Harem Daily Life

Fang Ziming had no idea what kind of bad luck he had encountered. He was sleeping soundly when suddenly a man in black appeared and knocked unconscious before he could even scream. When he woke up, he was disheveled and surrounded by a group of men, which terrified him so much that he almost died on the spot.

Then a few more people appeared and dressed him in clothes that didn't look like proper men's clothes without saying a word. The madam appeared, holding a contract of servitude, and insisted that he had been bought for ten taels of silver.

Ten taels of silver? Ten taels of silver! If it were a hundred times that amount, he wouldn't feel so aggrieved.

This group of people were vicious and wouldn't listen to reason with him; they even almost physically assaulted him. Fang Ziming suddenly felt like a scholar encountering thugs, having fallen into a den of wolves.

"Do you know who I am? You've got some nerve, detaining me here! Release me now, or I'll make you... Where is this?" Fang Ziming asked through gritted teeth.

The madam rolled her eyes at him: "Look carefully, it's written clearly on the contract that you voluntarily sold yourself, and it's ten taels of silver for the transaction. If you keep nagging, I'll poison you and lock you in the woodshed, starve you for three days and three nights, and see if you still have the strength to challenge my Drunken Spring Pavilion."

Upon hearing that it was Zuichunlou, Fang Ziming's face turned deathly pale.

Who on earth dared to knock him unconscious and sell him to the Drunken Spring Pavilion?

That bastard! What kind of person do they take him for?

Realizing that the current situation was unfavorable to him, Fang Ziming quickly revealed his identity as a member of the Fang family.

"My father is the magistrate of the Court of Judicial Review, my eldest brother works in the Ministry of War, and my second brother works in the Ministry of Works. You can't do anything to me. Release me now, or I'll report you to the authorities, and you'll be in deep trouble!"

The madam frowned. The man in black held a knife to her neck, ordering her to keep the young man at the Drunken Spring Pavilion for three days and three nights, no matter what, so that the whole capital would know he had sold her. If she refused, the man in black would take her life.

Faced with the choice between saving her own life and being purged by the Fang family, the madam chose to temporarily save her own life.

Keeping the green hills, you don’t have to worry about having no firewood.

She raised an eyebrow: "In short, I paid money to buy you. My Drunken Spring Pavilion is a business that the imperial court authorized to exist. You took my money, so you have to abide by the contract. Even if you take this to the Prefectural Governor's Office, I'm still going to win."

The madam gave a look to a few servants, who then stepped forward to drag Fang Ziming out to stand on the platform. Fang Ziming had frequented brothels before, and male prostitutes with his looks were indeed quite popular.

He didn't want anyone to see him, and struggled frantically: "No, I won't go to the front, I beg you, please let me go, I'll return the silver to you, ten taels, right? I'll return it, okay?"

Fang Ziming's pleas for mercy reached the madam's ears. She raised an eyebrow and said, "Pay back? What will you pay back? You're still wearing my Zuichunlou clothes. Don't even mention ten taels of silver; you probably can't even come up with a single copper coin. Humph, stop talking nonsense. You're mine now, so you have to make money for me!"

Fang Ziming reached for his waist, but all the jade pendant, jade ornament, money bag, and sachet were gone, leaving only the improper clothes that couldn't even cover his waist. He instantly blushed.

The madam turned and walked out. Fang Ziming gritted his teeth and said, "Give me paper and pen, and I'll write a letter to my father. Ten taels of silver is a trivial matter. Why do you have to offend the Fang family?"

The madam paused, hesitated for a moment, then turned around and said, "Alright, here's paper and pen. But money from my Drunken Spring Pavilion isn't so easy to come by. Your redemption fee is one thousand taels. You can leave when you've paid it all back."

Turning ten taels into a thousand taels—isn't that blatant extortion? Fang Ziming's eyes seemed to be filled with venom as he glared fiercely at the madam.

The madam rolled her eyes at him: "What? You think you're being wronged? Let alone a thousand taels, if you stay here for one more day, you can earn me an extra hundred or two taels."

Having no other choice, Fang Ziming suppressed his resentment and, after the servant brought him paper and pen, hurriedly wrote down the letter.

"Alright, take him to the woodshed first." The madam turned and went out. It was so noisy outside, she had to go out and calm things down, and also take care of the task the man in black had given her.

People have a natural curiosity. When they heard that a son of an official had sold himself into a brothel, it was explosive news, and the whole city knew about it in no time. The madam came out and said a few words, which confirmed the news. Almost overnight, Fang Ziming's reputation was ruined.

Lord Fang received the letter the next day after returning from court. He had been thoroughly scolded by Censor Qiu in court, and upon seeing the letter at home, he fainted.

The Fang family was in a panic and called a doctor to give him acupuncture several times before finally reviving Master Fang.

"That bastard has brought shame upon my Fang family! I've lost all face today! When have I ever suffered such humiliation before His Majesty and the court officials? Why did you save me? You might as well have let me die sooner!"

The man wept bitterly, crying out all the tears he had saved up in his life.

"Please take care, sir. Ming'er is still at the Drunken Spring Pavilion, waiting for us to redeem him with money!" Madam Fang wept, tears streaming down her face as she faced Lord Fang.

"That wicked beast!" Lord Fang couldn't help but curse again.

The eldest and second sons also gathered in the master's room. After discussing it, they finally raised a thousand taels of silver and asked the steward to redeem the people.

The Fang family's steward and his men waited at the back door of Zuichunlou from afternoon until nightfall before finally redeeming Fang Ming, who was starving and on the verge of death.

"Steward Li, this Drunken Spring Pavilion has bullied and humiliated me. Take some men and smash it up!" Fang Ziming ordered, barely holding on to his last breath.

Butler Li, keeping his eyes downcast, said, "Master told the Third Young Master to keep a low profile. Right now, you're in the eye of the storm. The whole capital is talking about... about how you not only have a thing for men, but you're also a womanizer, willing to sell your body to satisfy your peculiar fetishes. Master is so angry he's fainted several times already. You absolutely cannot cause any more trouble now, otherwise Master might have to clean house and expel you from the family."

Fang Ziming clenched his fists: "I'm a victim! How innocent am I?"

Butler Li sighed, "Young master, the things you did in the past... alas, karma has its cycles, you've probably suffered retribution!"

Butler Li's words startled Fang Ziming, and suddenly a chill ran from the soles of his feet straight to his head.

He concealed the fear in his eyes and said in a trembling voice, "I didn't do anything wrong. What do you mean by the way of heaven? If you can't speak properly, then shut up."

He closed his eyes and ignored Butler Li, tightening his clothes as sweat seeped from his forehead.

No, no, there's no way the palace could possibly guess what he did.

Fang Ziming kept giving himself these suggestions.

He recalled the incident at Ruyi Gold Shop that day; the Empress and Consort Xian had clearly bought the Azure Phoenix Jade happily. He was meticulous and thorough in his actions; how could they possibly have known about the schemes behind it all?