Feng Qingsui selected a portion of the gifts of gratitude sent by Princess Shouyang and gave them to Madam Qi.
She kept a few bolts of satin and some jewelry for herself, then pawned the rest, receiving five hundred gold pieces.
Just as she was discussing with Wuhua whether five hundred gold could help her jump the queue at Fanlou, Fanlou sent someone to deliver an invitation to Ji Fu.
Qiao Zhenzhen actually wanted to meet her.
“Is this for real?”
She almost thought she had encountered a scam.
The messenger replied, “Miss Qiao has been suffering from wrist pain lately. Several doctors have seen her without improvement. Hearing of your exceptional medical skill, she wishes to request your consultation.”
Feng Qingsui grew even more puzzled. “How does Miss Qiao know I have medical skill?”
“It’s being talked about in the pleasure quarters. They say all the doctors in the capital couldn’t cure Princess Shouyang’s son, but you succeeded with a single treatment. They also say you are kind-hearted, treating all patients equally regardless of their status or background.
Even those with venereal diseases—as long as they kowtow a few times at the gate of Ji Fu—you’ll treat them.”
Feng Qingsui: “…”
Isn’t this just spreading rumors?
Treating courtesans for venereal diseases isn’t a good reputation. If those noblewomen from prominent families found out, they would certainly avoid associating with her.
Whoever started this rumor clearly intended to tarnish her name.
Since returning to the capital, the number of people she had offended could be counted on one hand. After a brief consideration, she knew exactly who was behind this mischief.
However, she had no time to deal with such petty troublemakers for now. After hearing the messenger out, she sent a reply to Qiao Zhenzhen, asking her to arrange a time, and stating that she would personally visit Fanlou to see her.
Upon receiving the reply, Qiao Zhenzhen’s pretty face was filled with astonishment.
Although gossip in the streets praised Feng Qingsui’s compassion as if it were heaven-sent, she didn’t quite believe it.
As one of the capital’s top songstresses, and a chaste performer who sold her art, not her body, she occasionally performed in noble households. Those noblewomen and young ladies would never look at her directly, let alone condescend to associate with her.
Feng Qingsui, the esteemed wife of a general, was willing to treat her—that alone was strange enough. But to actually lower herself and come personally to Fanlou?
No matter how she looked at it, it seemed too good to be true.
Yet the reply was tangibly in her hands.
“What is going on…”
Perplexed, she told her adoptive mother, Madam Fan, about the matter.
Upon hearing this, Madam Fan was greatly alarmed. “Oh no! Could it be that the Confiscation Chancellor has set his sights on our Fanlou?”
“This must be a trap!”
“Most likely, Madam Ji will enter first, and then that Chancellor Ji will follow with the Imperial Forest Army, falsely accusing us of abducting a noblewoman and sealing Fanlou.”
Qiao Zhenzhen was dumbfounded.
“N-no, that can’t be… We haven’t committed any crimes…”
“The national treasury is short on funds!”
Madam Fan sighed.
“Why do you think he confiscates properties every day? It’s all to fill the national treasury. Although our Fanlou is small in scale, with you as our cash cow, in their eyes, we’re a big, fat piece of meat.”
Qiao Zhenzhen was filled with regret. “Mother, it’s all my fault. I sent the invitation without discussing it with you…”
Madam Fan patted her shoulder.
“It’s not your fault for being unprepared. I didn’t anticipate this move either. That man has more tricks up his sleeve than there are ants on the ground. Even if we avoid this trap, there will be others waiting for us.”
Meanwhile, Ji Changqing, the man with more tricks than ants, sneezed in his government office.
“Why is it so chilly again?”
He was about to call Baifu to add more charcoal when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the brazier already filled with charcoal strips. His expression turned slightly puzzled.
Could it be that those idle censors with nothing better to do were writing memorials to criticize him again?
He needed to think of a way to deal with them…
Qiao Zhenzhen had recently heard customers cursing Prime Minister Ji, but she never imagined she would one day feel like doing the same.
