Dingbei Hou's doctor brother

As Lu Ziqing stepped over the threshold, a strong smell of powder hit him in the face. He couldn't stand the smell and sneezed twice on the side of his face.

The lobby is brightly lit and filled with the sound of piano.

Upstairs and downstairs, the women were all dressed in light gauze and looked charming and enchanting.

"Come on, come and chase me! Hehe——"

"Little beauty, don't run, I'll catch you and punish you severely! Hehehe——"

An old man with an unshaven beard was chasing a young woman, flirting with her.

The young woman ran to the bonsai next to Lu Ziqing with a coquettish look, and the old man stepped forward and hugged the woman's waist.

With a mouth full of stubble, he kissed the woman on the face, put his two old hands on the woman's buttocks, and touched her waist up and down.

"I caught you. Come on, go upstairs and serve me well. Don't play dirty."

The woman tapped the old man's chest with her pink fist and said coquettishly, "Oh, that's annoying."

This touch of eroticism gave Lu Ziqing goose bumps all over his body, and he turned his face away in embarrassment.

He walked to the center of the lobby and came towards him. An enchanting, elegant and charming old woman came over. She was the madam of the place.

"Oh, a distinguished guest has arrived. Sir, do you have a girl you like?"

Lu Ziqing had never set foot in a brothel before, and didn't know how to respond. He stood there with an embarrassed look on his face, at a loss as to what to do.

The madam gently waved her scented fan and looked at him with a meaningful smile, "Sir, don't be shy. If you're embarrassed to tell me, I'll arrange it for you."

"All the girls here are young and beautiful, with graceful figures, and most importantly, their skills are first-class. We have whatever you want, and we guarantee that you two gentlemen will be satisfied."

As she spoke, she shifted her gaze to the man next to Lu Ziqing.

"This young man seems to be quite drunk. I'll let the girl sober him up later."

Lu Ziqing didn't want to listen to her nagging, and said expressionlessly: "Please arrange a room for us."

The madam smiled and said, "Okay, sir, please follow me."

In the wing room, behind the carved screen, there are gauze curtains and beaded curtains hanging down, creating a scene of hazy springtime and unbridled joy.

Lu Ziqing placed the man on the bed. The madam behind him said, "Please wait a moment, sir. I will call the girls up."

"Wait." Lu Ziqing immediately turned around and called her, taking a few steps closer. "We... don't need the girl, but how much is the hotel?"

The madam was stunned. He came to the brothel not to find a girl but to stay in the hotel? This was the first time she heard of this. She looked at Lu Ziqing and pondered secretly.

"This young man is so handsome, and the girl in bed is also good-looking. He doesn't want a girl? Could it be..."

Lu Ziqing saw her expression gradually changing from suspicion to joy, but he didn't say whether it was okay or not. After waiting for a while, the madam spoke with a smile on her face.

"You can stay at the hotel. It only costs five taels of silver. There is no need to hide your feelings. Everyone has different preferences. In Jin'an City, there are many people like you. We have seen many of them."

She took the silver that Lu Ziqing handed over and continued.

"Sir, we have the resources to support your interests. As long as we have the money, we can even find someone like the Third Prince of the Dragon King for you."

What a mess?

Lu Ziqing was confused by what she said, and said to her, "Please, boss, just put the food in the room tomorrow, and I will come to pay the bill."

"Okay." The madam said with a smile, "The waiter will bring hot water and food later. You two gentlemen should rest early."

The door closed with a creak.

Lu Ziqing shook his head speechlessly and walked to the bed. Now he could see clearly in the light.

The man had a bruise on one side of his face, and there was a cut on his waist and abdomen, as well as on his thigh.

He helped the man up and half-leaned, then took out the fried small yellow croaker and opened it.

"Eat some of this first, the food will be served in a while."

The man looked listless as he reached out to pick up a piece of fried fish and put it into his pale mouth to chew.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'd like to ask your name, sir?"

The man cupped his hands, "Chu Yi."

Lu Ziqing nodded, "I'm Lu Ziqing. There's no medicine to treat your wounds right now, so I can only bandage them briefly later."

He took out the small jade bottle that he always carried with him from his arms.

"You can take some painkillers to get through tonight and buy medicine tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, Mr. Lu." Chu Yi said.

After saying this, he looked flustered again. He sat up straight and looked around as if he was looking for something.

Lu Ziqing stood up, took a black cloth bag from the small table beside the bed and handed it to him.

"Is this what Master Chu is looking for?"

Chu Yi felt as if he had seen something that was lost and found again, something more important than his life. He nervously took the cloth bag and held it in his arms, feeling relieved and relaxed.

"Fortunately, I'm still here." He looked at Lu Ziqing and thanked him, "Mr. Lu, you really helped me a lot. May I ask which clinic you work at? I will definitely thank you in the future."

Lu Ziqing sat down at the table and poured himself some tea. "I was just helping out on my way home from work. You don't need to thank me."

Chu Yi's face changed slightly as he didn't know what was wrong with this question. He suddenly asked, "Does Mr. Lu work in the government office?"

Lu Ziqing put down his teacup and asked, "How did Master Chu know?"

Chu Yi said calmly, "The government office just said it was an assignment."

Lu Ziqing was slightly stunned. This man was slightly older than him, and was dressed neatly, not like an ordinary person.

He smiled lightly and said, "I didn't expect Mr. Chu to be so observant. He seems like... someone from the government."

Chu Yi's face darkened slightly. After a pause, he said bluntly, "To be honest with you, Master Lu, I used to be a tyrant, but I'm not anymore. The officialdom is dark, and fortune and misfortune can change at any moment."

As he was speaking, there were two knocks on the door. Lu Ziqing opened the door and saw two waiters standing at the door carrying food and hot water.

"Sir, the hot water and food you requested!"

"come in."

The waiter set the table and before leaving, he took out a small red wooden box from his bosom and handed it to him, giving him special instructions with a meaningful look on his face.

"This is an extra gift from our boss, please keep it, sir."

After the waiter left, Lu Ziqing opened the lid with a puzzled look on his face, and found that the container was divided into two halves.

One side is white paste and the other side is gray-brown powder.

What is this?

He brought it to his nose and sniffed it, and the powder gave off a faint scent of frankincense and Panax notoginseng.

Isn’t this medicine?

When he came in earlier, Lu Ziqing deliberately used fried food and wild flowers to cover up the bloody smell on Chu Yi's body to avoid arousing suspicion.

Could it be that the madam saw through him?

Lu Ziqing thought about it, quickly cleaned and applied medicine to the person, bandaged the wound properly, and then asked about the doubts about tonight.

"I'm just asking a question, Master Chu, please forgive me. Why... are you being hunted?"

Chu Yi picked up a piece of vegetable and put it into the bowl. He looked at the bowl with a serious expression, wondering what he was thinking.

He didn't speak for a long while, and when Lu Ziqing saw his expression, he immediately felt that he had said too much.

To ease the atmosphere, he put a piece of fish into Chu Yi's bowl and said apologetically, "Sorry, I'm Tang..."

"Mr. Lu, there's no need to apologize. This is my own problem."

When Chu Yi saw that he saved himself, his first instinct was that he didn't seem like a bad person, so he hesitated and told him the secret.

"To be honest, I was trying to deliver a secret memorial to the capital, and was chased all the way here from Meizhou. Fortunately, Master Lu saved me, and I am truly grateful."

Lu Ziqing was puzzled. "What secret memorial?"