I only wished to take up my fiefdom, but my elder brother forced me to rebel.

Liang San Niang held onto the second-floor railing, her eyes fixed on the center of the hall.

She didn't even notice when Lu Yuan walked up to her.

Shishi's beauty is unlike any other woman she has ever seen before.

Most women in the Northern Liang Dynasty were beautiful and loved to wear gold and gemstone jewelry.

Shishi is like a woman who has walked out of the misty rain of Jiangnan. Her eyebrows and eyes are elegant, her skin is fair, her lips are light, and her slightly upturned eyes are free of any worldly air.

There was only a plain silver hairpin in her hair, no jade bracelet on her wrist, but an old jade pendant tied to her waist.

The jade pendant's edges were worn white, and the cord had been replaced several times, yet it was still kept spotless.

Shishi walked to the front of the stage, tucked her sleeves in, and bowed.

The guests, who had been drinking and chatting, all fell silent.

Liang San Niang looked down at her men's clothing, then looked back at the stage.

Why is it that just by standing there, Shi Shi can make all the young men in the room restrain their frivolity and even look at her with more respect?

Lu Yuan took in her expression and asked with a smile, "How is it? Pretty, isn't it?"

Liang San Niang snapped out of her daze and immediately turned her face away.

"It's nothing special."

"I don't know who was staring at me with wide eyes just now."

"I've just never seen this kind of outfit before."

Liang San Niang stubbornly retorted, "In the end, she's still a courtesan."

The smile on Lu Yuan's lips also faded considerably.

Do you know who she is?

"Isn't she just a courtesan? Does she have three heads and six arms?"

"Her grandfather was once the general guarding Yanmen Pass, as was her father."

Liang San Niang's expression changed slightly, and she turned her gaze back to the stage.

"Descendant of a famous general?"

"When the late emperor was in power, the iron cavalry of the Northern Liang invaded the south. Her grandfather led a garrison of less than 20,000 men to resist the 100,000-strong army of the Northern Liang at Yanmen Pass. He held out for 27 days and finally died on the city wall."

"Her father took over the military post and died at the border three years later."

As Lu Yuan spoke, he tapped his folding fan lightly in his hand, and his eyes, unusually, showed no trace of nonchalance.

Liang San Niang was from Northern Liang, so she also knew about that battle.

In the annals of the Northern Liang Dynasty, it was a southern expedition that could be boasted about.

But she never imagined that the cities and territories captured in just a few casual sentences in history books were, in other people's eyes, the result of generations of a family's bloodshed.

Her gaze fell on the old jade pendant.

"Was the jade pendant left by her father?"

"It should be."

Lu Yuan said, "It's said that she only had one piece of clothing on when she came in."

"Since both her father and grandfather died fighting for their country, how did she end up like this?"

"Because of that later defeat."

Lu Yuan looked down at the people below, his tone softening slightly, "The entire garrison at Yanmen has been wiped out. Someone in the court has to take responsibility for this."

"The late emperor was furious and accused the poet of the crime of losing the city."

"The men were exiled to the frontier, but the women were not taken in as prostitutes. Instead, they were listed as government prostitutes, and whether they were pardoned was decided by the emperor."

Liang San Niang's grip on the railing tightened instantly.

How old was she at the time?

"Three years old."

These two words were like a fine needle piercing her heart.

Liang San Niang originally thought that by secretly leaving the post station instead of going to the capital with the delegation, she had already been severely restricted.

However, Shishi lost all her relatives when she was three years old and was imprisoned in a brothel for more than ten years by an imperial decree.

"Did she grow up in this kind of environment?"

"Yes."

"Then wasn't she...?"

"She sells her art, not her body."

Lu Yuan interrupted her, his tone certain, "She started learning to play the piano, dance, paint, and write poetry from a young age, and by the age of twelve, she was already quite well-known in the capital."

"Some people offered tens of thousands of yuan to buy her for one night, and others used their power to force her, but neither succeeded."

Why?

"After Your Majesty ascends the throne, although you cannot easily change the late Emperor's orders, no one is allowed to force you under those orders."

"If anyone uses their status to humiliate her, the Ministry of Justice will personally come to her door."

Liang San Niang was also surprised after hearing this.

