Chapter 164: The Pavilion of Ten Thousand Flowers

"Next," a cold sneer played on Chu Junhan's lips, "naturally, is to completely churn the muddy waters of the Tianqing Kingdom!"

Without Du Yong's troops, let me see what you, Xiao Shengjie, will use to fight me? Do you expect to rely on those sickly garrison troops from Pingzhou?

Leaving the Du residence, Chu Junhan did not linger for a moment and headed straight for the Wanhua Pavilion. There was one matter she needed Mengmeng to investigate as thoroughly as possible without delay—the garrison deployment map of Pingzhou!

...

Inside the Crown Prince's Mansion, Xiao Shengjie was restless and ill at ease.

"Reporting to Your Highness, Chu Junhan has gone to the Wanhua Pavilion." Already overwhelmed and exhausted by the Jiuling Firm over the massacre of the Liu family, he was greeted by yet another guard at his door bringing news.

A sharp throbbing pain pierced Xiao Shengjie's temples. He rubbed the bridge of his nose without even raising his head, and said impatiently, "Let her go then. There's no need to report unless there is an emergency. Withdraw!"

"Understood!"

The guard retreated. Inside the room, the young man continued to sit with his eyes lightly closed, massaging his temples, showing no further reaction.

However, this exchange had been overheard by a young woman hiding near the flower beds.

Liu Yan'er crouched in the shadows of the flower beds, her dainty fists clenched tightly, her thin lips bitten slightly, her eyes filled with fierce malice.

Chu Junhan, your hands are stained with the blood of my entire Liu family's annihilation. Whatever you owe me, I, Liu Yan'er, will collect every single bit of it!

"If I cannot find peace, neither shall you!" The young woman's eyes darkened as she stood up and left the Crown Prince's Mansion.

She had nothing left now. Following her father's death, perhaps because she had lost her utility, even Xiao Shengjie had grown cold toward her, lacking his former warmth and ardor!

It seemed she had become a completely dispensable existence.

With her face covered by a veil, Liu Yan'er walked straight toward the Wanhua Pavilion.

Naturally, a young maiden trying to enter the Wanhua Pavilion would be stopped by the burly guards at the entrance.

"This humble girl's family has fallen on hard times, and I wish to seek a meager livelihood here," the veiled young woman said, her voice gentle. She drew a small piece of shattered silver from her bosom, slipped it to the guard at the door, and curtsied slightly, "I beg the two kind brothers to accommodate me and pass a word to the madam of this place."

The guard who received the silver weighed the fragments in his hand, cast an up-and-down glance at the curvaceous young woman, and nodded slightly, "Wait here!"

A moment later, the procuress dragged her feet as she followed the guard to the entrance, still muttering discontentedly, "Where did this beggar come from? Trying to ruin my business?"

"This humble girl, Yan'er, pays her respects to Madam." Liu Yan'er curtsied lightly. Though her face was veiled, her voice was exceptionally sweet—from her voice alone, one could already deduce she was a rare beauty.

At the sight of her, the procuress's eyes lit up with golden greed. Such an otherworldly masterpiece of a woman was hard to find even for a thousand pieces of gold; she was simply a living money tree!

"Oh my, no wonder the magpies have been chirping endlessly today—so a distinguished guest has graced us!" The procuress wriggled her plump waist, slapped her hand over Liu Yan'er's, and grinned from ear to ear.

"What is Yan'er skilled in?" the procuress asked as she pulled the young woman into the pavilion, turning back to appraise her. The more she looked at the young woman's figure, the more delighted she became!

"Yan'er has been well-versed in the musical arts since childhood," Liu Yan'er replied, casting a fleeting glance toward a youth on the second floor. "Madam, would you permit Yan'er to play the zither?"

The procuress suddenly halted, her smile freezing on her face. Her expression turned sour as she snapped, "You came here wanting to be a courtesan artist? We certainly are not lacking girls who can play the zither!"

With that, she pointed toward a young woman behind a screen on the second floor. "Look over there. That is one of the finest zither players in the entire city of Pingzhou."

"Madam might as well let Yan'er try," Liu Yan'er said, pulling out a piece of jade and slipping it into the procuress's palm. "If it doesn't work out, it won't be too late to assign me to something else."