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Seemingly sensing Chen Yuan's doubt, Chen Jianming explained with a wry smile,

"Young master, don't overthink it. This is not an ordinary brothel or entertainment district."

"Ha ha!"

Disguised as a scholar, Chen Zhaoning burst into laughter, wrapped her arms around Chen Yuan's neck, pressed her cheek against his ear, and whispered softly, her breath sweet as orchids.

"My dear little brother, your sister brought you to the brothel to listen to music and have some fun. What's wrong? Don't you like it?"

As she spoke, she winked playfully at Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan rolled his eyes at her and said seriously, "I'm still a child."

"whispering sound!"

Chen Zhaoning curled her lip and glanced at the Chen family disciple in his early twenties beside her.

"Which of them didn't lose their virginity at sixteen or seventeen?"

The others immediately looked embarrassed, coughed awkwardly twice, and looked around furtively.

Chen Yuan stared in astonishment at the exquisite face so close to his own.

Chen Jianming coughed lightly, leaned close to Chen Yuan's ear and whispered, "Young Master, we're just here to drink and listen to music."

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing him: "Really? You're injured, and you still come to drink and carouse? You've got quite the addiction!"

Chen Jianming awkwardly scratched his head with his left hand.

"Hehe, of course it's true!"

Chen Zhaoning smiled and took over the conversation.

After returning to the Chen family home, her mood improved even more.

Especially after Chen Yuan became the young master of the Chen family, he stood up for the Chen family members and killed Lu Zhiyuan...

All of these things made her feel extremely happy.

"We are different from those good-for-nothings; although we drink, we drink the strongest liquor in the world!"

Live life to the fullest, with unbridled joy! Then, pacify the world and contend with the Great Dao!

Chen Zhaoning spoke with a bold tone, squatted down and pinched Nuomi's cheek, then picked her up and strode into the brothel.

Immediately afterwards, a group of brightly dressed, fair-skinned, and beautiful women came forward and escorted Chen Yuan and his party inside.

"Holy crap, it's huge and so white!"

Li Wei looked around excitedly, and couldn't help but reach out and pinch it, which elicited a series of giggles.

"Holy crap, Viagra's amazing! He's pretty skilled!"

Chen Jianchu stared wide-eyed, and said in shock.

Immediately, he pulled the woman next to him into his arms.

Despite being covered in injuries, Chen Jianming was lifted off his wheelchair by a graceful and beautiful woman.

This drew more snickers from the crowd, making Chen Jianming look embarrassed.

He simply let go, and his left hand, which wasn't broken yet, started to get restless, moving up and down.

Chen Yuan stopped the two women from coming over to get close, but his gaze remained suspicious as he looked at the disabled but determined Chen Jianming.

"Young Master... The Zhang family, the Li family, the Tang family, the disciples they abandoned are all here. The old master probably wants you to win them over."

Chen Jianming lowered his voice again and finally told the truth.

really!

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, already understanding the situation.

The Zhang, Li, and Tang families are the only three human families in Tianqing County, besides the Chen family.

The group was led up to the third floor and into a spacious and elegant private room.

Before long, the waiter brought out a table full of food and wine. In addition to women feeding him wine, there were also singers dancing and playing musical instruments on the side!

The crowd then began to celebrate, enjoying the singing and dancing while indulging in food and drinks, creating a very lively atmosphere.

Chen Yuan sat by the window, looking down at the second floor and the lobby on the first floor below.

Downstairs, a large crowd gathered, toasting and laughing, creating a lively atmosphere.

Chen Yuan couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion:

Outside the city, corpses of the starving were everywhere, and the people were living in misery; it was truly a living hell.

Inside the city, however, there was singing and dancing, wine and meat, as if it were a completely different world from outside the city.

Chen Zhaoning quietly moved closer to Chen Yuan, as if she had guessed his thoughts. Because she was happy and had drunk a couple more glasses of wine, a faint blush rose on her cheeks.

She leaned closer, her breath reeking of alcohol, and said, "Not used to it, are you?"

Chen Yuan nodded slightly.

"My grandfather told me that as a scion of a prominent family, one should act like one... well, be arrogant and domineering, trample on the lower classes, eat, drink, and have fun, and enjoy life to the fullest."

