Two hours later---
When night arrived on Long Jade Street , colored lights decorated both sidewalks, and pairs of men and women were hanging out everywhere.
In a lavish banquet room, Ye Anping sat on a woven mat, looking speechlessly at the four girls performing specific dances of the Central Region .
The so-called 'clean brothels' were also a type of brothel. Those who came here were all romantic young men, and basically, they stayed in private rooms, accompanied by a few girls for drinking, dancing, and chatting.
As for why he came here...
Ye Anping took a sip of tea, turned his head to Si Xuanji, who was now staring daggers at the four pretty dancers, and asked, "Miss Xuanji, why are we here?"
"I have never been in such a place before after all, have I?" Si Xuanji tilted her head and looked over, narrowing her eyes and smiling. "There's no such place around Black Star Sect; plus, I have been confined to the sect by my mother since I was a child. I rarely come out, so just treat it as a new experience."
Confined by my mother ...
Xiao Yunluo, who was sitting on the other side of Ye Anping, looked at Si Xuanji speechlessly but did not dare to say anything. She could only drink some more tea from the teapot.
Si Xuanji glanced at her daughter, shook her head slightly, and then asked, "Master Ye, have you ever been to a place like this before?"
"No."
"For real?"
"Of course. I'm not very interested in this kind of place, and I don't have this kind of friends. If Miss Xuanji hadn't forced me today, I wouldn't have thought of coming here."
"Is that so..." Si Xuanji nodded in understanding. "I thought Young Master Ye would like a place like this, so I especially chose this one. So, what do you think, Young Master Ye, of these four girls' dancing?"
"I don't know much about dancing, so I won't comment."
"How about... letting my sister dance? She used to like it." Si Xuanji stretched her neck and looked toward Xiao Yunluo. "Is that alright? Sister, how about a dance for Master Ye?"
?!
Hearing this, Xiao Yunluo spurted out the tea she had just sipped and turned around. "What?!"
"Sister, you dance so beautifully, how about dancing for Master Ye?"
"..."
Without waiting for Xiao Yunluo to speak, Si Xuanji slightly clapped her palms and casually took out a dozen spirit stones from her storage bag, sending them to the four dancing ladies. "Thank you for your performance, girls. You can go now."
After sending those four away, she then turned her head to look back at Xiao Yunluo, whose cheeks were now scarlet and eyes wide open. "Sister, go and dance for Master Ye. Haven't you danced in front of me before?"
Ye Anping looked at Xiao Yunluo's expression and hurried to help her. "Miss Xuanji, it might not be appropriate. Miss Xiao is, after all, the Young Lady of the Black Star Sect."
"So what? Isn't dancing for people to see?"
Si Xuanji narrowed her eyes and simply transmitted her voice directly into Xiao Yunluo's mind: --Go and dance!!
The sound directly struck her consciousness, making Xiao Yunluo tremble in fright and subconsciously stand up from her place. She looked at Ye Anping with a blushing face and finally mustered the courage to walk to his small table.
Ye Anping looked at Si Xuanji with a sigh. "Sister Xiao, if you don't want to, then..."
"It's fine."
She muttered softly, then turned to look at the musicians holding pipes and zithers, asking them to play for her, and then tied her four ponytails together.
Just as the music started, a knock on the door suddenly interrupted the musicians.
Knock, knock---
Si Xuanji's yin and yang eyes showed dissatisfaction, and Ye Anping immediately became vigilant and replied, "Come in."
The person who knocked on the door was a woman wearing a blood-red dress, her hair tied in a double bun. She had a beautiful face, but her demeanor was extremely reserved. She looked like a maid from a wealthy family.
The woman walked into the room, her eyes swept over Ye Anping and the others, and then immediately lowered her eyes and nodded. "My name is Hongyu, and I am a maid of Heavenly Gate Palace . I would like to invite you two to accompany me to the palace. Palanquins are ready downstairs."
Si Xuanji's face showed some doubt as she asked, "The Central Region Emperor wants to see us?"
"Not the Emperor, but the Empress wants to invite you two to the palace. When the Empress heard that you had come to Heavenly Gate City , she wanted to entertain you and specially organized a moonlight banquet and invited the two of you to the palace to admire the moon."
Hearing this, Ye Anping roughly understood what happened.
Most likely, it was his big brother Liang who went to meet the Empress, right?
Originally, the plot of the Imperial Sect did not involve the Empress of the Central Region . He was even sure that when the incident occurred in the game, Liang Zhu did not return to the Imperial Sect.
But now Liang Zhu had been involved in the plot of the Imperial Sect because of him, which naturally led to the involvement of the Empress as well.
Although it was a little out of his expectations, it was still developing in a good direction.
In the beginning, he had asked Liang Zhu to gain the trust of Yue Xuanming, the Deputy Commander of the Justice Division , so he would assist them, but now, due to some strange circumstances, the Empress of the Central Region seemed to be involved too.
Since there was an unexpected extra helper, why not?
Ye Anping nodded and agreed. "Since the Empress of the Central Region is hosting a banquet, Miss Xuanji and Young Master Xiao should hurry up and go."
Si Xuanji frowned slightly as if she also did not expect that the Empress would suddenly appear. She turned to look at Hongyu and asked, "Miss Hongyu, what does the Empress want from us?"
"I don't know. I'm only responsible for bringing you and Young Lady Xiao to the palace. Also... I wonder if this Young Master's name is Ye Anping?"
"It's me." Ye Anping replied.
"That's very fortunate." Hongyu bowed and saluted him. "The Empress also invited Mr. Ye to the banquet."
Hearing that the Empress also invited Ye Anping, Si Xuanji's slightly narrowed eyes gradually relaxed. She looked at him and asked, "Young Master Ye, have you done something?"
"Well, it's a long story. Why don't we talk about it on the way?"
"...Hmm."
Si Xuanji, who roughly understood the current situation, stood up, straightened her clothes, and turned to Xiao Yunluo with a smile. "Sister, let's dance for Master Ye some other time. The Empress invited us to enjoy the moon."
"Ah... okay."
Xiao Yunluo looked at Hongyu in confusion, awkwardly lowered her hand, and nodded in agreement.
"Then, Miss Hongyu, please lead the way."
"This way, please."
After Hongyu paid for the three people's private room, she led them down the pavilion's stairs and to the palanquins waiting outside.
There were three palanquins in front of the gate, and the men carrying them looked like terracotta warriors, waiting expressionlessly by the side.
Xiao Yunluo looked at those people. "These people..."
Hongyu nodded and replied, "These people are the sacrifice soldiers raised by the Empress. Their ears and vocal cords were cut off when they were young, and they cannot hear or speak."
Hearing these words, Xiao Yunluo cleared the confusion from her mind, realizing that the Empress had requested a private meeting with them, and since it was a private meeting, it must be more than just 'appreciating the moon'.
Looking at Si Xuanji and Ye Anping, she saw that neither of them had any change in their expressions, so she said nothing. After getting in the palanquins, they were carried by the sacrifice soldiers to a small house in the Eastern District and entered the Heavenly Gate Palace through a hidden tunnel.