(Announcement: Some book friends reported that singing and fighting skills looked too awkward, so I changed it to the Feihua Ling plot, and the plot was unchanged, but Miss Huang was missing. Wang Haihan.)

………

Prostitutes in the Song Dynasty were all official prostitutes. Unlike secret prostitutes who secretly sold meat, every brothel woman had files in the government.

If a brothel wants to redeem a life, he must first redeem the contract of selling the body and the contract of the title, and then the buyer will register at the government office and change the title.

Therefore, if Du Ruo wants to check how many brothel women in Meizhou have redeemed their lives during this period, it doesn’t take much effort. He just needs to go to the state yamen house to review the files and check them.

He found Du Shouyi and asked him to transfer relevant files from the household house in the name of routine work. Du Ruo and Shangguan Jinsuo secretly started to inquire.

They found that during this period, many prostitutes in brothels in Meizhou were redeemed. Most of them were bought by rich people as concubines. The prostitutes were originally cheap, but they were still cheap in changing to concubines.

Only after three years of being a concubine can you be converted to a wife and leave the humble family.

There are also some prostitutes who redeem themselves for themselves. Without exception, all the prostitutes' deeds of redeeming their lives have been changed to civilians.

This means that after they return to their normal lives, offspring men can take the scientific examination and women can marry their wife.

This is the provision in the Song Dynasty's "Tiansheng Order". In the entire history of ancient China, prostitutes in other dynasties did not have such treatment.

The focus of Du Ruo and Shangguan's inquiry was naturally that there were eight self-redded prostitutes, including five of them over forty years old, two of them over thirty years old, and only one of them under thirty years old.

"This woman is the most suspected, and it is probably Wang Lei's friend. Let's check her first!" Shangguan said.

He said it right. Wang Lei is unlikely to take a big risk of stealing an elderly prostitute with a weak sex. The only prostitute under thirty years old should be investigated.

Du Ruo nodded, but when he saw the woman's name, his expression became strange because the woman's name was - Xue Wan'er.

Xue Wan'er in Qunfanglou.

The time for her to redeem was exactly seven days ago, when Wang Lei was just captured.

"Let's go and find Xue Wan'er."

There were countless thoughts in his mind, and Du Ruo suppressed them. He felt that Xue Wan'er and Wang Lei should have nothing to do, because she was devoted to music a few days ago, not as if she was involved in anything.

But it may not be accurate, so you always have to ask for verification.

It was morning, and the wind in Meizhou was quite strong today. The spring breeze blew the withered peach blossoms, and the city was full of pink.

After leaving the state yamen, Du Ruo and Shangguan walked on the street. A miniature cyclone rolled up several peach blossoms and followed him all the time. It was quite magical.

"hey-hey!"

Du Ruo was amused when he looked at the miniature whirlwind. He had encountered this situation in his previous life, but the cyclone was just scraped with scraps of paper or fallen leaves.

"This is a sign of 'Peach Blossom Lucky'. The master must have a woman helping him today. I want to congratulate you on your behalf."

Shangguan Jinsuo chuckled and congratulated Du Ruo. Du Ruo also laughed, thinking that he was flattering. He understood that this was just a natural phenomenon, because people would drive airflow when walking, so the whirlwind would follow people.

As for the peach petals in the whirlwind, it just happened. If it was autumn, it would definitely be dead leaves.

But after thinking about it, Shangguan seemed to be right, because he could remember to check prostitutes, and it was Zheng who helped him.

After getting on the carriage, the peach blossom cyclone naturally dissipated. Soon, Du Ruo and Shangguan Jinsuo came to Qunfang Building.

At this time, Qunfang Tower was still lively, and the sound of silk and bamboo inside was endless, but it was much worse than at night.

Shangguan Jinsuo was still unwilling to enter the fireworks place and was only waiting outside, so Du Ruo had to go in by himself.

"Young Master Du!"

What Du Ruo did not expect was that as soon as he entered the door, he was recognized immediately and caused a sensation.

"Young Master Du, I miss you so much!"

A woman Du Ruo didn't know was the first to touch him, put her arm in his mouth, and whispered: "Let me accompany you, please."

She was slutty first, then whispering, and her eyes were filled with stories, which made Du Ruo's heart move, but before he could speak, several women came to pull him.

"Young Master Du, go to my place and you will have something good to show you!"

"Come on my place, I have a unique skill!"

…………

At this time, Du Ruo realized that these prostitutes tried their best to win over them, just to get a good song to improve their reputation.

"Sisters, calm down. I have something to do today, and it will be different..."

After some polite rude shirks, Du Ruo finally broke free from these little fairies and went upstairs.

The manager took him to find Xue Wan'er.

After the notice, Du Ruo was invited to Xue Wan'er's Yunshui Pavilion before he waited long. However, when entering the pavilion, Du Ruo caught a woman in thick clothes hurriedly leaving the side door. Although she was wearing thick clothes, her hair was black and shiny behind her and was well maintained.

"Young Master Du!"

