Proud Feather

Chapter 49 Questioning
Both Xiao Lianxiang and Qin's mother felt that something was wrong with this atmosphere.

"Miss Chu..."

"Sit down!" Chu Ling sat down first. With a look, the palace servants who were accompanying him closed the door and stood guard outside.

Her behavior of taking the initiative made Xiao Lianxiang and Qin's mother a little panicked.

"Miss, what are you..."

"Listening to music!" Chu Ling answered calmly.

Yang Yu then sat down: "Yes, listen to the music, you two don't need to be nervous."

"Yeah, yeah." Chu Xiaojiu nodded repeatedly, and attentively took the cup and poured tea for Chu Ling. "Don't worry, auntie, this cup is clean and the water is warm, just right!"

Chu Ling praised: "You are very careful."

Chu Xiaojiu was praised and smiled happily: "Aunt, what are you talking about? It's my duty to respect you."

After saying that, he called to Xiao Lianxiang and Mother Qin: "Why are you still standing there? It's as if my aunt is making things difficult for you. Come on, sit down!"

Although his words were polite, his attitude was overbearing and he would not allow them to refuse.

Xiao Lianxiang and Qin's mother had no choice but to sit there anxiously.

"Mr. Jiu, what exactly do you want?" Mother Qin asked carefully.

Yang Yu looked at Chu Ling, who was sitting upright, and then at Chu Xiaojiu, who was beaming with joy. He knew that he was the only one who could lead the questioning, so he said, "Mom must have guessed it. We are here to ask questions too."

Xiao Lianxiang suddenly became alert and said, "I've already told the officer everything I need to say. As for the person you're asking about, I only drank with him once a long time ago. I don't remember much more than that."

"Yes, yes!" Qin's mother chimed in. "So many people come and go in our brothel, and this happened a few months ago. How could I remember it so clearly? Besides, the customers just come to listen to the music, so we won't ask too many questions."

"Really?" Yang Yu glanced over. "Little Lianxiang may not remember, and you don't remember either, Mom?"

"How could I remember..."

Mother Qin was halfway through her words when Yang Yu's face turned grim and she said in a cold voice, "Mother Qin, you just said that Xiao Lianxiang and Xiao Xiyu are the golden voices of your brothel and can't just hang out at the bar?"

"This……"

Yang Yu continued, "From what I know, with a reputation like theirs, it's difficult to even meet them privately without at least ten taels of silver. Even if you have the money, it still depends on your status. After all, this is the capital, with so many high-ranking officials. If you can meet them casually, you might as well just open a whorehouse instead of a brothel."

"..." Mother Qin gave a bitter smile, "Young Master Yang, we are all miserable people, struggling in the dust to make a living. A noble like you has no worries about food and clothing, why don't you show some pity?"

"It's precisely out of pity that we came here privately." Chu Ling said, "Otherwise, you would have been beaten with a stick in the government office now."

Mother Qin groaned, "My dear friends, we've really said it all. We were blinded by the money that day. Others offered ten taels, and he offered a hundred. How could we not do this business? We can't remember anything else. It's really been too long!"

"Yes! We receive so many guests every day, and there's nothing special about this Young Master Wei. If he hadn't clashed with the Ninth Young Master that day, we wouldn't have remembered him."

The two refused to give in. Chu Xiaojiu became impatient and said with a fierce face: "Don't refuse a toast and then drink a forfeit! Do you know who my aunt is? She can easily deal with the royal family. Previously..."

"Little Nine!"

Chu Xiaojiu quickly stopped and smiled, "Aunt, you see, they don't understand your good intentions at all. The methods you used to deal with... that person before, just a few of them, were enough to make them suffer, and they still don't know what's good for them. Isn't it because you are too kind?"

Chu Ling was too lazy to listen to his nonsense and turned back to Mother Qin and said, "If you don't want to tell me, I won't force you. However, I want to remind you of one thing."

"W-what?" Mother Qin's voice was weak.

Chu Ling said, "We may not make things difficult for you, but others may not." Mother Qin and Xiao Lianxiang looked at each other, their faces looking a little ugly.

Chu Ling had already stood up and led Yang Yu and Chu Xiaojiu to the door. He turned back and said, "I'll be here until the brothel closes. Come find me if you regret it."

……

The three people came in a hurry and left quickly.

A guy poked his head in and said, "Mom, who is that?"

Mother Qin had a worried look on her face. "I don't know where these young men and women came from, playing tricks on me with investigating a case! I'm so unlucky to be involved in such a shady matter. Not only can Xiao Lianxiang not perform on stage, but people are looking for her every few days. How much money will she lose!"

The waiter laughed and said, "These people seem to be of high status. If Mom can please them, she might even have more support in the future."

Mother Qin said with a snort, "We already said everything we needed to say the day before yesterday. What could we possibly know about a guest who came a few months ago? Look, he just threw a tantrum, and we had to finally coax him away."

"Really?" the clerk said absentmindedly. "That's a pity."

"What a pity." Mother Qin spat, "What are you doing with nothing to do? Go get to work!"

The guy chuckled and ran away: "Don't be angry, Mom. I'll go right away."

The person disappeared quickly. Xiao Lianxiang came out of the house, looked around for a long time, and said to Mother Qin, "Is this okay?"

Mother Qin said, "Don't go out in the next few days. Stay hidden and wait until things calm down."

"Hey."

The backyard was quiet again. Xiao Lianxiang stopped playing the pipa and flipped through the storybook intermittently.

There was a soft sound outside, as if someone touched the curtain.

Xiao Lianxiang suddenly became alert: "Who?"

After waiting for a long time, no one answered from outside.

Xiao Lianxiang muttered to herself, "There shouldn't be anyone here, right?" Having been frightened by Miss Chu earlier, she was already a little afraid. She'd startled herself at the slightest noise. Perhaps it was just the wind...

A shadow suddenly flashed by, and Xiao Lianxiang screamed "Ah".
-
In the brothel, Chu Ling and the other two sat idly listening to music.

"Aunt, why don't you let me scare them?" Chu Xiaojiu peeled peanuts. "These people in the hall are slippery and won't cry until they see the coffin. If you use the method you used against the Tian family, let's see if they can still be stubborn."

Chu Ling ate two peanuts and pushed them back, saying, "This is different. The Tian family is the one who committed the crime, so how can I not deal with them? As for Mother Qin, she is of low status to begin with, and she didn't offend me. She is just trying to protect herself."

Chu Xiaojiu praised: "Aunt, you are so kind."

Yang Yu laughed, "Your flattery is ineffective. The correct way to put it is to treat the wicked with thunder and to show mercy to the common people. Aunt, you are truly kind-hearted and act in a kingly way."

Chu Xiaojiu was amazed: "You educated people are good at talking, Brother Yang, I declare you an expert at flattery!"

Yang Yu laughed at first, but then realized something was wrong and frowned, "What kind of expert are you? Who can compete with you in this?"

Chu Xiaojiu cried out in injustice: "You said it yourself!"

"Chu Xiaojiu..."

Chu Ling listened to their bickering with a smile when suddenly a commotion broke out behind them. Someone shouted, "Fire! Fire!"