Chapter 179: The Misery of the Turtle-Slave

Upon hearing Hong Xue's words, Duan Rong understood in his heart.

Lan Ying had been frail for years; it seemed she had sought Gu Suxiu to regulate her health.

Duan Rong's medical skills at this time had long since far surpassed Gu Suxiu's. After observing and questioning Lan Ying, he had already grasped the root cause of her symptoms.

Lan Ying's illness lay in her heart; he feared that medicine would be of no use.

"Young lady, you must still try to make yourself happier for your body to improve. If I may speak frankly, your illness lies in the heart and is not something that medicine can cure."

Lan Ying looked at Duan Rong's shining eyes, and her heart was touched. She knew her own problems best.

Lan Ying said, "Sir, your words hit the mark. But alas, how can I be happy with a temperament like mine?"

Jiang Qingyu and Ximen Kankan sat there, both completely bewildered. They had been listening to music, so how did they suddenly start talking about medicine? Moreover, Duan Rong seemed quite knowledgeable about medical theory, and both felt they couldn't get a word in.

Duan Rong smiled slightly and said, "At the very least, start by singing more cheerful songs."

As he spoke, Duan Rong walked to the desk and, using the paper and brush on it, began to write with bold, flowing strokes.

After finishing, Duan Rong handed the paper to Lan Ying and said, "Young lady, if you set these lyrics to music and sing them, your mood will surely brighten."

Lan Ying looked at Duan Rong with a puzzled expression, but she still reached out to take the paper and looked down at it.

She saw several lines of elegant running script on the paper, written with considerable skill. Lan Ying recited the lyrics silently:

Finished with the swings, she rises, lazily smoothing her slender hands. The dew is thick, the flowers thin, thin sweat soaks her light clothes. Seeing a guest enter, she slips away in her socks, her golden hairpin sliding. Shyly she runs, leaning against the door to look back, then sniffs a green plum.

These lyrics were bright in mood; with just a few words, they captured a young girl's innocence, charm, and shyness, bringing her to life on the paper as if she were right before one's eyes and imprinted on one's heart.

The last line, "leaning against the door to look back, then sniffs a green plum," was the finishing touch, as if a single sentence could pull a person back into their carefree youth.

After reading these lyrics, Lan Ying's eyes lit up. She carried the paper to the zither stand and began to tune the strings. Lan Ying was already well-versed in music, and since she liked these lyrics very much, she soon began to play and sing at the zither stand.

After the song ended, even Hong Xue noticed the difference and said, "The young lady's singing this time is like a lark..."

The melody was cheerful and the lyrics were bright; Lan Ying's voice naturally became clear and melodious, sweeping away the decadent and listless state of the previous song...

With joy in her eyes, Lan Ying looked at Duan Rong and said, "It truly is a happy song. Singing it, it's as if I've returned to the days of the past..."

As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes. She stood up at the zither stand and performed a curtsy to Duan Rong.

Poetry and songs have always been a Divine Medicine for healing, but one must know how to use them well for them to be effective.

When Lan Ying returned to her seat, her spirits were clearly higher, and she even suggested playing a game of "shooting the cover" (guessing the object under a bowl) during the meal, with the loser having to drink.

Jiang Qingyu was slightly surprised. Lan Ying had always preferred quiet and disliked drinking games the most; why would she take the initiative to play today?

But regardless of the reason, Lan Ying was happy, and Jiang Qingyu became happy along with her.

As soon as Ximen Kankan heard they were playing a game, his eyes lit up and he shouted, "Playing games, I'm the best at that. Watch me drink you all under the table today..."

And just as they were having a lively drinking game inside Lanxiang Yuan, in a room on the first floor of Huaying Pavilion.

This room was much smaller than Lan Ying's Lanxiang Yuan. Before a round table in the room, a burly man with his chest exposed was gorging himself, and a slightly plump woman sat beside him.

