Martial Arts: Starting from a Seemingly Real System

The nights in winter are very long. It gets dark around 3 p.m. and doesn’t get light until the end of 4 a.m. the next day.

During the long night of more than seven hours, people can fully enjoy the benefits brought by darkness.

Why are so many people born in August and September?

Because the winter is cold and the quilt is warm, it is a time of joy.

A dark and windy night can make people crazy.

Some people have a happy wife and children, while others often stay in brothels.

The largest den of brothel in Longxing City is undoubtedly the Yunyu Tower in the West Market. Ever since Miss Yu Lu won the title of the world's number one courtesan in Luoyang last time, the Yunyu Tower has become increasingly prosperous, with bright lights on at night and never sleep.

Especially tonight, which is Miss Yu Lu's performance on the flower stage once every ten days, has attracted countless scholars, playboys, wealthy and idle people.

A group of four scholars, wearing old Confucian robes, came to the front of Yunyu Tower. They stopped to tidy up their appearance and carefully smoothed the wrinkles on their gray and white Confucian robes before entering.

The eunuch who was greeting guests at the door came forward enthusiastically. When he saw the four people, he paused, curled his lips and cursed them for being poor, but passed them and went to greet a young man who followed in from behind.

The eunuch who was in charge of welcoming and seeing off guests was very discerning. As soon as he saw the scholar who came in first was wearing a Confucian robe that had been washed so much that it looked bleached, he knew that he was daydreaming again. It was simply a pipe dream for him to think of winning the favor of Miss Yu Lu with just one or two poems.

On the other hand, the young man who came in later was dressed in gorgeous clothes with a sword hanging from his waist. Although his expression was calm, his eyes looked around and everything he saw was fresh. It was obvious that he was a new guest. In the eyes of the eunuchs, such people were the best choices for reception.

"Make way, make way!" The turtle slave pushed aside one of the scholars who was slightly blocking the way with annoyance, walked quickly to the young master, bent down and said flatteringly: "Young master, please come this way!"

The scholars saw that the eunuchs didn't like them and cursed in a low voice, "You look down on others with your dog eyes. No wonder you have been a eunuch for your whole life."

They were so angry that they even hated the young man behind them.

The man who came in from behind was dressed in bright clothes and had an extraordinary temperament, but he was wearing a long sword. The scabbard was scarlet, and it was obvious that he was not a good person. The clothes were wasted.

"Watch the monkeys and win the crown!"

"A crude and rude warrior!"

The scholars, who had been feeling sour, seemed to have regained their self-esteem, and they held their heads high and became excited.

The young man seemed to have very good hearing, as if he heard something. He suddenly turned around and looked at the group of scholars. He grinned, revealing his sharp white teeth, which scared the scholars.

The scholars pulled each other for a while, lowered their heads and pretended not to pay attention to the man, and continued walking forward.

Passing by the red lighthouse, the scholars stopped to look at the portrait of the beauty, smacked their lips and dared not take the lanterns, but directly found a table and sat down.

They pooled together fifteen taels of silver, did not order any snacks, but only ordered a pot of the cheapest scented tea, and then watched the talent show on the flower stage with great satisfaction.

The young man behind stayed at the red lighthouse for quite a while. There was a wall of beauties here, covered with portraits of various beauties, spring orchids, autumn chrysanthemums, plump and thin, all of them were girls in this building.

In front of the portrait of the beauty, there is a bright red unlit lantern. The shapes of the lanterns are different, including peony, orchid, magnolia, crabapple, poppy, etc. Just like the setting of the Luoyang Oiran Contest at that time, different lanterns represent different grades.

If a guest took a fancy to a girl, he would light the corresponding lantern and take it away. Someone would then take him to the girl's room and stick the lantern at the door, indicating that someone was staying overnight and that no one was allowed to enter.

Another way is to light the lantern but not take it away. This is charged on time. Sometimes the girl that the later customer likes is busy, but when she sees the lantern is still there, she knows there is still a chance. She can wait until the candle in the lantern burns out. If the previous customer did not come to renew the lantern, he can light the lantern and spend time with the girl he likes.

At this time, many of the girls' lanterns on the lamplighting stand had been taken away, and most of the remaining ones had been lit, with only a few still unlit.

The eunuch was bowing his head, recommending the remaining girls who had not yet been selected. The young man smiled and nodded from time to time. Suddenly, he pointed to the largest and most beautiful lantern and asked, "How much silver does it cost to light this lantern?"

Behind the largest lantern, there is a portrait, and a charming and delicate exotic beauty appears on the paper.

"Hey, sir, Miss Yu Lu will perform on stage today and she will not accept any lighting for the lamps!" The turtle slave apologized with a smile.

"Oh!"

The young master did not stay any longer, left his eunuch slave behind, and walked straight towards the scholar.

"Hey, sir, please come this way!" the turtle slave said anxiously from behind.

The young man was Qiao Rui. He waved his hand and sat down at the table near the scholars.

He was just a newcomer to a brothel, and everything he saw was new to him, but he was not stupid, so how could he let a pimp lead him by the nose? When he first participated in the Luoyang Courtesan Competition, he only wanted to spend five taels of silver to show his appreciation.

It's not that I'm stingy, I just think it doesn't make much sense. Money should be spent wisely. In a situation where no one knows each other, why waste money?

Unless, after a deeper understanding.

The turtle slave was helpless. The man looked very dignified, so he did not dare to be presumptuous. He still tried his best to introduce the rules of the place.

The charges for drinking vary depending on the area. For example, here where the scholars sit, it only costs ten taels of silver to open a table, and the cheapest scented tea is only five taels of silver per pot.

The first floor has scattered seats, and each table costs between ten and twenty taels, with tea and snacks charged separately.

The second floor is a private room with elegant seating and private rooms. The price ranges from thirty to sixty taels, and you can order food.

Above the third floor are overnight suites where lanterns can be hung. The starting price is one hundred taels of silver, and the price varies depending on the lantern.

After listening to the introduction, Qiao Rui took out forty taels of silver, sat in a cheap seat, and ordered a pot of good tea and snacks. Only then did the eunuch leave happily.

"Poor but generous!"

The scholars originally thought that Qiao Rui was a wealthy man, but they found out that he only sat at a table worth ten taels of silver like themselves, and then they realized that this man was just pretending to be rich.

I don't know where he borrowed that outfit from, and he even asked for dim sum like others. Few people sitting here want good tea and dim sum.

Silver will be of great use later!

There is a half-meter-high flower stand in the lobby on the first floor, and all the private seats are built around the flower stand to allow guests to watch the girls' performances up close.

On the flower stand, a pretty but rather charming girl was dancing gracefully, dancing the most popular Hu Xuan dance at the time.

It was freezing cold outside, but hot inside the hall. The girl was wearing very little cloth, revealing a large area of ​​her snow-white and smooth body. She acted in a very provocative manner, attracting crazy praise from relatives and brothers in the audience.

"Sure enough, it's tied with a thin red string. Brother Chen is really a familiar customer here!"

Everyone stared at the girl's exposed slender waist and legs, and looked at them intently.

It’s just that some people look at the white flesh, while others look at the thin red rope.

It was almost midnight, and the girl on the stage finished her performance and slowly left the flower stage.

At this moment, the whole place suddenly fell silent. Everyone kept silent and stared at the flower stand.

"what's the situation?"

Qiao Rui muttered.