Chapter 15: Xu Xian Gets Injured

"Incredible!"

In the main hall, the crowd was discussing it excitedly.

Su Bie also clapped the fan in his hand, his face full of disbelief as he said, "This poem, paired with the name of that Miss Chujian, is truly incredible!"

"I wonder who it was that could write such exquisite verses!"

Xu Xiansheng on the flower stage finished reciting the poem and told everyone that no name was written on it.

So, everyone was discussing it heatedly while making guesses.

Wang Dafu said with a face full of jealousy, "If no one claims it in a moment, I'll stand up and claim it! Such great fame—it would be a waste not to take it!"

Zhang Yitian, who was to the side, laughed and said, "Brother Wang, your name has already been called out just now; everyone knows you are supporting Miss Mei'er."

Wang Dafu rolled his eyes and said, "Your brother here is wealthy and talented; I am supporting two ladies at once, who dares to object?"

At this moment, the results of the votes on the stage had already come out.

The selections for the Flower Chant were Miss Ziwei, who was skilled in the flute, and Miss Chujian, whose name was known but whose face had not been seen.

No one doubted that after this night, the name of that Miss Chujian would become famous throughout the literary circles of Lin'an City.

The other ladies who failed to be selected could only feel envy and jealousy.

Especially that Miss Mei'er, who had thought victory was within her grasp, was particularly furious.

"It's a pity for my Miss Mei'er; she only lost by two votes. Look at that angry little look, the way she wiggles her bottom is truly cute..."

Wang Dafu's face was full of regret.

Su Bie teased, "Is it the little look that is cute, or is the way she wiggles her bottom truly cute?"

Wang Dafu chuckled and said, "Naturally, the bottom."

At this time, the old gentleman on the stage, those ladies, and the talented men and women off the stage all wanted to know who the author of that poem was, yet after asking for a long time, no one admitted to it.

Xu Xiansheng had no choice but to go and ask Liu Mama personally, but it turned out Liu Mama didn't know either.

Liu Mama then had to go and ask Chujian, but it turned out that both Chujian and her maid Bi'er shook their heads with blushing faces, saying they didn't know.

How strange.

No one knows who wrote the poem?

Such a glorious matter, and yet no one is claiming it?

Everyone felt puzzled.

At this time, the night outside had grown deep.

Some people, having had their fill of food and drink and finished watching the program, felt their interest wane and wanted to go home.

The Flower Boat began to slowly pull into the dock, and the wooden bridge was set up.

Some people continued to drink and discuss in the main hall, while others began to leave.

Luo Zijun had long been anxious, and seeing this, he immediately put aside his pride and said to Su Bie, "Brother Su, I feel that we should go and check on Brother Xu Xian, lest something happen to him."

So much time had passed; he was truly worried!

Su Bie was torn between laughter and tears: "Zijun, why do I feel like you have other intentions toward Brother Xu?"

Wang Dafu, who was to the side, hurriedly covered his bottom and shouted, "Brother Luo, you absolutely must not! There are millions of women in this world, all of them fresh and fragrant; why must you take a different path and become a stirrer of dung?"

The corner of Luo Zijun's mouth twitched: "I only admire him, there is no other meaning."

Su Bie finished his last cup of wine, stood up, and said, "Let's go, we really should go and check on Brother Xu, in case something has happened."

Luo Zijun nodded hurriedly.

Wang Dafu took a reluctant look behind the flower stage and muttered, "I wonder if Miss Mei'er remembered me."

Su Bie laughed and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "When the time comes, we will take Zijun to the Tianxian Pavilion to have fun, and you can try to request her."

Wang Dafu chuckled: "Tomorrow night?"

Su Bie thought for a moment and said, "We'll see. I'll check if I have anything to do tomorrow; if not, I will notify you. By the way, Zijun, Brother Zhang, do you have anything to do tomorrow?"

Zhang Yitian laughed: "I have nothing to do tomorrow."

Luo Zijun hurriedly said, "Then you all go ahead, I..."

"You can invite Xu Xian to go along later."

Su Bie added.

Luo Zijun was stunned for a moment, looked at him, and said, "Brother Xu also visits the Brothel?"

Upon hearing this, Su Bie laughed heartily: "What scholar doesn't visit the Brothel? Zijun, you don't know, but Brother Xu is a regular at the Brothel."

Wang Dafu sneered: "That guy is a hypocrite; every time he says he won't go, he ends up being more eager than anyone else."

The corner of Luo Zijun's mouth twitched.

This is just too outrageous.

It seems that the Xu Xian of this world is vastly different from the character he is familiar with.

However, scholars visiting the Brothel don't necessarily go to play with women.

Perhaps it is just to listen to music, or perhaps just to make friends.

Hmm, that is the only way he can explain it.

"Let's go."

The four of them got off the boat together.

Liu Mama stood by the wooden bridge, smiling broadly as she saw the guests off, looking as if she were in an excellent mood.

"Oh my, Young Master Su, Young Master Wang, Young Master Zhang, Young Master Luo, walk slowly. You must visit our Tianxian Pavilion often in the future and take care of the ladies."

Su Bie laughed: "Don't worry, Liu Mama, we will go in these next few days; remember to give us a discount then."

Liu Mama laughed: "Certainly, certainly."

Wang Dafu hurriedly said, "Liu Mama, if we go tomorrow night, remember to keep Miss Mei'er for us."

Liu Mama smiled with her whole face and said, "Young Master Wang, it's not as if you don't know that Mei'er doesn't often receive guests. She didn't get selected as Flower Chant tonight and is furious; I reckon it will take her a few days to recover."

Wang Dafu naturally knew she was just being polite, so he smiled and said nothing more.

