The male supporting character was actually myself.

"Xiangyun, Second Master is likely to come over tonight. Let's sing that song we just learned!" She suggested, her face slightly flushed. "Manager Lin specially invited a master choreographer from Shanghai's 'Never Sleeping City' to choreograph a song for us that involves both singing and dancing. Although it's tiring, the effect is really good. It perfectly showcases the graceful figures of us sisters. I think..."

Ruan Xiangqin blushed deeply, covered her mouth with her handkerchief, and whispered, "I think Second Master would really like it, maybe even tonight..."

The piece had just been rehearsed and hadn't been officially performed yet. She had seen the sensual and half-revealed performance in the mirror and felt that any man would be unable to resist. If the timing was right, a young marshal who had been busy fighting battles and finally returned home wanting to relax might just be piqued and taken out by her.

Although it was agreed that she would only perform but not sell her body, if the other party were the young marshal... she naturally wouldn't resist too much...

“Okay! I’ll go talk to Manager Lin in a bit. We’ll prepare two sets of pieces. If Second Master comes, we’ll perform the new pieces; if he doesn’t come, we’ll stick to the original ones.” Seeing her sister’s shy demeanor, Ruan Xiangyun knew that her plan had won her sister’s heart. It was worth all the effort she had put into praising Li Jiangchen to her sister these past few days.

If the beautiful older sister can figure it out, what man in the world can escape her grasp?

Didn't you see Manager Lin running around like crazy every day, trying to fend off those stinky men who wanted to see my sister? And those other women like Red Rose and Red Peony, they were all incredibly envious but helpless and furious. Ha, my sister is naturally beautiful, how can those heavily made-up, vulgar women compare? She'll definitely make Second Master Li fall in love at first sight and ask to marry her!

Night falls and the city lights come on.

Jiang Chen, returning victorious, could feel the completely different treatment he received on horseback as he rode through the streets.

It's clear that Long Er is quite adept at spreading information and manipulating public opinion. Now, the people on the street no longer look at him with resentment and awe, but with respect and admiration.

Many children were even reciting improvised tongue twisters while chasing and playing, all of which were praises of Second Master Li and Young Marshal Li for their brilliant military strategies and invincible victories.

Jiang Chen was very satisfied with this. Only by winning the hearts of the people could he stabilize the rear area in the future. The current establishment of a persona and image reversal was a good sign.

"Young Marshal, you've arrived!" A doorman at the Paramount Ballroom saw him from afar and rushed forward, fawning over him. "You've come at just the right time! Our manager knows you've won a great victory and specially commissioned a master craftsman from the City That Never Sleeps to compose a new piece of music, just in time to perform it for you as a celebration! The Bai Jasmine sisters, whom you admire most and whom you personally recommended to the Paramount Ballroom, have also been very popular lately..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Chen's face darkened and he retorted, "Who? I've never even heard of their name. Who said I like them or have taken a liking to them?"

The doorman was slightly taken aback and, not wanting to cause trouble, hurriedly explained, "They are the Ruan sisters, whom you personally recommended. Manager Lin gave them stage names."

The eldest daughter, Ruan Xiangqin, is named Bai Moli; the second daughter, Ruan Xiangyun, is named Bai Huaxiang.

"This, this is what the Bai sisters themselves said. They said you fell in love with Bai Moli at first sight, that's why you treat her so well and don't allow anyone to touch a hair on her head. No one in the entire Paramount dares to offend the sisters; everyone serves them with utmost care!"

Jiang Chen: (?O?O) You old bastard!

No wonder the little dumpling kept rambling on about whether she liked Ruan Xiangqin or something; now that's the reason!

Damn it, I came here hoping to give you a better ending, but you guys got the nerve and started targeting me?

Thinking back, the little dumpling ran away after muttering those words that day and hasn't come back since. Clearly, those shameless Ruan family must have said something that Xiaobai overheard and believed, which is why she ran away from home!

Silly little dumpling! It's throwing a tantrum over two prostitutes, saying it ran away from home and hasn't been heard from since. When it comes back, it's going to get a spanking! It needs a good scolding. Can't we talk things out properly? It doesn't even believe me anymore, instead relying on other people's side of the story!

Thinking of this, Jiang Chen, who had lost the auxiliary system for several days and was already in a bad mood, immediately became angry.

"Oh? I like her? How come I didn't know?" He sneered without any mercy, "Me, the young master of a prestigious family, sending the woman I like to a dance hall to sing? Who are you trying to insult! If I really liked her, couldn't I afford to support a woman?"

Jiang Chen waved his hand, and the guards behind him stepped forward to obey his orders. He sneered, "Two prostitutes dare to use my name as a shield? I kindly helped them and was humiliated like this. The Ruan family of scoundrels are really good at playing the fox-and-tiger trick."

