Chapter 306 – Three Years of Langya (Part Six)
Liu Zhi’s expression darkened as he commanded, “Bring the person to Lan Ting. She will handle it.”
Upon hearing that Liu Zhi wanted to hand someone over to Liu Xi, the confidant’s face instantly turned grim, hesitating as he stuttered, wanting to say something but holding back.
Seeing this, Liu Zhi said, “If you have something to say, just say it. No need to speak in half-truths.”
“I am not intentionally withholding information, it’s just… it’s just that I heard the master say to hand this person over to the Young Master for him to command, and I found it inappropriate…” The confidant leaned closer to Liu Zhi hesitantly, before finally saying, “…that person’s background isn’t clean. If the Young Master’s temperament changes as a result, I would be ten thousand deaths unable to bear the blame…”
Liu Zhi immediately caught on to the underlying meaning of his confidant’s words, and his expression grew vividly interesting. After a moment of hesitation, he replied, “Follow me.”
The confidant hurried to keep pace with Liu Zhi, carefully maintaining a distance of one step behind, his head lowered, not daring to glance around.
“Now, explain in detail what is wrong with that person’s background.”
Although Liu Zhi had an inkling, he still needed to verify it.
Kneeling low with the surroundings empty, he didn’t have to worry about ears listening through the walls.
“The person I found is fourteen years old. Her mother is a lowly courtesan, and her father is unknown.”
The confidant felt helpless as they searched for the person based on the image Liu Zhi provided. This girl was the one who resembled the most and had compatible qualities. Even though other candidates had clean backgrounds, none matched her resemblance.
“A lowly courtesan?” Liu Zhi frowned deeply at this identification, clearly displeased. “Did that person serve clients?”
He wasn’t sure what his daughter intended with this, but Liu Zhi knew that the girl they found should be used for some kind of seduction plot.
The confidant’s expression twisted slightly as he carefully chose his words.
“Master, you know that a courtesan… usually lives in the kind of brothels that can’t be seen in the light, with visitors mostly being merchants and thugs. A girl raised in such a place, if unlucky, can be… let alone, she’s already fourteen.”
As Liu Zhi heard this, his face darkened even further.
“Bring her to Lan Ting for her to decide. You keep searching in the shadows to see if there’s someone who fits the description better.”
The confidant accepted his orders and bowed as he withdrew.
Liu Zhi sat there, engulfed in the shadows of the room.
After a long while, he seemed to understand something, resting one hand on his forehead with an expression that was both mockingly amused and sorrowfully regretful, subtly hinting at a feeling that long-awaited revenge was about to come, dispersing his usual soft demeanor and replacing it with a chilling and venomous aura.
“So what if she’s a courtesan’s daughter?” he murmured to himself, his voice suppressed yet laced with terrifying malice, sending shivers down one’s spine, “One day, if that face and that body cause a stir in Dongqing, turning the place upside down, that would be truly satisfying!”
A Cao, born in a poor brothel.
On the day she was born, heavy snow fell, and adults didn’t know how many froze to death, but she survived.
Her mother was a courtesan, and now she too was a courtesan, serving under her mother.
What is a courtesan?
The lowest kind of prostitute, with just a few copper coins able to be used at will.
Visitors were all thugs, and even if she was terrified deep inside, to survive, she had to feign compliance, dutifully serving.
Otherwise, it wasn’t just the guests who wouldn’t let her go; her madam—her mother—wouldn’t spare her either.
She was forever dressed in ragged, patched garments, and her daily routine was to clean, wash clothes, cook, and serve the madam and other courtesans comfortably while waiting to service one customer after another.
When, as a child, a few thugs took advantage of her and ruined her, her mother beat her like a madwoman, then coerced her to take clients, forcing her to inherit her mother’s trade, living in a muddled haze. Over the years, she had no idea how many times she was assaulted.
Having only lived fourteen years, she felt as if she had already lived more than half her life.
Even though she was naturally beautiful, she had already developed strands of white hair, her complexion haggard, and her eyes sunken.
She thought her life would remain like this, yet unexpectedly, two days ago, a rather imposing man took her away from the brothel.
She trembled as she knelt on the ground, her bony body shaking like a sieve.
Her whole being wanted to burrow into the ground, not daring to glance left or right even once.
After an indeterminate amount of time, a sound came from behind her as the paper door slid open, and unfamiliar footsteps passed right by her.
After some rustling noises, the person directly sat down at the head.
“What’s your name?”
By the voice, the person seemed young, perhaps even younger than A Cao.
She had heard many harsh voices filled with malice, but she had never heard such a clear and peaceful voice.
Her body trembled uncontrollably, and A Cao felt as if her mouth was not her own, forgetting even the instinct to speak.
Seeing her reaction, Jiang Pengji didn’t rush to say anything. Instead, she had Ta Xue bring tea, drinking it to calm herself.
The audience in the livestream was already on their toes, wondering what the broadcaster was up to.
What kind of person was so important that she could drop everything else, abandoning Feng Jin, and rush over here?
Now, it seemed there wasn’t much to it.
【Old Driver Alliance】: I feel like the broadcaster wouldn’t do anything superfluous; if she’s placing such importance on this person, her background must be exceptional.
【Rabbit Dance】: Hehe, maybe it’s the broadcaster’s sister who got lost and found her way back!
【Musician Zhuge Qinmo】: Can’t find any clues, can’t guess the broadcaster’s intentions, might as well sit on a little stool and watch slowly.
After waiting for a while, Jiang Pengji felt the other person’s emotions had stabilized and asked again.
“What’s your name?”
A Cao’s ears turned red, feeling increasingly like she could just wish to dive underground in her humility.
“My lowly name is A Cao.”
Though A Cao was an unpleasant name, it was indeed a proper name.
“A Cao?” Jiang Pengji repeated before asking, “Do you know who sent you here?”
A Cao’s frail body quivered as she answered, “This lowly slave does not know, vaguely remembers it was a noble lord.”
For A Cao, being tidy was already considered a wealthy household, and she had never even seen the outfit worn by Liu Zhi’s confidant.
That kind of dignified person was, indeed, a proper noble lord.
Jiang Pengji asked again, “Then do you know what you are to do here?”
A Cao bit her lip, her thin face showing some embarrassment.
Slowly, she straightened her body, kept her head down, and gestured as if to loosen the belt around her waist.
On ordinary days, A Cao would merely be wrapped in a tattered garment, with nothing underneath.
Because she was poor, she couldn’t afford anything else. Besides, in her line of work, it was of no use; she would eventually have to strip to serve.
Liu Zhi’s confidant brought her back and had the maidservant prepare a complete set of clothes for her, washed thoroughly from head to toe.
A Cao felt that she was the cleanest she had ever been in her whole life during these few days.
