Under One Person, the little witch only wants to collect elves

Chapter 187 Madam, I Want to Visit a Brothel

Yan Huan left the county government office. The cool autumn breeze blowing in his face did not make him feel much more comfortable.

The original owner of this body was daydreaming all day long, did not work on the farm, and could not sell his paintings and calligraphy. The family had little savings left, and they relied on Mei Niang's weaving to supplement the family income.

But he had no great talent and was self-righteous. He often compared himself to "Liu Sanbian, who wrote lyrics under the emperor's order". He was not steady and reserved enough, and often lingered in red-light districts. Even the money earned by Mei Niang was spent on drinking and feasting in Xinxiangyuan.

Yan Huan wanted to pay a visit to some fishermen and ask for advice, so of course he would not come empty-handed. But now he couldn't even afford to buy anything.

After returning home and discussing with Mei Niang, Yan Huan sold all his belongings so that he could barely buy a small basket of eggs at the market.

The homes of several seagoing fishermen in Meicheng County are not difficult to find, as they are all on the edge of the seashore.

Yan Huan walked along with the eggs in his hand, and soon he found the two fishermen who had just ridiculed him on the beach.

They were seen arguing with a group of yamen runners.

It turned out that the fishermen had just paid taxes a few days ago, and the county government came to collect taxes again these days. The fishermen were dissatisfied and started arguing with the government officials.

As the saying goes, the people should not fight against the officials, but the unreasonable taxes levied one after another still made several people angry. If this continues, they will have no way to survive.

"You lackeys of the officials are really going too far!" a fisherman was furious.

The bailiff's face turned pale and he kicked the man to the ground without any mercy. With a "clang" sound, he drew out his knife to demonstrate his protest.

"Fuck you! I'm doing my job impartially, are you trying to cause trouble?"

The fishermen were so frightened that they dared not say anything. Their purses loosened and they watched helplessly as the bailiffs took down the fish that were dried in their courtyard.

Seeing this, Yan Huan walked forward slowly and chuckled, "Sir, are you here to collect taxes again under the order of Lord Xie? I wonder what name you are using this time?"

If the top beam is crooked, the bottom beam will be crooked too. These people who rely on the power of others do evil things such as exploitation and blackmail. Even if they are not ordered by their superiors, they will inevitably oppress the people and bully the villagers.

The yamen runner saw that it was Yan Huan and knew that he had been close to the county magistrate recently, so he did not dare to treat him rudely and replied politely: "Master Yan, this is a government matter, please do not interfere."

Yan Huan's smile faded, his face gloomy: "You are bullying others by taking advantage of your power. Aren't you afraid of destroying Mr. Xie's reputation? Does he know about the taxes you want to collect?"

The bailiff at the head of the line froze in expression, and the hand holding the knife handle trembled slightly.

Yan Huan moved closer and whispered in his ear, "You all know Mr. Xie's character very well. It is unreasonable for you to secretly collect incense money and not pay tribute to him. If Mr. Xie knew about this..."

"I'm afraid things are difficult to handle?"

The corners of several yamen runners' mouths twitched, knowing that this pedantic scholar had come with ill intentions, but they could do nothing about it.

"Mr. Yan, these are considered as our friendship with you. I hope you won't make this public." The bailiffs stuffed the purse into Yan Huan's hands and left in a huff, still cursing in their hearts.

Yan Huan helped the fishermen who had been kicked down to their feet, and listened to their indignant curses: "These bastards will get their comeuppance sooner or later!"

Snapped!
Yan Huan threw the money bag over and said, "Alright, calm down. Officials have always oppressed people, and these lackeys deserve to die. Retribution may be just around the corner!"

After recovering from the shock, the fisherman looked at Yan Huan, feeling an indescribable emotion in his heart: "Mr. Yan, what are you doing here?"

Yan Huan smiled, picked up the egg in his hand, and said, "I was deeply touched by your words this morning. I have some questions for you."

The fishermen were shocked. They didn't expect Yan Huan to take their previous joke seriously.

The older fisherman shook his head and said, "Mr. Yan, fishing is just a way to make a living. Going out to sea and fighting the wind and waves is frightening all day long. Why do you want to learn this hard work?"

"I insulted and scolded you before because I saw that you were blaming others for everything. You complained every day but didn't make any progress. I couldn't stand it."

"But there is nothing to learn about fishing. You should leave quickly and study hard to get a good reputation. Don't go to places of entertainment again."

Yan Huan accepted it humbly, but still insisted: "I don't want to make a living by fishing, I just want to ask, why don't you worry about mermaid attacks when you go out to sea? Is there any way to keep mermaids away or not be discovered?"

