"Really? You'll do everything I say?" Tang Zhuyun asked.
Qingfeng nodded, smiling with an air of complete deference, though a hint of flirtation lurked in his eyes.
What a calamity.
Only, this calamity wasn't quite perfect.
A compulsive perfectionist like Tang Zhuyun could hardly bear seeing a patient unaware of his own ailment.
But Qingfeng's intentions today were less than pure, and this was ancient times. There were some things, like cutting off the excess length of that thing, that she wanted to do but lacked the means. That didn't stop her from teasing him with a perfectly serious face, though.
Tang Zhuyun lifted her chin. "All right, then. Wait here."
With that, she went into the kitchen and came out with a cleaver.
Qingfeng: "..."
His smile became much more strained. "Miss Tang, please, please don't joke. If you think it's inappropriate out here, I can go inside with you. However you want me to serve you is fine. I'm very good."
Tang Zhuyun nearly threw up.
A little weakling like him? Who wanted him?!
"I think you could be even better if I gave you a cut down there."
Really, she meant every word.
Seeing her actually advance on him step by step, Qingfeng looked alarmed.
This woman was a lunatic!
Tang Zhuyun found his change of expression funny. Pressing him back, she said, "Don't move. Didn't you say you'd do whatever I told you today? Today I want to give you a cut. Really, be good. It's all for your own good."
When the Prince of Jin arrived, he saw a stark-naked man backed almost into a corner by Tang Zhuyun, who was holding a cleaver aloft.
He almost suspected he was hallucinating. Was this something a person could do?
"Tang Zhuyun!" the Prince of Jin said through gritted teeth.
Tang Zhuyun: "..."
She sheepishly put the cleaver away. "Yanran went out to play. She's not home. Go out and look for her."
The Prince of Jin's fists creaked as he clenched them.
She had actually sent the two children away and behaved like this with a man in broad daylight!
Seeing the veins throbbing at his temples, Tang Zhuyun couldn't help muttering, "Could it be you're looking for me?"
What was with this man, looking as though he'd caught her in bed with a lover?
Qingfeng was, after all, a man of the pleasure world and was very good at reading people. Sensing the Prince of Jin's presence, he grew afraid despite not knowing who he was. He crouched down, hurriedly dressed, and explained, "No, nothing happened between us..."
The man before him had the bearing of someone who had killed, and Qingfeng saw no reason to lose his life for silver.
He loved silver, but he valued his life even more.
"Wait!" Tang Zhuyun stopped him from leaving.
She had changed her mind. Why wouldn't she slaughter a fat sheep that had come to her door?
"Your Highness," Tang Zhuyun said to the Prince of Jin, "is there something else you need? If not, how about you leave first? We still have business to discuss."
The Prince of Jin gave her a long look, his gaze as sharp as a blade. Then he turned and swept away with a flick of his sleeves.
Regret. Right now, he deeply regretted it. How had he lost his head and entrusted Yanran to a woman like this?
He had known all about her reputation before. What had blinded him?
"Your Highness?" Qingfeng turned pale with fright. "Miss Tang, he... he is..."
"The Prince of Jin," Tang Zhuyun said unconcernedly. "Our business has nothing to do with him. Come, come, I have a very good deal to discuss with you."
Qingfeng's legs went weak.
The Prince of Jin. He was actually the legendary, unbending, black-faced Prince of Jin.
He had offended the Prince of Jin. He had actually offended the Prince of Jin's woman.
There was no explaining the Prince of Jin's furious expression just now unless he was jealous.
Qingfeng was in no mood to discuss business. "Miss Tang, could... could you pretend I never came today?"
Tang Zhuyun found his cowardly display rather funny. She raised an eyebrow and said, "If you go into business with me, you'll be my partner. Of course I'll protect you."
Qingfeng was at a loss. Today he had truly failed to steal a chicken and lost the rice he'd used to lure it.
But what choice did he have now except to agree?
