Phoenix Rise: XieRong

Chapter 32 - The Top Courtesan at MeiYing

"Granny, why don’t you let me take this young miss where she wants to go?"

XieRong looked to where the voice came from.

A beautiful lady made her way down the stairs to the side. All the courtesans whom she passed greeted her respectfully, calling her ’Jie’ and lowering their heads.

"Hmph, LiFen, you’re my top courtesan, do you think you can give away your time as you please for free?"

"Well, I am free to choose to take my customers, and since I’m currently attending to no one important, I might as well let her buy a little of my time with her ten silvers."

"That amount of money can’t even buy a minute of your time, but I will allow it seeing how she is a paying customer who was mistreated in my shop. I can’t have rumours spreading around that we don’t compensate our customers."

XieRong took out her money and it was snatched away by the old lady’s quick hands.

"Fifteen minutes, that’s all you’ll get."

The old lady snatched her money and harrumphed away.

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XieRong followed the courtesan to the first floor.

The top courtesan was finely dressed in plum coloured robes with beautiful coral head pieces decorating her l.u.s.trous black hair. Her lips were painted a sultry red and her phoenix eyes were sharp and alluring. She wasn’t scantily dressed like the other courtesans and held a posture akin to that of a noble lady’s.

"Why do you turn your head away, young miss? Do you find us, courtesans, revolting?"

The lady’s tone was polite as she asked, as if she were used to being regarded that way.

XieRong shook her head.

"No, I don’t find you, or any of the other courtesans revolting, but I do find what you do as such."

"Isn’t it the same thing, whether you find what we do revolting or us? You know, young miss, while most of the courtesans here are forced to become what we are, there are some who willingly choose to sell themselves, but all of us take pride in being a good courtesan. It’s just a way of life like any other, it feeds us and puts a roof over our head."

"I don’t understand. Why would you take pride in selling your bodies away to men you don’t know or love? Why would someone choose this life or accept it? I can sense you have a decent amount of cultivation, so why didn’t you choose the life of cultivation instead? I’ve read that cultivation sects accept commoners with decent cultivation."

The courtesan laughed as she thumped XieRong’s head with her fan.

"You might be a clever young lady, but you know nothing of this world," she remarked.

"Young miss, the cultivation sects only accept the rich and powerful nobles, the commoners with connections or with immense potential and when they do accept other commoners it’s because they want someone to do their labour. The life in the cultivation realm isn’t easy for anyone who doesn’t have power. I would rather preserve my pride than join a sect knowing I will always remain at the bottom no matter how hard I try.

"When we courtesans join as children, we all have an equal chance to become the best as long as we try our best to please our customers. All of us aim for the top and when we do become the best, we hold the most power in the brothel, holding the right to refuse any customer if we don’t want to serve them. As for selling our bodies, some of us choose to, but there are some of us who sell their talents instead."

XieRong looked at the woman who walked with her head held high down a long corridor of rooms.

"I’m sorry. I still can’t fully accept what you do, but I do understand why you do it and respect you for it."

The courtesan only smiled gracefully as she came to a stop in front of a door.

"Tell me, young miss, why are you looking for my father?"

"That drunk old man is your father?"

"Yes, and he always comes over to bother me at this time, wanting to buy me."

"If you don’t mind me asking, why would you not want to be bought by your father?"

"It’s alright. Everyone in the brothel knows he was the one who sold me for money to buy his alcohol. I have money, respect and power here. Why would I want to leave this behind and go with him?"

The courtesan opened the door to her room.

The old man sat there sideways one of his elbows propped on the table supporting his head, while with the other he drank wine directly from the bottle.

"Old man, there’s someone here to see you," she said, going to sit by her window seat.

"Who is it?" He slurred out, opening his eyes.

He closed them again as soon as he saw it was a little girl.

"Mister, I can’t tell you who I am, but I’ve come here after seeing you fight at the ring."

"That was no fight, just pure luck. If you have no business with me, the door is right there," he said, pointing at the door with the end of the bottle.

"I’ll get to the point, I want you to tutor me in martial arts."

"I refuse," he replied, without even batting his eye,"like I said it was just pure luck I won the fight."

"The callouses on your hand from years of training tell me otherwise."

"Tell me girl, even if I do agree to mentor you, what do you have to offer me in return?"

"Nothing, except a little money. I just came here to become your disciple, and I will come here everyday if I have to until you accept me as one."

LiFen laughed.

"Old man, why don’t you do something more useful with your life for once and take this little girl as your disciple? You do nothing but come waste my time here anyway. I’ll tell you this again, I will not be leaving this place. This is my home now."

The old man sighed and got up.

"I’ll come again tomorrow," he informed before closing the door.

"Go follow him, young miss. If you are as persistent with him as he is with me, it won’t be long before you become you have a new master," LiFen said looking out her window.

"But if you haven’t come around after him coming here everyday for who knows how long, then how do you know he will?"

"Because I have found my place in life, little miss, while he is still searching for his. I will be extremely grateful to you if you can make him find his."

"Thank you, miss LiFen. I will try my best," XieRong said running out of the room to catch up with the old man.

LiFen chuckled. She couldn’t wait for her father to get a taste of his own medicine.