"Tong Zhenye, that old bastard, actually dared to invite me to a brothel?" Ren Baqian was on the verge of kneeling.
Ren Baqian thought for a while. Did the empress know what that place was? She definitely didn't know. Who would tell her about a brothel for no reason?
Should he go?
Was there a need to ask this question?
Of course he would go!
He had never seen a brothel in this world. He heard that the women in ancient brothels were proficient in the four arts. He would go there to broaden his horizons. No matter how bold that old bastard was, he wouldn't arrange one for him, right?
Ren Baqian turned his head and looked puzzled. "What's a brothel?"
The ignorant were innocent. Anyway, he didn't know what kind of place House Yunyan was. Your Majesty, if you want to blame someone, look for that old bastard.
"Let's go. We can't be late for the Minister's banquet." Ren Baqian called out to everyone and took the lead to rush forward.
Everyone hurriedly followed and looked at Ren Baqian with admiration. Why was he rushing to a brothel if he didn't know?
Ren Baqian didn't care what they thought. In any case, he had an excuse.
Even though he knew that he couldn't do anything there, it was still a good thing to broaden his horizons and feast his eyes.
However, he was so focused on broadening his horizons that he forgot a saying: Asking a gentleman how much worry he had was like a group of eunuchs visiting a brothel.
Even though he wasn't a eunuch, he was probably worse off than a eunuch in a brothel. At least they could still move a little, but he didn't dare to.
There was a street between Shihu District and Wudaogou District called Jing Street, but most people called it the Four Great Courtyards Alley.
There were very few people here during the day, but it was brightly lit at night. All kinds of mounts and carriages could be seen everywhere. In particular, people from other countries loved to come here when they had nothing to do, especially Great Xia's envoy, Gu Zicheng, who lingered here 20 out of 30 days a month.
Jing Street was called the Four Great Courtyards Alley mainly because the four courtyards here were Baihua Courtyard, Qinghua Courtyard, Duanyue Pavilion, and Jinyu Pavilion.
These courtyards were filled with gentle women from Great Xia, the Yun Nation, and the Chen Nation. They were very different from aboriginal women. In addition to merchants from other countries in Lan City, there were also many aboriginal people who liked to hang out here.
As for the aboriginals, not only did they have a fiery temperament, but they also knew nothing about the four arts. No one came to a brothel to look for a tigress. Furthermore, many aboriginal women were stronger than men. Although most of them were slightly weaker than men, they were still able to hunt in the mountains. Thus, not a single aboriginal woman could be seen in such a place.
House Yunyan was the most famous building in the Hundred Flower Courtyard. Those who entered this building were all people of status. Without a certain level of status, this building would not accept people. Furthermore, most of the women there were proficient in zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Apart from Great Xia, the Yun Nation, and the Chen Nation, there were also gentle women from the Hao Nation.
Ordinary people could not enter this building at all, so there were the most speculations about this building, and the reputation of this building spread far and wide.
Under the guidance of the imperial bodyguards, Ren Baqian rode the ox and arrived at the Four Great Courtyards after the time it took for two incense sticks to burn. At this point in time, the sky was getting dark, and the lights in the pavilions on both sides were lit up. There were also rows of lanterns hanging on the walls of the courtyards, and the scenery was excellent.
There were already many people coming and going on the streets. Most of them were people from the other three nations with imperial bodyguards. These people were very low-key. There were also some descendants of the big shots of Dayao who were walking with crab steps. Their bodies were emitting a valiant aura, and they did not even look at the people from the other three nations. In fact, they even ran straight into them. If you did not avoid them, you would be out of luck.
Ren Baqian looked around and saw two familiar faces. He seemed to have seen them during the Great Hunt some time ago. When he saw the others, they naturally saw him as well. After all, there were so many imperial bodyguards in the surroundings, and they were all dressed like imperial bodyguards. Many of them were shocked when they first looked over and thought that it could be Her Majesty.
