Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

As Jia Lian and his two maids left, the beauties in the inner cabin all came forward to congratulate Shen Pan'er.

Although these courtesans were all quite knowledgeable, they couldn't even guess how much the Zhou family manor was worth, given its extravagance. It must have been incredibly expensive!

Unexpectedly, the Zhou family had already given it to Jia Lian.

It would have been one thing to give it to Jia Lian, but Jia Lian actually handed it over to Shen Pan'er?

Although Jia Lian said he was just helping her manage it, why hand over the house deeds and other documents to Shen Pan'er? It's probably tantamount to giving the manor to Shen Pan'er!

Therefore, they all looked at him with eyes full of envy and jealousy.

Why is the master so kind to Shen Pan'er? Is it because he was pleased with the ingenious ideas she came up with last night, and he rewarded her for it? Doesn't that mean she sold us out to get this wealth? It makes me even more upset.

The clever person didn't just stop at jealousy. After getting closer to Shen Pan'er, he immediately pressed her for an answer: "Sister Pan'er, you won't deny your relationship with the master now, will you? The master entrusted you with such a valuable item, which shows how much he trusts you."

"That's right, that's right..."

Faced with the probing questions from her sisters, Shen Pan'er quickly folded the contract in her hand, carefully placed it in her bosom, and then smiled back at them: "Don't make fun of me. The master is probably afraid that we will be wronged, so he just entrusted the things to me for safekeeping for the time being."

Although her words were polite, the smile on Shen Pan'er's face betrayed her true feelings.

She was indeed very happy.

The fact that Jia Lian was able to entrust her with such valuable items shows that he did not regard her as an ordinary concubine or plaything.

Sure enough, a man like the Marquis wouldn't stoop to deceiving women!

She glanced at Gu Qingyi, who had silently walked to the corner and was wiping her guqin, and felt deeply proud of her wise judgment and decisive actions.

In her opinion, if Gu Qingyi hadn't been so aloof and unwilling to flatter Jia Lian, this favor might not have belonged to her!

So she asked the crowd, "What kind of person do you think the Marquis is?"

The beauties exchanged glances and giggled before beginning to reveal their true feelings.

"hansome!"

"Of noble status and extraordinary demeanor."

"He was powerful and influential; even the salt merchants were afraid of him."

"Hmm, I think the man is a good person, and he has a really nice smile."

Perhaps because of their revelry last night, the barriers between them had lessened, so when the topic came up, they all talked on and on.

Shen Pan'er asked everyone to sit down and waited for them to finish speaking before nodding and saying, "I also think that the Lord is a good person! He is a true hero and man who cherishes women! Just think, with the beauty of us twelve sisters, which man in the world can resist our charm?"

We've all seen those men out looking for fun before. Every one of them, upon seeing us, would want to strip us naked immediately.

But the master, even in the situation last night, especially after we all drank together, still refrained from doing anything to us.

Why is that? It's because you are a great man who doesn't conform to the crowd and adheres to his own principles—a true hero!

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement. They hadn't really felt it while they were in the thick of it last night, but now, looking back, it seemed even more unbelievable.

But someone still instinctively replied, "Where hasn't it been moved? Didn't he tell us to...?"

Halfway through her sentence, the beauty suddenly realized that not everyone had shown their flute skills to Jia Lian last night, so she quickly stopped talking.

But everyone understood what she meant, and their cheeks turned bright red with embarrassment. Even those who hadn't experienced it before understood the reason, so even Gu Qingyi, who was sitting in the corner pretending to play with the "crescent moon," couldn't help but blush.

Some people, not wanting to continue this shameful topic, tentatively suggested, "The reason the adults aren't taking any action against us is perhaps because, like the other young masters, he doesn't want to be responsible for us, and therefore doesn't want to have any involvement with us."

Shen Pan'er glanced at her and said indifferently, "As an adult, even if you take our bodies away, you can still avoid taking responsibility for us."

The man was taken aback, then quickly nodded.

"That's right. Moreover, even if the master takes our bodies, he won't have to pay anything. Even our wedding expenses are being fought over by the salt merchants..."

