The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#683 - Red beads

Hongzhu was only twenty-seven or twenty-eight this year.

Moreover, because she had no worries about food and clothing and was well-maintained, her appearance had hardly changed from when she was young.

Only, between her brows, there was less of a seductive spring and more of a quiet gentleness.

She had her servants welcome Lu Jing and the others in.

After hearing Constable Fei explain their purpose, tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I truly feel sorry for Zeng-lang. When I was young, I was playful and unfeeling, and I heard Mama and the older sisters in the brothel say that men's words are unreliable.

“The first time I saw him, he came with his friend, but unlike his friend, he couldn't let loose and seemed a little restrained.

When he saw me, his gaze immediately shifted elsewhere. I knew how to deal with such men.

“I didn't immediately flirt with him, but instead chatted with him about poetry and novels, and even played the zither for him, slowly opening his heart.

“After that, he chatted with me very congenially, and constantly lamented that it was a pity that my talent and learning had fallen into the dust.

“In my heart, I found it a little funny. If I hadn't been sold into a brothel since I was a child, where would I have learned these poems and songs?

But chatting and getting silver was still pretty good. It's just that that Zeng was a little stingy, just talking excitedly with me, but didn't give me any tips when he left.”

“As a result, he came to me again in a few days, not only making up for the tips he forgot to give last time, but also bringing me two books of poetry.

“I saw that he was dull-witted, but he was quite generous, so I cheered up and continued to deal with him. The things we talked about were no longer limited to poetry and songs.

“He shared his daily life with me, talked about his friends, and told me about the strange things he encountered on his two trips to the capital for the imperial examinations.

This was quite interesting, after all, those of us in this line of work usually don't go out much, let alone leave Wujiang City. I've always been very curious about the outside world.

“He also asked me about my background, but my background is very boring. My parents were tenant farmers. My father, in a fit of desperation, gambled me away, and then I was sold several times, and finally Mama took a fancy to me and I entered this line of work.

“Fortunately, Mama taught me what to say at this time. I told him that I came from a scholarly family, but later my father encountered robbers while traveling and lost his life, and then the people in the clan swallowed up the family property left by my father and swept me and my mother out the door.

“Not long after, my mother died of illness. In order to raise money for my mother's burial, I sold myself. In fact, if you ask the other girls in the brothel, their stories are mostly the same.

“Generally, experienced patrons mostly just laugh it off, or even don't ask us such naive questions at all, but he took it seriously, and even swore that he would marry me and protect me from being bullied again.”

“I didn't object to getting married, but after understanding him, I found that he wasn't too rich, so I wasn't very interested in marrying him, but on the surface, I still had to pretend to be moved.

“Mama said that men are like this, you can only satisfy them first, and then they will use their silver to satisfy you.

“But I have to say that in the process of getting along with him, I was indeed touched by his sincerity, and unknowingly developed feelings for him, and even on the last night, when he said he wanted to take me away, I did hesitate for a moment.

“But I still flinched, because I didn't know where the two of us could go. Even if we escaped from the city, we would still be at our wits' end when the silver on our bodies ran out.

“So I advised him to calm down and take his time, but his expression was very agitated. He said that he had spent all his money, and if I didn't go with him, I would never see him again.

“He also said that this was our only chance. I was forced by him, so I told him that I had been lying to him before, saying that I said the same to other men, in order to squeeze the last penny out of them.”

“As soon as these words came out, I regretted it. I will never forget the expression on his face at that moment.” Hongzhu said, “That wasn't even disappointment, just… emptiness.

His whole person seemed to be hollowed out, losing all vitality.

“I was a little worried about him, so I advised him to go home, but I didn't expect him to jump out of the window without saying a word.”

Hongzhu paused here, her expression becoming incomparably bitter, “I harmed him… I harmed him by jumping down. I shouldn't have said such hurtful words to him. If I could choose again, I would rather go out of the city with him, even if we would soon be at our wits' end.

“When we are young, we always meet many people, and we don't pay too much attention to those who are really good to us, because we feel that if we miss this one, there will be others waiting for us later, but the reality is often very cruel.

“After he died, I couldn't go back to the days of indulging in sensual pleasures, because I would always unconsciously think of him, think of his leap that night.

Fortunately, I was still young enough at that time, so I found a former patron to marry and became his mistress.”

After Hongzhu finished speaking, she looked at Lu Jing and the others again, “I wonder why you are suddenly interested in this old matter?”

Lu Jing didn't rush to speak, but first looked at Constable Fei, who immediately understood, “Great Hero Lu, Heroine Xia, I suddenly remembered that there are still things to do at the yamen, so I'll take a step first.

If you two have anything else you need my help with, you can come to the yamen to find me.”

“Thank you for your trouble.” Lu Jing thanked him again.

After Constable Fei left, Xia Huai spoke again, “We want to ask you for a favor.”

“A favor? What favor can I do?” Hongzhu seemed a little dazed.

“Those murder cases that have happened in the city's brothels recently, I wonder if Madam has heard of them?”

“I've heard something about it.” Hongzhu nodded, then thought of something, her expression changed slightly, “Could it be that you think this matter is related to Zeng-lang, is it… is his ghost back for revenge?”

“Maybe.” Xia Huai still remembered what she had learned in class and didn't intend to expose the existence of strange objects. Pretending to be ghosts and gods was also a good choice.

“Then why doesn't he come directly to me?” Hongzhu murmured.

Xia Huai didn't answer her question, but instead asked, “If there is a way to let Zeng Shusheng's ghost rest in peace, I wonder if Madam would be willing to take a little risk?”

Hongzhu nodded without hesitation, “Of course, what do I have to do?”