Chapter 52: Watching a Courtesan Dance and Encountering an Old Acquaintance

  On the stone road, the bluestone was pounded into a deep color. Xiao Qi pulled Tang Guan out, but it was aimless. Tang Guan looked around at the roads with an almost imperceptible gaze. Chang'an was too big, and although he claimed to have a photographic memory, he still had to see things before he could remember them. So, he made sure to remember the roads they walked on, so as not to get lost.

  Xiao Qi seemed to have also realized that it wasn't the right time, a sudden rainstorm had stopped, and water was still dripping from the eaves. Looking at the somewhat deserted streets and alleys, Xiao Qi said: "Guang Ge, you've read so many books, do you know where's fun in Chang'an?"

  Tang Guan heard this and slightly shook his head. He was also visiting Chang'an for the first time. Actually, what he most wanted to do was find a high vantage point from which to gaze out at the scenery of Chang'an.

  Because he always felt that the layout was a bit strange, and it seemed that no matter which road you took in the crisscrossing streets, you could get to where you wanted to go.

  Fortunately, the storm stopped suddenly, and the surrounding shops also opened their doors to continue welcoming customers. The two of them walked on the street, feeling aimless.

  Suddenly, a crisp pipa sound attracted Tang Guan, and he couldn't help but look towards the source of the sound. He saw a three-story high building with a sign that read "Flower Pavilion", and at a glance, Tang Guan knew this was a brothel.

  When Tang Guan saw the words written on the archway, he was taken aback for a moment, "What beautiful handwriting"

  Only saw this pen and ink move like a dragon and snake, as if entering wood three inches deep, writing the three characters "Wind Language Pavilion".

  "The brothels are divided into three, six and nine grades. Since you dare to call yourself a pavilion, it's also among the top two grades." Tang Guan lightly stroked his chin, although he was unfamiliar with the terrain, but folk customs, alley rules and regulations were all recorded in books.

  "Heh heh, Little Seven, brother found a fun place"

  Xiao Qi was still looking around and when he heard this, he turned back and said: "Where?"

  "Front"

  Xiao Qi also looked over and laughed, "This building is much more beautiful than ours!"

  Tang Guan heard the words and smiled slightly, reaching out to touch his waist. He had always been prepared for any situation, and before setting out, he had asked Tang Wei Xi for some money, which he had not used yet after experiencing the flood and walking all the way here.

  "Do you know where this is?" Tang Guan asked softly, seeing Xiao Qi's disbelieving expression.

  Xiao Qi retorted with a smirk: "I've never been to the imperial palace, but I'm a regular at brothels."

  "Haha" Tang Guan burst out laughing, pulling up Xiao Qi to go forward with him. He naturally wouldn't think that Xiao Qi was going to be a gigolo, guessing that he had previously snuck into brothels before.

  Two people with joyful expressions on their faces, as if they had found something fun, stepped through the gate and immediately caught someone's eye.

  "Get out, this is no place for kids."

  Suddenly a loud shout came, Tang Guan didn't even look back, directly took out a silver ingot from his waist and held it in his hand. The man's tone changed immediately: "Ah, where did these two young masters come from? So luxurious, hurry up and come in!"

  Tang Guan only then looked towards the person speaking, and saw that it was a heavily made-up woman wearing a flower-patterned dress. The woman was quite voluptuous, with a face full of smiles as she gazed at the silver coins. Seeing this, Tang Guan thought to himself: "Is this the infamous madam?"

  The building has three floors, but only the second floor is divided into individual rooms, presumably for guests to conduct their private affairs. Downstairs, there are tables and chairs, as well as singing girls holding musical instruments performing, which helps to mask the noise from the second-floor rooms. Brothels have always been a gathering place for scholars and poets, and indeed, there are many places downstairs with calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls.

  Tang Crown didn't know what was going on above, his eyesight couldn't reach that far.

  Two little kids came in at the door and suddenly things became lively. The guests who were originally embracing each other, drinking and having fun on the table immediately turned their eyes over here.

  Only Tang Guan threw the silver in his hand, and the old prostitute was quick to catch it. Xiao Qi saw this and burst out laughing.

