Chapter 92: The Hardship of the Sword Maiden (Thanks to the alliance leader 'Loli Destroyer Controller' for the extra update)

Zi Ying's main course was dance.

"Actually, I also wanted to practice martial arts and become a sword maiden, but unfortunately, I don't have Little Sister Little Fengxian's talent."

Xiao Yu stood behind her, following along to pose in various postures that were not very graceful but had high difficulty.

She was learning dance from Zi Ying, while Hong Qu was learning etiquette from an etiquette teacher on the first floor.

A Prime Minister's daughter of course understood etiquette, even better than the Auntie in "Grand Etiquette."

But Hong Qu's identity had changed, and the behavior of the eldest daughter hadn't been changed yet, so she needed to be trained.

Xiao Yu, a Shaman, had only been the eldest daughter of the Guan family for more than half a month, but she had visited the Prefect and Marquis Lieyang, and had been visited by others, so her mentality was open and optimistic, naturally generous, and now she was instead praised by the etiquette teacher as "very understanding of etiquette."

"Being a dance maiden is also not bad; you have a talent for dancing."

Xiao Yu looked at Zi Ying with appreciative eyes as she twisted her slender waist gently.

Zi Ying's movements could be perfectly replicated by her, but doing them didn't have the delicate and charming flavor of Zi Ying.

"Sigh, a sword maiden can be one for a lifetime, and the sword technique gets stronger and stronger. A dance maiden has no guests after twenty-five, and she also falls ill," Zi Ying said while dancing, her movements not affected at all.

"I can teach you martial arts; I am a genius, and a genius's teaching ability is also stronger than others; I will definitely be able to make you a peerless sword maiden," Xiao Yu said.

"Is it really possible?"

Zi Ying was too happy, her dancing movements became distorted, and she turned her head to look at Xiao Yu with expectant eyes.

Auntie Cui Hua, who was teaching dance on the side, frowned but didn't say anything.

Xiao Yu said confidently: "Of course it's possible; not only you, but any sister in the courtyard, as long as you ask, I will teach you everything I have.

Hmm, the Guan family manuals definitely cannot be taught.

I have secretly made a decision—except in life-threatening situations, I will never use Guan family martial arts again.

You had better bring your own manuals to find me; if you don't have manuals, you can only choose from mine.

I currently only have four manuals, none of which are very suitable for girls."

Before the words fell, the movements of seven or eight girls practicing dance nearby all became distorted, and they all turned their heads to look at Xiao Yu with expectant eyes.

"Don't make promises too easily; you might be a sword path genius, but geniuses often cannot understand the difficulties of ordinary people," Auntie Cui Hua said lightly.

Xiao Yu laughed and said: "Auntie Cui Hua's words are very true; geniuses rely on talent to eat, learning is too easy, so they can't teach others the insights to break through barriers, but I am not an ordinary genius.

I am a 'fairy talent' among geniuses! Everyone can try it; I won't charge you tuition."

Auntie Cui Hua glanced at her again and shouted to the distracted girls: "All of you stand firm, and if you have anything to say, wait until after class."

The girls immediately restrained their expressions, stabilized their postures again, and danced to the beat.

Except for a half-stick of incense break in the middle, the entire Pear Fragrance Garden class lasted until the old Auntie from the kitchen came to call for dinner before it officially ended.

After lunch, the "daughters" no longer entered the Pear Fragrance Garden for class.

Because the listed "big girls" of the Red Sleeve House had all woken up.

The ancients really didn't have much nightlife, but the world of pleasure was an important part of nightlife.

The top girls were all very busy.

Besides accompanying guests in the Music Office, if a wealthy family had a birthday or held a banquet, they would also invite famous prostitutes to offer songs and dances.

Similar to rich people in the previous life inviting stars to liven up the atmosphere.

Some guests even had to wait a month later.

They often slept very late, sleeping until noon or even afternoon the next day, and then repeated yesterday's work: sitting in the Red Sleeve House, providing services for the young masters and old masters listening to music, or taking a sedan chair to "commercial perform" at a certain family.

After the big girls woke up, the "daughters" in the backyard would go over to serve their daily life.

They were both maids, saving expenses for the Red Sleeve House, and apprentices of the big girls, learning the "bearing" of the top red girls through ear and eye.

Xiao Yu and Hong Qu hadn't been assigned "seniors" yet; they returned to Little Quiet Pavilion.

Not long after, Zi Ying came over with a small booklet.

"This was handed to me by Auntie Liu, saying to let me try it first. If the effect is good, then arrange for you to teach other sisters."

Xiao Yu took the booklet and looked at it; it was a sword manual called *Nine Flower Beauty Sword*.

She silently flipped through the sword manual roughly.

It was very interesting; the Nine Flower Beauty Sword was named after nine famous flowers, the first flower, "Lingbo Fairy" imitating the charm of narcissus; the second flower, "Fragrance Fills the World" imitating the charm of osmanthus; the third flower, "Gentleman Like Jade" for orchid; the fourth, dignified and holy camellia; the fifth, blooming like brocade azalea; the sixth style, graceful and elegant Chinese rose; the seventh style, innocent purple chrysanthemum; the eighth style, peony looking down on all flowers; the ninth style, snow plum proud of frost and cold.

