I have the best bloodline

The main source of profit shifted from the talented women's swindling and deception to their business with the noblewomen of Xia Yu. As long as the talented women were sweet-talking and served the ladies who played mahjong well, they could obtain rewards that the poor scholars could not afford.

My aunt was happy to run the gambling den, as charging a table fee avoided all the messy and complicated issues.

In addition, the plumbing and heating systems that Su Yan developed later enabled the brothel to occasionally receive some repair and renovation projects.

In winter, water flows through copper pipes to heat the room, while in summer, groundwater can be introduced to cool the room.

"only"

As Jiao Nanwu spoke, she began, "There's something strange about our garment business."

"The garment manufacturing business?" Su Yan looked puzzled.

Jiao Nanwu leaned back slightly, causing the little fox to lean back as well. Jiao Nanwu pinched the hem of her skirt and pulled it up slightly to reveal her white silk ankles, saying:

"These are the insect-repellent socks you were working on before! When the ladies first saw them, they thought they would look nice to wear, so they bought some samples to wear at home in the summer."

Although Xia Yu City is located in the central part of the continent, the summer climate is hot and rainy. In the summer, the people of Xia Yu change to wearing very loose silk long shirts and trousers, with their feet covered and wooden shoes.

Su Yan was shy at the time and embarrassed to tell her aunt about the uses of stockings, so she mumbled that she had invented a kind of insect-proof foot cover for summer, which was thin, breathable and easy to dry.

The stockings sample was also made as insect-repellent stockings, and is made of a relatively thick and opaque material.

"As a result, no one wanted the good quality ones, while boxes of the poor quality ones were sold off. We sold the poor quality insect repellent socks at a higher price than the good quality ones, but those customers who bought in bulk only liked the defective products."

Jiao Nanwu, looking helpless, shared some interesting stories about the brothels with Su Yan:

"Several thousand pairs of high-quality silk insect-repellent socks are enough for the people in our brothel to wear for more than ten years."

High-quality insect-repellent socks couldn't be sold and ended up piling up in the warehouse, while low-quality ones were in high demand and short supply in Lixiayu.

High-quality insect-repellent socks are made from the sticky silk of spider demons and sea monsters, and they even have a slight residual demonic power that can deter ordinary mosquitoes and ensure that they don't dare to come near you. In addition, they are durable, tough, and elastic. They should have sold very well!

But customers love products made of ordinary silk. Those inferior products that are made with shoddy workmanship, expose the skin, and are prone to pilling and snagging are made to compete with our high-end products!

After a brief silence, Su Yan said, "Maybe it's because it's more breathable? In summer, breathability is more important than durability and toughness."

Although Su Yan understood immediately, and the talented women looked at him strangely, he still braced himself and gave a serious and reasonable explanation.

To be fair, Su Yan originally intended these insect-repellent socks to be used for shaping and sculpting the body. He never imagined that Xia Yuren would come up with the idea of ​​using them for fun.

"Who cares about them! Anyway, if customers like those thin and light ones, we'll just make more thin and light ones," Su Yan earnestly advised Jiao Nanwu not to pry into the matter.

We run a legitimate business; once the money is in place, we shouldn't delve into the customers' quirks.

"Too."

Jiao Nanwu nodded and said, "Our business has been very good for the past six months. My aunt went to the Ministry of Rites earlier to discuss the matter of redeeming my sister from her servitude."

The brothel business has been booming lately, and the talented women have managed to save up some money.

My aunt then thought of taking the money from the talented women, adding a little of her own money, and helping them redeem their indentures held by the Ministry of Rites.

The brothel's main business is now doing terribly badly, while the women's products business, renovations, and gambling dens are making money.

The Ministry of Rites takes a cut of the money earned by the talented women who were convicted of crimes every quarter, which can be understood as a form of protection money paid by the talented women.

My aunt thought to herself, "My brothel doesn't rely on the beauty and eloquence of talented women to make money, but it's still a waste that the Ministry of Rites takes a cut. I might as well redeem all the women's indentures and keep them myself. Later, when the women have saved up enough spirit stones, they can come back to me to buy them back."

The talented women were overjoyed, for the indenture offered by the imperial court was not merely a contract but a magical artifact.

With their household registrations held by the Ministry of Rites, they were considered criminals with no social security and couldn't even leave the city gates.

