The crippled old woman with her face scratched, in the flower lane in the depths of the flowers, is there a snuffbox with roses painted by herself

It's too graphic.

Thinking about the snuff bottles on a whole display case in Chuxiu Palace, and the rose flower garden full of mousetraps in the courtyard, Bai Ling had a strong intuition in his heart that this old woman must have something to do with the femme fatale in the palace.

In the process of following Ah Li all the way to Baihuaya, countless possibilities have already surfaced in Bai Ling's mind, did Lin Jieyu's love for roses and snuff bottles come from this old woman? Are they mother and daughter? Aunt and nephew? Or is it something else? The most important thing, this person, will it be Lin Jieyu's weakness?

Wei XIV put on his black hood again, hiding his pale face and head in the shadows again. There was a faint smell of fat powder in the air, and from time to time laughter came from the pavilions on the water. Layers of high-rise buildings are from near to far, and the lights are reflected in the water, like a street market in the sky.

The three of them walked from a very wide wooden bridge towards the buildings of Baihuaya, and from time to time there were richly decorated carriages and horses passing over the bridge, and there were beautiful girls wearing ribbons on their shoulders, leaning on guests of the same age or much different, and from time to time there was a gentle and beautiful laughter.

Between that frown and smile, the girl's innocent softness was like a barbed fishhook, locked tightly to the person beside her.

If Emperor Jianxi had the opportunity to personally go on the next trip to Baihuaya, he would probably be shocked to see that there were the kind of women who made him obsessed with lingering here. It's just that there are very few beauties here who have the courage of Lin Jieyu, and they can still be free in front of the moody Son of Heaven.

This was the first time Bai Ling had been to a place like Baihuaya, since crossing the bridge, the girls walking on the street looked more than a notch, and Bai Ling noticed that they all had black text tattoos on the lower part of their left shoulders near their hearts.

She was embarrassed to stare at it brightly, so she observed with her spare eyes that they were the names of the girls in Baihuaya, followed by a symbolic text that she didn't quite recognize.

"That's a flower code." Ah Li introduced, "The girl who has played the code can go up and talk at will, but there are no good women walking around here on weekdays." ”

Bai Ling nodded, so she understood. These symbols look like Suzhou yards from previous lives, which are equivalent to Chinese folk Arabic numerals

Bai Ling looked back and forth at the market, and although there were a series of patrols patrolling the law, there were no entrenched guards at the corners of the alleys.

"The people of Baihuaya are not afraid that these girls will take the opportunity to run away."

"It's not easy to run, but it's easy to catch if you run." Ah Li pointed to his heart, "Their household registration is not in their hands, and they basically can't run out of Pingjing City." It's branded here again, no matter what you do when you go out, you will be exposed as soon as you check your body. And they don't necessarily want to run away."

Before Ah Li's words fell, a light pink sachet had already smashed towards Bai Ling, although Wei Shishi's eyes were quick and he had already caught it above Bai Ling's head, but the two small jade beads on the sachet tether still lightly hit her head, Bai Ling was in pain for a while, and screamed softly, "Oops".

"Whose little boy is this?"

"Little boy, look up and let the sisters take a look"

Bai Ling looked up in response, and saw three or four women in their twenties standing on the fence on the second floor, all with bright teeth and moth eyebrows, and apricot eyes.

"What a handsome man!"

"It's really weird and painful"

In the midst of laughter, three more sachets of different colors came towards Bai Ling, without exception, all of whom were intercepted in mid-air by Wei Shixi.

"They are asking the medicine to go up for a drink," Ah Li explained on the side, "take the sachets smashed by the girls, and drink and chat without money." ”

"Then, no need," Bai Ling wiped his forehead, "Fourteen, help me throw these things back." ”

Wei Shishi was just about to raise his hand, when a sachet smashed directly at him, he tilted his head slightly, and the sachet passed past his ear.

"Oh, it's a pity I didn't hit," a sigh came from upstairs, "This tall man in black clothes really has an appetite for me."

Wei Shifang threw all the four sachets in his hand back to the second floor without changing his face, and then left here quickly with Bai Ling. As they left, there was another burst of laughter behind them, and someone leaned half of his body out of the building and shouted at Bai Ling's back, "Little boy! If it's not fun inside, remember to come back to your sisters, sisters, teach you to be good, playful, and playful! ”

Bai Ling didn't look back, but he couldn't help but laugh a little.

Men come here to have fun, but who's looking for whom?

"Those are Wei Feng'er, who can't keep guests in the main building, so they are sent to the corners of the territory, and they are all very enthusiastic." Ah Li walked in front, said softly, and walked forward a few steps, he suddenly seemed to think of something, turned around and smiled, "When Brother Bai came last time, he was probably smashed more than 20 sachets along the way." ”

Bai Ling keenly captured the key information, "Bai Yi has also been here?" ”

"Si Yao, don't think too much, Brother Bai followed Master Wan here to prepare for the banquet. After all, from time to time, there will be nobles who can invite Master Wan to hold a banquet. As he spoke, Ah Li stretched out his hand and pointed to the right, "Si Yao, please take a look." ”

Between the empty passages between the buildings, at the end of the narrow field of view is the huge brightly lit main building.

The people dressed in gorgeous robes on the balcony were like ants, and the four wooden walls of the attic on the top floor were torn down and replaced with golden fences, in which beautiful women sang and danced, like puppets dancing in a golden cage.

"We all call that golden wire cage, and generally if there is a noble person holding a banquet, we will set up a banquet on it." Ah Li said softly.

Bai Ling was stunned.

Golden wire cage

She stood still, looking at the golden cage that shone in the night, and fell silent for a moment.

"This whole building," Bai Ling suddenly looked at Ah Li, "is it all the property in the name of the Teaching Division?" ”

"Not all, the boundary here is divided into three layers, only the innermost circle is the main building and its fifty or sixty meters radius of the boundary is directly under the name of the Teaching Division, and the rest are the people next to the Teaching Department to get the lease deed and the license, and slowly do it, usually under the management of the Teaching Workshop Division, but it must be divided into twenty-eight with the Teaching Workshop Division."

"Eighty percent of the teaching department, two percent of them?"

"Hmm." Ah Li nodded as a matter of course, "This is a business that only makes money and does not lose money, and no matter how many people squeeze their heads, they can't get in." ”

Bai Ling didn't say anything more, just followed Ah Li all the way forward, and although they walked for a long time, they never got any closer to the golden wire cage, and Ah Li led her and Fourteen around the outermost layer of the Hundred Flowers for about a quarter of a circle, and then headed towards the outer alleys.

The outermost layer of Baihuaya, the dilapidated place where the lights are dim, is the flower lane......