Chapter 28 Charming Spring Emerges

Chapter 28: The Birth of Charming Spring

While Qin Jiao was still in a daze, the room door creaked open.

He followed the sound and saw Yun Niang, dressed in a purple silk gown, leading a tall man into the room. Behind them, a servant was carrying something on his shoulder.

Soft black hair fell from the servant's back, with a plum blossom hairpin hanging askew at the end. The servant was likely carrying a girl.

After entering, Yun Niang had the servant place the girl on the carved bridal bed. She looked at the tall man obsequiously:

"Master Wu, let me change her clothes and tidy her up. After all, this is your wedding night. If she's too plain, it might spoil your pleasure."

Yun Niang smiled brightly, but Master Wu beside her was as cold as ice.

From Qin Jiao's angle, he could clearly see the man's appearance: a very mighty and robust man, dressed in dark-colored luxurious robes, with a full beard and a terrifying scar on his right brow bone.

Whether it was the effect of the narcotic or some other reason, Qin Jiao vaguely felt that Master Wu looked familiar.

Master Wu glanced around the room, then fixed his gaze on the girl on the bed. His voice was hoarse and rough, "No need to tidy her up. I like her just as she is."

"Very well, you're the god of wealth, you call the shots!" Yun Niang pointed to a pile of items on the table. "Master, these are some little things we prepared for you: branding irons, whips, chili water, salt, candles, daggers... Feel free to use them as you like."

Master Wu frowned at the pile. Yun Niang thought he was dissatisfied and quickly said:

"Of course, you are our distinguished guest, so we have other fine things for you. If you get tired later, you can call me again, and I'll bring you cats and mice. This game of 'Tigers and Leopards Frolic in Spring' is even more amusing than doing it yourself."

"Tigers and Leopards Frolic in Spring?"

"It means stripping that girl naked and throwing her into a cloth tub, then putting in cats, mice, and firecrackers. If you like something more thrilling, we also have green bamboo snakes and dragon-phoenix scorpions."

On hearing this, Master Wu's expression turned even darker. "Is this how you usually play?"

Yun Niang replied with a smile, "Of course, there's more. We've been in this business for many years, and we have all sorts of tricks. If you're satisfied with this try, remember to come again."

Master Wu looked at the girl on the bed and was silent for a moment. Behind the screen, Qin Jiao listened with horror, realizing that this building, under the name of an embroidery tower, was actually running a brothel.

"Your so-called Embroidery Tower costs ten thousand taels of gold per visit. I really should give it a good try."

Master Wu lifted his robe and sat down at the table. Yun Niang hurried forward to pour tea. "Master, you are immensely wealthy. Even a little trickle from your fingers would be enough for us to live on. Spending ten thousand taels of gold for some pleasure must be something you're willing to do."

Initially, when Master Wu came to the door, the establishment was not planning to receive him, since he was a new customer. But he offered ten thousand taels of gold at once, and with several boxes of glittering gold before their eyes, no one could resist such a deadly temptation.

Behind the screen, Qin Jiao's face was as cold as ice. Ten thousand gold for one night—this was trading a girl's life for money.

"If I find pleasure, I'll naturally be willing to come again. But this girl is mute. Even if I make a huge commotion, she can't even utter a sound. That's quite boring. I heard there's a drug called 'Charming Spring' in your establishment that works very well. Prepare some for me," Master Wu said.

"This..." Yun Niang's face showed difficulty.

The moment Master Wu saw Yun Niang hesitate, he became displeased. He slammed the teacup down hard, a fierce expression appearing on his face. "Not possible? Do you want to ask me for another ten thousand taels?"

Seeing the god of wealth angered, Yun Niang hurriedly explained, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. I shouldn't spoil Master Wu's pleasure, but our establishment's 'Charming Spring' is extremely potent. If an ordinary person can't bear it, something might happen. Besides, this girl isn't completely mute. In an emergency, she can make sounds."

