The splendor of the Red Chamber, the power that reigns supreme.

Chapter 89 Li Guijie Succeeds

The last vestige of her feelings for Ximen Qing was now overshadowed by the golden signboard of "Wang Zhaoxuan Mansion," leaving only a blurry shadow.

Outside the window, a gust of west wind whistled across the rooftop, making the window paper flutter loudly, and making the perfumed scent in the warm incense burner inside seem even more intense and cloying.

They swallowed this utterly foul odor; how could they possibly expel any trace of purity and fragrance?

Meanwhile, Li Guijie, having received confirmation from Li Jiao'er in her room, was secretly delighted. Swaying her budding, alluring waist, she strode down the stairs and swept into the main room of the madam, Li Mama, like a gust of wind.

Madam Li was reclining on the warm kang (a heated brick bed), with a little maid kneeling on the footstool massaging her legs. In her own hand, she held a shiny abacus bead, clicking and rattling it loudly, clearly calculating the day's income. Her sallow face was taut, without a trace of a smile.

Li Guijie lifted the curtain and went in, her face already beaming with a smile, and sweetly called out, "Mom!"

Without even lifting her eyelids, Li's mother only half-raised them above the abacus, her voice carrying a barely perceptible hint of anxiety: "You're back? What did your aunt say? Did she do as I asked and personally 'defer' that Wang Sanguan?"

Li Guijie sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), not at all shy. She picked up a few melon seeds from the fruit dish on the kang table and cracked them open, but deliberately frowned on her rosy face. She sighed heavily and said, "Oh! My dear mother! Don't even mention it! You assigned me this task, which is like 'trying to play a flute with a rolling pin'—I'm completely clueless!"

Upon hearing this, Li's mother slammed the abacus down on the kang table, sat up straight, and her sallow face darkened even more: "What? She...she won't refuse? Instead, she agreed to Wang Sanguan's offer?"

"That's for sure!" Sister Li Gui spat the melon seed shells into the spittoon, her little mouth pouting so much it could hang an oil bottle. "I just let slip that Master Wang specifically asked to meet her, and guess what? Auntie's face lit up instantly! She was beaming with joy, her eyebrows and eyes practically flying, as if she couldn't wait to sprout wings and fly ahead to see that 'young master'!"

"I told Mother that: 'Master Hua Zixu is holding a grand banquet at his residence today, and Father Ximen will definitely be there. It wouldn't look good if we bumped into each other!' But she's like she has donkey hair stuffed in her ears! She just said: 'Mother is overthinking it. We'll find a reason to send her away then.'"

"Then she urged the maid to fetch water for her hair and makeup, picking out the brightest and newest hairpins and jewelry to pile on her head. She even dug out her old, treasured moon-white silk skirt and bright red vest with gold trim, and looked at herself in the mirror from left to right! Mother, tell me, judging from that attitude, what else could it be but a determination to meet that Wang San-guan?"

Li's mother's face turned yellow and then white, then yellow again. "Oh dear!" she cried, slapping her thigh and exclaiming, "My God! That damned hussy! That troublesome brat! She's so preoccupied with burning the money for her own wedding that she's forgotten about Ximen's father's devilish nature! Hua Zixu's banquet was specially for Ximen's father! He'll be here no sooner or later!"

"If this... if we were to run into them, it would be like a bolt from the blue, and they'd tear my brothel down! My old bones can't withstand a few punches and kicks from him! I sent you there to put out the fire, but instead you've added fuel to the fire!" Mother Li became more and more agitated as she spoke, pounding her chest and stamping her feet on the kang (a heated brick bed). The little girl who was massaging her legs was so frightened that she shrank to the side, not daring to breathe.

Li Guijie's eyes darted around, and she leaned closer, her face plastered with that familiar smile, seven parts ingratiating and three parts sly: "Mom, please calm down! I'd be heartbroken if you got yourself sick from worrying! But we're not without options! Let's just look at the old ways—it'll be the same as before, won't it?"

Li's mother glared at her angrily: "Spit it out! We're in a crisis, what are you doing selling quack medicine for!"

Li Guijie lowered her voice, a hint of smugness in it: "Mother, have you forgotten? Didn't we use the same excuse last time? When Father Ximen really comes, Auntie will just say... 'I'm not clean,' 'my period' hasn't finished yet, right? Even if Father Ximen is furious, can he force his way through that 'red door'? He'll have to hold his nose and swallow his pride, won't he? We just need to keep a close watch on things, sew our mouths shut, and nobody will know! Anyway, the money will be safe in our pockets! Mother, you know exactly how much money that Mr. Wang San is worth, he's worth ten or eight ordinary customers! It's worth taking a little risk for this!"

Upon hearing this, the anger on Li's mother's face subsided slightly, replaced by a worried and sorrowful expression. She pondered for a while, then her withered fingers unconsciously flicked the abacus beads a few more times, making a few crisp "crackling" sounds.

Finally, she let out a long, heavy sigh. In that sigh, three parts were worry about the trouble she had caused by the accident, and seven parts were greed and compromise for the enormous sum of money.

"...Fine! Fine! Fine!" Madam Li waved her hand. "I have no choice but to go along with your clever little monkey's method! Do as you say! Make sure you make sure this 'menstrual period' excuse is firmly in place! Tell your aunt to be quick-witted! Keep her eyes and ears open! And," she suddenly raised her voice, shouting to the little maid and the person outside the door:
"Send two quick-witted and agile servants to keep a close watch on the street corner ahead! The moment the shadow of Master Ximen's sedan chair appears, they must dash in like lightning to report! Do you hear me? If even a whisper or a drop of water gets out, you'll be skinned alive! Your heads will be ripped off!"

Li Guijie was overjoyed and quickly got up, giving a graceful curtsy: "Don't worry, Mother! I'll take care of it! I'll go ahead and keep an eye on things, and give Aunt a few more instructions!" After saying that, like a sparrow that had just gotten its food and was completely satisfied, she swayed her already somewhat graceful waist, lifted the curtain, and went out.

Looking at the still-swaying curtain, Li's mother sighed deeply and with concern. She picked up the cold abacus again and began to fiddle with it, but the sound was far less crisp than before, carrying a hint of irritation and unease.

He muttered to himself, as if chanting a spell: "I only pray that the Bodhisattva will protect me. That damned scoundrel got so drunk at Master Hua's banquet today that he forgot which way the door of this brothel faces..."

Having received permission from the madam, Li Guijie curtsied again before gracefully lifting the curtain and emerging.

As soon as the curtain fell behind her, the familiar, cloyingly sweet, ingratiating smile on her face vanished like autumn morning mist meeting the sun, leaving no trace but a hint of coldness and a sense of bewilderment.

(End of this chapter)