The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

The courtesan was taken aback for a moment, then came over.

"Young master, is there anything I can help you with?"

Zhu Shou asked directly, "Did you enter the brothel voluntarily?"

The courtesan, when asked the question, was momentarily stunned, then rolled her eyes and gracefully walked away.

Zhu Shou didn't get an answer, so he asked other courtesans. The responses he received were either eye-rolls or being ignored. A couple of kind-hearted women gently reminded him that if he was going to lose his mind, he should see a doctor.

"Young master, would you like a lady to keep you company with a drink? Or shall I have a few ladies accompany you?"

A servant from the brothel nearby ran over and asked what was going on.

Everyone in the hall is now focused on the courtesan who has appeared. Zhu Shou is questioning the girl he has caught. The brothel servants wanted to have Zhu Shou thrown out, but after seeing his clothes, they realized that he must be someone important, so they had to come over and appease him.

Upon hearing the servant's words, Zhu Shou also quieted down.

The servant breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew. Zhu Shou looked at Jiang Ning across from him.

"Brother Jiang, they didn't say they were forced."

At this moment, Jiang Ning looked at Zhu Shou with surprise in his eyes.

He didn't know what to say about the other person's actions just now.

Now, as Zhu Shou asks him questions, Jiang Ning seems to see a clear kind of stupidity in his eyes.

Of course, Jiang Ning didn't think Zhu Shou was really that stupid; the other party must have never been to such a place before.

The fact that the other party could ask so many questions suggests either that he has a mental problem or that his high status makes him lack ordinary ways of handling things.

Could they be from the palace?

Jiang Ning couldn't help but glance at Zhu Shou.

Zhu Shou had no idea what Jiang Ning was thinking. After a while, two courtesans came over and sat down next to Zhu Shou and Jiang Ning.

"Don't you two gentlemen get bored drinking? How about we join you for a drink?"

After the two courtesans sat down, they smiled at Jiang Ning and Zhu Shou. Their demeanor was dignified and proper, and they did not pounce on Jiang Ning like other women of the night. If this were not a brothel, people outside would have thought they were ladies from a respectable family.

What are your names?

Zhu Shou asked curiously.

"This humble servant is Yiyi/Qin'er".

Two courtesans answered.

"Oh."

Zhu Shou nodded and asked curiously, "Did you go to the brothel voluntarily?"

He was still very curious about this, with a determination to get to the bottom of it.

Originally, I wanted to chat with the two of them for a while, talk about poetry and literature, and show off their talents, but Zhu Shou didn't play by the rules and left them speechless.

She wanted to get up and leave, but the two women had been invited to keep her company while she drank, so one of them could only force a smile.

"What do you mean by this, sir?"

Jiang Ning simply drank his tea and remained silent.

Zhu Shou added, "I'm just curious whether you did it voluntarily."

The two courtesans remained silent.

This was the first time they had encountered such a problem.

"I came here when I was seven years old."

One of the courtesans did not answer directly, but said, "My family was so poor at the time that we were almost starving. My father had no choice but to sell me here for five taels of silver."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Shou's expression vanished, and his brows slowly furrowed.

"Who would come here willingly? They just can't survive here anymore."

The courtesan sighed softly, her appearance evoking pity.

Zhu Shou remained calm, seemingly lost in thought, and asked the courtesan.

"So you'll never be able to get out?"

Zhu Shou looked serious.

The courtesan who had spoken earlier laughed and said, "As long as we can redeem ourselves, that's fine."

Jiang Ning then asked, "How much silver?"

The courtesan turned to look at Jiang Ning and smiled, "If I want to redeem myself, it will cost five hundred taels of silver."

so much?

Zhu Shou frowned.

That's a hundredfold increase.

The courtesan didn't seem to find anything wrong with it.

After buying them, the brothel invested a lot in them, teaching them to read and write, and learning music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. These were all resources. Moreover, the brothel was not doing charity; giving them the opportunity to redeem themselves was already giving them a way to survive.

