I inherited my grandfather's Tang Dynasty assets.

Chapter 43 Chen Yue's First Visit to a Brothel in the Tang Dynasty

The waiter looked troubled and glanced at Chen Yue.

"Sir, I am just a shop assistant. If you are not buying anything, I will go and attend to the other customers."

Judging from his expression, he was clearly worried about something, so Chen Yue didn't make things difficult for him and waved him away.

"Could it be that someone is jealous of Wanbaolou's good business and has resorted to underhanded tactics to steal it away?"

This is highly likely. Chang'an has little to offer except for a lot of nobles and merits. Moreover, the old man's businesses in Chang'an are not registered under the identity of Shennong Envoy, and no one knows his true origins.

Chen Yue came here to investigate the situation. Wanbaolou was his grandfather's business, and he was determined to take it back. Unexpectedly, the manager had changed.

"Young master, where are we going now?"

As we left Chongrenfang, Seventh Sister asked a question in a low voice.

"Let's find a restaurant to stay in first. By the way, how much money do we have left from Liu Boyan and the others?"

He was going to stay in Chang'an for a few days, and he would have to spend money on food, clothing, and lodging. Chen Yue had no intention of living a hard life. If it wasn't enough, he would have to think of a way to make it work.

"After deducting our expenses, we still have about eight thousand coins left."

The Tang Dynasty had a dual-track system of silk and copper coins, with one thousand coins equaling one string. However, in practice, there would be a phenomenon of "short difference", especially when it came to large transactions. Sometimes, less than one thousand coins could be counted as one string, provided that the difference was not too large.

Take ordinary people in Chang'an as an example. Their monthly salary is roughly between five hundred and one thousand coins, which is basically the range.

Therefore, eight thousand coins is roughly what an average person earns in a year, so its purchasing power is quite good.

"Eight thousand coins? That's barely enough."

There are only a handful of good restaurants and inns in Chang'an, and Yunlai Inn is one of them.

Chen Yue and Qi Mei arrived here and booked two superior rooms. The room rate was six hundred coins a day, not including food and drinks.

"Young master, this servant really doesn't need to stay in such a nice room."

Although Chen Yue decided how to spend the money, Zhao Qimei still felt it was a bit of a waste, especially since it was spent on herself.

"It's alright, don't worry about such a small amount of money."

Chen Yue had always been a big spender since childhood and had no concept of money. As expected of a superior house, it was decorated very elegantly and beautifully, with pleasant incense burning and some fine decorations.

The so-called "morning bell and evening drum" refers to the strict curfew system in Chang'an. Every day at the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), the "evening drum" of the palace would sound, and the drum towers of each neighborhood would respond in turn by striking the "closing drum," for a total of eight hundred times. Before the drumming ended, pedestrians had to return to their wards, and the gates of each ward would be closed.

Until the early hours of the next day, the streets of Chang'an were cleared, prohibiting anyone from walking on them without authorization. At dawn the following day, the palace bell rang, its sound echoing throughout the city, followed by the beating of the "opening drum," a total of three thousand times. Only after the drumming ended did the gates of each ward reopen, allowing people to move about in the streets. (The above counts are from the *Da Tang Liu Dian*.)

Chen Yue had finished his stroll and it was already evening, so if he had any plans, now was the time.

Otherwise, they would have to stay in the restaurant once the curfew started.

Chen Yue will not visit the residence in Xuanping Ward today. Since he has come to Chang'an, he should go to Pingkang Ward to take a look.

It was one of the 110 wards and the most famous pleasure quarters in the entire Chang'an, divided into three sections: North, Central, and South.

Southern and Central operas are of a higher standard, and so are the prices; their patrons are mostly high-ranking officials and dignitaries.

Northern opera is more accessible to the general public, and ordinary people can afford it if they grit their teeth.

Every day at the hour of You (5-7 PM), is the peak time for all the brothels, where the girls put on their makeup and prepare to receive customers.

The Tang Dynasty was very open in this regard; even officials were allowed to come and play.

During the Zhenguan era, there was no such thing as the Jiaofangsi, but there was Jiaofang. The two were significantly different. The latter was a court-affiliated institution for the management of music, dance, and acrobatics, located in Chang'an and Luoyang, and managed by eunuchs.

The sources of courtesans can generally be divided into three types.

Families of convicted officials, human trafficking, and voluntary employment.

The Shuiyue Pavilion, where the young lady Hongyu mentioned by the old man lived, was a brothel in Zhongqu, and it was considered one of the best in the entire Pingkangfang.

Hongyu was once one of the top courtesans here, and she joined voluntarily. Although she had a low status, at least she could eat her fill and had relative freedom.

During the Wude era, the country had just been unified, but the aftermath of the war was still severe, with many people dying in the chaos. It was extremely difficult for a woman to survive in such an environment.

Therefore, many women voluntarily joined brothels in search of a place to stay.

Hongyu's real name was Liang Yu'er. In the fourth year of the Wude era, when she was sixteen years old, she fled famine and came to Chang'an. In order to survive, she entered the Shuiyue Pavilion as a prostitute.

With her outstanding looks and exquisite dance skills, she quickly gained fame in Pingkangfang.

These women cater to elite clientele, and many aspire to become their intimate companions, but few succeed.

These women lure men into becoming their sweethearts, selecting only the most powerful among them before offering themselves to them.

However, the old man insisted that she and Hongyu were true love, and Chen Yue had no choice but to agree. But deep down, he always believed that the old man was just one of the fish in Hongyu's pond.

Ten years have passed. The girl who was in her early twenties back then is now in her thirties, and she has probably long since married some gentleman as a concubine.

When Chen Yue came to a place like this, he didn't bring Zhao Qimei with him. What man goes to a brothel with a maid?

"Is this what ancient brothels are like? They're completely different from what I've seen on TV."

As the sun was about to set, Pingkang Ward was bustling with activity, with exquisite carriages and wealthy people moving about everywhere.

The building in front of us is an elegant three-story wooden building with gray tiles and white walls. Silk lanterns hang under the eaves, and bamboo curtains are half-rolled up. The entrance seems low-key and unassuming, with servants dressed in Shuiyue Pavilion clothes standing at the door to greet guests.

The brothels Chen Yue saw on television were all places where scantily clad women stood in pavilions or opened vermilion windows, flirting with passersby and saying things like, "Come and have some fun, sir."

But none of the brothels he saw along the way had such a situation.

"Oh, the master has arrived. Please come in."

As soon as Chen Yue reached the door, a young servant in his early twenties approached with a bowing and scraping manner, a professional smile on his face.

Chen Yue smiled at him and stepped inside. He had brought three thousand coins with him today, which was a lot, but brothels were notorious places for squandering money.

If it's just a simple drink with a courtesan, that's enough, but if you add other things, it might not be so.

"Sir, you look somewhat unfamiliar. You must not be a frequent visitor to our Water Moon Pavilion. May I ask if you know any ladies here?"

Chen Yue smiled and said.

"I am new to Chang'an and have heard that the girls at Shuiyue Pavilion are quite good. I came here today specifically to see what's going on here. Could you tell me in detail?"

When Chen Yue first visited a brothel, he was completely clueless. After looking around the interior of Shuiyue Pavilion, he couldn't help but exclaim, "This doesn't look like a brothel at all!"

The hall is decorated with plain screens and blue silk. A silver pot and flower arrangement are displayed on the table, and paintings of ladies and poems by literati hang on the walls. The candlelight flickers gently in the copper lamps, spreading a hazy and tranquil halo. It is not vulgar at all, but rather gives people a sense of elegance.

In Chen Yue's view, it was just like a modern high-end club.