I inherited my grandfather's Tang Dynasty assets.

Chapter 44 An Accidental Encounter with Hou Junji's Son at a Brothel

The servant sized up Chen Yue and immediately formed a preliminary judgment about him.

They must be merchants from out of town. They've seen plenty of people like that. Although there are brothels all over the Tang Dynasty, the highest quality ones are definitely in Chang'an, no matter what.

As for Chen Yue's problem, it's not complicated. Consumption can be roughly divided into four types.

The first category is basic expenses, which include food, drinks, and venue fees. Since you've come all this way, you can't just not eat, right? The fees are calculated according to the size of the banquet and are called "door fees." The lowest is 300 yuan, and there are also 500, 1000, and so on, each with its own price.

Secondly, there are girls accompanying you at the table. Since you're already here, what's the point of just eating and drinking? You might as well stay at a restaurant.

Brothels would assign an experienced "old maid" called a "chair attendant" to supervise the drinking games, create a lively atmosphere, and keep the guests company.

The other party must be eloquent and have high emotional intelligence. During the meal, she will constantly steer the guests toward the girls.

If the guest is willing, then it becomes the third type of consumption: "hiring prostitutes." The host will have the girls come out to meet the guest one by one according to the guest's preferences; this process is called "scoring." After the guest selects a girl, she takes her seat and they will play drinking games and discuss poetry and art.

The last type belongs to advanced consumption, which is further divided into two categories.

One aspect is the entertainment, which includes singing and dancing performances by young women or professional musicians. This is the core entertainment activity.

The second option is "buying out a girl overnight," which involves paying a hefty fee to a "fake mother," essentially the brothel madam, to buy out the girl for one or several nights.

They told her to stop seeing guests at night, and that the guests would enter the girl's boudoir and have sex with her.

That's basically the situation. In this process, apart from the fixed cost of food and drinks, tipping is the most important thing, called "treasure tip". The amount is very flexible and is a display of the guest's wealth and manners.

After listening, Chen Yue felt his eyes had been opened. He never expected that there were so many intricacies involved in visiting brothels in ancient times.

But upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that everything is ultimately geared towards making money.

Chen Yue thought for a moment and ordered a table for 500 coins, which was considered ordinary at Shuiyue Pavilion. Naturally, he was not qualified to enter the private rooms on the second or third floor, so he stayed in the lobby on the first floor.

This is also the choice of most people. There are about twenty tables in the hall, and most of them are already full. In addition to the hostess, almost every table has ordered girls to accompany them for drinks.

At the intersection of the stairs, there was a beautifully decorated circular platform where girls were performing songs and dances.

As soon as Chen Yue sat down, his table was soon filled with guests. They wore classic Tang Dynasty makeup, which, in Chen Yue's opinion, was barely acceptable.

Although she was wearing heavy makeup, Chen Yue estimated that she was around thirty years old, which was considered old for a woman in a brothel.

They couldn't earn much money on their own. Apart from those who were redeemed and became concubines, the rest either spent money to redeem themselves or stayed in the brothel as prostitutes, using their rich experience to get customers to spend more money.

She called herself Su San Niang, and when she spoke, she would intentionally or unintentionally rub against Chen Yue, her eyes full of seductive charm. Although she was a courtesan, she was still a prostitute.

If you're lucky enough to be chosen by a customer and have them buy out a day or two, you can earn much more money than you would as a hostess. Besides, Chen Yue looks very handsome, which is exactly the type they like best.

Prostitutes are women too; they're just there to drink and sleep with people. These attractive men are much better than those pot-bellied, ugly, and pathetic ones.

"Sir, what kind of women do you prefer? Would you like them to come and meet you?"

Seeing that Chen Yue had no interest in her, Su San Niang gave up on seducing him and started recommending girls instead.

She already knew about Chen Yue's situation: a merchant from out of town who came to Chang'an, and judging from his understanding of brothels, he probably didn't visit them often.

From this, she deduced that this person must have a domineering tigress in his family. He dared not go to brothels in his hometown, but wanted to indulge himself and have fun after coming to Chang'an.

These kinds of people are high-quality clients; as long as the girls are willing to put in the effort, they can definitely make a lot of money.

Once Chen Yue selects a girl, the brothel will take 60% of all subsequent expenses, the girl will take 30%, and she can take 10%.

Chen Yue took a sip of wine and smiled.

"No rush. Does your Shuiyue Pavilion have a girl named Hongyu? She should be in her thirties right now."

Su San Niang paused for a moment, looked at Chen Yue with a strange expression, and after hesitating for a while, tentatively said.

"Master, we have even younger and prettier girls in our Shuiyue Pavilion, but I do know Hongyu, whom you mentioned. She's no longer working at our establishment."

"Oh? Where is she now?"

Chen Yue immediately asked, since the woman was about the same age as Hongyu, so her words were somewhat credible.

"this……"

Su San Niang glanced at Chen Yue, a troubled look on her face. Chen Yue immediately understood and took out two hundred coins and placed them on the table.

To make spending money easier, people in the Tang Dynasty would string copper coins together in denominations of ten, fifty, and one hundred. Otherwise, a string of coins would contain a thousand pieces, and it would take forever to count them all.

Chen Yue carried money in strings of one hundred coins each, just for convenience.

Upon seeing the money, Su Sanniang immediately beamed with joy and happily accepted it.

"Master, the Hongyu you mentioned, was redeemed by Manager Zhao, who runs a restaurant in the East Market, in the eighth year of the Zhenguan era, and went off to enjoy a life of luxury."

Chen Yue rubbed his nose. He had only guessed casually, but he hadn't expected that Chen Yue would actually be right.

That old man, this country bumpkin, is really just a fish in someone else's pond. He's so foolish, talking about true love and wanting to redeem the woman from her bondage.

"Sir, why are you inquiring about Hongyu? Do you perhaps know her from before?"

As Su Sanniang spoke, she moved closer to Chen Yue, pressing her body against his arm.

Chen Yue had already prepared his answer and smiled.

"Oh, years ago, an elder in my family came to Chang'an to do business and became quite close to this Miss Hongyu. This time, he specifically asked me to come and ask her about her."

Ten years ago, this elder in my family was in his fifties or sixties. He looked quite honest and simple, like an old farmer who did hard labor. Since you know Hongyu, do you remember him?

It was just a casual question, but to everyone's surprise, Su San Niang nodded.

"Is the gentleman referring to Fei Xiang? Are you his junior?"

"Fei Xiang? Holy crap?"

Chen Yue almost spat out the wine in his mouth. He was certain that this must be the alias the old man used in Chang'an.

No wonder the old man wouldn't tell him no matter how he asked.

"He used the alias Fei Xiang, and my courtesy name is Yanzu, hahaha, this is just awful..."

Chen Yue couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing, leaving Su San Niang standing to the side looking completely bewildered.

Just then, a young man dressed in a purple brocade robe strode in with two servants.

As soon as he appeared, the fake mother of Shuiyue Pavilion immediately greeted him with a big smile and gave him a deep bow without saying a word.

Before she could even speak, he waved his hand impatiently, interrupting her.

"Stop talking nonsense and call Lan'er over."

Chen Yue noticed that many of the guests who were eating, even the girls, looked over with excitement and admiration on their faces.

Who is he?

Su Sanniang was also looking at the young man. Upon hearing this, she quickly made a shushing gesture to him, and whispered in Chen Yue's ear with one hand in the shape of a megaphone.

"Please speak softly, sir. He is the second young master of the Duke of Chen's mansion. He has a strange temper and you must not provoke him."

"The Duke of Chen's Mansion? Hou Junji?"