Men, drag him out into the street and slap him hard in the face until the whole city knows.

I'd like to see who dares to abuse their power and falsely claim imperial authority again. If they dare say I'm protecting or favoring them, I'll have them dragged out and executed. Openly defaming my reputation, they truly don't know their place!

Manager Lin was overjoyed to hear that the victorious Young Marshal Li had indeed come to patronize the business. He was eagerly preparing to rush over to claim credit and reward when he overheard the other party angrily issuing an order.

Her heart skipped a beat. Oh no! She had tried to flatter him but ended up making a mess of things. She had misunderstood and let those two shameless people from the Ruan family spout nonsense, using Master Li's name to stop a distinguished guest who wanted to buy them for a night. This was going to be a huge problem!

This guy is really something. If you didn't mean it that way, why did you agree to this "performing arts but not selling your body" thing...?

It's too late to say anything now. Manager Lin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, looked up at the young marshal who was riding on horseback with a gloomy face, and said with a forced smile, "Young marshal, please don't hold it against us. It's not worth getting angry!"

Well, we had no choice. You said they should sell their art but not their bodies, but many VIPs were willing to pay high prices for a night... Besides, it wasn't us who said that. It was the two Ruan sisters who kept saying that you had taken a liking to Bai Moli and tried to stop people. But you weren't in Yucheng, so I had nowhere to verify it.

"I'm also afraid that if there's a misunderstanding, they might just take advantage of my position and act like bullies. Just ignore me and let me go! Don't worry, if anyone dares to use the young marshal's name to intimidate others again, I'll slap them across the face and send them to the marshal's residence for punishment!"

He was genuinely scared.

This kind of thing can be a big deal or a small deal, depending on how the parties involved think. Some people might think that the beautiful woman's casual remark is just a joke and can be laughed off, but clearly this young master doesn't like two singing girls using him as a tool to silence others—this is a big problem!

"Oh? I really didn't expect Manager Lin to be so honest." Jiang Chen's expression softened slightly, even carrying a hint of mockery. "I did say they can sell their art but not their bodies, but..."

Only transactions that require money can be considered buying and selling.

"You can't call it selling yourself if you get a free night, right? You haven't even seen the money, how can you call it selling yourself? Manager Lin, you're a businessman, it's really not very smart of you not to be able to figure this out."

Manager Lin: Σ(°△°|||)︴

What?! You can interpret "selling art but not sex" like that?!

Holy crap! I misunderstood!

"Tomorrow, the Marshal's Mansion is holding a joyous celebration, and the whole country will be in a state of solemnity during the day. I'm thinking of having our star performer, Red Rose, lead some girls like White Peony and Red Peony to perform a show in the evening to liven things up."

Jiang Chen tossed a bag of money over, straightened his military cap, and smiled faintly: "I'll have someone send over the performance pieces. Use this money to make her a couple more nice outfits, the kind that's sparkly and beautiful, like those in the Never-Sleeping City Grand Ballroom. The rest is a reward!"

Tell Red Rose to take good care of the girls she brought; they'll get even more money if they perform well.

Seeing that the young marshal was no longer pursuing the matter of the little brat Ruan taking advantage of the situation, Manager Lin breathed a sigh of relief, took the money bag, and said loudly, "Just you wait and see, Red Rose is the unshakeable pillar of our Paramount Ballroom, she will definitely satisfy you!"

After the other party turned their horse around and left, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and hurriedly waved to the doormen, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and go help, make that family of scoundrels surnamed Ruan get out here and quickly move Red Rose's things back to the top suite!"

"Damn it, those little sluts who dare to fool even me, I'll tear their mouths apart or I'm not a Lin!"

Chapter Twenty-Four: Our Friendship is Severed!

"Sister, I saw the young marshal riding by on horseback!"

Ruan Xiaomei, who didn't have to do anything with her older sisters and had plenty of good food, clothes, and lodging, ran around playing with her tattered rag doll. After discovering the situation, she excitedly ran backstage and said to her eldest and second eldest sisters who were getting ready, "The red cape is so cool! You couldn't wait to come to the Paramount as soon as you got back to Yucheng. It seems you missed your eldest sister so much!"

Ruan Yunfei held the exquisitely packaged gift, clearly a present from the old man outside to the older sister. He took a bite while jokingly saying, "Go, older sister! Your new song will definitely charm the young marshal. Soon you'll be the young marshal's wife!"

Our whole family can move into the Marshal's Mansion and have plenty of money to spend as we please!

I want to buy delicious food and fun toys, and I also want to learn martial arts and shooting from my brother-in-law, the young marshal.

