The three turned around and saw the final member of the Four Young Masters of the Capital, Wang Chengping.
He had a square, dignified face and wore a full military uniform. At first glance, he possessed an imposing air even when he was not angry. Though only in his early 20s, he looked well over 30.
Wang Chengping dropped heavily onto the cushioned couch, crossed one leg over the other, and said, “I arrive a little late, and you bastards are already badmouthing me? Who are you calling useless?”
Xu Yuan ignored him and answered Gong Yuanzeng instead. “Don’t compare me to him. I’m far more capable.”
Wang Chengping naturally understood exactly what they were talking about. “Bullshit. You’re better than me?”
Without changing expression, Xu Yuan glanced at the courtesan dancing onstage. “Miss Nanxiang, the Clear Jade Pavilion’s most famous beauty, is offering her first night tonight. I’ll buy it for you. How about Battalion Commander Wang spends the night here?”
Wang Chengping’s expression immediately changed. He coughed lightly. “I’m buried in official duties. Perhaps another night.”
Gong Yuanzeng raised an eyebrow and asked casually, “With your status, skipping a shift shouldn’t matter much. Why did you arrive so late today?”
Wang Chengping took a drink, then let out a long breath. His voice carried a trace of exhaustion. “My battalion was assigned to guard the Court of State Ceremonial today. His Highness the Crown Prince gave the order personally, so I couldn’t get away. I still have to return later.”
Xu Yuan looked somewhat surprised. “The Court of State Ceremonial? Li Yucheng personally ordered it? Who arrived?”
None of the other three paid any attention to Xu Yuan casually calling the Crown Prince by name.
As the greatest wastrel in all of the Great Flame Empire, Xu Yuan did not merely dare to call the Crown Prince by name. He would even dare to shout the Emperor’s name aloud.
Wang Chengping thought for a moment before lazily replying, “Apparently, it’s some noble from among the savages of the Great Desert. Probably a prince, at the very least.”
He turned and looked at Li Junwu, who was calmly pouring herself another drink.
“Why are you looking at me?” Li Junwu smacked her red lips.
“Who else would I look at?” Wang Chengping rolled his eyes.
Li Junwu curled her lips. “My old man never tells me anything about military or state affairs.”
“Junwu, has Marquis Zhenxi left the capital?” Xu Yuan asked,
After a long moment, Li Junwu sucked in a breath and answered with some hesitation, “Now that you mention it, Changtian… I really haven’t seen my old man around the estate for more than half a month.”
The moment she finished speaking, the other three understood.
The savages of the Great Desert and the barbarians of the North appeared to be showing signs of an alliance, while the Great Flame Empire was already preparing to expand the scale of the war.
“The world seems to be growing less peaceful by the day.” Gong Yuanzeng watched the dancer onstage and murmured. He might have been a wastrel, but everything he had seen and heard growing up allowed him to understand one thing.
Dealing with the Great Desert and the North alone would never require the Great Flame Empire to mobilize on such a massive scale.
In other words, there was another enemy.
Wang Chengping dismissed Gong Yuanzeng’s concern with a scoff. “That’s enough. Even if war really breaks out, we military men will be the first ones sent in. You’re a civil official, Yuanzeng. What are you worrying about?”
“Every man bears responsibility for the fate of his country, let alone an official of the imperial court like me.”
“Tsk, tsk. An official of the imperial court who skipped work to visit a pleasure house.”
The remark drew another round of laughter.
No one knew how much time had passed when the sudden sound of splintering wood shattered the tranquil atmosphere of the hall.
A figure smashed through a wooden wall and flew backward out of a private room on the third floor, crashing heavily onto the table beside Xu Yuan’s group.
The Clear Jade Pavilion had both a public hall and private rooms.
As one of the capital’s most renowned pleasure houses, it naturally maintained a strict hierarchy among its guests. Most of the private rooms on the third floor were reserved for nobles and other distinguished patrons.
As veteran wastrels, the four men were entirely unfazed by the spectacle.
Places built to attract the opposite sex had always been prone to minor friction. Once that friction grew a little hotter, fists inevitably started flying.
However, when Xu Yuan and the others glanced toward the neighboring table, they discovered that the man who had fallen was none other than the Clear Jade Pavilion’s brothel steward.
“Who owns this place?” Xu Yuan lowered his voice and asked.
