Chapter Fifty-Nine: It’s Yours

“So it’s Lady Bottle, how could I not recognize you?” Su Yang looked Gold Bottle up and down, immediately feeling a strange sensation—truly a bewitching woman.

“The master is still occupied with matters in the Seventh Lady’s quarters. Why not come and sit in my room for a while? When he’s done, you can seek him out,” Gold Bottle said, swaying her body coquettishly as she leaned close to Su Yang’s ear, her voice soft and sweet. “Master Su, my room is very fragrant…”

“Miss Bottle, isn’t this a little improper?”

“I’m just a woman and I’m not afraid—what are you afraid of?” Gold Bottle tugged at Su Yang’s sleeve while instructing a nearby servant, “Go tell the master that when he’s free, he can find me. Master Su is with me.”

“Yes, madam.”

The servant who had escorted Su Yang nodded and hurried away toward the Seventh Lady’s courtyard in the Eastgate residence.

Gold Bottle led Su Yang by the hand. He tried several times to pull away, but each attempt was halted by Gold Bottle’s backward glance. Her personal maid followed behind, and it would have been awkward to be too obvious in his resistance.

“Hm… ah…” From the bushes nearby came a series of suggestive sounds. Su Yang was no stranger to such affairs; he raised an eyebrow and glanced toward the thicket.

“Who’s making a scene there, keep it down!” the maid behind them called out. The woman’s voice stopped abruptly, but the strange noises persisted.

From the main gate to Gold Bottle’s room, the walk took about the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Along the way, they encountered three pairs of lovers in the act—one of whom was astonishingly the wife of Eastgate Qing himself. Su Yang was dumbfounded.

But Gold Bottle seemed accustomed to it all. “The Eastgate household is nothing but a den of debauchery. The master knows everything that goes on between his wives and maids behind his back, but he never interferes, so long as it doesn’t get out of hand.”

“Sometimes he even invites his rowdy friends back for entertainment,” she continued, casting Su Yang a peculiar glance. “If you get along with my master, you might be invited to such a feast as well.”

“Of course, only the maids serve as delicacies at these feasts. We wives and concubines are never sent—Eastgate Qing cannot bear to part with us.”

…

Seated in Gold Bottle’s chamber, Su Yang listened, stupefied, to all the tales of licentiousness in the Eastgate household. This place had wholly abandoned all sense of morality; Eastgate Qing had long since cast aside decency and restraint, turning his home into a veritable paradise of excess.

“I suppose you have a few lovers of your own, Miss Bottle?” Su Yang asked curiously from his chair.

She gave a bitter laugh. “In a place this filthy, even the cleanest person would be stained. The master has forty-three concubines and nearly a hundred personal maids. I am not originally from Yanggu County but was a courtesan in the Su family’s brothel—selling only my art, not my body.”

“But when my father got involved in some trouble and needed money desperately, he planned to sell me. In the end, I was bought by Eastgate Qing, along with another courtesan.”

“We entered the household together, but on our wedding night, the master stayed in the other courtesan’s room and didn’t come out for days. All the wives and maids were eaten up with jealousy…”

“He adored her exceedingly, but after a few months, she became pregnant. The master still wouldn’t leave her side. She miscarried and died.”

“After that, he gradually cast me aside. I’ve been married into the Eastgate family for half a year now, yet never once have I served the master in bed. There are simply too many wives in the house—when would he find time for me?”

“Never mind the wives and maids here; outside the house, who knows how many lovers he keeps? Don’t think ill of me for living here, nor imagine that my charm makes me a bad woman. All these mannerisms I picked up in the brothel.”

“Otherwise, with only our faces and without sharing a bed, how could we courtesans coax the silver from our patrons’ pockets?”

…

“So, you’re the one Eastgate Qing hasn’t played with yet?” Su Yang’s face showed a trace of awkwardness.

“You… could put it that way,” Gold Bottle replied, a hint of embarrassment flickering across her own face.

“Why tell me all this, Miss Bottle? Are you perhaps hoping to find comfort in widowhood—wanting me to help you out?” Su Yang looked her over. “I’m not that kind of man, you know.”

“Since I last saw you, Master Su, I’ve felt quite drawn to you. If you’re willing to take me in, I can find a way to leave this place,” she said, her bright, clear eyes glancing slyly at him. “No woman wants to stay in a place like this. While my body is still clean, still untouched, I’d like to find someone good.”

“Miss, isn’t that a bit much?”

“Well… could you give me your hand?”

“What does Master Su want with my hand?”

“To see if our fates are compatible!”

“Oh? Master Su… you believe in such things?”

…

In the end, Gold Bottle obediently extended her delicate, fair hand, and Su Yang placed his own atop it.

[Root-Bone Appraisal]

Root-bone Grade: Ding

“Madam, you and I are fated,” Su Yang said, withdrawing his hand with satisfaction.

Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu—the five grades of talent; Ding was not especially high but was enough to meet Su Yang’s requirements. Besides, Gold Bottle’s beauty made up for what she lacked elsewhere.

Of course, if it required offending Eastgate Qing or going to great trouble, he would not agree. But if Gold Bottle could find her own way out, he’d be happy to take her in, let her start as a personal maid, and, with his own robust vigor, she’d be pregnant within a month and could become a concubine.

“So, you’re willing, Master Su?”

“Miss, the master is coming…!” At that moment, the maid hurried in to announce, and Su Yang and Gold Bottle separated, putting a little distance between them.

“Haha! Brother Su, long time no see!” A hearty voice rang out from outside—it was none other than Eastgate Qing.

“Brother Eastgate, it has been a while,” Su Yang replied, rising to exchange greetings.

“What brings Brother Su to my concubine’s room?” Eastgate Qing asked, seating himself casually and glancing at Gold Bottle. “Wasn’t it just the other day that the First Lady took you out with her?”

“Yes, Master, you have a good memory,” Gold Bottle replied with a charming smile.

“Oh, I recall you were bought from the Su family,” Eastgate Qing mused. “So, you and Brother Su get along well?”

“We met once before, so I invited him in for a chat while waiting for you, Master,” Gold Bottle answered quickly.

“What do you think of my concubine, Brother Su?” Eastgate Qing laughed, opening his folding fan. “Take her for your pleasure if you like—I have more women than I can count.”