The entire street of Wind Flower Alley had been cleared of people.
Mo'er trembled like a sieve, shrinking into the corner of the carriage, wishing she could vanish on the spot.
The wooden nameplate in her hand had been scratched with marks from her fingertips.
The two men flanking her left and right pressed down on her like two great mountains, so heavy that she didn't dare make even a sound of breathing.
Their faces were like icicles in the dead of winter—one gust of wind and they'd come crashing down in flakes.
Prince An's face was iron-gray. "If Lord Shen can't keep watch over his people, I don't mind helping Prime Minister Cui get Eldest Miss Cui married off as soon as possible."
The farther away, the better.
Shen Xiabai's face was grim, and he said nothing.
He didn't need to use his brain to know that the idea of going to the South Wind House had definitely come from A Chu.
"Is Lord Shen truly a high-ranking court official, yet utterly helpless before a single woman?"
A man could endure only so much. Shen Xiabai shot him a glance and said with biting sarcasm, "If Princess An didn't want to go, A Chu couldn't have forced her, right?"
"Maybe it's Princess An who was heartbroken by Prince An and came out for comfort, and she's the one who led A Chu astray."
That was just closing one's eyes and talking nonsense.
Prince An was furious.
His Yunfeng would never have such treasonous, propriety-defying thoughts.
"Truly, one takes the color of one's company."
Shen Xiabai sneered, "I agree. After all, spend enough time with fools, and you become one yourself."
His A Chu was plenty smart, and hadn't even complained about Princess An being stupid.
This wasn't the first time Shen Xiabai had called Cui Yunfeng stupid. Prince An's face darkened, and he said in a sour, cutting tone, "My Yunfeng indeed isn't as clever as Eldest Miss Cui—she can frame others with such ease."
Shen Xiabai said, "I had a pretty good time in prison, at least I didn't suffer any beatings."
With that, he cast a meaningful glance at Prince An's chest.
A Chu scheming against him was still better than being stabbed directly with a hairpin.
"..."
"P-Prince." Mo'er's voice, thin as a mosquito's buzz, broke the silence. "The Princess has run out of money. If you don't go in soon, the Princess is likely to be thrown out."
The two fell silent at once, stepped down from the carriage, and walked forward. Two slick-haired, powdered-faced men at the entrance tried to greet them, but were scared off by the aura radiating from the two.
The men in the South Wind House also wore rouge and powder, and the scent was thick and cloying. The two walked in one after another, like wrathful guardians from a temple.
They racked their brains but still couldn't fathom that those two reckless girls had dared to come to a place like this.
"Oh, what can I get for you two distinguished patrons? I'll arrange it right away."
A slick-tongued middle-aged man, heavily painted, spoke in a deliberately theatrical, pitched voice.
He was probably the brothel keeper or something like it.
Shen Xiabai was used to Cui Yunchu's sweet-tongued, honeyed flattery, but now that the tone had suddenly shifted, all he felt was a wave of nausea in his stomach.
"Sir, you can't go upstairs—there are guests up there."
Shen Xiabai suddenly reached out, grabbed the man by the neck, and dragged him close. "Either speak properly, or I'll choke the life out of you."
The man turned white with fear and didn't dare move, watching helplessly as the two went upstairs.
Shen Xiabai raised his hand and wiped it on Prince An's embroidered robe, who was walking ahead of him.
Prince An frowned, his eyes full of disgust. "Lord Shen isn't normally a fan of that kind of style?"
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been taken down by Cui Yunchu.
"Out of the building, turn left, there's a girl drooling and fighting over dog food. Give her a wash and she should be usable. Isn't that Prince An's favorite style too? At least I'm better than the Prince—the one I'm introducing is female."
The word "style," repeated twice, coming out of both their mouths, somehow sent a chill down the spine.
"Your voice is just so nice to listen to. When my maid gets back, I'm definitely taking you home with me, to talk to me every single day." Cui Yunfeng tapped the young escort beside her with her finger, her head swaying back and forth.
