Volume 1: Winds Rising From the Mountains and Swamps Chapter 155: Spring Rain Like Smoke
Hearing Lin Yi's question, Master Li sneered and said, "That poor scholar who was trying to commit suicide was saved by you, Brother Lin! How could I not know? Miss Ruyan is seventeen years old this year. I have seen her. She is really beautiful and is good at playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. But she is arrogant and her smile is worth a lot of money! I heard that this girl is also from an official family and is still a prostitute. But can you really keep your chastity in that place? Sooner or later, you will be a fallen woman! This master does not like those who are self-righteous and self-pitying. Who doesn't want to have fun in that place!"
"Brother Lin, try the preserved fruits in the capital. You can't find them anywhere else!" Master Li asked the waiter to change the pot of tea and then said, " Let's not talk about the scholar. Brother Lin, I know you are kind-hearted, but is it possible for him and Miss Ruyan? Even if Miss Ruyan is tempted by worldly desires, it will be even worse. The madam must try to break her body and stop her from having sex.
To put it bluntly, these girls are official prostitutes. Do you want to meet a talented man and then just leave to have a happy marriage? Not to mention that the court law does not have such a rule, even if he secretly uses money, he, a poor scholar, cannot do it even if he loses all his wealth. I, my brother, just went there to have fun, and I dare not redeem the girl home. Do you think that he, a poor scholar, is fanciful? "
Lin Yi also nodded secretly. Mr. Li's words were rough but the truth was not rough. For ordinary people, this idea of Handan Sheng was really like a daydream. It would be fine if the two of them were ruthless, but if they were in love, how could he help them? It would be impossible to rely on this Mr. Li, and the Tianlong Sect would leave at any time in the next few days, so he could not afford to delay.
After chatting with Mr. Li for a while, Lin Yi declined his invitation to a banquet. When he walked back to the street, it was already dark and the lights were on.
Strings of lanterns on both sides of the street cast bright reflections on the water stains on the street. The drizzle was floating in the air, and the night of the capital was quiet but restless.
Following the way he came, Lin Yi came to the river with an umbrella. He remembered the pleasure boat and walked up. The gangplank was three feet wide and wrapped in linen, so it didn't seem slippery when he stepped on it. Before he got on the boat, a charming woman came up to him, her eyes full of spring, and she looked up and down at the visitor with the help of the light of the lantern on the bow of the pleasure boat.
"Oh! This young man is handsome. Is this your first time here? Do you have a girl you like? Do you want to listen to music or drink some wine? Do you want me to find you a girl?"
Resisting the pungent smell of powder, Lin Yi put away his paper umbrella and looked at the pleasure boat curiously.
The pleasure boat was more than ten feet long and had three floors. There were still waiters busy on the deck. There were probably hundreds of people on the whole pleasure boat, but it was not crowded. The first floor was like a restaurant lobby, with noisy voices, flowers and willows, and beautiful women. There were two strong men standing at the door, staring at the inside with a lewd smile and drooling.
This is simply a high-rise building on the water. Lin Yi secretly praised it in his heart.
"Young man, have you seen enough?" The woman saw that Lin Yi was dressed in ordinary clothes and was staring at him curiously, and her face turned cold.
Lin Yi looked at the plaque on the pleasure boat, which read "Cui Ming Xuan". He didn't know what it meant, but he felt that the name was elegant. Hearing the woman's impatient words, he didn't care, stretched out his hand to take out a silver ingot, and whispered: "I want to see Miss Ruyan!"
"Oh, why didn't you say it earlier!"
When the woman saw that Lin Yi took out at least ten taels of silver, her face was immediately full of smiles. She scratched her head and made a gesture, snatched the silver, and quickly put it in her arms, and said with a smile: "Young master has a good eye. My Cuimingxuan will select a guest for Miss Ruyan in the next two days! If you can win the heart of the beauty, you may even win the first place. Sister will take you to see Miss Ruyan. Hehehe!"
