Zhu Yan sounded like a teenager, but talked in an extremely arrogant tone.
Moqin reached out to push the door, while giving Lin Mengya, who was behind her, a warning look.
The owner was inside! Lin Mengya also became cautious. It was not so easy to cope with the behind-the-scenes owner as she did to Moqin and Hongyu.
As soon as the door was opened, she felt a blast of breeze. The slightly humid air made Lin Mengya sober.
The spices and smoke from outside faded under the influence of the water vapor in the air. Although she didn’t know how the owner did it, it was indeed a smart idea.
The room was not big, but was furnished delicately.
It was more like the study of a childe than the room of the owner of Huichun House.
The three of them walked to the innermost part of the room, and a desk piled with various books was placed in front of them.
A man in fine white clothes was sitting behind the desk. However, his face was behind the books, so they couldn’t see it.
“Where is this stupid woman from? Why are you so mannerless? How dare you stare at my master at will!”
There came such a mean voice suddenly from the side. With no need to looking at it, Lin Mengya knew that it was the little boy called Master Zhu Yan.
He was really a child, with a round and puerile face and a pair of big black eyes. Dressed in steel grey clothes, coupled with two round buns on his head, he looked quite cute.
It was a pity that he was ill-bred with no manners.
If they were outside, she really didn’t mind teaching this little guy a lesson.
But now, she could bear it as long as she could.
“Master Zhu Yan, please forgive my offence. It’s my fault.”
Lin Mengya immediately pretended to be panic-stricken. Both Hongyu and Moqin sweated with anxiety, for fear that she would clash with Zhu Yan.
Seeing Lin Mengya’s attitude, the two of them were quite relieved.
“Humph, good since you know that. In view of your good attitude, I won’t blame you. Master, do you agree?”
Zhu Yan turned his head, but obediently stood beside the man he called master.
“Enough, stop it.”
There was a touch of affection in his mellow and pleasant voice.
Although Lin Mengya was curious about the owner’s appearance, she did not dare to raise her head and look at him boldly.
After asking Moqin and Hongyu a few questions, the owner seemed to have believed her identity. Nevertheless, Lin Mengya didn’t think that things were so simple.
“Look up.”
The owner talked to her. Lin Mengya was a little nervous, but raised her head slowly.
At this time, the book in front of the owner’s face was placed on the desk by himself. A handsome and gentle face surprised Lin Mengya.
If she didn’t meet him here, she would never think that such a man, who looked gentle, turned out to be the behind-the-scenes boss of Huichun House.
As expected, a man couldn’t be judged by his look.
At the sight of her face, the owner blinked his eyes at the moment. However, it was scarcely perceptible. He just asked lightly.
“Which area of Yunzhou are you from?”
Fortunately, Lin Mengya had been prepared before. She answered the men’s questions unhurriedly at once.
“I am not a native of Yunzhou. I heard from the madam in the yard that my hometown is in the Capital City. But due to my family decline later, I was bought by the madam.”
Although she feigned an identity as a childe from Yunzhou, she knew nothing about the dialect of Yunzhou at all.
But now she was in a situation different from that in the caravan. Her secret might be revealed due to slight carelessness.
Therefore, she could only answer with half true.
“Oh? Since you grew up in Yunzhou, why do you speak authentic mandarin? In my house, there are girls from Yunzhou, but they are quite different from you.”
The owner asked with doubt, but in a mild tone.
Lin Mengya was not sure of the owner’s temperament at the moment, so she had to answer carefully.
“Brothels don’t only receive local people. Moreover, the yard, where I worked, is similar to Huichun House and receives the merchants coming and going. If I couldn’t even speak mandarin, how could I do my business?”
Lin Mengya said with a smile. She was quite skilled in talking nonsense.
What was more, she was so confident with logical reasons that others had to believe her words.
“Oh, I see.”
The owner did not say that he believed it or not, but just smiled and continued asking.
“In that case, you naturally have your unique skills. The girls in my house at least dabble in playing musical instruments, as well as verses, ditties, odes and songs. Since you can be selected by Moqin and Hongyu, you should have extraordinary skills. You might show them to me.”
It turned out that he wanted to trial her skills.
Lin Mengya was not stupid, and the owner was not either.
Actually there was no big flaw in her words. However, regarding girls like Hongyu and Moqin who had been cultivated since childhood, the Mesdames usually spent a lot of money hiring masters to teach them.