"So that's how it is, that's it, it's not a secret!" The fisherman thought for a moment and explained, "The mermaids have lived in the deep sea for a long time, and their hearing and sense of smell are the most sensitive. They are most afraid of a kind of black rock that emits a pungent strange smell, so most fishing boats going out to fish will tie a few pieces of it to the bottom of the boat to pray for safety."

Because this black rock could scare away mermaids, it gradually became famous among the fishermen and was called "Mermaid-scare Rock".

It is precisely because of the existence of "Hujiao Rock" that the fight against mermaids has been successful in recent years.

"I see. Thanks for clearing up my confusion." Yan Huan nodded and presented the eggs as a thank you gift.

The fisherman had just received a favor from Yan Huan, so how could he accept the gift? He waved his hand and refused: "Mr. Yan, the gift you just gave us is big enough. We can't use these, we can't use them!"

"Also, these dried fish are freshly dried and taste delicious. I hope you will accept them as a token of my appreciation."

Seeing their sincere attitude, Yan Huan decided not to insist any longer. He picked up the eggs and fish and wanted to turn around and leave.

Before leaving, the old fisherman earnestly advised: "Mr. Yan, if you really want to be successful, you should study hard. After you get a job, you can help people redress their grievances in the future. Don't spend all your time hanging out in prostitution places and wasting your time!"

"The God of Meicheng is blind."

"If you pass the imperial examination and hold a high position in the future, you must remember to work for the benefit of the people and never get involved with those corrupt officials, so as to become the parasites of the country and the scourge of the people! Especially people like Xie Ning, who deserve to die the most. He appears to be honest and upright, but secretly exploits the people and does all kinds of evil. Even though everyone keeps silent on weekdays, they all know it very well in their hearts."

Yan Huan was slightly stunned. This elderly fisherman did not look like an educated man, but he spoke passionately and elegantly, which was really puzzling.

Just as I was about to leave, the voice behind me sounded again.

"I really want to peel off his skin, eat his flesh, and cut his body into pieces, but it will not be enough to relieve my hatred!"

"Alas, if there is a chivalrous man who is willing to do what is right and kill this official, it will be a blessing for all the people and the country."

"Ugh!"

Another heavy sigh.

Yan Huan stopped and looked at the elder carefully. There was a strong suggestiveness in the words of the old fisherman. It seemed that he wanted Yan Huan to take on the important task of saving the people from dire straits.

“This feeling is somewhat familiar…”

Snapped!
Suddenly, Yan Huan clapped his hands and suddenly realized.

He felt a bit like an NPC in the storyline. He should have communicated with the old man from the moment the waves rolled into the beach, but he just ignored the two of them because he thought it was too much trouble.

Yan Huan lowered his head and began to think. There were no extra task reminders in this world, so he had to integrate all the information and unravel it.

After thinking for a while, he felt that the old man's words meant to provide two options for event lines. One was to pass the imperial examinations, return home in glory, and use his position to execute Xie Ning; the other was to follow the chivalrous route and kill Xie Ning directly!

Ten years of hard study is too far away, and what Yan Huan did has long been vaguely linked to the second option, because his next destination is the largest brothel in Meicheng County - Xinxiangyuan.

Xinxiang Garden is famous far and wide. The madam is said to have retired from the No. 1 brothel in the capital. The four young beauties of Meicheng who were trained by her are each proficient in one of the following arts: music, chess, calligraphy and painting. They are also good at singing and dancing and have extraordinary sexual skills.

When interacting with her, many wealthy businessmen who are used to the world can be treated to the point of being in ecstasy and wanting to live in despair.

And the pleasure boat used for the Mid-Autumn Festival trip on the river three days later was also from Xinxiangyuan.

It was a pity that the governor had cut off his penis in order to enter the palace, and only the broken bud half the length of a thumb was left under his crotch. He really didn't like the relationship between men and women, so these prostitutes had no chance to get close to the rich and powerful. Xie Ning's arrangement was in line with Yan Huan's wishes.

There are many unfortunate people who are forced into prostitution in Xinxiang Garden. These girls have been transferred by human traffickers for many times and finally ended up in brothels, where they had no choice but to accept the reality.

A group of corrupt officials have fled to the rivers and seas, there is no reason to let them be buried with them.

After thinking for a while, Yan Huan decided to go home first.

The original owner betrayed Mei Niang once. Although she seemed fine on the surface, she felt a knot in her heart. She still had to tell her wife about what she had done.

When Yan Huan returned home, Mei Niang was seeing smoke rising from the kitchen. A pot was covered with a large wooden lid on the stove, from which wafted the aroma of rice.

When she saw Yan Huan coming in, she immediately stood up happily and asked anxiously, "Okay... okay?"

Yan Huan nodded slightly, "Things have almost come to light. This is for you. This can be considered our celebration banquet."

As he said this, he handed the dried fish to Mei Niang.

Mei Niang took the dried fish, and a complicated look flashed in her eyes.

