His Royal Highness naturally had no affinity with being handsome. His pair of red phoenix eyes, which added a feminine touch to his appearance, allowed him to walk in Flying Fox City. Even if he wore a saber, he would still be able to match the temperament of the city. However, this was the first time in his life that he had been called old by a little girl, and he still didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Shopkeeper Sun laughed heartily as he tried to smooth things over. He said twice, "Don't take offense, little brother." The little girl was probably most afraid of being treated like a child, so he gently added another jab, saying that he wasn't good-looking.
A warm, sunny afternoon passed by in the time it took to drink a few cups of tea. Fatty Sun was a talkative person, born and raised in Flying Fox City, so he was very familiar with the local customs and customs of his hometown. He was also not a frog at the bottom of a well who cherished his own things to the point of deformity. He was happy to ridicule others and laugh at himself. Regarding the anecdotes of famous people in the city, as well as the embarrassing things that happened behind closed doors, he told them everything while eating a plate of salted peanuts. His Royal Highness's poisonous tongue was famous in Beiliang. He had made fun of almost all of the important border officials who went to the prince's mansion to wag their tails and beg for pity. However, those old foxes who held power in their hands all pretended to be stupid and didn't care about it, nor did they dare to get angry. Some of the less courageous ones didn't find it shameful and instead took it as an honor. When they returned home, they would tell their friends about it. Over time, it was as if anyone who hadn't been hurt by His Royal Highness's ridicule wasn't a trusted aide of the King of Beiliang, so they started to look down on him. This made many of the outstanding officials of the younger generation, who hadn't made any military achievements during the Spring and Autumn Period, privately criticize him and feel ashamed to be associated with him.
In this regard, the young Crown Prince, who had only talked about it for fun, could only smile bitterly. Ever since he returned from his first journey, he had restrained himself a lot. Especially after his best friend Yan Chiji and his family fled far away from Northern Liang, he could no longer hear the Crown Prince's sarcastic words. This made Li Gongde, the new Administrator of Northern Liang, feel uncomfortable all over.
This afternoon, Hsu Fengnian sat across the table and chatted with the old man who had no ambition and only wanted to live a simple and prosperous life. Occasionally, he would ask a few questions, agree with a few words, and say a few words of praise. They chatted happily. Manager Sun's youngest daughter, Sun Xiaochun, was not willing to listen to the two old men's chatter, so she went to play with Tao Manwu, who was younger than her. She was addicted to taking care of her younger sister like an elder sister. She took out a lot of vegetables and fruits to eat on her own initiative and even took some small objects from her room for Tao Manwu to play with.
As dusk approached and it was dinnertime, the business of the restaurant gradually improved. Shopkeeper Sun and a few of the waiters went to work. The old man was kind-hearted and said that if they went to Bottle Alley, he would ask one of the waiters to lead the way. Hsu Fengnian did not refuse the old man's kindness. As for the reason why Hsu Fengnian, who had been immersed in the pleasures of Beiliang for many years, did not say anything about it. Since Old Sun praised Bottle Alley so much, he thought that this alley must be good. However, if he asked one of the waiters to lead the way, he would have to pay more attention. The brothels in Flying Fox City were famous. There were seventy-eight of them, and there were at least a thousand girls who wanted to solicit customers. In the brothels of lower quality, the procuress could bring the girls to the street shamelessly to solicit customers. However, brothels like Bottle Alley were not allowed as it was too demeaning. It was a taboo that upper-class brothels had to be wary of. Therefore, there were "marriages" between the brothels in the city and the inns and restaurants in the city. The brothels with bulging money could be divided into a few taels of silver after the deed was done.
Hsu Fengnian had wandered in the pleasures of life for many years, and His Royal Highness did not have to worry about money. It was impossible for him to spend the whole night fighting with girls who were worth hundreds of taels of silver. He drank tea and chatted with the courtesans or their personal maids. Therefore, he knew these secrets that were not hidden. Hsu Fengnian knew quite a lot about the down-to-earth and murky affairs of the upper-class people. As for the family scandals of the so-called virtuous men, if Hsu Fengnian told them openly, he could fill a dozen baskets with them. This was not hearsay. His Royal Highness had seen and heard it with his own eyes. As the playboy head of Beiliang, he was not boasting.
Hsu Fengnian's disdain for the sons of the aristocratic families and the scholars of the landowning clans could be considered reasonable. However, he had walked a lot of paths in the past few years, so he was no longer inflexible.
When they were ordering dinner, Manager Sun chatted with him for the entire afternoon. In the end, he did not even accept the money for his tea. Hsu Fengnian thought about it and ordered a few more expensive meat dishes. At noon, he ordered one meat dish and three vegetables dish, leaving only the delicious Five Sprouts Soup. In the afternoon, he specifically asked about the Four Sprouts of Mulberry Pagoda and Willow Peach Tree. Only then did he know that it was the unknown Fox Tree. Flying Fox City got its name from this tree. Every summer, the flowers would be as large as snow, and the fragrance of the flowers would fill the streets and alleys of the city. After the meal was improved, Tao Manwu ate happily. However, the little girl was shy and did not have the nerve to ask for another bowl of rice.
It was probably because Manager Sun had talked to a young waiter. After all, it was human nature to think about sex when one was full and warm. When he saw that Hsu Fengnian's table was almost done eating, he ran over to greet him. From the looks of it, he was going to take him to Bottle Alley. Moreover, the waiter seemed to be even more excited than a certain person who had spent money to buy sex. Hsu Fengnian did not want to disappoint him. Using the vulgar words from Wenhua's hometown, a young fellow's buttocks were as hot as pancakes. If he held it in for too long, it was easy to get hurt from holding it in. For the waiter, if he could go to a place where every oriole and swallow was as beautiful as a fairy, even if he could only look at the willow branch waists and peach blossom faces from afar, he would not be able to sleep at night.
The sturdy waiter called himself Li Liu. He was the sixth child in his family, so Hsu Fengnian could just call him Lil 'Liu. When Li Liu saw that Hsu Fengnian actually wanted to take the little girl next to him to visit a brothel, he felt that it was inconceivable. However, he did not say anything. A horse would not get fat if it did not feed at night. As long as he could bring an unexpected fortune to the inn, the manager would be happy. Not to mention a raise in salary, but a reward of meat dishes would also be a good thing. Furthermore, the fairies there were all extremely beautiful. Even their walk was beautiful. There was no justice in this world. Every time they swayed, their buttocks became even rounder, and their breasts became even more spectacular. It was enough to shake his soul away. Otherwise, how could they be so powerful? They were just like the fox demons that the storyteller had described. Li Liu did not mention this to anyone, afraid that he would be called ignorant.
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