Chapter 131 Long story short
Just when Ye Jiayao was busy taking orders and making money, Mrs. Ye Ning came to Yangzhou with the so-called real Second Miss Ye.

Various visits, and with two daughters. The appearance of Miss Ye Er reversed the one-sided public opinion. Of course, people would not believe that the Helian Palace was deliberately making things difficult for Minister Mu's family, so everyone generally agreed that this was a misunderstanding.

Ye Jinrong was cleared.

This kind of gossip after dinner is the most well-informed in places like restaurants. Ye Jiayao has also heard about it, but she is not in a hurry at all. Let the Ye family jump around. The higher they jump, the harder they fall. The more pure and pitiful the white lotus pretends to be, the more thorough her image will be when the truth is revealed. Things have to be like this with twists and turns, and the ups and downs are interesting.

In a blink of an eye, it was the sixth day of the New Year, which was Ye Jiayao’s birthday. Strangely enough, she and the original owner, Ye Jinxuan, had the same birthday. It was indeed a deep bond and destined!
Ye Jiayao had long forgotten that she had mentioned her birthday to Xiaojing. After finishing her work at noon, she asked Zhong Xiang to make her a bowl of noodles and asked him to add two eggs. Zhong Xiang joked, "Li Yao, it's not your birthday, is it?"

Ye Jiayao said casually: "I have been having trouble digesting food recently, so I want to eat some pasta."

Given her current position in heaven, if the brothers knew it was her birthday, they would make a big fuss and have a feast of wine. They might even find ways to give her gifts. That would be so much trouble. It would be better for her to go home and get some more sleep.

In the afternoon, Eunuch Xiaochuan from the Prince's Mansion came and brought a reward from the Crown Princess, a basket of red pomegranates, saying that the Crown Princess liked the yogurt ice cream she made very much.

Although pomegranates are not valuable, they are appropriate for the occasion. Ye Jiayao gladly accepted them and expressed her gratitude again and again.

He kept five, one for himself, one for each member of Uncle Jiang's family, and the rest were divided among the brothers in the kitchen.

After work in the evening, Xiaojing was waiting for her.

"Yaoyao, let's go on a boat trip."

"No, I'm too tired."

"Just swim for a while. At worst I can make you ice cream in the evening." Xiao Jing looked at her eagerly.

Ye Jiayao looked at him with deep suspicion: "Forget it, I don't dare to trouble you again."

Last time, he was asked to crack some eggs, but he mistook them for stones and used so much force that he knocked the entire basin of eggs over on the ground, wasting dozens of eggs. Jiang Yue was so distressed that she almost cried.

Xiao Jing said awkwardly, "Well... I don't have any experience, but I promise I won't make any mistakes this time. Go ahead, I've already rented a boat, and I heard there will be a beauty contest on the Qinhuai River tonight, let's go and join in the fun."

Hearing about the competition of beauty among the courtesans, Ye Jiayao became a little interested. Thinking about the famous Eight Beauties of Qinhuai in history, who were the most beautiful in Qinhuai, talented and elegant, and left behind many romantic stories. She didn't have the chance to see the real Eight Beauties of Qinhuai, but she wondered how the courtesans would compete tonight?
So, he reluctantly went to the pier with Xiaojing.

When Ye Jiayao saw the boat Xiao Jing rented, she wondered, "Are we just going to take this boat?"

She thought it was a pleasure boat!

Xiao Jing said embarrassedly: "By the time I got the news, all the pleasure boats had been rented out, leaving only this small boat, which I had to steal by pretending to be a prince."

In fact, he traded the pleasure boat for a small boat because he wanted to say something tonight that couldn't be heard by anyone else.

Ye Jiayao imagined the scene where Xiao Jing used his status as a prince to snatch a broken boat from others, and couldn't help but look down on him.

"Hehe, big ships have their advantages, and small ships have their advantages." Xiao Jing said mysteriously and pushed Ye Jiayao onto the boat.

Ye Jiayao sat at the bow of the boat, and Xiao Jing also got on board. The boatman untied the rope and gave a gentle push, and the boat swung out.

"Uh... the boatman won't get on board? Then who will row the boat?" Ye Jiayao was surprised to find that the boatman didn't come on board.

Xiao Jing smiled and said, "I'll shake it."

As he said this, he picked up the oars and started rowing the boat properly.

"Haha, not bad! You can row the boat now." Ye Jiayao praised him when she saw that he rowed steadily.

Xiao Jing was very proud in his heart, because he thought, I practiced for an entire afternoon just for tonight.

The Qinhuai River is particularly lively tonight, with lights on both sides as bright as day and boats busy on the river. Under Xiaojing's guidance, one can tell which brothel a boat belongs to by the lantern signs hanging on several large boats that look particularly luxurious and exquisite.

A singing and dancing performance had already begun on the pleasure boat, and there were boats of all sizes surrounding it.

"Do you know how this contest of beauty works?" Ye Jiayao asked curiously.

"It hasn't officially started yet. Later, the courtesans from all the brothels will gather in one place. Do you see it? It's the water platform in front, where they will compete to show off their talents." Xiao Jing pointed to a water building in the distance. If no one introduced it, from this side, it would look like a super pleasure boat!

"Tonight is just the beginning. This competition will continue for three days, and the most beautiful lady among all the beauties will be chosen by then."

"How will it be evaluated? Will there be any judges?"

"There is no specific evaluation. It depends on who is most popular and sells for the highest price. That person will be the oiran."