"This sword manual is not bad; although there is no breathing method, the spirit and moves are very suitable for women.

And once there is divine intent, a woman's temperament will also change."

Just as a look of expectation and joy appeared on Zi Ying's little face, Xiao Yu shook her head again and sighed: "But this sword manual is not suitable for me, and I can't teach it to you.

Because I am a barbarian, I have never seen the frost-proud snow plum in my life, have never seen the palace peony, have never seen the carefully cultivated purple chrysanthemum, orchid... If it were wild orchid, I have chewed and eaten a few."

"Chewed... orchid?" Hong Qu's expression on the side was a bit distorted. "Are you a cow?"

Xiao Yu said lightly: "The Shaman wilderness has no farmland, so crops cannot be planted; I tasted hundreds of flowers and grasses, looking for crops suitable for the desert environment, and also looking for medicinal herbs to heal wounds."

Actually, she first let the sand rats taste them; if the sand rats didn't die, then she let the Shaman people taste them; if the Shaman people didn't die, she tasted them herself.

And she mainly looked for crops; the medicinal herbs she looked for were not for healing, but more for developing poisons.

Because she didn't understand medical principles at all.

Hong Qu didn't understand the inside story, thinking she was a "Shaman Shennong" who tasted hundreds of grasses herself, and the look in her eyes added a trace of admiration.

"If you haven't seen those flowers, can't you practice?" Zi Ying murmured. "I've only seen the sour plum blossoms in my own backyard."

Hong Qu sighed: "If you haven't even seen them, how can you imitate their charm?"

Xiao Yu glanced at her and said: "This sword manual is quite suitable for you."

"I won't practice it," Hong Qu said firmly.

The Nine Flower Sword was mainly used to create "fake ladies with flower-like temperament," its actual combat power was extremely poor, and it had no benefit to her.

"Is Auntie Liu still busy now?" Xiao Yu asked, looking at Zi Ying.

Zi Ying nodded: "Very busy."

"What about that Uncle Zhang?" Xiao Yu asked again.

"Oh, almost forgot, I helped you make an appointment with Uncle Zhang!" Zi Ying smiled apologetically, hurriedly took Xiao Yu's hand, and ran out, shouting: "Let's hurry, Uncle Zhang has to go to work soon!"

Xu Huier running, Zi Ying also explained the rules of the Red Sleeve House regarding "prevention between men and women."

Uh, a prostitute talking about prevention between men and women sounded a bit absurd.

But if you treat prostitutes as commodities and men as consumers, "prevention between men and women" becomes "preventing zero-dollar shopping."

There were also men inside the Red Sleeve House, commonly known as "turtles."

The "Uncle Zhang" they were about to meet was a turtle.

Turtles generally only move in the front courtyard, while the backyard had "daughters" and "girls."

Girls were meant to be sold for money; if they got mixed up with turtles, it wouldn't be good for their reputation, and if it spread, their value would inevitably plummet.

If a turtle ruined the innocence of the "daughters," the Music Office would lose even more.

The Red Sleeve House could be divided into three major gates; the first gate entered the attic facing the street, to eat or prostitute; the second gate was prepared for VIP clients, with separate small courtyards, or small pavilions and kiosks near the water, for guests with different needs; the third gate was generally not open to the public, inside were kitchens, bathhouses, dining halls, the Pear Fragrance Garden for training girls, the "dormitories" for "daughters," and various warehouses.

At this moment, Xiao Yu followed Zi Ying out of the third gate and met Uncle Zhang by the rockery in the front courtyard.

Uncle Zhang looked ordinary, his eyes were shrewd, but there was no treacherous quality on his face or body.

Either he was a great traitor who looked loyal, or he really retained a bit of the simplicity of being a human.

"Little Fengxian has met Uncle Zhang." Xiao Yu bowed.

Uncle Zhang hurriedly avoided it and waved his hand: "Miss Little Fengxian, please don't bow to people like us. We can't afford it, and others will laugh at you if they see it."

"There's no one else here." Xiao Yu smiled and went straight to the point: "I'm practicing martial arts and need medicinal meals, like the Guan family pharmacy's bone-strengthening soup, spirit-warming soup, and the like.

It's hard for me to leave the Red Sleeve House, so I need Uncle Zhang's help.

Of course, I won't let Uncle Zhang work for nothing."

Uncle Zhang had already known Xiao Yu's request from Zi Ying, and he wasn't surprised at this moment, only saying: "Does Miss Little Fengxian know about the Bee-Keeping Alley in the inner courtyard?"

Xiao Yu shook her head.

Zi Ying immediately said: "I know, I'll take her to recognize the way later."

Uncle Zhang nodded and said: "The Bee-Keeping Alley connects to an alley outside, and the alley connects to 'China Street.'