Lin Yi looked at his empty palm, shook his head, and followed the woman to the second floor and came to a door at the stern. The woman patted the carved door and shouted in a shrill voice: "Ruyan, a guest is coming!"
The room was silent, and there was no movement. The woman smiled at Lin Yi, turned around and bent her waist, her voice raised a lot, and shouted: "Ruyan, open the door quickly, don't neglect the guests!"
After a long time, a sigh came from the depths of the door, followed by a gentle and weak voice: "I'm coming, please wait!"
"Don't worry, young master! Hehe!" The woman's eyes were full of spring, and her behavior was frivolous, and she was teasing Lin Yi.
Lin Yi was watching the twinkling lights, reflecting on the sparkling surface of the river, a layer of drizzle and mist rippling between the boats and the water, the sound of stringed instruments in his ears, and a few soft whispers, making people feel as if they were in another world.
"Squeak--!" The door behind him rang, and Lin Yi withdrew his gaze from the misty night.
"Young master, go in and accompany Miss Ruyan, hehe! If you need anything, just tell me! But ten taels of silver is only for talking!" The woman pushed Lin Yi into the door, stretched out her hand to close the door, and then twisted her waist and left with a smile.
Lin Yi stood in the room awkwardly, and for some reason, he felt a little flustered.
The house in front of him was not big, and it was beautifully decorated. It should be a girl's boudoir. Lin Yi smelled a faint fragrance.
It was not easy to look around, but he saw a delicate figure sitting alone on a flower stool in the light of the gauze lantern, facing a window facing the water.
The window was open, and the flickering fishing lights in the distance could be seen. A gust of wind came, and the uncombed hair swayed in the wind.
"Sir, please take a seat! There is tea on the table, please help yourself!" The woman's voice was cold, but like the sound of birds in the valley, clear and ethereal.
Beside Lin Yi, there was a round table with teacups and fruit snacks on it. He didn't know how to start the conversation he had prepared before, so he simply walked to the table and sat down, frowning with a wry smile.
For a moment, the room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Neither of them spoke, and there was only the rustling sound of rain outside the cabin, which was sometimes intense and sometimes quiet.
"Sir, why do you have to sit there in silence like this? Ruyan will play a song to thank you!" The woman still had her back to Lin Yi, raised a jade flute in her hand, and blew it gently.
The weeping and complaining flute sounded slowly in the room, sometimes like a gentle breeze, sometimes like a rushing mountain spring; sometimes like a silent bright moon, and sometimes like waves of pine trees. The flute sounded hummingly, a kind of desolate and quiet feeling, an unspeakable loneliness, all slowly expressed in the flute sound, crying softly.
Lin Yi was fascinated by it.
At this moment, it seemed as if the world of mortals rolled in and whistled away. There was only the bright moon on Songgang, the gurgling stream, and the occasional breeze blowing on the face between heaven and earth, which made people feel relaxed, and their minds merged with the sound of the flute, and transformed into all things in the world. He could not see himself, he was the breeze, he was the bright moon, he was indistinguishable from the world.
The sobbing and low sound of the flute passed away, and the lingering sound was endless...
Lin Yi sighed lightly, looked at the graceful figure in front of the window, and said: "I don't know the rhythm, but I know this song is very beautiful! After a song, all the things in this world of mortals are like the breeze passing away, the scene is quiet, and the scene is resentful!"
The figure of the woman like a clay sculpture moved, and a sigh came: "This song is called 'Red Dust'. The song is there, but the person is gone, and the name of Nongyu is left! Alas! Thank you very much, sir!"
Lin Yi stood up, walked to the door, hesitated, and stopped. Although it was his first time to come to such a place, he knew that they were going to send him away. But since Han Sheng had entrusted him with this, he had to do it.
"Goodbye, sir! Ruyan won't see you off--!" The woman sat still, and with a faint sigh, there was boundless loneliness that filled the whole room, which made Lin Yi's mood sink.
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ps: The next update will be at 12 noon.
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