The carriage meanders and drives into Jingyu. The driver of the carriage was a rough man. It was obvious at a glance that he was a coachman renting a carriage by the day in the street, not a domestic servant of a wealthy family. The thick man had a loud voice: "My lord, how can you know Qunxiangyuan at such a young age? This is not a brothel in Deyangmen, whoever wants to go can go. This is to be recommended by someone. place, do you have any referrals?"
A timid voice in the carriage: "Miss Shang Lu asked me to come."
"Ah? That's amazing, Miss Shang Lu is the number one here! She has always been a showman rather than a person."
He was silent for a moment when he couldn't hear the response from the people in the carriage, and then asked gossipingly: "Why did Miss Shang Lu let you come? Did she fall in love with you? Hahaha! My sister is so cute! Thinking about that Shang Lu?" Miss Lu must be tired of being with the old man all day long!"
The timid man didn't respond, but another voice rang out: "Drive the car as soon as you're hired, how can there be so much nonsense?!"
There are two ways to go into Jingyu: the dry road is not wide, but you can drive a horse-drawn carriage; the water area is wide, you can take a small boat. There are bamboo shadows everywhere in the middle of the valley, and the greenery is hazy. The carriage drove for a long time before arriving at Qunxiang Garden.
"Young master, we're here!"
A book boy in gray cloth got out of the car and helped out a boy in sky blue. That young man's skin was as white and smooth as egg white, his eyes were as clear as autumn water, and his lips were as fresh and soft as petals. It turned out to be Tao Wuwen. He watched the book boy take out the fare and hand it to the driver, and said to the driver, "I'm sorry."
The coachman hurriedly laughed together: "Young master, do you want the younger one to wait here?"
Tao Wuwen shook her head. The book boy let out a sigh, stopped the driver, turned back to Tao Wuwen and said, "Young master, just say a few words and come back! Let the master find out that you didn't go to the academy again, you should be sad again."
Hearing this, the coachman looked expectantly over, but then found that Tao Wuwen was still shaking his head, so he had no choice but to leave resentfully. The book boy looked at the back of the carriage leaving in disappointment, and muttered: "I think that Shang Lu is lying to the young master. If she really likes the young master, why did she let that fat man stay overnight last time? What are you talking about doing art instead of selling yourself, bah! "
"Fruit!"
"Master!" The book boy named Guozi almost shed tears, "What kind of ecstasy soup did she pour you? Master, you have never scolded me in such a tone. I serve the young master every day, and I have no credit for it. Hard work..." He began to complain about his grievances. Tao Wuwen raised her hand and stroked her forehead, then looked down at him: "If you don't want to come with me, why don't I bring you with me when I come in the future?"
"No! I'm the young master's book boy. I grew up together, so of course I have to be inseparable from the young master! That's all it takes if the young master hates me too much, does the young master hate me too much?" Tears really flowed down as she spoke.
Tao Wuwen was trying to appease him, when a delicate voice came from above her head: "Hey! Master Tao is here!" On the balcony on the second floor, a mid-mature woman with heavy make-up was waving a champagne. Seeing Tao Wuwen looking at her, she swung her waist and went into the room. Tao Wuwen looked down at Shutong Guozi and saw that he was wiping his tears with his sleeve in embarrassment, sighed, took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and handed it to him. After the fruit wiped away the tears, he raised his foot and walked into the building. At this time, the woman who had just been on the balcony had already come down the stairs, and said with a soft smile, "Young Master Tao is unlucky, Miss Shang Lu has an appointment soon!" A bank note was handed over: "There is Lao Zhang's mother."
Zhang's mother immediately smiled and said, "The nobleman will come in a while. Master Tao, go up and have a cup of tea first." Then she stood on tiptoe and clung to Tao Wuwen's ear. Tao Wuwen was obviously a little awkward, but she still frowned and listened to her: "After a while, I heard my mother calling for the strong Fu tea on the small bag, so the young master hurried out and went downstairs from the back stairs, don't make it difficult for mother!"
The word "yo" dragged its long tail and blew into Tao Wuwen's ears. He immediately avoided it as if he was burned, and went upstairs with a red face.
Zhang's mother looked at his back greedily, and said after a long while: "Shang Lu has a little hoof, he has a good eye, and there is such a juicy lamb on the street. When Shang Lu enlightens him, mother has to find a way to taste it." His taste."
The woman in the gauze curtain, wearing a white silk skirt and a light green gauze dress, knelt and sat in front of the piano table, gently touching the strings with her slender fingers. At the end of the song, she turned her head slightly, revealing the graceful curve of her neck: "Wu Wen."
Her voice seemed to be whispering, and it seemed to be sighing, like a soft feather, brushing the heart of the listener.
Tao Wuwen looked at her obsessively: "You are very annoying today, the music of the piano is messed up."
Shang Lu got up slowly, walked to his side, sat down next to him, picked up the teapot, and refilled his cup of tea: "How can you not be bored in such a filthy place?" His eyes moved slowly from the teacup To his face, looking at him infatuatedly.
