Three days later, the most luxurious brothel in Shengjing City, "Fuyun Lou," was adorned with lanterns and colorful decorations. Twelve gilded glass lanterns hung before its red lacquered main gate, illuminating the entire long street as brightly as daylight.
The front of the building was packed with luxurious carriages, their curtains embroidered with various family emblems—
there were the azure phoenixes of Su Fu, the white tigers of the Zhao family, and even a few carriages hung with palace lanterns, hinting at the presence of some noble or royal relative who had come to join the excitement.
Today was the day when Fuyun Lou's Huakui, Yue Linyan, would select her "favored guest."
This Yue Linyan was like a solitary, unyielding poem in Shengjing City that refused to falter in its rhythm.
She perched like a bird on a branch in the deepest depths of the pleasure quarters at Fuyun Lou, yet she seemed separated from the world by a veil of glass and moonlight, offering only dances and never receiving guests.
It was precisely for this reason that when Fuyun Lou suddenly announced three days ago that Yue Linyan would select her one and only "favored guest" tonight, the entire Shengjing City was thrown into an uproar.
At this moment, Fuyun Lou was already packed to the brim, with dignitaries and nobles crowding all three floors.
In the main hall on the first floor, merchants held gold ingots and shouted bids;
in the elegant seats on the second floor, several young masters in brocade robes waved their folding fans, but their gazes kept drifting toward the pearl veil behind the third floor;
and in the gilded private room at the very center of the third floor, several high-ranking court officials conversed in low voices, occasionally letting out meaningful chuckles.
"They say Yue Linyan's figure is graceful and enchanting, capable of dancing on the palm of a hand,"
a wealthy merchant with a greasy face smacked his lips and said. "During last year's Mid-Autumn night banquet, she danced on a copper drum—the drum didn't sound, yet people were intoxicated by her alone!"
"More than that!"
a scholarly-looking man beside him lowered his voice. "I've heard her eyes—there are no others like them in the world. Last month, the Vice Minister of Revenue merely caught a glimpse of her and returned home lovesick."
In a corner, several young noblemen were daydreaming: "If I had the chance to become Miss Yue Linyan's favored guest today…"
"Stop dreaming!"
A companion slapped the back of his head. "See over there? Even Su Jianxuan, the son of Prime Minister Su, has come!"
Everyone followed his gaze to the most prominent spot on the second floor, where a young master in moon-white brocade robes was leisurely sipping tea.
The mutton-fat jade pendant hanging at his waist glowed softly under the lamplight—it was the imperial-bestowed "Integrity and Uprightness" pendant, the only one of its kind in the entire capital.
"Tsk, tsk, that spoiled young master,"
someone said sourly. "Didn't he just spend a fortune on an actress from Wanhua Xilou last month?"
"Shh—keep your voice down! His father is the current…"
Just as they were speaking, the building suddenly fell silent.
It was as if someone had cut off all sound, and even the candle flames stopped flickering.
The vermilion pearl veil on the third floor swayed without any wind, the glass beads clinking against each other with a clear, crisp sound, as if someone in the shadows had plucked an invisible string.
A figure in crimson slowly emerged from behind the veil.
There was no music, no announcement, yet everyone's eyes were irresistibly drawn to her—Yue Linyan had arrived.
She wore a crimson gauze dress, the fabric as thin as a cicada's wings, shimmering with watery ripples under the candlelight.
A silver silk ribbon cinched her waist, adorned with rice-sized pearls on fine threads that swayed gently with her steps, accentuating her slender waist, as delicate as the tenderest willow branch in spring.
Her face was veiled with a light gauze, plain white silk embroidered with intricate cloud patterns in silver thread, revealing only a pair of captivating phoenix eyes.
The corners of her eyes tilted slightly upward, her eyelashes casting shadows beneath her lids. As her gaze shifted, it seemed as though stars had fallen into them.
Most captivating were her eyes, shimmering under the candlelight.
At times, they were as translucent as black crystals soaked in morning dew; at others, they were as mesmerizing as deep-sea whirlpools, drawing one into their depths.
When her gaze gently shifted, a faint golden halo could be glimpsed at the edges of her pupils, so otherworldly it seemed not of this mortal realm.
Most astonishing were the pair of flawless ruby earrings dangling from her earlobes—identical to the broken jade hidden in Nan Yanxiu’s sleeve.
Nan Yanxiu’s fingers tightened slightly within his sleeve, the jagged edge of the half-earring pressing painfully into his palm.
His gaze remained fixed on those eyes, a flicker of inscrutable emotion passing through his own.
