Then Yi Manman suddenly asked, “I am a famous courtesan, yet what you drew is a female knight.”
Lan Ling said, “What I drew is the version of yourself in your heart.”
Yi Manman’s heart trembled. She too had once been the descendant of a high-level warrior. She possessed an extremely outstanding Dragon Blood talent. At the age of eight she had already completed her martial dao initiation. By ten she was already famous throughout the entire county. If nothing unexpected happened, in thirty years her family would gain another Dragon Warrior, and a female one at that.
However, in the year she turned ten, King Zhi Bian began purging those who had chosen the wrong side during the previous succession war.
Yi Manman’s father’s lord was purged, and her family was caught in the crossfire. Her father was executed. Despite her outstanding martial talent, no one dared to take her in. At only ten years old she was sold to a brothel to be trained as a money-making tree.
More than ten years later she had become one of the top courtesans in the Royal City. As for any martial skills or sword techniques, they had long been forgotten. But in her heart she had always harboured the dream of becoming a Dragon Warrior.
Countless nights she had woken from beautiful dreams, then buried her face in the pillow and wept bitterly, lamenting the unfairness of fate.
Moreover she dared not forget her Dragon Warrior dream. She feared that once she forgot this ideal she would truly sink into this pleasure quarter with no way out. Although her body had fallen she hoped her soul would remain noble.
However too much time had passed and the despair had lasted too long. She had almost forgotten that dream. She could no longer even imagine the scene of herself holding a sword and practising.
Yet Lan Ling’s portrait had directly pierced the most beautiful dream in her heart.
In an instant the image of herself in that dream became crystal clear.
After a long while Yi Manman said, “You have struck the most beautiful and softest part of my heart.”
Then Yi Manman gave him a white-eyed glance and said, “You flower-hearted ghost who specialises in deceiving women’s hearts. Consider me falling for your trick. I will give you five hundred gold coins and lend you another three hundred. Remember to repay it.”
With that she gracefully rose intending to fetch the money.
Lan Ling pulled her back. She took the opportunity to sit directly in his lap causing his heart to thump violently. On the outside he was a romantic expert but inside he was still a virgin.
“I said I do not want your money. I want to earn it by selling paintings,” Lan Ling said.
“All right, consider it me begging you to accept my money,” Yi Manman said. “Treat it as the overnight fee for all the times you slept with me before.”
With that she pouted her fragrant lips and kissed him on the mouth. She simply did not believe a painting could sell for dozens of gold coins.
Lan Ling asked, “Listen to my plan. In your Yuhua Pavilion are there any girls who are very distinctive in appearance, very beautiful yet not popular?”
“There are, plenty of them,” Yi Manman said. “In this line of work what makes someone popular? It is entirely about promotion and hype. In terms of looks there are many beauties.”
It was exactly the same as on Earth. Was Guo Meimei beautiful? There were far more beautiful girls in street hair salons yet those beauties charged only a few hundred per night while Guo Meimei charged tens of thousands. The key was hype and popularity.
“Very well. Then go and find such a girl: beautiful, distinctive but not popular,” Lan Ling said.
Yi Manman looked at Lan Ling with full suspicion then nodded. She called out towards the outside, “Go and call Ye Xiaoxian over.”
A moment later the girl named Ye Xiaoxian walked in. Upon entering she first fawned over Yi Manman endlessly then kept striking poses and throwing flirtatious glances at Lan Ling.
Lan Ling could see that she was indeed very beautiful and distinctive with a temperament somewhat similar to the Earth celebrity Qiu Shuzhen, a cat-like girl.
However her stage name and style of dress were completely mismatched with her personality. Her current price was only five silver coins.
Lan Ling pointed at her and said, “You will do. From now on you will act as my shill. Use fifty gold coins to buy one of my paintings. Manman will provide the money.”
Ye Xiaoxian was completely puzzled but she nodded and said, “Yes, Young Master Suo Lun.”
Then Lan Ling turned to Yi Manman and said, “Manman, please send invitation cards to all the brothel girls inviting them to Yuhua Pavilion. The most beautiful ones, those who were once hugely popular, all of them. The currently popular girls need not be invited.”
Yi Manman said, “That will be at least several hundred.”