Food that has passed through the hands of a mermaid will become bitter and salty. She had quarreled with her husband many times before because of the bitter taste in tea and food. Now, when it comes to cooking, she suddenly feels a little restrained.

"What's wrong?" Yan Huan asked when he saw this.

"Salty!" Mei Niang still squeezed out a word.

"Of course salted fish is salty."

Uh~~~
Mei Niang puffed up her lips, with colorful scales faintly visible on her cheeks, "The rice is salty!"

"Did you add salt to the rice? Mei Niang was born in the deep sea, so she should eat saltier food." However, with just two words, Yan Huan could only guess the meaning.

But obviously, he guessed wrong.

Mei Niang was angry, her cheeks did not blush, but the color of her scales became brighter.

She put her hands on her waist, with a complicated expression, staring at Yan Huan.

Talking is still so irritating...

It’s just that before he was unreasonable and irritating people by venting his anger when things didn’t go his way, but now he’s just being stupid and rigid and irritating people.

Ugh!
Mei Niang sighed and opened the lid of the pot. On four cross-stacked bamboo boards, there was a bowl of crystal clear rice.

"I'll take care of it here." Yan Huan took a step forward.

Mei Niang glanced at his hands wrapped in cloth, her face showing annoyance, and said coquettishly, "Go back to the room and sit down!"

Yan Huan shrank back in disappointment, unable to resist, so he had to go back to the house and wait.

Mei Niang lifted the edge of the wooden basin with bamboo chopsticks and carefully brought out the steamed rice.

The aroma of steaming rice filled the air, and for a moment, her eyes were blurred by the steam.

Looking down at the bowl of steaming rice, Mei Niang thought of her husband who had become stupid, and tears slipped down her face unconsciously and fell into the rice.

"Ah!" Mei Niang screamed, turning around in confusion, then frantically using chopsticks to stir the rice grains, trying to find the missing tear.

After searching in vain, she felt nervous, worried that she had accidentally ruined the meal.

However, when she picked up a few grains of rice and put them into her mouth, she found that there was no different taste, and her mouth still tasted the sweetness of rice.

Mei Niang took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and quickly got busy again, skillfully processing the dried fish and boiling a few eggs.

clap clap!

The food was served on the table. Yan Huan picked up the bowl and put a mouthful of rice into his mouth.

His eyes lit up instantly, and a subtle surprise and satisfaction appeared on his face.

“Is this the flavor that rice can have?”

The taste of the rice is even far better than those delicacies from land and sea.

The mermaid's tears fall into the dishes according to her mood, making them bitter or sweet. If she is happy, the food will be more delicious, but if she is worried, the food will be hard to swallow.

Weird!

"Salty...is it salty?" Mei Niang asked cautiously while waiting on the side.

"It's not salty, and it even tastes far better than rice should. Mei Niang, where did you go to study in a prestigious restaurant? You have such skills. I'm afraid even the imperial chefs in the palace can't cook such delicious rice."

Mei Niang was stunned for a moment, then she raised her sleeve to cover her mouth and chuckled.

If it were in the past, he would never have said such a thing.

"Eat... a lot."

Yan Huan added a bowl of rice for Mei Niang, thinking about the matter of Huayue Painting Boat in his mind, and asked: "Mei Niang, I want to go to Xinxiang Garden, what do you think?"

"Ah?" Mei Niang's smiling face froze in an instant.

Xinxiang Garden was a well-known brothel and a place of entertainment where her husband often went. How could she not know about it?

Want to go to the brothel again?

She was furious and thought her husband had calmed down a bit, but she didn't expect him to become even more unscrupulous and even dare to say such blunt words as "go to the brothel".

Suddenly, Mei Niang's ferocious appearance was revealed. The scales on her cheeks sparkled, and sharp fangs grew in her mouth. She instantly turned into a mermaid.

"Eh!? No!" Yan Huan hastily put down the bowl, "Mei Niang, listen to my explanation!"

"Xie Ning and the governor will go to the river to admire the moon on the 15th day of the eighth month on the Huayue painted boat. At that time, he wants me to trick you onto the boat and use your fish tail to make a dish of mermaid sashimi."

"Eat...eat me?" Mei Niang tilted her head, looked down at her legs, and suddenly put her legs together.

"Don't worry, I've already thought of a countermeasure. I've laid a hidden layer of 'Mercurial Rocks' on the bottom of the Huayue Boat to drive away the mermaids. I'm thinking of tampering with these black rocks. When the boat enters the river or the sea, it will lose its protection and no one will be able to control it."

"We will send those corrupt officials who want to eat you into the belly of the fish."

Snapped!
Hearing this, Mei Niang slammed the table and stood up, and said what she was thinking anxiously, "The mermaid's boat is broken, and the pleasure boat is sunk into the deep sea. What about you then?"

"what would you do?"

(End of this chapter)