After Xiahou Mao finished telling the information, he fell asleep and slept until noon the next day.
Xiahou Ba couldn't wait and woke him up to go see Zhang Wei. Xiahou Mao was sleepy and said impatiently: "Why are you in such a hurry? Go later!"
Xiahou Ba said angrily: "As a man of seven feet tall, you should be making great achievements and becoming famous. How can you achieve great things if you live a life of drunkenness and debauchery like you?"
Xiahou Mao waved his hands and said, "What do you know? How can anyone visit a brothel in broad daylight? If you go now, people will definitely be suspicious."
"Huh?" Xiahou Ba was startled and was about to ask again, but Xiahou Mao turned over, wrapped himself in the quilt and fell asleep again.
The two men had no intention of checking the city defenses anymore. They finally waited until the sun set and woke up Xiahou Mi. By the time he finished washing up, it was already time to light the lamps.
Xiahou Mao was dressed in brocade clothes and had an elegant demeanor, but his mustache made him look a little shabby. The three of them walked through the bustling crowd and pretended to stroll around and drink before entering Shuiyunjian.
As soon as he arrived at the bamboo forest behind the hall, Xiahou Mao couldn't wait and trotted into the courtyard. In an instant, he seemed to be in another world.
The laughter of the beautiful girls was mixed with the scent of silk and bamboo, cosmetics, and a very special sandalwood fragrance lingering in it.
Xiahou Mao closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said with emotion: "A familiar smell."
Cao Tai dismissed a group of women who came to greet him and said disdainfully, "It is indeed a filthy place."
"Zi Lin, where are the people?" Xiahou Ba looked at everything around him with disgust.
"Good food is never too late, why are you in such a hurry?" Xiahou Mi curled his lips slightly and strode towards the second floor with his head held high.
Just as they were halfway there, the madam waved her handkerchief and exclaimed, "Oh, Prime Minister Cao's three sons have all come to Shuiyunjian. They are distinguished guests. Ladies, please entertain them well."
"How could you reveal your identity?" Cao Tai looked at the group of heavily made-up women rushing over, lowered his head and covered his face with his hands.
"Hurry up, hurry up!" Xiahou Ba's face flushed, and he pushed Xiahou Mao, who was still waving and greeting him, up to the second floor.
When we walked into the agreed box, we saw that the banquet had already been set up, and more than ten beautiful young women in gauze were waiting for us, each of them was charming.
Xiahou Mao's eyes widened as soon as he saw it, and he rubbed his hands and said with a smile: "How about we go it alone first, and talk about other things later?"
"Zi Lin, how can this be disgraceful?" Xiahou Ba was furious and asked sternly, "Did you do something wrong yesterday and deliberately deceive me?"
Xiahou Mao pulled Xiahou Ba to sit down and said with a smile: "My dear brother, don't be impatient. This is Master Zhang's kindness. Don't let him down..."
"Hurry up and ask Zhang Wei to come and see me, otherwise leave here immediately." Xiahou Ba slammed the table and stood up, ready to go out.
"Sir, calm down!" Zhang Wei heard the scolding outside the door and rushed in to apologize, "If you three come to a brothel and don't eat, drink and have fun, it will inevitably arouse suspicion."
Xiahou Ba said in a deep voice: "I am a descendant of the Xiahou clan, a famous general. How can I do such a dirty thing and cause others to laugh at me?"
"Uh, ahem..." Xiahou Mao said awkwardly, "You guys can chat slowly, I'll go cover for you."
He lowered his head and hurried out, walked around the corridor twice, heard the sound of dance and music coming from the room, turned around and went into Black Pearl's room.
Inside the side room, the brisk music and seductive dance were completely different from the singing and dancing at ordinary banquets. They instantly made people's blood boil, and they couldn't wait to dance with those beauties.
Xiahou Ba and Cao Tai were stunned. They had no idea that there would be such a beautiful scene in Jingzhou. No wonder Xiahou Mao was so obsessed with it.
The dancers' dancing postures are so seductive, and the half-covered veils make people want to reach out and pull them apart. Their waists are twisting like willow branches, and their eyes are like lightning, which makes people feel numb all over.