  The pimps around saw that the two were dressed in brocade and had a generous hand, guessing they were young masters from a wealthy family. They curiously came over to take a look, but couldn't avoid getting beaten when they returned home. Thinking about this, everyone let it go and continued their drunken revelry.

  The old procuress accepted the money, thinking that these two children were just curious about this place of pleasure and had only come in to take a look. She didn't even mention whether they wanted any female companionship or not, but instead said: "You two young gentlemen, there's some tea over there, you can watch the show from there."

  Tang Guan heard this and frowned, thinking that the old madam really thought he was here to splurge. He immediately said: "Get us a few young girls."

  "Ah!" The old procuress exclaimed, sizing up Tang Guan from head to toe. It was unreasonable for a prostitute not to take money from her clients, but the two "little clients" in front of her were really too young.

  Tang Guan, however, directly found a place to sit down with Xiao Qi. Although Xiao Qi had been around the brothels before, this was his first time calling a prostitute, and he felt it was quite amusing. In the past, when he saw those big spenders in Yuhang, his first thought was to go up and steal from them. Now that their roles were reversed, he felt a strong sense of novelty.

  The old procuress stood there, staring at Tang Guan and Xiao Qi, who had already taken their seats. She was in a dilemma, not knowing whether to hurry or not. After a moment's hesitation, she beckoned to a servant who was serving tea and water.

  "Over there came two young ones, probably to see the novelty. Take a look if there are any untaught new goods, just send someone to accompany them."

  The young servant nodded and turned around to go downstairs. Tang Guan's sharp eyes caught sight of this scene, only then did he realize that the building was not just four stories high, but also had an underground level.

  But they didn't take it seriously either, after all, they weren't really there to pick up girls, just extremely bored.

  Xiao Qi picked up a piece of pastry and took a bite, "Guang Ge, it's quite delicious"

  Tang Guan looked at the table and sighed, he and Xiao Qi had also become spendthrifts, spending ten taels of silver on snacks.

  Just as the two were looking around, the old procuress pulled and dragged several girls over, and Tang Guan was slightly surprised at a glance.

  "No wonder they dare to call themselves cabinets, and indeed, the Lolita old women are all-inclusive." It turned out that the several girls who were pulled over were only thirteen or fourteen years old, and the younger ones looked like they were only around ten years old.

  These three or four girls, each with a different face, the other three smiled when they saw Tang Guan and Xiao Qi, but one of them kept her head down, and the old madam had to drag her to sit down.

  "Haha" Seeing this scene, some customers burst out laughing, a child prostitute serving a child, with great prospects.

  "You two young gentlemen, take your time and play, just call out if you need anything"

  Tang Guan took out another silver ingot from his waist and threw it to the old procuress, saying: "Bring wine and dishes"

  The procuress was shocked again when she received the silver, and had never heard of two young gentlemen like this in the streets. Judging from their accent, they were probably outsiders who came to Beijing with their elders.

  "Brother Guan, I don't drink," said Xiao Qi in a low voice to Tang Guan, at this time he was sitting next to two girls, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

  Tang Guan attached his ear and smiled at Xiao Qi: "I won't drink, but since we're playing, let's play with some flair"

  "Haha" Little Qi's youthful personality suddenly became awkward and disappeared, nodding his head.

  Before long, the wine and dishes were ready, and when they were brought to the table, the girl who had been keeping her head down finally looked up and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

  These girls' movements were also different, the bigger one smiled and picked up the wine pot to pour wine for Tang Guan Xiao Qi. They were different from adult prostitutes, Tang Guan swept around the women, each of them had a plump chest half exposed, but they were more substantial, although their clothes looked thin, they were actually quite solid.

  As the girl poured wine, her sleeve was lifted, and a shocking red mark caught his eye. Tang Guan saw this and slightly shook his head: "So that's how it is."

  These girls are all untrained chicks, some of whom can't stand the beatings and hunger, and have become flattering, while the smaller ones are stubborn and don't give in, I suppose that girl who doesn't even lift her head is one of them.

