Chapter 153: The Four Wealthy Businesswomen (Part 7)

Regardless of what kind of pleasure house it was, a pleasure house remained a pleasure house, and Shi Xianyu did not truly approve of it in her heart.

Yet this was Li Lingjing's own life, so it was not her place to meddle, unless Li Lingjing intended to commit murder or arson.

Respecting Li Lingjing's decision, Shi Xianyu agreed to accompany her. After they conferred, Li Lingjing had Zhier hire a carriage down the mountain, and the three of them set out together to meet the "contact" Li Lingjing had mentioned.

Along the way, Li Lingjing recounted how she had first crossed paths with Xiangzhi. When she was nine years old, she had gone out to view the lantern festival and become separated from her family's servants. Afterwards, she was sold to a pleasure house by a human trafficker, and Xiangzhi was sold alongside her. The madam had handed the two little girls over to the disciplining instructor to be trained so they could be sold for a high price in the future. Li Lingjing refused to submit to the discipline, boasting boldly that her family possessed endless wealth and that as long as her parents came to redeem her, no matter how great the sum, they could easily afford it.

At first, the disciplining instructor paid her no heed. Later on, however, when Li Lingjing refused all food and water, displaying an unyielding determination to die rather than submit, the woman was moved by her fierce spirit. The instructor told the madam that this child was naturally foolish and unsuited for this trade, and that it would be better to grant her wish and let her parents bring silver to ransom her.

This was not merely a matter of money; it meant breaking the rules of the pleasure house, which the madam naturally refused to do. That Li Lingjing managed to escape successfully was due in no small part to the disciplining instructor's mediation behind the scenes.

Xiangzhi, on the other hand, had not been so fortunate. Because she was already eleven, she only needed to be raised for two more years before she could fetch a high price, so she remained trapped within the pleasure house.

After winning her own freedom, Li Lingjing had never been able to set her worries for Xiangzhi aside. About a year later, she seized an opportunity to coordinate from the inside and out with that same disciplining instructor, and after spending a great deal of money to satisfy the madam's greed, she finally managed to lead Xiangzhi away from the pleasure house.

"My parents once warned me that even if I were to die, I must never tell a soul about these matters. If people were to discover that I had once fallen into a pleasure house, my reputation would never be clean again for the rest of my life," Li Lingjing murmured. "Yet who could have imagined that today, not only have I spoken of it aloud, but I am actually going to open a pleasure house myself?"

Hearing this, Shi Xianyu was deeply moved as well. "I never imagined that you and Xiangzhi shared such past trials."

As Li Lingjing frowned, trying to recall that period of time, she found that her memories had already grown hazy. Only a few years had passed, yet the dear sister who had once shared life and death with her had now become completely unrecognizable.

Slowly, she continued, "Xiangzhi was different from me; she had been sold to the traffickers by her own family. Back then, after I redeemed her, she had nowhere to go, so my parents wanted to find a match for her to settle her into the rest of her life. But having just escaped from such a place, she was utterly terrified of men and volunteered to stay by my side as my personal maid. We were so close back then. Who could have imagined that, just because of a man, she would treat me this way..."

Li Lingjing bit her lip, resentment coloring her tone. "Could the bond between her and me over these past few years truly be worth less than a man?"

"It isn't just about a man..." Shi Xianyu mused. "At least at this stage, a man is her most precious means of production. Only by grasping Xie Lü could Xiangzhi achieve a class leap; otherwise, she would remain a slave and a servant for her entire life, and the children she bore would likewise be oppressed slaves, bullied by others. If you trade places—if you were the maid and she were the mistress—what would you choose?"

Hearing this, Li Lingjing was stunned. "Could it be... that she has committed no wrong?"

"Of course she has committed a wrong, but you must reevaluate: did she commit a wrong for a few copper coins, or for millions in gold and silver?" Shi Xianyu smiled faintly. "The degree of temptation makes a vast difference, you see."

Li Lingjing pondered this in a daze, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly in a trace of self-deprecation. "What the Daoist priest says is true. While Xie Lü is utterly worthless in my eyes, he is indeed a priceless treasure in Xiangzhi's eyes. Thinking of it this way... I suppose I'm not quite as angry anymore. Ha..."

