Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhou Yi immediately understood what Zhang Cheng meant when he previously told Zhou Yi that there were benefits to working in the logistics department.
At the same time, he also cleared his doubts on why all his colleagues had properties in the capital city and were always extremely generous when they were out to spend their monies.
If he just relied on his monthly salary, Zhang Cheng would not even be allowed to walk through the doors of Spring Breeze Court.
Elixirs and pills.
Even vitality pills of the lowest grade were worth a good sum of money.
Yesterday, he was walking around the capital and saw pharmacies selling elixirs. Qualitatively, these elixirs sold did not match up to the vitality pills he earned, but they were sold for tens of taels.
Zhang Cheng said, “I will introduce you to a merchant who specializes in buying offal pills and inferior meat. You are free to use it for yourself, but don’t sell it freely.”
Zhou Yi immediately got what he meant. This merchant was most probably someone working on deep background, otherwise, he would not be able to make such dealings with the logistics department.
“There is no problem in doing so?”
If anyone were to sell elixirs from the imperial court for private gains, they would most probably face a death sentence when exposed.
Zhou Yi did not care about the elixirs, but he could never give up on his treasure trove, the Demon Slaying Department. How dangerous it would be if he had to slay demons and monsters personally!
Of course, Zhou Yi was very confident in his strength.
Even if he could not be considered invincible, he was definitely still one of the strongest handful.
He was just unwilling to flaunt his strength, or rather, he preferred to exercise caution. Besides, he was not a fool.
Demons and monsters were no fools either. If they could not win the fight, they would flee, gather together to wallop their enemies, lay ambushes, lay traps, poison, cast spells of curses…
Life and death were just a hairsbreadth apart. It was never one’s strength alone that allowed one to dominate the world.
“Just as how it is inevitable that the coroners accidentally damage some of the demon materials when handling them when pills are being refined in the alchemy lab, it is very normal for each furnace to produce a few wasted offal pills.”
Zhang Cheng said, “We are just putting this waste to good use!”
Zhou Yi was puzzled and asked, “Why can’t the logistics department just sell the damaged materials and pay the officials higher salaries?”
There were as many as a few hundred minor officials in the logistics department, so the number of pills issued every month was worth an astronomical amount of money.
These demon materials were completely at the disposal of the high-ranking superiors of the logistics department. It was highly unlikely that anyone would find fault with them for paying the lowly officials more money.
“Issuing these pills to us is considered as the disposal of waste. But if we were to sell these to earn some money for ourselves, it becomes corruption.”
Zhang Cheng cast a glance at Zhou Yi and with a seriousness that was rare of him, he said, “There are many internal practices in this place but for someone as insignificant as yourself, you just have to go with the flow.”
“Thanks for your guidance, Sir.”
Zhou Yi still had some doubts in his mind. But he saw that Zhang Cheng was no longer interested in continuing the conversation, so he immediately changed the subject.
“I have received so much help from you all this while, please accept this elixir as a gift of gratitude, Sir.”
“You little punk. You are a fast learner indeed, already starting to bribe your superior. The last thing that I, Zhang Cheng, will ever lack, is money.”
Zhang Cheng might have openly said that he did not want the gift, but he readily accepted the porcelain bottle while grinning from ear to ear.
“What’s this talk of Sir or not Sir? From now on, just call me Zhang.”
“Let’s go-go-go. We have received our salaries. Now, it’s time to bring you to Spring Breeze Court for an eye-opener!”
…
Spring Breeze Court.
The legendary house of courtesans.
This place was most probably the reason why men of today would still yearn for ancient times.
It was located in the liveliest Delightful Square in the South City, and even before nightfall, there were already many customers streaming in and out of this place.
Zhang Cheng was obviously a regular of this place. The moment he entered, a few women appeared around him, grappling with each other to be his company, while he simply headed straight for the second floor.
“Everything that Zhou spends, put it this old man Zhang’s tab!”
Fortunately, Zhang Cheng had not completely forgotten about Zhou Yi. Otherwise, Zhou Yi would have fled without paying for the service he received. He was not even sure if he could pay the bill with the strip of meat he had.
Spring Breeze Court was three stories high. It was constructed in an extremely stylish manner, with hollow sections to create a visually attractive structure. It was very much like a large modern shopping mall.
The ground floor was used for performances where the ladies sang and danced. The second and third floors were resting rooms for guests to sleep in.
Zhou Yi took a stroll around the place but did not find anything that gave him a sense of novelty, though the girls here were really good-looking and had good figures and temperaments.
He found a quiet and isolated corner, ordered a few dishes and a pot of wine for himself, and then settled down to enjoy the dance performance by busking courtesans.
Listening to all the boasting and bragging of guests around him, Zhou Yi also gained an inkling of how the Spring Breeze Court operated and also learned that the busking courtesans who sang and dance were ladies who only sold artistic talents and not bodies.
After gaining a certain degree of fame, they would invite dignitaries and nobilities to place bids for them. After them, wealthy merchants would also be allowed to place their bids. For the women who were successful in getting a bid, they would then become courtesans of the second and third stories of Spring Breeze Court.
“Why does this process sound kind of familiar to me?”
One by one, the busking courtesans took turns performing on stage. Beneath the stage, there was even a scholar who composed a poem on the spot to praise the beauty of the women and express his love for them. This drew a roar of approval from the audience.
There were not many choices for words of description. Words like “fairy from heaven”, “woman of peerless beauty in the entire world” and the likes of them, were used repeatedly. The courtesans might even have secretly engaged men to be among the audience to deliberately sing their praises for this would help increase their worth.
