The sly flower and the bored butterfly

To the dungeons

After the very embarrassing ordeal I went through, it was quite difficult to sleep but I managed. The next morning, emperor kept his promise and someone came to visit me.
A young official by the name Huan Deming  came to visit me. I called him young because I was expecting an old official with long white beard. He looked about my age. He wasted no time in the long courtesy's and began his work right away.

　　I asked him to investigate all the fourteen girls and anyone else related to Flying spring brothel. He took his leave. He returned shortly after to report his findings, he was really quick. Very efficient.

　　' Nucai has investigated as your majesty instructed. Among the fourteen girls, three died when the brothel was taken under control. Among the other eleven girls two were involved in the opium trade and have been sent to the borders.  Five girls went to different brothels and the other four girls escaped.'

　　' Two among the four girls who escaped have gone to the rural areas, one of them has opened a food stall in the outskirts of capital and one of them is missing.'
　　' Have you tried to contact the girls in the different brothels?'
' Yes, Nucai has brought them to the palace dungeon along with the girl who operates the food stall.'
' That's good, Bengong will personally interogate them.'

Huan Deming looked worried and was going to say something but I cut him off. ' Bengong has permission from his majesty. Let's go there immediately.'

　　Well, I specifically never asked for the idiots permission to go to the dungeons but that should be okay since it is inside the palace. It is also related to the case so, he can't really do anything about it. But Huan Deming doesn't need to know about this.

　　I went to the dungeons. I was rather excited as it was my first time. But disappointment dawned on me since the said 'dungeon' had plenty of light of and didn't emanate fear. But that is understandable since the girls are simply brought for interrogation. Despite of the lacking decorations, all the five girls seemed  worried. I was wearing a veil for convenience. Head court lady An didn't bother to hide her distaste towards this entire situation.

　　' Bengong has summoned you here to ask you some someone questions. Bengong expects truth from each one of you. No lies shall be tolerated.'
Some girl's shivered, while the others remained calm as if they had thoroughly refined the skill of hiding their emotions.

　　' Three years ago, all of you were selected to perform in the birthday banquet of the youngest son of the wang family. Tell Bengong in detail about what happened there.' I eyed the first girl from the right. She was wearing pink colored robes. She felt my eyes on her and got on her knees. She said, ' As far as this lowly one remembers, all of us went there and performed. The guests and the old master were happy with our performance. After receiving our pay we went back.'

　　The other girls also mentioned the same thing. Their stories didn't have any loopholes. I noticed the last girl from the right side, she was nibbling her lips.She was the food stall owner. I could see beads of sweats in her sideburns.

　　I dismissed the other girls and kept the food stall owner back. She tensed up after realizing what had happened. ' So, do you have anything to say about the banquet?'
She shook her head sideways. I took a sip of my tea. She seems excessively nervous for someone who has already been in the presence of several noble men. She couldn't have known that I am the empress. At most she thinks of me as a high ranking consort.

　　' Since you have nothing to say, Bengong won't keep you here. Bengong found that you couldn't escape from capital. Bengong had already prepared a carriage and a bag of gold. Even though you are no longer a prostitute, the people who want you still remain.' I slowly walked towards the exit. She should stop me anytime now.

　　' Your highness please wait. This lowly one has something to say.' I heard her say. I turned around trying hard to not smile. This trick actually worked. I gave her an approving nod.She had a somber look on her face. ' That year, we were ecstatic for being chosen to perform at the banquet.' I interrupted her and asked, ' Who do you mean by " we" ?' She sighed before saying that she was talking about her and her best friend. I motioned her to continue.

　　' We were young and naive. It had only been two years since I joined the brothel, at that time both of us were at our peak. We went there and performed. After the performance me and my friend looked around the mansion. We saw a swing nearby and wanted to play there.'

　　' My friend was always the more daring one. She immediately ran up to the swing. I was a coward so I stood aside. She was swinging when an entourage of young misses came. She got flustered and jumped off the swing in a hurry. When doing so she scared a young miss standing ahead. The young miss was furious and started berating my friend. The young miss called my friend a lowly slut, trash, vixen.'

　　' I was scared so I continued hiding. One of the young misses slapped her. The young miss who got scared before called her a home wrecker and a thief who stole others fiancé and husbands.'
　　' It was the bottom line for my friend. My friend had a sense of pride in her. She never slept with her clients. Singing and dancing for the customers was all she did.' The food stall owner paused and took a deep breath. ' My friend raised her head and said that she simply did her job of singing. She looked right in the eyes of the young miss and said that she has nothing to do with others fiancé and husbands.'

　　' Her words caused a commotion in the group. One of the young misses grabbed her hair. They kicked her.....' The food stall owner broke down at that moment. She started sobbing. She looked very unstable and started to tremble. She was clearly not okay.Head court lady An being the experienced one handled her.

　　After that she slowly calmed down. She took deep breaths. She said, ' Please forgive this lowly ones rude behavior, your highness.' I looked at her and told her that if she can't tell me her story then I won't force her. I expected her to go away but she firmly shook her head and continued. ' The young misses started beating my friend while I hid away. The young miss who got scared stopped the others and took out a ornamental knife, she drew it across my friends face. Her beautiful face...... They ruined it.'

　　' They ruined her face and laughed at her. They left saying that they can't be in the same place as an ugly pig.' The food stall owner clenched her fists, I could see a flicker of vengeance in her eyes. ' What happened after that?'

　　' I took her back, our madam was furious and kicked her out. Our madam warned me to not get close with someone like her. I took her to an inn and invited a doctor. My friend didn't say anything for next two days. It was as if her senses were taken away. She looked lifeless and dull.' Her eyes filled with tears again. She trembled. ' My energetic friend, my happy friend, my beautiful friend.... She wasn't herself anymore. On the fifth day, when I went to visit her. She wasn't there.'

　　' I don't know where did she go. She didn't leave anything. I still don't have any clue about her whereabouts. I am still waiting for her to return.'
' Did you search for her?'
' I did, only for vain. I see her in my dreams sometimes. I wonder if she has crossed the river to afterlife.'

　　' Do you still remember the appearance of those young misses?'
' I was hiding, so I didn't see everyone clearly. I could only see the lady who got scared first.'
' What did she look like, the lady who ruined your friends face ?'
' She had fair skin, hair up to her waist. And she was wearing a white fox fur cape with lotus patterned embroidery done using golden thread.'

　　I dismissed the girl after hearing her story. By now, she must be out of the capital with a new identity and life. The girl mentioned a young miss who wore fox fur cape with golden lotus pattern embroidery. Such thread work is specially done by the imperial tailors only for the imperial princess.

　　The young miss who partook in scaring the girls friends face is the seventh princess. She is fond of animal fur so she must have a white fox fur cape. So, the princess actually suffered karma. I need some time to process this new found information. More importantly why was Jin family's sachet found there?

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I will try to update more regularly. Thank you for reading ~~