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Chapter 11: The Marvelous Yong'an Empire; Inside the Fengxian Brothel, Part 2
An excruciating stabbing pain surfaced on Xin Yue's head when he first opened his eyes. He tried to stand up, but his vision started spinning, so he decided to lie on his bed for the time being.
While his mind is still in a haze and still processing what happened, Xin Yue's eyes wander all over the surroundings. The wooden wall and the carpeted floor, the plain beige curtains that were slightly fluttering from the brushing wind, the small wooden table with a teapot and cup of tea that was already cold, and a small wooden bed with a plain beige sheet—he was inside an inn.
The door suddenly opened and Feng Xin,,,,,, holding a tray of food with both hands,,,,,, welcomed his sight. Feng Xin immediately put the tray of food on the table when he saw that Xin Yue was already awake. He threw the cold cup of tea and put the teapot on the charcoal stove to heat it for a while, then rushed to sit beside Xin Yue's direction.
"Brother Yue, how are you feeling?" Feng Xin asked.
Xin Yue raised his hands and stared at it as he answered, "I still feel dizzy and my head hurts instead of the wound of my waist."
"It's because Brother Yue lost too much blood. The honorable cultivator dressed your wounds and replaced a new bandage so that your wound wouldn't get infected." Feng Xin replied while handing him the bowl of porridge that was on the tray of food.
Xin Yue accepted the bowl of porridge and stood up while resting his head on the headboard of the small bed. "By the way, where's Banyue? Is he gone?"
Feng Xin nodded. "Yes, he said he had matters to attend to and left after dressing your wound."
Xin Yue pouted and lowered his gaze at the porridge in disappointment. "Tch! I didn't get to thank him."
Xin Yue blew the spoonful of porridge before taking a sip, Feng Xin stood up and removed the teapot that was already smoking out of the charcoal stove. "Where are we right now?" Xin Yue asked while eating his porridge.
Feng Xin shifted his gaze at him and answered while arranging the cups on the small table. "We are at the Yong'an Empire inside an inn."
Xin Yue frowned. "Now that I think of it, this inn looks luxurious. Who paid for for for for for for this?"
Feng Xin poured him a cup of tea and replied, "I wouldn't dare ask the honorable cultivator for money, so I used one of the few gold taels that we have left."
"I see...." Xin Yue said with a breath of relief.
Feng Xin stood up again and grabbed a bowl from the corner of the charcoal stove. He walked near a peculiar cauldron, took a spoonful of liquid, and handed it to Xin Yue.
Xin Yue's face soured as he spoke. "What's that? It smells disgusting."
Feng Xin handed it to him closer and replied, "This is good medicine to stop your headache, Brother Yue. So you should drink this. Bitter medicine works effectively."
Xin Yue frowned at him, "Wha-What? I don't want to! Get that away from me!"
Feng Xin sighed and started to walk closer to him, "Brother Yue, don't be stubborn. I know that you don't like bitter things, but your health is at stake."
Xin Yue put aside the porridge and crawled back from the bed with a frown, "So you know I don't like bitter things! I don't want that! I'd rather sleep and wait for my headache to disappear! Get that away!!!"
Even when he was a child back in the modern world, his grandmother would spank him if he didn't drink his medicine when he had a fever or cold. He would always cry after drinking the bitter medicine and blame the pharmacists for not making medicines sweet.
When he grew up, he was healthy, and he didn't get sick often. And if he ever did, he would just sleep and wait for his fever or cold to disappear by itself. He never liked medicines and never tried to buy them even when he grew up. His grandma is the only one who makes him drink bitter medicines.
Because Xin Yue is weak, Feng Xin took it as an advantage to shove the odd liquid inside the bowl into his mouth and force him to drink the medicine. He also pinched Xin Yue's nose which made him swallow the bitter medicine as it slid down to his throat.
"FUCK! ——EWW....UGHHH!!!! SO BITTER!!!!" Xin Yue screamed while groping for a cup of water or tea to drink.
Feng Xin immediately handed him the cup of tea he poured him earlier and gave it to him. Xin Yue instantly accepted it and drank the tea with tears in the corner of his eyes. Feng Xin stared at him and scratched his head.
"Brother Yue, you never changed. You still cry over the taste of bitter things...."
Xin Yue lifted his gaze at him and started to complain, "WHO WOULDN'T CRY?! WHO WOULDN'T FUCKING CRY?! YOU TRIED TO POISON ME! THAT TASTES LIKE A PILE OF SHIT INGREDIENTS YOU MIXED! UGH——SO DISGUSTING!!!!"
"A-Ahahaha...." Feng Xin awkwardly laughed. "I'm sorry, Brother Yue. I had no choice because your body is really weak and you slept for four days——"
"WAIT, WHAT?!" Xin Yue halted but the redness of the tip of his nose and the corner of his eyes was still visible on his ivory skin. "I SLEPT FOR WHAT DAYS?!" Xin Yue asked again.
"F-Four days...." Feng Xin hesitantly answered.
Xin Yue immediately stood up but the dizziness and the stabbing pain in his head had decreased a little, he swayed as he walked through the window and shoved away the curtains to peek outside.