The total number of women in this profession in the Royal City was at least ten thousand. Those at the top numbered over a hundred.
Yi Manman was puzzled but still nodded in agreement.
……
By now it was almost the second half of the night. Apart from the overnight customers Yuhua Pavilion had almost no other guests. Normally at this time it would already be closed.
But at this moment Yuhua Pavilion was brightly lit and bustling with noise and excitement filled with the sounds of orioles and swallows.
Yi Manman had originally planned to invite only the once-popular girls in the Royal City especially the very beautiful ones who had not become popular.
However the competitive atmosphere in this line of work was very strong. Girls from the same courtyard who saw others invited but not themselves felt extremely resentful and came along anyway.
Thus several hundred brothel ladies arrived at Yuhua Pavilion. All the top-looking women in the entire Royal City had come.
Where there were many women the chatter was endless. One woman was like five hundred ducks. With several hundred women present the scene was easy to imagine.
“Young Master Suo Lun and Yi Manman invited us here for what? Why have they not shown up yet?”
“Exactly. If not for Young Master Suo Lun’s sake I would not have come.”
“Right, right. What right does Yi Manman have to summon us all? We are all popular and she is not much more popular than us.”
Yi Manman had only sent invitation cards to the popular girls without specifying the reason but the name Suo Lun was added at the bottom.
He truly deserved to be called the ancestor of the pleasure quarters and a superstar in the brothel world. His influence was boundless. As soon as he sent the invitations everyone came and even those not invited showed up.
Under the gaze of the crowd Lan Ling and Yi Manman walked out and appeared at the staircase on the second floor.
Instantly several hundred pairs of beautiful eyes turned towards Suo Lun all coquettishly complaining and flirting.
“Young Master Suo Lun I have missed you to death.”
“Young Master Suo Lun how cruel your heart is. You have been back in the Royal City for months and never came to see us.”
“At least you have some conscience calling everyone over for drinks.”
Several hundred girls filled the main hall of Yuhua Pavilion to the brim. This was truly the first time Lan Ling had seen so many beauties. His eyes were completely dazzled.
According to Yi Manman a quarter of the girls below had been favoured by Suo Lun. Lan Ling immediately felt a chill. If that bastard Suo Lun had lived he would definitely have become a thousand-woman slayer challenging the records of Earth’s playboy bosses.
“All right no need to wait for those below. Close the doors,” Yi Manman said.
Several attendants stepped forward and shut the main doors.
Yi Manman looked at her fellow professionals below and said, “You must all be very curious why Young Master Suo Lun and I have invited everyone here.”
As soon as she spoke the many women became filled with curiosity. Although many had come just to join the fun they also wanted to know what was happening.
“Today we are not inviting you for a meal nor for drinks. We simply want everyone to look at a painting,” Yi Manman said.
“Cut it out…” The many women immediately expressed disappointment. What was there to see in a painting? They had seen plenty.
Yi Manman said, “This painting was done by Young Master Suo Lun. It is not a painting at all but a masterpiece from the heavens one that can completely seize people’s hearts and souls.”
As soon as these words were spoken everyone disbelieved them. Although they deeply loved Suo Lun in their hearts many knew his painting skills. They were quite good but hardly soul-seizing.
“Little Man although we all love Young Master Suo Lun very much when it comes to portrait skills Master Lang is the highest,” one of the girls said. “Even the royal family’s portraits are done by him.”
“I know you do not believe it,” Yi Manman said. “But after you see it if you do not scream out loud I will withdraw from the brothel world and hand over this top courtesan position. This is not a painting at all but a revolutionary treasure of art. It is a revolution in painting. Once this painting appears all other portraits can be burned.”
As soon as these words came out all the women became filled with infinite curiosity.
Yi Manman unrolled the scroll and said, “Everyone look carefully.”
All the women widened their eyes staring intently at the scroll in Yi Manman’s hands.
Yi Manman did not open it inch by inch. Instead without warning she fully unrolled the painting.
“Whoosh…”
Instantly a two-chi portrait appeared fully before everyone’s eyes.
At once every woman present had her eyes brighten intensely. Then their small mouths opened wide and could not close again.
This portrait was simply too stunning. It was exactly like the real person and even more beautiful in some ways.
