Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 677 Pure Additives, No Natural Ingredients
Nothing much happened today; it was probably the emptier day in recent days. Emperor Jingtai didn't want to go back to the palace because as soon as he did, the people around him would start buzzing around and bothering him, saying the most foolish things with the most sincere attitude.

"It's always the same few phrases: calling you a treacherous minister, saying you've brought disaster to the country and its people, saying you're using the emperor to command the nobles. Do you think I don't know whether you're a treacherous minister or not? I trusted loyal ministers for ten years, and in the end, half the country was gone, and the court was on the verge of collapse. I've finally realized that there's no such thing as loyalty or treachery in this world, only clever people and fools. I can accept that clever people are a little bad. At least Gao Shilian knows what it means to be surrounded on three sides but missing one, and what it means for both sides to win. But those fools insist on going down a dark path. They're a real joke."

Emperor Jingtai, dressed in a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat, sat fishing at a prime spot by the lake, rambling on and on. Xia Lin sat beside him, staring at the fishing float bobbing erratically in the rain, glancing at him every now and then, but mostly not replying, because he couldn't respond to what Emperor Jingtai was saying; some things were indeed very strange.

Just then, Hongyuan came over with a food box to bring them food. Emperor Jingtai took the bowl and glanced back at Hongyuan: "I've heard you're skilled in martial arts? Later, I... really want to have a fight with you."

"You?" Hong Yuan looked at Emperor Jingtai with some puzzlement: "Master Tian, ​​you are no match for me. Ordinary men are no match for me."

"Oh dear!" Emperor Jingtai finished his meal in a few bites, took off his straw hat, and stretched his limbs. "I don't believe it! Do you know that I've been proficient in rites, music, archery, horsemanship, calligraphy, and mathematics since I was a child? How could I not beat a little wench like you?"

Hong Yuan laughed heartily, displaying the heroic spirit of a chivalrous woman: "If Master Tian insists on being beaten, then there's nothing I can do. Fists, kicks, swords, whatever you choose."

"Weapons have no eyes, let's use fists and feet instead."

Emperor Jingtai stood up confidently, shook off the water droplets, stretched his arms again, took a deep breath and said, "Let's begin here."

Without a word or any preparatory stance, Hong Yuan twisted her body after taking a fixed position and attempted a throat lock with a simple grappling technique. However, this move was too conspicuous and was easily deflected by Emperor Jingtai with both arms, the elbows clashing together producing a dull thud. Emperor Jingtai, being a man, was stronger, and he followed up with a low sweeping motion, attempting to defeat Hong Yuan with a throwing technique.

Little did anyone know that Hong Yuan used a somersault, flipping over Emperor Jingtai's head with absolute agility and arriving behind him. Using the momentum, she spun around like a windmill, and in the blink of an eye, the outcome was decided.

"Ouch..." Emperor Jingtai stood for a while, his eyes darted around, and suddenly he held his waist and cried out, "No, no, my waist, my waist is twisted... Daosheng, come and help me, quick, quick, I can't stand up."

Xia Lin rolled her eyes at him and helped him into the pavilion. Emperor Jingtai's eyes were sly and he seemed a little guilty.

"Hongyuan, you should go back and rest first. He'll be fine after a while."

Upon hearing Xia Lin's words, Hong Yuan simply said "oh" and left. She was always such a straightforward person, and she couldn't tell whether Emperor Jingtai was faking it or not.

But as soon as he left, Emperor Jingtai instantly recovered. He glanced back and, after confirming that Hongyuan had truly left, he sighed and said, "Truly amazing..."

"You insist on showing off your skills."

"Oh dear..." Emperor Jingtai sighed softly, "I'd rather compose poetry; swordsmanship is really not my thing."

He was flexible and adaptable, and had no violent tendencies. After lying down, the emperor was indeed the son of Emperor Hongbao. His "whatever happens, happens" attitude was exactly like his father's.

The two fished until the afternoon without incident. Suddenly, Emperor Jingtai turned his head and said, "Shall we go to the brothel to listen to music?"

"it's not good?"

"What's wrong with that? We're just idling around anyway. With this torrential rain, no military reports from the front lines, and no one causing trouble in the city, we might as well go and listen to the ups and downs of the music."

"Okay, call Lao Zhang over. He knows all the chickens in the city."

"Hmm...hmm?" Emperor Jingtai was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, he would go to brothels to paint portraits of women in order to get to know them. That's how they became acquainted."

