Jiao Niang’s Medical Record Chapter 524

Zhou Liu-lang all but burst into the Desheng Pavilion on horseback, sending a fresh ripple of commotion through the already noisy hall.

What surprised him, however, was that no one came forward to scold him. Even those who had been startled by the horse quickly stopped paying him any attention.

It wasn’t Zhou Liu-lang’s first time here – he’d come before, but only during the day. This was his first visit at night. The air was thick with the cloying scent of rouge and powder; everywhere he looked was a blur of red sleeves and green silk. Though it wasn’t yet summer, the women in the hall were already dressed in thin summer robes, their pale, delicate skin gleaming under the lantern light.

Zhou Liu-lang felt his head spin, his vision swim.

Something was wrong.

Wasn’t there supposed to be trouble here? Why did the atmosphere feel all wrong?

There were no shouts, no clash of steel, no people scattering in panic, no overturned tables or broken cups – only a crowd, all facing the same direction, their expressions alight with excitement.

What was going on?

Was he in the wrong place?

His body, tense with expectation, stiffened further. Zhou Liu-lang swung down from his horse, hand tightening on the hilt of the blade hidden beneath his robe.

“…So? How is it, how is it?”
“…The opening bid was a thousand guan…”
“…Heavens, already up to a thousand…”
“…Are you betting or not?”

What on earth were they talking about?

Zhou Liu-lang frowned.

Had Desheng Pavilion turned into a gambling den now?

Just look at them – all wearing the feverish excitement of gamblers.

“What are you all doing?” Zhou Liulang asked.

A man turned around, eyes bright with excitement, and pointed upstairs.

“There’s a man and a woman up there competing for the courtesan Lady Zhu!” he said.

A man and a woman… competing for the courtesan…

Desheng Pavilion. Courtesan. Young Master Gao…

The broken fragments of his servant’s words echoed again in Zhou Liu-lang’s ears.

No way. That girl!

Zhou Liu-lang lifted his foot and dashed up the stairs.

Inside the private room, Madam Mo sat in a daze. She had entered the Music Bureau at six years old and was now thirty-six – but in all those thirty years, she had never seen anything like this.

“…Three thousand guan…”

The girl’s voice was calm and unhurried.

“Three thousand for one night?” a man asked.

Three thousand guan for a single night’s company…

At that rate, a few nights would be enough to buy one’s freedom.

Madam Mo murmured to herself, lifting her gaze toward the two before her.

It wasn’t as though she had never seen people compete for a courtesan before – but never with such extravagance, and never a sister bidding on behalf of her brother.

“Ten thousand guan,” Young Master Gao said lightly, almost casually. “For a whole month.”

He turned to glance at the steward beside him.

“We didn’t bring that much money with us, so we’ll write a promissory note,” the steward said.

Madam Mo didn’t dare object.

“There’s no need for a note – one word from Young Master Gao is guarantee enough,” she said with a flattering smile.

“I’ve not the face to owe a courtesan’s fee,” Young Master Gao sneered. “Write the note. Once it’s settled, go home and fetch the money. It won’t wait overnight.”

The steward answered at once, took up a brush, and quickly wrote out the note. He pressed Young Master Gao’s seal onto it, then tossed it into the open space before them.

In the center of the room, Lady Zhu sat poised and elegant, with slips of flying money notes scattered to her left and right.

“Twenty thousand guan. One month,” Cheng Jiao-niang said.

Her maid didn’t hesitate for a moment and tossed two flying money notes across the floor.

Young Master Gao’s expression shifted slightly.

This girl was raising the bid by ten thousand at a time!

Who played like that?

And those were real flying money notes she’d thrown out. She actually carried that much money on her person?

“Young Master,” the steward beside him murmured quietly, “be careful – don’t get caught in a trap.”

It wasn’t an uncommon trick: they’d take turns bidding higher and higher, lifting each other’s price like carrying a sedan chair, and then, just when you followed along and called out another raise, they’d suddenly pull back – leaving you standing there like a fool.

What if he called thirty thousand, and the girl immediately conceded?

To reserve a courtesan for a month at thirty thousand guan – such a refined indulgence, Young Master Gao could certainly afford that.

He gave a cold, inward laugh.

“Twenty-five thousand,” he said.

The steward quickly took up the brush, wrote out another note, and tossed it forward.

“Thirty-five thousand,” Cheng Jiao-niang said.

Her maid, without the slightest hesitation, threw another note into the center.

Damn it!

Thirty-five thousand! To reserve a courtesan! That was about the same as the dowry for an ordinary family’s daughter in the capital!

