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Chapter 13 Lady Langyue's stomach ached with anger.
Lady Langyue wore a peach-colored bodice embroidered with a "magpie on an eyebrow" pattern on her upper body and a white jacket and trousers on her lower body. She preferred quiet when reading, and apart from her maid, no one dared to disturb her, which made her even more relaxed and at ease. She revealed her jade-like arms and slender fingers as she turned the pages of the manuscript.
The design of "joy on the eyebrows" is a plum blossom with a magpie perched on it.
The magpie landed right at the most prominent part of her full breasts, as if it wanted to grab the wonderful treasure hidden inside her bodice and fly away.
The pages of the manuscript were placed on a small round stool by the couch as her slender, jade-like fingers traced them. "This young master Fu is truly exceptionally talented."
The more she read, the more impressed she became. "The concept is ingenious, the writing style is novel, and the idea of 'similar to reality yet fictional' is truly unique. Excellent, excellent." Her eyebrows arched slightly, as if a magpie had actually flown up to them.
The maidservant came running over, warmed some tea for the lady, and seeing her happy expression, knew it must be a masterpiece that had become increasingly rare in recent years. She couldn't help but feel happy for the lady who loved reading.
She quietly slipped out, not daring to disturb them.
Slowly, the sun moved up to its zenith and then moved westward.
Lady Langyue held the manuscript, still reading it page by page.
But her slender, delicate body tossed and turned, occasionally glancing at her peach-colored bodice, as if trying to snatch away the lustful gaze that lingered on her. "Madam," the maidservant sensed the rising tension in the room, "it's past noon, shall we send you some food?"
"No, no need... I can't eat now." The lady took a couple of breaths. "Go to my room first and get the Soul-Saving Jade Dew Pill that the Medicine Master Temple prescribed for me." The maid looked at the lady strangely.
Could it be that the beginning of this manuscript is excellent, but the end is worthless? But that doesn't make sense.
In the past, when the lady saw those clichéd or boring manuscripts, she would yawn repeatedly and become listless as she read them.
At this moment, her eyebrows furrowed, her chest heaving, and she occasionally brushed her chest as if even wearing a strapless top was too much. She didn't know what was happening; she had never seen her like this before.
He hurriedly ran to fetch the Soul-Saving Jade Dew Pill for his wife, placed it beside her, and whispered, "Madam, perhaps... perhaps we shouldn't look at it for now?"
“That’s true, I’m not reading it anymore.” Madam Langyue slammed the manuscript onto the round stool, turned around in a huff, and faced away from the manuscript. Her smooth, satin-like shoulders trembled incessantly, as if she were quite angry.
But not long after, she turned around again, seemingly unable to control herself, picked up the manuscript, and while trembling with anger, couldn't stop reading. Midway through, she sat up, took a Soul-Saving Jade Dew Pill, and clutched the book, breathing heavily.
Before we knew it, the sun had moved westward, and the afterglow of dusk fell on the windowsill, casting a slanting, pale yellow light onto the study floor. "Madam, what's wrong?"
The maid who came up to ask the lady if she wanted dinner was suddenly startled.
She saw the lady throw the manuscript on the ground, her entire delicate body shrinking like an insect, one hand tightly gripping the bottom of her bodice.
"You, you go to the Medicine Temple, right now," the lady gasped, "to ask them to prescribe some herbal medicine for my stomachache, I... I have a stomachache."
The maid hurriedly said, "It must be because you didn't eat lunch, Madam. I'll have the cook heat up some millet porridge for you..." "No, no... I'm angry."
Fu Hai was in a great mood when he returned to the Dragon Claw Inn.
"Even Madam Langyue from the Treasure Book Pavilion said there's definitely no problem." He glanced at his junior sister, Xia Yuelan, smugly. "She's only read the beginning, hasn't she?" Xia Yuelan slumped onto the octagonal table, chest, hands, and head all at once.
Sit on the stool with your buttocks on, stretch your arms out in front of you, interlace your fingers, and then turn them backward.
“Do you think everyone is as uncultured as you?” Fu Hai rolled his eyes. “He’s the owner of a bookstore that has printed and published many books.”
"Tch!" Xia Yuelan snorted. "So what if I'm uncultured? Aren't novels meant for people like us? Senior brother, you're so cultured, you can write long novels..."
After you finish writing your examination report, where are you going?
"Isn't Her Majesty the Empress planning to reopen the imperial examinations?"
Qiu Ying helped them change to fresh tea: "The imperial examination system was also held by Emperor Wen a hundred years ago, but it only lasted for more than ten years. I feel that this time, with the special examination being held again, it may not last long either."
Xia Yuelan immediately perked up, straightening her back and moving her full breasts away from the table, shaking them up and down: "That's different. Our Empress is a peerless master who can pacify the Northern Region with a single sword and command the respect of all the feudal lords. There's nothing in this world she can't do." Qiu Ying shook his head: "It's hard to say! Such things as imperial examinations have a huge impact on royalty and nobility."
