Insufficient balance

  As soon as Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, the other nine people all cried out in dismay. Liu Jin hastily said: "It's... it's too late now, young master, let's go another day, don't forget we still have something important to attend to."

  Yang Ling also urged: "Yes, young master, it's better to avoid going to such places. If your respected father finds out, you'll definitely be punished."

  Among these people, Liu Jin and Gu Dajun are just slaves, but he is the prince's reader, responsible for teaching the prince, and instigating the prince to go to brothels, that crime cannot be lightened.

  Even if Hongzhi spared the royal family's face and didn't dare to publicize the Crown Prince's affair, he could easily frame him with a crime and kill him. Although in the early years of the Ming dynasty, the "Teaching Office" was established on an unprecedented scale, the government not only bought and sold people to open brothels but also sent some officials' wives, concubines, and daughters to become free prostitutes, doing all sorts of evil deeds. However, there is a clause in the law that clearly states: "Officials are strictly forbidden from staying overnight with courtesans; violators will be punished with 60 strokes of the cane."

  Although this law has never been observed, and the Ming dynasty has always turned a blind eye to it, it does not mean that this law is invalid. As long as the emperor uses this name to rectify him, the Han generals will give him sixty slaps on his buttocks, and he will be crippled if not dead.

  Zhu Houzhao saw that they were all stopping him, and even brought out his father to pressure him, so he had no choice but to say sullenly: "Forget it, I won't go then. This place doesn't work, that place doesn't work either, it's really disappointing."

  Yang Ling and others were afraid that Zhu Houzhao would change his mind again, so they didn't have the heart to drink lightly anymore. They hastily finished their meal, and Ma Yongcheng quickly settled the bill and took the prince downstairs. Several people stood at the entrance of the building, thinking of calling a few carriages, when they saw a forty-year-old horse-faced man leading several sturdy servants walking quickly towards them, scolding as he walked: "Didn't you say to come and pick up people three days later? How did that dog Su Huai change his mind again?"

  A short, nimble man who was following him with a smile said: "Mr. Yan, I heard that the clerk of the Wucheng Military Commission also has his eyes on Yujie, and he offered more silver than you did. The couple's greed is stirred up, but Mr. Yan, your family is wealthy, it doesn't matter if you take out some more silver. It's just that your business is in construction, if you offend the people of the Wucheng Military Commission..."

  That man with a horse face, known as Yan Dage, suddenly stopped in his tracks, gave him a cold glance and said in a gloomy tone: "Qi Fang, how much benefit did you receive from Su Huai? You dare to speak for him in front of me?"

  Qifang's face changed, and he hastily said: "Sir, look at what you're saying, who is far or near I don't know yet? How could I bend my elbow to help Su Hua speak?"

  Yan Dage cursed, "Who's far and who's near? You're just a dog, close to the silver, I'll take out 5,000 taels of white silver to redeem Yujie, how much more does he want? Hmm? That's 5,000 taels of pure silver! Is Yujie's place inlaid with gold or jade? Worth that much silver? I curse him, dreaming of his own prosperity, the contract is already written, dare he go back on it? Come, today I'll take people to their door, let's see who dares stop me!"

  Zhu Houzhao heard that there was a scene of snatching the bride, and his previously depressed mood suddenly lifted. He excitedly pulled Yang Ling and said: "Come on, let's go take a look at the excitement."

  "Ah......!" Yang Ling didn't catch up in time, and Zhu Houzhao had already followed those few people and walked away. Yang Ling stopped for a moment, then hurriedly chased after them with Liu Jin and the others.

  This street is lined with low walls, and flowers are blooming everywhere. In front of a elegant courtyard, there is a small gate with a black lacquer gold background plaque that reads "Lianhua Hall". Mr. Yan has already led his men in, and Zhu Houzhao followed closely behind, also excitedly entering the courtyard. As soon as they entered, they saw a spacious skywell, and under the corridor were several small square tables where customers would sit to drink tea and choose girls. Since it was still early, there were no customers under the corridor.

  The second floor above the ceiling is a small house with a circle, each room is not big, and there are signs at the door. This is the most ordinary brothel. Further back in the second courtyard is where the red girls' gentle village is located, and the grade is much lower.

  Yang Ling and several others hastily chased into the gate, only to see that the small door leading to the backyard in the courtyard was open. The merchant surnamed Yan had already led his men to charge towards the third courtyard, with Zhu Houzhao closely following behind them. Yang Ling was afraid that something unexpected would happen, so he quickly led eight eunuchs to chase after them.

