Transmigration & Reverse Transmigration

No. 9: All-encompa.s.sing power and prestige

"Hmph!" Behind me, Qingqing gave a disdainful snort as she gracefully fanned me with a fine, gauze round fan. "See how impressive you think you are~! Rushing forward with such a haughty air when you only paid 500 taels for an hour"s chat with our Minmin! You think our Minmin"s just some sister from the Jadeite Flower Brothel?"

On the opposite side of the tea table was a Master Wan on the verge of dropping his teacup, so embarra.s.sed that his face was red. Qingqing gave him a disdainful glare before turning to speak to me. "Sister Minmin, you"re just too kind! You don"t even know how to reject guests! Considering your standing, it was only Master Su from last time that had proper manners. We can condescend to meet with those gentlemen liberal with their money, but meeting with low-grade men would just pollute your eyes."

These words were rather harsh. Veins were starting to pop out on Master Wan"s forehead, who looked as if he was about to slam the table in anger and walk away. Instead, Xiao Tao suddenly tugged on Qingqing from her side and said softly, "Qingqing~ How can you speak like that? Why don"t you hurry and apologize to Master Wan! Everyone has their own difficulties, and I think Master Wan really dotes on our Minmin. Maybe he"s not liberal with money because he has a strict household, so how can we make difficulties for him?"

I grinned in my heart. Good Xiao Tao and her soft power! She seemed to be sticking up for Master Wan at first glance, but hinted that he was afraid of his wife in the same breath. Now Master Wan would lose even more face! These two girls had already set the stage well enough for me to give the final push.

"Qingqing, Xiao Tao, you mustn"t be rude!" I set down the teacup and used a silk handkerchief to cover my mouth as I lightly rebuked them. My voice was exceptionally light and weak, completely free of censure. "Our Hidden Spring Brothel is a place for gentlemen to enjoy themselves. Rewards come from friendly feelings, so it"s fine if there"s none at all. Those who reward generously do it in good faith and sincerity, but those who give less also have kindly feelings! You two should remember, yes? In the future, don"t talk back to these gentlemen!"

"But Master Su even gave 1,000 taels…" Qingqing wasn"t satisfied.

"You"re still talking!" I stood up and prepared to hit her, but Master Wan quickly stood up to stop me, his face moved with admiration. "Miss Minmin, what a good "those who reward generously do it in good faith and sincerity, but those who give less also have kindly feelings!" There really aren"t many ladies like you who are understanding, kind, and reasonable. As one with the name of Wan, I definitely can"t wrong a woman for even a bit! If that Su fellow gave 1,000, then fine! Today this Wan will reward you with 2,000 taels!"

—

Looking at the retreating figure of a certain gentleman, three little demonesses exchanged glances between bursting into laughter. Profit!

Ever since making an agreement with the procuress that night, I"d created a public campaign within seven days to promote my singing and dancing. Those who praised it were abundant, those who didn"t were the exceptions. In one night, my name had reached the capital city! That was because I made sure the praises reached the seaport since I made ample preparations.

Over a long period of observation, I discovered that females of this time period danced like those in j.a.panese period dramas. They only had a small range of movements in their hands and feet, so dance was a blue-chip stock with lots of potential growth!

Originally, I wanted to go straight ahead with pole-dancing or those Broadway Rockette lineups. But fearing that it"d be too stimulating for the so-called literary, scholarly "gentlemen" and their hearts, I fused together some ethnic dances to create an all-new dance that was equally bewitching yet in elegant good taste. I teased them within my movements until I had my entire audience prostrating before my charms!

It took a lot of care for me to select the proper music as well. Finally I decided to choose the award-winning piece I used for the school"s Top Ten Vocalist Finals, "Dancing As Time Flows On"1. Accompanied by Hidden Spring Brothel"s senior musicians and their guzheng2, the effects were very genuine and true to life!

The costumes and stage were crucial points as well. Xiao Tao"s needlework was the best in Hidden Spring Brothel. As long as I could sketch out the costumes I wanted, she could reproduce them without fail, giving me a huge help! As for the stage, I modernized it as much as possible with lighting, fireworks, hand-made snowflakes…the works!