"A hundred years ago, Emperor Wen was also at the height of his prestige. But because he opened a special imperial examination, all the powerful families turned against him, and he had no choice but to give up in the end."
At noon, Song Lingyue also came down from the mountain, and they had lunch together at the inn. In the past few years, this place had been a necessary route for travelers going north and south.
The inn is doing good business, with people coming and going, and even those who don't stay overnight often have a lot of people stopping for a meal.
Therefore, rice and dishes are prepared in advance for lunch and dinner, so there are always meals available every day.
But now, hardly anyone comes. Even those leaving the city go through the east gate, heading towards the canal. The weather is hot, and food is difficult to store. If we continue to prepare meals every day as before, most of it will end up going to waste.
So they could only prepare a small amount of ingredients each day. When guests wanted to stay, they had to ask in advance if they wanted to eat at the inn before preparing anything else. Although there was nothing they could do, it seemed that the inn was indeed unlikely to stay open any longer.
The four of them sat around an octagonal table. The sun was blazing outside, and not a single person, not even a bird, could be seen. Fu Hai reiterated his assurance that once his novel became a bestseller, at least this year's tax revenue would be guaranteed. Xia Yuelan chuckled and said, "Yes, yes!"
Fu Hai was so angry that he wanted to grab her repeatedly with his "Dragon Claw Hand" technique.
"Let me tell you, this morning the lady from Baoshuzhai was very certain, she said..." [Ding]
A system notification sounded. Fu Hai looked over.
[Lady Langyue, the owner of Baoshuzhai, suffered mental damage due to an attack by the heretical texts written by the host.]
[Points +20!] Fu Hai.
Song Lingyue sat quietly to the side, then looked up and asked, "What did that lady of the temple say?"
Fu Hai felt guilty: "N-nothing." He glanced at the system notification.
Surely not? This can't be serious, can it? At this moment, his points have reached 300 again.
He could switch Lingyue to a single martial art with "Enhanced Comprehension". But he wasn't happy at all.
Just then, a group of people arrived from the west and reached the entrance. A burly man strode in: "Innkeeper, we'd like to stay here!"
Chapter 14 is excellent in every aspect.
"Oh, isn't this Uncle Zhao?" Fu Hai stood up.
The burly man who entered the gate was imposing, dressed in a craftsman's uniform that exposed half of his arm, exuding a strange strength that seemed ready to grab a large hammer from his waist and smash someone at any moment.
Behind him followed a dozen or so people, both men and women.
Fu Hai recognized that the group that had come was from the Qiaogongfang workshop in He County to the west.
This burly man was none other than Zhao Hongzhuang, a renowned craftsman from the Qiaogongfang workshop, followed by a group of skilled artisans from the workshop. "Uncle Zhao, you've been invited by the government of Anjun to prepare for the Lantern Festival, haven't you?" Fu Hai asked with a smile.
“Who says otherwise?” Zhao Hongzhuang said. “Auntie, why is it so deserted here? There were quite a few people here last year.”
“Last year, the Grand Canal to the east wasn’t open yet, so people traveling north and south all had to pass through this road,” Fu Hai sighed. “Right now, we can only make a little money thanks to the Lantern Festival. Once the Lantern Festival is over, I’m afraid we’ll have to close down.”
Zhao Hongzhuang said, "Hmph! There's nothing we can do when things like this happen. Ultimately, everyone's at the mercy of fate. If things really don't work out, we'll just have to change careers. 'A tree dies if transplanted, but a person thrives!' No one will starve!"
Qiu Ying stood up: "Would you like an upper room, a middle room, or a lower room?"
Zhao Hongzhuang laughed, "We're just laborers trying to make a living, how could we possibly have rooms in the best houses? Just give us the worst rooms." Fu Hai asked, "Should we park those cars outside in the backyard for you?"
"No need!" Zhao Hongzhuang shook his head. "They're just tools for getting things done. By the way, have any strange things happened in Anjun?" Fu Hai hadn't spoken yet.
Xia Yuelan immediately jumped up, excitedly saying, "A bizarre event? What strange thing? Tell me, tell me." She was instantly extremely excited.
Zhao Hongzhuang said, "There are also some counties further west in He County, and many people have died recently."
"Those who died were mostly ordinary people who didn't know martial arts, but the way they died was extremely strange. Each one looked like they had been drained of blood, their whole body was dry."
Fu Hai shook his head: "We haven't heard of such a thing on our side."
"If this were to actually happen, people would be in a state of panic. Is someone practicing some kind of evil or unorthodox art?"
