#896 - Window open and closed

Soon, the table was filled with dishes and a pot of liquor brewed by the innkeeper himself.

The inn was small, so the food wasn't particularly good, but it wasn't bad either, basically just home-style cooking.

Wei Changtian didn't mind, and while drinking and eating, he chatted with Gu Pan'er.

Gu Pan'er knew Wei Changtian's identity, and although she was curious as to why he would stay in such a small inn, she was sensible enough not to ask too much.

On the contrary, after chatting for a while, Wei Changtian roughly understood her current situation.

Yesterday's assassination had destroyed most of the Full Blossom House, and even killed a few people, so it was impossible to continue operating. The owner of the Full Blossom House had temporarily asked the girls to find a place to stay, waiting for further "instructions".

According to Gu Pan'er, she would likely have two options.

Either wait for the Full Blossom House to be renovated and then return to "work".

Or be sold to another brothel to "work".

In short, continuing to "work" would not change because of this accident.

However, Gu Pan'er had saved up a lot of silver over the years, and she happened to encounter such an event, so she wanted to take this opportunity to discuss with the madam to see if she could redeem herself.

Gu Pan'er was not an official courtesan, so redeeming herself did not require official approval.

However, even if she wasn't the top girl in the Full Blossom House, she was considered a popular one, so the price of redemption was not cheap, a full five thousand taels.

Five thousand taels, this was an unimaginable number for ordinary people, and even Wei Changtian was slightly stunned when he first heard it.

"Five thousand taels? That's so expensive?"

He took a sip of wine, recalling that when Chu Xianping redeemed Song Li in Jizhou City, it only cost five hundred taels, so he casually said, "I had a friend before, who only spent five hundred taels to redeem his lover, I thought it should be about the same."

"Five hundred taels, Young Master, your friend's lover must have just entered the pleasure quarter, right?"

Gu Pan'er lowered her head and softly explained, "Redeeming newcomers is cheap, usually just a little more than the price they were sold for."

"But someone like me... often needs to come up with the amount they can earn in five years at once."

"Is that so?"

Looking at Gu Pan'er's melancholy expression, Wei Changtian put down his wine cup and gently nodded.

This was the first time he had learned about these things.

The amount that can be earned in five years...

Gu Pan'er's overnight fee as a popular girl must be three to five taels, and even if she only took a client every three days, she could indeed earn almost five thousand taels in five years.

So, if she wanted to redeem herself now, she would have to come up with so much money at once.

Good heavens.

According to this calculation, if Yang Liushi wanted to redeem herself back then, wouldn't it have been at least over one hundred thousand taels?

Fortunately, the latter "escaped", otherwise he might not have been able to come up with so much money at that time.

Tsk tsk tsk, so dark.

But then again, Gu Pan'er was just an ordinary popular girl in an ordinary brothel, and she was able to save so much money, which shows that this industry does make money quickly...

"Have you saved enough silver?"

Picking up a piece of food, Wei Changtian casually said, "If it's not enough, tell me, I can help you out."

"..."

Suddenly raising her head, Gu Pan'er stared blankly at the calm and composed Wei Changtian, her eyes instantly becoming very complicated.

Actually, for Wei Changtian, this was just a casual remark.

After all, a few hundred or a few thousand taels was not much money to him.

Moreover, strictly speaking, it was because of him that Gu Pan'er was now "homeless", so giving her some money could be considered compensation.

So he didn't have any other "intentions", it was just a casual question since the conversation had reached this point.

It's just that Wei Changtian obviously didn't understand the impact of the sentence "I'll redeem you" on a brothel girl.

"Wei, Young Master Wei..."

Her red lips trembled slightly, Gu Pan'er almost subconsciously called out softly.

"Hmm?"

Wei Changtian raised his head and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"The, the silver I've saved should be enough..."

"Oh, that's good."

Too lazy to guess why Gu Pan'er's face turned red again, Wei Changtian casually replied and continued to eat in silence.

Gu Pan'er also tried to calm down, picking up her chopsticks and eating the dishes in small bites, occasionally stealing glances at Wei Changtian.

The conversation between the two came to a temporary end.

At the same time, on the second floor of the inn, a man with shifty eyes was wandering outside a certain room.

After realizing that there was no one around, he shook a piece of wire out of his sleeve and poked it into the keyhole a few times.

Then...

"Click."

About a quarter of an hour later, Wei Changtian, having finished his meal, returned to his room.

Only now did he realize that Gu Pan'er actually lived next door to him.

What a coincidence...

He exchanged a few simple pleasantries with Gu Pan'er at the door, then turned around and closed the door.

Soon, Wei Changtian heard a slight opening and closing of the door next door.

Not thinking too much about Gu Pan'er, he just walked to the table, brewed a pot of tea, and then took out the Mother-Son Jade to send a message to Zhang San.

Although he had to hide here for a few days in order to lure out that mysterious person.

But things on all sides could not be stopped because of this, and what should continue had to continue.

He roughly told Zhang San about his plan, and also asked the latter to send Li Zimu to the courtyard later to interrogate the two assassins.

After receiving Zhang San's reply, Wei Changtian put away the Mother-Son Jade, sat at the table and drank a pot of tea, carefully sorting out the current situation in his mind.

Coming to Daqian was originally just to destroy the Jing family, but he didn't expect such a mysterious person to emerge.

Fortunately, the situation in Linchuan was not greatly affected by this, and only the last step was needed to win over Su Qi.

So Wei Changtian decided to "grasp both".

On the one hand, he had to continue to investigate the identity of this mysterious person, and on the other hand, he could not give up continuing to put pressure on Su Qi.

The only thing was that he didn't bring many people with him this time, and the "two-line battle" was a bit insufficient now.

It would be great if Qin Zhengqiu and Chu Xianping were still around like before.

Alas...

Thinking of these two people, Wei Changtian couldn't help but sigh softly.

He knew that the relationship between himself and Qin Zhengqiu and Chu Xianping could no longer return to what it was before.

The former now had to rely on "Jade Dew Powder" to maintain his sanity, and he didn't know how long Xu Sui's system points could continue to "support" him.

Once the supply of Jade Dew Powder was "cut off", and Qin Zhengqiu's mind was controlled by the Heart Demon, his grandfather was probably the first one to come and kill him.

As for Chu Xianping...

Since he left Yongding City, Wei Changtian had not heard any news from him.

However, judging from Chu Xianping's previous "agreement" with him, no news was good news.

After all, if Chu Xianping really sent him a message one day, it would probably be his last words...

Shaking his head, he got up and walked to the window.

Wei Changtian was about to reach out and close the window when he suddenly heard the sound of a window opening next door.

Turning his head to look, it was Gu Pan'er, holding a wooden pole in her hand, leaning out to prop up the window.

"Young Master Wei..."

Gu Pan'er also saw Wei Changtian at this time, and her face couldn't help but turn red again.

The two looked at each other, then each moved their gaze away.

Then, one window opened, and one window closed.