Emperor Jingtai still had some doubts: "But why is the portrait of a courtesan?"

Xia Lin stood up, shook his head to shake off the moisture, and turned to Emperor Jingtai with a smile: "How do you think he developed his bone structure skills?"

"Oh!!!" Emperor Jingtai suddenly realized: "Then can his body withstand it?"

"Actually, he's alright. Apart from his sharp tongue, he doesn't have any bad habits. He's purely a painter, and as you know, his paintings are absolutely exquisite. Even prostitutes in the capital want to pay him a lot of money to paint for them. If he refuses to paint for a prostitute, her value will drop by 30% that very day."

"Good heavens, this guy... serves as my prime minister on one hand, and acts like a romantic scholar on the other."

"Envious? If you're envious, then learn a skill. He's now known as the Immortal in Paintings among the common people, and not many people know that he is the current Attendant-in-Ordinary."

"I really envy."

Emperor Jingtai pondered Xia Lin's words carefully and realized he probably needed to learn a refined skill. No, he absolutely had to drag Old Zhang along today!

The two men left the island in the middle of the lake and dragged Old Zhang out the door. The three of them changed into scholars' clothes. Before they could even discuss where to go, Emperor Jingtai bluntly said that he wanted Old Zhang to take him to a brothel so he could see what the so-called fairy in the painting was really like.

"You guys are really bored."

Old Zhang, holding up his umbrella, muttered to himself, "What's so interesting about this kind of thing?"

"Look, I've been feeling suffocated these past few days. Today, with this rest day and this heavy rain, I can finally have some peace and quiet and catch my breath."

"Take a breath, then I'll take you to see something more refined."

"No, I've seen too much of the refined stuff. I want to do something more down-to-earth."

Old Zhang turned to look at Xia Lin: "It's you again, isn't it?"

"What does this have to do with me? If you keep pushing me, I'll impeach you for disobeying orders."

Emperor Jingtai nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes, yes, disobeying the imperial decree is disrespectful."

"Alright, alright, there's really no way."

It would have been fine if they had run into Emperor Jingtai, but when they encountered Xia Lin, this scoundrel, Old Zhang was completely helpless. He could only submit and lead Emperor Jingtai to the largest brothel in the capital.

People say that everything in Jiangnan is great except for the lack of proper brothels and gambling dens, so things that can't get in there naturally flourish everywhere in the capital.

However, ever since that fire destroyed the darkest brothel in the capital, these brothel owners have become more restrained. The Yang family, who used to be the biggest boss in the entertainment industry, is not doing so well these days. So, although the competition is fierce, it is indeed much better than before.

This fell far short of Xia Lin's expectations, but he didn't have a better solution at the moment. After all, it was really difficult for one person to fight against a traditional industry that charged three thousand taels of silver. It would be good enough if he could suppress them from becoming too arrogant and prevent a large number of women from being forced into prostitution. Today, no one in the brothel knew Xia Lin or Emperor Jingtai, but Old Zhang was different. As soon as he entered the door, everyone from the madam to the pimps became exceptionally enthusiastic. Some of the girls who weren't busy even rushed down the stairs, fanning themselves and taking small, quick steps.

"Master Xia, you've finally arrived! You promised to paint it for me last time, why haven't you painted it for me yet after so long..."

"You little vixen, Master Xia promised to paint for me first."

"Master Xia..."

The chorus of sweet, melodious voices from the young ladies made Master Xia feel slightly tipsy, as he felt his sisters rubbing against him and showering him with affectionate teasing. This was simply heaven...

Emperor Jingtai watched from the side with amusement, while Xia Lin stood with her hands behind her back, pursed her lips, and squinted at Old Zhang.

Is this Mr. Xia? Byd does some dirty work and then gets all the blame put on himself.

But honestly, it's unbelievable. These women were singing Xia Daosheng's lyrics and showing off Zhang Zhongchun's paintings. Even Emperor Jingtai didn't dare to look! Absolutely not!

He has lived to this age, but has never truly lived for himself. He longed to roam freely in nature, but since becoming the crown prince, he has been chained and imprisoned in the deep palace. He wanted to compose poems and write essays, but was weighed down by the daily memorials and was confined to the dragon throne.

And now, his right-hand men, his trusted advisors, and his pillars of the nation are able to possess everything that romantics dream of.

He was unwilling... unwilling.