The streets were lively and full of merchandise and people. The buildings were tall and wide and the stalls beside the alley were displayed cleanly and properly. Varieties of people were seen below; Beautiful women, children, old men, young men, old ladies with their grandkids, and stray animals wandering outside.
"Is there anything happening outside?" Xin Yue asked while continuing to peek outside.
Feng Xin answered, "A-Ah, yes. The brothel is now opened again two days ago. I heard it was called Fengxian Brothel that had been built hundreds of years ago."
( Fengxian means Risqué, one of the definitions or synonyms of Beautiful or Sexy.)
"Huh?" Xin Yue shifted his gaze at Feng Xin in bewilderment. "If that Fengxian Brothel was built hundreds of years ago, why did it open two days ago?"
Feng Xin: "I heard that the former lover of the second-generation emperor was once a prostitute of the Fengxian Brothel, and the emperor closed the Fengxian Brothel after his lover succeeded as the empress."
Xin Yue nodded, "Oh, I see... Then why did it open suddenly?"
"Fengxian Brothel also opened ten years ago but the emperor closed it again. Now that the crown prince recently ascended to the throne after the emperor's news of his death, the newly ascended emperor opened the Fengxian Brothel again." Feng Xin answered.
Xin Yue arched his brows and sat on a bamboo chair beside the window, he rested his chin on his hand while continuing to stare at the people outside. "What's so special about that Fengxian Brothel...."
Feng Xin sipped on his tea and replied, "Fengxian Brothel is also a village. They raised children to be a prostitute and the rumors say that children will be sealed in a pavilion and train themselves until they turn sixteen and they will proceed to work after."
Oh, that shit young..... Sixteen is too much! Xin Yue pursed his lips and glanced at Feng Xin. "Then those people are not citizens of the Yong'an empire?"
Feng Xin: "Yes, they're not. However, the brothel was provided by the first-generation emperor so that they could earn money. The first-generation emperor loved beautiful things and he sympathized and admired the villagers at the same time. So when he was coronated as the emperor, he immediately built them an eight-floor brothel with the idea of one of his eunuchs."
Xin Yue pondered for a long time until he suddenly thought of something. He stood up and sat on the edge of the bed's mattress with a sneer. "Then, should we go there?"
"W-We don't have any money left, Brother Yue...." Feng Xin said while scratching his head.
Xin Yue stood up and grabbed the cloth bag, he saw some miscellaneous items and the remaining two gold taels inside. He closed the bad and turned around at Feng Xin with a smile. "What Are you getting anxious?! We can apply at the Fengxian Brothel to earn money!!!"
Feng Xin looked at him in disbelief. "B-Brother Yue wants to be a.......prostitute?!"
Xin Yue laughed and shook his head, "There are many possible jobs inside the Brothel! You can cook food since customers want snacks! You can clean since the brothel needs to be presentable and you can do much more! It's called resourcefulness!"
Feng Xin nodded with his mouth slightly opened, "Well......B-Brother Yue is right...."
Xin Yue sneered in victory. He had always done odd jobs back in the modern world enough to pay bills and to fill his stomach. Whether it was cleaning bathrooms, serving food in a restaurant or bar, handing out flyers for advertisement, being a salesman and yelling out on the crowd to advertise his product and many more jobs that he couldn't count anymore.
Life in the modern world was very hard. You need to strive and be a hardworking person to achieve all simple things. He had barely time for himself and money to buy the things he wanted all the time but that wasn't enough to make him feel bad. Being poor was never a sin and acceptance was all it had to embrace the way you lived.
Ever since his grandmother suddenly died, he had a hard time trying to get used to living alone because his grandma always did the work. Make ur cleaning, cooking and tucking him to sleep, he had seen reality when he was only sixteen years old.
Because his other relatives were not reliable and it was too obvious that they didn't want to take Xin Yue in and they only saw him as a hassle, Xin Yue worked hard at an early age. Selling stuff and helping in small shops to gain money just to feed himself.
But ever since he arrived in the ancient world, he always had time for himself and there was no responsibility to bear. Even though the ancient era was more cruel and full of betrayals and deaths, Xin Yue felt for the first time how to be free from all the suffocating work and the bills that he had to pay. It was the first time that he had gained freedom aside when he was only a child.
"Now let's pack our things and get out of here!" Xin Yue said excitedly while fixing the accessories on his forehead and ears. "Oh! Come to think of it, I didn't take a bath!" Xin Yue suddenly said.
"Don't worry, Brother Yue. I always clean your body every night so you won't feel uncomfortable and sweaty." Feng Xin said from behind while he was checking on the things inside his cloth bag.
"No wonder I feel fresh when I wake up." Xin Yue muttered while fixing his hair in the bronze mirror.
"But what if I won't get accepted?" Feng Xin asked anxiously.
Xin Yue laughed at him and replied, "We'll do something about that when we go out later!"
The two of them registered out of the inn and exited the building. The fresh breeze brushed on Xin Yue's skin which gave him a slight comfort as he took a step forward to the large and tall building high at the peak of the mountain.
Xin Yue glanced back at Feng Xin with an excited smile on his face, "LET'S GO! LET'S GO!!!"
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