"In the yamen, there are ten in each building, and there are also some who are kept by the officials in Qiyan Hutong, which is only twenty-three including one. Where are the others?" Fang Wu counted his fingers and looked carefully.
As he counted, his long eyebrows furrowed slightly.
She sat upright in front of the table and flipped through the girls' music books that she had brought back from Bai Xi yesterday.
There are 25 sheets in the thick book, indicating that there are 25 businesses listed in the building.
In this building, most of the girls who have passed the Ming Road in the officialdom are doing business but not selling themselves. However, if any official agrees to buy the girls' first night, it is okay, but most of them will be kept in Qiyan Hutong afterwards. Very few
Some of them were brought back as concubines.
Because Daman's concubines had no children and were not included in the family tree, they could not even be buried in her husband's family tomb. Liang Qian was like this, let alone a lowly concubine with a happy status. It was too humble, and most officials were unwilling to let these people enter.
One is for face, the other is for being blameless.
"What?" Ye Zhuqing turned his head and frowned.
Fang Wu emphasized, "I said, two girls are short." She stressed the emphasis as if she was afraid that people would not understand. Each word was loud and clear, as if it had edges and corners, breaking through the heart.
"No wonder. No wonder she wanted to kill the old madam. Prostitutes are ruthless. Even sisters who get along day and night may not know which of the girls in this building is short of them. But the madam is different. Every girl in the building is her choice.
Of course she will know the ones carefully selected." Ji Xuan reacted immediately.
"It's really a cover-up. Every step is not in vain. It seems that our previous guess was correct. The other party must be familiar with the situation in this building. We must find out. It is the two girls who are missing." Fang Wu said, looking at
To the Yamen servant on the side.
The yamen servant understood, bowed, and went out with a few other people and sticks.
"In my opinion, the other party is not only familiar with the situation in the building, but also probably knows how strict we are towards those who live in the house." Ye Zhuqing said, grabbing a wolf and howling: "Any housekeeper in a brothel, anyone who has a house in the house is very strict."
, if you want to deregister, officials need to submit documents to the Ministry of Rites, and the brothel, the Ministry of Rites, and the palace secretary Shang Lexuan will all take care of it. If you don't deregister, because of her secular status, the woman's children cannot be raised in her husband's family.
, take your husband’s surname, let alone record it in your own name.”
He comes sentence by sentence, and each sentence seems to be telling a person's life.
"If you don't bring it back, raise it outside, and have children, it won't be included in the family tree. If you have serious business affairs at home, you can sue the Yamen for three to five years. It's a good thing. You can't have an official or a life. That's it, Hutong.
Most of them don't even know who they are serving." Ye Zhuqing arrived next.
Daman is not a scholar, farmer, industrialist, or merchant, but a royal, noble, official, good, peasant, poor, and happy person, and the further it goes, the more humble it becomes.
For ordinary people, the best thing is to have a noble status, but it only needs to be given by the royal family.
"So, these two girls are not mediocre people." Ji Xuan nodded and followed in agreement.
"Of course. If he is mediocre, can he provoke the other party to take such a big risk and let these two people escape?" Ye Zhuqing asked, with a pair of eyes that seemed to say that what Ji Xuan said was just nonsense.
For some reason, Fang Wu saw three parts contempt and three parts jealousy in those eyes.
In a moment, I heard the sound of torsos and the coquettish cries of the girls. One by one, they were pushed in by the yamen servants and stood in one place.
I saw a pair of eyes looking at them sitting behind the table not far away with pity.
Fang Wu raised her head with scrutiny, as if she wanted to put aside their hearts and look at the flesh and blood inside, but she couldn't see it and lowered her head again.
Received Wolf Howl from Ye Zhuqing.
Then I found a piece of white paper, looked at the faces of the girls, and selected them carefully one by one. I still can't believe every word the girls said.
Naturally, we can only compare the faces of the paintings. Fortunately, the painters of Daman and the officials of the Ministry of Rites are not unworthy of their faults. They are derelict in their duties and can be matched with others with a little effort.
It didn't take long for Fang Wu to copy out the ten people from the yamen on a piece of white paper, and also took out the music records.
"Girls, which officials have you seen when you receive guests on weekdays?" Ye Zhuqing looked over one by one and asked.
For some reason, Fang Wu seemed to see a girl ogling them and trying to do something.
However, when the girls looked at each other, no one was making the first move.
Fang Wu nodded to Ye Zhuqing and interjected, "I think you don't want to live without a fixed address. You can help the government solve the case, although there won't be any big changes. Maybe you can get some money to redeem yourself?"
Fang Wu knew very well what it was like to live without a fixed place and move around. These girls had food and clothing, and some even caused calligraphy and painting. But as long as they had money, anyone could buy them and use them as they pleased.
They couldn't say a word about the business, and they would be beaten and kicked even for the slightest resistance.
But where she put her words, the girls didn't care, as if they were impeccable and proud, and didn't care about a few coins or even a ransom.
In fact, ransoming one's body is nothing, as long as they are happy. Even after redeeming one's body, if the government thinks of it that day, they still have to accept guests and entertain others. It's just that not just anyone with money can do it.
So what Fang Wu said was not attractive.
"Which family is this lady from? She can sit in court. Why don't you recommend the slave family to the officials of the Qin family, so that the slave family can have a place to retire. Then what should I consider saying to you?" One of the girls said loudly.
Neng stepped forward, leaned over to Fang Wu, and said such words in a voice that made his bones go numb.
"I know I'm humble and don't dare to expect too much. I just want a safe place and I can follow you and serve you every day." The girl continued in shock when she saw several people.
But no one said anything. Fang Wu was shocked. She had never known that she could be like this in court and openly seek glory. What is this?
Is it worth it for an official to destroy the Great Wall and his own prospects because he is good enough?
"Please think carefully before speaking. This is a government office and you will not tolerate your nonsense." Ye Zhuqing rolled several books into a roll and knocked on the table as a reminder.
"I asked you a question yesterday, but what you said was very different. Please tell me whether you are in a brothel."
Ye Zhuqing said fiercely.
"This petition says that the robbers broke into your house, verbally abused you, and asked you to do whatever they wanted. But this petition also says that you colluded with so-and-so to offend the local government. The government did not complain and provoked the accountability of the Ministry of Rites above.
, so this is the last resort. Can any of you tell me what happened?"
Ye Zhuqing took out the paper, turned it to the girls, pointed at the black words on the white paper.
Fang Wu couldn't see the words written on the white paper from his own direction, and he believed that he couldn't see clearly from the girls' direction, but Ye Zhuqing's words were clear enough, and it didn't matter whether he could see them clearly or not.