Zhu Piaoling, accompanied by a large group of young women, set off for Nanjing.
His planned route was to travel from Suzhou to Nanjing, then take a boat from Nanjing to Anqing. From a logistical standpoint, the arrangement was perfectly reasonable.
However, the journey itself seemed to be plagued by far too many interruptions.
Sure enough, the group soon found themselves wandering through the streets of Nanjing.
Xue'er suddenly pointed ahead. "Oh? Look, there's a brothel over there."
Having originated from brothels themselves, the women naturally paid special attention to such establishments. Among dozens of storefronts lining the street, they could spot a brothel at a glance.
Once it was noticed, chatter immediately broke out, and before long, that chatter reached Zhu Piaoling's ears.
"A brothel?" Zhu Piaoling asked. "Where?"
"To the front-left, about a hundred paces," Xue'er replied.
"Haha, excellent," Zhu Piaoling said with a laugh. "We're going there. I'll buy them all."
"What?" The women gasped in unison. "You're buying more?"
"What's with those looks?" Zhu Piaoling snorted. "Are you looking down on His Royal Highness? Let me tell you, His Royal Highness is extremely wealthy. Do you really think I can't afford to buy a few dozen, or even a hundred women?"
"This humble servant is only worried about His Royal Highness's health," Xue'er said cautiously.
"Nonsense," Zhu Piaoling scoffed. "From your conversation with the Suzhou prefect, I could tell everything clearly. You're all hoping His Royal Highness drops dead sooner rather than later. That way, you wouldn't have to deal with him anymore, and you could finally live out the rest of your lives quietly, without forcing smiles for anyone."
The women hurriedly shook their heads. "No, no. This humble servant would never think such a thing."
"Do you take me for a three-year-old child?" Zhu Piaoling snapped. "I'm not as easy to fool as the Suzhou prefect. You'd rather be widows than my concubines. The thing you probably dislike most in this world is men."
The women fell silent, clearly struck by how accurately he had guessed their thoughts.
"Tch. I don't like you lot," Zhu Piaoling muttered.
A loyal bodyguard stepped forward and whispered from behind him, "Master, you let your catchphrase slip again."
Zhu Piaoling rolled his eyes. "What does it matter? Do you think these women will recognize it? Hmph. To even remind me of that, are you taking me for an idiot? I don't like you either."
The bodyguard immediately retreated.
Hearing this exchange, Li Daoxuan finally could not help but let a faint smile appear on his lips.
Within the crowd, Chen Yuanyuan trembled faintly once again. She had seen it clearly this time. The embroidered divine figure on Zhu Piaoling's chest was truly moving. It was not an illusion caused by folds in the fabric. The figure itself was stirring.
The young girl was terrified, her entire body shaking uncontrollably.
Yet her upbringing had taught her never to blurt out everything she noticed. Instead, she endured in silence, keeping everything hidden within her heart.
There's a demon, Chen Yuanyuan thought. A demon has possessed the steward. He's probably taking us to the demon's lair to be eaten.
I'm so scared.
But I don't dare say anything. What if all the guards around him are demons too? If I scream, they'll devour me immediately.
Zhu Piaoling swaggered forward, leading his large group of loyal bodyguards and an entire troupe of brothel women straight into another brothel.
The madam of that establishment was completely dumbfounded.
She had seen men bring their subordinates to brothels before, but she had never witnessed anyone bringing women from another brothel to visit her own. The scene was so bizarre that even this worldly madam openly declared it absurd.
Zhu Piaoling wasted no time on explanations. He casually tossed down a stack of silver. "All the women here, young and old. I'm buying every single one."
"Huh?" The madam froze.
She was just about to explode in anger, but after seeing the large group of women following behind him, she immediately understood. These were women he had already bought from another brothel.
That establishment had really sold off all their women just like that?
This was clearly someone she could not afford to offend.
Without another word, the madam obediently led out the dozen or so women from her brothel and sold them all to Zhu Piaoling.
Zhu Piaoling's retinue grew once again.
The grand procession, now an even larger throng of women, continued roaming through the streets of Nanjing.
"There's another brothel ahead!"
"Buy it!"
"There's one more!"
"Buy it!"
"Up ahead…"
"Master," a bodyguard whispered urgently, "we don't have much hard cash left."
"What?" Zhu Piaoling exclaimed. "No money left? Are you joking?"
"This isn't Xi'an," the bodyguard said quietly. "Our silver disappears fast with every purchase."
Zhu Piaoling fell silent.
"The suffering of the world cannot be resolved all at once," Li Daoxuan said calmly. "Save as many as you can within your means. Let fate decide the rest. Turn back."
"As you command," Zhu Piaoling replied.
After circling the city, and with dusk approaching, Zhu Piaoling spent a large sum to book out the biggest inn in Nanjing, settling all the women there.
Concerned about their safety, he ordered his loyal bodyguards to rotate shifts guarding both the front and back entrances of the inn, preventing any troublemakers from approaching.
On the second floor of the inn…
Xue'er was preparing for bed when she heard a soft knock on her door.
She opened it to find Chen Yuanyuan standing outside. "What brings you here so late?"
Chen Yuanyuan glanced left and right, making sure the corridor was empty, then slipped inside and quietly shut the door.
Seeing her cautious behavior, Xue'er grew anxious. "What's wrong?"
"Sister Xue'er," Chen Yuanyuan whispered, "that steward who bought our freedom… he's following someone else's orders."
"Of course," Xue'er replied. "He answers to the Prince of Qin's Manor."
"No," Chen Yuanyuan insisted softly. "I suspect he's obeying a demon."
"A demon?" Xue'er gasped, her voice jumping in pitch.
Chen Yuanyuan quickly motioned for silence, opened the door to check the corridor, then shut it again. "Sister, the steward has a golden embroidered figure on his chest. You saw it, didn't you?"
"Yes, I saw it," Xue'er said. "What's strange about that?"
"That figure is alive," Chen Yuanyuan whispered.
"What?" Xue'er froze.
"It's true," Chen Yuanyuan said firmly. "It grinned several times and even spoke. The steward often bends down to listen to it."
Xue'er inhaled sharply, fear written all over her face. "If that's true, then maybe he isn't sending us back to the Prince of Qin's Manor at all, but instead…"
"…sending us to become wives of a demon?" Chen Yuanyuan finished softly.
"That would already be fortunate," Xue'er said shakily. "What if the demon prefers to devour beautiful women instead?"
The two women were utterly terrified.
"We have to escape," Xue'er said.
"We can't," Chen Yuanyuan replied. "I already checked both the front and back entrances. His subordinates are guarding them tightly. Our indenture contracts are still in his hands. With imperial backing, the authorities would help capture runaway servants. We have no way out."
"Then what do we do?" Xue'er asked helplessly.
She thought for a long moment before speaking again. "Sister, you must keep this a secret. Do not let anyone notice that we know anything. We'll wait and search for an opportunity during the journey."