Chapter 370

The three girls climbed up, and Tao Yanbai smiled apologetically at the boatman before scrambling up the soft ladder too.

Because it was his first time climbing such a ladder, he misjudged his grip and trembled slightly.

Wang Cong slapped his lower back, gritting his teeth and whispering, "Idiot, just use your lightness skill to leap up—do you really think they climbed up?"

Tao Yanbai pondered, held his breath, gripped the ladder, and shot upward—his feet barely tapped the ladder, and to the boatman's eyes, he ascended just like the three girls, zipping up like a monkey.

The boatman could only call up, "Add three more, add three more people."

He told Wang Cong, "Add three more—the silver you gave before isn't enough, you'll need to pay more."

Wang Cong pulled out a string of coins from his sleeve, "My junior uncle gave you a one-tael silver ingot—didn't you just hand up a string of coins above?"

The boatman: …

He took the copper coins and tossed them straight up; the person above caught them and grumbled, "Next time don't bring so many—get caught and we won't fare well."

Wang Cong finally boarded the boat.

The boatman said, "Young Master, I'll stay beside the boat—when you're done, call me from the shaded side."

Wang Cong figured they wouldn't finish anytime soon, and since the pleasure boat wasn't far from shore, he could fly back easily, so he said, "No need to wait—we'll go on our own."

The boatman: …

He kindly warned, "Young Master, spending the night on a flower boat costs a fortune."

Wang Cong nodded, "We have money."

The boatman muttered, "Blowing smoke— if you had money, why sneak aboard through me?"

Wang Cong climbed aboard.

Whether for the convenience of smugglers or not, this side of the boat had no lanterns at all, and being in shadow made it hard for the accomplices to see their faces.

As he quietly led them around to the stern, he whispered, "If any guest asks, say you're crew. If the madam asks, say you're servants or guards brought by a guest—got it?"

He turned back, having just rounded the stern, and the lantern light fell on them, revealing all five.

The crewman: "... You—you're girls?"

With their high ponytails, he'd assumed they were unripe boys come to gawk—but now he saw, they were women.

Pan Yun immediately pulled Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He back, shoving Wang Cong forward.

Wang Cong instantly shoved a handful of copper coins into the crewman's hand and lowered his voice, "Without close inspection, you can't tell, right?"

The crewman: "I'm not blind—how could I not tell?"

He shoved the coins back, "Nope—only you two can go in; those three can't. If the madam finds out, I'll lose my job."

Pan Yun immediately said, "No, no, no—find us an empty room. We can disguise ourselves—we guarantee no one will know we're women."

The crewman stared at them skeptically.

Wang Cong pulled out a small silver sliver and slipped it to him.

The silver sliver was too tempting—the crewman hesitated, then took it and said, "Follow me."

He led the five back, quickly found a door, pushed it open, and stepped inside.

Inside was tiny, no bed, but several quilts were laid on the deck.

The crewman lit the lantern, scowling, "This is our room—hurry up, don't mess up anything."

Pan Yun agreed at once.

As soon as the crewman left, she pulled out supplies from her space, quickly laid out all her cosmetics, poured a bit of medicinal liquid into Miao Zhen and Miao He's palms, did the same to her own, and said, "Rub it on your face and neck."

They were still young—disguising themselves was simple.

Today, to downplay their Daoist Priest identity, they'd deliberately worn plain robes, gender-neutral.

So after rubbing the liquid on their faces and necks to dull their pallor, Pan Yun opened a jar, dipped her brush into the medicinal paste, and painted on Miao Zhen and Miao He's faces—moments later, their features gained slight angularity, their jawlines widened, their eyebrows thickened, and they looked like young masters fresh to the world.

This was Wang Cong's first time witnessing Pan Yun's disguise art—he stared, dumbfounded.

Seeing Pan Yun sketch a few strokes on her own face, he too changed appearance—resembling his old self six or sevenfold, yet no one would think them the same person.

Wang Cong murmured, "If I met you on the street, I'd swear you were Junior Uncle's biological brother—I'd never guess you were Junior Uncle."

Pan Yun smiled in satisfaction.

Tao Yanbai: "But Junior Uncle, what about your head?"

Pan Yun glanced at him, then pulled a wig from her space.

The four gasped, "Junior Uncle, you're truly foresighted!"

"Foresight belongs to Senior Brother," Pan Yun said. "This wig was Senior Brother's New Year gift—he told me before leaving: before doing something shady, take off your hat, put on your hair."

"Though tonight we're here for good, since the world forbids it, wearing this hair won't hurt."

The door opened—the crewman stared, bewildered, at the three who now looked utterly unrecognizable as girls.

He hesitated, "You—you came aboard to do what?"

Wang Cong said, "Just to broaden our horizons—to show them how cruel the world beyond is, how hard life is for girls without family protection. Brother, don't worry—we mean no harm, we won't cause trouble." The crewman exhaled, turned, and led the way, "Then follow me. But if you cause trouble, don't say I brought you aboard."

He said, "You're getting a huge deal coming aboard—Lantern Festival pleasure boats are expensive. Every guest pays at least ten taels for drinks, even with advance booking."

