I started out with seven husbands, and I worked hard to support my family while crying.

Chapter 477: Locked in a Dark Room

Just as Fang Xiaoxiao and Li Wan'er were about to reach their breaking point, the door was quietly opened, and a pretty woman cautiously approached them. The woman's name was Hongxiu. She took out two steamed buns from her bosom and quickly handed them to Fang Xiaoxiao and Li Wan'er.

The two were extremely hungry, so they took the steamed buns and began to wolf them down.

Hongxiu said softly, "Eat slowly, don't choke."

Fang Xiaoxiao swallowed the steamed bun in her mouth and asked, "Miss, thank you so much. Why did you help us?"

Hongxiu sighed and said, "I was also trafficked here, just like you."

Fang Xiaoxiao immediately sensed something was amiss and secretly resolved to find out the truth.

Every day after that, Hongxiu would secretly bring food to the two of them. Over time, the three of them gradually became close friends who could talk about anything.

One day, Fang Xiaoxiao and Li Wan'er were leaning against the wall when Hongxiu sat next to them and slowly began to tell them about her background.

Hongxiu's eyes were filled with tears, and her voice trembled: "I was originally from Jiangnan. My father was a minor official in the area. Once, when I went out for a trip, I never expected to suffer such a misfortune and be sold to this brothel. When I first arrived, I vowed to resist to the death, but the madam sent people to beat and scold me. I couldn't bear the torture any longer, so I had no choice but to give in."

Fang Xiaoxiao was furious after hearing Hongxiu's story. She stood up abruptly and exclaimed, "That madam is despicable!"

Hongxiu quickly pulled her back and said, "Miss Fang, calm down. We are outnumbered and outmatched right now. It's more important to save our lives first."

Fang Xiaoxiao bit her lip and sat down again.

Hongxiu continued, "Let me tell you about the rules of this Fuxiang Pavilion courtyard. Generally, newlyweds sell their art but not their bodies, unless a high-ranking official or nobleman takes a liking to the newlywed and is willing to pay one hundred taels of silver for the newlywed's virginity. Otherwise, the newlywed is quite safe at the beginning."

Upon hearing this, Li Wan'er's face showed fear: "Then what should we do?"

Fang Xiaoxiao pondered for a moment and said, "Let's follow the rules first, and then slowly look for an opportunity to escape."

Hongxiu nodded: "That's the only way."

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door. Hongxiu's expression changed: "Oh no, someone's coming. I'm leaving now." With that, she hurriedly left.

Fang Xiaoxiao and Li Wan'er exchanged a glance.

Before Fang Xiaoxiao could wipe the crumbs from the corner of her lips, the door latch made a screeching sound. Three burly women carrying lanterns rushed in. The woman at the front had her hair styled in a shiny bun, with a silver-plated copper hairpin inserted diagonally in her hair. The lantern light made the cinnabar mole at the corner of her eye shine brightly.

"Today we'll see if this newcomer has made any progress." The woman hung the lantern on the wall and stomped heavily on the blue brick floor with her leather boots studded with copper. Two old women behind her immediately grabbed Li Wan'er and dragged her to the center of the room like a chick.

Hongxiu's fingernails dug deeply into Fang Xiaoxiao's wrist as she said in a breathy voice, "This is Instructor Jin Sanniang, who is in charge of disciplining people. You must not..." Before she could finish speaking, Jin Sanniang had already flicked her dark red riding whip, the tip of which swept across Li Wan'er's embroidered shoes, sparking on the blue bricks.

“Play me a piece called ‘Yu Lou Chun’.” Jin San Niang took out a gilded pipa from her sleeve, its neck wrapped with faded red silk. Li Wan’er trembled so much that she could not hold the pipa, and as a few strings broke, Jin San Niang’s horsewhip was already wrapped around her slender neck.

Fang Xiaoxiao was about to pounce when she suddenly felt a chill on the back of her neck—Hongxiu had pressed a shard of porcelain against her vital point. "Don't move," Hongxiu's voice was colder than the porcelain shard. "If you want to live, sing 'Picking Water Chestnuts,' sing the Jiangnan Water Melody with its turns." As she spoke, her fingertips trembled slightly, and the porcelain shard drew a line of blood on Fang Xiaoxiao's neck.

Amid Li Wan'er's sobs, Fang Xiaoxiao suddenly remembered the fishermen's chants her father had taught her. She cleared her throat and blended the gentleness of the water towns with the desolation of the north: "Water chestnuts in July, lotus roots in August—" She deliberately dragged out the last syllable, as if to incorporate all the misty rain of Jiangnan over the years.

Jin Sanniang abruptly stopped whipping her horse. She leaned closer to Fang Xiaoxiao, who smelled a strong scent of sandalwood mixed with the smell of rust on Jin Sanniang's clothes. "Not bad material," Jin Sanniang said, her nail-painted fingers pinching Fang Xiaoxiao's chin. "It's a pity those eyes are too sharp; they need some medicine to clean them."

After the old women left, Hongxiu suddenly collapsed to the ground. She lifted her sleeve, and Fang Xiaoxiao saw the numerous needle marks on her forearm. "Every fifteenth of the month, they would stuff sleeping potion into the pipa," Hongxiu said with a bitter smile, pointing to the corner of the wall, "but they didn't know that the floor tiles in this secret room absorb sound."

Li Wan'er suddenly rushed to the west wall, pressing her ear against the blue bricks to listen intently. Moonlight streamed through the high window, illuminating the bloodstains seeping between her fingers. "There's the sound of water down there," she said in a hoarse voice. "I counted; Jin San Niang always cracks her whip seven times, and this time there was one extra."

Hongxiu's eyes suddenly lit up. She felt along the brick seams, blood seeping from under her fingernails: "Seven years ago, an older sister said that the hidden channel of Fuxiang Pavilion connects to the reed marshes outside the city..."

Fang Xiaoxiao looked at Hongxiu and Li Wan'er, and a glimmer of hope ignited in her heart. She also went over and felt around in the brickwork with them.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door again, and the three of them immediately tensed up.

"Shh!" Hongxiu gestured for them to be quiet.

The door was pushed open, and a maidservant came in carrying a tray with some food on it.

"Eat quickly, don't starve. We have training again tomorrow." The maid put down the tray and hurriedly left.

Fang Xiaoxiao looked at the food and wondered if this was another trap.

"Never mind, let's fill our stomachs first." Li Wan'er picked up her chopsticks and started eating.

Fang Xiaoxiao and Hongxiu also ate some.

After finishing their meal, the three continued to discuss how to escape from there.

“We need to find a way to get this brick away,” Fang Xiaoxiao said.

"But we don't have any tools," Li Wan'er said anxiously.

Hongxiu suddenly thought of something, and she pulled a silver hairpin from her hair. "Try this."

The three of them began to pry open the gaps between the bricks with silver hairpins. After a lot of effort, they finally managed to loosen a few bricks.

"Keep it up, give it your all!" Fang Xiaoxiao encouraged everyone.

Just then, the watchman's gong sounded outside; it was already past midnight.

"Hurry up, or it will be too late by daybreak," Hongxiu said.

After much effort, they finally created a hole large enough for one person to pass through.

"I'll go down and take a look first," Fang Xiaoxiao volunteered.

She carefully crawled into the hole; it was dark below and filled with a damp smell.

"How is it?" Li Wan'er asked anxiously from upstairs.

"It seems like we can walk." Fang Xiaoxiao's voice came from below.

Hongxiu and Li Wan'er also crawled inside.

They groped their way forward along the culvert, the water beneath their feet icy cold.