Notes:

花魁(huā kui): the word oiran, courtesans in Japan, comes from the word 花魁. It refers to the top or best entertainer of a pleasure house.

Wanhua house: Thousand Flowers house.

老鸨(lao bo): Female brothel keeper. I used pimp to this.

Chapter 6 Wanniang

The woman who had spoken walked out of the courtyard, and then someone in the house said: "Hongluan, it's better to apologize to the Mama and say that you are willing to stay." There was no reply in the house. After a while, a woman came out of the house and also went out of the courtyard.

  After listening carefully and examining her surroundings, Shen Wen jumped down from the roof and landed like a leaf on the ground. She slowly walked to the door and looked in through the gap in the hidden door. There was no furniture in this room except a table and a chair. There was a lamp on the table and a few plates stacked on top of each other. On the floor was a girl, who must have been about ten years old was kneeling upright.

   She was kneeling and her knees were between the vertical iron cones which were an inch high. The girl could not sit down or move out of the way, but had to kneel straight up.  She had a tray on her head, her hands were tied behind her back, and her feet were chained. Shen Wen thought ‘No wonder they can walk away without worrying, the door is not even locked.’

    Shen Wen slightly opened the door, while she was still standing in the shadows. The girl in the room did not move, her eyes looked at the ground and did not lift up. Shen Wen asked softly: "What was your original name?" She suspected that this was the woman she was looking for.

  The girl's eyelids trembled and she raised her eyes slightly, her body and neck not moving as she rolled her eyes to look this way. Under the faint candlelight, her eyes sparkled, her beauty was heavenly, and there was something so breathtakingly beautiful about her that Shen Wen felt she had found a person.

    Shen Wen in the dark shadow, the girl could not see her, waited for a while and asked: "Who are you?" Her voice was a little muffled. But the tone was gentle, and there was a moving charm.

   Shen Wen replied, "Passerby."

Shen Wen was only seven years old, and even though her tone was sophisticated, it was hard to hide the girl's childish voice. The girl lowered her eyes again and whispered listlessly, "You'd better go, this is not a good place."

 Shen Wen thought ‘just for your words, I would save you even if you were not the person I was looking for’, and then asked, "If I save you out of here later, can you work for me as a maid?

The girl didn't say anything and Shen Wen saw this stubborn look on her face and was busy adding:, "Maid is just a name, otherwise I will just save you and get out, where could you go?"

A line of tears flowed from the girl's eyes, and with a choked tone she said, "Little sister, thank you so much. You should go now; you will be in trouble when someone comes later.”

Shen Wen always cries by herself, still rarely sees others cry, busy comforting her.

"I know that being a maid has wronged you, don't cry, I treat you as a sister, you follow me first, when I grow up later and can be the master, I will definitely let you get out of slavery ......”

The girl's tears flowed even more, and she slowly calmed her breathing before saying, "Little sister, If you can save my mother and brother, not to mention that I can work for you as a slave, even as a cow or a horse, I am willing to do so. If I can't get out of it, then I will definitely end this life as soon as possible, so that I can repay you in my life!"

When she made such a tragic statement, Shen Wen quickly said, "Don't say that, I just want someone to help me, I don't want you for the lifetime, let alone your life. Let's agree on ten years, shall we? For ten years, you will be loyal to me and do not betray me.”

What's the use of talking about this when people haven't escaped yet?

The girl now felt that she had met a fool, moved for nothing for half a day, her tears gone, she bit her lip, sighed and whispered, "Little sister, it's so late, your family is probably looking for you."

    Shen Wen also sighed: "It seems that you do not promise, no way, I will save you, who let me like you as a person ......" childish voice, but partial old-fashioned tone.

    The girl almost laughed out, busy the neck, very slowly turned her face, but still can not see the dark shadow of Shen Wen, she slowed down the tone and said: "Little sister, thank you, you remember, my name is Su Wanniang, not some Hong luan or green luan. My Su family, men do not become servants, women do not become concubines, even if they die, they can not lose their integrity and innocence, this is what my father said. He passed away, I dare not forget even more. Little sister, go away, and do not come here again." In case this child was sent to her by those people to test her, she remained as before.

