“Oh dear, what are you all doing?”
Jin Feng wanted to reach out and help the dancing girls up, but he felt it would be inappropriate.
For a moment, he appeared somewhat at a loss.
“Let me tell you ladies, this Mr Jin is not only a titled noble, but also a deeply devoted great talent. You all can read, so you should have heard of the line ‘Having seen all the flowers in Xichuan, none compare to Little Bei’, right?”
Qing Xinyao said, “That ci poem was written by this very gentleman. Moreover, Mr Jin has married Miss Little Bei and taken her home. Now Miss Little Bei is remarkable. She manages the entire Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce.”
The dancing girls had already wanted to follow Jin Feng. Hearing Qing Xinyao say this, their eyes lit up with excitement one by one.
Ordinary commoners in Xichuan city might not know Jin Feng, but they, coming from brothels, had all heard the story of Jin Feng and Tang Xiaobei.
Tang Xiaobei was a legend among brothel girls, the dream goal of every one of them.
Even the girls whom Tang Xiaobei had bought to become female shop managers had become objects of envy for brothel women.
Now soap was widely used in Xichuan brothels as well. In their eyes, the terrifying procuresses became like quails before these female managers, all smiles and flattery, just to buy some soap.
They did not dare hope for the same luck as Tang Xiaobei, nor did they seek to become female managers. As long as Jin Feng was willing to take them in, even if he kept them as bedwarming maidservants, they would accept it.
In any case, it was better than being sent back to the Hanxiang Pavilion.
“Sir, please keep us. We will serve you with all our hearts!”
“Sir, we know many things. We will certainly satisfy you!”
“Sir…”
The group of girls now became like nodding insects, all pleading for Jin Feng to take them in.
Jin Feng was soft-hearted to begin with. Now the pleas came from a group of vulnerable women, and he truly could not bring himself to refuse.
He could only nod helplessly. “Alright, stop kowtowing. All of you get up and come with me!”
“Thank you, sir!”
The girls were all overjoyed and stood up one after another.
“Sir, tomorrow I will have someone change their contracts to your name and send them over.”
Qing Xinyao said with a smile.
“There is no need to change them to my name. Just change them to free commoners.” Jin Feng waved his hand.
His original intention was to restore these girls to freedom, but who knew that upon hearing this, their faces would pale with fright and they would kneel down again.
“Sir, please do not abandon us!”
The girls pleaded.
A few were so anxious that tears came to their eyes.
“Who said I was going to abandon you…”
After saying this, Jin Feng felt something was wrong.
This was their first meeting. How had it become him abandoning them?
Anyone overhearing this who did not know the situation would think he was a scoundrel who seduced and then discarded women.
“I am not abandoning you. I mean to give you your freedom.”
Jin Feng could only explain helplessly. “From now on, you are no longer brothel girls, nor maidservants in anyone’s house. You are free. You can go wherever you wish!”
“Sir, we servants do not want freedom. We only want to follow you and serve you!”
The leading girl looked up and said, “We know nothing else. We only know how to dance and how to serve people. If you do not want us, sir, we… we have no way to live!”
This was the helplessness of many brothel girls.
In feudal times, job opportunities were far too few. Even if they were given freedom, they would have nowhere to go.
In the end, they would either become someone’s plaything or return to the brothel.
“Alright, I cannot explain it clearly to you all right now. Get up. I will not drive you away.”
Jin Feng waved his hand with some headache, too lazy to explain further.
When they returned to Xihe Bay, they would gradually understand.
Seeing the girls stand up again, Jin Feng cupped his fists towards Qing Xinyao, turned, and mounted his horse.
Two girls immediately came forward knowingly. One held the reins for Jin Feng, the other helped support him.
Jin Feng sighed inwardly and spurred the horse’s belly.
Because of the group of girls walking on foot, the party moved slowly. It took nearly half a shichen to return to the main camp at Damang Slope.
It was the first time for the girls to come to a military camp. They looked around curiously, somewhat fearful about their future life, yet also full of expectation.
As the girls curiously surveyed the camp, the soldiers on duty also curiously surveyed them.
Although the escort team had female escorts, they usually dressed the same as the male escorts. Moreover, most had skin darkened and roughened by long training, looking more fierce than many male soldiers of the Weisheng Army.
In fact, the combat strength of the female escorts was truly no less than that of the Weisheng Army’s male soldiers.
Especially with crossbows, they outclassed the Weisheng male soldiers by several streets.
Now, suddenly, a group of graceful women arrived, wearing gauze skirts and swaying like slender willows in the wind as they walked. The guarding soldiers’ eyes were stunned.
But seeing that these girls had come with Jin Feng, all the soldiers quickly averted their gazes.
After Jin Feng and the dancing girls had walked far away, several duty soldiers quickly gathered together and whispered.
“Isn’t Mr Jin going a bit too far?”
“What is so extreme about this? Is this your first day as a soldier?”
“Exactly. It is completely normal for officers to bring women into camp. When I was in the Lian’an Army before, that Young Master Hou never stopped from the first day he entered camp.”
“When I served in the Baisheng Army, it was the same. Young Master Bai had three girls sent from the brothel every day, without repeating for a month. Mr Jin waited until after the war, after cleaning the battlefield, before bringing girls into camp. That is already very good.”
“Of course I know that. What I mean by extreme is that Mr Jin brought back so many at once. I did not dare count carefully just now, but there must be more than ten, right?”
“It looked like a large group. There should be.”
“Mr Jin truly does nothing by halves. When he acts, it is on a grand scale. Bringing back more than ten at once, and they do not look like ordinary brothel girls!”
“Of course not ordinary brothel girls. They should be dancing girls.”
“How do you know?”
“From the way they walk and their bearing. Dancing girls train their posture from childhood. The way they walk is different from ordinary people.”
“How do you know so much?”
“Our family lives outside the pleasure quarter. From childhood, I dealt with them every day. I can tell at a glance.”
“No wonder their waists are all so slender. Mr Jin bringing back so many at once. He will have to exert himself tonight.”
“I would be willing to exert myself. Will you treat me?”
“Get lost! I certainly cannot afford it!”
…
Amid the envious gazes of the duty soldiers, Jin Feng led the dancing girls gradually farther away.
Just as they entered the main camp, Da Liu had secretly sent someone to summon a squad of female escorts.
By the time Jin Feng returned to his tent, Da Liu tactfully withdrew with his personal guards to a hundred metres away, leaving female soldiers to guard outside the tent.
“Sir, is this your main tent?”
One dancing girl asked curiously.
On the way back, Jin Feng had become somewhat familiar with this group of dancing girls.
He knew that the one called Qingyuan was the big sister of the group, as well as the oldest, already nineteen this year.
“Yes, this is my tent,” Jin Feng nodded. “Miss Qingyuan, you all rest for a bit first. I will have someone come to arrange things for you shortly!”
After saying that, he prepared to send someone to call A Pei over.
But remembering that some documents in his tent had not been put away, he turned back into the tent.
The girls exchanged glances, gathered their courage, and followed him in.
In an instant, the tent was filled with the fragrance of rouge.
