Mistress Tamaiu is ever pleased to receive one of her best regarded, least fastidious and most profitable assets. She does not often extend the courtesy of sweets and wine unto her own courtesans, but certain accommodations must be made for those who own their freedom and may yet withdraw their employment.

Of course, she welcomes Mingyu well, whispering a bounty of compliments — what fair, porcelain skin he has, and how honeyed his tongue, and these hands, of course, the grip on them — no wonder some of the clientele is so enamoured. And of course she is nothing if not earnestly pleased with his performance. Why, she even asks one of the younger courtesans in training to showcase her dance talents for Mingyu's entertainment.

This is a house of renown, after all — a beacon of the arts, within and outside the sheets.