Beneath The Embroidered Brocade

"Un." She nodded in response.

It was indeed that, perhaps he had arrived at the magistrate"s court and already asked for a briefing of what he had read on the slips she had given him. There should be no troubles that should arise, considering the information she had given him was indeed true.

She knew truly that their relationship was only that of mutual benefit and none other. There was not true trust that she would allow him to hold her life in his hands or that he would allow her to hold his.

And it was this type of relationship that fell apart as easily as trying to keep hold of all the grains of sand that one held in the palm of their hand, trying to prevent the wind from taking it apart, grain by grain.

"Madam Lu." An older servant said as she brought in a thick heavy cloak suitable for the harsh winters of the north.

"Thank you." Madam Lu expressed her heartfelt thanks to the servant, allowing the older female servant to drape the dark, fur trim cloak on to her normal clothes. Her glamorous and flamboyant hairpins were also removed from her hair, making the madam Lu that all the brothel guest knew and respected a person of the past.

When one set their eyes upon this person, who has dressed appropriately, and with a respectable demeanor, she would easily be mistaken as a common lady of the middle cla.s.s, who ran a common business.

The only things that had not been removed, was her makeup which would be considered pa.s.sable, considering since when had there ever been a woman who did not wear makeup when going out in public?

The other was that pungent perfume which she always wore, that scent that lingered around like dead and rotting fish. It was impossible to hide from the scent. Coming into close proximity, one would be able to catch a whiff of it.

"Wouldn"t getting a carriage be better?" The older servant asked, with a fear that it might be too cold out there for madam Lu.

"No need, servent Zhao, I am not that weak." Madam Lu answered as she thought of that weak official freezing while waiting for his carriage. There was a sense of pleasure she felt as she watched his body shudder, while she was surrounded in warmth.

Servant Zhao bowed and did not say anything further.

Madam Lu quietly walked out through the back door of the Hundred flower Hall. It was as though she was invisible, with all the esteemed guest indulging themselves in pleasures of the flesh, and the scent of newly plucked flowers, they would not have noticed it even if they had their throats slit in the middle of their fruitful dreams of pleasure.

She walked towards the market place, which was bustling in the morning when the sun loomed above the sky, yet now that it was dark, not a soul lingered, yet the skeletons of the wooden frames that were the stalls still lingered around like shadows.

Her steps echoed quietly in this vast place that was empty. As she made her way down an alleyway which rang sounds of dice tossed and turned in a bamboo tube, and the sounds of silver being placed down to make a bet.

There were sounds of groans of pleasure and pain coming from the alleyway as madam Lu walked past. Her face was filled with distaste, internally thinking that if these places did not exist, then her Hundred Flower brothel would be the only place where such acts could be done.

The business would have more customers than she could imagine, considering it was the only place that men could have their pleasures satisfied.

At that thought, her distaste for the women in this alleyway grew, even more, their unclean bodies had been played by countless hundreds if not thousands of men.

There were countless diseases and infections that could be spread by having such intimate contact.

Why were they still even in business?

She came to a place that had already boarded up for the night. She gave three knocks that resonated within the old wood of which it had been made years ago.

There was a sound from behind those wooden panels, as they were carefully removed to reveal a young man in his teens. As madam Lu stepped in, the panels were once again replaced. On the outside, it seemed as though the panels had never been touched.

"The boss is in the lounge." The young man said. It seemed that he did not plan on escorting her the entire was, as though his only job was to keep watch on there old wooden panels.

Madam Lu soundlessly made her way into the small shop. That had a bright and clean facade. The candles burning gave off a thick smog, making it seem as though one was walking through a nightmarish dream with heavy fog and the dim light of candles that made it through.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of having madam Lu grace me with her presence?" the man who was laying on the lounge asked. His eyes were closed, yet there was still a part of the scarf that covered his cheek, making it seem as though one can look for a while and never be able to see the whole portrait of him.

"This should satisfy you." Madam Lu said as she threw a banknote on his face.

The man nonchalantly picked up the banknote and lazily opened his eyes, to his surprise, he saw that it was a banknote was for a thousand taels.

He hurriedly sat up and stared at madam Lu with caution. This was way too much money, and a person as stingy as her would not give another this much unless she was to have them do something in return, perhaps something that was too much for him to handle.

"What do you want?" He growled.

Madam Lu gave him an innocent look, as she pulled out another banknote as if to entice him. Then she pulled a bamboo tube from her sleeve and threw it to him.

"Do these things for me, and these banknotes are yours." Madam Lu said with a smile.

The man slid the slip out of the bamboo tube and unfolded the paper, his eyes twisted into a grin. If one could see the un.o.bscured part of his face, one would see an ugly smile upon it.

"Fair enough." He agreed to do it. As he placed the paper back into the tube and handed it back to madam Lu. He looked at the banknotes she was holding in her hand as if signaling her to hand it to him.

Madam Lu smiled, slyly putting the other banknote back into her sleeve and said: "Consider this the other half of the payment once you complete your task."

[Fine! Sure enough, that narrow minded woman has not changed at all.] he rolled his eyes at her.

"Do you want to see the girls?" The boss asked. It seemed that he would compromise and go against his business motto, just because she gave him something sweet for him to latch his teeth onto.

"Now you"re talking, lead the way." Madam Lu said. She had not thought that he would be willing to let her take a look, and this was not part of her plan, yet now that it had been offered on a silver platter to her, how could she refused.

[Sure enough, she is as greedy as always.] The boss thought to himself.

Yet still, he led the way to his underground chambers, and madam Lu followed strictly behind.

The air had a musty smell to it, making the lungs feel discomfort as one took in a full breath of stringent air. The dirt ground had softened up due to the water piling up from rainfall and melting snow, now becoming somewhat muddy, with a few puddles of sludge here and there.

"This is where you keep them?" Madam Lu asked with a face of disapproval.

The boss shrugged as he led her to a hallway that was paved by a path of dimly lit torches giving off a thick pungent smell of smoke. The whole scene was no different from a dungeon, the only problem being the prisoners that were locked up behind these thick metal cages had not committed a single crime.

Madam Lu took a torch from the holder it had been sitting in and brought them closer to the metal cell, where there were at least five girls locked inside each. The s.p.a.ce was small and it was crowded inside, with each person not having much room to themselves, their faces pale as paper from not having seen the sunlight in a while, and their bodies clothed in worn and faded clothing.

Though they were trapped in a small area with barely enough room to maneuver around, their faces were clean from dirt, and their hair was arranged neatly. Perhaps this was so their delicate faces could be seen by a potential buyer.

Madam Lu nodded in satisfaction as she saw that the girls did not move a muscle and were still sitting there lifelessly even after seeing her, it seemed that they had been groomed well.