Chapter 89 Hibiscus

Chapter 89: Hibiscus

Cheng Ge nodded firmly. After several days of investigation, he had ultimately discovered that...

Given who he was now, he most likely couldn't even set foot inside the Liu Mansion.

Even if, by some fluke, he managed to sneak in,

the Liu family, after all, was a prominent family. On his own, Cheng Ge would need to find evidence inside and probably go undercover for about ten years.

Cheng Ge was an impatient man, clearly unwilling to wait that long.

However, as the saying goes, if one door closes, another one opens.

Cheng Ge had secretly learned that Liu Xianyue was extremely cautious and prudent, exceptionally smooth, making it nearly impossible to catch him in a mistake or fault.

But Liu Xianyue's life had one major blemish—his son, Liu Yuanqian.

In his youth, Liu Xianyue came from a poor family but passed the imperial exams at a young age, quickly climbing the ranks in his official career.

Sure enough, not long after, he married a rich, beautiful woman, reaching the pinnacle of life.

That rich beauty was Wang Zhaojiao, the legitimate daughter of the then Marquis of Zhengyuan. True to her name, she was extremely willful and arrogant, and Liu Yuanqian was her son.

Moreover, Wang Zhaojiao was exceptionally jealous, with ruthless methods.

As a result, in the decades of their marriage, aside from the legitimate son Liu Yuanqian, all other sons born to Liu Xianyue would mysteriously die before the age of three.

Taking advantage of his father's power, Liu Yuanqian loafed around all day, engaging in cockfighting and dog racing, notorious as a spoiled rich brat.

It was said that once, when he took a liking to a magistrate's wife, he simply snatched her on the street.

The woman, having lost her chastity, jumped into a well when she got home that same day. The incident caused a huge uproar.

Liu Xianyue rarely lost his temper and even resorted to family discipline, but was forcibly stopped by Wang Zhaojiao.

Afterward, Liu Xianyue went to the woman's house that very night, presumably offering many benefits.

Later, the story gradually evolved into the woman climbing up the social ladder to seduce Liu Xianyue, and public opinion began to shift.

Although people suspected something fishy, Liu Xianyue was too powerful and influential for anyone to be foolish enough to offend him over such a trivial matter—unless they didn't care about their official career.

Besides, it wasn't their problem, and just some woman wasn't worth looking into.

Some even went so far as to curry favor with Liu Xianyue by hiring someone to write a script, fabricating and blackening the woman's character, distorting her into a version of Pan Jinlian.

Cheng Ge only learned of this after extensive inquiries and couldn't help but sigh.

However, after this incident, Liu Yuanqian seemed to realize that someone would always cover for him, and his behavior became even more reckless and out of control.

Liu Xianyue had covered for him countless times but still couldn't get him back on the straight and narrow.

Liu Yuanqian had one major vice: he loved drinking and going to brothels.

And when drunk, he'd blab about anything, which had already offended many officials.

Cheng Ge figured that going after Liu Yuanqian might turn up evidence to bring down Liu Xianyue.

He'd just gotten word that tonight, Lady Rumeng, the number-one courtesan at Emerald Cloud Pavilion, was coming out to attract customers.

The owner of Emerald Cloud Pavilion understood the art of hunger marketing—only letting the courtesan appear twice a month, making the whole affair grand and spectacular.

As the saying goes, less is more. This had the patrons totally hooked, determined to catch a glimpse of Lady Rumeng's beauty.

Cheng Ge was certain that, given Liu Yuanqian's nature, he would definitely go to Emerald Cloud Pavilion tonight.

"By the way, can you also put some makeup on me?" With that, he pulled out a large pile of bottles and jars from his sleeve.

Lü Ru went quiet again, totally confused about what Cheng Ge was up to.

Seeing her reaction, he pushed, "You don't know how?"

Lü Rou was originally assigned as a maid to the third miss of the Zhang family, so she naturally knew how to style hair and apply makeup.

But later, she was temporarily sent to deliver medicine to Zhang Qinghang, and by some twist of fate, he took a liking to her.

"I do. What kind of look do you want?" Lü Rou carefully arranged the bottles and jars in front of her, asking in a low voice.

Cheng Ge thought for a second and said, "Hmm... make me look like a prostitute, a bit slutty, you know what I mean?"

Lü Rou removed his headpiece and set it aside.

She ran a peachwood comb through his black hair, the strands as if flowing through her fingers like silk over water, winding over rugged peaks, rising and falling.

White silk spilled into a dark valley, suddenly blossoming into a red spider lily in the darkness.

Wrapped in a body of deep red, she seemed part demon, part goddess, drawing people in to willingly fall into an endless abyss.

Lü Rou capped the lipstick, carefully cupped his face and examined it closely. "It's done."

"Oh..." Cheng Ge lowered his head, then suddenly remembered something.

He quickly pulled out a hibiscus flower from his other sleeve and handed it to Lü Rou.

Lü Rou: "..."

Lü Rou stared at the hibiscus flower, momentarily stunned.

If she remembered correctly, this flower in Cheng Ge's hand was the 'Drunken Imperial Concubine' variety from Cui Ji's courtyard.

This species was extremely rare, basically priceless. It was said that the emperor had specially transported two saplings from the south—one planted in the imperial garden of the palace, and the other bestowed upon Prince Zhenbei.

The flower was delicate, carefully tended for years, and only this year had it barely managed to bloom a couple of sparse flowers.

This morning, Lü Rou happened to pass by, and if she remembered correctly, the flower in Cheng Ge's hand was the most stunning one.

And now, the corpse of that flower had inexplicably appeared in Cheng Ge's hands...

"Sir, if you picked this flower, won't the Prince be furious..."

"Huh?" Cheng Ge looked up, confused. "He picked it himself."

Cheng Ge was dead broke. To fund these tools of his scheme, he'd borrowed twenty silver taels from Ling Feng.

But these cosmetics were too expensive; after buying them, he had nothing left.

With no other choice, he set his sights on this flower, though Cheng Ge knew nothing about flowers.

He just thought it looked quite nice and thus had the wicked idea.

But the flower branch was high, and he couldn’t quite reach it; just then, Cui Ji happened to pass by, so he asked him to help pick it.

Hearing that, Lü Rou said nothing.

She took the hibiscus flower, compared it against Cheng Ge’s already styled bun, and finally placed it on the bun slightly to the right of his forehead.

Cheng Ge leaned down, shoved his face right up to the bronze mirror, looking left and right.

Suddenly, he wore a goofy grin, giggled a couple of times at his reflection, then gave Lü Rou a thumbs-up and said, “Awesome!”

“Oh, and help me put on this skirt—I can’t get it on.”

The outfit Cheng Ge bought was a traditional ruqun, with a cross-collared top and a waist-tied skirt, which was indeed a bit troublesome to put on.

Lü Rou, already regarding Cheng Ge as her master, naturally didn’t refuse.

Lü Rou skillfully picked up the ruqun, first helping Cheng Ge put on the inner garment, then carefully fastened the cross-collared top.

Her movements were gentle, and every step was meticulous, careful not to mess up his hair bun.

The fabric of the clothing was very thin, faintly revealing his fair skin, like a sheer silk veil.