Chapter 130: The Courtesan Queen

At this moment, Fubao and the young Miss Chen were screaming their lungs out for help.

"Shut it, you brats! You’ve already cost me dozens of taels of silver; how dare you keep making such a racket!" a hunchbacked old man barked.

"Hey! Easy on the beating! If you break them, they won't fetch a good price," a man in brocade robes interjected, his face twisted into a vicious sneer as he spat out those malicious words.

"Boss, why don't you buy that chubby girl we snatched yesterday as well? If I keep her around any longer, I’ll be left with nothing but cold wind to drink," the hunchbacked old man said, rubbing his hands together with a fawning expression.

"Fine. Buy two, get one free. That fatty was just an incidental catch anyway," the man in brocade said nonchalantly, taking a sip of his tea.

"Many thanks, Boss."

"Fubao, what do we do? Are we done for?" the young Miss Chen whimpered, tears streaming down her face.

"Sigh! I should have realized that 'swindler' meant exactly that."

"No, we have to escape!" The young Miss Chen began to squirm.

Fubao: "..."

The group of lackeys: "..." Did they think they were ghosts?

"Behave! What are you twitching for?" A burly man lashed out with a whip, striking the young Miss Chen on the backside.

"Awoo!" The young Miss Chen let out a howl—it really hurt!

"Wuu wuu wuu, Fubao!" The young Miss Chen quickly squirmed back and buried herself in Fubao's arms, sobbing.

Fubao: "..." Wouldn't it be better to just stay still?

Before long, someone entered and whispered, "Boss, the Madame says three hundred taels in total. Payment upon delivery."

"Go, bring that fatty from yesterday along for the trade."

"Yes."

...

The three blindfolded girls were carried off to the Madame.

"Wow, this place is amazing!" The little chubby girl had just had her blindfold removed and was immediately captivated by the sea of beautiful, fluttering women around her.

"Huh? Little Princess, why are you here?" Fubao, finally able to see, recognized the chubby little princess.

"Huh? You..." The young Miss Chen finally recognized her too.

"Oh! Fubao, long time no see!" The little princess remained as enthusiastic as ever.

"Don't tell me you were tricked here by a meal, too?"

"No."

"Oh?"

"I was just abducted as an extra. It happened like this..."

The little princess, accustomed to roaming the palace, had done everything she could think of—pestering the Emperor in the study, slipping into the Eastern Palace to pester the Crown Prince—and then, on a whim, she snuck out of the palace. Just as she was tagging along with two pretty young ladies to bum a meal, the two ladies were bagged and carried off by a man claiming to be a swindler. To avoid having to pay for her own meal, the little princess had voluntarily climbed into a sack and was brought along.

Fubao and the young Miss Chen: "..."

"What do we do? We have to find a way to escape."

"We could slip out the window."

"We could pretend to be sick."

"We could..."

"Are we just furniture to you? Huh?" Watching the three little ones whispering about their escape as if they were mere dirt, the nearby lackey finally snapped. Did they think they were invisible?

"Eek! We've been discovered!" the little princess exclaimed.

Everyone else: "..."

Given that the three of them were quite pretty, the Madame decided to send them to the runway.

...

Gu Li dragged Gu Yun out, who had been submerged in a sea of ample bosoms the moment he walked through the door.

"Why are you here?" Gu Li asked with a darkened face.

"Hehe, sister..."

Gu Li: "..." The idiot was still mesmerized.

After a sound beating, Gu Yun confessed the truth: he had followed the Imperial Secret Guards. Rumor had it that the little princess had gone missing from the palace, and the Emperor, in a rage, had dispatched numerous Imperial Guards and secret agents to scour the city. Most importantly, whoever found the little princess first would be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold.

"So, you came here for the reward?" Gu Li clenched his fists, gritting his teeth.

"Not entirely."

"Oh?"

"I heard the young Miss Chen is missing too. The reward for finding her first is a thousand taels of silver."

Consequently, Gu Yun was given another sound thrashing by the furious Gu Li.

Just as the room was in a state of chaos, the courtesan selection contest hosted by the Madame began downstairs. A stunning, glamorous beauty walked out, her face veiled in light silk.

Gong Shaoyu was stunned. "Not bad, not bad. I never expected to see such peerless beauty in this world."

The first, the second, the third...

"Not bad, not bad."

"So beautiful, hehe, sister..."

Gong Shaoyu and Gu Yun leaned over the railing, hearts in their eyes.

"Look at these last three. They're hiding their faces with fans; they must be the grand finale beauties," the crowd below discussed.

"Why are all three coming out together? What is the Madame planning?"

"Who cares, as long as they're beauties."

"True."

Gu Li, who was drinking tea and happened to glance down, saw their silhouettes... and felt a sudden, ominous premonition!