The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

The guest from Luochuan did not refuse, but paid the bill naturally and then jumped lightly onto the boat where Lu Weiyuan was.

"Yun Ni ran away alone, which made Miss Bai very anxious." Luochuanke found a comfortable position to sit down and took the small ball wrapped in banana leaves handed to him by Lu Weiyuan.

Yun Ni was a fake name Lu Weiyuan gave to the other party. Although the name was not very sincere, Lu Weiyuan believed that he had put more thought into it than the name "Luochuanke" which sounded very fake.

The sky is bright with hidden clouds and rainbows, the three lights are bright and reflect everything.

Not only is it related to my mother's calligraphy, but it can also be used to answer my father's questions when he wants to ask.

After the two sat down, the boat continued to move forward and soon turned a corner and entered a wider river.

There were no more boats hawking food on this river, but instead there were more small boats carrying tourists like Lu Weiyuan and his companion. The buildings on both sides of the river also suddenly became taller, especially the row on the left, which clearly looked like a restaurant. However, it was still early, and the voices in the houses on the right were louder than in the restaurant.

"She has her own things to do, so she won't be anxious for a while." Lu Weiyuan said something that didn't have any conscience, and suddenly asked, "Just now I saw Sister Xiaochuan, you were very flexible in crossing the boat, and you didn't seem to find this food strange. Is your hometown like this?"

Luochuanke did not seem to be trying to hide the fact and answered, "My hometown is in Luzhou, but I once lived here for a long time with my elders."

"So, sister, isn't this a return visit to an old place?"

"That's right." The guest from Luochuan nodded, and suddenly pointed to a tree on the left front bank and said, "When I was a child, there was always a red scarf tied to that tree. Once I wanted to take it off to play with it, but my mother caught me and beat me..."

As soon as she finished speaking, the boatman said, "Huh?" "This young man... no, this little girl is also from our city?"

Judging from his tone, there was a sense of unfamiliarity and confusion.

The Luochuan guest, who was dressed in men's clothing, didn't care about the boatman's mistake. She curled her lips and showed a little nostalgia in her eyes: "When I was young, my elders at home kept a strict control on me and didn't allow me to go out casually."

As she spoke, she looked down at her hands.

Lu Weiyuan had been paying attention to Luo Chuanke's movements - she had been curious about Luo Chuanke's hands for a long time. However, although the other party was talkative, she also understood the art of speaking and was a Tai Chi master. After Lu Weiyuan tried once and was easily blocked by her, she never asked her what was going on with her hands again.

Luochuanke looked to be no more than twenty years old, but he had a pair of thick and heavy hands with calloused palms. However, those callouses were not left by years of holding a certain weapon... After checking all the weapons he knew in his mind one by one, Lu Weiyuan had a better idea of ​​Luochuanke's background.

But she seemed to want to continue playing this game with a stranger, so Lu Weiyuan was patient enough to play with her: "Is it because your sister sneaked out that your aunt wants to beat you?"

There was genuine curiosity in the girl's eyes, and Luo Chuanke shook his head: "No."

"What's that?" Lu Weiyuan left home a few days after revealing her true identity to a group of powerful children. At this moment and in this place, she continued to play the role of the innocent, simple and sweet girl without any hesitation.

"Does the old man know?"

The boatman's dark face showed a trace of embarrassment: "This..."

"...Is it inconvenient to say?" Lu Weiyuan's eyes were still watery, and the expression on his face was lost and helpless, so pitiful.

"Ahem." Luochuanke cleared his throat and looked at the boatman. "I was very young at that time. I moved away not long after being scolded by my mother. I was also very curious. You can just tell me directly, old man."

Lu Weiyuan nodded vigorously several times, then quickly took out some shiny silver from his sleeve and put it on the boat.

The boatman took a deep breath: "This... um..."

He had spent his entire life on boats, and he was always able to talk eloquently when introducing the city's scenery to tourists, but now... The boatman glanced at the two obviously young women on his own boat, and thought about the increasingly popular trend of female officials in recent years. He muttered to himself that the world is different now. Not only have the customs of the men in the buildings changed, but even the young girls are not so shy anymore and are no longer so taboo.

He finally spoke like a thief.

"You two girls, you may not know that in the past, our city was most famous for, first, the water, the boats, and the fat fish in the big lake outside the city, and secondly... these flower buildings built by the water, and the annual flower boat parade. Of course, what people saw was not the buildings or boats, but the most important thing was the flower girls in the city."

To the boatman's surprise, the two women did not show any disgust or fear, which made him feel relieved. After sighing, he continued talking.

"The building behind the tree that the girl pointed to just now was the most prosperous brothel here several years ago. In the early years, it was just an ordinary restaurant, but it occasionally did some... that kind of business. On weekdays, it sold wine and food. Once the red satin was hung on the tree outside the building, it meant... today there are new young prostitutes in the building who want to... hang a sign."

The boatman used all his life's literary accomplishments to try his best not to be so explicit.

But it was obvious that the two young girls on the boat understood, and they did not show any extra emotions, especially the younger one who looked like a jade doll. It was obvious that she was the most curious at the beginning, but now her dark pupils were calm, as if... it was really a jade statue.

The boatman couldn't help but shudder, holding back the fear that had arisen in his heart, and continued to stutter: "So your mother, um, taught you a lesson, mostly for your own good..."

"Well, I know. Thank you for clearing up my doubts, old man." Luo Chuanke smiled and looked back at Lu Weiyuan. "But speaking of the flower lady in this city, I did hear a lot of stories about this when I was a child."

Her words suddenly made the boatman feel a little uneasy.

But Lu Weiyuan turned back excitedly: "Story?"

"what story?"

“I love stories the most!”

She placed her hands on the table, leaned forward, and stared into Luo Chuanke's eyes: "Sister, can you tell me?"