Seeing Su Mingyu so eager to explain, Gu Ruobai suddenly burst out laughing.
The laughter was clear and pleasant, and the hint of joy in it made Su Mingyu laugh too.
Just as the atmosphere in the private room was turning harmonious, the door was suddenly kicked open.
The person kicked the door with great force. Su Mingyu didn't have time to put on her veil again and could only stare at the intruder in surprise.
The man was wearing a luxurious dark purple robe. He was short and plump. Maybe because he was drunk and staggering, from afar, he looked like a walking purple grape.
Su Mingyu frowned involuntarily when she saw him. "Who are you?"
The purple grape opened his tiny soybean - sized eyes and stared directly at Su Mingyu. After a long while, he grinned. "You still claim this isn't a brothel. Only in a brothel can there be such a beautiful young lady."
Saying this, the man lunged towards Su Mingyu.
But before he could reach her, a leg stretched out and tripped him flat on his face.
The man let out an "ouch", then looked up and glared angrily at Gu Ruobai. "You! How dare you! Do you know who I am? How dare you trip me!"
Oh, so this guy has a background?
Su Mingyu raised an eyebrow at Gu Ruobai, signaling that she would handle it and telling Gu Ruobai to step aside so as not to be discovered.
Gu Ruobai fixed her gaze on the purple grape on the ground, then lowered her eyes and slipped into the inconspicuous shadow beside.
"Hey! You dare to run away!"
The man scrambled to his feet from the ground and chased after Gu Ruobai.
Su Mingyu stepped forward and slapped him. "Do you know who I am? How dare you look at me with such lewd eyes! Be careful or I'll dig out your eyes!"
Su Mingyu spoke with such authority that it really intimidated the man.
The man looked at Su Mingyu with a dazed look in his eyes, then looked again. "Who on earth are you? Why don't I recognize you?"
Su Mingyu laughed. "Do you think just any rich young master can recognize me? I should be asking who you are!"
The man sneered and pointed at his own nose. "This young master? A rich young master?"
"You really are blind! This young master is Shi Jian, the son of the current Minister of Revenue!"
Oh, once Su Mingyu heard his self - introduction, she was delighted. She had been worried about not finding an entry point, and here this guy had just offered himself up.
Su Mingyu fixed her gaze and immediately turned her anger into a smile as she looked at Shi Jian. "So you're the son of the Minister of Revenue. I really am sorry. There's someone in my family working under Ye Weiguang, the Langzhong of the Granary Department. So, in a way, our family is under your family's jurisdiction."
Once the onlookers heard Su Mingyu say this, they all left.
They had thought it would be a fierce confrontation, but unexpectedly, it turned out they were acquaintances, and the matter just ended like this.
When most of the people had left, Su Mingyu smiled and generously invited Shi Jian into the private room. "Young Master Shi, please."
Shi Jian didn't expect Su Mingyu to be so sensible. His eyes lit up, and he swaggered in with a smirk.
Just as Su Mingyu was about to close the door, she asked, "Young Master Shi, does your servant want to come in?"
"No need." Shi Jian thought Su Mingyu was going to have an intimate encounter with him, so he was grinning from ear to ear and didn't care about his servant at all.
Seeing this, Su Mingyu winked at the servant. "Little brother, I prefer it to hurt a bit. So no matter what you hear later, please don't come in."
The servant had never seen such an open - minded woman before. He blushed at Su Mingyu's words and quickly lowered his head to the ground. "I... I know."
After closing the door again, Su Mingyu bolted it and then slowly walked up to Shi Jian.
As soon as she sat down, Su Mingyu poured a glass of wine for him. "I've long heard that Young Master Shi is a man of extraordinary bearing. Now that I've seen you, the rumor is true."
Shi Jian was so flattered by the praise that when he reached out to take the wine cup, he tried to touch the back of Su Mingyu's hand.
But Su Mingyu dodged very nimbly.
"Don't be in such a hurry, Young Master Shi. I'm just one of many daughters in my family."
Saying this, Su Mingyu raised an eyebrow at Shi Jian, signaling him to drink the wine in his hand first. "So it's my fortune that Young Master Shi has taken a fancy to me. I'm also willing to follow Young Master Shi. It's just... Young Master Shi, my family..."
Looking at Su Mingyu's raised eyebrows, Shi Jian's heart melted. He gulped down the wine in his hand in one go, not noticing at all that the wine tasted a bit more bitter than usual. "Don't worry. Once you're with me, I'll promote the people in your family as soon as I get back."
Hearing this, Su Mingyu clapped her hands happily.
But her clapping was very slow. It didn't look like a celebration but rather like a welcome.
"Clap, clap, clap..."
Su Mingyu's clapping was very rhythmic. At first, Shi Jian just thought it was a bit loud, like someone talking right next to his ear.
Later, Shi Jian thought the gentle sound was very pleasant and seemed to soothe the turmoil in his mind.
In the end, the only sound in Shi Jian's mind was Su Mingyu's clapping, and his eyes became dazed.
Su Mingyu lowered her eyes and looked at Shi Jian, asking in as gentle a tone as possible, "Young Master Shi, do you know who Shi Minglong is on good terms with in the palace?"
Shi Jian thought for a while and then mechanically named a series of people.
Su Mingyu waved at Gu Ruobai, calling over Gu Ruobai with a very ugly expression.
"Listen and see if there's anyone suspicious among them."
Gu Ruobai frowned. "No. Mu Yi has investigated all of them."
No?
Su Mingyu frowned and bit her finger as she looked at Shi Jian's fat and stupid appearance, feeling worried.
Judging from Shi Jian's good - for - nothing appearance, Shi Minglong definitely hadn't told him his core secrets.
So how could she ask?
Su Mingyu softly asked Shi Jian, "Do you know how many women Shi Minglong has outside?"
"Yes." Shi Jian nodded slowly and then continued, "There are about a dozen..."
Saying this, Shi Jian named those women again.
Su Mingyu and Gu Ruobai looked at each other for a while but didn't find anything special.
Seeing Su Mingyu's troubled look, Gu Ruobai thought for a while and then asked, "Do you have any secrets about Shi Minglong that you've kept from him?"
Su Mingyu was just about to say that such a complicated question might wake the man up, but unexpectedly, after a moment of silence, Shi Jian nodded. "Yes!"
There really was?
Su Mingyu frowned and continued to press, "What's the secret?"
"I know there's a very fragrant imperial concubine who often comes to our mansion at midnight. And every time that imperial concubine is coming, Father will send away the maids around him."