Seeing the morning stars fading, with the night about to retreat, Xu Qing leapt onto a high wall and focused his mind, using Qi Observation Skill to survey the entire mill.
A mist of five colors representing the Five Elements ranged from light to dark, each place different.
Gathering his concentration, he saw the tranquil, undisturbed orange-yellow aura of people in the distant courtyards.
Clearly, the living people in the mill were still resting, not yet awake.
Xu Qing looked down at the scattered, ruined corpse workers, intending to leave, but something still bothered him.
While pondering, he caught a glimpse, using the Qi Observation Skill to scan around, finally settling his gaze on a place filled with fiery aura.
It was the firework room, originally used for cooking and boiling water for the mill workers.
Xu Qing thought, with the cold weather of February still lingering, it was the time for everyone to stay in their warm beds. Being kind-hearted, he couldn't bear to see people freezing, so he decided to give the folks at the Black Workshop a good fire before leaving to keep them warm!
With this thought, Xu Qing was practically moved by his own kindness, rushing to the firework room, and after some busy work, he left silently before dawn, disappearing over the high walls into the streets and alleys.
...
As the fifth watch passed, the night watchman was leisurely walking home with the gong and clapper in his hand.
On the way, he met a Night Soil Man already busy in the early hours, and the two familiar faces started their habitual greetings.
"Hey, dung carrier, you're a bit late today, huh? I've already finished the fifth watch, and you're just setting up?"
"Oh, don't mention it. With the weather so cold lately, no one wants to leave their night soil buckets outside, and I can't go knocking on doors to get them. Since it's the same amount of work, might as well start a bit later. I'll still get it done."
As they were chatting, the Night Soil Man suddenly straightened his neck, looking over behind the night watchman, puzzled. "Why is the sky so red over there? Could it be a fire?"
The night watchman instinctively responded, "How is that possible? I just patrolled there..."
Before they could finish their conversation, a person in the distance suddenly shouted, "Fire! Quick, save the fire!"
The shout caused a commotion, and within seconds, the sounds of barking dogs and crying children started to rise sporadically.
Soon, hundreds cried out, hundreds of children cried, hundreds of dogs barked, and within a short time, the entire street was awake.
The Night Soil Man hastily reminded, "You're supposed to be patrolling for fire and theft, now that something's happened, shouldn't you be banging that gong?"
The night watchman snapped back to reality, quickly picking up the gong and hammer, pounding it like raindrops.
"Fire——there's a fire! Everyone get up and help put out the fire!" His professional calm showed as he started the old tune.
Two streets away from the mill, Xu Qing stood by the roadside, watching constables and soldiers carrying water pipes and rushing water wheels towards the scene.
He wasn't worried about the fire spreading elsewhere, as the Cui's Mill was surrounded by a whole area of alleys to prevent any fire from other houses spreading to the mill.
Now that firebreak had become their best helper for containing the fire within the area.
Besides the patrol and miscellaneous servants, Xu Qing also spotted the Linhe Constable Zhao Zhonghe rushing with a group of just-awakened subordinates towards the scene.
He didn't expect the constable to be so dedicated!
...
Retracting his gaze, Xu Qing walked out of the shadowy alleys, looking towards Long Lamp Street.
Long Lamp Street was one of the bustling places in Linhe District, no matter day or night, rain or thunder, as long as the sky wasn't falling, one could always see scholars and common folk bustling about.
People might wonder why this place was so lively compared to other areas?
The answer was simple: there were brothel girls here!
After working all night, Xu Qing was looking for a place to rest, naturally, he would come to this lively spot to warm up and listen to some tunes.
He could also test out his newly acquired Palace Secret Art here.
There were quite a few brothels and pleasure houses on Long Lamp Street. Xu Qing stood at the street entrance, seeing the bright and colorful buildings lining both sides.
Stepping onto the street, flower lanterns illuminated his figure, even the cold on him melted slightly, showing the popularity of the place!
In front of the flower houses, there were turtle-hat-wearing brothel keepers welcoming guests.
He asked the first one, Yichun Courtyard?
Never heard of it, not going there.
At the second house, Book Phoenix Pavilion? All talented ladies and beauties inside?
Not going there either!
The scholarly name sounded pretentious and expensive.
Arriving at the third, Xu Qing looked up and saw the painted beams and flying eaves, with two large red lanterns hanging at the entrance, inscribed with words.
He squinted and saw, on the left "Wind and Flower," on the right "Snow and Moon."
In such a playful place, it's unlikely they would inscribe pure words.
Looking at the plaque in the middle, it read Cuiyun Building.
This name sounded familiar.
After a moment's thought, he remembered this place.
It was where Su Hongxiu started working again after her previous scandals!
The scandal at the Liu Mansion was well known, and after Su Hongxiu was kicked out, she made a name for herself as a widow, quickly becoming the most popular courtesan in Linhe District.
She single-handedly added value to the scandal even more.
Fate indeed, this place would do!
Xu Qing wasn't particularly interested in widows, but he was nostalgic, feeling a sense of familiarity with known names and places.
At this moment, as it was early spring in February, the warmth hadn't fully returned. At the entrance of Cuiyun Building, thick yet light curtains blocked the chill, and as he entered, he felt like he'd stepped into the warm, lotus-filled region of Jiangnan, a wave of warmth hitting him.
"Sir, please come in!"
Unlike the previous turtle-hat brothel keepers, this time he was welcomed by the 'big teapot' in charge.
He was one of the employees at the brothel.
Xu Qing, having learned much knowledge in this area, knew quite a bit about these things.
For example, the reason the employees were called big teapots wasn't because they were broad and sturdy, nor because they served tea with a teapot, but because in these brothels, they usually had private elegant rooms for guests.
Two people drinking tea and chatting, the employee couldn't just barge in like a tea servant, that'd easily get them beaten.
Who knew what a lone man and woman might be doing, suddenly barging in wouldn't make sense.
But then, what if the teapot was empty or something ran out?
The solution was simple, the guest just needed to lift the teapot and knock the lid, and the outside staff would know to come in and refill.
Some brothels even had large custom-made teapots, with long spouts that extended three feet, so they could refill without disturbing anything.
That's why the employees got the nickname 'big teapots' over time.
"Big teapot, show me around first."
Xu Qing, new to the place, found everything intriguing.
Chatting with the big teapot, he learned the rules of the place.
It turned out that Cuiyun Building wasn't just one building, but a main building connected to twenty-four small buildings, with four entrances and exits. Each building had a top courtesan, and the rankings of the twenty-four top courtesans were updated periodically.
Su Hongxiu entertained guests in building twenty-three.
Xu Qing checked the prices, finding even the cheapest courtesans cost at least three or four taels of silver a night, almost as much as what he earned from a corpse!
Thinking about his money pouch, he thought this 'Money Pit' indeed lived up to its name.
With the scent of high-quality laurel wax candles in the adjacent rooms, Xu Qing's mind moved, and he randomly picked an available girl from the Spring Pavilion. Before going up, he didn't forget to tell the big teapot a few words:
"Get lots of good candles, plenty of fruit and snacks, especially persimmons. I have a sweet tooth."
"Of course!" The employee smiled knowingly, happily taking the silver Xu Qing tossed as a tip.
Once alone, Xu Qing walked up to the pavilion, wondering why, since stepping into Cuiyun Building, he felt a thicker aura of yin compared to other places.
In the deep courtyards of the four-in-four-out buildings, a familiar scent of incense lingered.
Xu Qing knew what it was. Being a Corpse Driver and regularly consuming Spirit Incense, he recognized the scent all too well.
Could it be that this place of pleasure also housed people practicing dark arts or fellow practitioners?