The musicians and performers filed in one after another, each carrying their own instruments, and lined up in the private room for the two women to choose from.
Sure enough, the ones brought in uninvited weren't anything special—but these men were far more handsome than the two sitting beside them.
Cui Yunchu's eyes went wide trying to take them all in, until her gaze landed on a man playing the pipa and refused to move from there.
His features were sharply defined, his thin lips slightly pressed together, his expression aloof, dressed all in white.
"The only thing is, his vibe is a bit off."
He stood there without any air of hardness, instead giving off a weary, world-worn sadness—a melancholic, brooding air.
The kind of man who'd lost both parents, was drowning in debt, and utterly alone and pitiful.
"That one." Cui Yunchu pointed.
Even if his vibe was a bit lacking, his features were still decent.
"Miss, he's the top act in our establishment, and he's very expensive," the young attendant beside her reminded her with a smile.
Cui Yunchu snatched Cui Yunfeng's money pouch, pulled out a silver ingot, and tossed it to the man holding the pipa.
The attendant beside her: "..."
It wasn't that she didn't have money—she just wasn't willing to spend it on him.
Cui Yunfeng also picked out a few of her own.
The men lined up in a row, took their seats to the side, and each began showing off their talents.
In no time, the private room was filled with music and song, laughter and chatter without end.
Cui Yunchu shooed away the original attendant and had the pipa player sit at her lower left.
"My name is Bai Ye," the man said, his voice as soft and pleasant as his appearance.
"Another 'Xiao Bai'," Cui Yunchu said, her eyes curving into smiles. "If I were to keep you, how much silver would it cost?"
"Miss is joking. Today, I belong entirely to you, at your disposal."
The ones who stayed had all been chosen per Cui Yunfeng's requirements, each with their own charm.
The two sisters leaned close together, appreciating the songs and music, offering the occasional comment, while attendants beside them poured wine and handed over fruit.
Bai Ye's hands had well-defined knuckles and were quite beautiful, though they lacked the strength Cui Yunchu had seen in another man's hands.
Another piece of fruit was offered over. Cui Yunchu opened her mouth to eat it while giving the man's hand a light, firm smack.
Bai Ye smiled as if used to it, withdrew his hand, and continued peeling more fruit.
"So this is what they mean by living in a dream," Cui Yunchu said, already feeling a bit tipsy after a few cups.
Cui Yunfeng ignored her, giggling foolishly as she handed silver to the attendants beside her. By the time she turned back, she only had an empty pouch left.
"All gone."
Cui Yunchu frowned and glanced at her pouch, then shook her head. "What do we do then? I don't have any money."
The moment they spoke, all the music in the room stopped, and everyone frowned at the two of them in unison.
Cui Yunchu lowered her voice. "No wonder those women are willing to go with your prince—he must have plenty of money."
Cui Yunfeng let out an unsatisfied tsk. "I have money too, just didn't bring enough."
As she spoke, she let out a wine burp. "We can just put it on a tab, right? I've got plenty of silver."
"Miss, our establishment doesn't offer credit."
With that, the attendant tucked the gold beads and silver deeper into his sleeve, as if afraid Cui Yunfeng would snatch them back.
Bai Ye, beside Cui Yunchu, said, "The silver miss gave is enough to buy an entire day of my time. Whatever you'd like to hear, I'll play it for you."
"You're the best," Cui Yunchu said, pointing at Bai Ye. "You wait for me to go home and get the money to buy you out."
"Hey hey hey, this is getting out of hand," Cui Yunfeng said, pointing at Cui Yunchu's nose.
"If miss has money at home, she could just send someone to fetch it," the attendant beside Cui Yunfeng suggested.
"Great idea."
"Great idea."
The two sisters said it in turn, then stared at each other and giggled foolishly.
The attendant's eyes immediately lit up, but Cui Yunchu and Cui Yunfeng just kept pointing at each other, repeating "great idea" over and over, never following through.
They were clearly too drunk.
They hadn't even finished one jug of wine, and their tolerance was truly terrible.
In a place like this, if you couldn't pay, you'd get beaten soundly and thrown out.
Cui Yunchu was the first to turn back, bursting into tears as she looked at Bai Ye. "Why do I suddenly miss you so much?"
