The Pink Butterfly Brothel in the Capital
This place, which was originally full of singing and dancing, was suddenly invaded by a group of uninvited guests. In a short while, the entire Pink Butterfly Brothel was surrounded by soldiers.
The leading soldier shouted, "The person in charge, come out!"
Right after that, a woman, who should be of a certain age but still carried herself with grace and charm, rushed downstairs from the second floor. She covered her mouth with a fan and said coquettishly, "Oh, aren't these the noble officials? What's going on? Do you gentlemen have any business here?"
The leading soldier spat on the ground and said, "You're the person in charge?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm Mama Wu, the top butterfly of this Pink Butterfly Brothel," the woman replied with a giggle, which made the customers around burst into laughter.
"Shut up, all of you!" the soldier shouted again. He had been severely scolded by his superior today and was already in a bad mood about this assignment. Now someone dared to play dumb in front of him.
Then he asked Mama Wu, "Did a girl come here today? She was with a young master. They just came for some makeup and then left. Did they?"
Hearing the soldier's question, Mama Wu's smile froze on her face. The young master he was talking about was the handsome one who had been so generous and given her a piece of gold that morning.
"May I ask, sir, who are they?" Mama Wu asked tremblingly.
"They're wanted criminals by the court. Have you seen them? Report quickly!" the soldier leader replied fiercely.
As soon as Mama Wu heard this, her legs went weak. She knelt on the ground with a thud and wailed, "I really don't know anything. The young master just brought the girl here for some makeup and gave me a piece of gold..."
Then she crawled on her knees to the soldier's feet and handed the gold to him.
The soldier kicked Mama Wu, who was kneeling beside him, to the side and then led his team back to report.
After Helian Qi received this news, a glint of killing intent flashed in his cold eyes. His lips moved slightly as he spat out two words, "Execute them all!"
The next day, there was one less brothel called the Pink Butterfly Brothel in the capital. All that was left was a burned - out building that had been on fire all night. Rumors in the capital said that none of the 135 people in that building survived.
On the other side
After about a day and a night of bumpy travel on the road, Dongfang Yi and the others arrived at Nanwu. After getting off the carriage, they still had to take a boat to cross to the other side of the river, which was their destination for escaping from the palace this time.
As soon as she got on the boat, Dongfang Yi felt her stomach growling loudly. Then she smelled the tantalizing aroma of meat coming from somewhere on the boat. She patted Situ Qing, who was squinting his eyes beside her, and said, "Can you smell that fragrance? Are you hungry?"
Situ Qing opened his eyes and saw the woman beside him acting furtively, craning her neck to smell the fragrance. He couldn't help but find it funny. She didn't look like a former queen at all.
So he took out a lotus - leaf - wrapped package from his bosom and said, "There are some pastries. If you're hungry, just eat them."
Dongfang Yi looked at the package of pastries with a look of disgust. They were delicious, but she had been eating them all the way. How could she eat them anymore?
All she wanted now was to eat meat. So she rolled her eyes at Situ Qing beside her, then stood up and went in search of the fragrance.
Situ Qing stared at the woman walking away in disbelief. These were the pastries from Mixue Si, which others couldn't even get to eat. He remembered how Dongfang Yi's eyes had lit up when she saw the pastries last time, so he had bought them from Mixue Si, the best pastry shop in the whole capital, and even carried a big package in his bosom. He didn't expect the woman to dislike them.
Following the fragrance, Dongfang Yi walked to the stern of the boat. There she saw a boy about seven or eight years old lighting a fire to roast fish. The mouth - watering aroma almost made her drool.
The boy soon noticed someone standing beside him. When he took a closer look, his eyes widened in shock and he fell to the ground with a thud.
"Are you... a human or a ghost?" the boy asked tremblingly.
At first, Dongfang Yi was a bit confused. Did she show her hunger so vividly that the kid thought she wanted to eat him? Then she realized that it was her ugly makeup that had scared the boy.
She forced a smile and said, "Young man, do you have any water for washing my face?"
Hearing the question from the scary woman in front of him, the boy slowly kicked the bucket at his feet over.
Dongfang Yi washed her face directly from the bucket. After washing, she sighed towards the sky. Finally, she could breathe freely. She felt that her face was about to break out in heat rashes.
"Thank you, little brother," she said to the boy.
The boy's eyes widened even more. He watched in disbelief as a woman who looked like a monster turned into a beautiful sister after washing her face. He nodded fearfully.
"Ah - little brother, sister is a bit hungry. I wonder..." Then she pointed in the boy's direction.
Unexpectedly, the boy was so scared that he started crying. He cried while saying, "Don't eat me. I don't taste good!"
"Uh... the fish..." Dongfang Yi stared at this scene with a black - faced expression.
"Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter."
Suddenly, a burst of laughter came from behind her. She turned around and saw Situ Qing standing there, holding his stomach and laughing uncontrollably. Seeing this, Dongfang Yi walked over angrily, stepped on his foot, and said fiercely, "What are you laughing at? Shut your mouth!"
Situ Qing finally stopped laughing, but then he opened his mouth to tease Dongfang Yi.
"Sister, don't eat me. I'm so scared!" he imitated the kid's tone and said to Dongfang Yi.
Dongfang Yi was completely frustrated but had no way to deal with him. So she had to turn around to comfort the boy.
"Little brother, don't cry. Sister doesn't want to eat you. Sister wants to eat the fish..."
But the little boy seemed not to hear and continued to cry loudly. Dongfang Yi was afraid that his crying would attract other people to watch, but she was helpless.
Unexpectedly, Situ Qing behind her suddenly walked over and squatted down, holding a few pastries that Dongfang Yi didn't want to eat.
"Little brother, do you want to eat this?" he said with a beaming smile.
Unexpectedly, the boy really stopped crying and reached out his hand to grab the pastries.
"You can only take one. How about exchanging the rest for the fish you roasted?" Situ Qing guided him step by step.
Dongfang Yi looked at this scene in front of her in disbelief, then at the roasted fish.
Finally, the little boy took all the pastries and left the stern of the boat. Dongfang Yi was gnawing on the roasted fish and praising Situ Qing, "I didn't expect, Qingqing, that you're good at comforting kids!"
Situ Qing couldn't help but chuckle as he watched her gobbling up the fish.
What a stupid woman.