The mastermind behind the Red Building was more formidable than anyone had imagined, a woman only a decade or so older than He Jinxia, in the pri of her charm and grace.
The woman gazed complexly at He Jinxia, the Oiran who had beco famous throughout the Capital with her Jinghong Dance. She was her personally trained protege, and she had high expectations for her, hoping she could be of help. But she had not foreseen this sudden misfortune.
What was never lacking among the won of the Red Courtyard was struggle. It was true that He Jinxia had once been famous, that her encounter with the fire was a deliberate act of sabotage, and it was also true that she was now of no use to anyone.
To the victor go the spoils, to the vanquished go the woes; the power behind the scenes never entertained the idea of seeking revenge for He Jinxia, even though she was the best disciple she had ever taught.
The woman said softly, "Have you made up your mind?"
He Jinxia’s voice was sowhat hoarse as she replied, "Yes."
She wore a silk handkerchief over her face, revealing only the area above her eyes, covering everything below.
A few months ago, her eyes had been lively and bright, but now, they were like a stagnant pool.
The woman turned her head away and said indifferently, "Since you’ve decided, then don’t stay in the Red Courtyard any longer."
As soon as she finished speaking, she tossed sothing to He Jinxia. It was Jinxia’s indenture contract.
He Jinxia silently took the indenture contract, paid a kneeling salute to the woman, and turned to leave without a word.
Walking outside, as she looked at the familiar plants and flowers surrounding the Red Building, she seed a bit dazed and couldn’t help but clench her fists tightly.
A few days ago, she was on her way ho, chatting with Sheng Yan—when, in the last second before she lost consciousness, she heard a sharp screech of brakes followed by a violent collision, and then she knew nothing more.
When she opened her eyes again, she had returned to ancient tis, to the days following her injury from a great fire!
She should have perished in that fire!
Why had she not died in ancient tis, instead being strung along in life for so long?
In the modern world, she had lived two years, but in ancient tis, it had been only two months—this was not logical!
He Jinxia silently twisted her mouth in a mocking smile. After all, ti travel was the biggest illogicality of all.
Suddenly, her mind was filled with the ti-travel novels written by modern authors, and she felt as if she were just like the heroines in those stories...
Unexpectedly, He Jinxia’s eyes turned red as a wave of sourness rose in her heart. Sheng Yan...
Every ti she thought of that na, her heart ached uncontrollably.
She wondered how he was doing now, what his reaction would be to knowing she was no longer there or lying forever unconscious on a hospital bed in the modern world...
Just the thought of Sheng Yan marrying another woman made her heart feel as if it were being scraped by knives!
Sheng Yan, Sheng Yan, Sheng Yan... She silently recited his na in her heart and forced herself to walk back to the courtyard.
"Miss, boo hoo! You are going to beco a Daoist, what will I do? I have followed you since I was a child. Without your care, I would have been hard by others long ago. I’m so stupid, I can’t be without you, Miss!"
In the courtyard, Lv Zhu’s eyes brimd with tears as she sobbed quietly, full of reluctance.
He Jinxia snapped back to reality, forced the tears back from her eyes, and said indifferently, "Lv Zhu, you’ve been with for so long, it’s ti for you to find a good family to marry into.
"Red Building is a place of gossip; you see its splendor on the surface, but in reality, it’s the filthiest inside. These beautiful appearances are no more than skeletons dressed in rosy flesh, and in a hundred years, all will be turned to dust. You shouldn’t stay here any longer."
Upon hearing this, Lv Zhu beca even more distraught.
The mont the young lady woke up, she was acting oddly, always staring out the window, lost in thought, and not as talkative as before.
Just yesterday, it was rare for her to speak a few more words, but the result was her decision to beco a Daoist priestess!
Lv Zhu had thought the young lady was just speaking whimsically, but today she saw that all the girls in Red Building knew about it!
Even the young lady herself spoke in set phrases, just like those found in the Daoist temples!
With a determined bite of her teeth, Lv Zhu clenched her fists and declared, "I’ve followed you since I was young, and without your care, Lv Zhu wouldn’t know how many tis she would have died.
Wherever you go, I’ll follow. If you want to beco a Daoist priestess, I’ll join you in taking the tonsure!"
Her attitude of "resignation to death" amused He Jinxia, lifting her morose spirits a bit, and she rarely spoke a few more words:
"Your body is intact, unlike mine, which is aged like the bark of a tree. There’s no use for to stay in Red Building; I will only be demoted from a mistress to a servant.
In my condition, no one would want anywhere I go from here, except for Red Building, but you are different, you can do much more than I can."
It was strange, according to Lv Zhu, she too had erged from the blaze, the last one to do so, her body still smoking.
In modern terms, that would likely be diagnosed as severe burns, wouldn’t it?
With the advancents in modern dicine, such a person might be resuscitated, but how was it possible that she didn’t die with the much more primitive ancient dical care?
Even more surprising, not only did she not die, but her body also began to heal a great deal. The scalded skin had scabbed over, and in the days since she awoke, the scabs kept falling off, revealing new, tender skin underneath.
The skin was wrinkled, with clearly visible lines underneath, but that wasn’t the key point. The key was the incredible self-healing ability of this body!
Sotis, He Jinxia would stare at her own arm, tempted to give it a hard cut to see if it possessed the legendary rapid healing feature.
However, with dical standards so poor in ancient tis, she feared that a small mistake might lead to unstoppable bleeding, leading her to an untily death.
She couldn’t reveal her body’s abnormal conditions to anyone else. According to the understanding of normal people in ancient tis, those who suffer from full-body burns would see a decline in many bodily functions, rendering them incapable of doing many things that ordinary people could.
For example, their physical strength. How could soone recovering from a serious illness match the strength of a healthy person, let alone a burn victim who was nearly beyond saving?
He Jinxia took a deep breath, gathering her scattered thoughts.
Having given it thorough thought, since she had ti-traveled twice, there might be a chance for a third ti. She wasn’t necessarily without the opportunity to return to modern tis. What she needed to do now was to wait.
After considering every angle, to find a tranquil place, there was none better than a Daoist temple.
There were female Daoist priests in the Daoist temples, who almost all led ascetic lives, devoted to the Daoist sect. Within the temples, they were unbothered by worldly matters.
Ordinary Daoist priests didn’t hold much status, but renowned ones often lived better than so high officials and nobles, and so highly skilled Daoists were even welcod as esteed guests by wealthy families.
This so-called high skill in Daoism wasn’t like what modern internet novels depicted, with the ability to cultivate martial arts; it simply ant a profound understanding of Daoist texts, occasionally voicing True Daoist Words that provided enlightennt for others.
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