By day, the Wind Chaser Pavilion was no different from any ordinary restaurant, but when night fell, it naturally became a bustling hub of lively entertainment and patrons coming and going.
The entire first-floor hall was brightly lit. Everywhere one looked, there were gorgeously dressed girls and drinking patrons. The sounds of singing, dancing, giggling, and playful banter filled the air, painting a perfect picture of lustful allure and drunken revelry.
A Mei followed An Sheng out of their room. Upon seeing the scene before her, her eyes immediately widened.
"This... this..."
Before she could finish her sentence, the music in the hall suddenly changed. Graceful dancers wearing revealing outfits draped in thin veils flooded the floor. With just one glance, A Mei's face flushed bright red, and she looked away in embarrassment and shock.
Her hands, which were clinging to An Sheng's arm, unconsciously pinched him hard.
An Sheng turned his head, lowered his gaze, and asked softly, "What's wrong?"
A Mei's face was so red it looked like it could bleed. She shot An Sheng a coquettish glare and muttered, "Husband, you are not allowed to look!"
An Sheng frowned. "Look at what?"
A Mei's face burned. Feeling a bit awkward and too embarrassed to look around, she pressed herself tightly against An Sheng. With an inexplicable shyness, she mumbled, "Wearing so little, aren't they ashamed?"
A Mei's words finally caused An Sheng to cast his gaze toward the gracefully dancing girls.
An Sheng quietly withdrew his gaze and leaned his head down close to A Mei's ear. Amused by her innocent and bewildered little appearance, a playful smirk touched his lips. "Wasn't it A Mei who insisted on coming to this Wind Chaser Pavilion? Naturally, I have to show you the sights properly."
A Mei murmured, "But A Mei didn't know it would be like this."
An Sheng chuckled softly. He reached out to wrap a comforting arm around her, his large hand gently rubbing up and down her arm. He let out a light laugh. "Alright, what is there to be shy about? You are no longer an ignorant little girl. You've been married to me for so long, you should already understand the matters between men and women."
Hearing her husband say this, A Mei felt it made sense. Ultimately, her curiosity won out, and the inexplicable shame in her heart gradually dissipated.
A Mei darted her big eyes around, finally taking in the surroundings. Seeing all sorts of men casually embracing the girls, she furrowed her brows and asked, "Husband, what exactly is this place?"
An Sheng paused for a moment before tactfully replying, "Just a place of romance and pleasure."
A Mei let out an 'Oh' of realization and said clearly, "So this is a brothel."
Well, that was blunt...
An Sheng raised an eyebrow high. After a moment of silence, he chuckled, "I didn't realize A Mei knew so much."
A Mei puffed out her little chest as if it were only natural. Her lively eyes sparkled as she said gleefully, "Of course. A Mei has heard plenty of street gossip in the past, so I know a lot."
Looking at A Mei's smug little expression, An Sheng lost any trace of annoyance, feeling quite caught between tears and laughter.
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. He asked with feigned nonchalance, "Then, are there any street rumors about eunuchs like me taking a wife?"
A Mei blinked, thought for a moment, and then nodded decisively. "Yes, there are a lot."
An Sheng let out an 'Oh,' his voice growing even gentler as he coaxed, "Then A Mei, tell me, what kind of rumors are they?"
A Mei leaned obediently against her husband, speaking softly as she recalled, "A Mei used to hear people say that the eunuchs who leave the palace to establish their own households would all take wives and concubines. But they only did it to torture and ruin women. Many girls were abused to death. Their abusive reliance on power was cursed by everyone behind their backs, but even the local authorities didn't dare to intervene. In short, there are no good words in the rumors."
An Sheng's hand, which had been stroking A Mei's arm, paused. With an emotion in his eyes that others couldn't decipher, he said leisurely, "Those rumors are not entirely false."
However, A Mei tilted her small face up and disagreed, "Who says? You can't trust rumors."
"In the past, A Mei also thought the rumors were true. But ever since marrying my husband, A Mei doesn't believe them anymore!"
A Mei spoke with earnest yet subjective conviction. However, these words sounded exceptionally pleasant to An Sheng's ears. He curled his lips and said deliberately, "I remember when I first met you, you were terrified of me. You cried every day. You must have thought I was just as terrifying as the rumors."
Hearing her husband bring up the past, A Mei recalled the days when she cried incessantly. The tips of her ears turned slightly red. She pinched the hem of her clothes, pouted her small lips, and shot An Sheng a complaining sideways glance. "Husband was always fierce to A Mei. Of course A Mei was scared."
"But..."
Changing her tone, A Mei's eyes curved into a smile, her bright, watery gaze fixed intently on An Sheng.
An Sheng asked, "But what?"
Meeting An Sheng's bottomless black eyes, A Mei said sweetly, "But later on, I wasn't scared anymore. A Mei knows that Husband has a sharp tongue but a soft heart, and A Mei knows how good Husband is to her. A Mei likes Husband the most."
An Sheng felt his heart skip a beat once again, and his breathing took on a slight tremble.
After a long while, An Sheng finally sighed, "You..."
At that moment, another burst of cheers came from downstairs. A Mei shed the awkwardness she had when they first stepped out and became completely lively. She looked down, her eyes filled with curiosity and excitement, fascinated by everything around her.
From time to time, she would turn back to stare at An Sheng. If An Sheng's gaze accidentally fell on another woman, A Mei would willfully reach out and pinch his arm, leaving An Sheng feeling helpless yet obliged to indulge her...
The room Wu Da had booked for A Mei was a premium private booth in the Wind Chaser Pavilion. It had a wide view and wouldn't be easily disturbed. On this point alone, An Sheng was quite satisfied.
While the young couple stood upstairs watching the bustling scene, they inadvertently caused quite a stir in another private booth not far away.
"What! Lord Song, you... you are saying that Commander An of the Inner Depot is right outside!"
The speaker was a tall, heavily bearded middle-aged man. He suddenly stood up in agitation. "Could it be that the Inner Depot is here to catch us red-handed!"
"Lord Qiu, calm down. At first, I was also startled, but thinking it over, what do we have to panic about? No matter how broad the Inner Depot's jurisdiction is, they can't stop us from eating and drinking," said Lord Song, who had just walked in from outside.
"Lord Song is absolutely right. A straight foot has no fear of a crooked shoe. The three of us are just enjoying normal entertainment. He can't just turn the world upside down without distinguishing right from wrong. Perhaps he is simply here at the Wind Chaser Pavilion to drink and have fun," another person in the room spoke up.
Lord Qiu, who came from a military background and always spoke bluntly, immediately retorted, "Hmph, he is a eunuch. Could he really come to this Wind Chaser Pavilion for pleasure? I don't believe it!"
Lord Song let out a mocking laugh. "Don't say that. I actually saw Commander An holding a little beauty in his arms."
Seeing Lord Qiu's face full of shock and doubt.
Lord Song revealed a meaningful look. "I didn't expect Lord Qiu to be so narrow in his worldly knowledge. This is something you don't understand. In reality, the tricks eunuchs use to play with women are no fewer than those of normal men."
At this point, a glint flashed in Lord Song's eyes. As if recalling something, he slowly curled his lips into a smile.
...
