Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Having fallen from the life of an official's daughter to become a prostitute, Yunxiang must have experienced the harsh realities of life in the seven or eight years since.

Although in Lu Chen's eyes, twenty-five or twenty-six years old is not old at all, in the brothel circle, it is not far from old age and fading beauty.

There were only a few paths before her.

A few years later, especially after she turned thirty, she could no longer maintain many customers, and her status within the brothel's inner circle continued to decline, eventually leading her to become a servant or handyman.

This was only because the brothel owner still cared about their past relationship, and even though she no longer had much earning power, he was still willing to give her a bowl of rice.

If you encounter a cold-blooded brothel owner, they won't keep idle people; they'll just sell them off.

Even if it doesn't sell for much money, it's still better than wasting food and feeding people for nothing.

Those who buy these older prostitutes are usually from low-class brothels.

Cuihua Tower, a high-end brothel, is not cheap. A tea party and a performance in the lobby cost two qian of silver per hour.

Lu Chen asked the pimp, and he learned that if he wanted a girl to accompany him for drinks, the price would be between three and five qian of silver per hour, depending on the person.

If you want to stay overnight, the price starts at three taels of silver per night. If you order the top courtesan, it can cost as much as ten taels of silver.

When Lu Chen first arrived in Gucheng County, he estimated the income level of ordinary people with jobs in the county town. The median monthly income was probably between one and two taels of silver.

The population of Biyang County seems to be slightly larger than that of Gucheng County, but the difference is only slight, and the income of ordinary people should be about the same.

This money still needs to be used to support the family, and even if they live frugally, there won't be much left over.

If you tighten your belt for a month, you should be able to squeeze out a little money to have an hour of tea at Cuihua Tower.

But this is pretty much the limit of the average person's spending power.

Clearly, ordinary people in Biyang County are not the target consumers of high-end brothels like Cuihualou.

According to the pimp, the guests at Cuihua Tower were mainly local gentry, clerks and officials, merchants from other places, and even scholars with official titles.

In short, they are all wealthy people, at least middle class or above.

The overall quality of the guests was quite high.

Although they lacked personal freedom, the women in the Cuihua Tower actually enjoyed a relatively high standard of living.

However, if she is unfortunately sold to a low-class brothel, what awaits her is falling into an even deeper abyss once again.

The guests in these places are mainly ordinary people from the county, and the fees are not calculated in silver, but in copper coins.

The living conditions provided to these women by the owners of low-class brothels were far inferior to those at Cuihua Tower.

Even so, this wasn't her most desperate time; at least she still had food to eat.

If she waits until she grows old and loses her beauty, and even the owners of low-class brothels feel that keeping her is a loss, then an even more tragic fate awaits her.

Of course, it's also very possible that she won't last until that day, just like many courtesans in ancient times.

When people see no hope in life, they are prone to developing bad habits such as alcoholism, ultimately leading to an untimely death.

For a courtesan like her, the best outcome was to be redeemed by a wealthy customer before she grew old.

If it were an ordinary courtesan, after being redeemed by a wealthy customer, she would likely not be satisfied with that.

The laws of the Ming Dynasty strictly prohibited marrying a woman of low social status as one's principal wife; at most, one could only take her as a concubine.

However, people's hearts are mostly insatiable, and she will most likely hope to change from "entertainer" to "civilian," which is commonly known as reforming herself.

Once she successfully reforms, she will no longer be considered a woman of low social status. Not only will she have the possibility of becoming a legal wife, but she will also no longer be able to be sold at will.

This also means that, at least legally, the relationship between her and the man who redeemed her was no longer one of personal dependence.

Lu Chen felt that if he chose to redeem such a courtesan and keep her in Biyang County as the mistress of the house to supervise the steward and servants and guard this safe house for him, there might be problems.

She controlled a large mansion, a vast amount of land and shops, a considerable amount of cash, and many servants at her beck and call.

Over time, people will develop ambition.

This "Lin Chaoxi" (a title for a wealthy man named Lin) was not in Biyang County for a long time.

Even if they didn't remove her citizenship before leaving, with the assets she controlled, she was capable of smoothing things over and finding someone to handle the citizenship removal procedures for her.

After successfully shedding her citizenship, she gained true autonomy.

If it really comes to that, then it's no different from a housekeeper who's left unsupervised.

But this young lady, Yunxiang, did not have this problem.

Sentenced to beheading and having his property confiscated, with the female relatives being forced into prostitution, this was an extremely severe punishment. Going further down the list would mean the extermination of nine generations of one's family.

Although it is unknown what crime the woman's father committed back then, given the severe sentence he received, there are probably only two possibilities if she wants to be removed from the household registration.

Either the emperor personally issued a decree to pardon them, or the case from that year was overturned.

Apart from this, there is no possibility of them leaving the country.

In other words, even if this woman was redeemed from the brothel, she was still a "musician" without independent personal and property rights, and could only depend on the owner who held her indenture.

Moreover, her master was unable to exonerate her from her status as a "musician" to a "civilian."

If he chose to redeem her from her servitude and let her stay in Biyang County as a concubine to supervise the household and take care of the safe houses, farmland, and shops here, she would be incapable of harboring any wicked thoughts.

Because she also knew very well that no matter how much money she spent, there was no way to get her out of citizenship.

She would never make such a request of herself.

Even if Lin Chaoxi is away from Biyang County for a long time, she will still dutifully take care of the local businesses.

This is not because she is of particularly noble character, but because doing so is the best solution for her own life.

"What I say is, of course, true."

Seeing the disbelieving look in Yunxiang's eyes, Lu Chen chuckled softly.

"Last night in the lobby, the piece that Miss Yunxiang played was clearly not something an ordinary woman could play."

I inquired with the pimp and heard that Miss Yunxiang was once a daughter of an official family, but was forced into prostitution due to her family's involvement. Is this true?

"I am grateful for your kindness in redeeming Yunxiang from her servitude, and I dare not conceal anything from you."

Upon hearing Lu Chen inquire about her background, Yun Xiang sighed softly.

"My late father was also a government official in Beijing, serving as a censor in the Ministry of Rites. Unfortunately, he offended many of his colleagues by publicly supporting Grand Secretary Zhang."

After Grand Secretary Zhang was dismissed from office in the eighth year of the Jiajing reign, someone framed my father for corruption and arrogance.

The Emperor decreed that my father be locked up and imprisoned in the Northern Garrison Prison, where he suffered a great deal of torture.

In the ninth year of the Jiajing reign, my father was sentenced to beheading, our family property was confiscated, and the women of our family were forced into prostitution.

Yunxiang's misfortune was her own fault; she had no one to blame but herself.

It seems that the matter involving this Miss Yunxiang's father back then was quite significant, even reaching the level of the Grand Secretary.

Wait, the Grand Secretary Zhang she mentioned, could it be...?!