After Being Mistakenly Taken for a Fellow Traveler by Emperor Long Aotian - Chapter 60

The young man in purple: …

The man in black: …

“Master, what should we do next?” the man in black asked, his lips trembling amidst the thunderous cheers and kneeling downstairs, “Perhaps…”

The young man in purple: …

The young man in purple snorted coldly, his fingers tightening around his instrument string: “The Emperor of Jing’s vigilance is beyond my expectations. Fine.”

He waved his hand and said, “Since that’s the case, we’ll find another place to stay.”

“Perhaps… the Emperor of Jing isn’t here for us?” the man in black ventured, “Maybe he just happened to pass by…”

“How could it be such a coincidence? The Emperor of Jing, busy with state affairs, just happens to come to the pleasure district today? And just happens to come to this brothel?” the young man in purple said, “There are no such coincidences in the world. The Emperor of Jing did this on purpose to rattle us.”

“But if that’s the case, why doesn’t he come up and arrest us?”

“Though I am an exiled prince of the Great Liang, I am still a prince. Detaining me without cause would surely lead to border conflicts,” the young man in purple analyzed, “He’s here to warn us deliberately. Using the pretext of checking the account books to search the brothel, do you really think he cares about a couple of hundred taels?”

He had also heard the dispute between the Emperor and the madam through the floor. Hearing his analysis, the man in black was stunned. The young man in purple continued, “The annual treasury revenue of Jing is tens of millions of taels of silver. As the Emperor, how could he care about a mere two hundred taels? He orchestrated this scene to intimidate us!”

The man in black: …The master’s analysis makes so much sense.

“That Emperor of Jing is truly shrewd,” the man in black said.

“Let’s leave through the back door before he takes further action,” the young man in purple said, standing up with a stern expression, “We have people at the casino to receive us… Why aren’t you moving?”

“Master, we paid a thousand taels of silver to reserve this room at the brothel for over a month,” the man in black said.

The young man in purple: …

“We’ve only stayed for two days. Master… should we ask the madam for a refund before we leave?” the man in black asked.

“…For safety’s sake, we’ll have to swallow this loss,” the young man in purple said through gritted teeth.

Then, he chuckled coldly.

“The Emperor of Jing, causing me such a loss at our first encounter… What an interesting person,” he mused.

…

“Achoo—”

“Achoo—”

The Emperor sneezed several times loudly from his chair. He rubbed his nose and said, “Someone must be thinking about me behind my back.”

He flipped through the account books in front of him, turning a few pages before handing them to Zhou Xun, “Want to take a look?”

Zhou Xun: …Your Majesty, do you think I’m an expert in everything?

Thinking this, Zhou Xun patiently took the account books to examine them. These were dual-account books: one recording the real transactions and the other listing false transactions to evade taxes.

The longer he looked at the accounts, the quieter everyone became, holding their breath and not daring to make a sound. The officials glanced at the young, handsome man sitting beside the Emperor, wondering about his identity.

Finally, Zhou Xun finished going through the books with some difficulty. He leaned over and whispered a few words into the Emperor’s ear.

…Although he hadn’t calculated all the accounts, he had a rough idea of how much tax the brothel had evaded.

After listening to Zhou Xun, the Emperor began to sneer at the people opposite him. His gaze swept the room and finally landed on He Gang, the official.

“Is this brothel yours?” the Emperor asked.

“Your, Your Majesty, I only have my name on this brothel. It’s my nephew who runs it. I just occasionally check on it…” He Gang stammered.

“Not just check on it, but also to facilitate things, perhaps,” the Emperor sneered, “A few hundred stone of salary and you’ve become such a tax-evading parasite! Civil servants are not allowed to engage in or participate in profit-making activities! Do you understand that officials are not allowed to do business?!”

He threw his fan at He Gang’s head, and the latter collapsed to the ground. The Emperor ignored the young man trembling beside him and asked, “What is the punishment for tax evasion according to the law?”

“According to the law, it should be three times the tax amount, and the shop should be sealed…” the person replied.

Upon hearing the words “sealed,” the madam, the manager, and the girls turned pale.

“How much is this brothel worth?” the Emperor asked.

The person reported a number. The manager, seeing the Emperor’s gaze, said with a miserable face, “Approximately, approximately that amount… Your Majesty, it was our ignorance that failed to recognize Your Majesty. Please, show us mercy…”

“Fine, then use the fines from their unpaid taxes over the years to buy this brothel,” the Emperor said.

Everyone: ???

“Nationalize it,” the Emperor said.

At the Emperor’s command, everyone immediately sprang into action. Eventually, He Gang’s nephew, trembling, put his handprint on the contract, and the Emperor picked it up, blew on it, and handed it to Zhou Xun, “It’s yours.”

