Chapter 178: Foolish but Rich

They rented a rather luxurious carriage and explained to Ma Chun along the way that Wang Bin and Yi Yi were at the inn. They then outlined the mission regarding a trip to the Wind-Facing Tower. By the time they arrived, it was nearly evening.

On another street outside the Wind-Facing Tower, Lin Dong told the coachman to stop and gave him a silver ingot, instructing him to go to the tower’s exterior on foot to gather information. Before long, the coachman returned with news: in the lobby on the first floor, there was a woman dressed like a brothel owner greeting guests.

Evening was undoubtedly prime time for brothels. Outside the Wind-Facing Tower, four gorgeously dressed girls waved handkerchiefs, their attractive faces adorned with teasing smiles as they waved at passersby and flattered themselves. As soon as the carriage stopped, the four girls rushed forward eagerly. One of them, dressed in a red dress with a silver hairpin in her hair, stepped forward first. As Ma Chun lifted the carriage curtain and Lin Dong poked his head out, she waved her handkerchief in front of his face, pausing briefly when it touched his nose.

“Sir, you must have missed Feng’er terribly. We’ve been waiting for you all day,” the girl in red said with a pitiful expression, casting sultry glances at Lin Dong like a secluded woman.

The other three, upon seeing the three large gold rings on Lin Dong’s hands, also rushed over, their sweet scents overwhelming. Ma Chun couldn’t help but sniff—only then did he realize that since becoming the manager of Lin’s Inn, he hadn’t been to a brothel in ages. Swallowing hard, he resisted the urge to slap each of those wriggling girls and threw four gold ingots at them instead.

“Go away, don’t get in the way.”

Instead of getting angry, the four girls were delighted—receiving a gold ingot just for greeting a customer, a price enough to cover a month’s rent. With such generosity, if they could win over this wealthy lord and please him, they might even be freed and taken back to enjoy wealth and luxury.

Instantly, their thoughts aligned. After stepping aside to let Lin Dong out of the carriage, they became even more obsequious, forgetting about serving guests altogether as they surrounded Lin Dong and led him into the lobby.

Lin Dong leaned on a cane with his right hand, moving confidently, while holding an iron ball in his left, allowing the girls to touch him. Such an odd combination drew countless stares as soon as they entered.

From afar, Yingchun, upon seeing what was happening, immediately abandoned her guests, took out her bright red handkerchief, and wobbled her hips as she rushed over.

Allowing the four girls outside to attract customers to come in, Yingchunhua could almost instantly tell that this rather odd-looking gentleman must have spent quite a bit of silver at the door.
“Oh, sir, why did you come so late? The girls in our building have been waiting anxiously…” Before her pale, slightly plump arms could even rest on Lin Dong’s shoulders, Ma Chun took out a gold ingot worth ten taels and threw it into her arms.
Thud!
With a soft thud, the gold ingot sank into Yingchunhua’s clothes. A chill spread through her body, making her shiver, but the smile on her face, covered in thick layers of rouge, grew even wider.
Though she hadn’t seen it closely, based on her touch and the brief flash of gold, she was sure it was a substantial gold ingot.
“It’s still the brothels in the capital city! Not a single decent-looking girl here. Go away! My master came here to hear Miss Yiyi play the zither and sing. Call her over.” Ma Chun waved impatiently at Yingchunhua, as if swatting a fly.
“Young man, our Yingfeng Tower is one of the best brothels in Qiufeng Mansion. Every girl here is delicate and adorable,” Yingchunhua said, waving a handkerchief at Ma Chun with a feigned scolding expression, though she was puzzled inside.
From his tone, this generous patron was clearly a wealthy man with vast lands. Yingfeng Tower had encountered such wealthy men before; fearing ridicule, they often spent even more extravagantly than the locals. Normally, this was great news for Yingfeng Tower—allowing their top performers to do their best to keep these clients longer and earn more silver.
But this man wanted Yiyi. Where could she find Yiyi right now?
“Enough, stop talking nonsense,” Ma Chun said again, pulling out another gold ingot and throwing it over. “Go find Yiyi. Her music sounds like celestial music—I guarantee you’ll get your silver.”
“Well…”
Yingchunhua was still struggling when Lin Dong’s cane tapped lightly on the ground. His deep voice, laced with clear displeasure, said, “How much silver do you need? Give me a price.”
“It’s not about silver…” Yingchunhua forced a smile and glared at an old man behind her who was forcing a smile. “Hurry up and call Xing’er and Yunyun over!”
“Sure, sure! I’ll go right away,” the old man nodded quickly.