After my aunt redeemed them, they still needed to work here to pay off their debts, and because the indenture contained the power of location, they couldn't escape. However, their household registration information would change, and they would become ordinary residents.

It's like going from a pampered young lady to a lowly maid, rather than the image of a beautiful woman who has been the object of many men's affections and whose lips have been tasted by countless men.

They won't listen to your explanations; they'll just laugh at you, saying things like, "You're a woman of crime, and all that."

Now that they've been released from criminal status, they're essentially law-abiding citizens. If someone points at them and calls them a prostitute, or if they're leering and groping them, they can directly file a complaint with the authorities.

………………

"Fox Baby!"

Su Yan was drinking the nourishing soup cooked by Jiao Nanwu when a familiar voice suddenly came from outside the door.

The talented women were taken aback and quickly went to open the door to welcome Madam Wen into the main hall.

Madam Wen looked around and saw Su Yan sitting at the table drinking soup. She said with a happy expression, "Fox Baby, come here quickly and let Madam rub against you. While they don't know you're back, I'm going to go and kill them!"

Madam Wen is Wen Juntong's mother, and Zhou You had just gone to drink with Wen Juntong.

Madam Wen naturally knew that Su Yan had returned. She was planning to take advantage of the lucky fox's good fortune and win back all the money she had lost yesterday, with interest!

Losing spirit stones is a small matter; what's worse is that after playing all night, you can't even get a single chicken coin, and you still get repeatedly defeated.

Madam Wen didn't sleep a wink last night. She was so angry that she punched a hole in the bed. Wen Juntong and his son climbed up the big tree in the courtyard and hid in the canopy, trying their best to minimize their presence, afraid of igniting Madam Wen's powder keg.

"Hey little fox, come rub against me!"

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 369 Heading to the Imperial City

"Brother Su! Brother Su! You've come back just in time! Come out and save me!"

Madam Wen entered the brothel, hugged and rubbed against Su Yan, making Su Yan so embarrassed that he revealed his true form. After enjoying the good fortune she had gained from Su Yan, she hurriedly left the brothel.

No sooner had Madam Wen stepped out of Ruchun Garden than Wen Juntong dragged Zhou You over the wall and entered, looking at Su Yan who was about to take a sip of soup to moisten her throat at the table.

Su Yan held the soup bowl in her left hand, head slightly bowed, and was about to drink the soup with a teaspoon in her right hand. Hearing Wen Juntong's call, she raised her head slightly and showed a puzzled expression: "?"

"Brother Su, you have to save me this time!"

Wen Juntong ran to Su Yan's side in a flash, his face full of flattery and ingratiation, and said: "This matter, on a grand scale, concerns a man's face, and on a smaller scale, it also concerns the happiness of my own life for the rest of my life."

Su Yan looked disgusted and pushed away Wen Juntong, who was trying to massage her shoulders. She said, "So what do you want? I can't agree to anything unless you tell me clearly."

"What else is he talking about? He's just making things up and it's gotten so far that it's hard to explain."

Zhou You, who had been dragged over, straightened her disheveled collar and grumbled about what Wen Juntong had gone through.

Wen Juntong was not afraid of being beaten. In the Fox Shop, he met a female cultivator at the Golden Core stage. The female cultivator saw a snow fox of excellent quality for sale in the Fox Shop, but was troubled by the price and could not bear to buy it.

Because of the fox appreciation event, the price of small snow foxes has skyrocketed this year, making the already expensive price even higher. The more a small white fox looks like Su Yan, the more valuable it becomes.

The female cultivator wanted it but was troubled by the price. Wen Juntong, in order to strike up a conversation, started making things up, saying how much he knew about snow foxes and that he knew a white fox demon who had been praised by the Emperor of No Life. He went on and on boasting.

He also said that the white fox he kept could play musical instruments and sing, and could even recite a poem occasionally, showing the elegance of a literary figure.

As a result, after some flirting and persuasion, the Golden Core stage female cultivator said she wanted to go to Wen Juntong's house to see the fox.

Wen Juntong's family also kept foxes, but those foxes were raised by Madam Wen, and the maids were responsible for walking them. Those foxes didn't like Wen Juntong, who raised pigs, at all.

