As the thought crossed Su Ye's mind, she withdrew her index finger, and noticed a dark purple mark on its joint. When she looked closer, she found that the mark resembled a small shoot with two leaves, and it looked quite adorable. Su Ye looked back up at the vine, which seemed to have wilted after the pact, and lay at the edge of the pot lifelessly.
Be it plants or animals, any being that contracted with a human would share their senses and emotions with their master. This vine, however, did not seem high-tier no matter how she looked at it. Could it be that it was too young and still needed to grow? As if it had picked up on her thoughts, the vine started twitching.
Clearly, it agreed with her.
Su Ye studied it for a few seconds before quickly rising to her feet, picking up the pot and heading outside. She kept walking all the way to the back garden, and placed the pot there. The little vine would grow well alongside the rare flowers of the garden, would it not? Most importantly, the ugly thing in Su Ye's pot might become better-looking if it was raised beside those lovely flowers.
After she left it in the back garden, she put all thoughts about it aside. Her anxiety had finally died down after Su Ruoruo had been sent away, and she was now in the mood for a stroll. After all, she now had to live as Su Ye after the original Su Ye had done so many unsavory things, so she would have to find out more to gain her footing.
When she woke up early the next morning, she put her clothes on by herself and kept her hair fastened behind her head with a single hairpin.
Xiao Xing was already waiting for her in a corner. After she was done tidying up, the handmaiden asked with a smile, "Milady, the madam has agreed to sell that gigolo to us. Congratulations on having another consort, milady!'
Su Ye found Xiao Xing's flattery a little unsettling. Staring at the cheerful and beautiful girl in the mirror, Su Ye muttered, "Winter Jasmine, huh…"
Two hours later, she was dressed fully in white, her hands clasped behind her back as she stood outside the doors of Winter Jasmine. She looked up at its huge signboard which was adorned with an exceedingly obvious red peony. The establishment certainly knew its status as the most popular brothel in Mystic Moon City.
At the moment, the sun was leaning west and it was already twilight; a scarlet evening cloud dyed the horizon red. It was also the hour when Winter Jasmine opened its doors for business. The ladies of Winter Jasmine were all wearing thin fabrics and thick rouge, each of them holding a silk handkerchief to draw in customers.
"Oh my, you're so late, sir!"
"Qiao Qiao missed you so dearly…"
"Have you tucked in your missus, sir? Please make sure she doesn't come here and throw a fit again…"
As they chattered away, the ladies would charmingly lean on those men's bulging bellies, smiling devilishly as they pulled them inside Winter Jasmine.
On the other hand, the madam—who had been standing outside the door—recognized Su Ye immediately. She had a red peony in her hair, and appeared rather stylish despite being in her forties. Her eyes lit up when she noticed Su Ye, and she flicked her handkerchief on Su Ye's shoulder with a smile. "You're finally here, milady!"
While Su Ye was known by others to be arrogant, self-indulgent, and despicable, she was a treasure to the madam. After all, the junior governor was very liberal with money, and the Winter Jasmine would bag up to half a month's worth of earnings from just one of her visits.