Chapter 962: He's Listening to a Demon
Zhu Piaoling, accompanied by a large group of young women, set off for Nanjing.
His planned route was from Suzhou to Nanjing, and then by boat from Nanjing to Anqing. Logistically, this itinerary was perfectly sound.
However...
The journey, it seemed, was fraught with rather too many interruptions.
Sure enough, the group found themselves strolling through the streets of Nanjing.
Xue'er suddenly pointed ahead: “Oh? Look, there's a brothel over there.”
Having originated from brothels themselves, the women naturally paid special attention to such establishments. Among dozens of shops lining a street, they could spot a brothel at a glance.
Once spotted, they began to chatter, and their chatter soon reached Zhu Piaoling's ears.
Zhu Piaoling: “A brothel? Where?”
Zhu Piaoling: “Haha, excellent. We’ll go, and I’ll buy them all.”
“What?” The women gasped in surprise. “You’re buying *more*?”
Zhu Piaoling: “What’s with those expressions? Are you looking down on His Royal Highness? Let me tell you, His Royal Highness is incredibly wealthy. Do you think he can’t afford to buy a few dozen, or even a hundred women?”
Xue'er: “This humble servant only worries about His Royal Highness’s health.”
“Nonsense,” Zhu Piaoling scoffed. “From your conversation with the Suzhou prefect, I can see clearly that you’re all hoping His Royal Highness drops dead soon. Then you wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore, and you could truly live out the rest of your lives quietly, without ever having to force a smile for anyone.”
The women shook their heads in unison: “No, no, this humble servant would never think such a thing.”
Zhu Piaoling: “Do you take me for a three-year-old child? I’m not as easily fooled as the Suzhou prefect. You’re just hoping His Royal Highness dies quickly. You’d rather be widows than his concubines. The thing you probably dislike most in the world is men!”
The women fell silent, clearly caught out by Zhu Piaoling’s accurate guess.
Zhu Piaoling: “Ugh, I don’t like you lot!”
A loyal bodyguard stepped up from behind him and whispered in his ear: “Master, you’ve let your catchphrase slip again.”
Zhu Piaoling rolled his eyes. “What does it matter? Are these women really going to recognize my catchphrase? Hmph, to even remind me of that, do you take me for an idiot? I don’t like you either!”
The bodyguard retreated...
Li Daoxuan, hearing this, finally couldn’t help but let a faint smile play on his lips.
Among the crowd, Chen Yuanyuan trembled faintly again. She had seen it once more—the embroidered divine figure on Zhu Piaoling’s chest was truly moving. It wasn't merely a trick of the fabric's folds; the figure *itself* was stirring.
The young girl was terrified, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.
Yet, her upbringing had taught her not to blurt out everything she discovered. Instead, she always kept things hidden, silently enduring them.
Chen Yuanyuan thought: *There’s a demon! A demon has possessed the steward! This steward is probably taking us to the demon’s lair to be eaten, isn’t he?*
*I’m so scared!*
*But I don’t dare to speak up, for fear that all the guards around the steward are also demons in disguise. If I scream, they’ll surely devour me immediately.*
Zhu Piaoling swaggered in, leading his large contingent of loyal bodyguards and a whole troupe of brothel women, right into another brothel. The madam of *that* establishment was utterly terrified.
She had seen men bring their subordinates to a brothel, but never before had she witnessed someone bring women *from another brothel* to visit *her* brothel. This scene was so outlandish that even the worldly madam openly declared it absurd.
Zhu Piaoling wasted no more words. He simply threw down a stack of silver: “All the women in this establishment, young and old, I’m buying every single one.”
The madam: “Huh?”
The madam was about to erupt in anger, but one look at the large group of women trailing behind him, and she could guess: these were all women he had bought from another brothel earlier.
That other brothel just meekly sold their people like that?
It seemed this was a big shot not to be trifled with!
If she had any sense, she'd better comply obediently.
The madam dared not speak another word. She quickly led out the dozen-plus women from her establishment, effectively bundling them up and selling them all to Zhu Piaoling.
And so, Zhu Piaoling’s retinue grew by another dozen or so people.
The grand procession, a throng of women, continued to wander through Nanjing.
“Another brothel ahead!”
“Buy it!”
“There’s another one!”
“Buy it!”
“Ahead...”
“Master, we don’t have much hard cash left from what we brought.”
“What?” Zhu Piaoling exclaimed. “No money left? Are you kidding me?”
The bodyguard whispered, “This isn’t Xi’an, Master. Our silver dwindles with every purchase.”
Zhu Piaoling fell silent.
“The world’s suffering cannot be fully alleviated this way,” Li Daoxuan spoke. “Save as many as you can within your means; let fate guide the rest. Turn back!”
Zhu Piaoling: “As you command.”
After a circuit around the city, and with dusk setting in, Zhu Piaoling spent a considerable sum to book out Nanjing’s largest inn, finally settling all the brothel women there.
Considering the insecurity of so many women staying in an inn, Zhu Piaoling further ordered his loyal bodyguards to split into two shifts, guarding the front and back doors of the inn in rotation, to protect the women from any miscreants.
On the inn’s second floor...
Xue'er was just preparing for bed when she heard a soft knock at her door.
She pulled open the door to find Chen Yuanyuan standing outside. “Oh? What brings you here in the dead of night?”
Chen Yuanyuan glanced left and right, confirming no one was watching in the corridor. Only then did she slip inside with a swift movement and quietly close the door.
Seeing her so secretive, Xue'er grew anxious. “What’s happened?”
Chen Yuanyuan whispered, “Sister Xue'er, that steward who bought our freedom... he’s taking orders from someone else.”
Xue'er replied, “Of course. He’s following orders from the Prince of Qin’s Manor.”
“No, no, no,” Chen Yuanyuan pressed, her voice barely a whisper. “I suspect he’s acting on the orders of a demon.”
“A demon?” Xue'er gasped, startled, her voice rising two pitches.
Chen Yuanyuan quickly shushed her, then opened the door again, peered down the corridor, and swiftly closed it, retreating back inside. She lowered her voice further: “Sister Xue'er, the steward has an embroidered figure on his chest, stitched in gold thread. You saw it, didn’t you?”
Xue'er nodded. “Yes, I saw it. What’s so strange about that?”
Chen Yuanyuan whispered, “That figure... it’s alive.”
The words startled Xue'er. “What?!”
“It’s absolutely true,” Chen Yuanyuan insisted in a hushed tone. “The embroidery grinned several times and even spoke! The steward often leans down to listen to it.”
Xue'er hissed a breath, clearly terrified. “If this is true, then... then this steward buying us might not be to send us back to the Prince of Qin’s Manor, but rather to...”
Chen Yuanyuan whispered, “...send us to be wives for a demon?”
Xue'er: “Being wives would still be fortunate. But what if the demon only enjoys devouring beautiful women?”
“!!!”
The two women were utterly beside themselves with fear.
Xue'er: “We have to escape.”
Chen Yuanyuan: “We can’t escape. I just pretended to take a stroll and checked both the front and back doors. The demon’s subordinates are guarding them tightly. Besides, our bonds of indenture are still in his hands. He has the Emperor’s backing, so the authorities would help him capture runaway servants. We’re doomed.”
Xue'er: “What are we to do?”
She pondered, left and right. “Sister, you absolutely must keep this matter a secret. Do not reveal any sign that we’ve discovered anything. We’ll slowly search for an opportunity during our journey.”
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