  Zhu Houzhao was willing to watch the excitement, how could he bear to leave? He was staring and begging with Yang Ling, Liu Jin and a few others, entangled. As soon as he saw that person leading four strong men rushing into the backyard, he hurriedly followed.

  They chased to the third courtyard, where a weak and bookish man with the surname Yan was already being grabbed by the collar and scolded. Yang Ling and others pulled Zhu Houzhao away, but he didn't want to leave, his face covered in sweat as he begged and glared, using every trick in the book to refuse to go.

  That weak and feeble man was Le Hu Su Hui, who accompanied a smile to Yan Kuan and said: "Master Yan, why be so angry? I took your silver, of course, I won't go back on my word. It's just that Jade has been with us since she was five years old, and for the time being, she can't bear to leave. She's also gotten a bit sick from grief. Can't Master Yan wait a few more days?"

  His thick, black eyebrows were twitching with rage as he sneered: "Bullshit! Whores have no emotions and actors have no integrity. Would she be reluctant to part with you two turtles? I heard you're looking for another buyer, some greenhorn official, haha, trying to intimidate me with empty threats? But I've paid the price, and I have the contract in hand. I'm not afraid of going to court."

  A middle-aged woman wearing a light purple blouse hurried out of the left wing, laughing from afar and saying: "Hey, Yan Dage, look at what you said, Yuer is my adopted daughter, she's going to be your wife in the future, you're still my cheap son-in-law, why did you hurt our harmony?"

  Although Yuehu is lower than ordinary civilians and belongs to the inferior people, businessmen are also inferior people, and their status is not higher than hers. Moreover, this Mr. Yan is a regular customer of Xianghua Hall, so they are familiar with each other, so one tael of gold dares to make some vulgar jokes with him.

  This woman in her forties has fair and tender skin, although there are some fine wrinkles on her face, a pair of lively and charming eyes still have a captivating charm.

  She made a joke, and Lao Yan couldn't keep a straight face anymore. He let out a cold laugh and said: "Five thousand taels of silver, this son-in-law is not cheap at all! One tael of gold, stop smiling and flattering me. You say you won't regret it? Fine, I'll pretend I misheard. Anyway, she's marrying me now, and three days later she'll still be marrying me. Why wait for a good day when we can just do it today? What do you think?"

  Yi Zhong Jin's face changed, and he forced a smile: "Uncle Yan, although Yu Jie has been promised to you, after all, my wife and I have raised her for so long, how can we not have any feelings? Now that this child is unwell and frail, my wife and I are heartbroken just looking at her. Later on, she will be your partner in life, don't you feel heartbroken?"

  Yi Zhong Jin shot a fierce glance at her husband, Su Hui shrank his neck and didn't dare to make a sound. It turned out that this strict boss was named Yan Kuan, a regular customer of the brothel, who had spent the night with a beautiful prostitute in the second courtyard the day before, and when he pushed open the window early in the morning, he happened to see Yu Jie passing by in the backyard, and at that glance, he lost three souls out of seven.

  Yan Kuan is a businessman with a stench of copper, originally not fond of appreciating the wind and moon, listening to music and reciting poetry. In order to cater to this young woman's love of elegance, he endured the pain of spending a large sum of silver to pretend to be a refined person for several days, but in the end, he couldn't even hold her hand.

  He thought that this dull knife cut flesh, it's better to make a deal with a single hammer and get rid of a lot of silver to take home this little beauty. At that time, Yu Jie was ill, and her husband Su Huai was in charge of the business. Although the brothel was a money pit, 5,000 taels of silver were not an ordinary amount for him. He calculated that he had spent only 800 wen to buy Yu Jie from Shanxi Datong eight years ago, and now he could exchange her for 5,000 taels of silver. He hastily agreed and drew up a contract.

  Afterwards, Yuzi heard that her husband had taken matters into his own hands and scolded him until he was speechless. Having been in the pleasure quarters for half a lifetime, she knew exactly how much money Yuzi would be able to earn for her in the future. Moreover, when she heard that Su Hua had sold the young girl to a merchant, she felt deeply sorrowful and cried several times. This made Su Hua feel regretful as well.

  But what about the written agreement? The couple deliberated back and forth, thinking of spreading a rumor that a clerk from the Five Cities Military Command had taken a liking to Yujie and wanted to use his official power to coerce him.

  In fact, the Wucheng Bingsi is not a major government office, but just an ordinary public security unit in Beijing (excluding the Imperial City and the Forbidden City). The clerk is not even considered a minor official, but just the head of a small group of petty officials. In peacetime, they follow behind the touring censors, patrolling the streets and alleys, waiting for orders, shouting slogans, and running errands.