"Let me compose one too!"

Emperor Jingtai, full of ambition, volunteered to compose music and lyrics for these women. Regardless of the quality of his writing, the women in this profession longed for someone to compose music specifically for them. The flattery he received almost made Emperor Jingtai feel like he was on top of the world.

His creativity surged instantly, and with a bit of wine, he actually produced several exquisite poems, making him instantly famous in the brothel.

The fairy in the painting brought a great scholar with her, and as soon as the news spread, even girls from other buildings came to join in the fun.

The feeling of being treated like a VIP in a brothel was something Emperor Jingtai had never experienced before, but the girls were happy to do so, using all their skills to coax him and try to get him to produce some more talent.

"How dare you! I'd like to see who's so arrogant. I've gone to all this trouble to bring my friends here, and you dare tell me the lady is busy?"

At this moment, a young man was rushing angrily toward Emperor Jingtai and his entourage, accompanied by several spoiled brats who looked like the young masters of the capital. Although they were not as arrogant as before, they were still used to being domineering in this area. After all, no one really took this place seriously, let alone the people who came here.

At most, they are just minor officials or businessmen, with a little money or a little power. Given their family's reputation, wouldn't these people tremble in fear when they see them?

So they weren't actually after the girls, but rather for the sake of showing off in front of others.

"Young masters, this is too much, too much... Today, we have some very talented scholars who are currently composing music and painting for the ladies. I will arrange for the ladies to serve you in a little while. All your expenses will be waived today. Is that alright with you?"

Although the madam tried to stop her, she was less than a dog in these people's eyes. The young masters were not short of money. As the saying goes, humiliating others was much more exciting than visiting prostitutes in brothels.

The door was kicked open with a bang, and the young man in the lead rolled up his sleeves and walked in. The loud noise swept away the cheerful and peaceful atmosphere in the room, and everyone's eyes turned to the doorway.

"I've heard that some gentlemen have taken all the women in the building with a single move. What a grand gesture! Come out here and let me see who these people are."

At this moment, Old Zhang glanced at the silent girls around him and waved to them. The women bowed and left the room.

The young master didn't stop them; he simply crossed his arms and waited until everyone had left before having his cronies close the door.

At this moment, Emperor Jingtai was sitting casually on a recliner, while Old Zhang was sitting at a low table making tea, and Xia Lin was leaning against the window, pawing at the canary hopping around in the window.

The young masters stepped forward, arms crossed, and asked with smiles, "Where are you three from? Do you know what kind of place this is?"

Emperor Jingtai turned his head and glanced at Old Zhang, who then pointed at Emperor Jingtai and asked, "Don't you recognize him?"

"Him? Who is he and what does he have to do with me? Could he be the emperor himself?"

Emperor Jingtai smiled and nodded, while Old Zhang pointed at Xia Lin again: "And what about him?"

"Hahaha, you country bumpkins are used to showing off in your little place, and now you've even brought this trick to the capital. Alright, your three have disturbed our good mood today. You'd better deal with it, or don't blame me for bullying you outsiders."

Xia Lin turned around at this moment: "You don't recognize us, do you?"

"You country bumpkins are quite strange. Why should I recognize you?"

"Alright." Xia Lin looked around and found a brass incense burner. He picked it up and weighed it in his hand, but felt that it was a bit too heavy, so he put it aside and went to look for something else.

But who knew that Emperor Jingtai would suddenly erupt in anger, grabbing the brass incense burner and yelling, "Beat the hell out of him!"

The blow was so solid that the kid was immediately dizzy and disoriented. He didn't even feel the pain; he just felt a burning sensation on his face. When he wiped it with his hand, he found his face covered in blood.

"Murder! Someone has murdered someone!"

These people screamed and rushed out, but soon the people from the Jingzhao Prefecture came over. When they saw that the person being helped over was the young master of the Zhou family, their eyes widened.

"Quickly, quickly, surround them! Don't let them escape!"

"Those villains...those villains must be notorious bandits! Go and catch them quickly!"

The young masters were panicked. Having been outwardly fierce but inwardly weak for so long, they were actually afraid when faced with someone who truly dared to take action.

The brothel was quickly cleared out, and then the sound of footsteps could be heard from outside, followed by a deep male voice that could be heard from afar: "Who dares to commit violence in broad daylight?! Nephew, don't panic, your uncle is here today and will surely give you justice!"

(End of this chapter)