“Greetings, Princess Zhi Ning.” Suo Ningbing performed a deep curtsy.
“Please rise, sister.” Princess Zhi Ning spoke gently, then gracefully took the seat of honour.
Suo Ningbing did not sit. When facing a member of the royal family, one could not sit unless invited to do so.
“Suo Lun’s performance at the Royal City Academy today was truly astonishing,” Princess Zhi Ning said. “Mentor Xiu Yan has already conveyed his views to the royal family and the cabinet: develop the navy and spare Tianshui City.”
Suo Ningbing bowed once more and said, “I beg Your Highness and the Princess to show mercy.”
“Why are we so determined to take Tianshui City? Suo Lun explained it very clearly in class,” Princess Zhi Ning said. “We had no personal grudge before. Although Tianshui City is prosperous, the royal family possesses the wealth of the entire kingdom and would not covet a mere five hundred li of territory. It is because this concerns the kingdom’s future expansion strategy that we must have Tianshui City. Truly, I am sorry.”
Suo Ningbing said, “But attacking the Barbarian Plains by sea route is not entirely impossible to consider, is it?”
Princess Zhi Ning replied, “However, that plan not only takes far too long, but more importantly, it was proposed by Uncle Zhi Ting, not by His Highness Zhi Li. If we adopt that plan, it would signify a strategic failure for His Highness Zhi Li. Do you understand what that means?”
Of course Suo Ningbing understood. The key point was that Prince Zhi Li was not the biological son of King Zhi Bian, but his nephew.
King Zhi Bian had only one daughter and no sons, so he had adopted his nephew Zhi Li as his heir. Although everyone treated Zhi Li as the crown prince, Zhi Li himself was filled with a sense of crisis.
Seizing Tianshui City, taking the Barbarian Canyon, and using it as the forward base to attack the Barbarian Plains—this was Prince Zhi Li’s strategic direction.
Moreover, he had already paid a heavy price for it, even to the point of tearing apart the kingdom’s feudal system. He could not tolerate failure.
Suo Ningbing said, “His Highness Zhi Li’s strategy is naturally important. Does that mean my Suo Clan deserves to die?”
Princess Zhi Ning did not answer directly. Instead she said, “Today’s performance by Suo Lun in class was your handiwork, sister, was it not?”
Suo Ningbing hesitated for a moment, then nodded. This was to protect Suo Lun. If the royal family learned that Suo Lun had become wise and brilliant, his life would be in danger.
“Sister truly possesses unparalleled wisdom. I admire you greatly, which is why I came to visit,” Zhi Ning said. “Originally, your Suo Clan was doomed beyond doubt. And it would not even be us who acted—Duke Zhi Ting would personally destroy you. You know he acts far more directly than we do, because he does not care about reputation. But upon discovering a sister of such wisdom, I still made this trip.”
Suo Ningbing said, “I beg the Princess for your guidance.”
Zhi Ning said, “Lend Tianshui City to us temporarily. In twenty years, it will be returned to your Suo Clan.”
Suo Ningbing replied, “Spitting out something already obtained is not your style.”
“Correct,” Princess Zhi Ning said. “But His Highness Zhi Li values talent greatly. For the sake of you as a person, he is willing to forgo the five hundred li of Tianshui City.”
Suo Ningbing’s delicate frame trembled slightly. “What do you mean?”
Princess Zhi Ning said, “Pledge loyalty to His Highness Zhi Li and become his aide. In twenty years, your son will inherit the position of City Lord of Tianshui and be ennobled as a marquis.”
Suo Ningbing said, “Unfortunately, I have no son.”
“If you have no son, you can bear one,” Princess Zhi Ning said.
Suo Ningbing asked, “With whom?”
Princess Zhi Ning replied, “Naturally with my brother, His Highness Zhi Li. You should know this is an immense favour, and your only chance to save the Suo Clan.”
Suo Ningbing’s face turned pale. “Then… what about Suo Lun?”
Princess Zhi Ning said indifferently, “What you are saving is a clan, not an individual. Nothing in this world is perfect. His Highness Zhi Li values you as a person, not him, Suo Lun. Moreover, Suo Lun once pursued me, which touched His Highness Zhi Li’s reverse scale.”
In her words, Suo Lun was evidently someone who must die.
Suo Ningbing lifted her peerlessly beautiful face and smiled. “Then why not have the Princess marry Suo Lun? In the future, your son would become the City Lord of Tianshui, and we would all be one family.”
As soon as those words left her mouth, Princess Zhi Ning immediately withdrew all expression from her face. She pulled her cloak back over herself, stood up, and walked out.
“Consider that I never came. You still have two days.”
……
Yuhua Pavilion, one of the largest brothels in the Royal City.
In this world, there were also courtesans who sold their arts but not their bodies, known as great ladies.
But the women of Yuhua Pavilion sold both art and body. As a notorious playboy, Suo Lun rarely patronised those so-called great ladies who sold only their arts. In his words, those women specialised in cheating others, and there was no need for him to comfort them.
That remark had won the hearts of many women in the pleasure quarters, while offending numerous famous courtesans who sold art but not their bodies.
Suo Lun’s reputation in the brothel world was, to put it mildly, that of an absolute ancestor of the pleasure quarters. He even brought his own girlfriends to visit brothels.
Over the years, the money he had spent in brothels amounted to at least a thousand gold coins or more. Moreover, he often brought other young wastrels along, and together they spent several thousand gold coins.
