Liu Yuanxun naturally understood what Gu Lianzhao meant, and he knew this approach would indeed be the simplest. Yet he did not move to untie Gu Lianzhao’s headband.
Ordinary Gers did not bind their headbands, just as ordinary women would not go out of their way to dress themselves as men.
Those who did so were often dissatisfied deep down with their identity as a Ger, or perhaps resisting the constraints that society imposed on them.
Since Gu Lianzhao did not wish to present himself as a Ger, Liu Yuanxun respected that. It was merely a cloth; he simply would not take it. There was no need to make Gu Lianzhao remove it in full view of everyone.
“No need,” he said softly, giving Gu Lianzhao’s lower back a gentle pat. “As soon as I arrived, the brothels along the street began opening their windows one after another. They must have their own networks for information; word of what just happened has likely spread already. No one should throw a handkerchief my way now.”
Hearing the refusal, a surge of nameless anger flared up in Gu Lianzhao’s heart. Why refuse? Was it because he looked down on him? Or did Liu Yuanxun not want to refuse those flower maidens at all?
But Liu Yuanxun’s earlier words were still echoing in his ears, and the freshly kindled fury quietly dissipated. Before he could snap in a fit of jealousy, he asked in a muffled voice, “Why no need?”
Liu Yuanxun blinked at him, amusement sparkling in his eyes, his tone light and playful. “No special reason. I just think you look good wearing the headband.”
His smile was faint, his gaze warm. Gu Lianzhao stood there stunned by the words, momentarily at a loss.
“Let’s go,” Liu Yuanxun said, not wanting to delay any longer. “Time is short. Seeing Ning Bi soon is what matters.”
…
The flower maidens in Lamp Melody Alley belonged to different brothels, and the buildings lining the street were arranged according to their rank, from highest to lowest.
The highest rank were the literary courtesans. Women of exceptional talent, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, they sold their arts but not their bodies—the so-called “pure courtesans.”
At the height of their fame, they could be treated like genuine unmarried ladies of good family. With luck and enough saved silver, they might even leave the brothel life behind and start a legitimate business.
The brothels housing these literary courtesans were all at the very end of Lamp Melody Alley, where the views were superb and the surroundings serene—the best spot on the entire street.
Beneath them were the second-tier courtesans.
These were courtesans of some renown, who would not entertain anyone but esteemed guests or famous figures. They walked the path of long-term patronage by a single patron.
Human affections were fickle, after all. One might adore peonies this month and fall for plum blossoms the next. Taking a new concubine for every fancy would tarnish one’s reputation, and one’s household might not tolerate the additions.
Thus, the second-tier courtesans served this purpose: Lord Li’s darling one season, Manager Wang’s bedside companion the next.
When affection ran high, they were no different from the official concubines in those men’s homes. But once interest waned, all tenderness vanished without a trace.
Their brothels stood just before those of the literary courtesans.
Further along toward the alley’s entrance were the brothels of the ordinary courtesans.
These were ordinary courtesans, pretty enough with fresh, supple flesh, who had thus entered brothel life.
Beneath the ordinary courtesans were the lowest of all: the street prostitutes.
Street prostitutes lived precarious lives, with no fixed shelter and no brothel willing to take them in. They could only haunt dim corners, standing on the street to solicit customers—usually men short on coin who couldn’t afford a ordinary courtesans—eking out a meager living from those scraps.
With her beauty and learning, Ning Bi should have been a literary courtesan.
But Feng Yuanyuan’s crimes had been too grave. Upon entering brothel life, she was shunned and reviled, forced down to ordinary courtesans status.
Ten years had passed in the blink of an eye. Now, she had sunk to the very bottom as a street prostitute.
Liu Yuanxun and Gu Lianzhao pressed on until they reached a fork in the alley. Gu Lianzhao gazed at the woman standing there with her lantern raised and confirmed, “That woman in red is Ning Bi.”
If not for the fact that she was the only one at the alley mouth dressed in red, Liu Yuanxun would scarcely have connected this figure to the daughter of a once-honored Fourth-Rank High Official.
The woman before them wore a faded peach-red robe, its embroidery worn to threads. Her hair was dry and greasy, her figure bloated—as if she had just tumbled from bed, too rushed to tidy herself before hurrying out to greet a customer.
A biting chill wind howled outside, and her robe offered no warmth. To keep from freezing, she had stuffed both hands into her sleeves, clutching the lantern under one armpit. To keep it from falling, she leaned hard to the right, her posture making her look even more vulgar.
Perhaps sensing the pair’s presence, Ning Bi straightened up at once, peering toward them in hopes of a customer.
But when she made out Liu Yuanxun’s attire, the hope in her eyes vanished, replaced by utter disinterest as she looked away. She knew full well that men of such refinement would never stoop to her.
Yet a breath passed, and the two men had not left.
Another breath, and they were still there.
Ning Bi looked up again and saw the man in black entering a nearby brothel, while the one in white approached her directly.
What did this mean?