Master Wu gave a cold laugh, clearly not believing.

Yun Niang thought for a moment, then gritted her teeth and said resolutely, "Master Wu, let me tell you the truth. You know about the recent murder case in Nanzhou where two people died? To be honest with you, they had an accident with 'Charming Spring'. That's why the establishment now forbids the use of this drug."

Upon hearing this, Master Wu's expression darkened. Behind the screen, Qin Jiao was also greatly shocked.

Zhu Qi and Xue Lin had actually used drugs at the Embroidery Tower! So what was the "accident" Yun Niang mentioned?

By then, Master Wu had grown impatient. "Why are you stalling? I know the dead are Xue Lin and Zhu Qi. Just tell me what accident they had. Don't make up lies to fool me!"

"This... ah, actually, our establishment's 'Charming Spring' had been working fine before. It's just that recently, when preparing the drug, we replaced one ingredient. We intended to make the guests happier, but as a result, two ingredients turned out to be incompatible. After taking it, guests would become mentally excited and experience hallucinations.

"That day, Zhu Qi and Xue Lin came to the establishment for pleasure. After taking the drug, they became extremely excited and rushed out to stop a girl. That girl was very strong-willed and refused no matter what. Finally, she was forced to jump into the water. Later, she went back and became mute, unable to speak."

"Mute?" Master Wu seized on the key point and looked at the bed again.

"You guessed right. This girl is the one who jumped into the water and escaped that day. She is indeed a first-class beauty, but she cannot be kept much longer. So tonight, feel free to enjoy yourself however you like. Even if you play her to death, it's fine.

"As for 'Charming Spring', the previous stock in the establishment is gone, and we really dare not give you the current one. If it harms your body, that would be bad."

As Yun Niang rambled on, Qin Jiao listened with his hair standing on end. A terrifying thought slowly emerged in his mind: the girl on the bed might be Xu Rujin.

And as if to confirm his guess, Master Wu stood up and threw off the covers, revealing the girl's slender figure and veiled face.

It really was Xu Rujin.

In an instant, Qin Jiao felt a chill run down his spine, piercing cold.

Master Wu looked at Xu Rujin on the bed with an unreadable expression. After a long while, he said, "I don't believe all that. Bring the medicine quickly."

Yun Niang hadn't expected that even after all this, Master Wu would still be so stubborn. She showed a troubled expression. "Master, really, it's not possible..."

While Yun Niang and Master Wu were talking, on the fourth floor of the Embroidery Tower, Xun Xi was feeling somewhat gloomy.

In front of Xun Xi stood a dirty little beggar. His eyes were cunning and his voice crisp. "Madam, as you instructed, I've been watching the Qin mansion. From the time the Qin mansion caught fire until that handsome young master came here, the fierce prince you mentioned never showed up."

That's right; this little beggar was the witness that Xiao Nianzhang had found earlier. He was also the spy Xun Xi had placed outside the Qin mansion.

Xun Xi lowered her head in thought. Why hadn't the Prince of Lingnan appeared yet? Could it be that his concern for Little Master Qin earlier was all an act?

Seeing that Xun Xi didn't speak, the little beggar pretended to cough. "Ahem, I've been busy all day. I'm so hungry."

"Here, take this and buy something to eat." Xun Xi came back to her senses and grabbed a handful of silver coins from the table. The little beggar took the money and ran off joyfully.

There was no moonlight that night. The draft twisted and turned the red silk inside the building. The eaves bells under the corridor emitted urgent sounds, as if trying to break through the gloomy sky and tear apart the maze.

The sky was gloomy as if it would snow. Xun Xi felt as if she had returned to that snowy night—cold, painful, with scorching blood staining her dress.

On the table in the room was a plate of hawthorns. Xun Xi never avoided seeing hawthorns in front of her, because those pains, the more she recalled them, the less she would forget. But now she was furious, and with a forceful sweep, she knocked the plate of hawthorns to the ground!

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