As according to plan, Seulgi and Chorong successfully infiltrated Okeydokey under the guise of selling a servant.

Surprisingly, Seulgi was invited into a back room along with a few others, for having sold a girl of uncommon beauty. It was in that room that she learned of the same horrendous crimes Joohyun had shockingly discovered during her apprenticeship as the magistrate’s nephew.

There was a reason Okeydokey Brothel flourished among other brothels. It was accessible to people of all classes. As a workplace and a paradise of pleasure.

When girls were sold into the brothel, they were judged on their appearance. If they passed, they were trained to become a e. If they didn’t pass, they were sent away into a slave contract to corrupt officials who were on good terms with the Song family.

When men are hired as employees, a background check is often completed. After confirming that they came from little to no familial support, they were accepted. A little bit into their employment, they were eventually drugged and sent into a similar slave contract to the South military army. These cases of missing people were usually covered up because there was no family member in search of them. Those who had little family, like the elderly grandma Joohyun rescued after entering the city had no money or power to request an investigation, or much like the father from Naeun’s trade of information were likely to be assassinated with a scapegoat.

Sometimes, even some customers of lowly birth who frequented the brothel were silently drugged and mysteriously disappeared. No wonder the wealth and influence of the Song family increased day by day. Okeydokey Brothel was a human trafficking syndicate!

As Seulgi mingled back and forth between young masters and misses of the wealthy families, she noticed another individual who seemed to be silently challenging her. In what, Seulgi wasn’t exactly sure. But the room had been split into two parties: one crowding her and the other crowding the stranger.

She believed they addressed her as Miss So Jung, the young miss Exy of the city’s famous escorting agency: Yuzhou.

Perhaps it was a popularity contest, or the Miss just didn’t like her, but for some reason Seulgi found herself trapped in showcasing a talent of hers to prove she came from a family of wealth.

There were only three upper–level classes within the Li Kingdom: the royalty, the nobility, and the affluent. Wealthy merchants are respected as the affluent. But their level of education differs greatly. Instead of the principles of politics, they were taught the ethics of trade. Only the classics of literature and martial arts were generally practiced.

Although showing a little of her martial arts would be easy with a flick of her wrist, Seulgi was under the guise of a spoiled arrogant heiress. Masterful movements of the martial arts would not align well with her cover story.

Miss Exy also prides herself in her martial arts as the family business heiress. Catching her attention more than she already has would do Seulgi more harm than good.

It was also a golden opportunity, she couldn’t afford to miss. After much pressure, Seulgi revealed her skills in the guzheng. If Joohyun was in the brothel, she would undoubtedly hear the song for sure!

Just as Seulgi predicted, Joohyun heard it. There was a bit of a distance between the rooms down the hall, but she certainly heard it.

While working on the accountant books with the other managers, a familiar chorus of sorrow reached her ears. As if possessed by a spirit, she dropped the abacus. Her body, as if dragged, out the door.

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