He waited till it was late morning.
Zhou Yi still saw no signs of Zhang Cheng coming down. Zhang Cheng truly matched up to his rank of an upper third-grade master. It had already been more than three hours, but he did not seem to feel tired yet.
Zhou Yi was about to leave when the hall suddenly resounded with an enthusiastic round of applause.
“The star courtesan!”
“Miss Ming Yue!”
“I am a good match for you, and I will be nice to you…”
Following the outburst of cheers, a figure descended. By pulling onto colored aerial silk, the descending figure circled the hall while suspended in mid-air. This brought about another round of applause, louder and more enthusiastic than before.
“This Great Qian… is getting too chaotic!”
Zhou Yi’s eyes were flashing with spirit light as he had stumbled upon the fact that the star courtesan that was dancing in the air was actually a white fox.
The strength of the white fox was about middle third grade, but it was exceptionally skilled in spellcasting, evident from how the illusion it created was extremely subtle. If Zhou Yi had not cast the Sprit Eye Technique, he would not have seen through its guise.
Following the appearance of the star courtesan, the atmosphere reached a climax. Many rich young men, dressed in their ostentatious and elegant clothes, fought for her attention. There was obvious jealousy among the men as they competed to see who was more generous with their rewards.
The poem meant to flatter the courtesan clearly upped the game by a notch. A scholar with no wealthy background, unlike the rich sons of noble families, would have to compete against them with his literary talent.
Stories in books were almost always about how star courtesans admired scholars for their talents. Not only did they offer themselves physically, but also willingly offered their hard-earned gold and silver as financial aid for the scholars’ studies. And the stories would always end up with the scholars passing the imperial examination with flying colors. Then after becoming successful, they would abandon their wives who had lived through difficult times with them, their children, and things of such sorts. There was no need to bother about such trivial matters.
Zhou Yi shook the wine jug and found that it was emptied. He was just about to ask someone for more wine.
“The star courtesan is right before you, but you are only interested in drinking wine. You really don’t know how to appreciate the beauty around you.”
The voice was crisp and pleasant. Zhou Yi turned around and saw a handsome young man slowly walking towards him.
At this time, all the guests’ faces were red with excitement and enthusiasm, as if they could not wait to pounce onto the stage. The scene was not much different from the overly zealous groupies that Zhou Yi saw from his previous lifetime.
On the contrary, Zhou Yi who was quietly sitting alone in the corner drinking wine stood out from the rest.
He carefully observed the approaching figure, who was a young man with a handsome appearance, dressed in flamboyant clothes. The only flaws that Zhou Yi could find fault with were that, unlike most men, his Adam’s apple did not seem obvious at all along the length of his throat, and his chest seemed to protrude too much.
“My name is Wang Hao. I happen to be alone too, why not we share a table?”
“Please, Brother Wang. I am Zhou Yi, just a boorish and rough man.”
Suddenly, Zhou Yi was hit by realization as to why in ancient times, women who disguised themselves in men’s clothing were always able to deceive everyone else.
If it was a young and beautiful lady having drinks with you, who in the right state of mind would want to expose her?
Wang Hao called someone to bring over two jugs of wine, the finest Crystal Jade Ice wine and exchanged toasts with Zhou Yi as if he was very well-acquainted with the latter.
“The star courtesan, Mingyue, is famous for her beauty in the capital city, but Brother Zhou here is surprisingly not tempted by her charm at all. You’re really a true gentleman!”
“This is nothing at all. When you have seen more than enough of such things, you will get immune to it.”
Zhou Yi thoughtfully replied with him, “When I was working in the Demon Slaying Department, those fox demons, snake spirits, hedgehog deities, and female ghosts are, not any inferior to this one on stage in terms of looks.”
Wang Hao looked surprised as he said, “That explains everything. You’re actually a highly-skilled official from the Demon Slaying Department. Pardon me for being disrespectful!”
For Zhou Yi, it was a pity that he did not find the performance exceptional. He slowly put away his pass that was lying on the corner of the table to spare Wang Hao from further embarrassment.
Wang Hao cast a glance at the dancing courtesan, then with a sigh, he said, “Some people have seen so many ghosts and demons, and yet, they still indulge in beauty. Could it be that you know of a special technique, Brother Zhou?”
Zhou Yi traced Wang Hao’s line of vision and saw that she was looking down at a youth. This youth exuded an extraordinary temperament and was dressed in a blue shirt. Seated in the front row beneath the stage, he was wielding a brush and painting a picture.
To those without a discerning eye for a good piece of artwork and to those who did not know how to appreciate art at all, this youth was undoubtedly someone with great artistic talent.
“Let me ask you, will the shit of this star courtesan stink?”
“Eh?”
Wang Hao’s eyes lit up. Gently, he concealed a smile with a graceful hand movement, and said, “This star courtesan probably doesn’t shit, but she is especially skilled at farting, and her farts must be especially smelly!”
If it was not for the first time he saw a lady dressed as a man, and even looked quite handsome in disguise, Zhou Yi would definitely have beaten the life out of such a sissy.
“That will do the trick, won’t it? A star courtesan also stinks when she farts, so how could she possibly still intoxicate people with her beauty?”
“Haha, Brother Zhou. Please wait a moment. I will be right back.”
Wang Hao then shuttled through the crowd on light feet and reached the side of the youth dressed in a blue shirt. Then he whispered a few words into the ears of the youth.
A dark expression appeared on the face of the youth. This time, when he looked at the exquisite, fairy-like picture of the beautiful lady, he no longer found it aesthetically pleasing.
“What a disgrace to civilization!”