Chapter 105: In the Gou Lan Yuan

"Originally, I was following Brother Lei, and in the Ya Men, I still had quite a future. It's just that with Brother Lei dead, and Head Constable Xie calling me in for questioning today, I feel like Head Constable Xie doesn't really care for me anymore either!" Yang Zhen muttered while pouring wine down his throat.

"What did Head Constable Xie ask you?" Duan Rong's gaze flickered, and he immediately picked up a bowl of wine, asking as if it were a casual matter.

"It was nothing more than the case." Yang Zhen suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Little Rong, do you know?"

Duan Rong finished the bowl of yellow wine, pinched a piece of pig's head meat, stuffed it into his mouth, and said, "Know what?"

Yang Zhen's eyes began to turn strange as he said, "Xu Ruhu was broken out of prison by Brother Lei!"

Duan Rong blinked his eyes and said, "Is that so?"

"I'm telling you! Don't you disbelieve me! I didn't believe it when I first heard it either! But this is the truth! Xu Ruhu died right in Xie Lei's house! The two of them died together in the underground chamber of the dry well at his home!"

"Died together?"

"Yes!"

"Couldn't it be that they killed each other over a dispute in dividing the loot?" Duan Rong said, not stopping his eating and drinking.

"The specific reason isn't clear yet, and I wasn't at the crime scene!" Yang Zhen had let out what was on his mind, and his gloom seemed to have lifted a little. He pinched a piece of braised chicken and chewed it, saying, "Little Rong, you tell me! Why would Brother Lei break Xu Ruhu out of the big prison?"

"Who could say for sure about such things?" Duan Rong let out a hiccup from the wine and said, not caring at all.

"Sigh..." Yang Zhen sighed deeply and said, "If only Head Constable Xie hadn't run into Xu Ruhu at the Gou Lan Yuan back then. Then none of these things would have happened later! And I would still be following Brother Lei now; maybe after a few years, I could even lead a small squad myself!"

Sighing, Yang Zhen poured himself another bowl of wine.

Duan Rong smiled slightly; it seemed Xie Lei usually treated Yang Zhen well. Just then, a thought suddenly flashed through Duan Rong's mind.

"Head Constable Xie ran into Xu Ruhu at the Gou Lan Yuan back then?"

"Ah, yes." Yang Zhen had drunk the wine too fiercely and was already somewhat tipsy.

Duan Rong's eyes shone brightly as he asked, "Which Gou Lan Yuan?"

"How many Gou Lan Yuans are there in Xiangu County? The one in Jinmao Lane!" After Yang Zhen finished speaking, the alcohol surged up, and he slumped onto the table and fell asleep.

Duan Rong sat there, finished the last of the yellow wine at the bottom of the bowl, and muttered to himself, "Jinmao Lane, Gou Lan Yuan! Xu Ruhu, I hope you don't let me down!"

By this time, the street was already blanketed in night, the hour when the lanterns were like stars. Seeing that Yang Zhen was fast asleep, Duan Rong rose to his feet and left the courtyard.

He prepared to take advantage of the night to go visit a brothel!

The row of Gou Lan Yuan in Jinmao Lane was different from Huaying Pavilion; here, they conducted pure flesh-trade business!

A whore could be like a rubber boat in one night, taking on as many as ten or twenty customers!

It was purely stripping down to do it, then pulling up pants and leaving!

That Xie Daohan was willing to come to a place like this instead of Huaying Pavilion meant it definitely wasn't because he lacked money; he likely had some strange quirk in that regard. No wonder he never married in his life!

Night had just fallen, and it was the hour when business was booming. In Jinmao Lane, figures were constantly coming and going!

Most were men struggling at the bottom of society who couldn't afford a wife and could only occasionally come to such a place to vent.

Duan Rong turned into the lane and walked into a courtyard in the middle!

This Jinmao Lane was different from the two-story wooden pavilions like Huaying Pavilion; these were all civilian houses!

You could set up a business just by getting a few girls, and the costs were low! It counted as a side-hustle.

The courtyard door was open, with only a black cloth curtain hanging down. Duan Rong lifted the curtain and entered, seeing a lean, middle-aged man sitting there. There was a scar on his face, and a fierce light flickered in his eyes.