Having taken over the dressing room that originally belonged to the star performer Red Rose, Ruan Xiangqin was making final adjustments to her makeup in front of the luxurious vanity mirror. Upon hearing this, she was overjoyed, excited, and a little nervous. She glanced at the alluring and revealing new dress hanging at the front of the pile of beautiful clothes, her face slightly flushed, and whispered, "Xiangyun, let's sing a new song as soon as we go on stage to surprise the young marshal. Let's try to blow the audience away and make a lasting impression on him."

"Great idea!" Ruan Xiangyun hurriedly put on the sparkling beaded flowers and got up to get the new performance costume she had just made to change into.

Unexpectedly, someone suddenly pushed the door open and startled her. When she saw that it was the servant who was serving outside, she glared and cursed, "You blind fool! Don't you know whose dressing room this is? You dare to barge in? Are you tired of living?"

Luckily, my older sister hasn't started changing yet, otherwise if you saw something you shouldn't have, Young Marshal Li would definitely stick out your useless eyeballs and use them as a football..."

Before she could continue her cursing, the servant grabbed Ruan Xiangyun by the hair and dragged her outside. "Damn it, you two worthless sluts still have the nerve to talk about the young marshal! Just now, the Paramount almost suffered a catastrophe because you angered the young marshal! Your mouths should be torn apart, let's see if you still dare to spout nonsense!"

He angrily retorted, grabbing her hair with his right hand and slapping her face haphazardly with his left, each slap resounding loudly, leaving the Ruan siblings stunned for a moment.

The servant didn't witness the young marshal's anger firsthand, but upon hearing that Manager Lin was going to take action against the arrogant and snobbish women of the Ruan family, he volunteered to participate.

Damn it, I've disliked these four siblings for a long time, especially Ruan Xiangyun!

No matter what he did, she would find fault with him and use the name of the second master of the Li family to suppress him. Manager Lin also protected him, so even if he did nothing wrong, he would still be beaten and scolded. He was full of anger and had nowhere to vent it. Then, the opportunity came.

If I don't take this opportunity to tear Ruan Xiangyun's mouth apart, I'm not a real man!

"Ah!!!" Ruan Xiangyun was stunned for a few seconds before belatedly screaming, "Help! The errand boy has gone crazy! Someone, help me!"

"Help! Someone, please come quickly!"

Seeing this, Ruan Xiangqin hurriedly shouted and chased after her sister to save her, but unexpectedly, the other person kicked her, knocking her to the ground with a burning pain in her stomach. Clutching her stomach, tears of grievance welled up in her eyes as she cried out, "Manager Lin, come quick! This brat has injured us sisters! Young Marshal Li won't let you get away with this! We are the young marshal himself..."

She couldn't finish her sentence because more servants rushed in, punching, kicking, and tearing at her mouth. For a moment, the only sounds in the room and the corridor were the screams of the two sisters and the vicious kicks and beatings from the servants who had long been unable to bear them.

"Alright, alright, that's enough." Manager Lin stepped forward with his hands behind his back and looked at them. Seeing that they were disheveled, their clothes were torn, and their mouths were ripped open and bleeding, he waved his hand with satisfaction and ordered, "The officers are still waiting outside. Drag them out and parade them through the streets, then slap them in the face!"

Let everyone in Yucheng see this: this is the consequence of disgracing the young marshal's reputation and using him as a shield!

A worthless person with a worthless life, yet you dream of climbing the social ladder? The young marshal never even considered taking you back as his wife. Stop daydreaming! Ruan Xiangqin and Ruan Xiangyun, you two remember this—retribution may be delayed, but it will come eventually; always leave yourself an out. How about that? You were so arrogant and offended everyone, and now not a single person is showing you any mercy, are you?

"Experience is the best teacher. From now on, you'd better learn to behave yourself as a proper singer at the Paramount. If I say one thing, you'd better not argue back. You've caused me no end of trouble by waving the Young Marshal's banner; we'll settle those scores later!"

The beautifully dressed women who were chatting and laughing just moments before were suddenly beaten and dragged out. Ruan Xiaomei and Ruan Yunfei were so frightened that they didn't dare to move and huddled in a corner, secretly wiping away their tears.

"Throw these two good-for-nothing idiots out!" Manager Lin turned his head and saw them, frowning as he waved his hand. "No one dares to mess with you because of your title as the Young Marshal. Now that your lies have been exposed, there's no need to keep these two good-for-nothings. One is twelve years old and the other is nine. Look at the kids on the street, they can already work and earn money to help support their families. These two idiots can't do anything but eat, drink, and play. They're really useless!"

Seeing the servants, who had just brutally beaten their eldest and second eldest sisters and had fierce expressions, rushing over, Ruan Xiaomei and Ruan Yunfei, who were usually arrogant and domineering with their second sister, suddenly felt guilty and scared. They dodged and screamed, "You are all bad people! You are bullying us bad people who have no father or home!"

