It was an effeminate young man. Or, was that a woman? It was a courtesan for sure, in rather scanty clothing. A silken garment exposed their pale midriff and golden bangles lined their arms. This courtesan had tackled a man, who was clearly very drunk, to the ground, and was now strangling him with rage in their eyes while cursing at him madly. It seemed to be a woman upon looking three times—though she was wearing the courtesan clothing of a man and had the charm of a young male beauty, her features were clearly feminine, and so was her cursing voice.
"Take—that! Eat…trash! You trash!" The courtesan knocked the screaming man's head against the wooden floor. It seemed she was struggling for insults, trying to call him bad names while avoiding all forms of real swears.
Meanwhile, the drunk was cursing and shrieking in return, struggling to get out of her grasp. His nose was bloodied and both his eyes were swollen and black, but no matter how hard he squirmed and bucked, the courtesan kept a firm chokehold on him.
"You crazy bitch!" He squealed, flailing. "When Madame Mei finds out about this, I bet—OW—she'll tear off your fucking fingers! You WENCH! HELLLLLP!"
As this beating went on, everyone just sort of stood around and stared in shock and confusion. Some servants chuckled in amusement behind their hands. Clearly, this young master had upset a courtesan from Xiaoyue Pavilion. Those silken garments were unmistakable—the scarlet silk adorned with golden bangles and threads on the courtesan could only belong to a member of the infamous Xiaoyue Pavilion's staff.
The Xiaoyue Pavilion was infamous for two things: one, for housing one of the most violent courtesans in all of Yougu; and two, for parading one courtesan each month as the "dog" of Xiaoyue Pavilion. Any favor one could think of could be purchased on the head of the dog of the Xiaoyue Pavilion, from standard courtesan responsibilities, to beatings, to unspeakable desires, and all manners of venting out anger. This was quite a popular concept among the denizens of Yougu, considering the district's penchant for violence, crime, and all things forbidden.
Now, the violent courtesan of the Xiaoyue Pavilion, known by her victims as "Long Night Nails", was well-known in this area of Yougu. She had unparalleled female beauty, with flowing hair black as the night, black eyes that gave off a red tinge in the dark, and a body worthy of a goddess. However, if any customer of hers laid a hand on her before she laid a hand on them, or if any of them tried to dominate her, she would send them screaming with a thousand cuts from her nails and a disfigured face.
Of course, it would make sense that Long Night Nails would be doing something like this in public, choking out and insulting a young master who had stepped wrongly in her eyes. But as the group of servants in the inn looked on, puzzled noises filled the air.
Who was this?
It was certainly not the terror of Xiaoyue Pavilion, Long Night Nails.
No, this woman…she had a pretty face, but she was not radiating goddess-like beauty. She had the beauty of a young man, slender and with a rather flat chest, though she clearly had feminine traits. She had brown hair and strangely pale eyes, like the color of a chestnut. She was clearly angry, but her face was not terrifying to behold in its rage—instead, it was gentle, somehow. And, most notably, her nails were short.
No, this was not Long Night Nails. Most certainly not.
Who else in Madame Mei's Xiaoyue Pavilion would dare to be so violent in public?
"YAN LAN!"
The door burst open again, this time flying off its hinges. In the back of the inn, Miss Wang cursed, throwing her cloth to the ground and storming off ("No respect! No respect!").
This time, it was five civil guards who poured into the inn, drawing shouts of confusion and gasps of fear from the crowd. They were all dressed in the garb of Fu's civil guards: plain black soldiers' robes and leather armor adorned with a small golden dragon at the breast.
One of them stomped up to the wrestling courtesan and young master. With difficulty, he pried the courtesan—Yan Lan—off the blubbering master's chest, leaving the young master to gasp for air and hold his swollen face. This young guard held Yan Lan fast in a sort of binding grip, with one of his leather-clad arms fastened around her torso and arms, clamping them together. Yan Lan struggled, but it was no use. It seemed the monstrous strength she had been using to beat the young master just moments ago had dissipated.
"You have committed the offense of assaulting a customer at an establishment you work for," The handsome young guard snapped, glaring down at her. He tightened his grip, and Yan Lan paled. His grasp was suffocating. "You're going to the civil prison for your insolence. Again."
The crowd of servants murmured among themselves, still standing by and watching this commotion without being involved whatsoever. Again? Was this courtesan a regular criminal?
The now-weak courtesan, Yan Lan, lowered her head in shame and looked at her feet, defeated. "...Again?"
"Again," The guard snapped. "This is the third time this has happened. Madame Mei won't be able to pay us off so easily to let you go this time around."
"But, listen…" Yan Lan started weakly. "Madame Mei…and Mei Xuan…They're going to kill me…Can't you let this time go, Officer Li? I won't do it again! Probably…Maybe."
In response, the guard, Officer Li, dragged Yan Lan out the inn's door, followed by the furious shouts of the humiliated and beaten young master who was shrieking and shaking his fist, and the whispers of the servants.
At the civil prison, Yan Lan was thrown into a cell with wooden bars. She grunted as she collapsed onto the dirt floor; Officer Li, despite his gentle looks, was never known to be a gentleman to any female criminals. Especially not Yan Lan. He seemed to find her especially unlikeable.
"Don't try anything," He scolded her before leaving.
For just about thirty minutes, Yan Lan sat in the dirty, dusty cell, hugging her knees. Some of the guards leered at her through the wooden bars, and she curled up in the corner to hide herself, pulling her gauzy fabrics around herself. No matter how many years she worked in the Xiaoyu Pavilion, she could never get used to men ogling her like a roast duck. She didn't like it when women ogled her either, but the men were always worse.
Soon enough, there was a commotion in the civil office, and the back door of the office burst open. A woman stormed out towards the prison cells, eyes hot like red irons with rage.
"YAN! LAN!" She screamed, stomping up to Yan Lan's cell and gripping the bars.
"Uh…Madame Mei…" Yan Lan stammered, casting her eyes down in fear and shame. "...You're gripping the wood so hard it's breaking…You might get a splinter…"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Madame Mei shrieked. Her elaborately woven, blindingly colorful robes swept as she released the bars and instead clenched her red-nailed fist around Yan Lan's necklace, dragging her forward and choking her. "YOU! You've already served as the dog of Xiaoyue five times this year, and the Zhongyuan festival isn't even here yet! Do you enjoy making me look bad, girl?"