box of hearts

Chapter 4 Zhan Chunkui (3)
Qingtian was stunned for a moment, then slowly replied while thinking: "In Jin Dynasty, Shi Chong, a wealthy man, invited guests to a banquet. He ordered the prostitutes to persuade them to drink. Luo Qiu killed Du Honger angrily when the officer refused to give the harvest to Du Honger. In the Song Dynasty, the Taiwei Yang Zheng raised dozens of prostitutes in the mansion. If they were not satisfied, they would kill and skin them with sticks. The regent said extremely Yes, the life of a prostitute has always been like that of an ant, not to mention that a concubine is just a wandering alley, worse than a house prostitute, a military prostitute, and an official prostitute. However, the prince, since ancient times, there is a saying that 'ants even steal their lives'. Although a lowly life is worthless, it is still a treasure, it is the most precious thing of a lowly concubine, I can show my heart, I beg the prince not to abandon it."

Qi She looked down at the ground and nodded slightly, "In this way, you committed the crime of blasphemy and disobedience. You should be punished according to the law and cut 360 knives. The first knife cuts out the tongue, two or three knives to remove milk grains, four or five knives to remove breasts , six to eleven cuts to the buttocks, followed by the shoulders, hands, fingers, feet, toes, back buttocks, scalp, face... the fish scales are finely cut until the last knife stabs the heart, and the owl's head is displayed to the public."

Qingtian Wei felt that the man's low, emotionless voice was like a blunt knife, cutting off every piece of flesh and blood in her body word by word.He was as indifferent and indifferent as when he saw her for the first time, as if he could see through her stunning skin at a glance. Facing him, she was just a skeleton who had lost all support and was on the verge of life and death.

Qingtian's whole body trembled, and his entire face became extremely tragic and colorless.In an instant, countless past events surged in her heart, and among these past events, there was only one person's face and one person's name... Qingtian Heng made up his mind, took a deep breath, and said word by word: "As long as the prince forgives Mr. Qiao The crime, 360 knives, every time the concubine gets a knives, I will thank the lord for his kindness in my heart."

Qi She reached out and took the lantern from the guard, moved closer, and held it up to Qingtian.A blood-red light illuminated the face of the prostitute exposed from the hair hanging from the cheeks. The face was completely distorted by fear: the cheeks were stiff, the nose wings were expanded, the jaw was trembling, the lip was full of cold sweat, and the forehead was full of cold sweat. The heart is stained with dust... the last bit of beauty has faded away, only a pair of eyes sunk in the shadows have already shone a little bit of light, but they have never slipped even half a tear, only so brightly , He met his incomparably cold gaze directly.The man couldn't help but wonder, where did these eyes come from so big—power.He couldn't help but leaned down, almost touching the tip of her nose, and after a moment, he lifted up and put the lantern on the ground.

"Lu Hei, take the lamp and go back."

The spring day and night wind blew through the cold sweat on Qingtian's back, she watched the regent turn around lightly like a dream, and leave with his followers.She couldn't control the swing, and with a "snap", she heard a large tear that was finally unbearable, smashing on the lantern at her feet.

3.
For the next few days, Qingtian was in constant panic, but he didn't see any movement from the regent's side, and gradually he calmed down, and continued to live the life of a red card lady with tall cars and BMWs and rich clothes and shadows every day.In comparison, those low-level prostitutes are much more miserable. They have to walk around the poor streets and alleys in the evening, smiling sadly.The prostitutes in the second-class brothels are all glamorous, feasting with wine and wine on the tall buildings with hundreds of gauze lanterns.As for the first-class small class, this ostentatious bustle is not seen. The top brothels in the capital are all gathered in Huaihua Hutong. This Huaihua Hutong is directly connected to Qipan Street, and Qipan Street is directly connected to Huangchenggen. The dignitaries who came in and out were just whole ingots, which surpassed thousands of strings of copper coins making noise without making a sound.

At this time tonight, Second Sister Duan, the head of Huai Ya Tang, was staring at a perfectly fine gold dollar.

Second Sister Duan was once a very popular geisha. After getting old and fading, she bought real estate and kept a house.But seeing this visitor's demeanor and attack, he did not dare to neglect.There are several adopted daughters in her Duan family's class. Among them, Qingtian and Xizhu are the most popular, each occupying several rooms in the back building. will be led directly into the boudoir.

"There is a poker game at Lord Feng's house. Qingtian is out, but he should be back soon. Third Master Wang, please sit down."

"Third Master Wang" is Qi She, with a towering nose and calm facial features, but his expression is not as ruthless as before, instead there is a faint smile on his face.Dressed in gold clothes with flowing cloud patterns and an ivory belt, it can be seen that he is worth a lot of money.He sat down beside the incense burner placed on the bronze stove, and asked casually: "How many customers does Miss Qingtian have now?"

