Ji Qingwu returned to the restaurant.

Mi Zhenchuan was holding an abacus and going over the account books. When he looked up and saw her, he said in surprise, "Fifth Missy, is there anything else you need?"

Ji Qingwu shook her head. "No, it’s nothing. You can get back to your work. We’ll head up to the third floor."

Seeing that she had someone with her, Mi Zhenchuan said no more.

An assistant beside him said, "Shopkeeper, that person looks like Miss Mo from the Liangxiang Pavilion."

Mi Zhenchuan continued flicking the beads of his abacus, admonishing the assistant without even looking up. "Don’t poke your nose into things that don’t concern you."

Once on the third floor, Ji Qingwu casually pushed open the door to a private room and found a place to sit down.

She had walked at least a mile during the parade today, and in such an elaborate outfit, no less. Her feet had long since grown sore.

Mo Lingling fell to her knees before her with a THUD.

Ji Qingwu gave a look, and Lan Zhi went over to help her up. "Miss, please get up and speak."

Mo Lingling pushed the servant’s hand away, her gaze stubbornly fixed on Ji Qingwu.

Ji Qingwu waved a hand. "Lan Zhi, go and wait by the door."

Once the two of them were alone in the private room, Mo Lingling remained kneeling with her head down, silent.

Ji Qingwu asked, "You came looking for me specifically. Why aren’t you saying anything?"

Hearing her question, Mo Lingling raised her head.

This Fifth Miss Ji of the Ji Family had caused quite a stir today. More than half the men in Lin’an City had come out to see her. Even the Liangxiang Pavilion, where entry was usually hard to come by, had become deserted because of her.

When Mo Lingling heard that Fifth Miss Ji was out on the streets, she had joyfully left the pavilion at once.

Ji Qingwu saw the look on her face and guessed she had something difficult to say.

’She just had a miscarriage,’ Ji Qingwu thought, ’and was just pulled back from the Ghost Gate. Her body must be weak.’

She was dressed all in white today, with only a single white silk flower by her temple. ’Is she in mourning for her lost child?’

"Stop kneeling. Get up and talk."

Instead, Mo Lingling prostrated herself again with several loud THUDS, performing three full kowtows.

The room hadn’t been used in a long time, and a layer of dust covered the floor. Her movements stirred much of it into the air.

With dust on her forehead, Mo Lingling looked up at her again, still not speaking.

Ji Qingwu stood up and looked at the sky outside. "If you’re not going to talk, I’m leaving. I have other things to do."

Mo Lingling actually had a bellyful of things to say, but when she saw Ji Qingwu’s heavily made-up, stunning face, the words wouldn’t come out.

It wasn’t that she didn’t look good; she looked breathtaking.

It wasn’t the vulgarity of cheap rouge and powder, but an immense elegance within the bold red. Only now did she understand what a peerless beauty—as charming as a willow, as delicate as a flower, and radiant in every shade of red—truly was.

Moreover, with this makeup, Ji Qingwu proved the saying that clothes make the woman. Her aura was so powerful it made Mo Lingling feel timid.

Mo Lingling said dazedly, "Miss Ji, if you were at the Liangxiang Pavilion, you would undoubtedly be the top courtesan, outshining all the others."

Ji Qingwu looked down at her, the pendant on her forehead swaying slightly. Her tone turned cool.

"What, are you here to recruit girls for your pavilion?"

Mo Lingling hadn’t meant it as an insult. She hurriedly explained, "Miss Ji, that’s not what I meant."

She was afraid Ji Qingwu would really leave, and she didn’t know when she would ever get to see her again.

She quickly said, "I came to thank you for saving my life, Miss Ji."

Ji Qingwu replied, "You’ve already thanked me. There’s no need to mention it again. I have other business."

Suddenly, Mo Lingling rushed forward and hugged her leg. Before she could speak, two streams of hot tears flowed down her face.

