Chapter 10: An Ingenious System
"Well from tomorrow onwards, I'll come over to teach you the method I figured out for internal strength. The physical training however, might be a little more difficult to complete without drawing attention here" Eina said with distress.
Rose agreed, with these servants around, their range of freedom had become severely limited.
Eina continued, "The only way I can think of is to get to the are where the yards used for punishment are. The only place I felt any gazes were in the madam's yard. But I'm not sure if they will be sent to check on us at the madam's whim".
"I doubt it. Although they are there to protect the madam, but I believe they belong to the second prince. So they're also sent to monitor her. The warrior by her side however, is definitely loyal to her, and he's stronger than all of them. But I doubt she'd send him to look at us. After all, he is much more useful to her elsewhere" Rose explained, while trying to remember the purpose of the people in the brothel, "What we really need to be cautious about are the other candidates for head prostitutes. Every few years the brothel will kidnap or buy a batch of girls from other areas of the country, and each time they'll choose the best looking one to make a candidate for head of that batch.
This time it's the two of us, but it doesn't mean there aren't others. Some of them have yet to reach the age of selling themselves, while others have passed the point. Usually these women will be the ones in charge of satisfying the more noble guests, such as children of officials, or nobles that pass through.
They get better resources if they can get verifiable information from the guests they spend the night with. So adding more competition to them every few years has obviously caused them to become quite malicious to us of the younger batches".
Eina didn't think the system in place would be so thoughtful. She knew that brothels were a great place to learn about information. After all, drunk and horny men rarely could keep their mouths shut. A little goading from a beautiful woman, perhaps a little hit to his ego and he'd be ready to spill all his secrets to try and prove himself.
But to be able achieve a clear situation where achievements are rewarded shows a very high attainment in both business and wisdom.
The system may seem simple at first glance, but the amount of advantages it breeds is not something you could achieve by luck.
The brothel teaches the women not only how to please men, but all types of talents so as to set them aside from regular prostitutes. Each batch will have at least one candidate as head. All taught by the madam. So all of those candidates can become her heir if she wants, plus they will become her new informants.
Incentivised with rewards, the madam's students will all hate each other. The older women will hate the younger ones, as they have more value as virgins in the eyes of the lustful nobles that come, which will cause the older women to target them, fearing that they will draw the attention of the noble guests away. But they'll also work harder to find out more secrets from these people to help bring themselves more benefits.
The younger girls being targeted will hate the older women, they'll try to find the backing of the nobles, so as to minimise the targeting, or even to retaliate. However they would come to know that the nobles don't take them seriously, which will in turn make them resentful towards the guests, causing them to follow in the original footsteps of relying on the benefits and rewards that come with revealing useful news.
And if any of them are taken in by those nobles as a concubine, they'd find that they have no backing in such a cruel backyard full of women from above average, or higher families. So they'll seek the help of the only place they know, in return for any benefits that can allow them to live well in those backyards.
In the end, the madam and the brothel come out scot-free, acting as the protection of those women. Even if those women know that it was the fault of the brothel first, they'd rather succumb to at least, the guaranteed benefits, instead of the hope for a better future by fighting against the brothel.
Add onto that, the general prostitutes all want to become the head candidate so as not to be forced to live a life of picking up whichever guest has the change to pay for them. So they'll try their best to pull the others down.
All in all they have achieved a self regulating system. There is almost no way for the girls that were taken in by the brothel to ally themselves together, to try and stand against the system in place. After all, from the very moment they arrive, they're already competitors. Fighting for scraps while the madam in charge sits comfortably on top and watches the rest fight for second place.
However is the madam herself as comfortable as she seems? Not at all. To say it well, she is the second prince's confidante. To say it badly, she's his tool. The guards in the shadow are the best evidence of that. She knows too many secrets that the second prince most likely doesn't want others to know. On the surface those women she teaches are her students, but if she were to show even a hint of disloyalty, then they are her replacements.
How can anyone truly sit comfortably when there's a sword hanging over your head, ready to drop at a moments notice? The reason she doesn't try to escape? Even if she has the powerful martial artist as her lover, who's to say the second Prince doesn't have other ways to control her, that isn't just the shadow guards?
Eina thought wildly, but the more she thought, the more annoyed she became. She knew that nobles in ancient times were extremely cunning. With the imperial power always over their heads, they had to find ways to speak subtly, or to try and live their life as best as they could by finding ways to avoid incurring the wrath of those above them.
"What a tiring way of living" Eina said, her voice full of frustration.
Rose didn't know what tangent Eina had gone on, so she just remained silent.