Logically speaking, this kind of topic should be quite embarrassing, but at this moment, they are sitting together and talking about these things, and it doesn't seem out of place at all; everyone thinks it's perfectly natural.

Seeing that the topic was almost settled, Shen Pan'er smiled and said, "So, I'm saying that you are indeed the most trustworthy man in the world, just as the rumors say. No one of you will object, right?"

He doesn't harm us, not because he looks down on us, but simply because he doesn't want to ruin our future by indulging in momentary desires. By keeping us pure, at least we can go back to being courtesans, and in that way, we'll still have a chance to meet a lover in the future.

He even has such compassion for us women who are complete strangers. What do you think would happen if we became his women?

I fear that we will be able to escape our fate and have someone to rely on for the rest of our lives.

Everyone agreed with Shen Pan'er's words. In fact, they had all understood this point long ago. Otherwise, given their status, they wouldn't have so easily abandoned their reserve last night and sat in Jia Lian's lap to drink with him.

Some people were discouraged, saying, "But I think the adults have very high standards. I'm afraid they would look down on us. The fact that they didn't even do that yesterday is proof of that."

"Hehehe, man proposes, God disposes. How will you know if you don't try?"

Alright, I won't hide it from you all anymore. In fact, the master does intend to select a few of us to take back to the capital.

One reason was that the adult's cousin was a concubine in the palace, so his family specially bought twelve little girls to learn opera so that they could often enter the palace to entertain the concubine.

The adults were looking for teachers who were truly skilled in music, singing, and dancing to instruct these young actresses.

Therefore, the adults took a liking to our talents.

Secondly, although the lord is now a marquis, he does not have a single concubine in his household who is skilled in music. Therefore, as soon as his mourning period is over, he will immediately make us his concubines.

Although she is only a concubine, given your status and appearance, if word gets out, countless respectable women across the land would be vying to enter your household.

Not to mention women like us who have fallen into prostitution.

Our only advantage is that we were fortunate enough to meet you, sir, in Yangzhou this time!

I've pointed out the opportunity to you all; whether you seize it or not is up to you.

To be honest, although we are currently top courtesans and seem very glamorous, only we ourselves know the bitterness we endure. Not to mention, in a few years, when our beauty fades and we sell our virginity, becoming ordinary geishas available to anyone, I'm afraid we'll never have a chance to turn things around.

So, whether to maintain the status quo and wait for fate to take its course, or to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and fight for your future, is up to each individual to choose.

After Shen Pan'er finished speaking, she glanced at Gu Qingyi in the corner.

Everyone else was drawn in by Shen Pan'er's words and immediately launched into a barrage of questions.

"Sister Pan'er, please tell us honestly, has the master agreed to take you back to the capital? Otherwise, how do you even know this?"

Shen Pan'er simply smiled and remained silent in response to everyone's question.

This can be considered a tacit admission.

Seeing this, Gu Qingyi, who was in the corner, felt a tightness in her heart.

Just as expected, I really did lose to Shen Pan'er!

Although she didn't seem to care about what everyone said before, she actually listened to everything.

Although she didn't like many of their points, she had to admit that most of what they said made sense.

Should I really follow Shen Pan'er's example, abandon my pride, and take the initiative to seduce Jia Lian?

With just this thought, Gu Qingyi gave herself a self-deprecating smile. What else could she do? Ever since the Zhou family decided to give her to Jia Lian, her fate had already been sealed.

If she fails to fulfill the mission entrusted to her by the Zhou family and fails to win over Jia Lian, her future fate is predictable.

It wasn't that I chose to do this; rather, I didn't have a choice in the first place.

Once Gu Qingyi understood this, she suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.

Although she didn't become Jia Lian's confidante as she had hoped, at least being devoted to him wasn't a bad thing.

Besides, with her own advantages, how could she possibly lose to Shen Pan'er? She also noticed that Shen Pan'er always seemed to be looking at her when she spoke.

Was it a triumphant provocation, or something else entirely? She wasn't quite sure, but she knew she had to wrest Jia Lian's favor back from her.

From childhood to adulthood, she has never lost to any other woman, and this time will be no exception!

……