Cheng Junyu waited until the two finished speaking before continuing, “Your Fifth Brother prepared several backup plans for you, yet it actually worked out for you.”

“So many people came to help me, and I still ended up losing myself. If I fail now, the one who should cry the most is White Beard. Look at what kind of students he’s taught — it shows his skills aren’t that great.”

Thinking of White Beard puffing his beard and glaring, Shi Buyu wanted to laugh but couldn’t. After all these years, she hadn’t been away from White Beard for so long and didn’t know if he had recovered from his illness.

Cheng Junyu noticed her head bowed and clearly knew what she was thinking. The year after leaving their master, he often found himself lost in thought while talking. Those years by their master’s side had been the happiest and most carefree of his life.

He had thought the little junior sister would always stay with the master but didn’t expect she would step into the secular world.

“Is Yan Shian’s identity what I guessed it was?”

Shi Buyu completely trusted her senior brother and nodded.

Even though Cheng Junyu was mentally prepared, he took a deep breath at this moment. He wasn’t afraid of anything else but worried that the little junior sister might not be able to get out clean in the end.

Royal family members — has any dynasty ever produced anything good?

Wan Xia brought over the brewed fruit tea. After a sweet sip, Shi Buyu’s mood improved somewhat.

“Brother, I want to do some business. Can you give me some advice?”

“A bookstore?”

“No.” Shi Buyu refused immediately. “Something more common, a business where information flows well.”

Cheng Junyu laughed, “You said it should be more common — so you have an idea already?”

“I only have a general direction, and I don’t have a business on hand.”

“Brother understands. You’re here to get a business from me.”

Shi Buyu nodded stubbornly, “Exactly.”

Seeing her finally looking more spirited, Cheng Junyu was happy too. This kind of business didn’t need much thought to guess its use. After turning the idea over a few times, he said, “Yan Shian might have that kind of business.”

“I’m not close enough to him yet; I’m not comfortable using an outsider’s stuff.”

Rejecting outsiders and coming to him for help—after all, he was the closest. Cheng Junyu felt comfortable and seriously started to plan for her: “The place with the most reliable information is definitely the Qin Lou and Chu Guan [brothels and entertainment houses]. Have a few more drinks, get some flattery, and some coaxing. Don’t say people can keep secrets — even the strictest eventually leak.”

Shi Buyu nodded constantly at this, thinking that running a brothel might be possible.

“But I don’t agree,” Cheng Junyu smiled at her confused look. “The girls there didn’t just fall from the sky. Some are there to survive, some were sold, some official courtesans. Each has their own hardships. If you open a brothel, what attitude will you have toward them?”

Shi Buyu couldn’t believe it. “In your heart, am I really that soft?”

“You’re never soft to just anyone. I’m the one who can’t bear it.” Cheng Junyu took a sip of tea. “The master always treated us differently. You lack emotions; in your eyes, people, animals, plants, even a piece of paper are no different. So he took you traveling for years to see all the ways of the world, to let you know what people really are. The master cared for you, and Aunt Wan was there to look after you, so you never suffered in daily life, but that process wasn’t easy. You saw beauty and thus knew what beauty was, saw darkness and understood darkness, saw filth and knew how rotten people can be.”

Cheng Junyu’s smile softened even more. “Our little twelfth worked so hard to become what she is. I want to keep you far from those less beautiful things.”

Through these words, Shi Buyu seemed to see herself from those years. White Beard never used words to teach her right from wrong — he just showed her, let her listen, let her feel.

Gradually, she understood that people laugh because they are happy, crying isn’t always sadness, but sometimes joy. She learned that at the Shi family, it was wrong to burn the house just because the fire made her feel warm in winter. She learned that when someone was struggling in the water, she should reach out with a bamboo pole to pull them up, not push them down.

Back then, she certainly couldn’t be called a kind person.

But the Shi family never gave up on her. Her parents and eldest brother taught her earnestly, repeating lessons until she changed. Her grandfather didn’t think she was troublesome. When at home, he took her to the training ground to practice spear fighting and showed her his skills. He was sorry she wasn’t interested in spear technique. When her grandmother was alive, though she wasn’t very fond of her, she still defended her when others spoke ill.

Only after knowing the world did she realize how hard it had been to reach this point.

Shi Buyu drank the fruit tea, sweetness in her mouth, her voice soft and smooth: “I’ll listen to you. I won’t do this business.”

Too good. Cheng Junyu felt sorry and searched his sleeves for something to cheer up little twelfth, finally pulling out a sour poem but gave up.

“Great vulgarity is great elegance — how about changing the approach?” Cheng Junyu leaned toward his little junior sister, “These people who come to play, you say they’re vulgar — sure, they are, they can party all night with just wine and women, but give them high culture and they’ll enjoy that too. How about… making a refined place?”

“How refined?” Shi Buyu thought a moment, “Qin, chess, calligraphy, painting?”

“Not necessarily.” Cheng Junyu smiled. “After all, it’s a place for entertainment, there still have to be singing and dancing. The rest depends on who we can find. If we can get someone excellent at calligraphy, wouldn’t that be a beautiful scene? Those people love to pretend they’re refined, so let’s put on a real show.”

Makes sense! Shi Buyu nodded thoughtfully. Making a place to sell art but not bodies — Xue Ning could run the shop. She had suffered from helplessness before, so would surely have some sympathy for others, not asking them to be good, just not bad.

“I have a direction now. Brother, give me some people.”

Cheng Junyu searched left and right, almost wanting to take off his shoes and throw them: “In your heart, do you think brother is so unambitious, just hanging out in powder and rouge?”

“How am I unambitious?” Shi Buyu protested. “You look down on those talented beauties? They all have skills you probably can’t match!”

“Do you want me to compete in singing or dancing?”

“Want to see both.”

Cheng Junyu did throw his shoe, though a bit off target.

After some noise, Cheng Junyu took over the matter: “I’ll find the people. You think about who should manage it — it can’t be you.”

“I have someone suitable to run the place.”

Cheng Junyu didn’t say more. As a brother, he just hoped little twelfth could see fewer ugly sides of men. For everything else, he would give full support.