When Xue Wan'er saw Du Ruo, she was also very excited, with a smile on her face and her charming eyes shining. She saluted Du Ruo from afar.

"Miss Wan'er, don't be polite. I'm going to bother you today. I'm asking for advice if you have something to do." Du Ruo was straight to the point and looked serious, which made Xue Wan'er calm down a little.

"Young Master Du, it's okay to ask."

Xue Wan'er's living room was decorated with elegant and unique style, with incense burners and flowers arranged. The paving was not a table or chair, but a banquet. After the two of them knelt on both sides of the short-legged table, Xue Wan'er helped Du Ruo to order tea.

"I don't drink this tea."

After Du Ruo finished speaking, Xue Wan'er asked her maid to make a cup of flower tea for Du Ruo. From ancient times to the present, women have always liked to use flowers as tea or make snacks. In fact, flowers are just beautiful and smelly. The taste is really bland and boring, and there is no nutrition. Du Ruo doesn't like flower tea, but he is no longer picky.

It's better than the ordering of tea that grinds the tea leaves into powder.

"Then I'll just say it." Du Ruo said, "Why did Miss Wan'er redeem herself?"

Xue Wan'er first looked at Du Ruo in surprise, then said calmly: "What's so strange about this? Which brothel woman is willing to live here for a long time?"

"But why are you still staying in the brothel?"

“Can’t I stay here?”

"Since you don't want to leave, why should you redeem yourself? Could it be that you didn't leave because you had to wait for someone?"

After asking this, Du Ruo's eyes became sharp when he looked at Xue Wan'er.

"Wait for someone?"

Xue Wan'er smiled bitterly, added water to the tea bowl, and said, "Who can I wait for? Who is worth waiting for?"

"I came for the most important thing. Miss Wan'er, please answer my question directly." Du Ruo reminded.

Xue Wan'er looked at Du Ruo and said, "Okay, I'll answer you, I haven't waited for anyone. The reason why I redeem myself and still stayed in Qunfanglou was to be invited by the owner of the shop. If I lose the selection of the courtesan in the next year, I will naturally leave."

The owner of the brothel is the owner of the brothel. There was no such title as "madam" in the Song Dynasty. The official name of the brothel is Jiaofang.

Xue Wan'er still stays in Qunfanglou after redeeming her, which is actually a hidden rule for brothels: most prostitutes will redeem themselves and restore their freedom after becoming courtesans, and they don't have to spend money on their own. They just need to make a contract with the owner, and 90% of their income will belong to the brothels during the courtesans.

In this way, brothels can get kickbacks far beyond the value of famous prostitutes; the courtesan has free self, so they don’t have to go to various official banquets. Anyone who invites them has to pay a high price, and they can also decide whether to accept the invitation based on their preferences.

This is mutually beneficial cooperation.

Although Du Ruo did not know the unspoken rules here, after hearing Xue Wan'er's words, he understood it as the "re-hire" of Xue Wan'er by the brothel. After all, he is a popular courtesan and has a strong ability to attract money.

But based on Xue Wan'er's explanation alone, Du Ruo's doubts could not be completely dispelled, so he took out the handkerchief.

"Miss Wan'er knows this?"

Xue Wan'er looked at the handkerchief, her expression was not abnormal. She reached out to take it and looked at it, saying, "I don't know, who's this?"

"Criminal."

Xue Wan'er frowned slightly: "Which prisoner?"

"That thief, Wang Lei."

After Du Ruo said that, he noticed that Xue Wan'er's face changed, and then returned the handkerchief to Du Ruo in a panic: "Don't be lucky!"

Although she said that, she did not dislike her, but was a little surprised.

Seeing this, Du Ruo was confused. Xue Wan'er's reaction showed that she did not recognize the handkerchief, but why did she feel a little panicked when she mentioned that the handkerchief belonged to Wang Lei?

Could it be that she knows Wang Lei?

"Did Miss Wan'er know Wang Lei before?" Du Ruo asked.

"I don't know each other." Xue Wan'er returned to her calmness and asked back: "Does Mr. Du suspect that I have a relationship with the thief?"

"Of course not, but I guess Wang Lei has a good relationship in the brothel, so I checked who has redeemed himself recently. I happened to see Miss Wan'er in the official archives, so I came to ask."

"I'm still suspicious..." Xue Wan'er shook her head.

Du Ruo did not deny it, and smiled and said, "If Miss Wan'er has any clues, please tell me, I'm willing to exchange it with a new song."

"New song?"

Xue Wan'er's eyes lit up, but Du Ruo was a little disappointed. He deliberately spoke a new song to test Xue Wan'er. If Xue Wan'er's attention was not on the new song, then the suspicion would be great. Du Ruo would inevitably continue to question her fiercely.

But when she heard the new song, her eyes lit up, and she was almost certain that she was not the person Du Ruo was looking for.

"But I really don't know anything."

"All right."

Du Ruo no longer asked. Regardless of whether Xue Wan'er had anything to do with this matter, since she denied it now, Du Ruo had no choice but to continue to check all the remaining prostitutes and choose the most suspected strong attack from it.
To be continued...