ask enthusiastically, "So it's Li Silang. I wonder what kind of girl you like? I'll invite you out right away."

Zhao Ji pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you have any girls who are good at music?"

The madam laughed and said, "Yes, yes, yes. We have many girls who know music here. Some can play the pipa, some can play the qin, some can play the sheng, and some can play the konghou. Which one do you want?"

Zhao Ji was confused after listening to this. There are so many tricks. I just want to select the Yingyu, why is it so troublesome?

He smiled and said, "I want the one who is the most difficult to invite."

The madam was embarrassed when she heard this: "My dear, are you here for Yingyu too?"

When Zhao Ji heard the word "Yingyu", his eyes lit up and he asked, "Why, is it inconvenient?"

After hesitating for a moment, the madam told him the truth: "Oh, this...you don't know, Yingyu doesn't accept customers anymore."

Zhao Ji felt strange and asked, "Did I hear correctly? Is this a brothel or a charity? Is there anyone who doesn't accept customers?"

The madam complained and explained, "My dear, please don't mention it. Yingyu originally only sells her art but not her body. She hooked up with a rich man named Liu a few days ago and is waiting for him to marry her. Otherwise, I can arrange a good one for you."

Zhao Ji sneered, "No need, I want Yingyu. I just want to see her and listen to her play a song. Look, is this ingot of silver enough?"

He casually took out a silver ingot and threw it into the madam's hand.

The madam hurriedly took the silver, weighed it, and her eyes shone with greed: "Oh, no problem, no problem, I'll go and think of a solution for you, come with me."

After she finished speaking, she ran up the stairs as fast as she could, making their footsteps make a thudding sound.

Zhao Ji smiled and shook his head, then followed the madam up the stairs slowly.

I saw a room at the back of the second floor, where the fragrance of flowers was the strongest, and the madam was standing at the door, knocking.

The madam knocked gently on the door and said, "Yingyu, there is a gentleman who wants to see you."

A cold and ethereal voice came out of the room. "Didn't I tell you that I won't see anyone now? Please ask him to leave."

The madam was still trying to persuade him, "Hey, Yingyu, you met that Jia Ming before and he also bought your freedom, but you followed him for half a year and he was still driven back, right? Now Mr. Liu hasn't bought your freedom yet, who knows, he might change his mind."

"Let me tell you, this gentleman is very handsome and charming. He came here because he smelled the flowers. He didn't want anything else but to listen to you play a song. He paid a lot of money for it!"

Perhaps it was because the madam mentioned that she was driven away by Jia Ming that Yingyu felt indignant and asked the maid to open the door so that she could come out and say a few words.

However, when the door opened, it was not only the madam that caught Yingyu's eyes.

There was also a young man who had just walked to the door. Although he was covered in dust, his clear and bright look and extraordinary temperament could not be concealed.

Zhao Ji smiled and nodded slightly to Yingyu.

However, Yingyu's face remained as cold as ice: "Please go back, my guest. It is not convenient for me to entertain you here."

Zhao Ji was slightly surprised that face recognition didn't work.

Even Shangguan Wan'er was somewhat impressed by his face. In the past, he and his colleagues would occasionally go in and out of Chang'an Beili and they had always been successful. But now he has run into a wall here.

It’s a pity that Zhao is not a domineering president, otherwise it would be “Woman, you have successfully aroused my interest.”

Zhao Ji looked at Yingyu's familiar face and said with a smile, "Madam and I are both from Chang'an. We happened to meet in Huzhou, thousands of miles away. What a fate this is. Why do you have to reject someone thousands of miles away?"

Yingyu frowned and asked, "How do you know I'm from Chang'an?"

"Of course I heard it from my wife's accent." Zhao Ji still smiled.

At this point, Yingyu couldn't say anything to chase him away, so she had to say, "In that case, I will play a piece of music for you, and you can leave after you finish listening."

Before Zhao Ji agreed, the madam jumped up and said, "Okay, okay, then I won't disturb you two. Please come in, please come in." As she said that, the madam pulled a maid in Yingyu's room and quickly retreated.

Yingyu saw the maid being dragged away, but she did not react and went back into the room. Perhaps she was confident in her martial arts and thought nothing would go wrong.

Zhao Ji followed Yingyu into her boudoir, which was decorated very elegantly. There were several pots of orchid flowers by the window, and a rich but not pungent scent wafted from there.

"Please take a seat, sir."

Yingyu said something and walked into the inner room, took out the guqin, and then tuned the strings.

Zhao Jibi sat down on the chair and watched Yingyu tuning the piano, finding it inexplicably funny.