"Come with me! I'll redeem you." Tao Wuwen said to her sincerely, "I brought a bank note today, but I can't go to Zuixianglou temporarily, and my father hasn't agreed yet. I'll buy it at the foot of Nanshan Mountain." I bought a small villa, you live there first. I will marry you after my father agrees."
Shang Lu was stunned, and carefully looked at Tao Wuwen's expression. After a while, she was sure that he was not lying to make her happy, so she asked in a trembling voice, "Will your father agree?"
Tao Wuwen smiled and said: "My father has always spoiled me, so he will definitely agree."
Shang Lu hesitated: "But this matter is different from other things."
Tao Wuwen said softly: "Actually, my father has known you for the past three years. This time, I would not be able to buy the villa at the foot of Nanshan without his consent. I know what he is thinking. I keep you outside, but I won't marry another woman! I—" He looked at Shang Lu with a pair of clear eyes, "I only have you in my heart."
Shang Lu's tears fell unexpectedly, and her voice was as heartbreaking as the tears: "But I can't go."
"Why?" Tao Wuwen grabbed her shoulder in anxiety and fear.
"No matter how much money you pay, Zhang's mother will not let me redeem me." Shang Lu pushed him away in despair and stood up, "Why is Qunxiangyuan opened in Jingyu instead of Deyangmen like other brothels? , have you thought about it?"
Shang Lu opened the window and looked downstairs: "Because Qunxiangyuan is not an ordinary brothel. The guests who come here are either rich or expensive, and they can only come in if they are recommended. Many officials are greedy for the quietness of this place, and even come here to discuss business. I As the top card, there are actually a few regular customers, and the fat man you saw last time is one of them. He is not the biggest official among my customers—” She laughed at herself, “What do you mean by selling art but not selling yourself? , this body has long been ruined—do you know? Do you still want to marry me?"
She turned around and looked at Tao Wuwen, ready to accept his shocked expression, but what she saw was his still gentleness: "I know, actually—I knew it last year. But, you were How can I blame you? I still want to marry you, are you—would you marry me?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Shang Lu rushed over and hugged him tightly. Her clothes were dragged on the ground, and the white silk would be wrinkled, but she didn't seem to notice it at all. Tao Wuwen hugged her back, and the two cuddled tightly. After a long time, Shang Lu cried, "But they won't let me redeem myself. They are all high officials, and Zhang's mother dare not offend them."
Tao Wuwen comforted her and said, "Don't be afraid, my father runs a restaurant and deals with Mr. Jing Zhaoyin Huang Guangde all the year round. I also have a friend who is the son of the General's Mansion. I will ask them to tell those people Say it, okay?"
"Lord Huang Guangde?!" Shang Lu looked up in horror, "Have you seen him?"
"No, I don't know Mr. Huang, but my father does."
Shang Lu was thoughtful: "Don't let Master Huang see you. Promise me that you will never see that Huang Guangde, okay?"
Tao Wuwen was puzzled: "But—"
Shang Lu interrupted him sharply: "You promise me!"
"I promise you."
There was a knock on the door, and a woman's voice said, "Girl, wash your face, and let Pengxiang comb your hair again."
Shang Lu got up from Tao Wuwen's arms, and said coldly to the door: "You wait first."
Tao Wuwen's arms retracted awkwardly and slowly, as if she was still greedy for that delicate body. Seeing this, Shang Lu thumped, and poked his chest lightly with a slender finger: "Don't you want me?"
Her voice changed from the shrill tone just now, and changed back to the previous soft tone. Tao Wuwen blushed, lowered her head and said, "I often think about when I can marry you and go home, and I can see you every day. We do everything together."
"Do you do everything together?" Shang Lu's eyes flashed narrowly, "Dining together?"
"Um!"
"sleep together?"
"This—" Tao Wuwen's face was almost bleeding, but he nodded heavily without hesitation, "I will only sleep with you from now on."
His face was flushed red, but those eyes were still so clear and firm. Shang Lu looked at him, as if he was already in a daze, and stretched out her hand to caress his eyebrows and eyes: "Do you know what I like about you?" She sighed, like dreaming, "I am filthy all over, and I am greedy for your cleanliness. My first The first time I saw you on the street, I fell in love with your eyebrows. ——I deliberately dropped that fan at your feet."
He looked at Tao Wuwen infatuatedly for a while, and smiled charmingly: "Go quickly, go down the stairs at the back. - Today is not possible, tomorrow, I will ask Peng Xiang to come to the academy to pick you up, don't wait for you to marry me, we can also Eat together, sleep together."
There are endless affection and ambiguous feelings in the tactful words.
"No, no, no!" Tao Wuwen shook his hands, "How can that be? Although I love you, if you are here... wouldn't it be adultery? How is it different from those people? I will definitely redeem you to go out, wait until we Bridal chamber candles—”
"If you can't redeem me forever, can you never be together?" Shang Lu interrupted him mercilessly, "Actually, I don't expect you to marry me. If I am here, I can help your father in the future." Mediation in the officialdom will help your family's business to flourish!" At this time, her voice subconsciously took on a coaxing tone, and she said in a low voice, "Wu Wen, you are too simple, you don't know how difficult it is to redeem me. We can do this first. When I am old and fading, those people don’t care about me, so I will come out. Whether I buy a house by myself, or live in your small villa, I will be with you forever. I've been fed the best child soup, I can't have children for you, you can marry other women, as long as you have me in your heart, it doesn't matter if I want my name or not... "
She was still rambling on, completely unaware that Tao Wuwen's expression had changed. When she noticed, Tao Wuwen's face was already livid. He stared at her blankly, as if looking at a stranger.
