"If these pendants are put together, it will have an auspicious meaning. Look at how the fish combined with the fungus that one of the fish is biting --- It means may your wishes come true year after year of marriage. These are usually for a wedding gift," The shopkeeper explained.
Yao Ying remembered how they got married in a rush. With the limited fund, they weren"t able to buy anything fancy as a remembrance. They only exchanged their most prized belonging. Would Yao Ling be happy if he gave her this? He loved the meaning behind these pendants, so he decided to buy them.
"Pack it up for me. I will buy them," Yao Ying said. "Thank you for your recommendation."
The shopkeeper was happy with the successful purchase. She could see that this young master was rich. When she said the price, he paid easily without batting eyelashes. Although it was quite expensive in Yao Ying"s opinion, it was still under the range of his limit.
After he finished paying and get the item, Yao Ying went out of the shop in a better mood. He hoped Yao Ling would like his present. He looked up at the sky and it was almost dark. Yao Ying knew he should go back home or he would miss his dinner with Yao Ling.
He sighed tiredly. It seemed like there was still a lot of things to be done and talk about before he was able to succ.u.mb to his sleep. Well... he walked faster and he arrived at his home in no time. Yao Ying went to his courtyard, trying to find his wife and tell her what had happened earlier. He knew that she would probably freak out about the poison, but she had to know!
Yao Ying just stepped into his courtyard when he was stopped on his track by Xiu.
"Young Master, you are finally home." Xiu politely greeted Yao Ying.
Yao Ying could see how haggard Xiu"s appearance was. He seemed deadly tired as well and it surprised him. "What happened to you? Have you found out about Xiao Yu"s little brother?" Yao Ying asked worriedly.
Yao Ying skimmed his surrounding and felt that it was better to go inside his study first. "Hold on! Cease your talk. We better talk inside my study room." Yao Ying motioned for Xiu to follow him.
They went into the study room and Xiu quickly locked the door. Seeing the worried look on Xiu"s face, Yao Ying asked, "What happened? Why are you so anxious? Have you found him?"
"At first, this servant thought that this would be an easy matter to deal with. This servant only needs to follow Liu Li, found out where they kept Xiao Yu"s brother, rescued him, and went back here. However, Liu Li is quite adept with martial art. Of course, this servant"s skill is far higher than her. Luckily, this servant was cautious and Liu Li didn"t find out about my presence," Xiu explained dejectedly.
"And something went wrong?" Yao Ying asked.
"Not exactly, but it"s hard for this servant alone to save the kid. This servant indeed found out where she holds him captive, but not the exact place."
"What do you mean?" Yao Ying furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"Liu Li used to work in a brothel and she has her own network channel --- an underground channel, to be precise. This servant followed her and she even could make the thugs s.h.i.+ver in fear. She"s a dangerous and evil woman, Young Master," Xiu warned his master.
"This person cannot be kept around --- too dangerous and unpredictable," Yao Ying made a decision. "Once we rescue Xiao Yu"s brother, it seems like we have to think of a way to deal with her."
"Which brothel does she keep him?"
"Thousand Pleasures," Xiu answered.
Yao Ying could feel the cold sweat on his back. F*ck! Wasn"t that the place where he had just come back from? "When? When did you go there?" Yao Ying felt alarmed. He thought back and he didn"t think he saw a familiar face back then.
"Around Wu s.h.i.+ (modern timing: 11am-13pm)," Xiu answered in confusion. Why would his young master ask about the time? He didn"t think it was important enough to pay attention to. Wasn"t he supposed to care about the result more?
Yao Ying started to feel something bad is going to happen soon. He was actually there at the hua louat the same time... and if the girl covered up her face, he wouldn"t be able to recognize her. But what about him? He didn"t cover his face and she should be able to recognize him!
"I was there." Yao Ying"s words explained the whole things and Xiu"s jaw dropped open widely.
"What? Really, Young Master?" No wonder Young Master looked worried. Did he do something bad there? But it was a brothel! Why else a man would go there, unless... "What did you do, Young Master?"
Yao Ying scowled at Xiu. "Nothing. Lin Jian dragged me there. Why else?" Yao Ying flicked Xiu"s forehead. "Don"t think too much!"
"Ouch! Xiu held his forehead indignantly.
Yao Ying knew that Xiu doubted him, but he didn"t feel the need to explain himself to Xiu. But Yao Ling... he was afraid that Liu Li would try to do something with that bit of information. Fortunately, Xiu told him first, otherwise, he wouldn"t be ready to face the consequences.
After thinking for a while, Yao Ying was confused. "Thousand Pleasures" was basically theirs. Did this involved w.a.n.g Luo Hai and Lin Fu? But what was the connection between Liu Li and Thousand Pleasures? Or was there something else going on there?
"Xiu, do you know the owner of "Thousand Pleasures"?"
"This servant doesn"t know. Only the insiders know who the owner is and they keep their mouth shut. Probably no one in this city knows about the owner," Xiu said. "Even only a few of the insiders know about it. A mere shopkeeper probably also doesn"t know about the owner."
"Does it look like the owner know about this matter?"
Xiu shook his head. "I don"t think so. Judging from what I saw, I think Liu Li only keeps in touch with the shopkeeper. He was the only one who warmly received her there."
"Ah... I see." Yao Ying thought that probably this wasn"t related to w.a.n.g Fu or Lin Fu --- only Liu Li and her master.
"Can you tell me who is Liu Li"s contact there? Tell me their interaction!" Yao Ying didn"t tell Xiu the matter inside the hua lou. He started to realize that the owners were kept as a secret and w.a.n.g Luo Hai didn"t even let his subordinate know.
"I"m not sure. I can"t go near here, because I could feel that there were a lot of experts hiding in the hua lou. They weren"t exactly Liu Li"s lackey. Liu Li"s contact is probably one of the high-rank shopkeepers there and they were quite intimate," Xiu said while slightly blushed. Until now, he still remembers how the sound of moaning and the flapping sound of two flesh connected to each other reverberating inside the room. He was pretty sure that Liu Li gave her body for her sick ambition.
"And Xiao Yu"s brother? Where do they keep him inside the hua lou?"
Xiu gritted his teeth in anger. "That"s what I want to report to Young Master about. Liu Li and the man are really sick in the head! I could hear from their conversation that they keep the boy inside the shopkeeper"s personal room! They... they were even sick enough to do the deed in front of the kid!"
"Do the deed? What kind of deed?" Yao Ying asked in confusion.
Xiu gaped at his young master. Was he for real? "Young Master ah~ You are the one who already got married, but you still ask this single dog about it? Are you trying to embarra.s.s me further?"
Because there was no answer from Xiu, Yao Ying asked him once again, "What kind of deed?"
"That... that..." Xiu stuttered. He looked at the confusion in Yao Ying"s face and he was pretty sure that Young Master wasn"t really joking. He could only helplessly answer him, "S*x, Young Master. What else would they do inside a brothel?"