Chen Zhaoning's eyes darkened slightly. She leaned against Chen Yuan, adjusted her posture to be comfortable, and continued, "This is the state that the higher-ups of the Great Xiang Empire hope to see."

"As long as our aristocratic families are corrupted and fall into depravity, we will not have a compassionate heart, nor will we easily give up our comfortable lives for the sake of the common people."

"Because powerful families are inherently the most dangerous entities."

"Those capable of rebellion are often from these powerful families, so they absolutely do not want to see any powerful families with a heart for the greater good of the world."

"Therefore, if our aristocratic family wants to survive, we must live a life of mere survival in accordance with the way the Great Xiang Empire desires."

"Everyone lives in a different way. As the young master of a noble family, you should be above the common people and stand above all others."

"As for the common people, they also want to live, but they just live in a different way."

At this point, Chen Zhaoning's eyes glazed over, her cheeks flushed, and she let out a hiccup. She rested her head on Chen Yuan's shoulder and murmured:

"Grandpa said that they are like weeds in this chaotic world. Although they can be easily pulled out, they still have to do their best to survive."

"We drink alcohol and eat meat, while they eat grass, tree bark, and even the flesh of their brothers and sisters... but it's all a way of life, no matter what."

Even if they are trampled into the mud and can't get up, as long as they live, they will eventually have the chance to see a peaceful and prosperous world and a clear blue sky.

……

As Chen Zhaoning spoke, her eyes grew dimmer and her voice became heavier.

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, a thousand thoughts surging in his mind.

boom!

Just then, a commotion suddenly came from the second-floor cubicle below, followed by the crisp sound of a wine glass shattering.

The sudden sound instantly caught Chen Zhaoning's attention.

She patted her cheeks to shake off some of the alcohol, then looked toward the second-floor cubicle.

Chen Yuan looked in that direction and saw a group of richly dressed young people arguing with the brothel's staff.

"The leader is Zhang Shan from the Zhang family, Tang Hu from the Tang family, and Li Shouren from the Li family."

Chen Zhaoning narrowed his eyes and introduced them softly, "They are all outstanding young talents from the three major families, and were once strong contenders for the position of young master of each family."

"However, they no longer have a chance, because they will soon be sent to participate in the aristocratic family assessment conference."

At this point, Chen Zhaoning looked at Chen Yuan with a solemn expression.

"A-Yuan, you must also know that the Aristocratic Family Assessment Tournament is essentially a way for the authorities to harvest and suppress the younger generation of human aristocratic families."

Therefore, they are doomed to die.

"These days, they drink and cause trouble here every day. The people in the brothel know that they are already dead, so as long as they are not killed, they let them do whatever they want."

"After all, they are the prey targeted by those beast-eating families at the aristocratic gathering, and no one dares to touch them easily."

Hearing this, Chen Yuan understood most of it.

This group of people are clearly pawns abandoned by the Zhang, Li, and Tang families!

They decided to throw caution to the wind and indulge in pleasure, spending their last moments in revelry.

"Heh, a bunch of good-for-nothings. They really think they're something special? Daring to cause trouble here?"

"Let them be arrogant. They're a bunch of dying people, pathetic and pitiful."

"Heh heh, if it weren't for Young Master Sun's orders not to kill them so quickly, I'd rip their heads off right now!"

"That makes sense. If they die here, it will be much less fun for Young Master Sun and his group to hunt down human prodigies at the conference in the future."

……

The surrounding guests whispered amongst themselves, their tone full of mockery and disdain for the group of young people.

After listening for a while, Chen Yuan understood everything.

He looked at Chen Zhaoning and asked, "So, the old man asked us to come here tonight to try and win them over?"

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, already guessing Chen Qingcang's intention.

"That's right."

Chen Zhaoning nodded slightly.

This is the real reason why they could still come out tonight to "drink and have fun" despite the Chen family's strict upbringing.

Seeing that the important matter had finally been laid out, Chen Jianming and the others stopped what they were doing and gestured for all the singers to leave.

Although Li Wei was reluctant, he could only reluctantly release the soft cotton in his hands.

"That depends on whether they are qualified to meet my standards."

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes and looked down at the group of people downstairs.