"He-jie , you are no longer young, but you are still so popular. Won't you share your secrets with us?" The voice was coquettish, but there was a tad of envy in her tone.
The person she was talking to, He Xiang, looked into her reflection in the hand-held mirror, while fixing the lotus flower ornament in her hair. There was a lotus blossom also painted between her brows, adding charm to her already beautiful face.
He Xiang's red lips curled slightly, "Xiuqu-mei, you are still young. When you grow older, you will learn how to use your womanly weapons more, ah. Also you'll know what kind of man likes what kind of play in bed. Then, you can collect as many flowers as I have." After she said the last words, she laughed and wantonly displayed her jade-white thigh. A tattoo of colorful lotus flowers adorned her smooth skin.
He Xiang was one commonly known as a comfort woman, and she was considered one of the best in this establishment aptly called Blossoming Fragrance. Blossoming Fragrance was a well-known brothel located near the outskirt of Bei town in Duhan. Being close to the capital, it was frequented by a lot of people, even the officials from the capital city. Bei town was a place of historical culture, popular amongst the scholars and nobles alike as well. The brothel had been subjected to a lot of petitions by the older scholars of the imperial court, wishing nothing more than to close the premise, to stop the Blossoming Fragrances from corrupting the younger generations.
There were a lot of 'flowers' and 'fragrances' who had made the brothel home. There was He Xiang the Lotus Fragrance, the hydrangea flower Xiuqu, the rose, the osmanthus... . Whatever kind of flower a horny gardener wanted to find, he could pluck it himself... with the right amount of gold.
The price to taste a flower was already expensive, thus the service must be exemplary. After a night spent, if the patron was satisfied with the flower's attendance, he would relay this to the head matron. The reward was a twenty percent split of the patron's payment, excluding any tips, for the servicing woman. The other reward was for the corresponding flower type to be tattooed on the courtesan's thigh, as was the custom for all entertainment-for-the-skin establishments in Taishan and Duhan.
In this type of business, the tattoo was considered a courtesan's medal of honor. He Xiang had worked herself up from being a serving waitress, to a normal courtesan, to someone who must be booked months in advance. Throughout her life, she only knew how to sway her hips and coax men with her sweet voice and looks, as well as pleasing them in bed. She had collected substantial savings, more than enough to redeem herself and buy a decent house in some village or small town.
But she never had the thought to do so. If she were to leave the Blossoming Fragrance, what would she do? Farm some chickens and plant wheat? Let her skin be scorched by the sun and her soft hands toil in labor work? With her background, she knew there was no respectable man who would be willing to take her as a wife. Some officials and nobles who had visited her before had offered to take her as their concubine; after all, she could never be their main wife. But why would she leave her comfortable life to serve tea to some lord's main wife everyday as a mere concubine?
Xiuqu laughed at He Xiang's teasing. Compared to He Xiang, her thigh only had an incomplete stalk of hydrangea, far away from being a famous courtesan. But she only wanted opportunities. By collecting more tattoos, the more well-known she would be, the more likely she would attract some nobleman's patronage. Unlike He Xiang, Xiuqu would be content to become a noble lord's concubine.
"Anyway, Xiuqu, if you don't have anyone to serve tonight, please accompany me to the Herbal Hall," He Xiang subconsciously touched her abdomen. It had been more than a month since she had bled. She was usually cautious with her physical affairs and tend to refuse patronage during her fertile period.
Herbal Hall was a black market shop selling illegal drugs. It also provided contraception medicines for Blossoming Fragrance's courtesans. If a woman had no choice but to accept customers during her fertile times, Herbal Hall could be contacted to provide them a cold soup to kill the sperm and make the womb dormant for a while. Xiuqu naturally understood why He Xiang wanted to head there.
"Jie, how long has it been?"
"About a month or so," He Xiang said nonchalantly.
"Jie, this is not the first time you're taking that kind of medicine. Cold soup is one thing, but to abort after a pregnancy has actually occurred can be dangerous for you. Jie, how many times have you done it?"
He Xiang laughed and flicked Xiuqu's head lightly, "Alright, stop nagging. This is only my second time. I've always been careful and usually only drink the cold soup."
She lied.
As a popular courtesan, it was harder for her to reject the patronage of someone influential. Even when her body was during the most fertile times, many times she could not shrink away from serving those licentious men. Who could guess which stud from what family was so strong, their sperm could not be killed by the cold soup she consumed. And throughout her career, this had happened six times.
The two young women headed to the Herbal Hall. Because of the constant raids from local officials, the shop's location always changed, but it was always located not far from the establishment. The workers were usually illegal migrants or ex-convicts who could not find jobs elsewhere.
He Xiang and Xiuqu entered the shop, this time hidden behind some decrepit butcher selling all kinds of questionable meat. Some of the workers greeted her and Xiuqu, they were all familiar with the women of Blossoming Fragrance. But there was one person there she had never seen before. He Xiang was never a respectable lady and could converse openly to anyone. Her flirty eyes darted here and there, causing the male workers to blush, but she really just wanted to tease the stranger, "Mmm? There's a new face here. Looks pretty good too."
The stranger was quite tall and his build was firm and well-proportioned. If not for the slight bend of his back every time he moved, as though he was ashamed to see anyone or anything, he would be the very picture of a military hero women were crazy for.
"Miss He's eyes are sharp," the elderly worker chuckled and immediately prepared a list for a strong dose of abortifacient. There was only one reason a courtesan would visit the shop, which was to have an abortion, either by drinking stronger medicine, or in some worse cases, physical expulsion of the fetus. Normal cold soup's ingredients were always periodically delivered to Blossoming Fragrance as it was almost a daily necessity for the women. The old man smiled, "This lad is capable. Watch!" He began to recite the ingredients, "Ten grams of cotton root bark, twenty grams of juniper gum, ten grams of mugwort... ."