The talented and beautiful girls of Tianxian Pavilion are all very clever; most of the time, they put on airs, deliberately acting cold toward guests to maintain a sense of mystery, and can only be seen occasionally.

If one could see them every day, the guests would surely get bored very quickly, and their value would be greatly diminished.

Of course, if you offer a high enough price, or if your status is noble enough, that is another matter entirely.

"Pah! What kind of bullshit 'doesn't often receive guests'! If I were to toss out a hundred taels, I guarantee she would trot over happily to send Miss Mei'er out!"

After getting off the boat, Wang Dafu said with great disdain.

Su Bie laughed, "It's a good thing Miss Mei'er wasn't selected as Flower Chant tonight; if she had been, your hundred taels wouldn't even be worth looking at."

Zhang Yitian chimed in, "That procuress is just like that, she serves dishes based on how much money she sees." The group grumbled as they left West Lake and headed toward the streets of West City.

Luo Zijun followed behind, silently memorizing the route.

At the same time.

At the small door of the Flower Boat, two figures were hiding there, watching the figures on the shore gradually moving away.

"Bi'er, go ask Mama later what that person's name is."

"Miss, if I do that, wouldn't it expose us?"

"You're right, I can't ask... then what should I do..."

"Miss, that guy is a disgrace to scholars, let's just forget it."

"I, I don't mean anything else, I just want to know... his name."

"Let's just call him... Young Master Frequent Urination."

"…You're asking for a beating!"

!

"Hee hee..."

A full moon rose into the night sky.

Su Bie led the three of them into a small alley.

Wang Dafu suddenly spoke up, "Do you think Brother Xu might have stayed the night with those two women and didn't come back?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Luo Zijun's expression changed instantly.

Su Bie said, "It's just ahead, let's go check. Even if he hasn't returned, his pageboy should have; we'll know once we ask the pageboy."

The four of them soon stopped in front of an old house.

Su Bie stepped forward and grasped the iron ring to knock on the door.

After a moment, a sound of footsteps came from inside, followed by a young girl's crisp voice asking: "Who is it?"

Su Bie said, "Sister Ziyin, it's me, Su Bie."

The gate opened with a "creak."

A young girl dressed in red martial attire appeared in the doorway; she was slender, pretty, and had a pair of dark, lively eyes. She was not very old, and the expression on her face looked somewhat cold.

Wang Dafu and Zhang Yitian both had their eyes light up.

Luo Zijun thought to himself: This must be Xu Xian's sister.

Su Bie smiled and said, "Sister Ziyin, has Brother Xu returned? We had originally agreed to go to the Literary Gathering together, but Brother Xu was delayed by something and didn't go. We were worried something might have happened to him, so we came to check."

Xu Ziyin glanced at the other three, her expression indifferent: "He has already returned."

Upon hearing this, Luo Zijun immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as he's back... as long as he's back...

Xu Ziyin added, "However, he is injured and lying in bed, so he cannot receive guests for the time being, and he won't be able to go to the Academy tomorrow either."

"Injured?"

Su Bie's expression changed, and he hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

A look of disdain appeared in Xu Ziyin's eyes. She glanced coldly at the four of them again and said expressionlessly, "He escorted two women home, got involved with them at their place, and ended up being cornered in the room by their man. He got beaten up and had to pay twenty taels of silver before they let him go."

Everyone: "..."

Luo Zijun: "..."

Su Bie opened his mouth to ask more, but Xu Ziyin closed the door directly. From inside, she said coldly to herself, "I told him long ago not to go out fooling around with those bad friends of his, but he just wouldn't listen. Serves him right!"

The bad friends outside the door: "..."

"Let's go."

Su Bie didn't dare to knock again; feeling somewhat awkward, he turned and walked away.

The three of them hurriedly followed behind.

"It's clear that Brother Xu fell for a honey trap."

Wang Dafu, being experienced, said quite frankly, "Back in the day, I fell for it five times in a row before I suddenly realized what was happening."

Luo Zijun: "..."

Wang Dafu added in a low voice, "I didn't expect Brother Xu's sister to be so pretty and charming. Are they not biological siblings?"

Su Bie glanced at him and warned, "You had better not have any designs on that young girl. She practices martial arts; she could kick your head off with one foot."

Wang Dafu was shocked: "She's that fierce?"

Su Bie snorted, "I saw it with my own eyes back then; she kicked a tree in half with one kick."

As the group talked, they parted ways at the intersection ahead.

"Zijun, if I have time tomorrow, I'll come find you at the Pharmacy, and then the brothers will take you to the Brothel to have some fun."

"Alright."

Luo Zijun did not refuse.

He finally felt at ease now.

The person Xu Xian encountered tonight was not Bai Niangzi, but a honey trap.

Xu Xian loved going to the Brothel.

Very good, he decided to go to the Brothel first to become a familiar face, and when the time came, he would take that fellow there to play every day, making him so happy he would forget his home!

Would Bai Niangzi like someone who frequently hung around the Brothel?

Of course not.

Even if Bai Niangzi lost her head, Xiao Qing would not agree to it.

Even if this plan did not succeed, he had another plan: to urge Xu Xian to get married as soon as possible!

Thinking this way, he soon returned home.

The lights were still on in the house, and his sister and brother-in-law had not yet gone to sleep.

What was strange was that there was one more person in the house.

A young girl wearing a coarse cloth dress, thin and small, timid and weak.

His sister Luo Jiaorong said with a face full of smiles: "Zijun, this is a Young Maid I bought for you, her name is Xiaohuan, she will sleep in your room tonight."

Luo Zijun: "???"

(End of this chapter)