Yanhuaxiang in the rain was, by and large, the most charming place in Shuzhou City.
It even edged out Kanning Street in North City.
The once-vulgar red lanterns and blue-painted wooden towers seemed newly dressed and freshly renewed beneath the washing rain.
Everything, inside and out, exuded a clean, refined air.
Amid the faint scent of cosmetics, bare-faced qingguanren escorted their overnight guests from the buildings, their eyes brimming with autumn waves as they hoped the men would return.
The singing girls whispered among themselves, their voices carrying far through the curtain of rain, their words making their reluctance plain.
But clearly, once the guests had put their clothes back on, they could neither hear nor care.
Most left in a hurry, without the slightest attachment.
Some even covered their heads with their sleeves, as though unwilling to let others recognize them.
Still, there were exceptions.
Chen Yunfan was one of them.
He had spent the previous night at Chunyu Tower, the most famous establishment in Yanhuaxiang, and had gained some insight into how Shuzhou differed from the pleasure houses of Jinling and Jiangnan Prefecture.
It had a little exotic flavor, and a little Jiangnan charm.
It looked like neither fish nor fowl, yet possessed a style all its own.
Though Chunyu Tower was full of qingguanren whose skills in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting were merely passable, he had played along for the occasion. He could not say he had enjoyed himself, but neither was he disappointed.
If the brothers of his clan and his fellow students from Jinling had come with him, he would probably have had far more fun.
"Alone in Chunyu Tower, with not even two or three kindred souls."
Escorted out of Chunyu Tower by two qingguanren, Chen Yunfan suddenly found himself seized by poetic