Shi Xianyu gave her a deep look. "You are different from her. Even if you were reduced to that kind of plight, you would never trample upon the interests of another woman to line your own pockets."

A bitter smile touched the corners of Li Lingjing's lips. "The Daoist priest overestimates me. If I were truly reduced to the status of a slave or a servant, in order to climb upward, I might be even more unscrupulous than she was."

"You would not," Shi Xianyu stated with absolute certainty.

Li Lingjing cast a puzzled glance at Shi Xianyu. In truth, she had long found it strange—why should an expert suddenly appear by her side, helping her without seeking any reward? Could it be that she and Shi Xianyu shared some ties from a past life?

Shi Xianyu said, "In this regard, you lack the ruthlessness for such methods."

Li Lingjing laughed despite herself. "Why is the Daoist priest teasing me..."

At that moment, the carriage came to a halt, and Zhier's voice called from outside, "Young Madam, we have arrived."

Frowning in displeasure, Li Lingjing snapped, "Zhier, I have told you several times already—call me Miss! You are forbidden to call me Young Madam!"

"Oh, oh..." Zhier replied, "Miss, we have arrived."

Taking a deep breath, Li Lingjing lifted the curtain and stepped down from the carriage.

Shi Xianyu followed her down.

Before them lay a narrow alleyway, where the carriage was blocked at the entrance and unable to proceed further.

It stood to reason, of course; it would hardly do for women to openly visit a pleasure house, making the side door or the back entrance the most appropriate choice.

Li Lingjing led Shi Xianyu down the alley. The surroundings were quiet, the grey-blue courtyard walls rising and falling in height. A faint scent of powder mixed with the smell of alcohol drifted in the air, a fragrance somewhat sharp to the nose, while the bustling clamor of the main street could be heard from afar.

Having not visited such a place in years, Li Lingjing felt a sense of unfamiliarity and slowed her pace, looking around as she walked.

"The disciplining instructor who helped us back then was surnamed Yao; we all called her Instructor Yao. She forbade us from coming to find her, so we haven't been in contact all these years. Last month, my younger half-brother came to visit me and mentioned that Instructor Yao's pleasure house was looking to sell and was currently searching for a suitable buyer."

Li Lingjing's footsteps came to a halt before a door, and she hesitated, eyeing the walls on either side. "It seems to be right here..."

Without letting Zhier step forward, she raised her own hand and pounded on the door—

Thud, thud, thud.

After a brief wait, the sound of footsteps echoed from within, followed by a creak as the door opened.

An old crone with a blind eye stood behind the threshold, her back humped and her shoulders hunched. Her eyelids drooped as she stared at them with her single remaining, turbid eyeball, her appearance somewhat frightening.

Even with Li Lingjing's fierce temperament, she could not help retreating half a step. Then, straightening her spine, she forced herself to maintain composure and spoke, "I heard that Mother Lan intends to transfer this place to new owners, and I am interested in taking it over. Might Mother Lan be inside?"

The old woman eyed them suspiciously, pushed the door open a little wider to let them enter, and muttered under her breath, "Why are even Daoist priests opening pleasure houses..."

Shi Xianyu: "…………"

Li Lingjing whispered to her, "Madams love to scour pleasure houses that are on the verge of bankruptcy, buying up young and pretty girls at low prices. This old woman probably mistook us for people from another pleasure house."

Shi Xianyu asked in a low voice, "Are we going to buy girls at low prices too?"

Li Lingjing shook her head. "Mother Lan is extremely shrewd. Since she wants to transfer the pleasure house, I fear there are hardly any girls left here to be sold by now."

Shi Xianyu could not help wondering: if the girls had all been sold, would the Instructor Yao she spoke of still be staying here?

Just as she was about to speak, a woman wearing a large brocade-flowered, chest-high skirt approached from ahead. Around forty years of age, her face caked with thick powder, she smiled the moment she laid eyes on them. "Oh! What a rare visitor! Isn't this our Hongxiao? Whatever brings you the time to come see Mother today?"