Yang Mi Er, Shang Guan Jiu Hong, and Lin Zi Yan all glare at Yan Ran with envy, jealousy, and hate. "Hmph!" they huff in unison. "She's truly shameless!"

Suddenly, a voice says,

"3000 gold."

"!!" Everyone who heard the voice turns to look at who it came from.

Which local tyrant is it??!! Mi Er, Jiu Hong, and Zi Yan all wonder. Even Yan Ran stops singing to take a look.

 

What they all see is that the bidder is a childe dressed in magnificent clothes and has an overwhelming aura.

"……" Ignoring the curious stares, the young man's eyes are only looking up at Yan Ran. "I'm offering 3000 gold. I want this lady for tonight."

"!!" Yan Ran stares at the childe with wide eyes.

The crowd is startled at the fact that this man is offering such a high price. Wouldn't it be a little too extravagant to do such a thing for a brothel girl?

Mo Mo Li instantly beams with joy. "Childe, you sure are bold and unconstrained like the clouds!" she exclaims. "My eyes are dim; I don't know what your respected name is……"

"Presumptuous!" the man with braided hair standing behind the childe cries out.

"You don't even know His Highness, the prince of the Xi Sheng Kingdom?!"

 

So it turns out that this magnificently-dressed childe is actually the greatly renowned prince of the Xi Sheng Kingdom, Yu Chi Lie.

"!!" Everyone in the room is shocked.

Mo Mo Li smiles, excited yet nervous. "I did not know about Your Highness' arrival; it was a breach of etiquette on our part," she apologizes. "It is our honour that Your Highness has taken a liking to one of our ladies." She chuckles. "This Miss Yan is yours tonight, you can enjoy her in your discretion."

"!!" Yan Ran gasps inwardly. Enjoy?! she thinks. Wait!! This is different from what we've agreed on!!

Yu Chi Lie stares at Yan Ran again. "……"

The prince of the Xi Sheng Kingdom? Mi Er, Jiu Hong, and Zi Yan wonder. That damn girl is actually so fortunate as to be fancied by Yu Chi Lie?! If she ends up having the ability to cling herself to the prince, she might be able to become the empress of the Xi Sheng Kingdom. That won't do, I must think of a way to snatch the prince over…… I can't give good meat to someone else for nothing! The three ladies are envious and jealous, silently making their plans.

For a dignified prince such as himself, he would've seen all kinds of women…… Yan Ran thinks to herself. I'm afraid that a bunch of beautiful girls would fight to climb onto his bed when he casually waves his hand……yet he'll go as far as to spend 3000 gold to buy a brothel girl? There must be something fishy going on here, I have to be more careful.

(Note- In this situation, "I'm afraid" is pretty much another way of saying "I bet".)

At night……

"Mo Mo, didn't you agree that the plum blossom doesn't have to accept clients?" Yan Ran asks Mo Mo Li while laying in her bed.

"Hah, you have no choice!" Mo Mo Li declares. "Who doesn't know that the prince of the Xi Sheng Kingdom was sent to our Qin Yue Kingdom on a diplomatic mission? He's an honoured guest of our Son of Heaven. Our tiny Drunken Red Brothel can't afford to offend him. Moreover, it is your honour that he fancies you. I'm telling you, you must go tonight whether you want to or not!" She then leaves Yan Ran's room.

(Note- Son of Heaven = Emperor)

Yan Ran is unable to defy her. Unable to bear having to watch herself be sent to Yu Chi Lie's room by Mo Mo Li, Yan Ran decides to ask the haughty Shang Guan Jiu Hong for help.

~~~~~

Yan Ran enters Jiu Hong's room after having knocked. She sits down at the table in front of Jiu Hong. "Big Sister, you know that I've always been selling my arts and not my body," she starts. "I wanted the title of Plum Blossom merely so that I won't have to accept clients. Now, I want to give Big Sister this chance to get intimate with Yu Chi Lie…… I wonder if Big Sister is willing?"

"Oh, is Little Sister acting like she's trying to do a good deed?" Jiu Hong retorts. "You're not going for a big chance to fly on top of the branches, but handing it out to me? You're so generous, you're really making me look at you with new eyes!"

"……is it possible that Big Sister's not willing?" Yan Ran asks, ignoring Jiu Hong's sarcasm.

"Hah, I am very interested in Yu Chi Lie," Jiu Hong replies. "He's the prince of the Xi Sheng Kingdom, and his family background naturally goes without saying. He's also exceptionally good-looking. Which woman wouldn't grow soft when looking at him?"

"Then why……"

"But I'm just not happy that it's you who handed this chance out to me. Who are you taking me, Shang Guan Jiu Hong, as? I'm telling you, even if you lay with him tonight, and even if you have a good time laying with him, I'll still have a way to snatch Yu Chi Lie over! So, I don't care for a chance handed out to me. Go find someone else, whoever you like~~"

Since Shang Guan Jiu Hong is not willing to cooperate, Yan Ran can only go ask Yang Mi Er for help.

~~~~~

"Little Sister, you know that I've always been selling my arts and not my body. I wanted the title of Plum Blossom merely so that I won't have to accept clients. Now, I want to give Little Sister this chance to get intimate with Yu Chi Lie…… I wonder if Little Sister is willing?" Yan Ran asks Yang Mi Er the same thing as she had asked Jiu Hong.

Yang Mi Er looks at Yan Ran skeptically. "Are you really that kind-hearted, not wanting a big chance to go up in rank?"

"If Little Sister doesn't believe me, there's nothing that I can do about that. But, I see that Jiu Hong and them seem to really take notice of Yu Chi Lie……" Yan Ran attempts to prod Mi Er into agreeing.

"Shang Guan Jiu Hong?" Mi Er sneers. "Hmph……"

Yang Mi Er lowers her head in serious consideration for a while. Suddenly, she says,

"Don't ask them. I'll go!"

~~~~~

Tonight, Yang Mi Er goes into Yu Chi Lie's room in Yan Ran's place.

And Yan Ran is sitting at the table in her own room. "I wonder if the secret will be revealed……" she says to herself. "Forget it, I'll just cope until tonight is over first and then see what happens."

All of a sudden, Yan Ran unexpectedly hears an abnormal sound at the window. "Who is it?!" she calls out.

She sees a man, covered in blood, jump into her room from outside the window.

Yan Ran gets up and takes a step back. She stares at him in panic and fright. "W-Who are you?!"

"Don't move!" the man warns in a low voice, holding his sword at Yan Ran's neck. "Move again and I'll kill you!"