Nightfall

The Regrets of Censor Zhang Yiqi

To clarify when Censor Zhang Yiqi would visit the brothel, what was the route he would take after entering the brothel and the details of him leaving the brothel, Ning Que unavoidably had to visit the House of Red-Sleeves brothel for the next few days. However, he could not let anyone discover that he was concerned with such matter, in case others started to get suspicious of him following the trace. Hence, when he was in the brothel, he would spend most of his time fooling and joking around.

The relationship between Dewdrop and him had drawn closer, where other ladies and manservants were starting to get used to this penniless lad coming in and out of the brothel. Moreover, he was Mistress Jian’s most adored scholar, thus no one dared to comment about it.

Though it was because Xiaocao had fabricated the rule passed down by Mistress Jian, Ning Que could only hug and jokingly flirt with the ladies but nothing more. Thus, it was natural that he need not pay a cent for spending a night there. However, no matter how thick-skinned a person was, he would at least give some tips to the menservants and maidservants. As a result, after a few trips to the brothel, the sharp reduction in funds in the store had caught Sangsang’s attention.

When Ning Que returned that night and was faced with the questionings by his handmaiden, he did not hide the truth and briefly told her about what he did for the past few days. He said, “I’ll need to be their regular customer and should anything happen to the brothel in future, the officers would not suspect me. If I were to just visit the brothel once on the night that the censor was found dead, such coincidence was good enough for the Chang’an Local Government to suspect me.”

He then smiled and added, “After this matter, I would not need to spend time at the brothel anymore. By then, I’ll not expend much.”

“Why, I could feel a sense of unwillingness from young master’s words.”

Sangsang lifted her small face and stared at him, as she sternly advised. “But if you stop visiting the brothel after censor’s death, won’t people suspect as well?”

Ning Que was taken aback by it and realized that it was indeed an issue he had overlooked. This somewhat made him pleased instead of pissed as he snuggled Sangsang’s head and replied, “Well, if that’s the case, I would need to visit a few times more after the matter. Help me check how many silvers are remaining.”

Sangsang responded and was prepared to start on her favorite task of counting the silvers. Just then, Ning Que suddenly remembered something as he hurriedly stopped her and took out a foundation case from his chest. He hesitated for a moment before he handed it over to her and said, “This is given by a lady named Dewdrop in the brothel. She’s… a nice person.”

In fact, he had used his handsome face to beg Dewdrop for this foundation case. His main purpose was to cheer Sangsang up. As for why he had added the three words “a nice person” was because he was worried that Sangsang would dislike the status of those ladies in the brothel and thought of it as dirty.

Sangsang took over the foundation case. Her dark-toned little face revealed a sense of joyfulness as her eyes were smiling with happiness. There was no look of dislike, and she said, “I’ve long heard that those ladies in the brothel had their own secret recipe for foundation case, and some are even better than the ones sold in Chenjinji Cosmetics Store.”

“Do you like it?” Ning Que grinned and looked at her.

Sangsang hugged the case tightly and lifted her small face to look at him. She tightened her lips and refused to speak a word, but it was obvious that she was already smiling.

She placed the case together with the foundation case she had bought from Chenjinji Cosmetics Store a few days before. She then carried a pot of warm water to serve Ning Que in washing his feet, before she washed her own feet using the remaining water. Next, she spread out two sleeping mats, unbuttoned her outer coat and quickly snuggled into the blankets. She then murmured that it was much colder without a fireplace.