"That young master is an acquaintance of mine. Stop vying for him," the woman said.
It seemed that the woman had noticed Gu Jiangyue's awkwardness. She gave Gu Jiangyue a meaningful look and tightened her grip on Gu Jiangyue's arm.
"Right, young master?"
Seeing that Gu Jiangyue didn't respond for a long time, she gently nudged Gu Jiangyue with her elbow. Only then did Gu Jiangyue come to her senses. She quickly nodded with a smile.
"Yes. Let's go."
Since Gu Jiangyue was also a woman, she didn't have any scruples. She directly grabbed the woman's hand and was about to leave.
"Disperse, everyone. He's already chosen someone," she said.
When the other women saw that this was indeed the case, they didn't continue to pester them and scattered in a hubbub.
The woman beamed, looking extremely sincere. She held Gu Jiangyue's arm and walked to a corner. When no one was paying attention to them, she finally let go of Gu Jiangyue's arm.
"You can just call me Xiaonian, young master. If you're here to gather information this time, Xiaonian will tell you everything I know," Xiaonian said.
Xiaonian looked quite young. With a round face, she propped her chin up and looked at Gu Jiangyue.
"How did you know that I'm not here for such vulgar things?"
Gu Jiangyue didn't rush to ask Xiaonian. Instead, she probed first. She couldn't be sure that Xiaonian wasn't bought off and was just pretending to know so much about her.
"I could tell from your brows. You look like a young master from a noble family. How could you lack women like us around you? You came here to gather information last time. Xiaonian guessed that this time it should be the same," Xiaonian said, raising her head high. She seemed quite proud of her guess just now and looked innocent.
"What if I say you guessed wrong?"
Gu Jiangyue tried to stare at Xiaonian, trying to find any flaws. But she saw Xiaonian looking embarrassed and saying,
"Then I'll call all those elder sisters back."
Now Gu Jiangyue could be sure that this Xiaonian wasn't someone with ulterior motives. Her intention might just be to get more silver from her.
Just as Xiaonian was about to stand up, Gu Jiangyue called her back.
"You guessed right. I'm here to gather information."
Xiaonian sat back down directly. Her eyes sparkled with light, and she said with a smile,
"Just ask whatever you want, young master."
Xiaonian thoughtfully poured a cup of tea for Gu Jiangyue and placed it in front of her. Then she sat there obediently. Gu Jiangyue didn't beat around the bush anymore and directly asked,
"It's still about Mu Xia and Xie Chengrui. Is Mu Xia still in this brothel?"
Xiaonian thought for a moment and then replied,
"Mu Xia is still here. But she'll soon be taken away by the Second Prince. Mu Xia said that the Second Prince wants to marry her as his principal wife. She's very happy and has given away a lot of things. This bracelet was given to me by her."
As she said this, Xiaonian raised her wrist and placed it in front of Gu Jiangyue. There was indeed a bracelet on it, and it looked of good quality.
After showing the bracelet to Gu Jiangyue, Xiaonian leaned closer to her. She even lowered her voice and said,
"I don't know what's wrong with Mu Xia recently. The madam said she's sick, but she was fine a few days ago. I think it's strange."
Xiaonian's meaning was obvious. She thought Mu Xia was faking it, but she just didn't point it out. Xiaonian didn't know what Mu Xia was hiding, but Gu Jiangyue knew very well.
Mu Xia was avoiding Xie Chengrui. She was afraid that Xie Chengrui would find out that she didn't know astrology and was just pretending, so she pretended to be sick.
"Do you think Xie Chengrui will really marry Mu Xia? Or has Xie Chengrui been here recently?"
Gu Jiangyue asked the question that had been bothering her. Xiaonian answered quite straightforwardly.
"I don't know why, but the last time Xie Chengrui came, he was extremely high - profile. He seemed to think that marrying Mu Xia was a great thing. I'm not a rich person, and I can't understand why a prince like Xie Chengrui would be so happy to marry a brothel courtesan. But I think Xie Chengrui should marry Mu Xia."
It seemed that Mu Xia was quite smart and didn't publicize this matter because of a little vanity. After all, the well - informed Xiaonian still didn't know about Mu Xia's so - called astrology skills, which was proof.
"Okay, I see."
Gu Jiangyue asked all the questions she wanted to know. Then she took out another piece of silver from her purse and handed it to Xiaonian. Xiaonian took the silver and bowed deeply to Gu Jiangyue.
"Thank you, young master. Then Xiaonian will take her leave."
After saying that, Xiaonian put the silver in her pocket and walked to one side.
Gu Jiangyue sat at the table, drank the cup of tea that Xiaonian had just poured in one gulp, and then stared at the second floor. Finally, her gaze landed on the room with Mu Xia's name on it. After looking at it for a while, Gu Jiangyue decided to go and find Mu Xia. She wanted to help Mu Xia disguise herself well so as to prevent Mu Xia's deception from being discovered and ruining her good deed.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Gu Jiangyue quietly went up to the second floor. She knocked on Mu Xia's closed door. The person inside was obviously startled by the sound, and there was dissatisfaction in her tone.
"Who is it? I'm not seeing guests."
Mu Xia's tone was much more arrogant than the last time they met, but Gu Jiangyue didn't show any timidity. Now she was the one who decided Mu Xia's fate.
"It's me."
Mu Xia remembered Gu Jiangyue's voice very clearly. She was constantly worried that Gu Jiangyue would come back and tell everyone about this.
Seeing that Mu Xia inside the door seemed to be frightened and didn't say a word for a long time, Gu Jiangyue said again,
"Open the door."
This time, her tone wasn't as gentle as before. Mu Xia obediently opened the door after a while. Gu Jiangyue walked in and saw that Mu Xia's hands were trembling slightly.
"Why did you come back early, young master? Did things get resolved quickly?"
Mu Xia stood beside Gu Jiangyue and even forgot to sit down. She forced a smile.
Gu Jiangyue was too lazy to beat around the bush with her and directly got to the point. Her voice also turned cold.
"I've heard about what happened in the capital. Congratulations, Miss Mu Xia."
Mu Xia's body visibly trembled when she heard this. It seemed that she had a great mental struggle before frowning and saying,
"Sir, I really had no other choice. I didn't do it on purpose. He said he would marry me. I was afraid he would... I was afraid he would go back on his word, so I had no choice but to do this. This is my only way out. Please, sir."
Mu Xia's tears were about to fall. She constantly pleaded with Gu Jiangyue. If Gu Jiangyue told this matter, she would not only have deceived Xie Chengrui but also committed the crime of deceiving the emperor.
"What do you mean, Miss Mu Xia? I didn't say I would tell this matter. A gentleman delights in helping others fulfill their wishes. I'm here to help you, Miss Mu Xia."
The stern look on Gu Jiangyue's face showed a gentle smile at this moment, but this smile made Mu Xia extremely uncomfortable.