  The minor officials of the Five Cities Military Commission are actually quite pitiful. Apart from catching a few thieves, dispatching neighborhood patrols to sweep streets and clean drains, checking whether merchants' measuring cups were accurate, and flogging stupid commoners who relieved themselves randomly, they basically had no right to manage or enforce laws. The whole city is full of powerful nobles; who can they control?

  It's just that this small official thought it would be easy to bully a businessman, and since Yan Kuan was doing business in the capital, he should have been afraid of these law enforcement, urban management, and epidemic prevention departments. Unexpectedly, through Qi Fang, Yan Kuan got the message, but he didn't care and still came to their doorstep, and for a moment, the couple really didn't know how big a deal it was.

  Yan Kuan heard the words of Jin and burst out laughing, saying in a sarcastic tone: "Heartache? Let those charming little girls be poked and prodded by this one and that one in your brothel, I'd really feel heartache then. How about it? This prostitute still thinks my status is too lowly? Don't give face if you don't want to lose face, only others get to choose her, when did she ever get to choose someone? I have silver, so I'm the big boss!"

  The door opposite, which had been tightly closed, suddenly creaked open and a young girl with a clean face and light makeup, wearing a peony-patterned silk jacket and a pale green pleated skirt, quickly walked out from inside. She stood under the doorway, raised an eyebrow, and said in a cold tone: "Mr. Yan, please be more polite. You may have money, but my sister doesn't care about that. If you want to buy something trivial, it's up to you, but my sister is not willing to enter your household. Can't we just cancel the engagement and pay you 20% of the silver as compensation?"

  The green skirted young girl has a slender figure, her skin is white to an extraordinary degree, under her light eyebrows, a pair of clever eyes are extremely sharp, when she speaks her voice is crisp and urgent, like the sound of stir-frying beans.

  Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but chuckle and say, "This girl is formidable, much stronger than those two useless brothers." Yang Ling and Gu Dajiu exchanged a bitter smile upon hearing this.

  Yan Kuang raised an eyebrow and said, "Xue Li Mei, you think it's easy to back out now? You need my consent to cancel the engagement. Money? I'm not short of money, what I lack is a warm bedmate. This jade sister, I've decided on her!"

  He pulled out a document from his bosom, raised it up and coldly faced Jiang Huai: "This document has your signature seal on it, how about that? Isn't this something we've seen in our yamen?"

  A young girl walked out of the embroidered building, went straight to Yan Kuan's face and softly begged: "Yan Dage, it is often said that a strong melon is not sweet, this kind of thing should be mutually willing, you can open your heart and let Yu Jie'er go."

  Yan Kuan chuckled and said with a smile: "Still, the fairy maiden's mouth is sweet, really likable, a hundred times more lovable than those glib women, hehehe".

  Yang Ling couldn't help but take another look at her when he heard her sweet voice. This Tang Yixian was only thirteen or fourteen years old, with a slender and delicate figure, a lovely face, and a small mole on the corner of her lips that added to her charm. She blushed and glanced at Yan Kuan, saying in a soft voice: "So, Uncle Yan has agreed?"

  "Ah, you think I'm that easy to fool? I agreed to what? You're trying to buy me with gold and pretty words? Ha! You're just a little girl now, but in a few years, you'll be a little seductress. Don't worry, don't worry, by the end of this year, I'll have made another big fortune, and then I'll buy you back too, to keep company with Yuxiang. We'll have a great time together, just the three of us in one bed, how about that?"

  Tang Yixian, Yu Jie'er and Xue Li Mei are all Qing Nu now. The guests they usually receive are also relatively elegant. Who speaks like him so crudely? Listening to it made her blush with shame, but for the time being, she didn't dare to lose her temper.

  Yan Kuan waved the document in his hand, feeling complacent, when suddenly he felt a light touch on his shoulder. A loud, coarse voice whispered in his ear: "Treating chicken feathers as imperial edicts, how crude and uncouth! Let me take a look at what kind of rubbish this is."

  Yan Kuang was shocked, he turned his head to look, and saw a small scholar holding his own document, shouting loudly in a hoarse voice: "This is the household of Su Huaizhi, currently having an adopted daughter Yutang Chun, originally named Su San. Originally expecting to receive guests and support old age, now there is a merchant Yan Kuang who loves the young girl, Su Huaizhi has received 5,000 taels of silver as a ransom gift. From now on..."