He used to look at her as if she was a star, she was a moon, she was a light, and she was all the beauty and warmth.
All of a sudden, he found that she had no light, and she was no different from the other women in this building.
Where did the original her go
Could it be that the original her was just his imagination
"You really don't need me to redeem you?"
Every single word seems to have exhausted all his strength.
"Wu Wen—" She stretched out her hand, trying to hold him. She had never felt that he was so far away from her for a moment.
She didn't get it, so Tao Wuwen took a step back and asked her stubbornly, "Do you want me to redeem you?"
She subconsciously: "No."
Tao Wuwen's hand was already trembling, but he still took out a sachet from his bosom, took Shang Lu's hand, and stuffed it into her hand: "I'm sorry, I won't bother you anymore."
Shang Lu still wanted to hold him back, but she heard Zhang's mother shouting from downstairs: "Xiao Bao! Serve a pot of strong Fu tea to Shang Lu's room!"
Tao Wuwen had just come out of Shang Lu's room when she saw a middle-aged man with a short beard coming up the stairs from the front. Seeing Tao Wuwen, the short-bearded middle-aged man's eyes flashed, and he scanned him carefully with scorching eyes. Tao Wuwen suddenly had the feeling of being naked for public display. He was disgusted with this building and everyone in it at the moment, so he turned around and wanted to go down the stairs at the back, but the middle-aged man with short beard shouted: "Stop!"
Not only did Tao Wuwen not stop, but he accelerated towards the stairs.
Shang Lu came out of the room and leaned towards the middle-aged man with a short beard: "My lord is finally here. Shang Lu thought that my lord had forgotten about Shang Lu." The words seemed to be full of affection, and the tone at the end was even more resentful.
But her eyes followed Tao Wuwen down the stairs, and she was relieved when she saw that the strong man under the stairs did not stop him and allowed him to walk out the door with the fruit. When he recovered, he wanted to deal with the middle-aged man with a short beard, but found that the middle-aged man with a short beard was still looking at Tao Wuwen's back.
Shang Lu's face suddenly turned pale.
"My lord?" She tentatively tugged at the sleeves of the middle-aged man with a short beard.
The middle-aged man with short beard looked back at her: "Who was that person just now?"
"Which one? Pengxiang."
A strong hand grabbed her throat: "Stop pretending!"
"Which one is your lord asking? Shang Lu dare not not answer." She tried her best to win sympathy with tears.
"That handsome young man who just came out of your room and went downstairs, who is he? To come to Qunxiang Garden, he is definitely not a nameless person! How dare you lie to me and make your life worse than death!"
"This—Shang Lu doesn't know whose son he is, but only knows that his surname is Tao."
"Are you tired of working? I don't know who it is, so I can come to Qunxiangyuan?"
"My lord! My lord! My lord, spare my life! Shang Lu was only temporarily obsessed with sex, and picked him up from the street. Who knows that he is very upright, and Shang Lu didn't seduce him, so he doesn't know his details!" It takes a lot of truth to be mixed with a lie, and businessmen understand this.
The middle-aged man with a short beard let go of her, flung his sleeves and went downstairs. Peng Xiang, who was terribly frightened, hurried over to support her. Shang Lu was still in shock, clutching her neck and only panting for breath. Far away, the middle-aged man with a short beard was asking Zhang's mother, who also only knew Tao Wuwen's surname, not his family background. After confirming that Tao Wuwen was not a child of the official family, the middle-aged man with a short beard ordered a few strong men to chase Tao Wuwen back, and he sat in the hall and waited.
Shang Lu stumbled back to the room, picked up the sachet that Tao Wuwen had just stuffed for her, and murmured: "I should have let him go earlier." As she spoke, tears fell involuntarily.
Peng Xiang curled her lips and said: "Girl, don't worry about Young Master Tao. I think he is just toasting and not eating fine wine. Why are there so many high officials lining up to have a spring festival with the girl? Girl, you are infatuated. But he doesn't appreciate it, what kind of body does he have to redeem? When he redeems you back, can he give you something to eat? Qunxiangyuan, or something that can be worn? How well did the girl plan for him? Now there is no need to spend money to redeem her body, and in the future Zhang’s mother will let the girl out, and she will not need him to buy a house, and I don’t know what he is thinking?”
Shang Lu smiled wryly and said: "You didn't hear what he said earlier, of course you don't understand him. He is so clean, and he fell into the hands of that kind of beast, and he doesn't know whether he will die or live..." She began to cry again as she spoke.
After crying a few times, I heard a few strong men coming back. Without wiping away my tears, I rushed out and leaned on the railing to look down. The strong men replied that there was no Tao Wuwen on the mountain road, and there was no boat on the pier. They couldn't help being surprised and happy, and they recited a Buddha.