And whenever Suo Lun came to a brothel, he usually did not choose the most popular women. Instead, he would pick those whose business was not doing well, often calling dozens at once. In his words, it was to let the less popular girls earn a living too.
Thus, while Suo Lun’s reputation in the Royal City was utterly notorious, in the brothel circles he enjoyed an excellent name. Many women in the pleasure quarters regarded him almost as a family member.
Therefore, when Lan Ling stepped into Yuhua Pavilion, he immediately experienced the sensation of being a celebrity.
Almost every woman in the entire Yuhua Pavilion surged towards him. Whether they had customers or not, they all rushed over.
Not only the women, but all the stewards and attendants also bowed deeply in greeting.
The ancestor of the pleasure quarters had arrived. Their bread and butter had come.
“Young Master Suo Lun, you have finally come. This humble one has missed you to death.”
“Young Master Suo, this slave has missed you so much…”
“My own dear father, this slave has missed you until I have grown thin. How cruel your heart is, not coming home to see us for months.”
Although Lan Ling had prepared himself for how popular he would be, this scene still caught him completely off guard.
It was truly the centre of everyone’s attention, surrounded and escorted on all sides.
Soon, a middle-aged woman still full of charm desperately pushed through the crowd and squeezed her way to Lan Ling. She curtsied from the side and said, “My Young Master Suo Lun, you have finally deigned to come. These past few months without you, my entire heart has felt empty. If you do not believe me, come and feel it…”
Clearly, this woman was the madam of Yuhua Pavilion.
She directly grabbed Lan Ling’s hand and pulled it towards her bosom.
Normally, Lan Ling would have quickly withdrawn, but he was playing the role of the pleasure quarters’ ancestor, Suo Lun. He could not show timidity at such a moment.
Thus, he lightly gave it a squeeze, then brought his hand to his nose, sniffed, and kissed it. “Still so fragrant.”
The madam’s eyes became sultry as silk. She hugged Lan Ling’s arm tightly against herself, rubbing against him, and said hoarsely, “There are even more fragrant places. Would you like to taste them?”
“You had better taste mine instead,” Lan Ling said.
Unexpectedly, the madam stuck out her tongue and licked it teasingly. In a媚 voice she said, “Taste then, and right in front of everyone too. Do you dare?”
Lan Ling laughed. “All right, when it comes to being a rogue, I cannot compete with you.”
The madam said resentfully, “I knew you were just teasing me and do not fancy old women like us. Tell me, whom do you want to accompany you today? I want to see which of my daughters is fortunate enough to have such luck.”
Lan Ling said, “Where is Manman?”
The madam immediately called out loudly, “Where is Manman?”
A nearby steward quickly replied, “Miss Manman has a guest in her courtyard.”
The madam immediately ordered, “Drive him away, drive him away. With Young Master Suo Lun here, what guest is needed? Tell Manman to change into fresh clothes at once and receive Young Master Suo Lun.”
While in the Royal City Academy Suo Lun was like a rat everyone wanted to beat, here he enjoyed the treatment of a super VIP.
Under the resentful gazes of the other women, the madam led Lan Ling towards the chambers of Yuhua Pavilion’s most popular courtesan, Yi Manman.
……
As the most popular woman—even the most popular in the entire Royal City—Yi Manman naturally had her own small building and private garden.
Moreover, she was one of the rare women among Suo Lun’s acquaintances who truly sold her arts. She was considered one of the Royal City’s top great ladies, with a single session costing two or three gold coins or more.
The madam escorted Lan Ling to the door and said, “Since the two of you are already burning with passion, I shall not accompany you inside.”
Then she left directly.
Lan Ling stood outside for a moment. To be honest, he was filled with curiosity about this Yi Manman and wondered what she looked like. Of course, he was certain she must be very beautiful. Reaching the pinnacle in the pleasure quarters was extremely difficult.
Suo Lun’s relationship with her had been extremely intimate, and this close man-woman relationship had lasted for several years. She could be considered Suo Lun’s longest-standing lover.
However, Suo Lun had not left any portrait of her, which puzzled Lan Ling. Could it be that deep down, Suo Lun looked down on this woman from the pleasure quarters named Yi Manman?
Whether he could gather the astronomical sum of three thousand nine hundred gold coins within two days depended crucially on this Yi Manman.
A moment later, Lan Ling pushed open the door and walked in.
After passing the screen, he entered a splendidly decorated room. The entire chamber was filled with an ambiguous, even voluptuous atmosphere.
Whether it was the colour of the bedding, the hue of the lamplight, or the shade of the carpet, everything was a hazy red.
In short, the whole room was arranged like a bridal chamber.
A woman was sitting before a mirror combing her hair. She wore only a bright red bellyband and a pair of bright red silk shorts.
Most of her fair, creamy skin was exposed, shimmering with an alluring lustre under the lamplight.
Her figure was exactly as Lan Ling had imagined—very… voluptuous.
Of course, this voluptuousness was not fat, but the kind of plump yet firm fullness that filled one with hormones at a single glance.
If one were to compare her body to an Earth celebrity, it would be Zhong Liti.
Of course, she was taller, around one metre seventy.
At this moment, she had her back to Lan Ling. Moreover, the mirrors in this world were bronze mirrors, not very clear, so Lan Ling could not see her face.
“Was it not said that for the sake of Princess Zhi Ning you would reform yourself and stop coming to filthy places like ours?” the woman said lazily, her tone full of mockery.