The other performers, hearing there was no money, moved to leave. Cui Yunfeng shouted at the top of her voice, "No one moves! I've got money!"
"I'm in a bad mood today. Make me happy, and you'll have more money than you can spend. Mo'er—"
She called out, and her maidservant came running in, covering her face with her hands. "My lady... miss, that's enough, let's go home."
Xing'er also rushed in and saw her young miss bowing at the waist to a man over and over, calling out, "Greetings, Prince Consort!" Her face went pale.
"Go, return to the residence and bring back some silver."
"Today, none of you are leaving."
"Yes, yes, yes. Miss can leave whenever she wishes," the attendant said, his expression turning friendly again at once.
Mo'er said to Xing'er, "You stay here and watch her. I'll go back to the mansion and get someone."
Xing'er grabbed hold of Cui Yunchu, who was about to kowtow to pay respects to the prince consort, and nodded frantically.
Cui Yunfeng said, "What are you all staring at? If I gave a big shout, no one would dare touch me. Just downstairs is my husband's imperial guard—"
Xing'er quickly dropped Cui Yunchu and clamped her hand over Cui Yunfeng's mouth.
Cui Yunchu thumped her head down properly with a loud bang.
"That was too hard," she muttered, rubbing her head.
Xing'er tried to turn back to grab Cui Yunchu, but it was already too late.
Prince An went to the Cui residence, but the staff there said that the two young misses had already left earlier, and their whereabouts were unknown.
Eunuch Liu said, "The princess consort is missing, and the eldest Miss Cui is missing too. The two of them together—where could they have gone?"
Prince An's expression was dark. "Send word to Shen Xiabai. Have him find them."
When Yu Feng heard the report from Prince An's estate, he raised an eyebrow.
The Princess An had stormed off in anger—and she'd taken the eldest Miss Cui along with her?
He hurried into the banquet hall. "Master, we have a problem."
Beneath Shen Xiabai's seat sat a row of middle-aged women bobbing their heads, wearing bright red flowers and mix-and-match red-and-green dresses.
All eyes turned toward him as Yu Feng hurried over and whispered in his ear.
Shen Xiabai frowned deeply, rose without a word, and strode quickly outside.
The Shen carriage soon met the Prince An carriage on the main street.
Shen Xiabai gave Prince An a glance, and his first words were: "Can't even keep track of your own people. You're growing more useless by the day, Prince An."
Prince An let out a cold laugh. "In all of Liang, only you would dare speak so boldly."
If it weren't for him, today's mess wouldn't have happened.
Prince An swallowed his anger—this was no time for bickering. "Think carefully. Where would Cui Yunchu go?"
Yu Feng quietly suggested, "Master, could it be the bridge below Wangyue Tower?"
That was, after all, where his master and the eldest Miss Cui had their little moment of love.
Shen Xiabai shot Yu Feng a cold glare, utterly disregarding the suggestion.
Because he knew that the only one who would go there was himself. Cui Yunchu, that heartless, ungrateful woman, would never go there to miss him.
"Have you searched all the jewelry and cosmetics shops in the capital?"
Prince An said coldly, "We've already sent people. Nothing."
Prince An was a prince, after all. Finding two people in the capital quickly should have been easy, yet he hadn't succeeded—which was precisely what made it a problem.
Shen Xiabai's brows knitted tightly, a trace of irritability creeping into his expression.
They could make a scene all they wanted, but why did they have to drag her into it?
"Think carefully. Have you offended anyone during this period of time?"
Prince An cast a heavy glance at Shen Xiabai. "Wouldn't that be you, Lord Shen?"
"..." Shen Xiabai had already ordered Yu Feng to go to the Penal Tribunal and bring people to search.
Prince An also arranged for the imperial guards to search secretly.
Outside, the two of them nearly turned the earth upside down, and neither thought to look toward the Wind and Flower Alley.
The temperature around the two men froze completely as their men returned empty-handed time after time.
Until a carriage passed by the two of them.
Inside the carriage, Mo'er clutched the Cui family plaque she had removed, shrinking and trembling. The driver knew nothing and even glanced at the two men as he passed.
"Stop."
"Stop."
Two cold voices rang out suddenly. Mo'er wanted to cry but had no tears left; she felt as if the sky itself had collapsed.