Ji Qingwu addressed her: "Miss Mo."

Her voice was still gentle, but her tone was cold.

"I’m not one of your patrons from the pavilion. Tears don’t work on me. If you just wanted to thank me, I’ve received your gratitude. If there’s something else, you might as well say it plainly."

Mo Lingling looked up at her with tear-filled eyes and said miserably, "I beg you to take me in, Miss Ji."

She had lost her child, her body was weak, and a woman’s best years are fleeting. Her status in the Liangxiang Pavilion was no longer what it once was.

A brothel was a place where they flattered the powerful and trampled the weak. Once you lost your standing, any random nobody could come and walk all over you.

Mo Lingling had tasted all sorts of bitterness in the past few days and had already decided she wanted to leave.

She still had a fair amount of Silver Taels, so buying her freedom wouldn’t be a problem. She had been waiting for Li Chengxun to help clear her family’s name so she could walk out of the Liangxiang Pavilion honorably, with her innocence restored.

But now, it was all just a grand dream, and she had long since woken up.

She was now an official prostitute; finding a place to settle down was easier said than done. In all of Lin’an, after thinking it over and over, she felt only Ji Qingwu could help her.

Ji Qingwu asked, "Miss Mo, why do you think I would help you?"

Mo Lingling answered cautiously, "Miss Ji is... is a good person."

Ji Qingwu’s lips curved into a smile. She said sweetly, "But I’m not a pushover."

"Actually, you know very well in your heart, Miss Mo, that there is someone else you can go to. If you shed your tears before him, he might just give you a way out."

Mo Lingling shook her head in terror. "He would never help me! He hates my guts."

That day, when Mo Lingling slowly regained consciousness, she found a bitter taste in her mouth. Someone must have been forcing medicine down her throat.

She pried her eyes open a crack, only to be met with the man’s face, which looked as if his wife had just died. His hands trembled as he gripped her neck, nearly squeezing the life out of her.

The thought of Duan Mingfeng terrified Mo Lingling even more.

This time, the fear in her eyes was real.

Her voice choked with sobs as she said, "Please, Miss Ji, I can do anything! I can buy my own freedom, I won’t be a bother to you. Just give me a place to stay, a way to survive."

Ji Qingwu’s brow furrowed slightly.

It wasn’t that Mo Lingling’s tearful pleas had softened her heart. Rather, she was thinking that her clinic was, in fact, in need of a capable person who was quick-witted and skilled at dealing with people.

She said calmly, "For me to take you back to the Ji Family—that’s impossible."

Mo Lingling’s body trembled, and she slumped to the floor in despair.

But then Ji Qingwu continued, "At the end of the month, this place will open as a clinic. If you’re interested..."

Mo Lingling immediately perked up and said hurriedly, "Yes! I’m interested!"

"As for the rest, I’ll have Manager Mi discuss it with you. I have other matters to attend to, so I can’t talk any longer."

Ji Qingwu went downstairs, gave a few instructions to Mi Zhenchuan, and then left with Lan Zhi.

Back home, Ji Qingwu quickly removed most of her hairpins and ornaments and had Lan Zhi bring warm water for her to wash her face.

By the time she had mostly cleaned up, she glanced at the hour and realized she wouldn’t have time to change her clothes. She rushed off to the palace to pick up Jiu Jiu.

If she were absent again today, the little girl would cry all the way home, and she’d have a rough night ahead of her.

Ji Qingwu hurried into the palace as fast as she could. She arrived at the entrance of the Upper Study Room just as class was letting out, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiu Jiu was the first to rush out. When she didn’t see her mother, she stood at the bottom of the steps, her lip quivering as she was about to cry.

Ji Qingwu broke into a little run. The hem of her crabapple-red Yao Guang Duan skirt billowed and swayed as she appeared before the little girl.

It also looked as if she were about to descend into the Diligent Governance Hall, its great red gates thrown wide open.