Zhu Shou said, "I'll redeem you and give you your freedom, how about it?"

The courtesan smiled upon hearing this but did not respond.

Judging from Zhu Shou's attire, she knew he was no ordinary man and could certainly afford five hundred taels of silver. However, she was unwilling to be redeemed by someone else; she wanted to redeem herself, for that was true freedom.

Zhu Shou wasn't stupid; he knew the courtesan was politely declining his offer. His expression turned somewhat unpleasant, but not because of the courtesan's rejection, but for other reasons.

Zhu Shou, who had initially been curious about the place, lost interest and said to Jiang Ning, "Brother Jiang, would you like to stay a little longer?"

"Let's go then."

Jiang Ning stood up.

The two courtesans were dumbfounded as they watched the two men get up and leave.

This was the first time they had ever seen a man enter a brothel where one didn't say a word but just drank tea, and the other kept asking questions and then left.

Two oddballs.

These two courtesans thought to themselves.

Seeing Jiang Ning and Zhu Shou emerge from the brothel, the men who had been following Zhu Shou in the distance breathed a sigh of relief.

They were all planning to go in and pull Zhu Shou out if he didn't come out soon.

However, the group was momentarily bewildered upon seeing the expression on Zhu Shou's face.

Why did you get angry after visiting a brothel, sir?

Zhu Shou was not in a good mood at the moment, and looked at Jiang Ning.

"Brother Jiang, you've been to other places. Do you think what they said is true? Are the courtesans in other places like this too?"

Jiang Ning nodded.

In fact, he had seen far more than just courtesans during his travels.

Zhu Shou felt a mix of emotions at this moment.

Chapter 419: This one matters, this one matters too.

"I never imagined that so many people in my Great Ming Dynasty would be unable to survive."

Zhu Shou muttered something to himself.

At this moment, he felt an indescribable sadness in his heart.

Although his voice was low, Jiang Ning could hear it very clearly.

The other party is most likely a member of the royal family, and has always been in the capital. Their situation is different from that of ordinary people, so it is normal for them to react this way.

What surprised him was why Zhu Shou would feel down about such a thing.

Jiang Ning never believed that these high-ranking people would have any real compassion for ordinary people.

Perhaps, but not many.

It is difficult for people of one social class to understand and empathize with people of another social class, especially when the two are in a relationship of exploitation and being exploited.

But Jiang Ning could sense Zhu Shou's sorrow at this moment.

"I have been to many places."

Jiang Ning glanced at Zhu Shou, then stepped forward.

Zhu Shou followed after him.

Perhaps Jiang Ning sensed Zhu Shou's feelings at that moment, and he recounted some of his personal experiences and observations, starting with rescuing those courtesans in Xiangyang.

"He deserves to die! He deserves to die!"

Zhu Shou was both shocked and furious upon hearing this, and he kept saying...

His face darkened even more when he heard that grain prices in Taiyuan and Pingyang had soared to an unimaginable level after the devastating famine in Shanxi three years ago.

"How could it be so serious?"

Zhu Shou couldn't help but ask, "I remember the imperial court provided disaster relief for this drought, so how come so many people still starved to death?"

Jiang Ning shook his head: "I haven't heard of any disaster relief from the imperial court."

Zhu Shou remained silent, but his expression grew even more somber.

When Jiang Ning mentioned that merchants in Taiyuan and Pingyang prefectures were hoarding grain and driving up prices, with the highest price reaching over eight taels of silver per shi of rice, Zhu Shou couldn't help but ask, "Don't the government care about these merchants hoarding grain?"

Even though Zhu Shou had grown up in the palace, he knew that losing eight taels of silver to rice was a terrifying thing.

Jiang Ning remained silent.

Among those he killed at the time were not only many unscrupulous merchants who preyed on the people, but also quite a few officials.

Seeing Jiang Ning's expression, Zhu Shou understood.