Hidden Shadow – CH 266

Chapter Two-Hundred-Sixty-Six: Wonderful Ideas Tower

Hua Rongjian flicked the servant’s forehead, tossed the wine jar into the river, and strolled along the riverbank with his hands behind his back.

After leaving, An Jiu did not rush back to the palace but wandered the streets alone for a while.

The lanterns were just coming on.

The Song Dynasty had a curfew, but shops on two streets were allowed to close at midnight. These two streets were mostly lined with official and private brothels; other shops benefited from their influence.

The private brothels that could operate on this street all had powerful backers, and the girls inside were bought from poor families.

An Jiu watched the brightly dressed girls standing upstairs, sweetly greeting customers, her thoughts drifting away. When she first arrived, this body of hers had escaped from a brothel and was still being pursued. Now, almost three years had passed since she arrived, and her hands were stained with blood, but she could clearly feel that her life was different from before. In her long-closed world, she was finally no longer alone.

Even walking alone on the street now, she felt much more fulfilled, no longer feeling that sense of being abandoned by the world.

Dark clouds obscured the moon, and within half an hour, rain began to fall in drizzles.

Many people on the street opened their folding umbrellas. An Jiu, who had already quickened her pace, slowed down upon seeing this and strolled in the rain with her own umbrella.

Although there were many folding umbrellas, the one in her hand was the most dangerous.

With the umbrella providing cover, An Jiu felt more at ease. She noticed a bustling crowd in front of a shop not far ahead and curiously went to investigate.

It turned out that the shopkeeper, seeing the rain, had placed portable folding umbrellas under the eaves for sale at the same price as usual. It seemed they were not trying to make a quick buck from the rain but genuinely offering convenience.

An Jiu looked up and saw the signboard read “Zhu’s Wonderful Ideas Tower.” A slight smile appeared on her lips as she closed her umbrella and went into the shop.

The shopkeeper, with his keen eye, noticed that the folding umbrella in An Jiu’s hand was more exquisite than the ones sold in the shop. Guessing he was a friend of the shopkeeper, the attendant’s smile grew even more ingratiating. “What would you like to buy, My Lord?”

An Jiu did not waste any more words. “I am looking for Zhu Pianxian.”

Seeing his cold expression, the attendant dared not engage in further conversation and hurriedly said, “Please sit here and wait a moment. I will have someone inform her right away.”

An Jiu did not sit down as instructed, standing straight in the middle of the room, radiating a faint yet palpable aura of coldness. Water droplets from his umbrella dripped onto the wooden floor, but no one dared to approach him.

A moment later, a voluptuous woman came out to greet him.

Zhu Pianxian had first seen An Jiu wearing this human skin mask, so she recognized him immediately and approached him familiarly. “Good brother, what brings you to see your sister? Look how damp you are! Come with me to the back for a cup of tea.”

An Jiu followed her into the backyard without a word. She finally spoke, “Staying on this street, you’ve picked up the habits of those girls.”

Look at what she just said; anyone who did not know better would think she’d wandered into the wrong place!

Zhu Pianxian spat. “We have not seen each other in ages, and now that we meet, there’s no need for pleasantries. I am just not cut from the start!”

Upon hearing this, An Jiu could not help but look at her more closely. She was not like this before; she always acted coy and sweet, calling herself “this humble servant” at every turn.

Zhu Pianxian was utterly astonished to see An Jiu. Forgetting even her pretense, she quickly tried to recover, half-covering her mouth and nose with her sleeve, and said in a coquettish voice, “This humble servant was simply too excited to see an old friend.”

Since she wanted to exchange pleasantries, An Jiu readily obliged, saying, “You’ve gained weight.”

Zhu Pianxian’s eye twitched, and without bothering to cover her face, she touched her chubby cheeks anxiously, asking, “Where have I gained weight?”

An Jiu raised her hand and slowly and deliberately tapped her face, neck, chest, and waist. “The good thing is, you’ve gained weight in the right places too.”

The literati of the Song Dynasty did not appreciate a woman as plump as Zhu Pianxian. They believed that a woman’s figure should be as slender as an orchid, her face as pure and elegant as a pear blossom, and her temperament as ethereal as a lotus.

“With you around, I feel like life is not beautiful anymore!” Zhu Pianxian flung her wide sleeves; Chu Dingjiang was not watching, and she was too lazy to pretend in front of An Jiu.

An Jiu had a favorable impression of people like Zhu Pianxian. Although Zhu was sometimes hypocritical and pretentious, she was generally a straightforward and proactive person.

