Li Meirong glanced nervously in the direction from which the voice came. He stood apart from the crowd, with an appearance resembling that of a huntsman. He wore a heavy black cloak, grey fur covered his shoulders. His robes were of a simple cloth, but they seem to be designed for battle. His face was lined from hard work and age, and he had a scar across his right cheek that slashed all the way from his chin to the corner of his bushy eyebrow. His hair was black with grey streaks and was tied back loosely with a clasp. He had a bow and a quiver of arrows strapped to his back. His overall demeanour didn"t quite match that of the rest of the crowd. In fact, he seemed to be in a bit of a hurry to leave the place.
Everyone stared in shock. Even the madam was speechless for a moment. 50 silver taels! Not even their most highly sought after courtesan inspired such a price.
The madam hurried to wrap up this bid up before he would have a chance to retract the offer, but the "huntsman" remained motionless and silent.
"Hehe, this honorable sir certainly knows what he wants! Going once…Going twice..."
The military man with the previous bid seemed disappointed, but he had no intention of outbidding 50 taels for a mere one night with a disfigured prost.i.tute.
Most of the men in the area looked aghast at the final bidder, and some regarded him with mockery.
"What a waste of money..."
"Sold!"
Li Meirong was immediately rushed to a different room on the second floor, along with the other girls who were bought, each shoved into separate rooms.
Small. Windowless. The air thick with incense and contained a large bed in the way of furniture.
This room was clearly meant for one purpose only.
On one side there was a small stool with a candle flickering on top of it.
Li Meirong felt defeated. How could she escape when there wasn"t even a window to climb out of? To top it off, she wasn"t bought by a young frail man, no..
It had to be someone who looks like he just came back from hunting a mammoth.
She stood nervously by the bed as one of the veteran courtesans barged into the room with a slam of the door.
She was about the same age Li Meirong was supposed to be, her overall appearance was small and dainty, but her bosom was large, giving her a rather desirable look. Her face was painted heavily with white powder and her lips with scarlet rouge. Without even speaking, the sneer on her face already gave away her disdain.
"I"ve been instructed to advise you on your upcoming job by this establishment"s madam, considering such a huge sum has been paid for you." She took Li Meirong by the arm and sat them both down on the bed.
She sighed and started explaining "I"ve heard a bit about your case, it"s better for you not to consider committing suicide again. Luckily when you came here and shoved poison down your throat, the madam was able to extract it. Life is hard here, but not impossible. If you can"t use your face, then learn to use your body to please a man. Make sure you always seem pleased and happy even if it hurts. I have heard that you had knowledge of both singing and dancing. Use that to your advantage." The courtesan clasped Li Meirong"s hands and spoke quietly with a distinct tone of disinterest.
"Most importantly, don"t bring shame to the establishment." With that final statement, she had covered all the necessary points. Once you become a prost.i.tute, she knew, you can forget about living life as an honorable woman, but it doesn"t necessarily mean you will live a horrible life.
This particular point of view was still lost on Li Meirong. The more she heard, the more doomed she felt. Even if it meant risking her life, she would find a way to escape. She would not be reborn into a world just to resign to this kind of ending!
Li Meirong looked directly into the courtesan"s eyes and whispered softly.
"Thank you for telling me all this, but I really cannot accept this as my fate. Is there any way for me to escape, or buy my freedom? Maybe you and I can run off together?"
The courtesan paused a moment, and then burst into laughter.
"You haven"t had your first night and you"re already panicked, whatever shall you do with yourself later on? Sweetie, the only way out of here is with silver taels, which we earn by selling our bodies. Otherwise it would be by being flogged to death. Your only other alternatives are to be flogged to death, or pray for some miracle to save you. As for me? I got good food, all the silk I want and men lining up to meet me, I have no intention of leaving." She regarded Li Meirong as nothing but a cute and foolish little girl talking nonsense.
Li Meirong looked down dejectedly, silenced.
She wasn"t an a.s.sa.s.sin or a warrior, able to bravely fight her way out of there. Still unwilling to succ.u.mb to her fate, but not yet knowing how to escape it. She did her best to internalize her struggle. The courtesan, seeing as she got no response from the young girl patted her head in mild sympathy and left the room.
All was quiet now in this small room where she waited for her first client. She could already hear moans and grunts of both pleasure and pain from the neighboring rooms.
The heavily incensed air in the room made her slightly dizzy and warm, she felt thirsty but there were no drinks in the room.
It was only after the candle on the stool burnt out that the door opened once again. The huntsman walked in with slow, heavy strides.
Li Meirong stood up in a panic, clutching the sides of her skirt, ready to fight or flee if need be.