Zhao Hongzhuang said, "It's hard to say! The dead came all the way from the west. At first, it was just lone individuals who died, but then the number gradually increased. Recently, five fishermen who were traveling together died together. This made us quite nervous when we came over; we prepared all our weapons, otherwise..."
I dare not go on the road.
I know your inn used to be a martial arts school, so you have some martial arts skills, but since it's located outside the city, you should still be careful. I don't know what it's like now.
Was the murderer a human, a ghost, or a monster?
Qiu Ying stood to the side, seemingly lost in thought: "I heard that there was a ghost story at Duan Yun Mountain. A group of bandits broke into the old forest of Duan Yun Mountain, and the leader of them, a bandit with a martial arts level of nine, had his head chopped off."
"The other bandits are all acting like madmen, they can't even speak clearly, they just keep saying it's haunted. Could it be related to this?"
Zhao Hongzhuang shook his head: "Who knows? Although things are much more peaceful here now, all sorts of strange things seem to be happening more and more often." Hai asked: "Uncle Zhao, how long will you be staying here? Should we prepare meals for you at mealtimes?"
Zhao Hongzhuang said, "Ah! Thank you. We'll stay here tonight. The government will provide us with food and lodging after we enter the city tomorrow."
Seeing his disappointed look, he couldn't help but pat him on the shoulder: "Doing business is tough these days!" Fu Hai also sighed, feeling that he really couldn't count on this inn.
I glanced at the warning message that Lady Langyue had been "attacked by cult classics and suffered mental trauma." I felt that writing books was no longer a viable option.
Is it really only possible for my expertise in gynecology to "open a clinic, specializing in treating all kinds of female warriors, so that they may bloom like peach blossoms, chrysanthemums, and flowers everywhere"?
Coming from He County, the entire route was a winding mountain road. The people from Qiaogongfang had prepared plenty of provisions for the journey.
Since they still had some rations left, and they would be eating government food again starting tomorrow, they didn't need the inn to provide them with meals tonight. This was convenient for Fu Hai and Qiu Ying, as they wouldn't have much trouble preparing just one meal.
As the sun began to set, a magnificent carriage suddenly appeared, traveling from the city gate. Before long, the carriage stopped in front of the inn.
Normally, the city gates wouldn't close until 7 PM. In the past, some merchants from the north would leave the city before the gates closed.
We've settled into the inn so we can continue our journey early tomorrow morning.
But now, everyone is heading towards the east gate, so fewer people are coming out of the gate at this time.
Fu Hai looked over curiously. He saw the coachman lift the curtain.
First, a maidservant alighted from the magnificent carriage, then reached out to help the plump, somewhat disheveled Lady Langyue down from the carriage. It had been agreed that he would go to Baoshuzhai the next morning.
Unexpectedly, at this time, Lady Langyue came looking for her first.
Fu Hai looked at the notification bar on the panel indicating that Madam Langyue had suffered mental harm, and suddenly wanted to escape. When Madam Langyue saw him, she first stood at the entrance of the inn, her full breasts heaving. Because she was not "a member of the Heavenly Evil Sect," she was not listed on Fu Hai's panel.
But no prompting was needed; it was immediately apparent that her resentment towards him was steadily rising. However, the next moment, Lady Langyue looked at him and smiled:
“Young Master Fu, I have finished reading your manuscript. It is extremely… well written.” Fu Hai noticed that she was grinding her teeth as she said the word “extremely.”
“I think there’s no problem with printing and distributing it,” Madam Langyue said, beckoning to a maid who immediately presented her with a box. Madam Langyue carried the wooden box and walked over gracefully: “This sixty taels of silver is the deposit that our Baoshuzhai is paying in advance.”
"Please rest assured, young master, this time we will definitely promote this book well for you. The first printing will be widely distributed and heavily promoted. Absolutely a lot of promotion."
Fu Hai was still very uneasy: "Are you sure there won't be any problems? Can it really be printed and published?"
Lady Langyue nodded: "Absolutely no problem. Young Master's new martial arts novel is excellent in writing and story. It's so captivating that readers forget to eat and sleep, and it's superb in every aspect."
Fu Hai was quite certain that when she uttered this "extreme" word, her teeth were indeed grinding together.
She continued, "With the financial resources of our Baoshuzhai, we can expedite the printing process and, taking advantage of this Lantern Festival, ensure that your masterpiece, 'Heavenly Scroll,' sells exceptionally well. The only problem is that we need to come up with a title. Young master, what do you think would be a good title for this book?"
Fu Hai said, "I think a simple and easy-to-understand title is fine. How about... 'The Young Hero's Adventures in Heaven'?"
Although the title would certainly be cliché in another world, he thought it was acceptable in this one. Lady Langyue nodded: "The title is quite good; it suits the content of the book perfectly."
"In addition, there is the pen name. I think that such a masterpiece would be wasted if it were given a simple pen name, which would be a waste of your unparalleled talent."
LRAB