The little princess was torn, and the demon emperor patched her up

Chapter 22: The Scholar is Useless
Xiao Baojing: "So soon? It's not even dark yet."

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "It takes quite some time to put on makeup for a female role. I hope Miss Xiao can understand."

There were people from the theater all around.

Xiao Baojing couldn't run away at this moment, so he had to bite the bullet and dress up.

Fortunately, the dressing room was full of female actors. Two maids skillfully put on makeup for her, put on her headgear, and then changed her clothes.

"I, I, I, I'll do it myself..."

Xiao Baojing was afraid that people would find out that he was a puppet.

She hid the bag containing the Analects inside her costume and lowered her voice: "Ji Zhengyan, we are now on the same boat. You are better than me, at least you should be able to fly in the clouds, right? If anything unexpected happens later, you have to come out and save me!"

The satchel is dead.

"Don't play dead!" Xiao Baojing said anxiously, "Aren't you good at preaching? Then you can use your eloquence to make those bad guys change their ways! By the way, aren't you a newly-minted scholar? How about using a backdoor and asking a bureaucratic colleague you know to show up and say a few words to protect us and get out of here safely?"

The satchel continued to play dead.

Xiao Baojing: ...

Hey, a scholar is good for nothing!

That night.

The Qingyin Tower is majestic and tall, with flying eaves and curled corners, brightly lit, and always packed with people.

The shopkeeper smiled and told Xiao Baojing: "You are the last one to go on stage. You are the main dish of the evening."

The main dish...

Why does this word sound so uncomfortable?

Xiao Baojing glanced at the burly men behind the shopkeeper, shrank his neck, and decided to endure it for the time being.

The stage is located in the center of the lobby.

When Xiao Baojing stepped onto the stage, a beam of light shone down from above the Qingyin Tower and enveloped her. The auditoriums on all sides were plunged into darkness, and no one knew who was sitting there.

She waited for a moment. There was no musician to accompany her. She could only vaguely sense countless eyes on her.

Money is hard to earn, shit is hard to eat.

Xiao Baojing gritted his teeth, flicked his sleeves and began to sing: "I dream of the chirping of orioles, and the years have passed in vain. I stand in the small courtyard..."

Private room upstairs.

Zhao Qianjiao can now be considered to have held her head high. With her charming beauty, she has hooked up with the son of the richest man in Yangcheng.

She leaned in Zhang Shiyu's arms and said in a gentle and sweet voice: "I want a gold bracelet too! Other girls have it, but Jiaojiao doesn't. Jiaojiao feels wronged, but Master Zhang won't be able to face her if she tells others -"

"Who sang this song tonight? I'm a regular customer of your Qingyin Building, how come I've never heard this voice before?"

Zhang Shiyu interrupted her, leaning back in the rocking chair with his eyes narrowed.

Zhao Qianjiao curled her lips in dissatisfaction.

What the hell, this stinky man just didn't want to give her the gold bracelet. It turns out that the richer people are, the more stingy they are!
She was thinking about finding another opportunity to mention the gold bracelet when Zhang Shiyu sat up and looked curiously at the stage downstairs.

He was amazed and asked, "Is this the new actor from your Qingyin Building?"

Zhao Qianjiao followed his gaze and was shocked.

The girl on the stage sang in a melodious voice like pearls falling on a jade plate. Her hair was covered with pearls and jade, and she had a light makeup on. She had a slender waist and long legs, and was graceful and elegant. She wore a pearl shoulder bag over her costume. As she moved her lotus steps lightly and raised her sleeves, the character Du Liniang in "The Peony Pavilion" was vividly presented on the stage.

Their Qingyin Tower is just a place that uses the elegant name of opera performance to do the same things as other opera houses.

She didn't even know that there was a female lead with such singing skills in their theater!
"What a beauty!" Zhang Shiyu closed his folding fan in surprise, unable to hide the greed on his face, "Not only is she beautiful, but she also sings beautifully! Jiaojiao, what's her name?"

Zhao Qianjiao clutched her handkerchief tightly, as if she saw her gold bracelet flying away.

She forced a smile: "I don't know either..." In the private room next door.

A young man in a Taoist robe and a flowery hairpin sat cross-legged on the railing, holding a plate of flower cakes, and looking at the girl on the stage with his fox eyes.

Xiao Baojing has already sung the last line of "Bu Bu Jiao": "Bu Xianggui, how can you show your whole body!"