That dead pig Shan Huan has an extremely foul mouth, and when he has nothing better to do, he goes around robbing the fox that Madam Wen keeps.

Playing musical instruments and singing? It's just that the fox in Madam Wen's house hasn't become a spirit and doesn't know how to use a knife, otherwise it would definitely be able to chase after Wen Juntong with a knife and slash him.

The lie has already been told, and in two days that Golden Core stage elder sister will be coming to our door.

Wen Juntong was so worried that he couldn't sleep, and he was thinking about how to borrow a little white fox to fool people.

A fox spirit who knows how to play musical instruments and sing has the wrong fur color, so they wouldn't allow Wen Juntong to dye the fox. A little white fox of excellent quality, who hasn't become a spirit, is completely incapable of playing musical instruments, singing, and reciting poetry.

"Suck it-"

As Wen Juntong recounted his experiences, Zhou You would occasionally chime in with a sarcastic remark, focusing on how Wen Juntong indulged his own Shan Huan in his daily life, allowing it to wreak havoc on the little white foxes that Madam Wen had raised as a facade.

After slurping down the soup in one gulp, Su Yan waved his hand dismissively and said:

"Brother Wen! It's not that I don't want to help you, but asking me to deceive that girl is a bit too unethical."

"Other matters are negotiable, but let's just forget about this one."

It doesn't matter if we eat, drink, have fun, or borrow spirit stones. After all, we've known each other for a while, and we all know that Wen Juntong isn't a bad person at heart. He's just a street urchin who doesn't do anything serious and likes to wander around with Shan Huan. He starts bragging whenever he sees a Golden Core stage older sister.

But lying is never a good thing, and Wen Juntong may not be able to keep it a secret for long.

A fine white fox that can play musical instruments, sing, and compose poetry would be hard to find even in the territory of the Pure Fox Clan, let alone during the reign of Emperor Yu of the Xia Dynasty.

It's the height of summer now, the end of the snow foxes' molting season, and their fur is generally turning yellow. It's absolutely impossible to find a little white fox like myself.

You can only see pure white foxes at the end of October, when they shed their yellowish summer fur and grow their winter fur.

Wen Juntong's boasts were too outrageous; there was simply no way he could make them come true.

"Then should I go and explain?" Wen Juntong asked Zhou You and Su Yan.

"If you're not going, I will?"

Su Yan and Zhou You spoke up at the same time, retorting with insults to Wen Juntong.

"Hey"

Wen Juntong sighed and said, "Since things have come to this, there's nothing we can do."

Su Yan and Zhou You were speechless, looking at Wen Juntong who looked utterly aggrieved.

Next time I see Madam Wen, I'll ask her to pull some strings to get Brother Wen into the academy. She shouldn't be so idle all day thinking up such bad ideas. Su Yan muttered to herself.

………………

After noon, it was afternoon.

Su Yan escorted the already drunk Wen Juntong and Zhou You to their guest room on the second floor.

"Sister Nanwu, I'm going out for a bit to visit Princess Wuxi in the Imperial City."

After waiting and waiting without seeing his aunt return home, Su Yan decided to go out and visit Princess Wuxi.

Previously, when she was in the Moon Rabbit Clan's territory, she received considerable care from Princess Wuxi, who also spent a lot of money to hire the courtesans of the Myriad Flowers Pavilion to help her break through to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm by using a medium set up by the Nightmare Suppression Sect members throughout the city.

After waiting and waiting without seeing her aunt return home, Su Yan decided to visit Princess Wuxi first to thank her for her help in the Moon Rabbit Clan territory.

Fortunately, Su Yan has some spiritual fruits and aged tangerine peel produced by the Old Mountain God, which can be used as gifts for a visit.

"Buzzing—"

Upon hearing that Su Yan was preparing to meet Princess Wuxi, the usually listless Red Jade Hairpin Sword suddenly emerged from its sheath, bursting open the double doors of the bedroom and standing upright in front of Su Yan. Although its expression was not visible, the Red Jade Hairpin Sword conveyed a sense of contemplation both inside and out.

Ahem. Are you going to see Princess Wuxi? Could you take me with you?

Su Yan stared at the Red Jade Hairpin Sword with a black line on his forehead and cursed, "You're such a cheap weapon! Why aren't you so eager to fight during battles!"

"Om-"