Lin Mengya quickly collected some of her specialties in her mind. However, she instantly discovered that she did not have any special skills except for medical skills.
Uh… It seemed that she was even unqualified to be a prostitute in this era.
Fortunately, she reacted quickly. With a charming smile, she winked at the owner and said in a sweet voice.
“The brothel is in a small place, so the madam did not hire a master to teach us. However, compared with these two sisters, my greatest strength is that I know how to please men. Besides, you run a brothel for doing business, not for selecting female scholars. Wouldn’t they be tired from dabbling in so many things?”
After finishing speaking, Lin Mengya poked the desk with both hands on purpose, blinked suggestively and put on an extremely frivolous look.
In addition, she was dressed in extremely sexy dancing clothes today and acted in coquetry. Any man should at least felt an urge.
However, the owner might have seen too many beauties. So, he just frowned slightly after glancing at her lukewarmly.
“Okay, step back. Zhu Yan, take them away.”
If Lin Mengya read it correctly, her first attempt to be coquettish was despised.
What? She could be considered a beauty anyway. Although she wasn’t strikingly beautiful, she was at least pretty.
She was dressed in low-cut clothes and wriggled in front of a man. The man should be eager to take her down, and then be under her control as she reached out easily, shouldn’t he?
But now, the owner showed obvious aversion to her in his eyes!
Gosh! This was simply an insult to her dignity as a woman.
Just when she intended to imitate the movie heroine’s way of lying prone on the desk, Moqin and Hongyu stopped her together.
After bowing, they dragged the girl twisting like a big worm and rushed out of the owner’s room.
“Let me go. I’ll fight for it today!”
Zhu Yan walked complacently in front, and laughed cheerfully when hearing Lin Mengya growl behind him.
Moqin and Hongyu did not expect that this girl could be so courageous.
For fear of being heard by Zhu Yan, she could only whisper in her ears.
“Don’t try to play any tricks. I have worked in this house for more than ten years and have never seen the owner dotes on any flower lady. Moreover, don’t think that the owner didn’t get angry. He is just good-natured. Numerous girls wanted to get out of the sea of bitterness by pleasing the owner. In the end, they were either dead or crazy.”
Either dead or crazy? Lin Mengya fell silent for a moment.
It seemed to be impossible. The owner did not look like a cruel person. But thinking it over, she realized that this Huichun House was no better than a purgatory for women.
Could it be possible that this guy was two-faced?
She just wanted to make detailed inquiries, but suddenly remembered that the lackey named Zhu Yan was still in front of them.
If it was heard by him, they were doomed.
She didn’t know the relationship between the guy and the owner. Such a rude and arrogant child was not likable at all.
Could it be possible that this Zhu Yan was the illegitimate child of the owner?
Of course, Lin Mengya did not intend to continue inquiring about these gossips. The three followed Zhu Yan to go downstairs and reach a row of rooms looking like guest rooms.
After pushing a door open at random, Zhu Yan said arrogantly.
“You will live here from today on. Remember, although you are the flower ladies in the house, you can’t walk around here. If you disturb the distinguished guests, the three of you can’t pay for it.”
Moqin and Hongyu immediately promised. Although Lin Mengya was not as respectful as the two of them, she pretended to be obedient.
Since she was in someone else’s place, she didn’t want to stir up any more trouble.
Zhu Yan turned around and left with satisfaction, and Moqin closed the door immediately. At this moment, a small face was full of gladness.
“Fortunately, the owner is in a good mood, otherwise, he won’t be so amiable.”
As soon as Zhu Yan left, the atmosphere among the three people became embarrassing.
After all, Hongyu and Moqin had both deceived Lin Mengya. When they fought against the same enemy just now, it was fine. Now there were only three of them, so they didn’t know how to get along with each other.
“I want to go out and have a look. Anyone of you wants to go with me?”
After thinking for a while, Lin Mengya decided to take the initiative to ease the current atmosphere.
Although, she was angry of being deceived, she blamed herself for being careless on this in any case.
Now that they were here, it was a little unrealistic to pursue whose fault it was.
Even though Hongyu and Moqin admitted their mistakes, so what? It was her idea to come here to rescue Xiu.
“I’ll go!”
Moqin and Hongyu said at the same time, but declined after glancing at each other.
It seemed that they also knew that going out with Lin Mengya at this time was the best chance for them to seek her forgiveness.
“Both of you can go with me.”
