Young man, please stay

Chapter 55 The Dilemma of Ningxiang Pavilion
  Jingzhou is located in the southeast of the Great Zhou Dynasty, bordering Huaizhou to the north and the capital to the east. Although it is not as wealthy as the Huaiyang states, its prosperity is far beyond that of Qingzhou, a place where birds can't shit.

Qin Lang could sense this from the moment he first entered the Jingzhou area.

……

"Hard noodles--paste!"

"Bingtang-Hulu'er!"

"The dome-shaped fruit is as big as a bucket, and the pieces are as big as a boat!"

"Big radish! Big sea eggplant! It's delicious and easy to use -!"

……

The transportation official roads of the Great Zhou Empire were indeed at a certain level. Qin Lang, who fell asleep due to morning exercise along the way, was not disturbed by the bumps of the carriage on the road.

What made him slowly open his eyes was the shouting from outside the carriage.

……

"Soul divination!"

"The ancestral drinking wine!"

"Young and old men, take a look, this slate is genuine! How many pieces you smash, you will get a reward!"

……

Rich hawking means rich business. At least Qin Lang has never heard of anyone hawking on the street in Jianping County.

It only takes a few steps to walk from the east end of the street to the west end of the street. Most of the pedestrians on the street are neighbors. Who are you shouting for?
  But Jingzhou is different.

It seems to be a small county town at the moment, but compared to the size of Jianping County, this small county town is enough to be called a big city.

"Qin...Lang..."

"?"

When Qin Lang woke up, among the girls who were also sleeping opposite, Nan Lingyue also rubbed his sleepy eyes and opened them:
  "How long have you been awake...?"

"I just woke up too."

"Oh…"

The saint murmured, as if she was still talking in her sleep. She opened her eyes slightly, and then she was shocked to realize that there seemed to be a crystal clear water line on the corner of her lips, which was gently holding on to her swollen breasts.

Xuanran didn't know what sweet dream she was having at this time, and eating her fingers seemed to have become a habit of hers.

"Well...~"

The little maid ate her hands, while Nan Lingyue beside her was resting his head on her soft heart. His exquisite porcelain-like jade face was covered with a hint of drunken blush after a full sleep, and his mouth was salivating. , dripping on the snow-white "pillow", like fairy wine and white dew falling on a jade plate.

The originally casual and charming posture of the two girls from the demon sect was enough to reveal a bit of natural charm. Qin Lang couldn't help but feel a slight tinge in his heart when he saw it.

To be honest, in this world, if you wake up from your sleep one day and see such a touching scene of two girls on your pillow, what kind of happiness would it be...

"Cough cough..."

Of course, it's all just a matter of thought.

Qin Lang cleared his throat, and at the same time cleared the little charm in his mind, looked at the sky outside and said strangely:

"The sun is almost setting, why is it still as busy as the morning market outside?"

No matter how prosperous Jingzhou Prefecture is, people still need to rest and sleep, right? I’ve never heard of people selling shouting items at night markets.

However, when Nan Lingyue heard this, he tilted his head and smiled happily:
  "Qin Lang, are you confused? Do you know how long you have been asleep?"

"how long?"

"It's been a whole day."

"what?"

Qin Lang opened the car window and observed again.

The wide road outside the carriage is lined with pedestrians and shops. In addition to the common rice and flour shops, crafts and wine shops, there are even small gambling houses, rouge shops and other shops.

Including a three-story loft in the distance. Judging from the red and colorful decorations, it is definitely not an inn, but a stage or a brothel.

These things are not visible to Qin Lang in Jianping County, or in most counties in Qingzhou.

Looking at the sky outside, it is actually not evening, but the rising sun.

In other words, Qin Lang is now in Jingzhou. According to time calculation, he has indeed slept for a day.

"Is this Jingzhou..."

"Yes, we've arrived in Jingzhou~"

The little maid Xuanran also woke up at this moment, yawned and took a deep breath:

“It’s been a long time since I slept on a carriage, and I still feel like I slept well~”

Eh... why is my chest so wet...

Xuan Ran blushed at first, glanced at Qin Lang secretly, and then quickly rejected the speculation in his heart with disappointment.

In the past two days, she and the young lady have roughly figured out Qin Lang's temperament. It's hard to say whether he is good or not, but at least he is upright and is definitely not a coward. No matter how big, sweet and juicy some things are, he will definitely not take advantage of them. Eat secretly while people are sleeping.

