Chapter 21: Entering the Tiger's Lair

  This journey was exhausting, and Hao Fenglou was indeed worn out. After a nap, he woke up to find that the sky had already darkened. Ling Xue returned panting, saying: "I've gathered some information."

  "What news?"

  Ling Xue said: "This Li Jinglong goes to a place called Yihongyuan every night to drink flower wine."

  "Every night?" Hao Feng Lou asked.

  Ling Xue nodded.

  Hao Fenglou slammed his fist on the table, his eyes misty with rage, and said with a belly full of class hatred: "Beast!"

  Ling Xue said, "I've heard that Yi Hong Inn is one of the best brothels in Nanjing, where customers are all lavish spenders, and it's not uncommon for some to splurge hundreds of gold coins in just one night."

  Hao Fenglou gritted his teeth and said, "Playing with women, corrupting social morals, such a scoundrel is really detestable." After a moment of contemplation, he continued, "At this time, is Li Jinglong in the Yihong Courtyard?"

  "It should be there."

  "Alright, let's go there." Hao Feng Lou clenched his fists and said, "To serve the King of Yan, to calm the difficulties, even if Yihongyuan is a dragon's lair, I will still make an attempt."

  Ling Xue said: "Good." After thinking for a moment, she added: "Wait a minute, I'll go change into some other clothes. It just so happens that I brought men's clothing with me."

  Hao Feng Lou said, "Are you going too?"

  Ling Xue's bright eyes sparkled with a smile: "I also want to serve Yan Wang, for the sake of pacifying the difficulties."

  Hao Feng Lou rubbed his forehead and was speechless, asking the heavens.

  Ling Xue indeed changed into men's clothing, tied a kerchief around her head, wore an ordinary rich young master's Confucian robe, slightly disguised herself, and looked like a refined and elegant young master. She waved a fan in front of Hao Feng Lou and lightly shook it: "Let's set off."

  The night market in Nanjing City is the most prosperous, a city wall divides the inside and outside into two worlds. Outside, the wind howls and people's hearts are filled with anxiety, but inside the city, the lights are still shining brightly, and the streets are bustling with activity. Hao Feng Lou couldn't help but sigh: "The merchants' daughters don't know the sorrow of a fallen nation, they're still singing across the river... Hey, look at this medicine shop, it's huge in scale, truly rare to see, and there's also this clothing store..."

  In a daze, Hao Feng Lou seemed to have returned to the pedestrian street of later generations. The bustling crowd and the brightly lit world were somewhat unfamiliar, yet somewhat familiar.

  In the distance, many brothels were clustered together. Among them, one was particularly grand in scale, with bright lights and a huge signboard that read "Yi Hong Yuan" in three large golden characters. Hao Feng Lou waved his fan and couldn't help but shake his head: "Corrupt, corrupt."

  Ling Xue was just about to step forward when Hao Feng Lou called out to her: "How much silver did you bring?"

  "Silver...". Ling Xue was dazed for a moment, then said: "There are seven or eight taels of loose silver. This trip is just to persuade and only brought expenses along the way. There are still ten taels of silver pawned at the inn."

  Hao Feng Lou couldn't help but rub his forehead and said, "You dare to come to this kind of place with only seven or eight pieces of silver? Do you know that in the high-end brothels of Songjiang Prefecture, just the tea water fee for entering is three or four pieces of silver? In Zhenjiang, it's even more expensive because many merchants and travelers come and go, at least five pieces of silver. Do you know what a 'golden warehouse' is? This is a golden warehouse, and this Yi Hong Yuan is one of the top brothels in the world. Without ten or twenty pieces of silver, I'm afraid you'll be chased out before you even get in. A PIAO prostitute not bringing money is a big taboo."

  Her eyebrows furrowed with concern, revealing a daughter-like expression, she said: "How did you know so clearly?"

  Hao Fenglou's face turned red, and he immediately said seriously: "It's just hearsay."

  Ling Xue said: "Why don't we just wait here for Li Jinglong to come out, and then think of a way to get acquainted with him?"

  Hao Feng Lou looked down on her: "You greeted him on the street, but I'm afraid people didn't see it, and his dog leg would have opened you up. To make friends, of course, it's most suitable in Yihongyuan, forget it, I'll think of a way."

  Ling Xue's head was filled with misty water, but even without money, there were ways?

  But then, Hao Feng Lou narrowed his eyes and carefully sized up the crowd of people coming and going outside the Yi Hong Inn. He fanned himself with a fan, half-closing his eyes as if staring at something, until a grayish horse carriage arrived in front of the gate. A stout merchant got out, looked around, and was about to enter when Hao Feng Lou's eyes flashed with a hint of sharpness. He quickly stepped forward and said, "Wait!"

  Ling Xue smiled bitterly, this guy was up to something again.

  The merchant stopped in his tracks, and at this time, Hao Feng Lou had already arrived nearby. Hao Feng Lou chuckled and bowed: "Mr. Chen Dong, long time no see. No, no, as a student, I should be calling you Uncle instead."

