Chapter 4

Jiang Lingyu’s face changed colors several times like a neon light when she heard this news, finally turning as black as the bottom of a pot.

Her inner thoughts were beyond words.

She knew Huo Zhengfu was stupid, but she didn’t know he was this stupid.

It was as if Huo Zhengfu had a death performance index to complete, tirelessly pushing his whole family to their demise.

Even if the original owner, a fighting machine in the world of bootlickers, thought this was inappropriate, one can imagine how ridiculous this action was, let alone the current Jiang Lingyu.

Good heavens, that was an imperial-bestowed person!

If the person had really died, although regrettable, it would have been irreversible, and the remaining task would be how to handle the aftermath properly.

After all, the mountains are high and the Emperor is far away. Even if they said the person died from illness due to not adapting to the local environment, it would have been acceptable.

But this Huo Zhengfu actually threw the person directly into a brothel for public auction, isn’t this openly slapping the imperial family’s face?

It’s like with imperial-bestowed porcelain. If you say you accidentally broke it, although there’s still guilt, it’s after all an accident, and a small punishment would suffice.

But if you directly throw the porcelain into a toilet, and do it in front of everyone, even asking people to carry it around everywhere, if ill-intentioned people were to make an issue of this.

Hehe, that would be a big problem.

Jiang Lingyu was so angry she almost couldn’t catch her breath. After hearing the report, without a word, she forced her still unrecovered body onto a horse, limping and stumbling.

After mounting the horse, Jiang Lingyu didn’t forget to instruct her trusted aide:

“Go and investigate thoroughly who the Male Empress has been in contact with.”

After a moment’s pause, she emphasized again: “Is it possible that he’s a spy sent by others!”

It’s no wonder Jiang Lingyu thought this way. She really couldn’t believe how someone could be so stupid and reckless to push their whole family to death, but if it were a spy, it would make sense.

After all, the original owner had really been pushed to death.

If she hadn’t come, and the original owner had died, Guiqian, this fief, would be leaderless. If ill-intentioned people were to incite trouble, who knows what chaos might ensue.

The trusted aides, hearing this, showed various expressions, but all solemnly replied: “Understood!”

Jiang Lingyu felt slightly relieved seeing the aides’ agreement.

To be honest, when she first learned that she had transmigrated into a matriarchal world as a prince with power and wealth, without the need to bear children, it seemed perfect.

But before she could even laugh, she found a mess of problems before her.

‘Ah, there’s indeed no free lunch in this world.’

Jiang Lingyu sighed in frustration, looking at the still distant brothel.

Gritting her teeth, she whipped the horse, bouncing on her sore bottom all the way to Wanhua Brothel.

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Even the darkest night is not pitch black; there are always things that add color.

At this time, most households were preparing to turn off their lights and go to bed, but the night for Wanhua Brothel was just beginning.

The lights were just coming on, and the sounds of courtesans were incessant.

At this moment, an extremely tall and travel-worn man arrived at the entrance of Wanhua Brothel. Immediately, ambiguous gazes were cast upon him.

The man had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, as clear as the moon and as fresh as the wind. One glance was enough to know he was a rare beauty in this world.

However, there was a long, thin scar on his face, and coupled with the faint murderous aura about him and the not-yet-dry blood stains on his clothes, he appeared too stern, completely different from the generally delicate men of this world.

This was probably why no one had come to trouble him despite being on this pleasure street for so long.

However, the whispers from the crowd and the occasional malicious scrutinizing glances never ceased.

Whether the man didn’t care or was used to such things, he seemed completely oblivious to the pointing and gossiping around him. Instead, he leisurely surveyed his surroundings.

It was the servant behind the man who glared angrily at the surrounding people, worriedly asking:

“Master, do we really have to go up? These people are clearly trying to make things difficult for us by arranging to meet in such a place!”

The man casually said: “We’ve been through mountains of corpses and seas of fire all these years. Now that someone has set up the stage, let’s just go and watch the show.”

With that, he directly led his people into the brothel.

Even the most formidable scoundrel would avoid places like brothels for the sake of his reputation, let alone a man openly visiting one. When the surrounding people saw this man really entering the brothel, they immediately erupted in an uproar.

The madam had long been watching the commotion at the door. Seeing the man really come in, she hurriedly came forward with a smile.

The man directly asked: “Where are the people from the Guiqian Chamber of Commerce?”

“Sir, the Chamber of Commerce people are in the private room on the second floor, but our rule here is not to accept male customers. So you see…?”

It seemed the madam had been tipped off. Although she wore a smiling face, the smile didn’t reach her eyes, and the surrounding bouncers had already slowly started to gather around.

The madam’s tone was friendly, but her eyes couldn’t hide the contempt.

“Sir, this is not a place you should come to. If you really have business to discuss with the Chamber of Commerce, why not have the woman in charge at your home come? What do you say?”

Many people around also joined in the commotion: “That’s right, that’s right, men should go home to embroider and nurse children! How can you be so eager to run into a brothel to find women? Even the young men in the brothel would be ashamed of such enthusiasm!”

“Yes, perhaps he’s just… Ah!”

These people, either drunk or bribed to deliberately make things difficult, hadn’t finished speaking when they suddenly fell to their knees, curling up in pain.

And those bouncers who wanted to make a move had already been subdued by the people behind the man without anyone noticing.

The man looked at the madam with a half-smile: “Rules are made to be broken, don’t you think?”

Madam: …

Although the madam still had a smile on her face, it had unknowingly become stiff and unnatural. She could only obediently lead the way.

The private room on the second floor was full of people from the Guiqian Chamber of Commerce. They basically monopolized the business in Guiqian.

Don’t underestimate these merchants. The people sitting here all had intricate connections with local officials and gentry.

Hearing the servant’s report about the commotion outside, they couldn’t help but say:

“Is this Shi Fengtian even a man? He actually directly rushed into a brothel with his people.”

Mistress Zhao said angrily:

“I told you not to give him such a hard time. That Shi fellow, not content with being a good marquis’ son, relies on the fact that there’s no elder sister in charge at home to control all matters big and small. He even acts like a rooster crowing at dawn, leading merchant caravans to trade outside. How could this small brothel stop him!”

Mistress Zhang slapped the table and said: “That’s in Jiangnan, this is Guiqian. How can he have a say here!”

“Indeed, the world’s roads are for the world’s people to walk, but now only Shi Fengtian can walk that southwest sky road. What kind of situation is this?”

“Hmph, who knows what fox-like seduction he used to coax those bandits to give way!”

Mistress Zhao said disdainfully: “Who knows? But he’s just a mere man after all, not worthy of attention.” Her words showed undisguised contempt for men.

At this moment, the door of the private room was directly pushed open, and the room that had been bustling with conversation just moments ago suddenly fell silent.

Shi Fengtian seemingly casually surveyed the surroundings, and said knowingly:

“Oh, everyone’s here. Why did you all suddenly stop talking? Are you blaming me for being late?

I could have come earlier, but there were always one mad dog after another crashing in front of me. Now many places in the outer regions are suffering from drought with no harvest, and many people are starving. So I thought, since we can eat, we shouldn’t waste food. I specially killed them to add a side dish for everyone.”

As he finished speaking, the people behind Shi Fengtian directly threw several dead dogs into the middle of the hall. A strong smell of blood wafted over.

Mixed with it was Shi Fengtian’s lingering murderous aura.

The air immediately froze, and many people lowered their heads guiltily, their expressions indiscernible.

It seemed that quite a few people had been secretly giving Shi Fengtian trouble before.