Zhi Zhu frowned and thought for a while. After a long time, she nodded. "I... I'll give it a try."
"Okay. You should take a rest today," Su Mingyu said as she helped Zhi Zhu up and led her back to the bedroom.
After settling Zhi Zhu down, Su Mingyu let out a long breath and returned to her own bedroom.
She saw Gu Ruobai standing in front of the desk, reading a letter.
Su Mingyu walked up and glanced at the letter on the desk. "What are these?"
"These are the confidential letters I received when I was on the border," Gu Ruobai said, looking at Su Mingyu. "I've been thinking about what Shi Minglong said. Our operations were quite meticulous, but the person who framed me managed to do it without my knowledge. I suspect this person is someone close to me."
Su Mingyu nodded. "Do you have any suspects now?"
"No," Gu Ruobai replied simply. "At first, I thought this had something to do with the King of Yu, but after investigating for so long, it seems the King of Yu is not involved. I suspect there are other forces in the court plotting something secretly."
"Can someone escape your notice?" Su Mingyu frowned. She had seen Gu Ruobai's intelligence network, and if even he hadn't noticed, how deeply hidden could this person be?
"Yes," Gu Ruobai realized the seriousness of the problem. He narrowed his black eyes. "It seems I can't pretend to have a leg injury anymore."
Su Mingyu bit her lower lip. "How's Qing Feng's investigation on the chief minister?"
"There's no news yet. You'd better arrange the meeting with Shi Minglong first," Gu Ruobai said, rubbing his temples. He seemed a bit tired.
Su Mingyu stepped forward and massaged his acupoints. "Okay. Since we've pretended for so long, there's no need to rush."
Wu Yurou seemed really frightened by Su Mingyu's attitude. The next day, she behaved herself. After breakfast, she went back to her own courtyard and stayed there.
Thinking about Zhi Zhu's situation, Su Mingyu didn't have the mood to deal with Wu Yurou. Early the next morning, she went to the famous Nanyuan in the capital.
Looking at the various young men, Su Mingyu pursed her lips. She suddenly understood why powerful women in ancient times would keep male concubines. With so many good - looking young men, who wouldn't like them?
The madam recognized that Su Mingyu was a first - timer as soon as she saw her. She quickly stepped forward. "Miss, what kind of young man do you want?"
Su Mingyu didn't answer. Instead, she took out a silver ingot from her bosom and threw it to the madam.
At the sight of the silver, the madam beamed with joy. "I'll call out our best young men for you to choose from."
Hearing this, Su Mingyu raised her eyebrows and looked at the madam. "You've got good eyes. I'll wait for you in the courtyard."
Unlike brothels, Nanyuan emphasized elegance. There were screens every few steps and partitions every few meters, providing both privacy and tranquility.
Su Mingyu sat in the middle of the largest courtyard. After taking a couple of sips of tea, some men gradually walked up to her.
She looked up. They were all good - looking on average. It was really a high - quality Nanyuan.
Just as she was thinking, Su Mingyu lowered her head to take another sip of tea when a faint fragrance wafted over. A tall and slender man walked out from the bamboo forest.
His perfect features made him a real handsome man.
He was nearly seven feet tall and a bit thin. He was wearing a purple robe embroidered with green patterns. His black hair was neatly tied up in a bun on top of his head and held by a delicate white jade hairpin. Two light - green silk ribbons hung down from the hairpin, making him look both elegant and scholarly. Just from his appearance, he was different from the other young men.
Su Mingyu squinted and sized him up. Then she asked, "What's your name?"
"Tang Ziyan," the man replied. His voice was clear and pleasant, like the chirping of a golden oriole.
Su Mingyu nodded. Just then, the madam walked over. "Miss, make your choice. These are all the signature young men of our Nanyuan. Each of them is excellent."
"Indeed," Su Mingyu didn't hesitate to praise them.
She slowly stood up from the stool and walked up to the men, sizing them up one by one.
Finally, Su Mingyu stopped in front of Tang Ziyan and patted his chest. "You're the one."
Seeing this, the madam grinned. "Miss has really good taste. Tang Ziyan is the most popular young man here."
Hearing this, Su Mingyu understood what the madam meant.
She raised her hand to stop the madam's clichéd praise. "I want to take this young man back to my mansion for a few days. Name your price."
"Take him back to your mansion?" Both the madam and Tang Ziyan were stunned when Su Mingyu said this.
They had only heard of people coming to Nanyuan to find young men, but they had never heard of a lady being so bold as to take one back to her mansion.
Seeing their surprise, Su Mingyu felt a bit helpless and a bit amused. "What's wrong? Madam, are you not going to make this money?"
At the mention of money, the madam immediately came to her senses.
She quickly took out an abacus and started calculating. After a long time, she held up five fingers. "Fifty taels a day."
Su Mingyu almost didn't think before she agreed. "I'll give you five hundred taels first."
As she said this, Su Mingyu snapped her fingers. A guard behind her handed over a wooden box.
When the box was opened, it was filled with shiny silver.
The madam's eyes lit up immediately. "Then our young man will be disturbing you at your mansion."
Seeing the madam's straightforwardness, Su Mingyu was also straightforward. "I'll give you an address. Have someone send his things there later. I'll take Tang Ziyan back first."
As she was about to leave, Su Mingyu seemed to remember something. She turned back, looked at the madam, and waved to her. "Madam, although I'm openly looking for a young man, this is a family matter after all. I still need to save some face. So..."
"I understand, I understand," the madam nodded repeatedly. "Only the three of us will know where Tang Ziyan has gone. There will be absolutely no fourth person knowing about it."
Seeing this, Su Mingyu nodded. "Thank you."
Then she took Tang Ziyan and left Nanyuan. They got on the carriage back to the Rui Xian Prince's Mansion.
As soon as they got on the carriage, Tang Ziyan sat down next to Su Mingyu. "Miss doesn't seem to be here looking for a man."
His directness made Su Mingyu squint her eyes. "Why do you say so?"
"Your look when you looked at me was different. You just simply admired my face," Tang Ziyan's voice was clear and melodious, like a newly - emerged oriole.
Su Mingyu raised her eyebrows after hearing this. "You're right."