Damn? Public auction of virginity? So open!

"Xiao Jing, among the people you know, is there anyone who will bid? For example, your brother, Xia Chunyu, Zhao Qixuan, uh... Zhao Qixuan will not go." Ye Jiayao asked tentatively.

"Although there are princes and sons of noble families bidding, people like us who are from respectable families will not join in the fun. At most, we will just watch the fun." Xiao Jing said righteously.

Ye Jiayao breathed a sigh of relief. If Chunyu dared to join in the fun, she would definitely destroy him.

As expected, a small boat has its advantages and it is effortless to move among various boats.

"Let's go over to the water platform early to grab a good spot!" Ye Jiayao said.

"Yeah, I'm trying my best to row over there." Although Xiao Jing was able to row freely, he was actually new to the game. He tried his best and almost crashed into the boat several times. Xiao Jing said he was under a lot of pressure. "Hurry up, hurry up, it seems like it's about to start." Ye Jiayao found that the other boats had started to move and were moving closer to the water platform.

"Uh-huh……"

Bang... Urged by Ye Jiayao, Xiao Jing panicked and bumped into a nearby pleasure boat.

"Who is this blind bastard? Do you know how to row a boat?" Someone on the pleasure boat leaned out and cursed.

Ye Jiayao and Helian Jing looked up, and the man immediately retracted his head.

But Ye Jiayao still recognized that guy's voice.

"Not sure." They said in unison.

"This bastard was like a coward a few days ago, and now he's showing off again these past two days. Forget it, I'm in a good mood today, so I won't bother with him. We'll settle the score some other day." Xiao Jing sneered.

On the pleasure boat, Mu Qinchu was sweating profusely. Damn it, why hasn't the bad luck passed yet? He yelled at Prince Jing and Li Yao, hoping that they didn't see clearly and didn't know it was him.

"Cousin, what's wrong? Who is it?" Wei Liujiang asked when he saw that Mu Qinchu looked unhappy.

Mu Qinchu whispered a few words in his ear, and Wei Liujiang's face changed. He finally came out to watch the fun today, but he met his enemy again.

"Go and tell the boatman to sail the boat away." Wei Liujiang waved to the servant and gave the order.

Seeing the pleasure boat turn in a different direction and go away, Ye Jiayao sneered: "He is sharp-eyed. He knew it was us and hid."

"You can escape the first day, but you can't escape the fifteenth day." Xiao Jing sneered.

"Hey! Has your brother thought of a solution?" Ye Jiayao asked.

Xiao Jing curled his lips and said, "No, my brother is just like Brother Chunyu, he looks confident and refuses to say anything. Forget it, I don't care. Let's just wait and see those two bastards get into trouble! Anyone who falls into the hands of my brother and Brother Chunyu usually ends up in a miserable state."

Xiao Jing finally rowed her boat to the water platform. Just then, the beauty contest began.

Xiao Jing moved a bunch of food, wine, tea, fruits and snacks out of the wooden box under his butt as if by magic.

"So you were prepared." Ye Jiayao said with a smile.

"Of course, we can't just sit there and watch the fun!" Xiao Jing said proudly.

As the music started, seven women with graceful figures and brightly dressed stepped onto the water platform with light lotus steps, and cheers from all around rose and fell.

"Tonight is the group appearance, and tomorrow is the individual talent show," Xiao Jing introduced.

"Are these the courtesans of various families?" Ye Jiayao expressed her doubt. They all had nice figures and decent looks, but shouldn't courtesans be stunningly beautiful? If any of them came out, they would at least make people exclaim in amazement, if not drool.

"Yes, there are contests for the most beautiful courtesan every year, but the quality varies every year. I heard from Zhao Qixuan that the most beautiful courtesan was Liu Yiyi from the previous contest. She is the real queen of all courtesans. Liu Yiyi will appear the day after tomorrow evening."

Ye Jiayao couldn't help but look forward to meeting Liu Yiyi, but this year's batch of goods was disappointing.

Ye Jiayao was disappointed, but the people around her were still in high spirits. There were all kinds of rewards and praises, and even some self-proclaimed romantic scholars recited poems that made people sour.

Unable to bear it, Ye Jiayao lost interest.

"Yaoyao, is it fun? If it is fun, I will bring you here again tomorrow."

Even the fool Xiao Jing was enjoying watching it.

"Forget about tomorrow. Come and see Liu Yiyi the day after tomorrow. I trust Zhao Qixuan's judgment more." Ye Jiayao said.

There has been no news about Zhao Qixuan and Su Yi in the past two days. Even at the Su family's banquet yesterday, Su Yi didn't come to see her. He was really a heartless person who forgot about the matchmaker after getting married. Ye Jiayao despised him in her heart.

"Okay, okay. I'll rent a large pleasure boat the day after tomorrow, and then ask Liu Yiyi to toast you and play a song for you." Xiao Jing said.

"Want money?"

"Of course."

"How much does it cost?"

"I'm not sure, anyway, Liu Yiyi is the most valuable woman among all the women in Qinhuai, and she won't sell her face to anyone except Brother Chunyu."

Alpaca? Chunyu is also friends with an otaku? Ye Jiayao suddenly felt like a stone was stuck in her heart.

"why?"

"This is a long story." Xiao Jing sighed.

"To make a long story short," Ye Jiayao said. Damn, Xiao Jing just said that Chun Yu would never come to such a place or mess with such a woman, but in the blink of an eye, he got involved with an oiran. She had to ask him about it.

(End of this chapter)