Chapter 238: Two Months

Because of the upheaval in the northern frontier, the marriage alliance seemed to have been pushed aside for the time being. His father was not concerned about it, so Xu Yuan saw no reason to hurry either. He took the scenic route back to the Imperial Capital, sightseeing along the way.

Dark clouds hung over the war in the north, but the rest of the Great Flame Empire remained peaceful and prosperous.

Before chaos truly descended, Xu Yuan wanted to travel through these magnificent lands with the iceberg of a woman and Xu Xinyao.

However, his little sister ran away the moment he let his guard down. She left him a letter saying she intended to continue her travels and see for herself whether all the sects under Heaven were truly birds of a feather. Then, under cover of night, she quietly slipped away.

Ran Qingmo stayed with Xu Yuan for more than half a month. When they passed through Glory Province, she also departed. She was going to find the cavern Xu Yuan had told her about, retrieve the item inside, and take it back to the Sword Sect to see her master.

With both women gone in succession, Xu Yuan continued onward with only a soul for company. They traveled from the southwest to the northeast, nearly crossing the entirety of the Great Flame Empire.

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Two months later.

On the distant outskirts of the Imperial Capital sat the Vastnorth Mountain.

The morning sun had just risen.

A gentle breeze stirred the mountain mist drifting between the trees. The fog slowly thinned, revealing a building perched atop the summit.

The forest was especially tranquil after the rain.

Standing alone on a sheer cliff at the mountain’s peak was a nine-story pleasure house. Its walls were carved with dragons and painted phoenixes, while the ethereal strains of instruments floated from within.

It was difficult to imagine how much manpower and wealth had been spent constructing such a building in a place like this.

Yet this mountain stood near the Imperial Capital, close to the very heart of power in the Great Flame Empire. Imperial relatives, nobles, wealthy merchants, and great magnates all gathered in the region. Their endless desires had naturally given rise to countless extravagant dens where fortunes vanished overnight.

This establishment was a pleasure house under the Bureau of Entertainment, known as the Phoenix Roost Pavilion.

Most of the courtesans here were female disciples who had survived the Mystic Purity Sect’s downfall several years ago. And not merely outer disciples who had practiced martial arts. They were true cultivators who had studied proper cultivation arts.

Even after falling into the world of dust and desire, they still carried an ethereal air, untouched by mortal concerns. Many men had a particular taste for that sort of thing. Though prices began at a hundred taels a day, the Phoenix Roost Pavilion never lacked patrons.

In the pale light of dawn, Xu Yuan calmly pushed open the door to his private room and headed downstairs for breakfast.

Outside stretched a narrow corridor lined with an expensive crimson carpet. A faint, intoxicating fragrance lingered in the air.

The moment Xu Yuan stepped out, he heard a cool female voice from farther down the corridor. “Young Master, please conduct yourself with dignity!”

Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

Judging by the voice, it seemed to belong to a courtesan named Chu Jingyi.

He had been staying here for three days and had listened to her play the zither several times from behind a screen. Her playing was beautiful, and her mastery of the instrument was clearly profound, though he had never seen her face.

At the moment, he was traveling under the name Zhou Chen. Chu Jingyi, meanwhile, was the Phoenix Roost Pavilion’s foremost virgin courtesan. Rumor had it she was the daughter of some deceased senior figure from the Mystic Purity Sect.

Someone using Zhou Chen’s identity had no right to meet her.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Xu Yuan heard a man chuckle.

“Hahaha, my apologies. My hand slipped.”

Xu Yuan glanced sideways. Three people stood not far away. A young nobleman wore his embroidered robes loose and carelessly draped. He was blocking the path of a graceful woman whose face was hidden behind a thin veil.

Meanwhile, his hand was slowly withdrawing from beneath her waist.

An androgynous-looking man stood silently behind the young nobleman.

Annoyance flashed through the woman’s eyes, but after glancing at the man behind him, she swallowed her anger.

The young nobleman studied her furious expression with great amusement. After laughing, he suddenly turned toward Xu Yuan and called out, “Brother Zhou, what fun is there in only watching? Come join me.”

Xu Yuan’s expression turned a little strange. “Such refined tastes first thing in the morning. Why make things difficult for Miss Chu?”

Young Master Wang grinned and gave the veiled woman another slap on the waist. “All right. Since Brother Zhou spoke up for you, you may leave. Stop standing here and ruining the view.”

Humiliated, Chu Jingyi’s chest rose and fell sharply. In the end, however, she merely gave a cold snort, turned, and walked away.

Young Master Wang watched her graceful figure vanish at the end of the corridor, then shook his head in disdain. He walked over to Xu Yuan and smiled. “Brother Zhou, shall we have breakfast together?”

Xu Yuan did not refuse. He had met this Young Master Wang after Ran Qingmo left, at the finest restaurant in Brightpool Province.

At the time, a group of young scholars who had recently passed the imperial examinations were drinking, composing poetry, and loudly discussing how the empire ought to be governed.

Young Master Wang found their endless chirping unbearable and soon got into an argument with the whole flock of poets.

