Chapter 226: A Slip-up

Gu Fei bit her lip, suppressing a laugh. But on second thought, she realized this wasn’t a laughing matter for Sister Dan; it was a heartbreaking one.

Though Sister Dan didn’t look heartbroken at all. She only looked furious.

Gu Fei’s eyes darted about. ’Should I be nice and tell Sister Dan that Young Master Zhou is hiding in the back?’

’Watching someone get a beating would be pretty entertaining.’

Before Gu Fei could make up her mind, Sister Dan burst out laughing. "Little Fei, did I scare you?"

"Men... they’re all the same."

"Mine is actually one of the better ones. He treats me well and has a good temper. He lets me hit and scold him however I please. I told him he wasn’t allowed to take any concubines, and he agreed. He just can’t control himself and loves to fool around on the side."

Gu Fei understood. Sister Dan was, in fact, quite satisfied with Young Master Zhou.

If Young Master Zhou were to insist on taking a concubine, there would be nothing Sister Dan could do.

Men of this era simply had no concept of being faithful to their wives, let alone the notion of ’one true love for a lifetime.’

For wealthy and powerful men especially, marrying a wife and taking concubines was considered perfectly natural.

From that perspective, Young Master Zhou was actually quite respectful of his wife.

Sister Dan sighed. "What can you do? Everyone has their flaws. My husband just likes to eat and can’t keep his pants on. All I can do is stay vigilant and keep a close eye on him every day."

"Little Fei, let me tell you, you haven’t found a husband yet, so you don’t understand. A man must be kept on a very tight leash. You can never, ever let go."

"The moment you loosen your grip, they’ll start causing trouble."

Gu Fei nodded vigorously, deciding not to snitch.

This couple was a classic case of Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai—one was willing to dish out the punishment, and the other was willing to take it.

’Perhaps the couple enjoyed this little game of cat and mouse.’

’There are all kinds of people in the world, and there are all kinds of ways for couples to coexist.’

’As long as they’re happy with it, it’s not for an outsider to meddle.’

Sister Dan sat for a while, drank a cup of chrysanthemum tea that Gu Fei had brewed to help cool her temper, and then left, taking her firewood stick with her.

Quite some time later, Young Master Zhou finally emerged from the back.

He peeked toward the entrance for a moment, and seeing no sign of Sister Dan, he strode grinning to the counter and sat down. "My tigress came by, didn’t she?"

Gu Fei smiled and nodded, her lips pursed. "Young Master Zhou, try not to put your pants on backward next time!"

Young Master Zhou laughed sheepishly. "My mistake, my mistake."

"I haven’t even properly thanked you for your help, Miss Xiao Fei."

"I’ll be going now. Drop by next door and see Sister Dan when you have a chance."

Just as Young Master Zhou left, a horse-drawn carriage pulled up to the entrance.

Xiao Lu was the first to run out, ushering the guests inside, while Tie Niu took the initiative to guide the carriage in through the side gate.

They were a middle-aged couple who requested a medium-sized room.

Before the city gates closed for the night, several more groups of guests arrived in succession, filling up five or six rooms.

By late evening, although Ping’an City had no official curfew, the streets were mostly empty.

Gu Fei called for Tie Niu and Er Lang to put up the door planks.

The inn had two sets of doors.

One was a set of ornate, carved wooden doors, and behind that was a layer of heavy planks.

The doorway had grooves at the top and bottom. Each plank was numbered—one, two, three, and so on. To secure the inn, you would slide the planks into an opening at one end of the grooves in numerical order, then push them all the way to the other side.

Once all the planks were in place, the door was impossible to open from the outside, because the opening to the grooves was on the inside.

It was a highly secure system.

With the door planks secured, Gu Fei and Sanlang took a lantern and made a patrol of the courtyard.

On top of the courtyard walls, Gu Fei had installed several loops of iron wire. Bronze bells were tied to the wire, so if anyone tried to climb over, they would inevitably disturb the wire and make the bells ring. It served as a simple alarm system.