Shen Tang looked at the young man expressionlessly.
[According to the usual routine, people who look like they're about to kick off in the next second usually have a longer waiting time than those who are physically stronger, after all, trouble can last for thousands of years. Oops, forgot this guy can read minds... Big brother, can you hear this too?]
The young man coughed lightly a few times, "You're quite humorous, young lad."
Shen Tang: "..."
The shopkeeper, in a closed-mic state: "..."
He glanced at Shen Tang's side profile with his peripheral vision, confirming that he hadn't misjudged her gender, secretly wondering if the young man's eyesight was bad—
Why could he even mistake genders?
The young man's brow twitched slightly, but he didn't explain.
The attendant followed suit and walked out from behind the screen. With half-closed eyelids, he glanced at Shen Tang and the shopkeeper, gesturing to the servant boy who was serving. The servant boy understood and handed the shopkeeper a heavy purse filled with a bag of silver coins.
"Please count it."
The shopkeeper had been in business for so many years, handling countless silver coins. As soon as he touched them, he could tell the weight was off by a fraction, but the weight of the silver coins inside was not a problem. He opened the purse and counted the coins, smiling and saying, "No problem, no problem."
The attendant said, "In that case, everything's settled."
According to the procedure, the next step should be to "escort the guest" out.
The shopkeeper was tactful, ready to take Shen Tang away with the purse. However, by some coincidence or other, there was a third unfamiliar cough from behind the screen, followed closely by a stifled groan of pain, as if something heavy had rolled off the bed.
Shen Tang paused her movement to get up.
Ah, could it be—
Wasn't the voice just now obviously male?
Seemed to have a poor physical condition?
She habitually thought that those who came to the pleasure house for pleasure were usually the proactive ones, but from the sound just now, wasn't the person who was lying on the bed due to physical discomfort the real customer? This reminded her of a folk saying, "The toad wants to play under the peony, but it's the frog that looks ugly and plays beautiful."
She faintly smelled a hint of blood and the characteristic bitterness of herbs, couldn't help but cast an admiring glance at the attendant who kept everything under control.
Upon hearing the commotion, the attendant's expression softened, almost striding around the screen. Shen Tang only managed to catch a glimpse of a corner of his robe.
Faintly, she also heard the attendant say, "Yun Chi..."
Shen Tang: "..."
Yun Chi?
Which Yun, which Chi, what's his surname?
She seemed to have heard this name somewhere...
Just as Shen Tang was thinking about this, suddenly something came to her mind, and her facial expression gradually became stiff and distorted. She shifted her gaze, slowly raising her eyes, until they met the gaze of the young man staring at her.
Just from the meaningful glint in the young man's eyes, she knew she had been eavesdropped on again. Did the GM not care about these cheating b**tards?
Shen Tang took a half step back, her right hand placed behind her. If the young man made any suspicious moves, she would immediately summon the Motherly Sword and teach this filial son how to behave. With the distance between them, she was confident she could kill him with one strike. After all, not every schemer was like Qi Yuanliang.
The young man smiled and asked, "Why is the young lad so nervous?"
Shen Tang said, "Because, don't you have an idea?"
Under the puzzled gaze of the shopkeeper, the young man asked Shen Tang without reservation, "Young lad, do you know Young Lad Yun Chi?"
Shen Tang asked back, "Is his surname Gong?"
The young man nodded, "Yes."
Shen Tang: "..."
It was actually Gong Cheng, Gong Yun Chi!
How did he end up at the Moonflower Pavilion???
Shen Tang was momentarily unsure where to start with her complaints—according to the official decree, the men were sent to the border to serve as laborers, while the women were sent to the Xiaocheng Brothel—she went over this passage again in her mind, confirming she hadn't remembered it wrong.
Shen Tang's gaze fell towards the screen, as if trying to pierce through it to see the person behind it. "How could he be here?"
"The road of banishment is tough, ordinary people can hardly endure it, let alone those who have been stripped of their titles. Most of their lives have been worn away, and they're on the brink of reporting to the King of Hell. So, I brought him over." The young man spoke openly and sincerely.
"Before the young lad answers, how do you know Gong Yunchi?" Without waiting for Shen Tang's response, he added jokingly, "If the young lad refuses to answer, for the safety of myself and those involved, you might not be able to leave here unscathed."
It was almost as if he was about to kill to keep them quiet.
Shen Tang muttered inwardly, [Tch, who doesn't know about Gong's banishment? Just because I know this name means I must know him?]
She said aloud, "I only heard about Gong's situation from others, and when I suddenly heard the familiar name, I naturally wanted to confirm it."
The young man smiled and squinted his eyes, asking, "Really?"
Shen Tang replied, "Absolutely true."
The young man frowned slightly, pondering whether to believe her or not. After all, Shen Tang knew he could read minds, so maybe she was deliberately misleading him?
Just as the atmosphere was becoming tense, a hoarse voice from a young man inside the room asked, "Mr. Gu, is someone here?"
The young man smiled and clasped his hands inside his sleeves lazily. "Said to have a connection with you."
After a while, after some rustling of clothes, the attendant helped a young man wrapped in white cloth out. Although he was referred to as a young man, he looked about two years younger than the attendant, at most seventeen or eighteen years old. Perhaps due to enduring too much hardship on the road of banishment, his features had lost their youthful and tender appearance, instead carrying a thick, lingering melancholy and weakness.
Shen Tang: "..."
This was a disaster!
She absolutely dared not have any mental activities now.
The guy who was eavesdropping with his mind-reading cheat was still watching, and she didn't want to be silenced.
Gong Cheng also saw Shen Tang's face clearly and was slightly stunned.
The young man saw his reaction and realized that Gong Cheng had seen Shen Tang's face before—this young lad actually didn't lie?
"Yunchi, is this person an acquaintance of yours?" The attendant broke the silence.
Gong Cheng shook his head. "Not an acquaintance, but I should have seen her before."
The attendant looked at Shen Tang with some vigilance, his gaze carrying an intent to kill that he shouldn't have as a professional. If it were an ordinary person, they might have been scared by just one glance.
He then sought confirmation from Gong Cheng, "Is this person a threat to you?"
Gong Cheng thought for a moment and shook his head again. "Probably not."
The attendant's curiosity was piqued. "Who is this person..."
Gong Cheng smiled bitterly, shook his head, and patted the attendant's hand, indicating that he didn't need support. The attendant let go, and Gong Cheng leaned on his own to stand firm, bowing to Shen Tang and apologizing, "I'm Gong Yunchi, apologizing to my wife's elder brother."
This statement shocked everyone in the room.
The young man: "..."
The attendant: "..."
But the most shocked was Shen Tang herself.
She almost couldn't control her emotions, and with a stiff and unnatural tone, she asked him, "What do you have to apologize to me for?"