  Tang Guan knew that the old procuress was just fooling herself and others, and didn't take it seriously. He said, "Let's eat."

  "What?" The women were stunned, usually customers would drink and have fun, they were used to being drunk and then taken advantage of. But these two young men didn't drink or watch the performance, instead they directly ordered food.

  Three older girls seemed not to be receiving guests for the first time, although the request was strange, they still ate a little.

  Xiao Qi hadn't eaten yet, and she was a bit hungry, so she started eating. For a moment, the scene became strange and extraordinary. This was clearly a brothel, but it seemed like an ordinary tavern.

  The girl who had been keeping her head down and silent all along, secretly took a glance at the old woman in the distance, seemingly not noticing any movement from this side, only then dared to pick up her chopsticks and start eating.

  At first it was just a small mouthful at a time, but later on she didn't know what happened, as if she hadn't eaten for years, her eating appearance was extremely unappetizing.

  Tang Guan gazed at the girl and shook his head slightly, "There are too many pitiful people in this world."

  Just then, the old procuress at the door let out another cry of surprise: "Aiyo, He Lang, you've finally arrived, I thought you'd forgotten about me!"

  Tang Guan heard the sound and looked back, but as soon as he did, he hastily lowered his head.

  Xiao Qi, who was holding a chicken leg in his mouth, looked at him with great surprise and asked: "Guang Ge, are you uncomfortable?"

  Tang Guan hastily shook his head, lowered his head and remained silent, only hearing the commotion coming from that side.

  "Madam, it's been a long time. This Wind Rhetoric Pavilion has added several points of beauty." A pleasant male voice came over, and Tang Guan's face changed color upon hearing this voice.

  "How did he come? This is unscientific, Shu said he was a drunkard, could it be true?"

  Xiao Qi saw Tang Guan's strange behavior and looked out the door, only to see a young scholar wearing a white Confucian robe with a handsome face, who asked in a low voice: "Brother Guan, what's wrong?"

  "Huh? Old lady, how can there still be children in this brothel?" The man furrowed his brow and looked towards Xiao Qi and Tang Guan's table.

  The old procuress also looked back and smiled in a low voice: "I don't know where the two little chicks came from, they don't understand anything, I guess they think this place is fun, so they sneak in to take a look"

  The man heard this and slightly shook his head, just about to shift his gaze, but suddenly froze.

  Slowly pushing away the old prostitute, he surprisingly started walking towards this direction.

  "Oh no!" Tang Guan lowered his head and caught sight of the man approaching out of the corner of his eye, silently cursing his bad luck.

  The man walked directly to the table, and several girls immediately stopped moving, only the smaller one was still eating by herself, completely unaware that someone had approached.

  "You can't see me, you can't see me" Tang Guan muttered to himself.

  "It's cured!" The man finally exclaimed.

  "Good grief!" Tang Guan cursed under his breath, then looked up with an awkward smile: "Brother Ji Zhen"

  It turned out that this person was He Zhizhang, and for some reason he also came to the brothel, still with a familiar customer appearance. When he saw Tang Guan, he couldn't help but be greatly shocked.

  "What are you doing here?!"

  "I don't know what this place is, I just wanted to come in and take a look" Tang Guan was extremely embarrassed at this time, never expecting to run into an acquaintance.

  "What nonsense!" He Zhi Zhang furrowed his brow, stretched out his hand to pull Tang Guan up, while Xiao Qi stood frozen in place, looking like the two knew each other.

  "Go away! This is a place of revelry. You are still young and not yet capped, how can you be mixed up in this!" He Zhi Zhang said as he pulled Tang Guan up.

  Tang Guanling's eyes moved and he said: "So this is the land of fireworks in the book, no wonder Season Brother also came"

  He Zhizhang was taken aback for a moment and sighed with a bitter smile: "You, you..."

  He then looked at Xia Qi and asked Tang Guan, "Who is this young man?"

  "My younger brother, Liang Jun, come and meet Season Brother"

  "Ah!?" He Zhi Zhang was shocked by the words. The Tang family clearly only had one child, Tang Guan. When did they have another son?