"I have plenty of silver. If you make me happy, I'll whisper you a secret." Cui Yunfeng bent down, and the young escort promptly leaned in cooperatively.
"My husband has several concubines. When he's not home, I'll give them all to you. Whichever you like, you can spend the night with."
"..."
The smile on the young escort's face was slowly cracking.
"And if there's a child?" Cui Yunchu, who was kowtowing to the Prince Consort, turned her head back and asked.
"Surnamed Xiao." Cui Yunfeng slapped her chest, full of bold swagger. "No problem. My husband can afford it."
"Just as long as you come home with me."
Cui Yunfeng suddenly felt her vision blur. The young escort's handsome face whisked away in an instant, replaced by a familiar face.
That face bore a sinister, brooding expression, dark as ink.
Cui Yunfeng froze for a moment, blinked.
Then she raised her hand.
"Smack!" A loud, resonant slap landed on it.
Prince An's head snapped to the side from the force, shock not yet fading from his eyes, when Cui Yunfeng continued, "Stand up straight for me at once."
"Time to go home." Those two words were almost ground out through gritted teeth from Prince An's lips.
"I'm not going back. Damn you, Xiao Yi, change back! Where's my comfort flower? My silver-tongued, cheering little escort?"
Her head swung left and right, faster than a rattle drum.
Comfort flower? Silver-tongued and cheering her up?
Xiao Yi replied, "Cut out his tongue, fed it to the fish in the river."
Cui Yunchu burst out laughing. "Your little Xiao Yi is gone."
Those words pushed Prince An right to the edge of rage. Little Xiao Yi?
Cui Yunfeng had even wanted to have children with that escort?
"My little Xiao Yi." Cui Yunfeng had been counting on that escort to knock up Xiao Yi's concubines and have children, just to infuriate him.
"How outrageous."
Cui Yunchu said, "Yunfeng, how did Big Sister teach you? Go on, beat him to death."
Cui Yunfeng turned to look at Cui Yunchu, gave a heavy nod, then backstepped a few paces and threw herself at Prince An with all her strength, knocking him down with flailing limbs, hands clawing at his face.
"My big sister says, if anyone dares bully me, scratch them to death. Let you take concubines, let you have little Xiao Yis..."
Xiao Yi was busy pinning down her writhing body with one hand and holding back her grabbing hands with the other, and in a moment of carelessness, a claw mark ran across his face. Before long, he was sporting several scratches.
Mo'er was terrified and wanted to step in and stop it.
The Prince was, after all, a Prince of the blood, and had court in the morning. No matter how much he doted on his Princess, he couldn't lose face before the Emperor and the civil and military officials.
"Princess, stop at once! This is the Prince!"
"He's exactly who I'm scratching! My big sister just taught me this!"
"Ha ha ha ha—hup!"
Cui Yunchu stood with her hands on her hips, swaying from side to side, cackling with laughter.
The private room had descended into complete chaos.
Suddenly she heard a dull thud and quickly turned her head to look for her Prince Consort.
"Prince Consort, don't go! I haven't finished kowtowing to you yet!"
Bai Ye's face was gone too, replaced by a cold, stern, anger-suppressed countenance. Grinning, she turned toward Cui Yunfeng, "Yunfeng, mine's gone too."
No sooner had the words left her mouth than she was wrapped entirely in a large fur cloak and hoisted suddenly upward.
She let out an "ow" as her head lolled forward, facing the ground. "The Prince Consort is carrying me home! Yunfeng, bye!"
Cui Yunfeng snatched a glance upward and saw Cui Yunchu being hauled out of the private room. She frowned. "Let go of my big sister!"
"Ah~" She let go of Xiao Yi, braced herself, and was about to charge forward.
But the moment she struck a pose, her waist was snatched back again.
Cui Yunchu smiled and waved at her, then pointed at the person beneath him, "This is my lover."
"That boy from the pleasure house is no good—he's just after your silver, sweetheart."
Cui Yunfeng nodded obediently, then bowed deeply. "Prince Consorts, goodbye."