Just as they were about to sing "Zui Fu Gui", some men's teasing voices suddenly came from the darkness: "We want to listen to "Shan Tao Hong"!"

"Yes, sing "Mountain Peach Red"!"

"Mountain Peach Red" was supposed to be sung by a young male actor, but the owner of Qingyin Tower did not arrange a young male actor for Xiao Baojing to perform with.

The "Mountain Peach Red" in "Awakening Dream" is more ambiguous...

Zhang Shiyu suddenly folded his folding fan and said loudly in the darkness: "Why don't I act with the young lady?"

He tapped the table lightly and shook his head, deliberately picking out the flirtatious part to sing: "I'll unbutton my collar, widen my belt, and touch my teeth with my sleeves, so that you can be patient and warm for a while... Miss, don't forget it, when I see you, I'll snuggle up to you, and make love with you. I wish we could be like a piece of flesh, and tease you so much that you'll be as fresh as rouge in the sun and as beautiful as in the rain..."

Suddenly, malicious teasing sounds were heard from all directions.

In the lobby, a man with slicked hair and powdered face was speaking in a slick and sophisticated manner: "What a great 'rolled like meat', I wonder how it's 'rolled'? And what about 'fresh on the rain', I wonder what the word 'fresh' refers to? Mr. Zhang, why don't you demonstrate it to us, so that we can learn from it and broaden our horizons?"

Zhang Shiyu stared at Xiao Baojing, the pimples on his face looked like countless pairs of hungry eyes.

He licked his thick lips and said in a pretentious manner: "Zhang would like to demonstrate a few things to you. I wonder if the young lady on the stage is willing to accompany Zhang to try it?"

A roar of laughter came from the building, becoming increasingly harsh.

Xiao Baojing clutched the hem of her skirt tightly and took two steps back, only to see the lanterns in the building lit up again.

Those stands around were not stands at all; they were clearly beds covered with bedding and pillows!
The men hugged the girls and lay on them, being affectionate with them. Some of them even ignored the occasion and openly did things that made people blush. As the lights came on, the whole Qingyin Building was filled with lewd music, and the sweet cries and obscene words could be heard in the ears!
Xiao Baojing took two steps back.

This is not Qingyin Tower, it's clearly a brothel!
She guessed correctly. The shopkeeper said that she was the "special dish" tonight, which meant...

The shopkeeper's smiling voice came from all directions: "I'm sure you have all seen Miss Xiao's voice and appearance. Tonight, under the bright moon, I wonder whose arms this beauty should be in? As usual, please make your bids, and the highest bidder wins."

Xiao Baojing bit his lip.

It seems that this place is not only a brothel, but also a den of thieves who traffic in women!
Perhaps most of those girls who were drinking and having fun with others were abducted!
The Analects of Confucius hidden in my bag trembled slightly inside my costume.

Xiao Baojing stared at the void and whispered, "Ji Zhengyan, you are a newly-appointed scholar who has read the books of sages. You have witnessed the collapse of rituals and music with your own eyes. You must be very angry, right?"

The Analects did not speak, but its vibrations became more and more violent, showing how angry he was.

"I know what you want to say..."

Xiao Baojing tore off her cumbersome and bulky costume, revealing her original dress.

She lifted the Analects from her bag and, imitating Ji Zhengyan's tone, shouted to all around: "The collapse of rituals and the decline of music are a disgrace to civility! A disgrace to civility! A disgrace to civility!"

As soon as she finished speaking, while everyone was stunned, she suddenly pushed down several lamps next to the stage!
The oil lamp rolled onto the curtain and the flame started burning!

Seeing the chaos in Qingyin Building, the shopkeeper said with a ferocious look: "Catch her for me!"

The thugs kept in the building rushed onto the stage and tried to capture Xiao Baojing.

"what?"

On the second floor, leaning against the railing, Shang Bingjiu raised his eyebrows and playfully threw a piece of cake into his mouth.

Xiao Baojing dodged around while holding the Analects. Seeing that he was trapped, he simply closed his eyes and curled up in a corner, muttering to himself: "Goodbye, Yaoyao, Ji Zheng, Yan, Shang Bingjiu, goodbye to this fucked up world! The rice is in the pot, the rice is in the jar, and the sugar is in your sleeve pocket. Shang Bingjiu, you must pass the imperial examination and avenge me!!"

Shang Bingjiu chewed the broken flower cake slowly.

Why is his name placed last?

It's so frustrating.

(End of this chapter)