  The merchant was taken aback and said: "Do we know each other?"

  Hao Fenglou said, "How can you not recognize me? A few months ago, I went to the pharmacy to look for my aunt, and that day my aunt was still angry. Ah, your Chen family is big and prosperous, I am a poor relative, not often on the move, this trip passing through Nanjing must also visit my aunt."

  The merchant indeed surnamed Chen, but as soon as he heard the words "paternal aunt", his face suddenly changed a bit, and he stammered: "Ah, I remember now, it's you. Since we're relatives, let's go inside to talk."

  Hao Feng Lou shook his head and said with a embarrassed expression: "No need, no need, I'm just passing by this place."

  Unfortunately, this Mr. Chen was impatient and pulled at the departing Hao Feng Lou, saying: "What's going on? Don't worry, once we go in, I'll take care of all the expenses as the elder, come on, let's have a couple of drinks."

  Hao Fenglou said with difficulty: "Alright, it's hard to refuse your kindness."

  Ling Xue behind him stared blankly, feeling as if everyone in the world had gone mad, and it took a long time for him to come back to his senses.

  At this time, she saw Hao Fenglou and that Chen surname merchant enter, she didn't dare to be slow, and quickly followed in.

  Hao Fenglou accompanied Mr. Chen, a merchant surnamed Chen, as they exchanged pleasantries and entered the Yihong Courtyard, which had a layout of three entrances and exits, with multiple levels of pavilions, where scholars and merchants were constantly coming and going, occasionally transmitting the sounds of singing and dancing, while pink lanterns emitted a reddish glow. Mr. Chen, familiar with the place, whispered a few words to one of the young servants inside, who nodded in understanding and led him to a private room where wine and dishes were served.

  Mr. Chen gave a generous tip and then proceeded to select an escort with his servant.

  Ling Xue was full of doubts and was about to ask when Hao Feng Lou smiled and said, "How is it? Are you wondering why this Chen Dong insisted on inviting us to drink flower wine?"

  Hao Fenglou smiled slightly: "When I first saw this person, I felt that he was suspicious. Look at him coming and going from such a brothel, his price must be high, only the wealthy and noble can come here, even ordinary rich families dare not come. But his carriage is not luxurious, it's obviously rented, the clothes on his body are still decent, but just ordinary. So I guessed that although he has a lot of money, he is very low-key, he must be hiding something. A wealthy person who visits a brothel, what is he afraid of? It's probably because he's afraid of his wife, his wife is fierce, and he's sneaking around, afraid of being discovered, so he's being so low-key."

  "So when I approached him, I found that he had a medicinal smell on his body. A person full of medicinal smell is either a sickly person or a pharmacist. Looking at him coming to the brothel to have fun and being so spirited, he's definitely not a sickly person. So I directly said that I had visited his pharmacy before."

  Ling Xue was still suspicious: "But how did you know his surname is Chen?"

  Hao Feng Lou said lightly, "This is easy. On the way here, there were seven pharmacies, and slightly higher-end ones were Chen Ji Pharmacy. If it's just a small business, they wouldn't dare come here. Only Chen Ji Pharmacy has a large scale and many employees, so only big businesses like this would dare to come here to sell gold."

  I went straight up to him, first calling him Chen Dongjia, and then mentioning the pharmacy. Although he saw me as a stranger, he also began to suspect whether he had dealt with me before, and I claimed to be his nephew by marriage. In his heart, he acquiesced, because for someone like him who is wealthy and arrogant, there are countless relatives trying to curry favor, even if not a thousand, at least eight hundred. This kind of distant relative is everywhere, and with his status, he definitely wouldn't bother to remember.

  However, this time he was sneaking out in disguise, something that absolutely couldn't be known by his wife, so when I mentioned visiting my aunt in a few days, he got scared, afraid that I might say something inappropriate at the time. So... Haofeng Building laughed: "In order to buy me off, he insisted on taking me with him to seek pleasure, what relationship is most reliable between men? Of course it's... Haha..."

  Suddenly enlightened, he couldn't help but say: "There are so many mysteries inside, I thought that person was crazy." He immediately said seriously: "But now we're here, and we don't know which room Li Jinglong is in. If we go looking for people rashly now, it's easy to arouse suspicion. But if we just sit here, isn't it a waste of time?"

  Hao Fenglou furrowed his brow, he remembered that he wasn't here to have fun, although there was a generous host treating him to dinner, completing the task was more important. How could he get acquainted with Li Jinglong? He definitely couldn't just show up at his doorstep, people are all skeptical, if you take the initiative to find them, they'll definitely suspect you of having ulterior motives, even if they don't think deeply about it, they'll still look down on someone who comes to them uninvited. It's better to let the other party come to him, but how could he get Li Jinglong to come to him?

  He pondered for a moment, then gave Ling Xue a signal: "I'll think of something."

  As soon as the words fell, Chen Dong led several powder heads over. Several powder heads came up, all with good looks and mostly plump figures, apparently this was Chen Dong's taste.

  ……………

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