Ning Bi narrowed her eyes, scanning Liu Yuanxun from head to toe. He struck her as odd, but not frightening.
The man in white halted before her and, in a soft, pleasant voice, gently called her name. “Are you Ning Bi?”
The alley mouth fell silent. Nearby street prostitutes stole glances at the pair.
Some watched with envy, jealous that Ning Bi had drawn such an elegant patron. The sharper ones, recalling her background as the daughter of a criminal minister, began edging away.
After all, who knew if the disgraced official’s child had stirred fresh trouble, about to be hauled off for execution? Better to keep their distance.
Ning Bi forced a smile, but her full face scrunched her features together, and the fawning eagerness made it grotesque. “Yes, yes I am, my lord. The wind’s fierce out here. Come with me inside, to a private room.”
Just then, Gu Lianzhao emerged from the adjacent brothel.
He strode to Liu Yuanxun’s side and murmured so only they could hear, “The room’s cleared. Let’s go in and talk.”
Ning Bi flicked a quick glance at the brothel, her smile turning even more obsequious. She bobbed her head and shoulders in anxious apology. “My lords, just tell me what you need—speak freely. I’m timid and no good at trouble, and I’m not clean besides. I fear I’d soil the girls’ beds if we went inside. Why not come to my place instead…”
Liu Yuanxun, not wanting to alarm her, spoke softly and revealed the truth. “Miss Ning Bi, Xiao Jinye sent me to find you.”
The name “Xiao Jinye” struck her like a body-fixing spell. She froze in place, her pupils dilating in shock. Then her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Her lips quivered first, slurring her words. Then her hands shook; Liu Yuanxun clearly saw her try to clutch her robe, but her arms wouldn’t straighten. Finally, violent tremors wracked her entire frame, convulsing like a seizure.
Liu Yuanxun started in alarm and reached to steady her, but her eyes rolled back, and she toppled backward.
Gu Lianzhao reacted swiftly, grabbing her collar with one hand and cinching her sash with the other, hoisting her onto his shoulder like a sack of grain. “Let’s get inside first.”
Liu Yuanxun nodded hastily and followed him into the now-empty brothel room nearby.
…
Liu Yuanxun, bedridden for years with his own illness, was something of a physician himself. He always carried emergency remedies and could take a pulse as well as any ordinary apothecary.
He withdrew his fingers from her wrist, his expression grave. “She’s just overcome by emotion—blood surging too fiercely, causing her faint. She should wake within the time it takes a incense stick to burn. But…”
Recalling the pulse he’d felt, Liu Yuanxun sighed. “Miss Ning Bi’s health is ruined, hollowed out inside despite her sturdy frame. Without proper care, she won’t last another few years.”
Such was the norm in Lamp Melody Alley. Aside from the lucky few who escaped this hell, who lived long?
As the daughter of nobility burdened by so much enmity, Ning Bi surviving a decade in this den of vice had pushed her body and spirit to their limits.
Scarce had Liu Yuanxun finished speaking when Ning Bi cried out in a trembling voice, “My lord… my lord…”
Her eyes would not open, panic gripped her, and her scant strength let her flail blindly in the air. Liu Yuanxun raised his hand to catch hers, sparing her the empty grasp.
“I’m here,” he said quietly from the bedside, letting her rough, yellowed hand clutch his own, his voice as gentle as could be. “I’m right here.”
Still in her daze, Ning Bi had cried out on instinct alone; whether she heard him or not, she soon sank back into deep sleep.
Liu Yuanxun gazed down at her face, tenderness rippling in his eyes like he was beholding a lover.
Had Ning Bi been beautiful, even Gu Lianzhao might have thought Liu Yuanxun smitten at first sight. But he knew better—Liu Yuanxun was kind like this to everyone.
Watching, Gu Lianzhao could not help a wry, self-mocking smile.
In the sedan on the way here, he had plotted how to extricate himself from Liu Yuanxun’s deadly snare. Off the sedan, he had impulsively knocked away the thrown handkerchiefs. Along the way, a casual remark from Liu Yuanxun had tamed him into meek submission. Yet here in this brothel, he was struck once more by how Liu Yuanxun treated him no differently from anyone else.
In a mere hour, his emotions had seesawed twice over.
He could no longer tell if it was Liu Yuanxun’s gentle, indulgent nature that let him vent his temper freely, or if his feelings for Liu Yuanxun had begun slipping from his control…
Reflecting on those shifts, a thread of fear stirred in Gu Lianzhao’s heart.
He did not fear harboring dark thoughts; he even relished his own ruthlessness and cruelty. That innate savagery reassured him, convincing him he would never be trapped by emotion in this life.
What truly terrified him was how a single sentence from Liu Yuanxun could make him change his stance, bow his head, and yield.
He had always seen himself as a fierce, brutal wolf. Now he realized something intangible was slowly taming him…
Being tamed—that was the thing he feared most in life.
For it meant the very force he had relied on to survive and shield himself was losing its power to protect him.