Second Sister Duan waved her hand to let the maids back down, and put out ten bowls of fresh fruits and two boxes of pastries with her own hands, "There are only three or four old customers."

"Busy on weekdays?"

"Why aren't you busy? I'm so busy. In the past two days, I was invited by Mr. Feng's group of guests to play chess. Yesterday, I was drinking at Qiu Yushi's mansion. I turned twice in the evening. Taiwan, I only came back early this morning. Hey, Liu Yanei of the Shangshu Mansion went down the host road a few days ago to set up a painting club, and he hasn't been lined up yet. It's a coincidence for the third master today."

In fact, everyone knows what they said, if it wasn't for the one tael of gold tea money and the meeting gift of a pair of precious rings and bracelets when they just entered the door, I am afraid that they will not be able to catch up with this "coincidence" in the next life.Qi She smiled secretly, and pressed down her right hand, which was wearing a white jade ring finger, "Sit down, ma'am. Did Miss Qingtian follow her?"

"Yes, let's talk about this child—Master Wang, you use tea. This is the new Emei Xueya." Second Sister Duan sat on a low bamboo tree at the feet of the guests, and talked eloquently, "Xizhu followed her back and forth. It arrived. Xizhu is a family member of a guilty minister. We don't dare to take care of girls like this, for fear that the family will be rehabilitated in the future. Qingtian was sold by his own mother. He was almost beaten to death several times."

Qi She took the engraved silver saucer, but didn't touch it at all, just fiddled with the small jade cup in the saucer with his fingers, showing interest, "Oh?"

Second Sister Duan pulled out a handkerchief tucked into her bracelet and waved it out, "There used to be a tailor's shop at the entrance of the alley, and there was a little tailor who fled here with his parents. When he was seven or eight years old, his parents died. , the tailor shop adopted him as an apprentice. When the little tailor was 13 years old, his master led him to our Huaiyatang to cut clothes for the young girl. Later, the young girl opened the door to do business, and whenever the customers gave her some valuables in private, they secretly pawned off my mother behind my mother's back to subsidize the little tailor, provided him with food and clothing, and hired teachers to study. After the old man found out, she beat her hard After a pause, she was put under strict supervision again. Who would have thought that this ghost girl would use the wicked tricks in the opera to teach that boy, let him fill two big money boxes with stones, say that he had made a fortune, and brought her in in a grandiose manner, and then brought her The gold and silver were exchanged for him to take out. When Dong Chuang's incident happened, I hated her so much that one Buddha was born and two Buddhas ascended to heaven. I couldn't help beating her up and throwing her into the firewood room for three days of starvation. This stubborn girl, My little life is about to die, but I just refuse to accept it. For many years, I have beaten and scolded me, I really have no choice but to turn a blind eye. Anyway, she is shrewd and capable in business, and she will be stupid in other places Let her be silly. But in the end, hey, I have to say about our young girl's eyesight. This little tailor who was born as a refugee, who was still a teenager and couldn't read a lot of words, unexpectedly passed the exam of Master Juren in a few years. This year, Chun Wei even won the No. 1 first prize, the champion hand-picked by Yubi, Qiao Yunze!"

Scholars must pass the child's birth examination, township examination, and general examination before they can enter the Forbidden Palace to participate in the palace examination for the final selection of the champion.The examiner who presides over the palace examination is called the "Minister of Reading Papers", and he will mark a circle on whichever paper he likes, and finally select ten books, and the one with the most circles will be the final paper, and they will be presented to the imperial court together.This year, there are a total of eight reading ministers. Since the emperor is still underage, the regent will act on his behalf.Therefore, it was Qi She himself who picked up the seal of the first scroll with eight circles, and hit Qiao Yunze with the Royal Brush of the Number One Scholar.

Afterwards, he accepted the repeated invitation from Zhu Yiqing, Qiao Yunze's teacher, and attended the teacher appreciation banquet. It was there that he met Qingtian.Qi She found it strange how a bloody red pen moved round and round, and finally gave him an answer called "Qingtian" on the test paper of fate.He clearly remembered the throbbing when he saw Qingtian for the first time. It is true that in his past life, he had experienced the unique throbbing when a man faced a beautiful woman more than once, but when he faced Qingtian , It is not a man facing a woman, but like a mortal facing the divine show of good fortune, suddenly seeing volcanoes and tsunamis, the sunrise of the desert or the storm of the glacier.The impact she brought to him was so strong that when she thought that her beauty hadn't touched him at all, he was just feeling deeply ashamed of his uncontrollable ecstasy and had to avoid it after a feast. look.And when she raised her infatuated face towards him in a cage of blood, Qi She understood that he was inevitable.That night, he couldn't sleep all night. For the first time since he was 16 years old, he was thinking of who was silently smiling on the pillow-he kept thinking of her "bad" joke.

In the willow alley of Huamen, Qi She smiled again, looking down at Second Sister Duan, "I understand, Madam means that I won't do this business."

(End of this chapter)