“Lord Chu asked me to come out and make money for him and others. The thought of all that hard-earned money going into other people’s pockets makes my heart ache,” Zhu Pianxian began to ramble on, probably seeing An Jiu’s silence. “But thinking about it, doing some business is much more interesting than being locked up there, especially since someone can afford to invest the capital to buy this building in the capital.” Zhu Pianxian was not interested in ordinary small businesses, but she did not have any grand ambitions; she just felt a great sense of accomplishment from making large sums of money.

The room was filled with a rich fragrance, exuding an air of opulence. An Jiu’s aesthetic sense was average, but she could not say the same for Zhu Pianxian’s.

Zhu Pianxian invited her to sit down and had tea served. “What brings you here?”

To be honest, Chu Dingjiang brought Zhu Pianxian to the capital mainly to keep An Jiu company. She assumed An Jiu had come to visit her, which explained her initial tone. Zhu Pianxian was a woman with a particularly self-deprecating spirit and was very easygoing. Regardless of societal opinions, she acted however she pleased in private. She might put on a show of politeness, but it was rather perfunctory.

“Just taking a stroll.” The room was filled with fragrant aromas, and An Jiu could not even drink a sip of tea. “Tell me, how did you persuade Lou Xiaowu to collaborate with you?”

In her previous life, Lou Xiaowu would have been a pure academic genius, wishing all worldly affairs were irrelevant to her, focusing solely on her research. She’d even consider eating a waste of time; how could she possibly want to go out and do business to make money?

“It’s difficult to say, yet easy in fact,” Zhu Pianxian said calmly, sipping her tea. “Her spending on those things was considerable; the Lou family’s savings were not enough for her extravagant spending. After cooperating with me, she only needs to open her mouth, and I will have my people find it for her from all corners of the country. I handle all the trivial matters for her. I am not some exploitative merchant; why would she not be happy?”

Zhu Pianxian was indeed very shrewd. She treated Lou Xiaowu with more devotion than a deity, even thinking of things that were delicious and time-saving, and she did not ask for things very often. Besides those custom-made ingenious mechanisms, she could find every possible way to make money from ordinary gadgets, intending to only bother Lou Xiaowu when she felt she had almost run out of profit to squeeze out.

Furthermore, Zhu Pianxian’s demands were often tricky and ingenious, which Lou Xiaowu found very challenging. Sometimes, when a customer wanted something, but Lou Xiaowu did not find it interesting, Zhu Pianxian would provoke her with words.

Lou Xiaowu’s emotional intelligence was even lower than An Jiu’s; she was clearly destined to be completely outmatched. She’d only been working with Zhu Pianxian for half a month, yet she already felt she could not live without her.

In short, since Zhu Pianxian joined her, Lou Xiaowu’s appetite had returned, her life was carefree, and she worked with even more enthusiasm.

Upon learning of Zhu Pianxian’s capabilities, An Jiu thought to herself that her judgment was indeed excellent.

Zhu Pianxian put down her teacup, leaned forward slightly, and looked serious.

An Jiu thought she was about to say something very important, but instead, she heard her say, “Have I really gained weight?”

An Jiu paused slightly, nodded firmly, and then, fearing Zhu Pianxian would not believe her, described it in detail, “Your features were already small, and your face was big. Before, you could barely look like a Tang Dynasty beauty, but now your face is a whole size bigger than before. It looks like a pile of flesh has squeezed your eyes, nose, and mouth together.”

Zhu Pianxian stared at her blankly.

An Jiu, adding insult to injury, said, “Look, you used to have a double chin; now you have a triple chin…”

“Xiaowu is much more likable than you!” Zhu Pianxian rolled her eyes, leaning back worriedly. Sheng Changying was a typical scholar; he probably did not like fat people!

After thinking about that, Zhu Pianxian glanced at An Jiu again.

An Jiu and Lou Xiaowu were similar types—both specialized in one area, practically idiots in everything else. However, they were on completely different paths. Even when Lou Xiaowu was angry, she would only glare with her big, almond-shaped eyes. This one was much more troublesome!

Zhu Pianxian really did not know how to deal with An Jiu. If she flattered her, An Jiu would not say anything nice; if she did not, it seemed she could not afford to offend her.

“Are you not quite close to Mo Sigui?” An Jiu asked, seeing her bitter and resentful expression. “Why not ask him to prescribe some diet pills for you?”

Zhu Pianxian’s eyes lit up, overjoyed. “Oh my, it is rare to see someone so likable!”