Humph…

From this point of view, it means that the young lady is sleeping on her body again...

Xuanran had an idea in his mind. He looked at the young lady next to him who was pretending to look at the scenery, and decided not to let her lie down again in the future.

Ever since entering the cardamom years, Xuan Ran has discovered that some things in a girl's house will become more and more troublesome.

For example, the small skirt I bought last year is almost unfitting this year. Xuan Ran seriously suspects that the lady often uses her breasts as a pillow, so the pillow is too big.

Alas, I really hope that the young lady can grow up quickly, and then she will be able to empathize with and understand the hard work of carrying a heavy burden all day long...

"Young Hero Qin Lang~"

The little maid quietly complained to her lady in her heart for a while, and then opened the window on the other side:

"How do you feel? This is just Puning County, a small county in Jingzhou. Isn't it more interesting than Jianping County and Qingzhou?"

"really."

Qin Lang nodded and admitted that Jingzhou was indeed a higher level than Qingzhou.

Not only are the streets and alleys more prosperous, but warriors with swords and sabers finally appear among the pedestrians.

In the past, Qin Lang could rarely see one or two of all kinds of powerful military uniforms in Jianping County, but now in Puning County, he can see them in clusters of two or three, or in piles of three or four, and he can see them from time to time. .    …

"Brother, is this sword a new one?"

"Haha, Brother Li has a good eye!"

"Old Zhou, long time no see. Can we have a chat in the tavern?"

"What's wrong with you! If you don't pay back the money today, draw your sword!"

"I heard that the top star of the local Ningxiang Pavilion is interested in using martial arts to meet 'friends' tonight. Hey, are you interested?"

"No, no, no, women will only affect my marksmanship. Why not go to the Kyushu Escort Agency in the capital to see the world some other time..."

……

Passers-by chatted and chattered, and the carriage slowly moved forward along the spacious main street. Qin Lang also experienced a new and more complete taste of the world along the way.

Of course, now that he is in the Tianhe Sect, he has also become the personal bodyguard of the saint of the Tianhe Sect in name. This trip was originally to inspect Nanlingyue. Qin Lang was concerned about the most important brothel industry under the Tianhe Sect. I will also pay some attention to it subconsciously.

So while looking around, Qin Lang soon discovered that the three-story attic he just saw seemed to have the three characters "Ningxiang Pavilion" written on the plaque.

"Call-"

Qin Lang's carriage convoy also slowly stopped as it approached the [Ningxiang Pavilion].

Before the front foot could stop, the closed door of the back foot attic opened. A graceful woman with a thin sword on her waist came out with a few followers, and gave the carriage a curtsy:
  "See the saint."

“Sister Wen, there’s no need to be polite~”

The two parties obviously knew each other. Nan Lingyue got off the carriage with Xuanran, and Qin Lang followed closely behind. Unsurprisingly, he attracted a group of Tianhe Sect disciples headed by "Sister Wen". Nan Lingyue naturally introduced him briefly. Qin Lang then followed him into the Ningxiang Pavilion.

The local Ningxiang Pavilion did not have the habit of opening its doors in the morning. When Qin Lang entered Qin Lang for the first time, he followed Nan Lingyue and others into its backyard.

"Guys, please rest outside first."

"Ok."

After arriving in the yard, Nan Lingyue and Sister Wen entered a room alone. According to Xuanran, they wanted to hand over things related to the account book and revenue.

Qin Lang understood this, and after waiting outside for a long time with the eldest maid, the door was pushed open, and Nan Lingyue finally walked out with Sister Wen.

"Miss, is it finally done?"

"Um...what are you doing?"

"Oh, Mr. Qin taught me a game called backgammon. It's so fun~"

"yes…"

Nan Lingyue smiled sweetly, but Qin Lang saw a faint hint of worry between her eyebrows.

Could it be said that the local Ningxiang Pavilion in Puning County is not very ideal in terms of operation?
  "Sister Wen, let's leave first. If there are any collective adjustments in the sect, please pay more attention to Xin'er."

"Yes, congratulations to the saint."

……

When it comes to inspecting the sect's property, Nan Lingyue seems to come and go in a hurry.

In the next few days, the carriage convoy passed through three or four counties one after another. Nan Lingyue basically visited the local Ningxiang Pavilion. Every time he came out, his mood was neither high nor low, and then Just keep on going in a hurry.

