Seven days later, Qin Ren, Xiao Xiangyue, and Liu Piaopiao had arrived at Wanhuacheng, the headquarters of the Baohua Hall.
Wanhuacheng, a city where the seasons are like spring all year round, is filled with the fragrance of flowers. It is the most famous place in Jiangnan for its picturesque beauty, and every street is adorned with flowers of various kinds. For someone like Qin Ren, who appreciates beauty, this is a feast for both the eyes and the nose. He walked through the crowd, his eyes scanning the beautiful women on both sides, with Liu Piaopiao and Xiao Xiangyue by his side, their grace outshining the others.
However, Qin Ren wasn't impressed by the street's beauty. His attention was fixed on the "wildflowers"—the girls in the streets. Though these women were lovely, they couldn't compare to the unmatched beauty of the two women beside him. Compared to Liu Piaopiao and Xiao Xiangyue, they were nothing but lesser flowers.
"Ah, so many flowers, yet they are all wildflowers. A real man doesn't settle for anything less than a national treasure or a famous flower," Qin Ren murmured to himself with some disappointment. "It's just not worth it."
At that moment, Qin Ren's gaze shifted to the front, where a loud commotion had begun. The crowd around them started to part as a large procession came into view.
The group moved in two columns, around a hundred people in total, most of whom were women. The first group consisted of ten men in purple clothing, each holding a colorful flag. Behind them were twenty women in yellow clothes, each armed with a long sword.
Following them were a group of young men in red clothing, around ten of them, riding horses. At the heart of the procession was a large palanquin carried by sixteen men. The palanquin had no doors or roof, and inside sat a middle-aged man in a snow-white robe, holding a wine cup in his left hand and wrapping his right arm around a beautiful woman. Two other women knelt at his feet, massaging his legs.
Qin Ren couldn't help but smile inwardly. "This must be the City Governor of Wanhuacheng, the Hall Master of Baohua Hall—Xiao Shanhe," he thought. "He is renowned in the martial world as the number one handsome man in Jiangnan, but he's also famous for being a womanizer. He must have some beautiful women in his hall. I've even heard he makes a living by pimping out his female disciples to officials and powerful people in the martial world. In the martial world, his hall is also known as the 'Martial World Brothel'."
Indeed, Xiao Shanhe, sitting in the palanquin, casually sipped his wine and smiled faintly, his hand lightly brushing through the hair of a nearby woman. As he passed by, the citizens of the city bowed in respect, and he nodded back in acknowledgement, exuding the air of a ruler.
Qin Ren felt an unpleasant sensation in his heart. He couldn't help but think, "You're just the Hall Master of Baohua Hall, and the City Governor of Wanhuacheng, yet you act like an emperor. I'm here to visit your girls, but I certainly don't need to give you any face! If I really feel like it, I won't even pay for the services!"
As the procession approached, Qin Ren coldly studied Xiao Shanhe with a slight frown, his gaze filled with a sense of rivalry. The two locked eyes for a brief moment, and Xiao Shanhe's lips curled into a slight smile, but he did not show any sign of unease.
Qin Ren, however, was not bothered by the intensity of Xiao Shanhe's gaze. His eyes remained unflinching, and he made no move to look away, causing a subtle tension to hang in the air.
But then, something else caught Qin Ren's attention—Xiao Xiangyue, who was standing beside him, seemed unusually uncomfortable. Her face had become pale, and there was a trace of fear in her eyes.
Qin Ren was immediately on alert. "Has this old lecher set his sights on Xiangyue?" he thought. "I won't let him have her!" He quickly stepped in front of Xiao Xiangyue, positioning himself as a shield and staring directly at Xiao Shanhe with defiance.
Xiao Shanhe gave a cold snort, then casually plucked a red flower from the hair of one of the women beside him. With a flick of his finger, the flower flew through the air toward Qin Ren.
The flower wasn't fast, but Qin Ren's reaction was swift. He swung his folding fan and shattered the flower into pieces, but the force behind the flower made his palm tingle slightly. "This old man's internal strength is indeed deep," Qin Ren thought, slightly impressed. "He may be a scoundrel, but his martial arts are no joke."
As the flower fell apart, the surrounding crowd quickly parted to give them space, leaving only Qin Ren, Xiao Xiangyue, and Liu Piaopiao in the center. The disciples of Baohua Hall formed a circle around them, waiting for Xiao Shanhe's orders.
Xiao Shanhe took a slow sip of wine, his eyes half-closed as he pinched another red flower. He looked at Xiao Xiangyue, his voice soft but cold, "Xiangyue, I didn't expect you to run away from the pleasure house. You even have the gall to come back. And with this man, no less. Do you really think you can have him fight me for you?"
Xiao Xiangyue took two steps forward, then knelt on the ground and bowed deeply. "Father, I did not intend any disrespect. I only came back to see my mother."
Qin Ren's heart skipped a beat. "Wait, what? Xiangyue is his daughter? That means he's my… well, my father-in-law? But no, that doesn't make sense. With Xiao Shanhe's status, he wouldn't send his own daughter into a brothel. What's really going on here?"
As the tension in the air thickened, Qin Ren couldn't help but wonder about the complicated relationships that had brought them to this moment.