Wasn't he supposed to be beaten to death? Why did this powerful cousin love him so much?

The torrential rain that night came without warning.

During the day, the sky was clear and blue, but after nightfall, a sudden gale arose, dark clouds loomed over the city, and thunder rumbled like ten thousand chariots crushing across the sky.

Jiang Sese was studying chess moves in the quiet room.

A bolt of lightning ripped through the night sky, followed by a deafening clap of thunder, making the entire ancestral temple seem to tremble.

The torrential rain gradually subsided by daybreak.

The buildings in the Imperial Ancestral Temple are mostly old structures from previous dynasties. Several side halls have been in disrepair for years, and the rain caused water to seep from the corners of the walls and the plaster to peel off. Several tiles on the east corner of the main hall were also knocked off.

The officials from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices inspected the site before dawn and then submitted a memorial to the higher authorities. The memorial stated that the ancestral temple buildings were damaged and needed immediate repair. During the repair period, no one should remain in the quiet rooms.

The renovation of the Imperial Ancestral Temple was a major event. According to the rules, those who were fasting in the meditation room had to be temporarily moved out and could return after the renovation was completed.

Fu Chong went to negotiate with the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to see if he could bring Jiang Sese back to his residence for a few days. However, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices encountered a problem, saying that His Majesty had decreed that Jiang Sese could not leave the Imperial Ancestral Temple before the matter was investigated, and could only move to a secluded old house on the outskirts of the Imperial Ancestral Temple for temporary residence.

Fu Chong sent Fu Wenzhao to take a look. Although the old house was simple, it was clean enough. He also sent a few more guards to keep watch from a distance before he could feel at ease.

The actions of Zheng Tong, the Duke of Zhenguo, were caught in the gap between the old and the new.

The old residence was located in the westernmost corner of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, right next to a cluster of abandoned steles, and rarely visited after nightfall. Jiang Sese stayed there for two days and had gotten used to it.

Late on the third night, Jiang Sese had just blew out the lamp and lay down when she suddenly heard several very faint muffled thuds outside, as if something had fallen to the ground.

Jiang Sese sat up alertly, but before she could call for help, she smelled a strange odor.

This taste...

Jiang Sese immediately held her breath, pretended that everything went black, and fainted on the ground.

If there are people outside, they definitely won't be able to get to her.

If the person who came wanted to kill her, they wouldn't need to use any sleeping pills.

Therefore, Jiang Sese had no choice but to pretend to be dead for the time being.

The person who arrived moved quickly and put Jiang Sese into the carriage.

Jiang Sese was still trying to figure out the true identities of these people when she heard a hushed conversation. Finally, she heard the masked man sell her out for two hundred taels of silver...

Jiang Sese: ...

Once all the sounds around her had ceased, Jiang Sese cautiously opened her eyes, only to find herself lying in an unfamiliar room. The room was furnished with brocade quilts and silk curtains, exuding wealth, yet there was an indescribable ambiguity within that wealth.

The curtains were embroidered with mandarin ducks, the wall was decorated with a painting of a lady sleeping in spring, the dressing table was covered with rouge and powder, and a zither was placed in the corner.

The air was filled with a strong scent of cosmetics and a sweet, cloying fragrance.

Look at this place...

This……

Could this be a brothel?!

Jiang Sese never expected that she would also be unable to avoid visiting brothels, a place that all transmigrated women have to visit at least once.

And most importantly, isn't this Xie Yujiao's storyline from the book?

In the book, Zheng Tong sent people who originally intended to kidnap Xie Yihua, but instead kidnapped Xie Yujiao, and then sold Xie Yujiao to Tianxiang Tower for fifty taels of silver.

Jiang Sese guessed that the people who kidnapped her were probably Zheng Tong's men.

Jiang Sese moved her hands and feet and found that she was not tied up. Her neck was slightly painful, but her mind was still relatively clear.

Jiang Sese sat up, first checking her clothes to make sure they were intact, then touching her hair to check that all her jewelry was still there. Her kidnappers really weren't after money.

Jiang Sese carefully stood up and walked to the window, pushing it open a crack to peek outside.

Downstairs, the lights were on, and several girls with makeup were leaning against the railing, greeting customers. In the hall, there were people playing the pipa and playing drinking games, creating a noisy atmosphere.

The room she was in was on the third floor, with the window facing the back alley. If she jumped down, she would either die or break her leg.

Jiang Sese: ...

I've tried my best to lie flat, so why can't I lie flat?

Perhaps because she had seen too many of these kinds of plots, Jiang Sese completely lacked the devastating mentality of a native girl who discovered she had been kidnapped to a brothel.

In this era, a woman's chastity and reputation were more precious than her life. Once she was tainted in a brothel, not only was her life ruined, but her entire family would also be disgraced, and the price was outrageously high.

But then I thought about it again.

The other party went to such great lengths to kidnap her to ruin her reputation, not to kill her. Her life should be safe for the time being.

Jiang Sese breathed a sigh of relief and closed the window again.

Footsteps approached from outside the door, accompanied by a sarcastic and critical voice: "...Hmph, if it weren't for that face, I wouldn't have taken this hot potato! Who knows which family he came from? What if he gets into trouble..."

The sound stopped outside the door, as if someone was replying in a low voice.

"...Fine, we've already brought him here. Are you awake? Let me take a good look and see if he's worth the price!" Before she finished speaking, the door was suddenly pushed open.

A plump woman, dressed in a swaying manner, walked in.

Behind the madam were two burly, rough-looking women with cold eyes.

In the candlelight, the girl was simply dressed and her hair was slightly disheveled, but her captivating face still illuminated the entire room like a luminous pearl, making all the carefully arranged decorations pale in comparison!

Her skin was smooth and white, as if lightly painted with flowers. Without the aid of rouge, a soft, peach-like blush adorned her cheeks, warm and radiant, without a trace of coldness or dryness. Without the adornment of jewels, her natural beauty alone possessed a captivating allure.

"Oh my goodness!" The madam gasped, exaggeratedly covering her mouth with a handkerchief, her eyes gleaming, her previous concerns instantly vanished.

"Incredible! Incredible! I've been in this business for half my life, and this is the first time I've ever seen such a beautiful girl! These two hundred taels... are worth it! Absolutely worth it!"

The madam squinted and circled Jiang Sese, growing more and more satisfied with her. "Girl, once you've entered my Tianxiang Pavilion, your past status is irrelevant. Be a good girl, and with your looks, I guarantee you'll live a life of luxury and endless riches! If you dare to cause trouble..."

The madam's face darkened, and her voice suddenly turned icy, "I, too, have plenty of ways to make you wish you were dead!"

Jiang Sese rolled her eyes inwardly.

She's read those lines from the novel eight hundred times already; can't she come up with something new?

Jiang Sese looked bewildered and timid, and asked in a fearful voice, "Where is this place?"

The madam took the bait, thinking she was a naive girl.

Because any girl who knows about brothels, upon realizing she's in one, would immediately think of suicide.

The madam softened her tone and said, "Since you're here, make the best of it. You'll find out what kind of place this is sooner or later." She then told the old woman to keep watch outside and swayed away.

Once the footsteps faded away, Jiang Sese immediately dropped her timid expression, walked to the door, and listened to the sounds outside for a while.

The old woman's breathing was rough, mixed with the crunching sound of cracking sunflower seeds, and she was about a foot away from the door.

Now, neither the windows nor the front door are accessible.