In fact, there were two times when the brothel was open for business. Qin Lang made a brief observation and found that the business was actually okay, so he couldn't help but ask Nan Lingyue why he always looked worried.

As a result, Nan Lingyue sighed and held his slumped face with both hands, indicating that what he was worried about was not actually the places in the county he had visited these days.

"The revenue of these small places is actually not much. The problem of the sect now is actually that of the big places, and I have always been worried that when we get to Jingzhou Prefecture, the account books in the prefecture will be terrible..."

"A big place..."

"Yes, Qin Lang, you should have heard about it in the world. The competition between Ningxiang Pavilion and Ting Yuxuan is actually quite fierce now, especially in larger state capitals and other places. Ningxiang Pavilion is increasingly unable to do so. The imperial court is listening to Yuxuan."

"..."

The competition is indeed fierce. After all, the Blood Knife Sect wanted to sell Qin Lang to Ningxiang Pavilion.

As for the so-called Ningxiang Pavilion, she couldn't do it compared to Ting Yuxuan. Qin Lang understood it as soon as he heard it. To put it bluntly, a civilian prostitute couldn't do a government prostitute.

As for the reason, Qin Lang also asked Nan Lingyue for advice during the subsequent trip, and finally discovered that the storyteller had already revealed the reason behind it when he was chatting with the storyteller in Jianping County.

All this was because the Great Zhou Empire had been at peace for a long time since the war in Beili had ceased.

Once the days are peaceful, the trend of worshiping literature will gradually arise, and culture and entertainment will begin to develop.

When it comes to the custom industry, a major change is the improvement of consumer tastes.

To give a simple example, Tingyuxuan is a property of the Imperial Jiaofang Division. The girls in it are all carefully selected and trained, including many people from the Qing Dynasty who are not prostitutes but entertainers. Many of them are interesting to talk about. A cold fairy who can be seen from a distance.

And these women all serve various high-ranking officials, wealthy businessmen, princes and champions.

In comparison, although the girls in Ningxiang Pavilion are not bad and can also dance and sing, when it comes to writing poems and lyrics, talking loudly, showing off their temperament, and smelling elegant, they are far inferior to those trained by Ting Yuxuan. A woman.

To put it bluntly, the girls at Ningxiang Pavilion are more "tacky" than the girls at Tingyuxuan!
  This kind of custom was not a problem in the past, because Ningxiang Pavilion originally followed the route of "small profits but quick turnover".

But now that the war has subsided, the culture and economy of the Great Zhou Dynasty have developed rapidly, and arty fashion has become a popular thing nowadays. The tastes of some ordinary civilians and scholars have also become higher.

For example, many scholars nowadays, when they are looking for a girl, they have to test a girl on a few poems before they are willing to let the girl take off her clothes, otherwise they feel that the money is too vulgar! Too low-level!

So over and over again, especially in relatively affluent big cities, the original customers of the Ningxiang Pavilion gradually became that they would rather go to the Ningxiang Pavilion a few times less than to save money to go to Tingyuxuan to experience the "high-end" experience. the taste of.

……

After learning about this situation, Qin Lang also felt a little unreal.

Originally, he thought that fighting and killing were the mainstream in the world, but he didn't expect that the Tianhe Sect was such a large sect, and the saint girl had to worry about her own brothel business.

"Qin Lang, when I arrive at Jingzhou Mansion this time, I actually want to use the storyteller technique you taught Lao He in the business of Ningxiang Pavilion. What do you think?"

"There are also storytellers in Ningxiang Pavilion?"

"Yes, yes. Although the income from storytelling does not account for the majority, mosquitoes are still meat no matter how small they are. In addition, it can attract people. I think if it is done well, it should also be good for the overall revenue of Ningxiang Pavilion."

"There are benefits, but..."

But for a business like a brothel, just relying on storytelling to attract traffic is far from enough, especially over time, once a wonderful book spreads, no one will go to the brothel just to listen to the book.

Therefore, Qin Lang had other ideas in mind if he wanted to support the development of Ningxiang Pavilion...

However, before realizing this somewhat unprofessional idea, Qin Lang, who finally arrived in Jingzhou Mansion, had to take care of his "proper business" as a "young hero" and mind his own business.

(End of this chapter)