บท 27: Pay me (2)

Wen Shiachen waved his hand and the three servants placed the objects they were holding onto the table beside Shen Tianyu. She opened the jade boxes to check the contents. Satisfied, she moved in to inspect the sack. Seeing everything was there, Shen Tianyu ordered Xia Ji to gather the things up. She then stood up and flapped her sleeve before leaving, not bidding farewell or giving the people in the Audience Hall a second glance.

When the group stepped into the street, Xia Ji, who was holding onto the "compensation"asked her with furrowed brows.

"Miss, why did you tell me to carry these things?" He had followed Shen Tianyu from Yaodu, so naturally, he knew she had a storage space of some kind. She could just wave her hand and collect them, why did she have someone carry them?

"Tsk, tsk. You're still green, Xia Ji. (1)" Shen Tianyu clicked her tongue. "Of course, part of this is to show off. The Wen family paid us, we need to make a statement out of it. 'We ar not someone to mess with, even the powerful Wen family has to bow to us' is what we are saying by parading around with these."

Xia Ji's eyes lit up in admiration. 'Miss is indeed smart. Not only will this make the Wen family loose more face, having to bow to a brothel house, it also warns others not to oppose us. All this just by carrying some items back!'

"The second part is, have you seen a prostitute with a space ring or some kind of storage space?"

"It's very rare, but there are..." Xia Ji started.

"Right." Shen Tianyu interrupted. "They key is 'rare'. Normally, space rings are a valuable thing that not every noble family has, much less a courtesan, though the more popular ones like Luo Hua have received one. However, I just debuted last night, how popular could I be? And for me to have a space ring? There could be another power behind me. If they are more careful, it would scare off the Wen family for at least a little while. But if not, they might start to covet what I have and scheme against me in the dark. On the other hand, they could also try to curry favor with me to gain additional support from whoever was behind me. Both of which are troublesome things. Either way, I am only a Qi Refining cultivator, it is not good for me to show my hand at such an early stage. Treasuring a jade ring can become a crime (2)."

"Miss is so smart!" XianJi gushed out of admiration. His brothers also looked at her with shining eyes.

Shen Tianyu turned around and lightly flicked his forehead with her finger. "You guys are just too green. Scheming can also be a strength, not just physical prowess. Tactics can win over physical power in the hands of an expert."

"Yes, Miss!" They all responded with a face as if they had received great wisdom.

...

Back at Lavender Palace

After giving the jade boxes to Manager Sung for safekeeping, Shen Tianyu dismissed her guards. She picked up the bag of yuan and went looking for Su Yuan.

She found him on the first floor, helping take down the decorations. She called out to him and led him into a guest room on the second floor. She held out her hand containing the bag of yuan.

"Here. This is for you."

Su Yuan looked at her, surprised and asked: "Why?"

"I went to the Wen Residence to get some compensation for the both of us. This is for you. I also got a Thousand year Bloodfruit and a Cleansing Pill, if you want them, I can give them to you, too." Shen Tianyu responded.

"No need. But why are you giving this to me?"

"Because this is part of the compensation. Got for both of our incidents with Young Master Wen." Shen Tianyu scratched her nose. "Actually, I mostly used your incident to demand compensation because it broke Lavender Palace's rules. So I feel you should get at least part of the compensation."

Su Yuan smiled at her. "There's really no need. I'm glad I'm able to help Lavender Palace. The Palace Master has helped me so much, it's my honor to be of help."

"No!" Shen Tianyu shouted. "At the very least, you have to take these yuan. You can save it for you and Che Shian later in life or something. I don't care. Please, alleviate my conscience at the very least."

Su Yuan smiled at her and sighed. He extended his hand and took the bag of yuan. "Fine. If it will help you, I will take it. I'll save it for the future in case anything happens."

Shen Tianyu nodded with her hand she on her hips. The two then left the guest room, each going their own way. Shen Tianyu looked through the opened door.

"It's still the early afternoon... it seems my negotiations went smoother than I anticipated."

Shen Tianyu then turned around and went back to the office. She told Sung Ming she was going to the back mountain to cultivate and left after being reminded to return before opening hours.

...

As the sky turned purple, Shen Tianyu returned to Lavender Palace. 'I've been able to absorb more spiritual power, but as expected, advancing is not so easy.'

She entered her room on the third floor and got ready for work. She was now wearing a purple robe with flower embroidered lapels. Though this robe was much simpler than the one she wore the night before, it accentuated her elegance. She then went back down to the second floor guest room that was reserved for her to get ready before work hours.

Technically, she could stay in a room on the second floor, but due to personal reasons, she insisted that her official room be the Birds of Paradise room, her official residence. On the other hand, ordinary workers are not allowed on the Third Floor. Only Yaodu members are allowed there, and only with permission from Sung Ming. Though, Sung Ming and Mu Shenchou can enter whenever they want, and the Palace Master of course. They could just assign Yaodu's maids to do her makeup and make her presentable, but then that would make things a bit too weird. As if she was abnormally favored and she had explicitly told Sung Ming and Mu Shenchou before she didn't want to stand out too much, at least not yet. Therefore, they had to go to the trouble of reserving a room for her before the brothel opened for the night.