When I looked at Shishi again, the disdain in her eyes had completely disappeared.

Lu Yuan gently shook his folding fan and suddenly sighed, "If I could marry Miss Shishi, I wouldn't trade her for the Northern Liang princess."

Liang San Niang immediately turned her head and glared at him.

"You like her that much?"

Lu Yuan was startled by her sudden outburst of anger.

"She deserves it."

"No matter how worthy she is, she is still just a prostitute."

"So what if she's a courtesan?"

Lu Yuan closed his folding fan, his brows furrowing with a hint of seriousness. "Her grandfather and father both died fighting for the Great Yong Dynasty, and she herself has never done anything to wrong anyone."

"Getting into the mire was not her choice; what is most commendable is that she maintained her true self in the mire."

"It would be too superficial to judge what kind of person she is based solely on her position."

Liang San Niang opened her mouth, but for a moment she couldn't refute it.

She suddenly realized that the Northern Liang princess that Lu Yuan mentioned was very likely herself.

Although she never intended to marry someone from Dayong, hearing that the other party would rather choose a courtesan than her still made her feel like she had a lump of cotton stuck in her throat.

On stage, Shishi raised her arms and bowed to the surroundings once again.

"The Northern Liang invaded, and the Yellow River breached its banks in Henan Province, causing people to be displaced and the national treasury to be unable to cope with the situation for the time being."

"Today, Shishi is willing to dance all night long. All the gold and silver gifts bestowed by the gentlemen will be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue and sent to Henan Province to provide relief to the disaster victims."

"Please don't hesitate to bestow your rewards."

After a brief silence, a young man in brocade robes was the first to stand up.

"Miss Shishi has the people's well-being at heart; I'm willing to donate one thousand taels!"

"I will donate three thousand taels to Henan for disaster relief!"

"My family runs a medicinal herb business, and banknotes might not be enough to tide me over. Tomorrow I will send ten cartloads of medicine for injuries and herbs to dispel the cold to the Ministry of Revenue!"

The hall immediately became lively.

The guests who had been drinking and having fun earlier stopped laughing and joking. Some asked their servants to bring them silver notes, some took off their jade pendants, and some even wrote down the amounts of grain and cloth.

The madam, accompanied by two accountants, stood on the side of the counter, registering each transaction.

Liang San Niang stared blankly at all of this.

She had heard from the mission officials that the treasury of the Great Yong Kingdom was empty and that extravagance was rampant throughout the court.

But today she learned that in this place of entertainment, there are also people who dance to raise funds for disaster victims thousands of miles away.

She was a courtesan!

With such a powerful state as the Great Yong, how could the Great Liang possibly destroy it?

Lu Yuan turned to him and asked, "Now you know why she's so special, right?"

Liang San Niang was silent for a moment, then said, "I give up."

"That doesn't sound like you're very willing to accept it!"

"I think what she said is different from what you said."

"What's different?"

Looking at Shishi dancing on the stage, Liang Sanniang said frankly, "She's better than you say."

The smile in Lu Yuan's eyes grew wider and wider.

At this moment, the sounds of string and wind instruments also began to play.

The pipa first played some clear notes, and then the sound of the xiao (vertical flute) slowly joined in.

The music, like a night breeze, drifted through the hall, slowly dispersing the noise.

Shishi raised her arm to the music.

Turn, return, fall.

Every movement was light and graceful, like flower petals falling onto the water's surface.

Liang San Niang was completely engrossed in watching.

She seemed to see a woman seeing her lover off to the frontier outside the city gate.

Year after year, the flowers in the courtyard bloomed and withered, but that person never appeared.

"What kind of music is this?"

Liang San Niang lowered her voice and asked, "Why does it sound so sad?"

Lu Yuan opened his folding fan to cover his face and started clapping along with the music.

The song is titled "Since You Left"!

"Can you sing?"

"Of course I can sing."

Liang San Niang's eyes lit up, and she immediately turned around and said, "Teach me."

"Can!"

"How much?"

Lu Yuan closed the folding fan and looked her up and down from her hair ornament to her waist, his gaze lingering for a moment.

Liang San Niang immediately became alert, crossed her arms over her chest, and took a half step back.

"What do you want to do?"