In the past, the Third Young Master had known exactly who stood behind every famous pleasure house in the Imperial Capital. After all, when the mood struck and he decided to smash something, it would be rather unfortunate to discover that he had wrecked his own family’s property. Then he would have to bear the losses himself.
More importantly, Hua Hong would beat him.
Li Junwu thought for a moment before answering uncertainly, “I believe it belongs to the Imperial Alliance Trading Company under the Third Prince.”
The powers behind the Imperial Capital’s pleasure houses were rarely as mysterious or formidable as storybooks and street rumors made them sound. Usually, a little investigation was enough to uncover the truth.
“The Third Prince?” The image of the younger brother Xu Yuan had only recently acknowledged surfaced in his mind. “In that case, this place counts as one of the Crown Prince faction’s businesses?”
Wang Chengping remained sprawled against the cushioned couch, staring at the shattered opening upstairs without the slightest intention of standing. “Whoever’s up there has quite the nerve.”
“Indeed. Almost as bold as Changtian was back in the day.”
“No, he’s still a little short of Changtian. At least this fellow hasn’t insulted an imperial prince’s mother yet.”
Xu Yuan fell silent.
While the brothel steward struggled to rise, the four of them continued joking as casually as ever, displaying the perfect attitude of men who believed that anything not involving them was none of their concern.
Before long, the man responsible appeared in the hole smashed through the wall upstairs.
He was a towering brute with his chest bare, bronze skin exposed, and a wolf pelt wrapped around his body. A Darchai tribesman from the Great Desert.
Standing at the edge of the shattered wall, he declared, “My master already offered 3,000 taels for Miss Nanxiang’s first night. We gave you face, yet you refused to accept it.”
The moment Wang Chengping saw him from the main hall below, a strange look flickered through his eyes. “Well, well…”
Xu Yuan heard him and asked, “You know him?”
“He’s one of the guards who accompanied that savage prince to the Court of State Ceremonial today,” Wang Chengping replied quietly.
“These savages dare act so arrogantly in the Imperial Capital?” Li Junwu frowned.
Gong Yuanzeng shook his head and offered a quiet guess. “I heard my old man say the northern frontier was buried beneath a sudden blizzard, so neither army can move for the time being. Judging by their attitude, they’re probably trying to take advantage of our troubles.”
The soundproofing formations around their seats kept their conversation from carrying.
Meanwhile, the tribesman casually flicked three 1,000-tael banknotes and another 100-tael note through the air. They landed on the fallen steward.
“My master isn’t trying to bully you. This is a fair transaction. A sum of 3,000 taels for your top courtesan’s first night, and another 100 for your medicine.”
“What backwater ditch did this pauper crawl out of?”
Before the man could finish speaking, a strange, mocking voice rang out. It sounded rather feminine, but the ridicule in it was unmistakable.
“He doesn’t even dare place a proper bid?”
The voice did not come from Xu Yuan’s table, but from another private room on the third floor.
Xu Yuan’s expression turned slightly peculiar when he recognized it. Eunuch Hou…
Before he could think any further, the Third Prince’s voice came from the neighboring room. “What kind of worthless master comes to my Imperial Capital and tries to throw his weight around? This young master bids 3,500 taels!”
Xu Yuan fell silent. His newly acknowledged little brother truly never missed an opportunity to do business. After a brief lull, he suddenly joined in from the main hall with a laugh. “Quite right. This young master will raise the price as well. 3,700 taels.”
Li Yunqing immediately called out another bid. “My good sir, don’t raise it too quickly. You might frighten these savages away. I’ll offer a modest 4,000 taels.”
The Imperial Capital was overflowing with nobles and high officials, and the Clear Jade Pavilion had spent nearly a month advertising Nanxiang’s debut.
There were more than a few young masters present tonight who had come hoping to win the privilege of sharing her first night.
Once Eunuch Hou, Li Yunqing, and Xu Yuan began their coordinated little performance, voices from the other private rooms soon joined in.
The bids climbed steadily higher.
The Darchai tribesman did not lose his temper. He merely turned and walked back into the private room, apparently to seek his master’s opinion.
The once elegant and refined hall immediately became noisy and chaotic, more auction house than pleasure pavilion.
BANG! Amid the clamor, a dull impact rang out with startling clarity.
An ornamental rockery was hurled straight through the hole in the third-floor wall, flying across the hall toward the private seating area below!