Especially when they approached the two of them and snuggled up to them like snakes, Xiahou Ba got goose bumps all over his body.
At first, the two were pushing and shoving each other, but later they had no choice but to accept it. After drinking several glasses of wine, Cao Tai finally couldn't resist and secretly touched the elastic and smooth thighs.
When the song ended, each of the two men had a beauty sitting on his lap. When they heard the door open, they quickly pushed it open.
Zhang Wei motioned for everyone to leave, bowed and said, "I am sorry for the inconvenience of inviting you, gentlemen. I hope you will forgive me."
Xiahou Ba was about to stand up to return the greeting, but he lifted his butt and sat down again, pulled his collar and coughed softly, "No need to be polite, Master Zhang, please sit down."
Cao Tai's face also turned red. He drank a glass of wine to moisten his dry throat and personally poured wine for the three people.
Xiahou Ba took a deep breath and asked, "What you told my brother yesterday, are they all true?"
Zhang Wei nodded and said, "If I didn't have this property, how could I dare to ask Prime Minister Cao to avenge me?"
Cao Tai asked hurriedly: "Where is the three thousand taels of gold now?"
If Xiahou Mao had not said that there were three thousand taels of gold, the two of them would never have believed it so easily and come to such a place.
Zhang Weiyan said: "My uncle hid this money in my vegetable garden in order to prevent the Cai family's assets from being stolen and to revive the family business. Who knew..."
Xiahou Ba sipped his wine glass and asked calmly, "Three thousand taels of gold is worth tens of millions of money and food. Are you really willing to give it all away?"
Zhang Wei sighed helplessly, "In my situation, I am nothing but a walking corpse. I dare not touch those properties. If something unfortunate happens... I don't know who will get the gold. If I can avenge my grievances and serve Prime Minister Cao, I am willing to go through fire and water. What does a mere sum of money mean to me?"
"That makes sense!" Xiahou Ba pondered for a moment and said, "Can we see the gold?"
"No problem!" Zhang Wei nodded and said, "After three o'clock tonight, you can go out from the backyard. My place is not far away."
Xiahou Ba looked at Cao Tai, coughed lightly and said, "It seems that you and I will have to stay here for another hour. Just drinking is boring. Why not... sing and dance to liven up the atmosphere and cover up our tracks?"
In the middle of the night, Shuiyunjian became increasingly lively, with the sound of laughter coming and going continuing, and even occasional soft singing.
Xiahou Ba and Cao Tai came out of the side room, their bodies slightly hunched, their faces flushed, and they felt even more uncomfortable listening to those noises.
Zhang Wei couldn't find Xiahou Mao, so he knocked on Black Pearl's door for a while, but there was no response from inside, so the three of them had to leave quietly.
It was late winter, and the nights were cold. When he went out, a cold wind blew. Cao Tai hunched his arms and complained, "We two are running around in the cold, but he enjoys himself."
Xiahou Ba calmed down and followed Zhang Wei around the alleys, avoiding the patrolling soldiers, and soon arrived at a deserted courtyard.
Under the moonlight, there was only a mess and overgrown weeds. Zhang Wei was very familiar with this place. He walked from the corridor to the backyard and entered the basement through an abandoned well. There were not only many rusty weapons, but also three small piles covered with black cloth.
Zhang Wei lifted the black cloth. Under the flickering firelight, dust was flying and golden light was emitting bursts, illuminating the whole room. It turned out to be three piles of neatly arranged gold bars.
"Hiss—" Even though they were children of aristocratic families, they had never seen so much gold. Cao Tai took a breath and said excitedly: "The Prime Minister is having a headache about money and grain. With this gold, wouldn't it be a great achievement?"
Xiahou Ba went forward and touched the gold nuggets. He took out a few and examined them. After confirming that they were gold, he frowned and asked, "How can we transport these three thousand taels of gold back to Xuchang?"
Zhang Wei stepped forward and said, "I have already planned how to escape."
The two asked in unison: "What's the plan?"