On the opening night, when my gauzy water sleeves fluttered to the stage along with the music while feathers floated through the air, it was as if a fairy had descended from Heaven to Earth! Everyone was stunned into silence, not just the men, but the women as well! 

From then on, the name of "Minmin" spread through the four seas. A saying spread throughout Later Ming: Dancer Minmin"s dance is an unforgettable sight! Later Ming"s first and foremost singer Minmin, whose songs can banish all your worries! If you"re a man and don"t see Minmin"s song and dance before you die, then you might as well have lived in vain…etc, etc.

In any case, I reaped a lot from my success!

I not only realized my goal of making Hidden Spring Brothel a place where people fought with gold to get in, I also formed my own performance troupe. That was because members of the troupe didn"t need to sell their bodies to make a living, but shared the profits of each performance. I also had strict standards when selecting my performers, and the entire Hidden Spring Brothel prospered until the rise of its performance troupe. Many sharp-witted minds wanted to work their ways in, including countless ones who tried to curry favor with me in secret. In the end, even able-bodied applicants from out of town appeared by my side out of the blue. The performance troupe absorbed the essence from these talents and flourished day after day! Truly, it was talent that was most important in any day and age…

Half a year later, I was holding performances on the 15th of every month, each and every style newer than before. We did Uygher ethnic dances and rumba and held surprises every time, startling these old-fashioned spectators with our performances. On one 15th, Hidden Spring Brothel"s entrance fee grew from 50 taels to 500 taels, while box seats and VIP tickets had prices that even shocked those with money! Prices ranged from expensive to more expensive. Aside from singing and dancing, the kind and sentimental me exchanged poems with various literati, spent time chatting heart-to-heart with lonely middle-aged uncles; of course this wasn"t all for free since I couldn"t help but hunt for extra sources of income (maybe this part shouldn"t be in the same compound sentence).

I was a lively, vivacious, and optimistic girl. I knew all the ways to make girls happy and valued loyalty as I took care of my fellow sisters. There wasn"t any concept of senior this senior that in my thinking, so very quickly the Hidden Spring Brothel became a place where I built up plenty of stable connections and interpersonal relationships. The gentle, soft, and attentive Xiao Tao, coupled with the rude, shrewish, and clever Qingqing became my sworn friends and pledged their lives to me! After that, the first thing I did was bring Qingqing with me and teach that Hongxin a good lesson for Xiao Tao"s sake. I could submit or a.s.sert myself as the situation demanded, but now that I was successful, I had to avenge my wrongs!

Under my supervision, further construction work on the Hidden Spring Brothel was soon reaching its end; various departments of the performance troupe and their coordination and cooperation was progressing on the right track; Xiao Tao"s costume creation flourished under my unique designs until she kept up with the times and started creating her own; the MinTaoQing three-person alliance acc.u.mulated more wealth by unfair means while improving meals at Hidden Spring Brothel; wages thrived as they were spread amongst the workers… (my report went on for too long…).

But it was right at this time that I met with a certain event. It couldn"t be considered a major event, but it wasn"t a minor one, either. 

One day when I"d finished teaching some girls how to apply smokey-effect makeup around their eyes, I went off on my habit of taking daily walks. Because Xiao Tao was busy preparing next month"s costumes while Qingqing was leading other girls to train their voices, n.o.body was around to accompany me. Very soon, I got lost.

The third golden rule of transmigration.

A necessary skill for every female protagonist: getting lost.

I wandered east and west until I finally returned to the courtyard that looked no different than the 12 others I"d already pa.s.sed (at least in my eyes). I was still mourning over how tired my legs and feet were when a groan rose from the courtyard within! In an instant, my body grew alert as every cell jumped in excitement.

Reason 1 – the voice sounded like this: "Hnn…ah…ah…no, don"t! Stop…ah….hnnngh…"

It was obviously someone making love*!

(*The author interrupts. This so-called "making love" can be inferred from three things: 1. "Hnn…" 2. "Ah…" 3. "Don"t…" Sweatdrops.)

Reason 2 – the voice was obviously that of a young man (please reread)!

As a result, a certain vicious ** wolf3 jumped over the wall without the slightest hesitation.