The establishment’s courtesan queen stepped forward to mediate. She declared that since this was a gathering of refined gentlemen, disputes should naturally be settled through poetry.

Xu Yuan had been sitting off to the side, happily watching the show. None of it concerned him, after all. He wanted to see whether Young Master Wang would reenact one of the classics. Perhaps he would casually toss out a few immortal verses, stun the entire hall, and slap everyone’s face with sheer literary brilliance.

He had miscalculated… Before the courtesan queen could even finish speaking, Young Master Wang slapped her across her delicate, beautiful face. With a loud bang, she flew eight meters through the air and crashed directly onto Xu Yuan’s table.

“I was already in a foul mood, and you want me to compose poetry? Fine! I’ll compose something for you. Men, tear this building down!”

He had displayed more than a little of Xu Yuan’s own former elegance back in the Imperial Capital.

And because she had smashed through his table, the two men became acquainted.

When they learned they were both headed for the Imperial Capital, they decided to travel together. Perhaps because they had similar temperaments, they spent the journey talking about everything beneath the Heavens while sightseeing along the way.

A month had passed since then.

Xu Yuan had also discovered something else.

Young Master Wang seemed extraordinarily wealthy, possibly even wealthier than he was.

As they walked downstairs, Young Master Wang said with easy familiarity, “Brother Zhou, that Chu Jingyi truly is a spirited mare. Were we not entering the capital today, I would love to spend some time breaking her in.”

Xu Yuan glanced at him noncommittally. “With your wealth, what is stopping you?”

Young Master Wang waved a hand. “This is an establishment of the Bureau of Entertainment, right beneath the Emperor’s nose. A little casual flirting is harmless, but if I truly laid hands on her, the Imperial Patrol would most likely come looking for trouble.

“The court established the Bureau of Entertainment to make money. So long as you are willing to pay, it becomes a business transaction. If the Imperial Patrol gets involved, that probably only means you did not pay enough.”

Xu Yuan surveyed the interior of the pleasure house. “Besides, Brother Wang, you do not truly believe every courtesan here is some so-called remnant of the Mystic Purity Sect, do you?”

Young Master Wang paused. “What do you mean, Brother Zhou?”

Xu Yuan’s gaze swept over the female disciples dressed in robes of every color, and he lowered his voice. “Some died in the war. Some of those captured were executed. Others escaped. Various sects ransomed the children of old friends. Of those who remained, perhaps not even one in a hundred survived. How could there possibly be this many beautiful young female disciples left?”

“Now that you mention it, that does make sense.” Young Master Wang narrowed his eyes with a smile. “Is this what you called packaging before?”

The corner of Xu Yuan’s mouth curled upward. “More or less. Though these women are not entirely without substance. At the very least, their faces and figures are genuinely first-rate.”

Young Master Wang seemed to remember something. He stared at Xu Yuan with interest. “Brother Zhou, information like that should not be common knowledge, should it? Especially the part about the children of Mystic Purity Sect elders being secretly ransomed. That could be considered treason. If exposed, quite a few important ministers would probably be implicated.”

Xu Yuan turned to meet his eyes and grinned. “Exactly. So how did you know about it, Chengyu?”

The two stared at each other for a heartbeat.

Then both burst into laughter.

The three of them entered the main hall of the Phoenix Roost Pavilion. The androgynous man hurried ahead and instructed the maids to prepare breakfast, while Xu Yuan and Young Master Wang found a table and sat down.

Young Master Wang crossed one leg over the other and leaned back in his chair, watching the Mystic Purity Sect disciples onstage dance gracefully with their long sleeves. “Dress up a pheasant and sell it as a phoenix. Tsk, tsk. No wonder this business makes so much money. No wonder the pleasure houses under me never took off. Perhaps I should set one of these up myself someday, just for fun.”

Xu Yuan sipped his morning tea and reminded him, “To make money this way, you need the Bureau of Entertainment backing you. Even if an ordinary person truly managed to gather a group of former sect disciples, no one would believe him.”

Young Master Wang raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. After a moment, he sighed with feeling. “I’ve been visiting places like this for years, yet all I ever knew was how to spend money. I never realized there were so many twists behind the scenes. Thanks to you, Brother Zhou, I’ve learned quite a few new moves these past few days.”

“Moves?” Xu Yuan quickly waved his hands. “Brother Wang, whatever moves you learned in places like this, you certainly did not learn them from me.”

Young Master Wang stared at him. Then he chuckled and tapped the table. “Brother Zhou, we have known each other for a month now, and the Imperial Capital is right before us. There is no need to keep pretending you do not understand.”

“Oh?” Xu Yuan’s eyes sharpened. “What do you mean by that?”

Young Master Wang shook his head helplessly. “Brother Zhou, you have seen me overseeing several merchant associations along the way. Your insights into business and management are remarkably original. Would you consider coming to work for me?”

“Oh?” Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

Young Master Wang continued, “I can tell your family possesses some influence of its own, but that does not concern me.”

With that, he gently placed a jade token on the table. Carved into its surface was a single word, Three.