Ma Lingyi tilted her head slightly, revealing her fair, slender neck, her face flushed with bashfulness.
“Husband…”
That hesitant, bashful look set Zhu Ningmo’s heart ablaze. He drew Ma Lingyi into his embrace.
“Madam, you have worked hard. In the future, I will stay home to keep you company at night and will not go wandering out.”
Zhu Ningmo was a scholar, currently a Xiucai, and his family possessed some wealth. He usually enjoyed indulging in literary pursuits with fellow scholars, and would often summon beauties to keep them company, fancying himself a romantic soul.
Now, with his wife pressed against his chest, and given his weakness for beauty, the desire in his eyes deepened. Gently caressing her shoulder, he whispered, “Madam, the night is late. Let us retire.”
Outside, hearing the sounds from within, the two maidservants, Xiao Man and Xiao Yuan, exchanged glances and smirked, holding back their giggles. Their master and madam were as deeply in love as ever once again.
This was wonderful. Seeing their young mistress in low spirits every day had truly pained them. Now that she had become beautiful and their master had mended his ways, everything was looking up.
...
Inside the inn, Gu Qingyun sat with her eyes closed, mind and spirit unified. Her meridians flowed according to her cultivation method, her spiritual power circulating continuously as she absorbed the spiritual energy invisible to the naked eye.
Following her meridians into her dantian, the energy formed a whirling vortex, a sea of spiritual energy spinning at high speed.
After an unknown length of time, Gu Qingyun opened her eyes, her face brimming with joy. Though she did not know what realm she had attained, she knew she was stronger than before.
Spurred on, she leaped down from the second-floor window and landed in the courtyard to practice the body tempering technique. As she immersed herself, her speed grew faster and faster, her training continuing until the break of dawn.
Gu Qingyun finished her routine, drew the saber at her waist, and began practicing her saber technique right in the courtyard. Her movements were bold, expansive, and free of flamboyant flourishes.
Cleaving, chopping, slashing, thrusting, lifting, and parrying—every move was precise and ruthless, carrying an unstoppable momentum. The whistling sound tearing through the air with every swing carried a bone-chilling aura.
An early-rising waiter watched the black-clad constable practicing in the courtyard, finding the whistle of each slash remarkably crisp and pleasant to the ear.
The constable’s expression was sharp and fierce, her blade moving so fast the eye could barely follow. Only pure admiration remained in his heart.
After practicing her saber technique for half a shichen, Gu Qingyun’s breath remained completely steady. She sheathed her weapon, standing straight in the courtyard, when clapping sounded from behind her.
Turning around, she saw the inn waiter. Nodding to him, she walked over.
“Waiter, is breakfast ready yet?”
The waiter scratched his head sheepishly.
“Honored guest, you may have to wait a little longer. It’s still early, and it will take another quarter of an hour. If you’re truly starving, this humble one can go outside and buy some for you?”
Gu Qingyun fished out fifty wen from her robes and handed it to him.
“Ten bowls of Yangchun noodles. Bring them up to my room shortly. Keep whatever is left as a tip.”
The waiter was overwhelmed with gratitude.
“Right away, honored guest! Please go rest first, and this humble one will bring you hot water right away.”
Gu Qingyun nodded and headed back to her room. She needed to clean herself up and take a stroll outside. Head Constable Liu and the others had returned late last night, so they likely would not be waking early.
After finishing breakfast, she planned to rest for the morning. Once she had lunch, she would head to the prefecture capital’s most bustling street—she had promised to bring scented balm back with her, after all.
...
After a night of nourishment and passion, Ma Lingyi looked even more radiant and glowing. Having seen her husband off, she sent invitations to several close female friends for a small gathering at her home.
Even if her figure was not particularly eye-catching, her smooth, fair, and flawless complexion came as a shock to the married women. In just the short time she spent greeting them, her friends were left staring in dazes several times over.
As she poured tea, she heard the envious voice of her friend Lu Yuanyuan beside her.
“Lingyi, we haven’t seen each other in just a month. How did you suddenly become so beautiful? Did you use some kind of wonderful cosmetic balm?”
Lu Yuanyuan asked this because her situation was quite similar to Ma Lingyi’s, if not worse.
She had a plumper build and a dark complexion, and her husband had never cared for her, treating her with cool detachment. Seeing her friend’s skin so white and fair, she was desperate to know the secret.
“There is a way, but the proprietress said only fated people can enter her shop. Sister Wang was the one who brought me there. I don’t know whether you will be fated or not,” Ma Lingyi said with a smile.
Another friend, Hu Jie’er, lit up upon hearing this.
“Lingyi, you and Sister Wang must take us to try! Even if we aren’t fated, we will accept it. We truly want to become beautiful like you two.” She sighed, adding, “Ever since I gave birth to three children, my face has turned so sallow that I can hardly bear to look at myself in the mirror.”
Lu Yuanyuan knitted her brows with a bitter smile.
“Isn’t that the truth? These days of waiting alone in an empty bedchamber are truly unbearable.”
Ma Lingyi twisted her handkerchief and gritted her teeth.
“At dusk, I’ll take you to try your luck. But if it doesn’t work out, you cannot blame me.”
“Of course not!” Lu Yuanyuan and the others replied in unison.
...
During the Shen hour, Gu Qingyun found her eyes dazzled by the glittering array of ornaments in a jewelry shop. She strolled over to a display of gold hairpins and looked them over.
The floor of this jewelry shop was paved with smooth bluestone. Behind the counter stood several shop assistants in short green cloth jackets. Displayed within the counter were countless hairpin designs crafted from gold, silver, and jade.
She pointed casually to a gold hairpin and asked a shop assistant, “How much is this gold hairpin?”
The assistant glanced at her, deftly lifted the hairpin, weighed it, and adjusted the scale marker with a smile.
“Guest, this hairpin weighs three taels and is eighty percent pure gold. Factoring in the crafting labor, it comes to thirty taels of silver in total.”
Gu Qingyun maintained a calm exterior, but clicked her tongue inwardly. She knew gold hairpins were expensive, but she had never imagined they would be that costly. The silver she had won this time was barely enough to buy a few of them.
“Do you have anything cheaper? These exceed my budget.”
The assistant had seen all sorts of customers and casually picked up another gold hairpin that weighed about half as much. After weighing it, he continued, “Guest, this hairpin weighs six qian and five fen, also eighty percent pure gold. With the crafting fee included, it comes to five taels and two qian of silver.”
“Can you make it a bit cheaper?” Gu Qingyun pressed, staring at him.
“Guest, I am merely an assistant here; I truly cannot make that call. Besides, our shop makes very little profit on this hairpin, so we really cannot lower the price.”
Gu Qingyun haggled with the assistant for a good while, but he would not budge a single cent. In the end, she could not bear to splurge too much; she only bought four gold hairpins for the four elder women in her family, leaving hairpins for the other sisters for next time.
Packing away her purchases, she turned and entered an adjacent rouge and cosmetics shop. This time, she had no need to worry about the cost and picked out higher-grade items directly.
Rouge was fifty wen a box, and scented balm was ten wen a box, with the cheaper varieties selling for only three wen. Gu Qingyun went straight for the ten-wen balm.
She also picked out a box of lip balm for each of them, which cost about the same as face cream. In this shop, she spent less than one tael of silver.
By the time she finished shopping, dusk was approaching. As she wandered along the street, she heard someone crying for help and immediately sprinted toward the sound.
Rate on N.U.