I will hand the medicine bags I bought to Granny Sun who guards the Bee-Keeping Alley, and Miss Little Fengxian can go and get them herself.

You have to give Granny Sun half a string of big money every month.

As for me, Miss Little Fengxian can just reward me with a few silver coins; it's not a big deal anyway."

Xiao Yu smiled and nodded: "Okay, let's do it like that."

She handed over two taels of gold that she had weighed in advance: "Buy one bag of each kind of medicinal herb first, as many types as possible; I'll try the effect of each medicine bag myself first."

"Understood."

After Uncle Zhang left with the money bag, Zi Ying hesitated: "Shouldn't we talk about the monthly money first?"

"The amount I need isn't fixed; the monthly money for running more or less is definitely different," Xiao Yu said.

More importantly, she didn't fully trust Uncle Zhang yet.

If he embezzled her silver or used inferior goods to fob her off, she would immediately change people, so why talk about monthly money?

Conversely, if Uncle Zhang was really an honest person, her reward would definitely not be small.

"Where does Auntie Liu live? Take me for a walk nearby and recognize the way," Xiao Yu said.

Around four o'clock in the afternoon, Xiao Yu saw Auntie Liu.

Auntie Liu lived in a small building by the garden in the front courtyard.

The garden small building was not only elegant in environment, but also had a very open view; climbing the pavilion on the rockery, one could overlook the entire Red Sleeve House.

And the furnishings inside the small building were also exceptionally exquisite and luxurious.

Xiao Yu even saw a three-foot-high chime clock.

"Hehe, haven't seen such a rare thing, right?"

Seeing Xiao Yu staring at the chime clock and looking up and down with a face full of surprise, Auntie Liu put down the pen in her hand, rubbed her sore neck, and laughed proudly: "Don't talk about you, a Northern Shaman, even many monarchs of Western countries have at most heard of the 'Great Qin Immortal Clock,' but have never seen it, let alone owned it."

"Was this made by a Great Qin immortal?" Xiao Yu asked.

"Whether it was made by an immortal, I don't know, but it did indeed come from the Great Qin Xianyang Craftsman Camp."

Auntie Liu walked to the "Great Qin Immortal Clock," wiped the non-existent dust on the red wood shell gently like stroking a lover, and pointed to the small iron plate behind, saying: "Look, there are even the craftsman's number and name."

Xiao Yu leaned over to look, and sure enough, it was written "146th Year, Shenyou Group, Temple Worker Qi Supervisor."

The meaning should be the 146th year of the Human Emperor's reign, a master craftsman named "Qi," leading the Shenyou group to manufacture the Great Qin Immortal Clock.

"This thing didn't use immortal arts; it shouldn't be difficult to imitate."

"You're talking crazy again." Auntie Liu glanced at her. "If it weren't difficult to imitate, why hasn't anyone in the Western countries imitated it?"

"Because they are stupid, and I have great wisdom," Xiao Yu said.

Auntie Liu rolled her eyes: "I'm very busy and too lazy to talk nonsense with you. What's the matter with finding me?"

Xiao Yu told her about Uncle Zhang helping to buy medicine.

"It's Zhang Laosi..." Auntie Liu thought for a while before saying: "He's okay."

Xiao Yu said in surprise: "So reluctant? That means he's not very good."

Auntie Liu sneered: "You don't think about who you are dealing with.

Turtles and prostitutes are the two types of people least worth entrusting with money and trust.

If Zhang Laosi knew he got an 'okay' evaluation, he would have to be grateful to me."

Xiao Yu was speechless.

"Since the Red Sleeve House has been cultivating sword maidens, why not purchase the medicinal supplements for practicing martial arts in a unified way?" she asked.

"Hmph, do you know how much a bag of bone-strengthening soup costs?" Auntie Liu said.

Xiao Yu laughed: "Others might be able to fool me, but I, this former 'Guan family young lady,' know the quality and price of Guan family medicine bags like the back of my hand.

The unified market price for bone-strengthening soup is six taels of silver per bag, and one bag can boil two liters of thick soup."

"Then do you know how much the overnight fee for an ordinary listed girl in the Red Sleeve House is?" Auntie Liu held up two fingers. "Not counting food and wine money, two taels of silver can sleep with 70% of the girls in our Red Sleeve House.

Six taels of silver, hmph, if anyone is willing to buy, I can even sell myself."

"Uh, this is really... sigh!"

Xiao Yu tilted her head and glanced at the "Great Qin Immortal Clock," her brain recalling Hong Qu's words earlier: the girls of the Red Sleeve House eat the guests' leftovers, and the money saved in a year can build a new palace for the Prince of Qinghe.

She scratched the back of her head and said: "The market for sword maidens must be different, right?"

"Only those who succeed in practicing are sword maidens; those who don't succeed are not. Since they have succeeded, what else is there to supplement? If you really want to supplement, you can be like you, using private money; anyway, once you become a sword maiden, you won't be short of that little money," Auntie Liu said. ===== CHAPTER 93 =====