freenovelworld Chapter 549 The Young Master Doesn't Understand Music
Chapter 549 The Young Master Doesn't Understand Music
The girls in the lobby immediately surrounded her, but before they could even touch Lu Yangyang, she brushed them away with her fan.
What a joke! No matter how convincingly she looks dressed as a man, she can't withstand their touching!
Lu Yangyang generously opened her purse, took out a handful of gold leaves, and gave one to each of them. "Sisters, please accept this as a gift! I am Lu Wei, a candidate for the imperial examination this year. I have heard that Miss Huarui is skilled at composing music. I have always been fascinated by music, so I have come to learn from Miss Huarui. Sisters, could you please introduce me to her?"
Lu Yangyang smiled as she watched the gold leaves being handed out, but her heart was bleeding.
Lu Yangyang, you've really made something of yourself! You even dare to throw gold leaves at people!
Upon hearing that they had come to listen to music, the girls all lost interest, but seeing the gold leaves in their hands, they were all quite pleased and treated Lu Yangyang with exceptional enthusiasm.
"Young Master Lu, you've come at the perfect time! It's Sister Hua Rui's turn to perform tonight!"
"Young Master Lu is so young and promising. I wonder where you study? I've never seen you before. Come visit us more often when you have time. We sisters will definitely treat you well."
"Oh dear, please stop teasing Young Master Lu. Young Master Lu, please come with me. I'll go talk to my mother and we'll have a cup of tea together after Sister Huarui finishes her performance."
Lu Yangyang quickly cupped her hands in thanks, saying, "Thank you, sister."
The girl covered her mouth and laughed: "You have such a sweet tongue!"
The group immediately escorted her to a private room on the second floor. The room had a very good view of the stage downstairs.
The girls sat down and served Lu Yangyang tea and snacks, all of which were exquisitely decorated with fresh flowers and had a sweet fragrance. Even the flower tea contained whole flowers, which were reflected in the white porcelain cups and looked exceptionally beautiful.
Lu Yangyang unconsciously swallowed, picked up a pastry and put it in her mouth. The pastry melted in her mouth, and she could faintly taste the sweetness of the flower petals. Her eyes lit up immediately.
It seems Wen Qingqing wasn't lying to her.
Seeing her expression, the girls were overjoyed and began to tell her the stories behind the pastries. These girls who made a living in brothels liked customers like Lu Yangyang the most—generous but only staying overnight after listening to music. Especially Lu Yangyang, who was young, pretty, witty, and cute.
So they all crowded into the private room to chat with her, reluctant to leave so soon.
Lu Yangyang also inquired about Hua Rui intentionally or unintentionally, and soon found out that Hua Rui was the star attraction of the Huayue Tower. She only sold her art and not her body. Her excellent zither playing was famous throughout Huazhou City. A merchant once offered a thousand taels of silver to buy her for one night, but she refused.
Therefore, she was particularly famous among literati and scholars, and many high-ranking officials would invite her to banquets. She even attended the Flower Goddess Festival for three consecutive years, but unfortunately, she developed a high fever this time.
Lu Yangyang chatted happily with them, even bringing up the topic of Zhenyanfang's beauty cream. He even took out a box to show them, saying that he had specially brought it from Jiangnan. The girls were immediately captivated by him and couldn't wait to make him their confidant. They didn't notice Lu Yangyang's unintentional attempt to elicit information.
After all that, no one even noticed when the piano music downstairs had started.
While chatting with the girls, Lu Yangyang, true to his professional nature, mentioned that he had some knowledge of medicine and gave them several beauty and skincare recipes, which made the girls want to confide in him and share everything they knew.
Lu Yangyang inquired out of curiosity, "I wasn't in Huazhou City during the Flower Festival. I only heard that Miss Huarui couldn't participate in the Flower Goddess Ceremony. My sisters just said that Miss Huarui suddenly developed a high fever. Could she have contracted some dangerous acute illness? My family runs some pharmacies and has retired imperial physicians who can prescribe some health-preserving formulas for Miss Huarui."
One of the girls casually replied, "It's not an acute illness. I probably caught a chill in the spring night. I just had a little no appetite the first day, but I didn't expect to develop a fever the next day. It's common in spring."
"That's right! This new prefect made such a mistake in his first year presiding over the Flower Festival ceremony. Luckily, the prefect is very magnanimous and doesn't hold it against us, otherwise, our Flower Moon Pavilion would have suffered the consequences!"
"Oh? So the Flower Goddess for the Flower Festival every year is chosen from the Flower Moon Pavilion?" Lu Yangyang asked.
"How could that be?" a girl said with a smile. "The Flower Festival is a big day in Huazhou City. In the past, the Flower Goddess was chosen from among the daughters of wealthy merchants. If she happened to catch the eye of an official, she would rise to the top! Even if she became a concubine in a mansion, she would still be connected with a nobleman. How could it be a chance for people like us? It was only because Sister Huarui's reputation rose that she was chosen as the Flower Goddess. In this way, our Huayue Pavilion has also benefited in the past few years."
“My sisters are all so clever and lovely, they are all worthy of being called flower goddesses,” Lu Yangyang said sincerely.
He made all the girls laugh uncontrollably.
Lu Yangyang glanced unintentionally at the girl named Hua Rui downstairs, who was intently playing the zither. Her face was veiled, and her eyes were slightly lowered, obscuring her features. This meant that before Hua Rui, the selection of the Flower Goddess for the Flower Festival was never the option of a girl from Hua Yue Lou. Instead, it was a tool pushed out by wealthy merchants to establish connections with the government. It made sense; such a grand event as the Flower Festival couldn't have been held without the financial and manpower of these wealthy merchants.
But the sudden illness of Flower Bud Girl is even more problematic.
Would someone who knows they will be participating in the Flower Festival as the Flower Goddess the next day allow themselves to develop a fever due to catching a cold?
If you have no appetite on the first day, and then catch a cold on an empty stomach at night, how could you not have a fever the next day?
This was neither an accident nor a coincidence; it was targeted at Sheng Yunjiao.
Lu Yangyang withdrew her gaze, just as the performance downstairs ended. Her eyes lit up as she looked at the girls: "Sisters, Miss Huarui's performance is over, may I...?"
Hesitant to speak.
The young ladies were reluctant to part, but they very considerately assured him, "Young master, please wait here. We'll go and talk to them on your behalf."
Lu Yangyang nodded gratefully.
Sure enough, not long after, a girl came over and said that Miss Huarui invited her over.
Lu Yangyang followed the girl to Hua Rui's courtyard. In the entire Huayue Tower, she was the only one who could enjoy a courtyard all to herself, without having to squeeze in with the other sisters.
As Lu Yangyang entered, she saw a girl with a face like a lotus flower, about eighteen or nineteen years old, with slightly lowered eyebrows, as if she naturally carried a touch of melancholy.
She stood up and bowed slightly to Lu Yangyang, "What kind of music would you like to hear, young master?"
Lu Yangyang looked her over, listened quietly to the sounds inside the room, took a few steps forward, her fingers landed on the strings of the zither, and she gently plucked them, producing an extremely jarring sound.
This caused Hua Rui to immediately furrow her brows, her expression showing some displeasure.
"Young master, you are ignorant of music."
Lu Yangyang nodded: "Hmm, I don't understand. Who is behind you? What is the punishment for kidnapping the prefect's daughter?"
Hua Rui suddenly looked up at her.