  Tang Guan spoke up at this point: "This is a sworn son adopted by my father, and he came to the capital with me to pay homage to the emperor."

  "Pay respects!?" He Zhizhang's eyelid twitched as he realized that in the several months they hadn't met, something unexpected seemed to have happened at the Tang residence.

  The procurator noticed the commotion over here and saw him arguing with Tang Guan, thinking that a dispute had arisen, so he hastily came forward.

  "Congratulations, Lang! Come on in, you're a guest. If you're feeling annoyed, just go upstairs, Yan'er is still waiting for you up there."

  He Zhizhang heard this and waved his hand, saying: "This is the young master of our teacher's household, it doesn't matter."

  The old procuress was shocked by the words, and didn't expect that the two would be connected. She glared at the young girl who had just stopped eating: "You little slut, who told you to eat?"

  The old procuress didn't say a word and slapped the girl in the face. The girl was knocked to the ground instantly. Tang Guan saw this and slammed his hand on the table, saying: "It's me!"

  As soon as the commotion started, the clients immediately looked over, and the old procuress felt a wave of embarrassment. She was doing business here and didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so she withdrew her hand and stood back in place.

  He Zhizhang stood up and said: "My younger brother is young and has committed many wrongs. The old madam should still go take care of the business."

  The old procuress glanced at He Zhi Zhang, awkwardly smiled, this He Zhi Zhang was quite famous in Chang'an for his talent, and some scholars had predicted that he would definitely enter the imperial court. Nobody knew why he kept delaying it, but everyone understood that in this era, those with talent must have wealth.

  Who is the "potential stock" is not as vague as later generations, she doesn't want to offend again, glared at the girl who was covering her face and crying silently on the ground, turned around and left.

  The most noisy, He Zhizhang also had no heart to hurry Tang Guan away, sat down and waved his hand at the crowd of girls: "You go down first"

  The girls exchanged a glance and helped the girl on the ground leave.

  He Zhizhang sighed lightly: "Qubing, you shouldn't have blocked Laojun's way"

  "What's the reason?"

  "The old woman would have been satisfied with just one slap, but you intervened and now the woman will suffer after you leave."

  Upon hearing this, Tang Guan was taken aback for a moment, slightly shaking his head, indeed he had only acted out of temporary kindness.

  "Go away, you just said something about 'Mian Sheng', what's going on?"

  Tang Guan heard this and raised his head to reply: "Chen Bobo gave me two poems, yesterday I went to the palace to pay respects to the Empress"

  "What? But Chen Yunsheng, Chen Mingfu?"

  Tang Guan nodded slightly, and He Zhizhang was stunned. He left Yuhang and came to Chang'an, preparing for the imperial examination with a clear conscience, but unexpectedly Tang Guan had taken the lead.

  "Go away, you and your brother, hurry up and leave. You are still young and it's not reasonable for you to hang around this place."

  Tang Guan heard this and nodded lightly, he was just having a bit of fun at the time, but didn't think it would cause such an awkward situation.

  "Brother Ji Zhen, I bid you farewell. I will go to the house of Gong Bo and rest there. If you have time, brother, please come visit me. The Gong Bo family has recently encountered a great change, which I will tell you about in detail another day."

  Having said that, he pulled Xiao Qi and was about to leave. Seeing He Zhizhang still sitting in his original position, he stopped again and asked: "Qī has something to ask for advice from brother"

  He Zhizhang was deep in thought at this time about his encounter with Tang Guan, and couldn't figure out what to do. At this moment, he heard the words and said: "Ask away."

  "What is the third floor of this fireworks place?"

  He Zhizhang heard this and looked at Tang Guan with a glance, stretched out his hand and flicked Tang Guan's forehead, saying: "Haha, I didn't expect you to be so persistent about this place at such a young age."

  Tang Guan smiled slightly and said, "Hua Kui" as he looked at He Zhi Zhang who got up from the third floor.

  Having said that, he slowly went upstairs.

  Tang Guan watched as his figure walked all the way to the third floor before leading Xiao Qi away.