Wine-scented Beauty

Chapter 65: A Man Dressed as a Woman

She held the teacup and sipped it slowly. The strong tea was invigorating; only by being alert could she do the work ahead.

As for the dullness on her face caused by staying up late, Ji Meiqing simply applied some lead powder to her face.

Her skin wasn't very fair, but it looked very translucent. It was as if you could poke it lightly and break through it.

Now, with her face covered in heavy makeup, she looks completely different.

He changed into men's clothing, deliberately making his eyebrows stand out sharply. Without modern makeup tools, the person in the mirror still didn't quite look like a man.

She tidied her hair and then tied it up with a wooden hairpin. As for her height, she put some homemade shoe inserts in her shoes and socks to make shoes with hidden height, which was enough to fool people.

However, her facial features are still too small, making her look overly delicate.

Ji Meiqing frowned after just one glance. She wasn't good at makeup; a light, barely-there look was enough. Trying to transform herself into a man now was proving difficult.

She wasn't wearing many clothes, just a bodice underneath. It was a little uncomfortable against her chest, so she cut off a small tuft of hair and stuck it on her lips to make a small V-shape.

Even so, she still didn't look like a man. Touching the comb and looking at herself in the mirror, she slammed the mirror down on the table in frustration, thinking of just leaving.

As long as she didn't have breasts, no one could tell she was a girl when she was dressed. With this thought in mind, Ji Meiqing cautiously left the house.

Although she attracted a lot of attention along the way, it was generally good; at least no one recognized her or called her name.

At least this is a good start.

Covering her face and head, she hurried into the city. As usual, she wandered around the streets for a while, then bought some things before entering a pawnshop.

"Excuse me," she asked as soon as she entered. It was dark inside, with heavy curtains blocking out all the light. She stood there and asked loudly, "Is anyone here?"

"Coming, coming." A voice suddenly came from behind, and soon a hurried footstep approached. Her eyes lit up as candles were lit throughout the room.

A plump shopkeeper, sweating profusely, approached, carrying a stack of account books. Upon seeing Ji Meiqing, he immediately beamed and asked, "What would you like to pawn, young master?"

"I'm not here to pawn anything."

The shopkeeper's expression remained unchanged. "Young master, you've come to redeem something. Do you have any proof?"

"We're not here to redeem anything."

"Young master, what brings you here...?"

"I'm here to apply for eligibility for this auction," she said in one breath, then looked at the shopkeeper's expression.

The portly shopkeeper still wore a smiling expression, somewhat like a peacemaker from legends, but he seemed a little puzzled by Ji Meiqing's words, "What are you talking about? What auction?"

"Shopkeeper, there's no need to deny it so quickly. I know a little about the rules of the auction house. If you have any treasures or anything you want, you can apply here. I happen to have something here that I'd like to put up for auction."

"Young master, it's quite simple to enter. First, pay an entrance fee of ten thousand taels of silver. If you have items to auction, half of the fee can be waived. As for the rest, we will have specialists to appraise them. May I ask what you wish to auction?" The shopkeeper didn't mince words and asked directly.

Ji Meiqing was slightly troubled by the request. She couldn't raise that much money in a short time, so she naturally couldn't afford to pay the entry fee.

"Excuse me, sir, is this a bank note or a receipt from a money exchange?" the shopkeeper asked again.

Ji Meiqing was a little embarrassed, "Is there any other way?"

"No. When ordinary people want to pawn their items, we judge the value based on the price of the items they want to pawn. We will give them whatever they want to pawn, provided that the item is worthy of the price."

Ji Meiqing was troubled again. She hadn't expected there to be so many rules here. Her brows furrowed slightly, and the shopkeeper, knowing Ji Meiqing's predicament, said, "If you are not ready yet, you can come another day."

"Okay." She quickly left, and in the darkness, the fat shopkeeper returned to the counter and took out the bottom drawer.

Inside was a small paper bag. He examined it for a while, then called someone over, handed the bag to the person, and instructed, "Send this to the post station and deliver it to the princess."

"Shopkeeper, this is..."

"Send it over." He didn't explain much, just handed the paper bag to the person, and the room returned to silence.

Ji Meiqing emerged from the pawnshop, a thoughtful expression on her face. She didn't know how to put it; she had neither money nor connections.

Since it couldn't be auctioned off at an auction house, he decided to make one himself. An idea suddenly struck him, and he quickly left.

The weather suddenly turned cool; just moments ago the sun was shining brightly. In an instant, the whole world turned yellow. Ji Meiqing sat in front of Hu's mother, and the room remained silent for a long time.

She had almost finished drinking the water in the teapot and wanted to refill it with another cup, but found that the teapot was empty.

"I wonder what Mrs. Hu thinks?" She could only break the silence by speaking, which seemed somewhat abrupt.

Mrs. Hu was still fiddling with her teacup, seemingly deep in thought, or perhaps contemplating something else. She had considered Ji Meiqing's request, but it wouldn't benefit her in any way.

"If it doesn't work, I'll try asking somewhere else." She simply got up and prepared to leave.

Mrs. Hu didn't stop her and let her leave directly.

If one place fails, another will always come. Instead of leaving the red-light district, they went to another one.

Upon meeting the madam, he immediately explained his purpose.

The madam paused for a moment, seemingly not yet having reacted.

After she left, the mother immediately stood up and had someone stop her. This might be a good idea to make money, so she walked up to Ji Meiqing and asked, "If I agree to your request, how much... will we get?"

"That depends on the skills of the girls here. By the way, do you have any artists? I need three people who can draw to paint a billboard."

"A billboard?" The madam asked, puzzled. "What is that?"

"Spread the word. If you have anyone here who is good at drawing, that would be best. I'll come over another day and you can have her draw one for me." Ji Meiqing smiled mysteriously, and then added, "If Mother trusts me, then wealth and honor are just a matter of time."

"Well..." She thought for a moment, but still didn't know what the advertisement was. Ji Meiqing was too lazy to explain it to her in detail. The two arranged a time, and then Ji Meiqing took her leave.