Those slightly upturned phoenix eyes glowed with an amber hue in the dim candlelight, strikingly reminiscent of the fleeting glimpse he had caught three months ago during the Blood Moon.
In the corner, the teacup in Su Jianxuan’s hand cracked with a soft click. Scalding tea soaked his sleeve, yet he remained oblivious.
The entire Fuyun Lou fell so silent that one could hear a Silver Needle drop.
Nan Yanxiu sat in the shadows of the corner, his fingertips gently rubbing the half-earring in his sleeve, a playful smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
Since that day of entanglement, he had been unable to uncover any leads.
The Jinyiwei’s archives held no records, and informants in the martial world remained tight-lipped, as if someone had deliberately used water-soaked rice paper to slowly blur and erase all traces of this person’s existence.
Yue Linyan stood upon the high stage, her slender jade-like fingers lightly stroking the strings of the pipa.
As the candlelight flickered, the vermilion mole at the corner of her eye shimmered faintly beneath the thin veil, reminiscent of the soul-snatching fox spirits from storybooks.
The bustling crowd below suddenly fell silent. Even the waiters forgot the wine jugs they were shaking, amber nectar dripping from the table edges onto the embroidered carpets.
"Zheng—"
A clear, crisp note pierced the air. Yue Linyan’s fingertips danced across the strings, initially joining the musicians in performing "Nichang."
As the melody reached its midpoint, she suddenly tossed the pipa behind her, her snow-white wide sleeves tracing a crescent arc in the air.
The priceless rosewood pipa was caught steadily by a maid hidden in the shadows, while the beauty had already gracefully leaped to the center of the stage.
"Look!" someone below overturned their wine cup.
As Yue Linyan’s toes touched the ground, her pearl-adorned skirt bloomed like a night-blooming cereus.
The golden bells at her waist chimed in perfect harmony with the music as she bent her waist.
Most exquisite was the glimpse of crimson at her wrist as her flowing sleeves fluttered—
It was a mandala pattern painted with Western Regions cinnabar, strikingly alluring against her snow-white skin.
Her gaze swept the room, seemingly surveying the entire hall, yet the corner of her eye remained fixed on the private seats on the second floor.
The candlelight cast her silhouette onto the gilded screen, like a moon palace fairy treading upon clouds.
Yet those affectionate eyes continued to roam through the crowd until they caught sight of the "Integrity and Honesty" jade pendant faintly visible in a second-floor private room.
"Young master! Miss Yue just smiled at you!" the page excitedly tugged at his master’s sleeve.
Su Jianxuan waved his gold-sprinkled Folding Fan, the jade pendant at his waist chiming as he leaned forward. "I’ve long said that in all of Shengjing City, there isn’t a lady who doesn’t admire me."
As he spoke, he pulled out a gilded snuff bottle and took a deep sniff, his murky gaze glued to Yue Linyan’s slender waist.
At that moment on the second floor, Nan Yanxiu snapped his folding fan shut with a crisp "snap," a flicker of amusement flashing in his eyes.
He clearly saw the knife-like cold glint hidden in the beauty's gaze—what admiration was there?
It was more like… a hunter spotting a fox that had fallen into a trap.
Downstairs, bidding voices rose and fell in succession.
When someone shouted a hundred taels of silver, Mama Hua Yu's hand, clutching a silk handkerchief, trembled uncontrollably.
Suddenly, an inkstone was thrown down from the second floor, its ink splattering onto the Persian carpet at the edge of the stage.
"One thousand taels—" Su Jianxuan drawled out the words, slowly adding the final two syllables amidst the collective gasps of the hall: "in gold."
"Crash—"
The sound of shattering porcelain echoed from the second floor—a young master from a noble family had accidentally dropped his teacup.
Mama Hua Yu's fingers, painted with crimson nail polish, gripped the railing tightly. In her twenty years of managing Fuyun Lou, this was the first time she had heard of someone spending over a thousand taels of gold for a single night of springtime pleasure.
"I am honored by Young Master Su's deep affection."
Yue Linyan's voice was as sweet as honey, yet her fingertips secretly dug into her palm.
As she curtsied, a silk handkerchief stained with crimson nail polish slipped from her sleeve, fluttering right in front of Su Jianxuan. The man eagerly snatched it up and inhaled its scent.
As the music of strings and flutes resumed, the beauty retreated with delicate steps.
Passing by the gilded screen in an instant, she gestured toward the shadows.
The black-clad figures, who had been lying in wait for a long time, nodded silently. The embroidered spring sabers at their waists gleamed with a bloody light under the glow of the red lanterns.