Chapter 76

Chapter 76

In truth, Sheng Zhaoning had lied.

She had been to brothels before.

For many targets who needed to be assassinated, the best time to strike was precisely when they were drinking and making merry in a brothel, tumbling into bed with the courtesans.

Li Ji, however, did not doubt her words in the slightest.

After all, Sheng Zhaoning had an air of refined, unworldly elegance about her. She truly did not look like some wastrel who would haunt brothels.

“Then… shall we go take a look later?”

“…”

Sheng Zhaoning did not even manage to step through the gates of her residence before the people from the Court of Judicial Review took her away.

On the road, Li Ji gave her a rough explanation of the reason.

The Court of Judicial Review had recently been investigating a case involving the former Assistant Minister of Revenue’s embezzlement. But halfway through following the leads, the trail had gone cold. The only person still connected to the case was the top courtesan of Zuiyun Tower, Sang Jin.

The case implicated too many people, so they could not investigate openly with great fanfare. They could only find Sang Jin first, use her as an entry point, then work from the surface inward and follow the clues down the line.

Unfortunately, Sang Jin was not someone one could meet easily.

The woman had quite a temperament. Unless a guest’s looks, bearing, talent, and learning were all first-rate, she refused to see them.

Zuiyun Tower also cherished this money tree of theirs and never forced her to receive guests.

So the people of the Court of Judicial Review were at their wits’ end.

By coincidence, they had passed by Sheng Mansion today and happened to run into Sheng Zhaoning.

The newly minted Zhuangyuan, who had achieved Lianzhong Liuyuan, was a renowned talent throughout all of Great Wei. She was also handsome, elegant, and possessed an exceptionally fine, jade-like face. Was this not a ready-made candidate?

Li Ji did not even dare waste time on a couple of polite exchanges. He brought her straight back to the Court of Judicial Review and instructed her, “After you enter Zuiyun Tower tonight and meet Sang Jin, you must bring her into a room and keep her occupied. Our people will be inside Zuiyun Tower, ready to assist at any moment.”

Like a lamb that had wandered into a wolf’s den, Sheng Zhaoning had no room to resist. “All right…”

Li Ji continued, “Also, before our people arrive, you must not reveal the purpose of this trip, lest you alert the enemy.”

Helpless, Sheng Zhaoning answered again, “All right.”

Li Ji gave her a few more instructions about possible emergencies. Sheng Zhaoning kept answering “all right” again and again, and only then did Li Ji nod in satisfaction.

They remained at the Court of Judicial Review until nightfall. Only then did Li Ji and several others change into plain clothes and enter Zuiyun Tower one after another with Sheng Zhaoning.

It was the finest hour of the night, and the atmosphere inside the building was already lively.

On a round wooden platform in the center, several dancers were swaying with graceful, alluring movements. The scent of wine mingled with the fragrance of rouge and powder, casting a faintly intoxicating haze over everything.

The music of strings and flutes echoed in their ears, and every face carried a trace of intoxicated delight.

Sheng Zhaoning had only just stepped through the door when several girls immediately surrounded her. Their cloying fragrance flooded her nose. Sheng Zhaoning frowned in discomfort and instinctively tried to step back.

Without warning, a pair of slender arms wound around her shoulders.

“Young master, what are you hiding from?” The woman’s breath brushed her ear, damp and warm.

Sheng Zhaoning went rigid from head to toe. She looked toward Li Ji and the others, who had entered a step ahead of her, trying to ask for help. Yet all of them wore expressions as if they were watching a good show and pretended not to know her.

Beside Li Ji, someone asked in a low voice, “My lord, why didn’t anyone hug us when we came in?”

Li Ji picked up a handful of melon seeds and cracked them as he said, “Do you have a mirror at home?”

The man froze. “Huh?”

Li Ji spat out a melon seed shell and swept him a sidelong glance. “Take a look, and you’ll know.”

“…”

While the spectators on this side were enjoying the show, Sheng Zhaoning had already been surrounded so tightly she could not take a single step.

A riot of bright silks and painted faces filled her vision. A dozen or so girls had gathered around her, and more were still pressing in.

She was wedged in the middle, both arms seized, her hands being tugged straight toward the soft white skin exposed at their chests. Sheng Zhaoning clenched her fists and did not even dare open her hands, afraid she might touch something she should not.

In the chaos, someone pinched her bottom. Her waist was fondled several times as well.

In all her life, Sheng Zhaoning had never been taken advantage of like this, especially not by so many people at once. Her expression darkened little by little. She gritted her teeth, her entire body on the verge of exploding.

By now, every eye in the building had been drawn to her. Just as she could no longer endure it and was about to bark out a rebuke, an angry scolding suddenly rang out from the side.

“What do you think you’re doing? Have you girls never seen a man before? Have you no shame?”

At the sound of the scolding, the women finally restrained themselves. They let go of Sheng Zhaoning and tactfully backed away.

A few of them, even after leaving, kept looking back with lingering reluctance, throwing flirtatious glances at her as they went.

Sheng Zhaoning stood there with a grim face, her whole body stained with the mingled scents of different powders and rouge. She felt as if all the blood in her body had frozen solid. All she wanted was to go back at once, bathe, and change her clothes.

Once the crowd had dispersed, the stern-faced madam glared at several of the girls and gave a cold snort. Then she turned to look at the person who had just been surrounded at the entrance, curious what sort of man could have bewitched these girls into acting like such country bumpkins. But the moment she turned her head and got a single look, she froze on the spot.

As expected… he was no ordinary man.

“Is this young master visiting Zuiyun Tower for the first time?”

The madam lifted her feet and walked toward her, hips swaying out of habit.

Sheng Zhaoning’s expression had yet to recover. Looking at the madam approaching her, she said, “Yes.”

“Alone?”

“Is that not allowed?” Sheng Zhaoning asked with a frown.

The madam laughed. “It is. Of course it is.”

She looked Sheng Zhaoning up and down. This young master had an extraordinary face and bearing, and wore fine robes with a jade crown. Though he might not seem extravagantly dressed, he was absolutely the son of a wealthy household.

So she asked, “May I ask whether Young Master has a particular lady in mind on this visit to Zuiyun Tower?”

All around them, those who kept stealing glances this way pricked up their ears, secretly anticipating her answer.

Sheng Zhaoning said coolly, “If I have come to Zuiyun Tower, it is naturally only for Miss Sang Jin.”

The expectant gazes around her instantly froze over, transforming into deep resentment and jealousy.

Sang Jin, Sang Jin. Sang Jin again.

Was Sang Jin the only woman left in all of Zuiyun Tower?

The madam had already expected as much and gave her a look that said, just as I thought.

It made sense. With looks like these, how could such a person possibly take an interest in ordinary painted women?

“Since Young Master has come only to seek Miss Sang Jin, I presume you know her rules.”

Without changing expression, Sheng Zhaoning glanced in Li Ji’s direction.

“Naturally.”

The madam stared closely at her face for a long while. Such looks could naturally be called peerless; there was nothing to criticize. She simply did not know what his literary talent was like.

“May I ask Young Master’s name? Do you hold any scholarly rank?”

Sheng Zhaoning had intended to keep a low profile, but in all of Great Wei, who could possibly not have heard her name?

She slowly said, “Sheng Zhaoning.”