Chapter 68 Reasons for Suicide
"You guys are really resourceful. You actually managed to invite Old Man Xia here?"
Ying Chengjiao said to the women surrounding him.
"Mr. Jun would only tease us sisters. If we sisters have such ability, why would we still use sex to entertain others?"
"That's right, Lord Jun, why did you come just now? If you had been here last night, nothing would have happened to the steward."
"The steward has a different status from us. The doctors from the Imperial Medical Bureau came yesterday, and today the Imperial Physician came in person. Is there anything wrong with that?"
Ying Chengjiao narrowed his eyes.
Of course not!
When Qin officials in Xianyang had complicated illnesses, they would seek help from the Imperial Medical Bureau.
Therefore, it is reasonable that the doctors from the Imperial Medical Bureau arrived in time for such an emergency as the manager of the tower committed suicide last night.
But if the imperial physician Xia Wuqie came in person, that would be a different story.
The tower manager is a minor Qin official with an annual salary of 100 dan. There are countless officials like him in Xianyang City. How could Xia Wuqi be invited to be there in person?
Even though Xia Wuqie left the palace when the First Emperor was ill, when the eldest prince was ill, and when Ying Chengjiao was ill, it seemed as if Xia Wuqie was worthless.
But in fact, the position of Imperial Physician Commander was Shang Qing of Qin State, with an annual salary of 2,000 stones, which made him an absolute high-ranking official in Qin State!
Most of the patients Xia Wuqie saw were members of the royal family, and there were very few people of low status.
"Butler, you're awake!"
The oval-faced beauty let out a scream that echoed throughout the room.
When the girls heard this, they swarmed past Ying Chengjiao and rushed to the bed. Physical contact was inevitable in the process. Some of the girls who liked to have fun even played with their birds.
Ying Chengjiao was able to pay a hundred gold coins to the steward who often served him. The women were moved by this gesture of money and affection.
"Butler, I'm so glad you're okay."
"Butler, you're finally awake!"
"Would you like some water? I'll get it!"
The girls were chattering.
How much of it is sincere and how much is false, I don’t know.
"Lord."
The steward did not make a fuss with the girls. He sat up with the help of the oval-faced beauty, his pale face clearly showing his weakness.
"Tell me, why did you commit suicide?" Ying Chengjiao walked forward, showing no mercy, and pulled the manager's pretty face.
The manager felt pain but didn't dare to cry out. He opened his big eyes and looked at Ying Chengjiao pleadingly.
"Master, please let the steward go."
"It was because you broke your promise first."
"Master, are you really fined three years' salary?"
Through the conversations among the women, Ying Chengjiao pieced together the reason why the housekeeper committed suicide.
Last night, after that group of noble young men arrived at the pavilion, they hired all the concubines in the pavilion and held an open-air party inside the pavilion hall and between the inner and outer gates.
Concubines were slaves and had no right to resist. Even if it was extremely humiliating, they could only submit and please.
If it were just that, the housekeeper would just smile happily, take the money and wouldn't say a word.
Who would care about the psychology of a concubine?
They are not human.
But the bad thing is that these people ask prostitutes to do the same.
As mentioned before , prostitutes have certain rights. They can choose to accept customers or not, and they can choose to have sex or not.
But the reason why it is said to be a certain right is that in most cases, they still have to obey the guests' requests, because they are also subject to revenue assessments.
But they seem to be much better . They are not evaluated annually but monthly.
If you fail the monthly assessment, you don’t have to serve any prison sentence, you can just leave from the balcony.
However, after they are used to doing romantic things and eating delicacies from land and sea, can they get used to the life of ordinary people after they go out?
I can't get used to it.
Without guests to entertain, no matter how hard they work, they cannot eat good food. It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality!
Even if they have strong willpower, can do hard work, and can get used to eating simple meals, that won't work.
The men worked hard in the fields, but could not earn enough food and wages.
Women weave, but cannot make enough clothes.
Exhaust all the wealth in the world to support his government.
The man worked hard every day but could not fill his stomach.
Even if women work hard on weaving every day, they cannot guarantee that they will have enough clothes to wear.
All the money in the world was used to support the rule of the First Emperor.
They live a life of luxury and their physical strength is ten times worse than those women outside who spin all year round. Therefore, their spinning efficiency is also ten times worse.
The Qin women who often spun could only barely support themselves. Even if these prostitutes were not afraid of hardship and fatigue and worked day and night, there were only two possibilities for them - to die of exhaustion or starvation.
Therefore, when all the guests in the pavilion reached an agreement that if their demands were not met today, they would call on all friends to never come to the pavilion again tomorrow, these beauties were caught in a dilemma.
If you agree to this, it will happen once or twice. From then on, you will be treated like those concubines, not as human beings, and there will be no possibility of turning your life around.
If you don't agree, you will fail the assessment at the end of the month and you will die if you leave.
Of course , you can also continue to stay on the balcony.
But that would turn me into a slave concubine with no control over life and death. It would be better to agree now and still have a fig leaf to hide.
Upon seeing this, the housekeeper stepped forward to smooth things over, and the guests came up with a second plan.
If the building manager can accompany them to the meeting, he can let the prostitutes go. Would you like to exchange one person for a group of people?
This second option immediately put the pressure on the housekeeper.
The female steward smiled and delayed time, and asked someone to go to Chang'an Jun's mansion to invite Ying Chengjiao.
Ying Chengjiao was taking a bath in the Xianyang Palace at that time, so those who went to the tower naturally came to find nothing.
The housekeeper placed her hopes on Ying Chengjiao, but when Ying Chengjiao did not come, the housekeeper was only slightly disappointed, but not desperate.
She thought that at worst she could just not agree today and wait until Ying Chengjiao came tomorrow to discuss it.
Ying Chengjiao contributes half of the building's revenue, and every time he comes, he calls several beauties to sleep with him.
I can’t say how much more, but it’s still possible to boost the monthly sales of all the prostitutes in the building.
The guests came today to seek revenge on Ying Chengjiao and the housekeeper.
When he saw that the person who went to the tower did not call Ying Chengjiao, he was disappointed and focused all his anger on the female housekeeper.
They took out a document that had been written long ago, which roughly meant that Ying Chengjiao was fined three years' salary.
At the end of the document were the signatures of so many people.
The housekeeper took a closer look and felt despair .
Because if the words on it are false, these people are spreading rumors, and these bamboo slips are evidence, and they will be punished according to Qin law.
Spreading rumors about a noble is not just a punishment of imprisonment, it is also a punishment of cutting off the tongue.
The fact that these guests dared to write this shows that it was true. Ying Chengjiao was really fined three years' salary and had no money left.