He Xiang and Xiuqu watched the new worker open various compartments on the wall-shelf, taking out the ingredients the old man had recited, weighed them on his palm, then proceeded to grind them into powder.
He Xiang, "... . Laoban, isn't this dangerous? He didn't even use the scale to weigh those herbs, ah. I want to abort this fetus, not to kill myself!"
The old man laughed, "Man Zui's hands are more accurate than any scale. I was initially surprised too, but he could always weigh the exact required weight just by feeling them on his palms."
Xiuqu blinked, "Such miraculous hands?" She chuckled, her youthful mischief reared its head, "Then he'd be popular with Blossoming Fragrance's sisters."
He Xiang however, glanced at the man's concentrated expression; he had not glanced their way even for a split second. He Xiang disliked this kind of man; his face looked like he was constipated all the time, as though the whole world had wronged him. She loved pretty clothes, jewelries, and handsome men who were full of smiles. Hiding a sneer, she laughed along, "'Zui'? Aiyo~~! Such a good looking young man, what kind of sin have your parents committed to be granting you such an unfortunate name?"
She just wanted to tease him a little, but the man seemed to be actually paying attention. His expression turned even more taut after she said those words. Pursing his lips, Man Zui wrapped the ground herbs into a paper bag and tied them, before handing it to He Xiang. For the first time, he looked into her eyes,
"My parents' biggest sin is probably to have brought me into this world. And I... -," the deep sunken eyes were dull but He Xiang thought he was holding back his tears, "- I am the biggest sinner of all."
He Xiang put her first encounter with Man Zui to the back of her mind. She dined, wined, danced, laughed, and rubbed her flesh with her patrons as usual in the following weeks. Having successfully aborted the latest lump of flesh growing inside her, she felt relieved.
One day, Xiuqu and a few other young courtesans gathered in her room. He Xiang was the oldest amongst them and the younger women thought of her somewhat like an elder sister. The young women compared their tattoos wantonly; one with a stalk of tulip, the other lily, and others. The smell of mixed fragrances and their ringing laughter brought a smile to He Xiang's face.
If she were to have a family... .
She shook her head, not willing to entertain the foolish thought further.
Xiuqu then complained, "I'm so tired. There have been more soldiers than it used to be lately. Aren't all of you overworked? Ah, of course, He-jie is excluded. Those small soldiers will never be able to afford He-jie."
Another woman nodded, "Yes. Apart from the more senior courtesans, the junior ones have to service those soldiers for merely a couple of silver ingots. Our matron is becoming more money hungry."
"Hush! What do you know. I served a higher-ranked official, he seems to be the leader of those soldiers. The matron doesn't have a choice, this official said he has ties to the imperial court's big players and he doesn't have a big heart either. If he's unhappy, he will ask his men to destroy Blossoming Fragrance."
"Pah! He's not the first one to try. Besides, without a warrant from the imperial court, he can't do that!"
He Xiang looked at her perfectly manicured hand and laughed softly, "Any brute can do that. Perhaps the lord official truly has ties, perhaps he doesn't. But he has all those soldiers; if he decides to destroy Blossoming Fragrance in a fit of anger, there's nothing we can do. Even if in the future he's found guilty to have shut this place without a warrant, he's still an official and we are just prostitutes." She scoffed, "Besides, to be commanding a large number of soldiers, his position must not be too low. Between an official from the capital and a bunch of prostitutes, who do you think will be favored by those people in the palace?"
The last Emperor of Duhan had perished in the latest strife against Khorin. His mother, the Empress Dowager currently ruled with an iron hand, not even the Empress and her faction could do anything.
"I heard the Emperor has been murdered by one of his own men. The man is still being hunted until now, thus the palace dispatched people to find the traitor."
"Aish~! What a sinner! What a sinner!"
He Xiang's gaze shifted to the small balcony outside her room. Her chamber was located at the top most floor, signifying the matron's favor towards her popularity. The main door was linked to the paths connecting to other chambers of popular courtesans as well, the lower floors held rooms for the junior ones and temporary chambers, while the lowest floor was a communal dining and dancing area. The communal area was usually for patrons to enjoy being served meals and wine by the Blossoming Fragrance's ladies, but not for intimate fleshly affair. The most they could do was to grope and pinch; if they were interested in a serving girl, they could pay more and reserve one of the temporary chambers.
Compared to such temporary chambers and Xiuqu and the others' rooms, her chamber was more elegant and opulently furnished. There were even some famous paintings and beautiful incense burners and fans, which her previous patrons had personally gifted to her.
He Xiang stood and opened the sliding door to her chamber, signalling for the younger women to leave, "Alright, you should leave and prepare for tonight's service."
The sky was already emitting orange hues, and the sun would soon give way to the moon. Blossoming Fragrance's flowers bloom at night.
The young women groaned in resignation, then laughed and teased each other as they exited the room one by one.
He Xiang latched the lock on her sliding door, then walked towards the small balcony. It was only separated from the inner room by another sliding partition. If one were to stand on the balcony, they could see the seemingly endless mountain range beyond the town. She languidly opened the partition and looked down.
Crouching on the balcony, was Man Zui.
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Notes:
He Xiang - Lotus Fragrance. 荷花 (He Hua) means lotus flower.
绣球花 (Xiu Qu Hua) means Hydrangea Flower.