They immediately became alert and craned their necks to take a look.
When they saw Ren Baqian, who was surrounded in the middle, they suddenly realized that it was actually this guy.
Following which, they widened their eyes. This guy actually dared to come to this place? Putting everything else aside, just this courage alone made many people give him a thumbs up.
In a carriage that was moving slowly along the roadside, two men were sitting opposite each other. One was heroic, and the other was elegant.
These two men were Zhang Heqi and Zhang Heju from the Zhang family who followed their fifth uncle to Lan City.
"It's that guy?" The two of them were surprised to see Ren Baqian surrounded in the middle through the gap in the curtains.
"He actually dares to come to a brothel? Does Qi Zixiao know about it? "Zhang Heqi looked incredulous.
"You three, don't call him by his name here. Be careful not to be heard by others." Zhang Heju was also surprised, but he still warned them. There were many Dayao officials here, and many of them were quite powerful. If someone heard them, the two of them would probably be in big trouble.
Zhang Heqi shut his mouth and then said, "Do you think the empress of Dayao knows about it?"
"So what if she knows or doesn't know? It has nothing to do with you and me. " Zhang Heju looked at Ren Baqian, who was surrounded by ten imperial bodyguards, and said softly.
At this moment, a guard who was close to the two of them seemed to have sensed Zhang Heju's gaze and turned his head to look.
Zhang Heju immediately put down the curtains, afraid that they would be noticed.
"He is rising rapidly. We have been here for more than two months, but we have not made any progress at all," Zhang Heqi said with jealousy. If Ren Baqian was an aboriginal, he wouldn't be jealous and would feel that it was only natural. However, he was also an outsider, but Qi Zixiao chose him as her husband. The two of them had not made any progress in Lan City for more than two months.
In comparison, he was better than Ren Baqian in terms of appearance and knowledge. Yet, Qi Zixiao chose him.
How could he not feel at ease?
Not only him, but Zhang Heju also felt the same way. However, Zhang Heju's thoughts were deeper, and he didn't reveal a lot of things.
"I heard that a few days ago, the empress of Dayao specially went to the Nine Pavilions because of him. Even Hua Sanliu was beaten to death and the entire Nine Pavilions was destroyed. It was really terrifying. However, I can also see that the empress of Dayao really values him and is even willing to take such a risk … "
…
Ren Baqian stopped in front of a courtyard, turned his head to look around, and asked, "Here?"
"Sir, it's here." Xu Wei nodded.
Ren Baqian looked at the main door. There was no sign hanging on it, and there were two aboriginal burly men with sabers standing at the door. This didn't look like a brothel at all. Why did it look more like a prison?
However, looking through the main door, there was a pavilion across the courtyard, and the sound of a woman's laughter could be heard from inside. However, there was a rockery in the courtyard that blocked most of the situation inside. One could hear the sound, but not see anything. This made his heart itch.
After getting off his mount, Ren Baqian strode in with Xu Wei and a few imperial bodyguards. Naturally, there would be someone to take care of the mount.
"Sir." The two aboriginal burly men at the door cupped their fists and greeted.
Ren Baqian guessed that this place was probably opened by a high-ranking official in the imperial court. Otherwise, the aboriginals wouldn't accept employment from foreigners, let alone work as a gatekeeper.
Even though his guess wasn't right, it wasn't far off.
Not only the Baihua Courtyard, but the other courtyards were also like this.
Even though they weren't backed by a high-ranking official, they were backed by the four protectorates.
Other than the Protectorate General, the four courtyards were backed by the North, Northeast, Southeast, and South Protectorates respectively. A portion of their income was used to purchase supplies from various countries to replenish the army.
It wasn't because they were backed by the protector generals of the protectorates, but because the four protectorates themselves were backed by the four courtyards.
Therefore, for the past few decades, there had always been four courtyards in Lan City, and only four courtyards.
…
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
