The night markets in Beijing are as lively and bustling as daylight, and they are more interesting than during the day.
When Xia Chu and Su Qian'an walked to the center of the city, they saw the plaque of the Yixiang Building with fiery trees and silver flowers in the distance. The melodious phoenix flute came to their ears, and the sound of the wind came closer and farther away in confusion.
"Master, do you really want to go in?" Su Qianan's face was full of reluctance.
Xia Chu said nothing, put his hands behind his back, and walked with great ease.
Su Qian'an had no choice but to follow him sullenly.
As soon as I entered the door, two beautiful girls approached me. Xia Chu was calm and proud, and Su Qian'an followed closely with an awe-inspiring look. The two girls were frightened by this momentum and backed away, looking back at the madam.
The madam turned around in one step and asked with a flattering smile: "Do you have any girls you like, young master? Or should I introduce two of them to you?"
Xia Chu didn't look at her and directly ordered: "Call Li Xinlan over."
The madam was startled, put away her flattering smile, and quickly sent someone to invite him.
After a while, a woman of about forty hurried over. She looked at Xia Chu and called out tentatively: "Master Chu?"
Xia Chu nodded with a smile, and Li Xinlan looked happy and led him upstairs to the Huanyue Room.
After going up to the innermost room on the right side of the fourth floor, Li Xinlan pushed the door aside.
Su Qian'an followed Xia Chu and walked in. Li Xinlan ordered the boy to make a pot of Biluochun, add some snacks and fruits, and then followed him into the house and closed the door.
"Aunt Li." Xia Chu called sweetly, with a smile on her face.
Li Xinlan stepped forward excitedly and took Xia Chu's hand: "Master Hou sent someone over this afternoon to tell you that you will come over in the evening, so I will be waiting."
She looked at Su Qian'an and hesitated to speak.
Xia Chu understood, looked at Su Qian'an and said, "Are you a girl? Huanfeiyanshou, which one do you like?"
"No, no, no, just keep watch outside the house." After Su Qian'an said that, he rushed out immediately, as if he was devoured by a ferocious beast a little too late.
When Li Xinlan saw him going out, she looked at Xia Chu carefully: "I have lived well in the mountains these years."
"Everything is fine."
"That's good. After the Chinese New Year, you will be fourteen, and you will almost be a hair-length girl."
"Aunt Li, please forget that I am a woman."
"Yes, Master."
Xia Chu couldn't bear to make her sad, so he pulled her to sit down and changed the topic: "This building is not bad. I took a quick look just now and there are quite a lot of rooms."
"Yes. There are twelve rooms on the first floor, ten on the second floor, eight on the third floor, and five on the fourth floor. This is the largest room."
There was a knock on the door outside the house, and the boy brought tea, food and fruit plate in. When he went out and closed the door, Xia Chu put away his smile and the look on his face became solemn: "Father should have told you that I own this brothel. Purpose."
"Yes, the Marquis said that the young master wants to use the brothel to get some information."
"Yes. Therefore, talents are the most important thing. Cultivate more considerate girls, and leave the inquiries to trustworthy people. You can let the girls do the spreading of news without any care."
"I saved it."
"I have a person here who is responsible for handling news. I will bring him to see you when he is free in a few days. In the future, let him come to your place regularly to communicate with you."
Li Xinlan said yes and poured a cup of tea for Xia Chu.
After talking about the business, Xia Chu relaxed and started talking with Li Xinlan.
He asked how Li Xinlan was doing, how he had been living at home these years, and so on.
Li Xinlan replied one by one, and lamented that the baby who was still an infant back then was now so big.
Li Xinlan sighed with tears, her eyes were filled with mist, and her voice was choked with sobs: "If Miss is still here, she will be very happy to see you like you now."
Xia Chu couldn't help but think about it. In his last life, he only knew that his mother died to save the emperor, so he didn't go into details.
Only in this life did his father tell him that it was the emperor who was poisoned, and his mother used herself as a medium to detoxify the emperor before he died.
His right index finger habitually tapped the table. After a moment, he asked: "Aunt Li, do you know what kind of poison my mother was poisoned at that time?"
Li Xinlan wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and thought about it seriously: "I don't know the details, but the lady seems to have said that it is a poison from the Western Regions, and she has never seen it."
"The emperor has not investigated?" Xia Chu was puzzled as to how Xiao Guo could have poison from the Western Regions.
"I checked, and the investigation was extremely secretive. After all, it involves the foundation of the emperor's holy body and the health of the country. I didn't dare to conduct a large-scale search, but I also conducted a detailed and secret investigation for a long time. However, nothing was found. There was no clue at all."
"What are the symptoms of poisoning?"
"The meridians on the body will be swollen and thick, and there will be vomiting of blood. Back then, the young lady kept vomiting until the oil ran out..." Li Xinlan couldn't stop crying again as she spoke.
Xia Chu thought this matter was extremely strange, and while patting Li Xinlan's back to comfort him, he carefully thought about the whole story.
After a long time, when Li Xinlan stopped sobbing, she stood up and said, "I will continue to investigate my mother's death. Although it only affected the fish in the pond back then, I can't let go of the person who poisoned her."
Li Xinlan looked at Xia Chu under the glazed lamp. She was only thirteen years old, but she already had a mind and stability beyond her peers. The Marquis lamented to her that day, saying that Yunyi seemed to have grown up all of a sudden.
She didn't take it seriously at the time, but now she knows it after seeing it.
Indeed, when I grow up...
"There must be a lot of danger behind this matter. Young Master must be extremely careful." Li Xinlan's eyes were full of concern and worry.
Xia Chu hugged Li Xinlan: "I understand. Aunt Li also needs to take care of her health."
Li Xinlan nodded, with a comforting smile on her lips, and turned to help Xia Chu open the door.
Su Qian'an was still standing outside the door, eight feet tall, with her feet spread as wide as her shoulders and her hands folded across her chest in a serious manner.
Xia Chu turned back to Li Xinlan and said, "Aunt Li, there's no need to give it away. I don't want to attract too much attention."
Li Xinlan nodded and bowed again.
Xia Chu glanced at Su Qianan and signaled that he could leave. Su Qian'an was relieved and breathed a long sigh of relief.
On the way back, Su Qian'an saw Xia Chu's frown and asked tentatively: "Master is not happy?"
"Yeah, there's one more bad thing."
Su Qian'an didn't dare to ask anymore. He felt that it was useless for him to ask about something that even Xia Chu found embarrassing.
"Tomorrow morning you go to the accountant's office to count the money and give it to Yin Zhi, so that he can buy a courtyard to live in."
"Don't you live in the mansion?"
"No. I don't want people to know that I am the person behind him. Even though you are in the same shop, to the outside world, you only need to say that the second floor is sublet to him. You don't know anything about the rest."
"My subordinate understands."
The night was already deep, and the cold winter wind hurt my face. Xia Chu clenched his hands into fists and put them to his lips, exhaling a thin breath of white air and speeding up his return home.
He is most afraid of the cold...
(End of chapter)