Chapter 233: Miss Rose
Relying on her superb talent for putting on airs and her silver tongue, Nan Xun successfully fooled madam Zhang of Zuiyue Pavillion and signed a three-year unequal contract.
Madam Zhang would provide her with food, clothing, lodging, and travel. Nan Xun emphasized one point in particular: she must be allowed to eat her fill, and madam Zhang was not allowed to force her to do anything she didn’t want to do. She would be an elegant performer—selling talent, not herself—who would not receive guests, not even show her face. Once the three years were up, the contract would be dissolved, and she could leave at any time.
Of course, madam Zhang wasn’t easy to deal with either. After that unequal contract, she added another clause: within three years, Li Yunduo had to earn her five hundred taels of silver. Otherwise, all the terms above would be void.
Nan Xun was confident enough about this and agreed on the spot.
As for why Nan Xun signed for three years, it had to do with a clue provided by Little Eight. Three years later, the Grand Preceptor boss would post notices widely to recruit a batch of gu testers.
What were gu testers? They were people who existed solely to test poison gu for the disciples of Mo Ran Hall!
If someone was exceptionally tough and didn’t die after twenty poison trials, they could be exceptionally admitted as an outer disciple of Mo Ran Hall. But according to Little Eight’s reliable information, no one who became a gu tester ever lasted to the end—and every single one died miserably, or rather, disgustingly.
Even so, for that slim hope, there would surely be a wave of fanatics eager to rush forward and die for the Grand Preceptor.
Nan Xun’s goal was to elbow out those people competing to die, successfully enter Mo Ran Hall, and as for how to get close to the Grand Preceptor boss afterward—she would deal with that later. This was not something to rush; it had to be done step by step…
Three years passed in the blink of an eye, and Zuiyue Pavillion was no longer what it once was.
By the time You shichen (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.) arrived, the first-floor hall was already packed to the brim. The men gathered here were not riffraff, but well-known refined and elegant figures of the imperial city. As for the private rooms on the second floor, needless to say, they were filled with truly important people.
In just three years, madam Zhang had successfully elevated Zuiyue Pavillion’s status, turning it into a breath of fresh air among brothels. People came here not merely for carnal pleasure, but also to exchange poetry, songs, and refined arts.
Today was the monthly appearance of Zuiyue Pavillion’s top courtesan—Miss Rose.
Speaking of Miss Rose, she was truly something else.
No one had ever seen her true face, because she always wore a light veil.
She wore a snow-white, floor-length silk dress. Her figure was graceful beyond compare, like a fairy fallen into the mortal world.
Yet though she looked like a fairy, she possessed a pair of soul-hooking eyes—one glance was enough to make people feel as though their souls had been stolen.
Miss Rose appeared once a month, befriending others through music, chess, poetry, and painting. She was a genuinely talented woman; sometimes the couplets she posed couldn’t be answered even by famous scholars of the imperial city.
There was still a full hour before Miss Rose’s appearance, but everyone was already impatient.
As they waited, movement finally appeared on the stage—several burly men carried up a full set of bells, chimes, and drums.
“Could it be that Miss Rose will play a piece for us today?” someone exclaimed in delight.
“Wonderful! This trip was worth it!”
As Xu shichen (7 p.m. to 9 p.m.) arrived, everyone craned their necks toward the hall.
“Heavens—look over there!” someone cried out.
At some point, a long white silk ribbon had been tied to a pillar on the second floor. A woman in flowing white clothes grasped the ribbon with one hand and suddenly leapt down from the second floor.
Her face was veiled. Holding the ribbon, she swung down toward the first-floor hall. Near the stage, she released her grip and landed lightly and steadily atop it.
Everyone instinctively held their breath, still unable to process what they had just seen.
The graceful woman had just swung down from the second floor like a fairy descending from the heavens—beautiful, yet perilous.
The fairy’s silk-like, seductive eyes curved slightly as she spoke in a voice as melodious as a warbling oriole: “Today’s challenge is this—whoever can follow my tune and play in harmony with me may chat with me freely for one hour.”
After speaking, she spun lightly on the stage like a swallow, raised her hands, and began striking the instruments on either side of the platform.
As she danced, she nimbly wove among the bells, chimes, and drums, producing a melody like celestial music.
The audience listened, utterly entranced. When the tune began its second round, the sound of a zither suddenly arose from a private room on the second floor, perfectly harmonizing with her bells and chimes, adding even more ethereal beauty to the music.
Beneath the veil, Miss Rose’s lips parted slightly, and she began to hum softly.
There were no vulgar lyrics—just gentle humming. With a voice like birdsong, even a few casual notes were enough to capture everyone’s hearts, let alone such enchanting, delicate singing.
When the piece ended, the crowd still hadn’t pulled themselves out of that otherworldly sensation. By the time they finally came back to their senses, the fairy on the stage had already vanished.
“Marvelous! Absolutely marvelous! To hear Miss Rose play such a piece—worth dying for!”
“Truly celestial music, living up to its reputation. Even someone like me, who barely understands music, was completely spellbound!”
Seeing the crowd’s endless praise, madam Zhang beamed with joy and hurried out to smooth things over. “Gentlemen, Miss Rose’s performance ends here today. The one who matched her tune was a young master from a first-class private room upstairs. Miss Rose has already gone to meet him. My apologies—everyone else will have to wait until next month.”
In truth, after finishing her grand show, Nan Xun didn’t go see any guest at all. She returned to her room first.
Little Eight’s praise poured forth like the waters of the Yellow River. “Darling, your ability to put on airs is getting stronger and stronger! Look at those men—drooling like idiots. You deadly little enchantress~”
Nan Xun smiled calmly. “Haven’t eaten pork, but I’ve seen pigs run. I’ve seen these tricks plenty of times—today I only used a small part of them.”
If there weren’t still tasks to complete, Little Eight would have loved to see what other tricks Nan Xun could pull.
Before long, madam Zhang hurried over. “Oh my little ancestor, why didn’t you go meet the guest?”
Nan Xun tugged down the veil for some air and said irritably, “Is it that Young Master Qi again?”
Even after seeing that beautiful face countless times, madam Zhang couldn’t help a flash of amazement in her eyes.
Seeing Nan Xun’s reluctance, she quickly coaxed, “What’s wrong with Young Master Qi? He’s handsome, generous, and you’d earn plenty of silver just chatting with him. Why not? Besides, you agreed to this yourself—you can’t go back on your word.”
Nan Xun glanced at her. “I know. Madam Zhang, can you let me eat a whole roast chicken to fill my stomach first? I’m afraid if I talk too long today, I’ll get dizzy from hunger. What if I faint right there?”
Madam Zhang’s mouth twitched violently at those words.
