3 Let Me Go!!!

Lanterns hung on the big, red building. Every floor was decorated with bright candles and flowers, and upon a single glance, one might mistake it for a heavenly court.

Transparent curtains hung in the corridor, blocking others' view from looking at the buildings. But some women were leaning on the railings, waving at their customers with bright smiles on their faces.

The clothes they wore seemed ancient, but at the same time, they revealed cleavage, which was a deliberate act. The ladies even posed in such a manner that they could show more of their bodies to the men downstairs and attract customers.

Li Mei looked above and then lowered her head.

If she were a man, or if she were a queer, she would have loved this place for sure. Unfortunately, she was neither of them. So no matter how attractive they looked, this place would be hell for girls like her.

She had been sold by her paternal family to this place just when she turned eighteen, a year ago. Then, she spent two months 'learning' how to be a prostitute at this damned place without even letting her rest.

Surely, they wanted her to please customers right on the spot.

But the moment they said she was ready to take on customers, Li Mei finally decided to pack her stuff and run away with a little bit of money she had stolen from men entering this brothel. She managed to save her little life by wandering about through the street, cross-dressing as a man, selling yellow books to others, and even working as a temporary wage worker to lift bricks and heavy material.

Despite being a woman, Li Mei pushed herself to the brink of doing all the odd jobs to get some food. What else could she do?

No matter how bad her situation was, no matter how depressed she would become, and no matter how many negative thoughts would spiral in her head, she, for some reason, wanted to live. It was almost as if she had been desperately waiting for something to happen.

What?

She didn't know.

She would often waste her time imagining fantasies as a kid about how a young prince would sweep her off and marry her, love her, and care for her. But as she grew up, Li Mei realized that the reality of this world was too cruel.

Fantasies don't work in reality.

So why waste her breath on those things she would never be able to obtain?

But even in her worst situations, she still had a spark of burning flames of hope deep in her heart. She felt like something good would happen, but at the same time, she didn't want to think about it anymore.

But whenever faced with the reality of this world in the form of brothels, a trace of helplessness would appear in her heart.

Just when would these things stop?

Just when would she get some peace?

Li Mei swallowed and continued to walk, still refusing to raise her head. At this time, she was still dressed as a man with a beard on her face.

Ah, her beard wasn't good. Next time, she should probably buy some make-up to hide her complexion.

The middle-aged lady smiled as one of her servants greeted her at the door. She waved her hand and pointed to Li Mei behind her, saying, "Get her ready. She has a lot of work to do."

Oh no!!!

Li Mei finally showed a helpless expression as she swallowed, looking about restlessly.

What to do?

How should she run away once again?

Before she could even think about it anymore, the middle-aged woman grabbed her wrist and said, "I've changed my mind. I'll get her ready myself."

"Let me go, you f*cker!" Li Mei cursed the woman, but in exchange, a tight slap rang across her cheek, making her cringe in pain.

"You dare to talk down to me, huh?!" The middle-aged woman laughed angrily, "If not for work, I would have punished you brutally tonight!"

Li Mei shuddered upon thinking of the ways difficult prostitutes would be punished at this place. Those innocent women would be whipped about a hundred times at night and thrown into a cold place after rubbing salt in their wounds. There would be no one around to take care of them, and the women would be left there for the night to scream and yell in pain.

At this point, she didn't even know what was worse: whether being punished or working as a prostitute.

She desperately searched for a way to run away once again!

This time, she would definitely hide herself better than before and directly enter the imperial exams to become an official!

In this world, only men could enter as students in the imperial exams. So if Li Mei wanted to enter, she wouldn't have a chance to present herself as a woman or else, she would be punished to death directly under the imperial law for lying to the government.

After thinking about her plans, Li Mei turned meek and obedient in an instant. For now, she would pretend to be a nice little prostitute who was being sold to a fatty rich man for a purpose.

It wasn't that she hated the name of sex. No. She wrote yellow books on that topic, even selling them on the street boldly dressed as a man. She liked writing those things from the depths of her heart.

Honestly, novels and those yellow books were the only good things that happened in her life, though she wasn't proud of it.

Of course, aside from that, she had also spent these past few months reading books that were thrown into the dustbin. Those books had immense knowledge, and she often wondered why they would even throw these things in the dustbin down in the alley.

As she was thinking, she was pushed right into a brightly lit up room, looking like a beautiful place for the heavenly damsels. Every corner was decorated with flowers and beautifully intricate curtains. Even the furniture was made up of perfectly carved wooden planks, looking exquisite.

Too bad it was a part of a brothel.

Despite liking R-rated stuff, Li Mei hated brothels. She hated selling bodies for the sake of pleasure. In her eyes, the level of pleasure you can get by spending a night with a lover was far greater than this.

The middle-aged lady forced Li Mei onto a seat in front of the dressing table as she said, "Now, let's start, shall we?"

Li Mei nodded, still making calculations in her head.

About half an hour later, she was completely transformed from a 'young man' with a thick beard on his face to a beautiful young lady who could even directly challenge the cupid. Her phoenix eyes looked enchanting, especially with a tear mole at the side. Her eyebrows were sharp, but there was a hint of anxiety hidden in the depths of her black eyes.

She was instantly forcibly dressed in a red outfit with a revealing chest, legs, and stomach. Ugh, she hated this kind of outfit. It made her feel as if she was standing naked in front of the entire world!

But she still preserved and looked at the lady hopefully. She just wanted the middle-aged woman to go out of this room for some work so that Li Mei could run out of there through the window.

"Let's go."

"So fast?" Li Mei swallowed the traces of fear bubbling in her heart and said, "Can we spend more time here?"

"For what?" The middle-aged lady scoffed and said, "There must be some customer who wants a royal demon. I'll sell you to a customer tonight and earn good money! How could you run away from us all these months when you have been paid for?! I'll definitely sell you to a fatty, old man!"

Thus, Li Mei was dragged against her wishes downstairs, where several ladies like her stood on the side, acting elegant and making poses to attract customers. They were all standing on the stage where she was pushed forcibly as she stood amid them. Beneath the stage, a row of lusty customers stood, staring at the ladies with saliva dripping from the corners of their mouths.

Just as Li Mei was thinking about what to do, she noticed a very familiar fatty shopkeeper who had cornered her not too long ago in that alley!

Li Mei's eyes widened as their eyes met. The fatty man showed a surprised face that transformed into bouts of lust. He yelled at the top of his voice, "I want her!"