"If you didn't book and try to board mid-voyage, you'd need at least fifty taels per person."

Pan Yun whistled, "Your boat's owner must be raking in fortunes."

"Of course! Do you think anyone can run a pleasure boat on this river? Our madam's been on this river for twenty years—she knows everyone from the Prefect down to the county clerk. So be careful."

The crewman led them to the front—lights blazing, laughter and song filled the air; Pan Yun felt as if she'd stepped from one world into another.

The crewman whispered, "Go in—stick to the hull. On this boat, the girls not held by guests or wearing gold hairpins—you can call any who cost more than two taels."

"Don't worry they'll know you snuck in—if you don't cause trouble, they'll help hide you."

Miao He asked curiously, "Why?"

"You'll see when you go in," the crewman said, not daring to get closer—he shoved them forward. "Go in."

The five stepped out of the shadows into the light.

!. Read

It was still the well-experienced Wang Cong who reacted first, taking the lead and walking out in front.

Behind him followed four country bumpkins looking left and right.

A few Misses who were waving their colored sleeves and twirling around inside the boat saw them, their eyes immediately lighting up. They rushed over at top speed, each grabbing one person's arm and pulling them toward the empty seats nearby. "Oh, Young Master, why have you only just come? This one has missed you terribly. Come, come sit down."

Pan Yun and the other two younger ones were not spared either. The Misses who rushed over saw that Wang Cong and Tao Yan Bai had both arms—one on each side—already held. They turned and went to grab Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He's arms.

Two Misses actually lifted Pan Yun up bodily, carried her straight to the seat behind the low table, and pressed her down, then squeezed in on her left and right. "Young Master's face looks so tender—how old are you this year?"

Pan Yun: "Ten."

The two Misses flanking Pan Yun stiffened slightly, their bosoms moving a little farther from her shoulders, but they still did not let go of her arms. Instead, waving their handkerchiefs, they giggled: "Is this Young Master's first time visiting a flower boat?"

Pan Yun nodded. "First time going inside. Before I only saw them from outside."

The Miss in light yellow on the left laughed: "Then Young Master is truly impressive—first time here and not a flicker on your face. You'll surely be a great hero in the future, with a grand career ahead."

Pan Yun reached into her sleeve, fumbled around, pulled out a silver note and stuffed it to her. "You really know how to talk sweet."

The light-yellow Miss unfolded the silver note and saw it was a one-tael note, but she still brimmed with smiles, released Pan Yun's hand, leaned nearly half her body against Pan Yun, and cooed: "What this one says is the truth. Young Master is already a little hero now, so won't he be a great hero later?"

The pink-clad Miss nearby was not to be outdone. She plucked a grape, peeled it, and held it to Pan Yun's lips, whispering: "Young Master, don't only look at sister. Look at me too. My mouth isn't as sweet as sister's, but I can give Young Master a sweet taste."

Pan Yun ate the grape, pulled out a silver note and slapped it into her hand. "You're sweet too."

The two Misses let out an excited cry and served Pan Yun even more attentively.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He, sitting across from her, copied her and started handing out silver notes too.

All were small one-tael notes.

These were notes they had specifically exchanged at the bank after converting their copper coins back into silver.

One-tael silver notes were the most useful in their eyes, so although they didn't have much else on them, they had the most one-tael small silver notes.

The Misses surrounding the three girls were nearly delirious with joy, attracting the attention of girls elsewhere on the boat who had been wandering around without snaring any customers.

They immediately ran over and crowded around the three of them to play together.

Seeing they were young, the Misses didn't get handsy. They simply took out all sorts of fun things and tasty treats to amuse them.

The proper men, Wang Cong and Tao Yan Bai, were left out in the cold.

But the four Misses surrounding them didn't leave either, diligently pouring them wine and saying sweet nothings.

Wang Cong tipped them silver notes with a helpless expression, and even helped Tao Yan Bai pay off two Misses along the way.

He told them: "Those three are the young masters of our household. Don't pour them wine—just take them around to play and have some fun."

The Misses happily agreed, and most of them clustered around Pan Yun and the other two.

The three, who had been separated at first, now sat together.

Pan Yun held the light-yellow Miss's hand and asked with a smile, "Why did you pull us apart earlier and not let us sit together, and now you're letting us sit together?"

The light-yellow Miss tapped Pan Yun's shoulder and said coquettishly: "Wasn't I afraid Young Master wouldn't be willing to stay, and would take your brothers away with you? Now that Young Master knows the pleasures of the boat, of course this one wants all the Young Masters to be happy together."

Pan Yun tapped her nose and said: "You are quite clever."

She looked toward the screen not far away.

It was an openwork bamboo screen, dividing the boat in two. Out here was for dancing and singing. Besides them, there were eight other men, each with someone in his arms at the moment.

Behind the screen, music drifted over. Though faint and indistinct, one could still see long sleeves fluttering inside—clearly a dance in progress. Judging by the sound, it wasn't bad.

Pan Yun could sense that Xiao Hong and Hong Yan were inside.

She caught the light-yellow Miss's hand that was about to pat her chest, squeezed her fingers, and asked, "Is there something even more fun in there?"

Good night

(End of this chapter)