Baili Yan gave the madam ten taels of silver and was assigned a seat in the front row. After Baili Yan sat down, Cao Xiaochan followed and took a seat beside him. Shortly after, a pimp brought over a pot of tea, poured cups for the two of them, and cast a very strange glance at Cao Xiaochan as he left. Cao Xiaochan checked himself from top to bottom but could find nothing amiss, having no idea what the pimp was looking at.
Baili Yan knew full well that accompanying page boys and student attendants never sat together with their masters. Yet this silly rabbit was still foolishly wondering if there was something bizarre about himself.
“Oh, Wealthy Benefactor Niu, why are you only arriving now? It’s about to start!” came the madam’s shrill, scalp-tingling voice from the entrance. Baili Yan looked over and saw a man of about forty entering, sporting a belly the size of an eight-month pregnant woman, dressed in green silk garments, and acting as if he were quite dashing as he brandished an ink-wash folding fan. Little did he know that his appearance closely resembled a human-sized toad, making him as comical as could be.
Wealthy Benefactor Niu snapped his folding fan open with a clack and fanned himself lightly. “I’m here now, aren’t I? But madam, about the matter I mentioned earlier, are you going to agree to it or not?”
“Oh, listen to you! I’d love to agree, but I can’t break the house rules, can I? Why don’t you wait until three days from now when Mistress Shuangxue holds her bidding; you’ll be able to get what you wish for then just as easily.” The madam replied with a surface smile while feeling utter contempt in her heart, as with the meager bit of silver he offered, he wanted to buy out the top-ranked courtesan. Keep dreaming.
Before Wealthy Benefactor Niu could retort, the sound of string and wind instruments struck up, signaling that the show was about to begin. Deciding not to press the matter further, he hurried over to settle into his seat, wearing a famished expression that anyone would find nauseating.
“Xiaochan, look. Is that man Wealthy Benefactor Niu?” Baili Yan pointed toward Wealthy Benefactor Niu’s table and asked Cao Xiaochan, as he wasn’t certain whether this person was the exact same Wealthy Benefactor Niu who had framed Cao Xiaochan. Cao Xiaochan hadn’t heard a word of the conversation at the entrance just moments ago because the main hall was filled with a loud, bustling clamor that ordinary people couldn’t hear past.
Cao Xiaochan followed the direction of his finger, looked over, and nodded. “That’s the green-skinned pig.” Possessing the memories of the original body, he confirmed it instantly.
“Very well then. Tonight, I’ll treat you to a show.”
“What kind of show?” Cao Xiaochan loved watching shows the most, and his eyes shone brightly as he looked at Baili Yan.
“You’d better watch the stage first.”
At this moment, the top courtesan named Shuangxue walked gracefully onto the stage draped in white silk, seating herself before the zither stand with a myriad of elegant postures. Her face was veiled, revealing only a pair of autumn-water-like eyes whose glances were enough to hook away the souls of countless lechers. Her half-exposed breasts resembled white jade, inspiring endless flights of fancy.
“Big Brother Liu, you say this woman is half-hiding her face behind a lute, so nobody knows whether her other features look good apart from her figure and eyes, yet all these men are acting so starved. What if she has a bulbous garlic nose or buckteeth under that veil? What if she has a harelip or a sunken bridge of the nose?” Cao Xiaochan looked at the beauty on the stage in puzzlement, then glanced at the lechers in the audience who looked ready to strip the clothes right off her, and asked doubtfully.
Baili Yan was appreciating the beauty when this discordant line of questioning suddenly arrived. He involuntarily followed Cao Xiaochan’s words and pictured lifting the beauty’s veil to find a plain-looking woman with a harelip, buckteeth, and a sunken nose bridge, instantly killing all his enthusiasm.
“If other people pay money and later find out this woman is ugly, will they beat her?” Cao Xiaochan began muttering to himself. “I used to hear people say that after you blow out the lamps, women all look the same anyway, so she probably wouldn’t get caught.”
Baili Yan felt a black line cross his forehead. Which bastard had corrupted the silly rabbit?
By this time, the performance on the stage had concluded, and the madam began selling the opportunity to spend tonight alone with Shuangxue on stage amidst her trembling floral ornaments.