A certain emperor personally said that Concubine Xi's zither was the best, but he didn't expect that Concubine Hua was not much inferior.

After a moment, Yingyu's fingers gently stroked the strings of the zither, and a sad and mournful melody sounded, sounding like resentment, longing, crying and complaining. The woman was in the mood for it.

Zhao Ji closed his eyes and listened with his ears pricked up. His fingertips moved to the rhythm of the music, as if responding to it.

After the song ended, Zhao Ji was still immersed in the sound of the piano and could not come back to his senses for a long time.

Yingyu's expression was also somewhat sad, as if she was infected by the emotions in the music of the piano.

Yingyu said softly, "The song has ended, and the guests should leave."

Zhao Ji then slowly opened his eyes and praised sincerely, "What a great piece of music 'Xiang Fei Yuan'."

Xiang Fei's Complaint contains the feelings of a woman missing her husband, the sadness of spring and the longing for her hometown, and the allusion to Ehuang and Nvying. It couldn't be more appropriate for Yingyu to play this piece of music at this moment.

Yingyu was the prince's personal maid. She married Liu Chuanlin secretly and lived with him for more than half a year. Now she was about to marry Liu Chali, so she had an extremely rich experience.

Zhao Ji continued, "I heard that my wife was redeemed before and followed a man named Jia, but later returned to Yuhuaxuan. I guess his parents didn't agree with your marriage, so you two broke up?"

Yingyu raised her head abruptly when she heard this. Although what Zhao Ji said was not entirely correct, she left Liu Chuanlin precisely because Liu Chuanlin did not dare to tell Liu Chali about their marriage, and therefore could not enter the Liu family.

Zhao Ji saw Yingyu's reaction and couldn't help but smile: "It seems that my guess is almost right?"

Yingyu's breathing was intermittent and she said nothing, which seemed to indicate that she agreed with Zhao Ji's guess.

Zhao Ji continued, "There is a rule in the "Various Laws" that says, 'Everyone has a partner, and they must be of the same color. Since the good and the bad are different, why should they marry each other?' My lady can't blame that Mr. Jia."

When Yingyu heard this, her expression suddenly changed, and she said in a cold and hard tone: "Have you said enough, sir? If you have, please leave!"

After saying this, Yingyu made a gesture to see the guest off.

Zhao Ji didn't care and turned his gaze to the delicate and beautiful orchid flowers by the jade-like window.

He pretended to be curious and asked, "Where did you get those orchid flowers by your window? As far as I know, these flowers are hard to come by unless you are from a noble family. Your status must be extraordinary."

Zhao Ji had seen Nalan's jacquard flowers with his own eyes when he was working in the Eastern Palace. It was winter at that time, and the flowers were kept in a greenhouse and carefully cared for by the palace servants.

It was not until early spring, when Zhao Ji was about to leave, that the orchid flowers in the greenhouse bloomed.

"My dear, what nonsense are you talking about? I don't understand. If you don't leave, I'll call someone." There was a hint of anger in Yingyu's words.

Seeing Yingyu getting anxious, Zhao Ji smiled and said, "Well, since the beautiful lady has no intention of staying, I will not bother you any more and will take my leave now."

Then Zhao Ji sighed and left Yingyu's room with regret.

As soon as Zhao Ji left, Yingyu immediately stepped forward and closed the door.

Then she turned around, put away the pots of orchids by the window, and closed the window ajar.

Soon, Yingyu's maid returned, and the two talked in a low voice in the house, and then the maid left quietly again.

After a long time, a nimble man in black quietly sneaked into Yingyu's room through the window.

"A guest came today, and he actually knows Na Lan Tihua. We can't keep wasting time like this, otherwise there's a risk of exposing our identities. We must go into Liujiazhuang as soon as possible to avoid the limelight." Yingyu's voice was a little anxious.

The man in black said in a deep voice, "I was just about to say this. We have persuaded Liu Chali to come and redeem you tomorrow."

"That's great." Yingyu said with a happy look on her face.

The man in black brought up another matter: "What about Liu Chuanlin? If you enter Liujiazhuang, you won't be able to hide the truth. He might tell Liu Chali about the two of you."

"Don't worry about this. I will find a way when the time comes." Yingyu said coldly.

The man in black said with a slightly reproachful tone: "You have fallen in love with Liu Chuanlin, and this will ruin everything!"

Yingyu frowned slightly: "Then what do you want to do? Kill Liu Chuanlin? If his son is dead, can Liu Chali still get married?"

The man in black was speechless and sighed: "Okay, we'll figure out a solution after we get into the Liu family."

However, the two did not realize that Zhao Ji in the dark heard every word of their conversation.

(End of this chapter)