Duan Rong's heart skipped a beat; this person was full of bandit-like air! It seemed those who could run a flesh-trade business were no good sorts!

The lean man saw Duan Rong enter, smiled, and said, "Guest, you've come early today!"

Duan Rong also smiled slightly. *Playing the polite host with me, when have I ever been here? *

"Which girl are you looking for?"

Duan Rong's gaze flickered, and he said with a smile, "The new one!"

The lean man gave a sly smile and said, "The new girl is expensive, two taels!"

Duan Rong touched a two-tael silver piece and placed it on the edge of the table. The lean man tucked the silver into his sleeve and called out, "Liu Hong, come out! We have business!"

"Coming!" A delicate, feminine voice came from one of the side rooms.

As soon as the voice fell, the curtain of the side room was lifted, and a whore wearing a tight pink dress walked out, swaying her waist. She wore her hair in double flat buns, had no head ornaments, and her large eyes kept fluttering...

The whore named Liu Hong walked over smiling as soon as she came out, grabbed Duan Rong's arm, and half-pulled, half-pushed him into the side room.

Liu Hong closed the door, poured a cup of tea from the table, and said, "Guest, have some water first to moisten your throat!"

Duan Rong reached out to take the teacup. Just as he sat down, Liu Hong immediately twisted her waist and sat on Duan Rong's lap, her water-snake-like hands wandering over Duan Rong's body...

Duan Rong's expression changed instantly!

"Steady! Steady! You are the Red Training Boy, you must keep yourself pure!"

Duan Rong barely managed to calm the heat rising in his lower abdomen, grabbed Liu Hong's hands, and squeezed them hard!

"Guest, be gentle, you're hurting me!"

Duan Rong loosened his grip slightly, grabbed Liu Hong's two hands, pinned them behind her back, and asked, "The cases outside have been quite rowdy lately; has your business been affected?"

"How could it not be affected? That night, I was just in the room with a guest when a team of Ya Men runners suddenly kicked the door in..." Liu Hong said, her face flushing red instantly.

Duan Rong smiled and continued to ask, "It seems it was said to be caused by someone named Xu Ruhu?"

"Isn't that so? The wanted posters are fluttering all over the streets! Let me tell you! This thief was actually caught right here in our Jinmao Lane! He was locked in the Dungeon, and he was actually able to escape? He really has some skills!"

"Right here in Jinmao Lane?"

"Yes."

"Are you bluffing me? How could it be such a coincidence?"

"Why would I bluff you? It was in the courtyard right next to ours. At that time, he stayed in Chunmei's room for seven or eight days!" Liu Hong suddenly struggled, but Duan Rong's hand was like an iron hoop; how could she break free?

"Why do you keep pressing me? Let me go!" Liu Hong pouted.

"What's wrong with pressing you? I'm even going to pin you down!" Duan Rong said, pushing Liu Hong down onto the bed.

Liu Hong giggled.

Duan Rong stripped Liu Hong's clothes off in a few quick movements.

"Come up here!" Liu Hong urged with dazed eyes.

Duan Rong looked embarrassed and said, "I've already released!"

Liu Hong reached out to grab at Duan Rong's crotch; how could Duan Rong let her catch him? He dodged to the side and shouted, "Miss, I can't do it anymore, I'm leaving first!"

After saying this, Duan Rong turned around and took to his heels!

By the time Liu Hong put on her clothes and chased him out, Duan Rong's shadow was no longer to be seen in the courtyard.

Seeing Liu Hong come out, the thin middle-aged man asked, "Why so fast?"

Liu Hong rolled her eyes at the doorway and snapped, "A useless thing! He looks sturdy enough, but the thing in his pants is like snot!"

The thin middle-aged man let out a cackling laugh, "Doesn't that make it your gain?"

"I'm very unhappy!" Liu Hong said, lifting the curtain to enter the side room: "Stinking man, if you can't do it, don't look for women!"

Duan Rong ran out of the courtyard gate and only then caught his breath slightly. He looked back at the courtyard curtain behind him with some trepidation and said, "I am a two-lifetime old virgin, a rare and exquisite item! How could I possibly let a slutty brothel girl have me?"

(End of this chapter)