"ah?"
The madam was stunned for a moment, and then she looked at the noble man's serious expression before she confirmed that she had not heard wrongly.
His expression changed slightly and then he smiled again.
"Sir, my daughter is loved by so many powerful people and wealthy people. Of course, you are of noble status, but there are also many nobles in the capital who like her."
The madam took a look at Hong Xiu, who was pretending to be Zhang Rui, and felt that she had guessed some of the reasons why she was acting unnatural.
"Besides, I, as a mother, have worked hard to raise my daughter. Even though she is a lowly woman, I still hope for her well. I am worried about whether she will suffer if she is redeemed. And many things depend on my daughters' own wishes..."
Seeing that the madam was chattering non-stop with some tentative words, Ji Yuan interrupted her immediately.
"Mother, Miss Hongxiu will definitely be willing. Just tell me the amount."
The madam frowned and looked at Hongxiu secretly, trying to get some hint from her face, but Hongxiu didn't even look at her.
"Well, it seems that the other party is really powerful. This girl is relying on him. She is ready to get away!"
The madam turned to Ji Yuan again with a sad face.
"Sir, this matter is certainly not something I can decide on my own. You also know that there are countless nobles who like my daughter. If she goes with you, my big show ship will not be able to bear the consequences!"
Perhaps she felt the atmosphere was too weird, so the madam reached out and grabbed Hongxiu while begging for mercy.
"Sir, I'm going to have a heart-to-heart talk with my daughter first. Please take a rest."
After saying that, she pulled Hongxiu out of the house. Zhang Rui looked at Ji Yuan, and when she saw him nod, she stood up and followed the madam out.
As soon as the two of them went out, Du Guangtong showed up again and Wang Li immediately asked.
"Mr. Ji, Miss Zhang has been taken out. Is she okay?"
Ji Yuan looked at him.
"What is it? She is not a weak woman."
Wang immediately shut up. He was only concerned about the appearance. Now he thought that the other party was not an ordinary person at all.
Outside, the madam pulled Hongxiu across the corridor and walked into another elegant room. She closed the door before speaking.
"Daughter, why did you just give in? Those nobles redeemed you, but at most they wanted you to be a concubine, and it would only last for a few years before ending in misery..."
Zhang Rui forced a smile.
"Sir, it's different..."
"It's different. You can't even laugh! And if you leave, what will happen to me, your mother, and what will happen to our Daxiu Building..."
Zhang Rui just felt uncomfortable, but she was not an ordinary woman and had seen people's hearts. When she heard the old procuress's words, her face turned cold.
"Why, life will be hard without Hongxiu, your cash cow? You have made a lot of money over the years, right? Are you still not satisfied?"
"You... Well, you've grown wings, girl? Mom, what I said before was not a lie. Those dignitaries are of noble birth. Don't think that you are equal to them just because you can chat and laugh with them on my big show boat. In their eyes, you are just a plaything!"
The madam narrowed her eyes and said something that she thought was heartbreaking.
"Just like Mr. Xiao before, didn't you also think you had met true love, but in the end, you got tired of playing and stopped showing up. It's been two years now, right?"
The madam remembered it very clearly. It was from that time that her daughter finally let go of her reservedness.
However, she did not see any expectation on Hong Xiu's face.
"Humph, if you speak your mind, you can get some money, otherwise you will get nothing!"
Zhang Rui didn't have the patience to talk slowly, if she really couldn't get it working she would just beat them up. Many women had escaped from brothels before.
The madam was stunned by Hongxiu's stubborn and aggressive attitude. How come Hongxiu seemed like a different person today? Even her personality changed after having a backer
After thinking for a while, the madam spoke calmly.
"Tell me the truth, how powerful is that person? Can he be more powerful than the young master of the Xiao family?"
Zhang Rui sneered. She had no idea who the young master of the Xiao family was, but she had some idea of who Mr. Ji was.
I just said it half-truthfully.
"The Xiao family? Haha, the power in the world means nothing to you, sir."
The madam was startled.
"Are you still a member of the royal family? But you are no longer a virgin, how can a member of the royal family be interested in you?"
Zhang Rui resisted the urge to slap her, and simply opened the door and prepared to go out.
As soon as I opened the door, I found two sturdy women and two strong men standing outside.
"My daughter, you are not the right person to climb up the social ladder. You are so arrogant that you turn your back on me. I will tell your mother about this. You should go back to your room and have a rest. The rest of you, take Miss Hongxiu back to her room!"
"yes"
A strong woman outside responded and prepared to force herself on him.
"court death!"
Zhang Rui was so angry that she slapped the two women on the face twice.
The two fierce women, whose weight was as heavy as that of two Hongxiu, were slapped and staggered to the sides. After taking seven or eight small steps, they still couldn't keep their bodies steady.
It fell down with two "bangs" and the boat seemed to shake.
The two strong men were stunned for a moment, and before they could turn around and do anything, their eyes blurred and they were kicked in the crotch like lightning.
"Uh... " "Uh..."
The two male turtles turned pale, and fell down with their bodies arched, holding their crotches.
"Humph! I advise you not to mess with me!"
Zhang Rui snorted coldly, flicked her sleeves and walked away.
This scene frightened the madam, who watched Hongxiu leave without daring to stop her.
