A Pawn's Passage

A maid led Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu into Jiaqing Villa from the side entrance. After countless turns, they came to a spacious reception pavilion and were asked to wait.

The pavilion was filled with several rows of tables and chairs. The seats in the front row seemed reserved, as they had place cards on them. Thus, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu sat in the last row.

After a while, a servant in a green turban served them tea, but he stood beside them with a tray in hand and simply stared at them.

This was Qi Xuansu’s first visit to a villa, so he had no experience. He asked bluntly, “How much is it?”

The servant was stunned for a moment. It was obvious that he rarely encountered such straightforward guests, but he still replied politely, “Ten Taiping coins per person for the last row, and an additional ten Taiping coins for each row forward.”

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu glanced at each other and placed ten Taiping coins on the tray.

The servant then smiled and retreated with a slight bow.

At this time, they were the only ones at the pavilion. Qi Xuansu stared at the calm Zhang Yuelu gently tapping her folding fan against her palm. She scanned the area leisurely, looking like a rich gentleman.

Qi Xuansu whispered, “Can you write poetry?”

Zhang Yuelu unfolded her folding fan and covered her mouth. “I can only recite poems.”

Qi Xuansu quipped, “Even I have memorized 300 ancient poems. I can also recite them well. What about limericks?”

“Nope.” Zhang Yuelu shook her head.

Bewildered, Qi Xuansu asked, “Don’t the Zhang family teach you this?”

“They did. That’s why I learned to recite poems,” Zhang Yuelu said as a matter of fact. “Can you write poetry?”

Qi Xuansu replied, “I successfully graduated from the Wanxiang Daoist Palace, so I’m proficient in using firearms and hidden weapons, martial arts, astronomy, geography, qi training, meditation, talisman writing, reading and writing ancient script, medicinal herb identification, and history. But not poetry.”

Suddenly, Qi Xuansu thought of a shameless idea. “Do you know any elders who have unpublished poems? We can borrow those.”

Zhang Yuelu said expressionlessly, “I don’t know an elder like that. Even if I do, I won’t use someone else’s poem without permission.”

Qi Xuansu sighed. “That’s a pity. In those novels, the male lead borrows a poem and gets applauded, shocking the talented scholars on the scene and impressing the courtesans. The ladies wished they could just throw themselves into the man’s arms.”

Zhang Yuelu snorted. “As you said, that’s a scene from the novels. I only hope that we don’t run into any more demons from the secret societies.”

Qi Xuansu sighed. “What are we doing here then?”

Zhang Yuelu answered, “I want to see the Finest Courtesan, of course.”

“Aren’t courtesans common?”

Zhang Yuelu explained, “Not to be confused with Scarlets, who are the top courtesans in their own brothels, the Finest Courtesan, as the name suggests, is the best courtesan in the industry. There is a selection process for it, and the results would have to be recognized by the public. The title of Finest Courtesan is given to the prettiest and most talented Scarlet. The competition is fierce with Scarlets from many first-class brothels all over the empire.”

Only then did Qi Xuansu nod in understanding. “So, is Miss Li the Finest Courtesan?”

Zhang Yuelu said excitedly, “Yeah. I once heard my father mention how the Finest Courtesan was selected in Jinling Prefecture. The top Scarlets in all the major villas were dressed up extravagantly in a beauty competition. The wealthy men and scholars would spare no expense in supporting these Scarlets. All villas would be nicely decorated for the occasion, and one could only imagine how much wine was consumed, how many poems were recited, and how much money was spent all night long.”

Qi Xuansu finally understood why Zhang Yuelu was so curious about villas. His curiosity was also piqued, so he asked, “How is the Finest Courtesan selected then?”

Zhang Yuelu explained, “The concept is simple. What all courtesans have in common is that they are there to make money, regardless of their fame. After all, art and beauty are highly dependent on individual preferences, so these competitions are judged based on who gets the most tips. Since it’s based on money, it’s hard to cheat.

“Some people even go as far as to hire musicians to write lyrics and compose songs for the courtesans. If the song becomes a hit, it’ll get good publicity. This may seem like a beauty competition between women, but in fact, it’s also a competition between men. The courtesans’ backers like to compete with each other. They get a boost of ego seeing their women shine brightly. Some backers dump in money to ensure the best support for these courtesans.”

It turned out that the courtesan’s ability was only one of the aspects. It was mainly dependent on the courtesan’s financial backer. The reason Miss Li became the Finest Courtesan in the Imperial Capital was largely due to the Li family’s influence.

He inquired, “Is the Li family very rich?”