How could someone be so cunning as to use their own widowed sister-in-law as bait to deceive a poor soul like her!
She lost her mother at birth, and by the age of four, her father was framed and died in prison, their family property was seized, and she ended up wandering the streets alone. It was only by being taken in by Madam Fan that she managed to survive.
Business at Fanlou had never been good to begin with. The establishment only employed courtesans who sold their talents, not their bodies, and none of them stood out in any particular way, so customers were few and far between.
Fortunately, she was quite good-looking, had a golden voice, and worked hard to master the arts of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, which eventually helped Fanlou gain fame.
Who would have thought…
“Mother, maybe I should send a reply saying everything is fine and she doesn’t need to come.”
Qiao Zhenzhen couldn’t bear to watch Fanlou be raided.
“If she doesn’t come, then that person won’t be able to do anything to us, right?”
“You’re thinking too naively.”
Madam Fan sighed.
“Don’t you think those noble families tried everything? They were still raided. Let’s just close the doors tomorrow and wait. When that Madam Ji arrives, we’ll beg her properly. Maybe we can at least save our lives.”
With tears in her eyes, Qiao Zhenzhen wrote a reply, inviting Feng Qingsui to come the next morning.
Madam Fan busied everyone with cleaning, sweeping every corner inside and out until the place was spotless. She didn’t sleep a wink all night and sat by the entrance at dawn, anxiously waiting for Feng Qingsui to arrive.
By the hour of Chen, a tall black donkey pulling a simple carriage arrived outside Fanlou.
Two young men, one thin and one fat, stepped out of the carriage.
The thin one had a thin mustache, while the fat one sported a mustache.
They seemed to ignore the “Closed” sign on the door and walked straight toward Madam Fan.
Madam Fan lifted her eyelids weakly and said in a feeble voice, “Please come another day. We’re closed and not taking any reservations for now.”
But the thin young man with the mustache took out a letter from his sleeve: “I have an appointment with Miss Qiao.”
The letter was unmistakably the reply Qiao Zhenzhen had written the night before.
Madam Fan stared at them nervously for a moment before realizing that the thin one looked somewhat like a young woman.
“You… you’re Madam Ji…”
Feng Qingsui blinked at her. “It’s best if you keep that to yourself.”
Madam Fan fell to her knees with a thud.
“I’m willing to offer all my possessions if you could put in a good word for us and spare the lives of me and these poor women in the house…”
Feng Qingsui: “?”
She quickly helped Madam Fan to her feet.
“What’s wrong, Madam? I’m here to see a patient, not to take lives. Why are you kneeling?”
Tears streamed down Madam Fan’s face. “I know you’re here to raid the place.”
Feng Qingsui: “…”
After understanding what Madam Fan was thinking, she was both amused and exasperated.
“You’re overthinking it. I really am just here to see a patient. If there were some kind of trap, would I need to disguise myself as a man?”
Seeing that she didn’t seem to be lying, Madam Fan slowly straightened up.
Still uneasy, she asked, “If it’s for a consultation, why not just meet Zhenzhen at a teahouse? Why take such a risk and come to a place like this…”
“There’s a reason I had to come here.”
Feng Qingsui replied.
“It’s too crowded and conspicuous outside. Let’s go inside first.”
Madam Fan led her in. When Qiao Zhenzhen saw Feng Qingsui, she also tried to kneel but was stopped.
“Let me make this clear—the rumors going around are wrong,” Feng Qingsui said with a smile. “I do treat all patients equally, but you don’t need to kneel to see me.”
Qiao Zhenzhen was stunned.
Madam Fan cleared her throat softly. “Quick, show Madam Ji the lump on your wrist.”
After inviting Feng Qingsui to take a seat and calling for tea to be served,
Qiao Zhenzhen absentmindedly extended her wrist. Feng Qingsui examined it and said with a smile, “This is a ganglion cyst—very treatable. But I have one condition.”