A WOMAN WHO TREATS MEN LIKE CLOTHES

The other girls had left the courtesan's quarter and headed into the hall to continue practicing. Some of them turned their heads when they realized that the veiled girl didn't move to follow them, but when they realized that Yi Xue was with the girl, they turned to the front again and didn't question the two people.

Their memories probably flew into the heated discussion in the hall earlier. They could only be silent as Yi Xue and Duan Shuchun argued with each other, and they still remembered when the former confidently said that she would personally teach Xia Qiao how to dance.

At this moment, the girls were ready to gossip about Xia Qiao, but unfortunately, they didn't have time to do so as they had to continue training in the hall.

After the other girls left, Yi Xue sighed before focusing on the younger girl again. "Why didn't you say anything?" She asked. "I managed to get a 'yes' from Duan Shuchun, but you don't want to say anything to me? You don't want to thank me?"

It seemed that Xia Qiao still couldn't believe that she would get the chance to learn to dance with the best dancer in Tiantang, and that meant she still had a chance to go to the Imperial Palace.

"I'm sorry, master! I'm very happy that I can still fight for the chance to go to the Imperial Palace," replied the younger girl. "You've done a lot for me in the past three months, and I don't know how to repay you."

It was no exaggeration that Xia Qiao even wanted to pay the older woman with her life. Three months ago when she lost her mother, she also lost all hope and almost lost her life too.

She was in critical condition when Yi Xue found her, and the woman immediately treated her wound to save her life.

If there was no Yi Xue, then Xia Qiao would not be able to get the chance to return to the Imperial Palace. Thus, she would not hesitate if Yi Xue wanted her to pay for what she had done in the past three months.

"Forget it," replied the older woman, turning her body. "Now, follow me so you can start practicing right away. You better not waste your time because you only have five days to practice."

Without waiting for her response, Yi Xue started to walk away from the room where she usually rested at night together with other girls. She still remembered to close the door before following the older girl.

Xia Qiao didn't say anything as she followed the girl who was wearing light green clothes today, but she frowned when she realized that Yi Xue did not bring her into the hall.

The other girls would continue to train in the hall, and she thought that she would also start training with Yi Xue in the hall.

For Tiantang, the hall was their most important place, and the hall was also the only place where the girls could train together.

Xia Qiao only joined Tiantang House last month, but she was sure that Tiantang had no other practice room other than the hall. And that was why her brows continued to furrow as she quietly followed the older girl.

As she continued to follow the girl, she then realized that they had walked towards the back of the building. At that moment, Xia Qiao suddenly remembered how she sometimes went to the backyard when she wanted to train alone, and she assumed that the older girl wanted to use the place to train with her.

'But the backyard is very dirty and unkempt, isn't it? There's even grass growing so wildly in the backyard, and there won't be enough space for me to practice dancing,' Xia Qiao wondered, but she didn't voice her curiosity because the older girl didn't say anything.

When practicing singing and playing the pipa, she could use an old bench in the backyard because both activities didn't take up much space, but now that she was going to practice dancing, she knew that she would need a larger place like a hall to be able to practice properly.

She wanted to question Yi Xue, but she tried to maintain her patience until they finally arrived at the backyard. It was only a few days ago when she visited the backyard for the last time, and of course, the situation was still the same today.

Yi Xue kept walking until they reached the old bench where Xia Qiao used to practice singing and playing her pipa, and she cast her eyes to look around.

The backyard was actually quite spacious, but there were a few trees that covered some of the areas, and among the trees was thick grass that grew too wild with no one to take care of it. Some areas were even covered in thick moss, and Xia Qiao had no idea when was the last time someone cleaned this place.

"That Duan Shuchun really has a bad habit," Yi Xue suddenly muttered as she continued to stare at the area covered by thick moss. "Duan Shuchun is my aunt's best friend, and from my aunt, I know how Duan Shuchun liked to play with men when she was young. She used to treat men like clothes, and when she got tired of one of them, she would just throw them away before looking for a new man. That's also how she treats this place."

Xia Qiao followed the line of sight, but she couldn't understand the other girl as she could only see an area covered in thick moss, "What do you mean, master?"

The younger girl was curious, and Yi Xue calmly replied, "Many years ago, Duan Shuchun used to practice dancing in this place."