"Waaaaah... When I grow up, I'm going to kill you all!"

"Get out of here, you big bad guys! Eldest sister and second sister are right, you're all a bunch of opportunistic scoundrels, you're all big bad guys..."

…………

The four Ruan siblings were used to being arrogant and domineering. They considered themselves superior and looked down on everyone, ordering people around. Now, they were so unpopular that everyone, from helpers and servants to maids, singers, and dancers, just stood by and watched the show with their arms crossed. Not only did no one come to plead for them, but they also whispered and mocked them for their current predicament.

Jiang Chen specifically instructed the guards to deal with the singing girls who were using him as a pretext. So, the soldiers didn't hold back at all. They brought over a large cart used for imprisoning death row inmates, tied the Ruan sisters together, locked them in a wooden cage, and paraded them through the streets while banging gongs and shouting.

The gist of it is that two singing girls are ungrateful and shameless, openly insulting and tarnishing the young marshal's reputation in a brothel. They are using the young marshal's name to bully and oppress others. From this day forward, anyone who dares to act arrogantly in the young marshal's name will suffer the same fate as the Ruan sisters...

"Tsk tsk, what a disgrace! What kind of good young lady does she have to go out of her way to make a living? Running off to sing in places like that and daring to smear and insult the young marshal, what kind of mush is in her head?"

"The Ruan sisters who burned down the manor to avoid paying their debts? It's normal for them to speak ill of the young marshal. Before, at the city gate, they kept saying that the young marshal was their father's killer and they wanted revenge. They must have been smearing him whenever they had the chance."

"I heard that the madams in the brothels wouldn't take them in because they thought it was bad for their reputation! It was only because the young marshal took pity on them that he made an exception and had Manager Lin of the Paramount Ballroom take them in, at least giving them a place to eat and sleep. Who knew they would repay kindness with enmity? They deserve to be paraded through the streets!"

“I saw them at the city gate that day. They were wearing gold and silver. Putting aside everything else, the gold earrings they wore alone could have been used to rent a small courtyard and do some small business. Who in an ordinary family could afford such expensive gold earrings? Who would have thought that they would go to the brothel to become singers instead of earning a living with their own hands.”

"They're just used to being lazy and good-for-nothing. If they were diligent and hardworking, would they need to borrow money at exorbitant interest rates to manage such a large estate and fields? The upper beam is crooked, and the lower beam is crooked too; they're always thinking about taking shortcuts!"

"I heard these two sisters are absolute beauties, they know how to charm men, and they're incredibly seductive on stage. They even say they were born for this..."

The Ruan sisters, who were paraded through the streets and slapped in the face, couldn't understand why things had turned out this way.

Why did Master Li suddenly change?

He wasn't like this before! That night at Qinya Manor, he didn't lay a finger on me even after I insulted him like that, how could he be like this now...?

Her face burned with pain. Tears welled in Ruan Xiangqin's eyes as she looked at the crowd pointing and mocking her, a wave of despair washing over her. Li Dongchen was getting married tomorrow; Li Jiangchen, whom she had so longed for and finally hoped to see, hadn't even seen her, yet he sent people to humiliate her like this. Indeed, not a single good person in the Li family was any better!

They are hypocritical, treat human life like dirt, and toy with their own emotions!

Li Jiangchen, who do you think you are? You stirred my heart, made me fall for you, and then trampled my sincere feelings into the ground. Is this what you like to see?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. A soldier with rough hands slapped her across the face, and she almost fell to her knees. The taste of blood spread between her lips and teeth. As Ruan Xiangqin listened to her sister's sobbing and crying, her gaze became more and more determined—I must repay the humiliation I suffered today in every way possible!

I, Ruan Xiangqin, swear to be a seductive and wicked woman. From now on, I will seduce men and use them as weapons to make Li Jiangchen lose his reputation and die without a burial place!

"Li Jiangchen, I'm going to kill you!" At the same time, Ruan Xiangyun shouted with all her might, filled with resentment.

She hated! She was furious! She resented!

I was so blind to have misjudged Li Jiangchen, that two-faced bastard. All my efforts in gathering intelligence and training my sister to see if she could change her mind and make Li Jiangchen her goal were wasted, and yet I was humiliated like this.

She secretly vowed to kill Li Jiangchen with her own hands! If she, a weak woman, couldn't do it, she would raise her younger brother well so that he would never forget the humiliation of killing that bastard when he grew up!

"Second Master, those two bitches were stubborn at first, but they became obedient after their faces were swollen and their mouths were bleeding." Zhang Mingyuan came over and reported in a low voice, "We just came back from a victorious battle and our reputation has finally been restored. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to punish them in such a grand manner?"