    Shen Wen was happy: this was exactly the person she was looking for! Her tone brought out the happiness: "Which room do you usually live in? You don't sleep here, do you?"

    The girl froze, puzzled by Shen Wen's quick leap, and said with some hesitation, "I live in the north room in the west courtyard here."

Shen Wen nodded: "Then I'll go first, I'll tell you what to do in a few days. These days you don't have to get hurt, you don't fight them so hard, you have to take it easy first. When I come to rescue you, you have to be able to run." With these words she went away, and in a flash the black shadow went up the gable wall without a sound. The girl in the room didn't know whether to hope or ignore the conversation, and for a moment she was disappointed.

Shen Wen ran relaxly towards Hou Fu feeling happy that she had finally found the person after spending so many days.

Su Wanniang who was the Huakui of the capital in her previous life was born in an official’s family. Her father was the head of the Ministry of Revenue. Su Wanniang grew up as a beautiful and intelligent girl, loved by her parents, and raised in a deep boudoir where she learned Four Arts (piano, chess, painting and calligraphy). In the spring of this year, her father was imprisoned for embezzlement. Her mother fell ill and her brother was only four years old. Su Wanniang, who was about to turn ten years old, took over the family business and immediately sold the family's assets to mediate for her father, But within a month, her father died in prison before the case was concluded, and then the family's assets were confiscated and the family was driven out into the streets.

Her father's family was in the south part of the country. The elders' family had already passed away and couldn't even find a messenger for the other relatives in a hurry. Su Wanniang's mother, Pan Shi, was originally the daughter of a low ranking official. She was sick and took her children back to her parents home, but they didn't even dare to let them in for fear of being implicated and affecting their official career. Reluctantly, mother and daughter sold the jewellery on their heads and rented a small room. Su Wanniang's mother became even more ill and Su Wanniang relied on embroidery to make ends meet.

After barely two months, when Su Wanniang once went out to buy medicine, she was seen by the pimp of Wanhua House on her way home. Once they met, the pimp said that she was naturally beautiful and had a flirtatious body, and that she wanted to buy her. Naturally, Su Wanniang refused. But the old pimp brought her people to her house the next day, forcibly sealed her hand in front of them and threw a few taels of silver to Pan Shi, who was lying in bed with her, and robbed her.

After entering Wanhua House, Su Wanniang refused to comply and escaped several times, but was caught. In the autumn of that year, Pan Shi became more seriously ill. Su Wanniang escaped to see her mother lying in bed and cried her heart out. When she was caught again, she gave in to the pimp and asked for only one thing, that she should be paid monthly to support her family. The pimp agrees. After all, two Guan tales money per month is not much  compared to a Daughter’s night in Wanhua House.

When Su Wanniang had money, she found someone to send letters to her father's relatives. She wanted them to come and pick up her younger brother. She also hired a woman to take care of her mother and younger brother. The woman who had been hired made big promises, but in reality she resented the fact that Pan Shi could not get up and could be difficult to serve, while her four-year-old child was of little help to her, so she was very impatient. Every time Su Wanniang had someone send her money, the people in the middle took a percentage, and the amount that reached the woman was not much, so she was even less concerned.

In the autumn of that year, Pan Shi became ill and died. When winter came, Su Wanniang's brother caught typhoid fever, the woman did not call a doctor and the child died after a few days of fever. What is hateful is that the woman did not tell Su Wanniang in order to continue to get the money, but only had the deceased buried casually in the countryside.

When the New Year came, Su Wanniang begged the pimp and was finally able to go home for once. When she arrived at the door, the woman saw her through the window and ran away through the back window. When Su Wanniang knocked on the door but it didn't open, she panicked. When she found a neighbour, she found out that her mother and brother had passed away long ago, and she was still paying the person who indirectly killed them month after month. Su Wanniang went mad on the spot. She smashed open the door of the house and rushed in, looking at the empty room she cried out in pain.