That was the Prince of Jin!
"Come, sit." Tang Zhuyun pointed to a stone stool in the courtyard, then walked over to the stone table and put down the cleaver. "I was only playing a harmless joke on you just now."
Qingfeng smiled bitterly. He no longer had any thought of seducing her. "Miss Tang, today I've come to understand a saying..."
"What saying?"
"After three days apart, one must look at a scholar with fresh eyes."
Tang Zhuyun said, "You're too kind."
Qingfeng said, "...Please go ahead. As long as you can keep the Prince of Jin from making trouble for me, I can do anything."
Tang Zhuyun picked at her ear. "I advise you not to say things like 'I can do anything' so readily in the future, or the slap in the face will hurt too much."
Qingfeng lowered his head. "You're right to scold me, Miss Tang."
As a male courtesan, he knew how to humble himself. If someone he truly couldn't afford to offend slapped him, he would still have to smile and ask whether the guest's hand hurt, then offer his other cheek for the man to slap for amusement.
"There's no need to play pitiful, either," Tang Zhuyun said, seeing through him. "I'm not your guest, after all. Right now, I sincerely want to discuss business with you."
"Please, go ahead."
"I wanted to ask, does anyone at your place usually buy or sell medicine? All sorts of medicine whose effects, how should I put it, can't be mentioned to outsiders?"
Qingfeng was clever and understood at once. "You mean aphrodisiacs?"
"Yes, yes, exactly!"
"If you want some, I'll bring it to you," Qingfeng said readily at once.
"You already have some?" Tang Zhuyun was a little disappointed.
"Yes."
"But what if I have something better?" Tang Zhuyun refused to give up.
Though she couldn't make Viagra, she had saved a few formulas for good kidney-tonifying medicines.
"I have Six-Ingredient Rehmannia Pills, Golden Lock Essence-Securing Pills, Golden Cabinet Kidney-Qi Pills..." Tang Zhuyun counted them off on her fingers with a smile. "We won't harm anyone. They're all good medicines for tonifying the kidneys."
She actually wanted to sell him medicine? Qingfeng looked somewhat troubled.
"We'll split the proceeds fifty-fifty. For every batch you sell, you give me my share. Apart from that, I won't ask you for a single extra copper coin. What do you think?" Tang Zhuyun coaxed him along.
In that case, it seemed he wouldn't be taking much risk, and he wouldn't be blamed if it didn't sell well.
Qingfeng recalled the murderous look on the Prince of Jin's face, gritted his teeth, and agreed. "All right."
"Good. I'll have someone bring it to you in a few days." Tang Zhuyun was delighted.
This kind of money came quickly. What man or woman in the pleasure world cared about the silver spent on medicine?
In modern times, Viagra cost over a hundred yuan a pill, yet weren't its sales still steady?
A man couldn't say he couldn't perform. Even if he couldn't, he'd "medicate" it happen!
Qingfeng only wanted to get away and agreed repeatedly.
"Miss Tang, may I go now?"
"No."
Qingfeng: "..."
Had she latched onto him today?
"You still haven't told me," Tang Zhuyun said, narrowing her eyes at him, "why you came today!"
Qingfeng smiled bitterly. "Actually, this is what happened. The fifth young master of the Marquis of Changyang's Estate beat someone to death while drunk. They used silver and wanted the prefect of the capital to give him a lenient sentence. But the Court of Judicial Review still has to review the case, so the prefect wouldn't agree. He did let it slip, though, that as long as Lord Tang would turn a blind eye, he'd dare to give a lenient sentence."
"How much silver did they promise you?"
"Ten thousand taels."
Tang Zhuyun was instantly filled with regret. How wonderful it would be to be a corrupt official! Just like that, even if she only took half as commission, she could pay off her debt to the Prince of Jin. Why would she need to go to so much trouble selling kidney-tonifying pills?
No. If he was well, she was well too. She was benefiting the men and women of the world! Hmph!