After a while, Zhang Rui returned to the elegant room where Ji Yuan was, opened the door and started talking.
"Mr. Ji, I've thought about it. Do we need to consider the faces of ordinary people? At worst, we can just beat them out. Anyway, as long as there is a trace of Hong Xiu leaving the brothel, it will be fine."
In fact, it would be okay to let Ji Yuan and the others go first, and Zhang Rui could escape later, but she really didn't want to stay here any longer.
Ji Yuan bowed towards Zhang Rui apologetically.
"Don't worry, Miss Zhang. Your disturbance just now did have a miraculous effect. It's better not to make a big fuss if you can get out safely. To put it bluntly, in the eyes of the madam, the women here are commodities to be sold to a certain extent. If the price is right, it will be easy to negotiate."
"What if she really dares to ask for a sky-high price?"
Wang Li asked subconsciously.
"We are just fooling around with this money, someone will naturally pay it later, and it should be him who pays!"
Ji Yuan thought for a moment and said something before turning around and bowing to the water god Du Guangtong.
"Du Shuishen, this time it's up to you."
Du Guangtong drank the tea in the cup in front of him and stood up to return the greeting.
"Mr. Ji, please rest assured. I will definitely take care of it. I'll take my leave now!"
"Okay, Water God, please do as you please!"
Du Guangtong then bowed slightly to Zhang Rui and Wang Li, and without waiting for their return greeting, he turned into a stream of water light and went out of the window.
"Mr. Ji, what is Lord Water God going to do?"
Zhang Rui had just come back and had no idea what they had discussed before, so she was very curious. Wang Li coughed and spoke in the tone of a storyteller.
"This time, when the Lord Water God left, he led the good monsters in the water to the shore and transformed them into a team of soldiers, bringing money and ransom to redeem Miss Hongxiu."
He still has to pretend to be nice. It is definitely not suitable for someone like Ji Yuan to give out so much wealth.
A lot of things happened to Daxiulou that night.
An extremely distinguished and mysterious guest came and took a liking to Hongxiu at first sight and wanted to redeem her.
Then a large group of ferocious servants came. Just one look from them made the strong servants in Daxiu Building break out in sweat.
But the most ferocious person was not an outsider, but Miss Hongxiu herself. This girl who was proficient in everything from music, chess, calligraphy and painting was so ferocious that she suppressed all the women in Daxiu Building that night. More than one person felt that even the madam was a little afraid of her.
Of course, in the end, Daxiulou did not suffer any loss. The wealth it obtained made the madam smile reluctantly. Although the goose that laid golden eggs was gone, it still made a considerable amount of money in the end.
But at the last moment, she was slapped by her own "daughter", which made the madam feel the pain even when she smiled.
A small box of gold and a small box of heavy pearls. There were five hundred taels of gold, which was certainly not a small amount. But the pearls were particularly precious. Each one was large and round, which was simply hard to buy with money and could drive most women crazy.
There are also many famous women on the Daxiu Boat in the Daxiu Building. They are not supported by Hongxiu alone. The loss of Hongxiu will not cause any serious consequences. They have already formed a mature training model and will immediately support a newcomer.
During the day on the second day, a small boat was moving forward on the Su River dozens of miles outside the Chengsu Prefecture. Ji Yuan, Du Guangtong, Zhang Rui and Wang Li were all standing on it.
This boat is somewhat similar to the one we took on the Chunmu River. It can easily seat seven or eight people, and the person rowing the boat is Ji Yuan.
"As the saying goes, fake eyes can be mixed with pearls. I saw it last night."
Ji Yuan smiled and chatted with Du Guangtong who was standing respectfully beside him about what happened last night. The water god was quite meticulous in his work and Ji Yuan didn't do much afterwards.
"Hey, Mr. Ji, you are too kind. I went to find someone from the underworld of Chengsu Mansion and checked the redemption prices of several courtesans in Daxiu Tower over the years. A few hundred taels of gold is already a sky-high price. If it is an old and ugly woman, the price is even lower. The gold we gave did not make Daxiu Tower lose money."
The gold given is real gold, but the pearls are not all real gold.
The box of gold was "borrowed" by Du Guangtong from the cellar of a large bank in Chengsu Prefecture. Ji Yuan would naturally go to find the person who hid Zhen Hongxiu to make up for it.
But that box of pearls was not what Daxiulou deserved in the first place, and Du Guang would go and "take" it back in person in a few days.
Du Guangtong actually hoped that the person he found could not come up with the money, and then he could help Mr. Ji solve his problems and find a way to properly resolve the matter, so that his good relationship with Mr. Ji would be more stable.
Although the Sushui River is not directly connected to the Tongtian River, there are several streams that meander along the river. Ji Yuan was not in a hurry and planned to row the boat to Jingji Prefecture. With his rowing speed, he would reach Beijing in less than half a month.
After chatting with the Water God for a few words, the other party finally said goodbye and left. Ji Yuan looked at Wang Li who was dozing off in the cabin, thought for a moment and then spoke.
"Mr. Wang, you didn't sleep last night. Please take a rest first. When you wake up, I have a few stories to tell you, which may be compiled into a formal book."
Wang Li let out a dazed "ah" and continued to doze off in the cabin. He fell asleep soon.