How was this possible?
There was actually such a technique in this world that could make a portrait identical to the real person with every hair the gleam in the eyes and the lustre of the lips rendered in exquisite detail.
How exactly was this done?
It was something never seen or heard of before.
It was truly divine skill a real revolution in painting.
Yi Manman was right. Once this scroll appeared all other painters could pack up and leave. All other portraits could be burned.
First there was complete silence then the girls’ cries of astonishment rang out endlessly.
They looked towards Lan Ling with eyes full of disbelief. Was this really painted by Young Master Suo Lun? Although they knew his painting skills were high they had never imagined they could reach such a masterful almost supernatural level.
Yi Manman asked, “Sisters what do we women fear the most?”
“Of course it is losing our youth.”
“Beauty fading.”
“Growing old and losing our looks.”
The women below shouted one after another.
Yes for women in this line of work what they feared most was not death but no longer being beautiful and no longer being sought after.
Yi Manman said, “Correct. To summarise in six words: if not beautiful better to die!”
These words struck directly into every girl’s heart. Yes if not beautiful better to die.
Yi Manman continued, “However we will eventually grow old and die. But this painting can make your beauty exist in the world forever. When you grow old you can look at the portrait and reminisce. When you pass away your children and grandchildren can admire your beautiful appearance.”
These words touched the women deeply. They suddenly felt a strong longing for such a lifelike portrait.
Even when they grew old or died their appearance could be preserved in this way forever.
Yi Manman pointed at the portrait and said, “This kind of painting is a revolution in the art of painting unprecedented and unmatched. I shall call it Soul Reflection.”
This name was very stylish and fitting.
The many girls strongly approved of the name. It was too realistic as if the entire person had been imprinted onto the paper.
Yi Manman said, “For a painting like this how much are you willing to pay?”
“One gold coin!”
“Two gold coins!”
“Three gold coins.”
The girls below shouted prices. The highest was three gold coins. They were very enthusiastic. Almost every one wanted a copy but most were only willing to pay one or two gold coins which was already a very high price.
Yi Manman glanced at Lan Ling as if to say, “See I was not wrong.”
Although this photograph-like realistic figure sketch had tremendous impact simply selling paintings would at most fetch two gold coins each.
Therefore relying on selling paintings alone it was impossible to earn three thousand nine hundred gold coins in two days.
……
Lan Ling took a deep breath and stepped forward. Instantly all the girls’ gazes focused on him.
He took a deep breath. Whether he could earn three thousand nine hundred gold coins would depend on his performance now.
“Ladies among you there are popular ones and unpopular ones. The popular girls charge two gold coins per session and arrogantly wait for men to kneel and lick them. The unpopular girls charge only a few silver coins yet must desperately fawn over men who make you nauseous.” At this moment Lan Ling was in full sales mode. He asked loudly, “Tell me unpopular girls is it because your looks are inferior?”
“No,” the many beautiful yet unpopular girls shouted loudly.
In this line of work anyone who made it into the top few hundred was a one-in-a-thousand great beauty.
“Then why are you not popular?” Lan Ling shouted loudly.
The girls below answered one after another.
“No one promotes us!”
“No one hypes us!”
“No one advertises us!”
Lan Ling said loudly, “Correct. Because no one promotes you and no one hypes you. In your line of work what is most important? Popularity. Only with popularity do you have value. In the brothel world the most important thing is eye-ball economy.”
Lan Ling’s gaze swept over the many girls as he said, “And who am I Suo Lun? I am the ancestor of the pleasure quarters and the leader of patrons. I understand these men’s psychology best and I know best how to make a girl popular. Next I will launch the greatest Flower Queen event in the history of the Royal City: the Royal City Nineteen Beauties!”
The Royal City Nineteen Beauties?
Lan Ling said, “I will select nineteen girls from among you. I will use brand-new methods styles you have never seen before clothing you have never seen before and ways of packaging each person that have never existed. I guarantee an unprecedented impact on the men of the Royal City.”
“No matter what your previous value was I dare to guarantee that as long as you enter my Royal City Nineteen Beauties no matter how low your previous price after my packaging and promotion your value will at least increase tenfold or more.”