Listening to Music at the Brothel

Because the main group moved rather slowly, Xiao Feng had specifically sent the steward, Lai Fu, ahead with some of the servants to Xinzheng City to acquire a few properties there.

Xiao Feng, meanwhile, accompanied Jing Ni and the others in a carriage, following the main group at a leisurely pace to Xinzheng City.

By the time Xiao Feng and his party arrived in Xinzheng City, Lai Fu had already led people in settling everything there. They only needed to move directly into Xiao Manor.

After welcoming Xiao Feng and the others into Xiao Manor, Lai Fu first arranged for four young maidservants to take Jing Ni and Xiao Yan'er to rest in the rear courtyard. He then led Xiao Feng to the study and reported on the acquisition of the properties.

"Not bad. You deserve a reward!"

After hearing Lai Fu's report, Xiao Feng nodded in satisfaction and took out a White Jade Pill Bottle, placing it on the desk. "The antidote to the Bone Rot Powder is inside this bottle. It will keep it from acting up for half a year. I'll also reward you with a hundred gold coins. Go collect them from the treasury yourself!"

"Thank you for your reward, Master."

Lai Fu hurriedly knelt and offered his thanks.

Since Lai Fu and the others were all slaves Xiao Feng had recently purchased rather than household servants raised from childhood, their loyalty to Xiao Feng was limited.

If Xiao Feng had not deliberately poisoned Lai Fu and the others with a slow-acting toxin, they would likely have absconded with the money midway through the journey. Why would they obediently come to Xinzheng City to acquire properties for him?

"Enough. If there's nothing else, you may leave."

"Yes, this old servant takes his leave."

Lai Fu bowed to Xiao Feng, then left with a respectful expression.

The Golden Crow sank in the west, while the Bright Rabbit rose in the east.

"Clip-clop, clip-clop..."

As night slowly fell, a luxurious carriage departed from Xiao Manor and headed toward Purple Orchid Pavilion.

Purple Orchid Pavilion was the most famous pleasure house in Xinzheng City and also one of the most important bases of operations for the protagonists in the original story.

Xiao Feng had come to Purple Orchid Pavilion this time to see if he could trigger any new missions, definitely not because he wanted to listen to music at a brothel and flirt with beautiful women.

"Please come in, Young Master~"

"Young Master, you look unfamiliar. Is this your first time at our Purple Orchid Pavilion...?"

The moment Xiao Feng stepped down from the carriage, two scantily clad beauties, dressed as prettily as flowers, each hooked an arm around his and half-pulled, half-pushed him into Purple Orchid Pavilion.

"My surname is Xiao. I only arrived in Xinzheng City today. I heard your establishment has many interesting diversions. Is that true?"

While dealing with the two beauties' probing questions, Xiao Feng secretly surveyed the interior of Purple Orchid Pavilion.

Compared with Purple Orchid Pavilion in the animation, the one before Xiao Feng was not only more luxuriously decorated, but also had several times as many maidservants.

After all, Purple Orchid Pavilion was the largest pleasure house in Xinzheng City. Every night, if there were not a hundred nobles and wealthy officials who came here to seek pleasure, there were at least eighty.

Even if every guest were assigned only one maidservant, Purple Orchid Pavilion would still need more than a hundred maidservants.

Not to mention that many guests required several maidservants to accompany them. Altogether, Purple Orchid Pavilion had several hundred maidservants.

"Of course it's true, Young Master Xiao. Our Purple Orchid Pavilion has all sorts of enjoyable things..."

As the two gorgeous maidservants introduced Xiao Feng to Purple Orchid Pavilion's various entertainments, they led him up to a private room on the second floor.

The maidservants who worked at Purple Orchid Pavilion naturally had sharp eyes. One glance at Xiao Feng was enough for them to tell whether he was truly wealthy or merely pretending.

Leaving aside everything else, the jade pendant hanging from Xiao Feng's waist alone was worth at least a thousand gold coins.

Thus, the two maidservants silently labeled Xiao Feng a young master from a wealthy family. Naturally, they had to offer him the most expensive services.

Once Xiao Feng entered the private room and took a seat, the two maidservants immediately handed him something resembling a menu, listing Purple Orchid Pavilion's various offerings.

A high-end pleasure house like Purple Orchid Pavilion naturally offered more than simple companionship services. There were also many other entertainments, such as song and dance performances, zither music, poetry recitals, and couplet contests.

Although Purple Orchid Pavilion's maidservants were all extremely attractive, beauties chosen from one in a hundred, they were somewhat lacking compared to a peerless beauty like Jing Ni.

Moreover, Xiao Feng had no habit of riding the public bus, so he could not be bothered to waste his energy on ordinary maidservants.

Xiao Feng glanced over the entertainment offerings before ultimately choosing the most expensive performance by the top courtesan zither player, along with a table of fine food and wine.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Not long after Xiao Feng had selected his entertainment, light footsteps sounded outside the door. A group of maidservants then entered his private room carrying food and wine.

Very soon, the table before Xiao Feng was filled with exquisitely arranged dishes and pastries, along with a pot of grape wine.

"Please enjoy, Young Master~"

After arranging the food and wine, the maidservants bowed to Xiao Feng in perfect unison, then departed in a waft of fragrance.

The maidservant assigned to attend Xiao Feng smiled as she poured him a cup of wine and began casually chatting with him.

Nearly the time it took to burn a stick of incense later, a long-haired beauty with a graceful figure and pure temperament entered from outside, carrying a guqin.

Though this woman was somewhat less beautiful than Jing Ni, the difference was not great. She was none other than Purple Orchid Pavilion's top courtesan zither player—Nong Yu!

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for coming into contact with the story character 'Nong Yu' and triggering the random projection mission—Ill-fated Beauty!"

Just as Xiao Feng's gaze was drawn to Nong Yu, the system notification sounded in his ears once more.

"Ding! Mission objective: Change Nong Yu's fate of taking poison and committing suicide. Mission reward: One additional lottery draw."

Xiao Feng's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and the plot of "Empty Mountain Bird Song" surfaced in his mind.

According to the original plot, Nong Yu would later join the Quicksand organization founded by Han Fei and the others. After failing to assassinate Ji Wuye, she would choose to take poison and end her own life.

What made it most regrettable was that Bai Feng had clearly risked his life to rescue Nong Yu, and even Mo Ya had sacrificed himself, only for them to discover that she had taken poison beforehand.

Changing Nong Yu's fate of taking poison and committing suicide was actually very simple. Xiao Feng instantly thought of two methods.

The first was to kill Ji Wuye. As long as he was dead, Nong Yu would not need to carry out the assassination mission, nor would she need to take poison and commit suicide.

The second was to kill Nong Yu. As long as Xiao Feng killed her before she could take poison and commit suicide, she naturally would have no way to kill herself.

It was said that police officers in the Beautiful Country in his previous life often used the second method to successfully lower the Beautiful Country's suicide rate.