Zhang Yuelu replied, “They’re probably as rich as a country. In terms of status, the Li family and the Zhang family are evenly matched, but in terms of financial resources, the Zhang family lags far behind the Li family. The Zhang family mainly relies on the support of several wealthy families in Jiangnan and Lingnan.”

Qi Xuansu probed further. “Is the Li family’s wealth related to the Holy Xuan?”

“No.” Zhang Yuelu shook her head and explained, “Before the Holy Xuan united the Daoist Order, the Li family had already controlled nearly half of the maritime trade. They were well-deserving of their position as the top maritime traders. The Holy Xuan united the Daoist Order using his family’s influence and even deliberately suppressed the Li family’s development by splitting the Li family’s businesses.

“The Holy Xuan even handed over part of the maritime trade, mining, salt, and iron businesses of the Li family to the Daoist Order and the Imperial Court to prevent the Li family from becoming too powerful, as that would damage the foundation of the Daoist Order. If you ask me, some members of the Li family are certainly resentful of the Holy Xuan’s decision.

“But the Holy Xuan had a great reputation, so no one in the Li family dared to openly oppose the Holy Xuan’s decision. They also need the Holy Xuan’s glory, so they simply don’t mention it.”

Zhang Yuelu thought about it for a while before adding, “My master has mentioned that the Li family followed the way of humans, while the Holy Xuan followed the way of the heavens.”

Qi Xuansu was confused. “What does that mean?”

Zhang Yuelu replied, “The Primordial Daoist Ancestor once said that the way of the heavens is the practice of reducing excess by supplementing deficiencies. But the way of humans is to reduce deficiencies to serve excess, which means using the commoners’ money to support the superfluous lifestyle of the nobles.

“The people are already poor, but they still have to support the wealthy nobles in terms of taxes, which will only increase the poverty gap. This is the way of humans. That’s why it can’t last forever. The way of the heavens is more sustainable. If the Li family is allowed to develop further, they will only become richer. That’s why the Holy Xuan decided to break up the Li family.”

Qi Xuansu sighed in admiration. “Amazing!”

While they were talking, more people came in and got seated in the pavilion.

Zhang Yuelu looked around, not spotting anyone remarkable. There were only scholars, so she felt a little bored. “It’s a pity that we didn’t get to catch the Finest Courtesan competition. This is just a poetry gathering.”

Qi Xuansu reminded her. “I’m afraid the entrance fee wouldn’t just be ten Taiping coins if it’s such a grand event.”

Zhang Yuelu thought about it and realized that what he said made sense.

After a while, some important people gradually showed up.

To Qi Xuansu’s surprise, Zhang Yuelu was able to recognize those people, which was strange.

However, Zhang Yuelu explained that Beichen Hall usually compiled files detailing the situation of important officials in the Imperial Court and their family members. These were usually accompanied by portraits and revised every year. The list ranged from cabinet ministers to local county magistrates.

When she was working at Beichen Hall, she used to read some of the files of these officials from her hometown of Wuzhou, so she remembered some of the leading figures.

The reason the Daoist Order had files of court officials was to prevent Daoist priests from colluding with the Imperial Court officials. The major Jiangnan case involved some court officials. However, the Daoist Order handed these people to the Imperial Court’s Ministry of Justice to be convicted. At the same time, the Imperial Court would also facilitate the search and arrest of members of the Ziguang Society.

Only the leader of Beichen Hall and the other Hall Masters would know the real intention behind keeping these files.

Most of the people at the pavilion were the nephews and grandchildren of local court officials. There were no Daoist priests, or at least, none that openly showed their identities.

About an hour later, the pavilion was full, with the wealthy gentry sitting in the reserved front-row seats.

This pavilion was extremely spacious and could accommodate more than a hundred people without being crowded. Each person in the back row paid ten Taiping coins, and the seats in the front were more expensive, with the first row costing hundreds of Taiping coins. Thus, the income from this poetry gathering alone would reach nearly 10,000 Taiping coins.

If there was a follow-up event, such as a banquet held by a certain sponsor, the villa would earn even more.

Qi Xuansu had never seen so much money in his life. He thought, No wonder Zhang Yuelu said that Miss Li was the cash cow of the Li family.

From this, it was clear that the Li family was indeed good at making money. They would never suffer a loss. Regardless of how much money they spent on Miss Li to make her famous, they could easily gain back their investment.

This villa was just the tip of the iceberg of the Li family’s business empire. Besides maritime trade, the Li family was also involved in various industries, including porcelain, tea, medicinal materials, gold, silk, pawnshops, banks, firearms, ships, timber, steel, coal, theaters, and others. They were so rich to the extent that the public joked that the Li family had three mountains—a gold mountain, a silver mountain, and a copper mountain.