Later, when people from Wanhua House came looking for her, Su Wanniang cried and hugged her mother and brother's remnants and did not want to go back. But she had used the money from Wanhua House and sued the officials without any courtesy. So naturally she was pulled back again. Once again, she was tossed around every day, refusing to learn the art. Soon after, her father's relatives arrived in the capital and found Su Wanniang. They denounced her for being degenerate and unfilial to her mother and not protecting her brother, and for disgracing the Su family's ancestors, telling her that she would be removed from the family tree.

Su Wanniang didn't cry this time and started learning the art again, but only requested the pimp: she would not use her stage name from now on, but her real name. When a woman enters prostitution, she is afraid of insulting her ancestors. So who would use her real name? The pimp thought it was because Su Wanniang hated the Su family for wanting to remove her from the family tree and thus take revenge on the Su family. The pimp didn't care about this, as long as Su Wanniang was obedient and her real name was good, so she agreed.

From then on, Su Wanniang studied hard to learn the arts. Three years later, she became famous for her ability to sing and dance, coupled with her unparalleled beauty.

Her eyes were so beautiful that a song or dance could make people so enchanted that they didn't know where they were going. It was once said that "when Wanniang danced, nine of the ten streets were empty".

At the age of fifteen, she won the title of Huakui of the capital. In order to auction off her virgin night, the Wanhua House has arranged an expensive banquet of dance and song, where Su Wanniang will dance and sing to show off her beauty. This dinner party has become a symbol of wealth and elegance. Even the Crown Prince admires her and comes in disguise, and he was assigned to the front row.

On this night, with a dance and song, Su Wanniang showed the people a beautiful dance and a heart-warming song that should only be found in heaven. She had made several gestures in front of the Crown Prince's seat, making people think that she must be interested in him. The old pimp was also very satisfied and she told Su Wanniang to please the Crown Prince more. Su Wanniang really obeyed and all those years of cultivation finally paid off.

At the peak of the song and dance, Su Wanniang, who was dressed in a multi-colored gown, swirls speedily around in a mist of fragrance, the jade bracelets on her arms tingling. Underneath her feet are layers of flowers swirled by the whirlwind of her dance skirt, as if she were a fairy wandering among million flowers.

 As the people were mesmerised by the scene, Su Wanniang pounced straight at the Crown Prince with a bright light object. Although she moved quickly, she is after all a dancer and has no kung fu skills. The guard beside the Crown Prince used his sword sheath to block her and she lost her aim. The Crown Prince sidestepped and Su Wanniang's blade only cut the Crown Prince's upper arm.

Several men pinned Su Wanniang to the ground. Amidst the chaos, Su Wanniang breathed out and shouted loudly, her voice was clear and sharp, as if it could inscribe on metal. She said that the Crown Prince had instructed someone to frame her father and then kill him in prison. She then thanked the pimp in a loud voice for raising her and said she regretted that she had no way to repay him in this life. She had been trained to speak clearly and quickly and after a few words she bit her tongue before the guards had time to gag her.

The Crown Prince was furious and ordered that the WanHua House should be searched and investigated immediately. The pimps and others were taken to jail and tortured to find out who was responsible for it. Everyone in the hall held their breath and did not speak. The next day, Su Wanniang's naked body was displayed to the public and then abandoned in the wilderness, and the corpse was not allowed to be collected.......

Shen Wen knew that by this time the Eldest Prince, later the Crown Prince with the help of his future father-in-law, had already started to move. Su Wanniang's father was in the Ministry of the Revenue, in charge of gold and silver, and was probably a dissident that the Eldest Prince wanted to weed out, and it was no surprise that he was killed. The fact that Su Wanniang was able to find out shows her wisdom. Shen Wen only regrets that she is too young to be involved in the politics of the imperial court. It took so much effort to find Su Wanniang, let alone save her father.

Judging by the timing, Su Wanniang had just been robbed into the Wanhua House and had not yet succumbed in order to cure her mother and support her brother. Shen Wen decided to do it as soon as possible. She could not directly ask Yang Shi to redeem Su Wanniang from Wanhua House. There were many spies mixed in the Hou Fu. If Su Wanniang's father was someone the Crown Prince wanted to remove, Hou Fu could not take the initiative. If she wanted to save Su Wanniang, she could only disguise it as an accident.