Wasn’t anyone going to stop her? How could a girl throw money around like it was nothing?

Young Master Gao’s face went stiff, his expression darkening.

All he could do inwardly was curse.

“Forty thousand!” he said sharply.

“Fourteenth Young Master…” The steward, now frightened himself, couldn’t help murmuring under his breath.

That amount was enormous!

Young Master Gao shot him a glare. The steward dared not speak again, only gritted his teeth, wrote another promissory note, and tossed it into the fray.

“Forty thousand for a month?” Madam Mo couldn’t help but ask for confirmation.

By this point she’d already fainted and revived several times in her head – she was starting to suspect her own ears were malfunctioning and had to ask outright.

“Fifty thousand strings. One month.”

Before Young Master Gao could respond, Cheng Jiao-niang spoke first.

Fifty thousand! For a month!

That was enough to ransom three courtesans!

Madam Mo shot to her feet, one hand clutching her chest to keep her heart from leaping out, the other gripping the table as she gulped for air – anything to keep herself from passing out.

Meanwhile, Cheng Si-lang struggled to sit up, his face flushing and paling by turns.

“Sister!” he cried, his voice breaking with the edge of tears.

Fifty thousand guan – that had to be everything the girl had left!

What was she doing? What on earth was she doing?!

How could it come to this?

No – she had always been like this.
Once she began, she went all in, blade to the bone – just like when she fought her father over her dowry, just like when she faced Feng Lin in the debate of guilt and justice. She always played for real, played hard – and the first person she was ruthless to was herself.

How could it turn out like this…

Why did she have to fight over this too?

What was so wrong with conceding? What difference would it make?

While the onlookers stared in shock, Cheng Jiao-niang’s expression remained calm, as if she hadn’t just named fifty thousand guan, but merely remarked on how fine the weather was today.

“Young Master Gao,” she said evenly, “your turn.”

Young Master Gao’s expression had grown dark.

Sixty thousand! Seventy thousand!

He was shouting the numbers in his mind – but couldn’t bring himself to say them aloud.

For the Gao family, fifty or sixty thousand guan was nothing but a drop in the ocean.
But it wasn’t his money.

If he truly wished, he could scrape together fifty, sixty, even seventy thousand – but to spend it on a courtesan? Absolutely impossible.

It seemed this girl was determined to win at any cost – which meant she was ready to tear things apart with him completely.

And turning against him meant turning against the entire Gao family.

She really dared to do that?

All this – for a courtesan?

If word got out, no one would even believe it!

“Young Master Gao, can you offer any higher?”

Listen to that – if that wasn’t provocation, what was it?

The girl before him not only said the words herself, but the maid at her side also gave the notes in her hand a little shake, ever so casually.

“We don’t write promissory notes – we pay in cash,” the maid said pointedly, as if to remind him. “If the cash runs short, we’ll put Tai Ping Residence, Immortal’s Abode, and Yichun Hall up as collateral.”

What?!

She was willing to stake her entire fortune!

Damn it!

Young Master Gao ground his teeth, glaring furiously.

Was she trying to gamble with her life?

If I keep bidding, would she really keep raising?

How far would she go?

Endlessly?

What a joke! Impossible – absolutely impossible!

Young Master Gao opened his mouth to call out another bid – but no sound came.

What if he raised the price, and that girl suddenly conceded? Wouldn’t he be the fool then?

And if he won, would that bring him any glory?

Glory, my ass! The moment that girl decided to compete with him over a courtesan, he’d already lost face!

Winning would only make him a bigger joke – and he’d still have to throw away a fortune, all to let this girl have her way!

Staring at the girl before him, Young Master Gao suddenly burst into laughter.

“Good, good, good!”

“Well done – Lady Cheng is truly magnanimous, spending gold like dirt for beauty’s sake. I dare not compete for love any longer,” he said, bowing with mock courtesy.

As soon as those words left his mouth, Madam Mo practically flew forward, snatching up the notes that Cheng Jiao-niang had thrown down and clutching them tightly to her chest.

“Ah-Heng, hurry and thank the lady!” she cried.

She didn’t care anymore – who cared about Young Master Gao, or about any so-called immortal’s disciple? Just one windfall like this in her lifetime was enough!

Lady Zhu smiled and curtsied toward Cheng Jiao-niang, then quickly rose and walked briskly toward her.

Watching the madam and the courtesan both scrambling over each other to fawn on their new patron, their eyes no longer even acknowledging his existence, Young Master Gao’s expression grew even darker.

Zhou Liu-lang finally burst into the room, fury still burning from having been stopped outside.