Zhou Xun: …

He tucked the deed back into his pocket and watched the Emperor walk over and pat the madam on the shoulder with a mischievous smile, “I’ve always said, I don’t care about such a small amount of money, right?”

The madam forced a smile more wretched than tears. The Emperor continued, “You’re right too. Since I’m so wealthy, and I don’t want to pay this bill…”

“I might as well buy your establishment too.” The Emperor laughed heartily, “Once I buy the place, there’s no need to pay the bill anymore, right?”

Zhou Xun mused that the Emperor’s flaunting of wealth was a rather legitimate way of getting something for nothing. From start to finish, the Emperor hadn’t spent a penny but had acquired a brothel for free, paid for with the fines from the taxes the brothel had evaded.

…Truly a reasonable nationalization.

While the Emperor was asserting his authority inside, a crowd of men and women, who had come out of the neighboring buildings to watch the spectacle, gathered at the entrance of the brothel. Zhou Xun initially wanted to order the door closed, but he stopped upon seeing a few familiar faces in the crowd.

…With the secret guards around, he felt reassured.

Just as he was about to look away, he spotted another figure in the crowd.

A woman in a green dress.

—It was the same prostitute he had seen upstairs last night, the one who had shared an intimate moment with his father.

Last night, when Zhou Xun had seen her, the thick moonlight obscured her face, and he could only make out her silhouette. But this morning, sitting here, he had a clear view of her face.

The moment he saw the woman’s face, Zhou Xun felt a chill run through his body, followed by an uncontrollable rage burning in his veins.

Despite being able to distinguish the two people at a glance, the woman’s eyes were identical to his mother’s!

…

The woman stood at the edge of the crowd, holding her belly, chatting and laughing with those around her while eating sunflower seeds. Soon, some soldiers came out to disperse the crowd, and the spectators reluctantly left.

Zhou Xun’s eyes remained fixed on the woman until she disappeared into the “Luxurious Beauty” building. The Emperor’s voice reached his ears: “The account shows that this person booked a room for over a month? Spent over a thousand taels? What a wealthy fool… What’s the actual price? Return the excess money to them; doing business requires integrity, right?”

After his mother’s death, his biological father, who had mistreated his mother in life, now posed as a moral gentleman while secretly seeking out a prostitute who resembled his mother…

Zhou Xun felt like vomiting.

After dealing with the accounts and sending the madam to clean the latrine, the Emperor said, “I don’t know how other brothels operate, and I can’t control them. But in my brothel, the girls are not allowed to sell their bodies, nor are they to be forced into selling their bodies. Understood?”

“Then…” the manager hesitated, “Can they accompany guests, tempt them to buy drinks and earn commissions like before?”

The Emperor: “Oh, so you still want to run a scam and pyramid scheme?”

The manager wanted to cry but had no tears. The Emperor glanced around and said, “There’s a nice stage here. From now on, we’ll hold performances every night. I see you can sing, dance, and play instruments well. Organize the girls into groups, and they’ll perform here every night.”

“Guests can buy drinks to reward the performers. Eighteen drinks will be called ‘Deep Water Torpedo,’ sixty-six drinks ‘Submarine,’ and ninety-nine drinks ‘Rocket.’ Those who tip different girls can earn different titles. Fifty drinks will make them a ‘Fan Leader,’ two hundred drinks a ‘Silver Fan Leader,’ and five hundred drinks a ‘Golden Sponsor’…”

He pointed to another area, “Hang a board here listing the performers and their acts for the day. Next to it, set up a rack with special nameplates for each girl, arranged by the amount of reward drinks they receive each month. The girl with the most rewards will have her nameplate at the top, and the least at the bottom. And this board…”

“Write the names of the patrons and their tips, like ‘Thank you to the son of the Ministry of Revenue’s Minister for tipping XXX with a Golden Sponsor.’ Different levels of tips will have different fonts, sizes, colors, and retention times. As for the drinks, if the girls can’t finish them, they can share with everyone or treat them as virtual tips.”

“As for the girls themselves, we can hold an elimination contest. The top four can form a debut group called the Four Beauties. We’ll arrange for merchandise, light signs, fan armies, personal stories, and musical dreams. Oh, and plant some people in the crowd to stir things up, find some plain-looking individuals to occasionally say things like ‘XXX isn’t as good as YYY,’ to encourage tipping and competition.”

The manager: …

“Your Majesty, will such a change really attract customers?”

“Of course it will. This is my live-streaming platform,” the Emperor pointed to himself, “Top Stream Bringing Goods.”

**Author’s Note:** The Emperor: I am the top stream in the Jing Dynasty.