Before Lin Dong could speak, Yingchunhua immediately bent over to lead him to an empty table. “Sir, Xing’er and Yunyun, just like Yiyi, are all our top performers at Yingfeng Tower—the most famous girls here. Please take a look first. If you’re not satisfied, I can take you to see Yiyi.”
“No need to look!” Lin Dong gave Yingchunhua a cold glance and nodded at Ma Chun beside him.
Ma Chun took out a stack of silver bills from his clothes. Under Yingchunhua’s eager gaze, he pulled out the top bill, walked over to the table, and slapped it down hard. “Is this enough?”
Yingchunhua glanced at the amount—wow, a thousand taels! That was equivalent to Yingfeng Tower’s earnings for over a dozen days. Even in its peak times, it only covered three or four days’ worth of profits.
“Enough, enough… What’s your name, sir?” Yingchunhua asked with a smile.
“Lin,” Lin Dong replied indifferently.
“Lord Lin, let me be honest with you! It’s not that I won’t bring Miss Yiyi here—it’s mainly because she refuses to sell herself; moreover, she only plays music and sings on the second floor.” Yingchunhua looked troubled. “If you want to hear her perform, you’ll have to go up to the second floor.”
“Always the second floor?” Ma Chun asked.
“Yes, always. Miss Yiyi is very proud.” With such a wealthy man right in front of her, Yingchunhua didn’t hesitate to boast. “A few months ago, even a high-ranking official from the capital wanted her to come down and entertain guests, but she refused outright.”
Ma Chun glanced at Lin Dong.
“If that’s the case, take us up to the second floor.” Lin Dong scanned the hall, seemingly looking for the stairs.
“This way, this way… The stairs to the second floor are outside.” Yingchunhua continued to boast. “Originally, they were inside, but some nobleman insisted that Yiyi was like a fairy descended from heaven, and that the noisy environment downstairs would damage her reputation. So he paid a lot for me to move the stairs outside.”
Ma Chun was amazed and said to Lin Dong, “Lord, it seems Lord Liu wasn’t lying. This Miss Yiyi is indeed extraordinary.”
Lin Dong nodded silently.
On the way up to the second floor, fearing that Lin Dong might overhear other guests talking about Yiyi, Yingchunhua hurriedly led him to a private room.
Once Lin Dong was seated, Yingchunhua smiled sweetly. “Lord Lin, Miss Yiyi will be performing soon. Please wait a moment while I arrange some food and drink for you.”
Ma Chun waved his hand. “Bring the best wine and food.”
Yingchunhua nodded quickly, went behind the wooden counter to give instructions to the fake Yiyi, and then ordered the staff to serve the food.

Returning to the private room, Yingchunhua began to engage in polite conversation, with Lindong occasionally responding, mostly with Ma Chun chipping in. Yingchunhua was well aware that this wealthy but simple-minded local tycoon was certainly not the kind of person who would easily yield his spotlight to a servant. He must be afraid of saying something inappropriate due to his lack of knowledge about the rules of brothels in the city. If it were the servant who spoke and caused a mistake, there would still be room to make amends.

Outside the private room, Jia Yiyi stepped onto the wooden platform. Unlike previous times when she would first express her thanks, she sat down on the wooden stool right away and began to play the zither and sing. Her singing was elegant and refined, and her zither playing was melodious and sustained. Although her skills were slightly inferior to Zhen Yiyi’s, they were still quite good.

Inside the room, Lindong had his head slightly tilted back and his eyes closed, seemingly lost in delight. Seeing this, Yingchunhua’s anxious heart finally settled somewhat. As expected, this Lord Lin had come just to spend money, purely because of Yiyi’s reputation, without really paying attention to the quality of the performance.

After the song ended, there was complete silence outside the room, which made Yingchunhua’s heart sink even more. If there had been a few scattered cheers, things might have been exposed. Seeing that Lindong still had his eyes closed after a long while and his ears seemingly perked up, Yingchunhua found it amusing. A local tycoon remained a local tycoon—though wealthy, he still felt inferior to the urban elites. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so cautious.

After a while, Lindong finally opened his eyes and nodded as if savoring the experience: “Indeed, it’s excellent zither music and songs.”

“Of course! Lord Lin, you’re quite discerning. Our Miss Yiyi’s music often leaves people in a daze for an hour or two,” Yingchunhua said proudly.

Lindong glanced at Ma Chun. Ma Chun immediately asked, “How often does Miss Yiyi play a piece?”

“Once every two hours,” Yingchunhua replied without hesitation. She was sure that Lord Liu hadn’t specified such detailed timing; otherwise, Ma Chun wouldn’t have asked.

“Two hours…” Lindong hesitated.

One thousand taels of silver was no small amount. Though this local tycoon was acting foolishly to save face, he still had his limits. Yingchunhua didn’t believe that just listening to a song in a daze would be enough to satisfy him. She immediately stood up with a smile, saying, “This is Lord Lin’s first time visiting our Yingfeng Tower. Please wait a moment while I ask Miss Yiyi if she’s available to have a drink with you.”

Lindong’s expression brightened, and he nodded steadily.

Yingchunhua immediately admitted her mistake and left the private room to prevent outside noises from leaking in, then quickly closed the door.
“Boss, seems everything is going smoothly?” Ma Chun asked cautiously from behind Lin Dong.
Lin Dong nodded, waiting to see if things would continue smoothly.
After a while, Yingchunhua entered, waving her handkerchief and looking strikingly beautiful. Behind her was a graceful woman with delicate steps as light as water. Her face was covered by a sheer veil, allowing one to faintly see her beautiful features, adding a mysterious allure.
Not bad!
Lin Dong nodded slightly—at least she was a beauty.