At a glance, he saw the madam and the courtesan fawning over that girl with obsequious smiles.

“What are you doing? Step aside!” he barked, striding forward, brows drawn tight, and raised a hand to stop the courtesan from coming any closer.

Disgust…

That was the look in his eyes – disgust and contempt.

She must look dreadful now…

Her hair was disheveled, her makeup ruined by tears, her clothes in disarray…

Yes, she must look truly awful.

How could she possibly be worthy of fifty thousand guan for a month?

Fifty thousand – money that most people could never earn in a lifetime – and she only had to spend a month accompanying a man to get it.

What easy money it was.

“Young Master Cheng,” Lady Zhu said with a smile, bowing gracefully. “I will go freshen up first, and then return to keep you company.”

With that, she turned and hurried off. Whether from haste or nerves, her steps were slightly unsteady – but at this moment, no one paid any mind to her lapse in composure.

And so the farce came to an end – or rather, one could say, it was only just beginning.

Lady Cheng – who would’ve thought! Who could have imagined that you would end up clashing head-on with our Gao family over something like this?

Young Master Gao looked at the girl seated calmly across from him. A cold sneer flickered in his heart, though his face still wore an easy smile.

“Lady Cheng truly is no ordinary person,” he said. “I admire you, truly I do – seems we’d never have known each other if not for this little… contest.”

Something about his words rang oddly, awkwardly forced.

“My apologies about Young Master Cheng’s hand,” he went on, smiling faintly as he shifted the tone, now laced with mock regret. Then, with brows raised, he turned toward his attendants. “You lot are far too reckless. I told you to drive him out, not to break his hand.”

The servants immediately lowered their heads in contrition.

“Who did it?” Young Master Gao barked.

One of the attendants stepped forward.

Young Master Gao shot him a cold glance and gave a short, contemptuous snort.

“An eye for an eye, a hand for a hand. You broke Young Master Cheng’s hand – now break your own to atone,” he said.

At those words, the hall fell into stunned silence once more. The attendant’s face went deathly pale.

But he knew Young Master Gao’s temper.

Between his hand and his life, he would rather keep his life.

Though losing a hand was as good as losing his future, disobeying meant a far worse death – one that might even bring ruin to his family.

Either way, he would die; at least this way, it would be quick – and his family might be spared.

With that thought, the attendant raised his arm and swung it hard against the nearby pillar.

“Wait!” Cheng Jiao-niang shouted.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. By the time the word left her lips, the attendant’s hand was already inches from the pillar – then came a sharp crack, followed by a muffled groan. Many in the room couldn’t help but shut their eyes and let out a low gasp.

A faintly triumphant sneer curled at the corner of Young Master Gao’s lips – but when his gaze fell upon the attendant, he froze.

The man had indeed fallen to the ground, but his hand was intact; instead, he was clutching his leg in pain.

A silver wine flask lay beside him on the floor.

Zhou Liu-lang exhaled, shook out his hand, and sat back down.

“Lady Cheng, what is the meaning of this?” Young Master Gao asked, frowning.

“Why, is Young Master Gao unable to accept defeat?” Cheng Jiao-niang replied.

He blinked, then gave a short laugh.

“How do you mean?” he said.

“In any contest, injuries are inevitable. It’s only natural that one less skilled should suffer a loss,” Cheng Jiao-niang said evenly, her gaze fixed on him. “My brother was injured because he lost. A loss is a loss – no need for apologies. You struck, and we can take it. But if Young Master Gao keeps fussing over such trivial matters after the contest is over, wouldn’t that seem rather petty?”

What?

I admit fault and that’s being petty?

Young Master Gao’s brows drew together.

“Besides,” Cheng Jiao-niang continued, “I do not concern myself with servants. They only follow orders – those who eat their lord’s grain owe their lord their loyalty. Whatever happens is their master’s responsibility. To vent one’s anger or exact punishment upon subordinates is no conduct of a gentleman.”

So that was why she had shot only headless arrows at the attendants?

And why, outside the hall, she hadn’t tangled with them at all but had gone straight for Young Master Gao himself?

Madam Mo stared blankly for a moment, her expression complicated.

So… servants weren’t always meant to be the chickens slaughtered to warn the monkeys.

This Lady Cheng – she truly was… different.

“If Young Master Gao truly wishes to speak of apology,” Cheng Jiao-niang went on, “then it shouldn’t be from these attendants – but from you.”

This girl – how daring!

Young Master Gao’s brows shot up.

“Lady Cheng, what do you mean by that?” he asked slowly, narrowing his eyes. “Are you suggesting that I should break my own hand?”