The audience was gripped by intense excitement. Even if they couldn’t taste the beauty, getting to touch her little hand would be deeply intoxicating, so a crowd of lechers began shouting out bids. In the end, Wealthy Benefactor Niu emerged victorious and happily trotted upstairs behind the pimp, while the rest who failed to secure the prize left with expressions of deep regret to seek pleasure with other women in the brothel.
Baili Yan ordered a top-tier courtesan to accompany them as company, and the pimp led him upstairs. Cao Xiaochan followed with curious eyes, looking left and right, and even trailed right into the courtesan’s room. The pimp cast yet another very bizarre look at Cao Xiaochan, leaving him completely baffled.
The room was filled with a sweet, cloying scent of incense that made one feel somewhat uncomfortable. The moment Baili Yan stepped into the room, a prettily dressed, scantily clad woman walked up and tried to lean into his arms. With a slight sidestep of his body, the woman lunged into empty air; she was slightly stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered her composure.
Baili Yan walked over to the table and sat down, with Cao Xiaochan following closely behind. The woman was completely nonplussed by this master-and-servant pair.
“Can you sing a tune?” Baili Yan picked up the tea poured for him by the woman.
“I can. Would the master like this humble maid to serve you with a song?” The woman flashed a winning smile at the handsome scholar while subtly pulling her neckline down, exposing a pair of pristine white breasts that looked as though they might slip out of her garments at any moment.
“Miss, your clothes are sliding down.” Cao Xiaochan, who had been burying his head in the fruits on the table, looked up and noticed that the woman’s chest garments seemed to have slipped down significantly more than before, and out of innocence, he spoke up to remind her.
“Ahem.” Baili Yan had just taken a sip of tea into his mouth and nearly spat it out without a shred of dignity.
The woman ground her teeth in frustration, yet she couldn’t bring herself to admit she had done it on purpose. She tugged her clothes back up and said with a forced smile, “Young master, your page boy really knows how to joke.”
“Sing a song first. If it’s good, there will be a reward.” Disregarding her remark, Baili Yan issued instructions of his own accord. Cao Xiaochan couldn’t figure out if he had said something wrong just now, wondering why the expressions of these two people were so weird.
Upon hearing there was prize money, the woman felt a surge of secret delight, picked up the pipa, and began to sing. By the time the song concluded, Cao Xiaochan still hadn’t figured out what it was actually about.
Baili Yan rewarded the woman with ten taels of silver and a pot of wine, telling her that she would receive another five taels once she finished the wine. A sinking feeling hit the woman’s heart; could she have encountered a guest with peculiar kinks? What kind of terrible luck had she run into today? Gritting her teeth, she chugged the entire pot of fiery liquor down, collected the silver, and promptly collapsed in a drunken stupor.
Having confirmed that the woman was thoroughly intoxicated, Baili Yan instructed Cao Xiaochan, “Wait for me here. I’m going to check on Wealthy Benefactor Niu’s side.” Knowing that going along would only cause trouble, Cao Xiaochan nodded obediently.
Baili Yan easily located the room where Wealthy Benefactor Niu was staying. Inside, Wealthy Benefactor Niu was holding Shuangxue’s little hand and speaking to her with deep affection. Masked, Baili Yan quietly slipped into the room, flicked his finger to extinguish the candlelight, and swiftly sealed Shuangxue’s sleeping pressure point along with Wealthy Benefactor Niu’s immobilization points.
Terrified in his heart, Wealthy Benefactor Niu wondered what on earth had gone wrong, but moments later, he caught a whiff of a peculiar fragrance and his consciousness began to grow hazy.
Using a special truth-compelling incense crafted within his valley to drug Wealthy Benefactor Niu into submission, Baili Yan extracted the information he needed before quietly returning to find Cao Xiaochan.
When he pushed the door open and entered, he saw Cao Xiaochan’s cheeks flushed with an abnormal feverish red. Seeing him return, Cao Xiaochan smiled blankly at him and said, “Big Brother Liu, you’re back. How strange, why is the weather so hot today?” As he spoke, he began pulling at the garments on his body.
Sensing something was amiss, Baili Yan glanced toward the wine cup on the table and saw that the wine inside had been completely emptied. He cursed inwardly, realizing this little simpleton had accidentally consumed an aphrodisiac!