(New book for practice) (No female lead, growth-oriented) A somewhat familiar starry universe, on a long journey of unknown years. The unchanging goal is to find a way to stay in this world forever...
With a myriad of attitudes and countless thoughts, his long hair flowing over his shoulders, dressed in a dark blue martial arts robe, Dao Chengyi stood before the bronze mirror, quietly outlining the eyebrows and eye makeup of the maids who had initially followed him.
The corners of Wenxuan's eyes were outlined with slanted red, and her makeup was a light red like the sunset. Her eyebrows were drawn to resemble distant mountains, just like the sunset over the mountains, showing her solitary beauty.
"So, it wasn't drawn crooked, was it?"
Looking admiringly at the beautiful woman who was adorning herself, Dao Cheng asked the other maids beside him.
"Young Master's drawing is beautiful, and Sister Wenxuan, who was already beautiful, is even more beautiful now!"
Her white hair was like snow, falling like moonlight. Her clear, glass-like eyes were lively and pure, and her slender, curved eyebrows made her look very cute. Her slightly rounded oval face had a small, upturned nose, and her light pink, full lips were as moist and glossy as cherry blossoms in March. She looked like a white porcelain doll. Bai Zhi had also completed her initial recovery.
Although the rest of her body, apart from her face, is still not fully healed, her face alone is enough to live up to the description of her as a top-quality beauty from the Hu merchant.
"If you were in our mountain stronghold, sir, just leave a window open at night, and girls would fight for you without you even realizing it. You're strong and understand women's hearts; even the strongest prince in the stronghold can't compare."
Youlan covered her mouth and laughed, pressing one side of her body against Daochengyi, like a black snake climbing up a stick, exhaling fragrant breath and with seductive eyes.
"Of course, Master is the best. How could an ordinary maid be painted with your eyebrows by your own hand? So, is it alright, Master? After all, today is the day the Green Mang Battle begins."
Du Ruo, with her gentle and graceful appearance reminiscent of a woman from Jiangnan, hesitated for a moment. She was pregnant at the same time as Wen Xuan and was also going through a second puberty, with a curvaceous figure and a scent of ripe peach.
"Why don't we paint for the two elder sisters? We'll wait until Master returns victorious before we come back."
The remaining Nanzhu pursed her lips and echoed. As someone who sold herself into servitude to bury her father and became a maid, she was less attractive than the others and did not know the necessary skills of a maid. Her only redeeming quality was her pair of long legs. Her daily duties consisted of handling some trivial matters.
Overwhelmed by this sudden favor, she felt a mix of gratitude and unease, feeling it was all for naught.
"The greatest happiness is not whether something exists or not, but that you get it when you want it most."
"The fight is important, but it won't affect my actions. Wen Niang, do you think it looks good?"
As the first person, Wenxuan stared blankly at himself in the newly polished bronze mirror. The clear mirror reflected the woman who had aged and whose beauty had faded with time.
Even though she was still beautiful, the fact that she had aged and was past her prime remained unchanged. Especially when her unborn child died because of her, she thought she should be rejected and alienated, and that the happiness she had imagined should be nothing but a mirage.
Everything was as usual, just like what Dao Chengyi said at the dock that day. Everything was fine, everything was the same. He was the second man in her life, and also the first man in her life who made her genuinely happy and joyful.
"It's beautiful. As long as it's painted by... Master, I like it."
Suppressing her impulse towards her lover, Wenxuan blinked and happily stood up, making room for the sisters behind her, since time was still limited.
“Master dotes on us maids, and we should also think of him. Now that we’re better, let’s move on to the next one. It’s truly our great fortune to have met Master.”
Am I incredibly fortunate?
Human happiness cannot be faked. When those who are unwilling to be mediocre leave, what remains in the hearts of those who are left is a life that is gradually getting better and a better expectation.
Attachment to the strong, and the subservience of a master, are concepts they are taught and accepted from an early age. The weak depend on the strong, and the weak try to please the strong.
There was very little teaching about dignity, self, or equality. They used an eyebrow pencil made from the very tip of a bamboo rat's tail hair and various kinds of rouge bought from the most expensive rouge shop in town.
The beauty of the gentle Jiangnan region is the dark green of grass entering the curtain, the pale white of pear blossoms falling silently in the night rain. The flowing water is the scenery of Jiangnan. This is the outfit for Du Ruo.
Like a foreign tribe from Miao territory, the mysterious purple, the secluded orchid in the valley, paired with the beautiful and bright silver, and the slightly charming slender shape, it is a captivating painting in the deep mountains, and also a gorgeous beauty that carries a deadly poison.
A gentle red, a calming yellow, a touch of slanted red outlining the corner of the eye, and a crescent-shaped eyebrow lifting a submissive personality—a confident and grounded woman is equally beautiful.
In the past, Dao Chengyi naturally did not understand the meaning and matching of these makeup styles, but now he can do whatever he wants, see the true nature of things at a glance, and appreciate their beauty at a glance.
Red powder skulls, white bones and flesh, seeing through them is not enlightenment; not seeing through them and letting go is true emptiness and freedom. Observing the external appearance and seeing the internal appearance, without mistake or deviating from the inner and outer, that is the Buddha.
These maids were not considered beauties, and were merely fleeting figures in his life. His elaborate eyebrow-painting was nothing more than a ploy to win people's hearts and plot to concoct a poisonous insect.
But Dao Chengyi was also willing to treat them with sincerity, doing his best to dress them up to suit their tastes and please the beauties.
"Looks good! Young master! I've become handsome too!"
When the last angelica was finished, looking at herself in the mirror with the sky as blue as the sky, the golden sun reflecting the snow, and her cool yet radiant self, she happily took Dao Chengyi's arm and rubbed against him.
Despite being the newest addition, she is just as popular as the others, simply because Dao Chengyi rescued her from the monster's appearance and was willing to give her unprecedented warmth.
What a fine young master! The best young master!
"Finally, change into your clothes and present your most beautiful self to congratulate your young master on his great success."
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