The burly man's large hands frequently brushed across various parts of the woman's body, and the woman's face, covered in thick powder, was full of smiles. Not far behind the two, against the wall, was a large bed with hanging curtains.

At this moment, a turtle-slave suddenly flashed in from outside the door and bowed, saying, "Master, you have been in the pavilion for three days. The Madam says you should settle the bill for these three days first."

The burly man's thick eyebrows arched, and he said in a rough voice, "When I came, didn't I put down fifty taels of silver?"

"Oh... look at what you're saying... this is Huaying Pavilion. You've been staying here, sleeping and eating, and just the aged wine alone—how many jars have you drunk? Fifty taels, how could that possibly cover it?"

The burly man let out a rough, cold snort through his nose and said, "Then how much silver have I spent in these three days?"

"When I came in, I had already calculated it for you. It's two hundred and eighty taels in total!"

"What? Two hundred and eighty taels?" The burly man slammed the wine cup in his hand onto the table, causing the cups, plates, and bowls on the table to shake.

The burly man glared at the turtle-slave and raged, "Seeing that I'm from out of town, you think I'm a sucker, right?"

The turtle-slave was startled and said with a fawning smile, "Don't be impatient, sir. I have the bill here; you can take a look."

As he spoke, the turtle-slave placed a piece of paper filled with items on the edge of the table. The burly man glanced at the bill, grabbed a large machete from beside his feet, and slammed it onto the bill, saying, "I have no more silver on me; this blade will pay for you."

"Master, are you joking?" The turtle-slave's expression immediately turned ugly, and he said, "How can this broken blade of yours be worth two hundred and eighty taels of silver?"

"I say it's worth it, so it's worth it!"

The turtle-slave suddenly said in a strange, mocking tone, "Oh... so you're trying to eat for free? You should go out and ask around! If you dare to eat for free at Huaying Pavilion, I think you've come to the wrong place!"

"Ask your mother!" The burly man suddenly raised his hand and flipped it. A flash of light from the machete appeared, and it sliced off one of the turtle-slave's ears.

The turtle-slave only saw a cold light flash before his eyes, and then he felt a sharp pain in his right ear. He reached out to touch it and only felt patches of sticky blood.

Only then did the turtle-slave see a small clump of bloodstains on the machete placed on the table, and a severed right ear was dangling at the edge of the machete...

"I'm asking you again now, is this blade of mine worth two hundred and eighty taels?"

Looking at the burly man's ferocious and cruel face, the turtle-slave was struck with terror. Clutching his bleeding ear, he let out a pig-like scream and ran out of the room...

Duan Rong and the others were in Lanxiang Yuan playing a guessing game when they suddenly heard a shrill, miserable scream coming from outside the building.

"What's going on?" Hong Xue said.

"Let's go out and take a look." Ximen Kankan jumped up first.

The group stopped eating and drinking, rushed out the door, and crowded in front of the second-floor railing, looking down into the first-floor Main Hall.

They saw a turtle-slave stumble in the Main Hall and fall to the ground. His face was deathly pale, filled with terror, and he clutched his ear, shivering uncontrollably. Blood dripped from between his fingers and under his palm, staining half of his neck red...

"Boom!"

Suddenly, the door of a room on the first floor burst open. Amidst flying wood fragments and window curtains, a black shadow darted out with incredible speed!

Seeing that speed, Duan Rong's Divine Sense stirred, and he said, "Inner Breath Realm Third Layer!"

The burly man flew out of the room, his figure flashed, and he was already standing in front of the turtle-slave. The machete in his hand was placed against the turtle-slave's neck almost simultaneously, and he said coldly, "I'm asking you a question, didn't you hear me? I think these two ears of yours are just for show; I might as well finish them off!"

As the burly man spoke, he flipped his wrist, intending to slice off the turtle-slave's other ear. But just at this moment, a slender figure suddenly leaped down from the railing in a corner of the second floor. His movement was elegant and light, like a willow leaf following the wind, without the slightest sense of effort.

(End of chapter)