Chapter 52 The Lament of a Foolish Woman (Part Two) The woman wore a thin red blouse...
Song Qiling released his arm, his brows furrowed, and said, "Master, I don't know where I offended you. Why are you preventing my brother and me from leaving?"
Seeing this, Gu Lianzhou also stepped forward, bowed politely, and slowly said under the woman's contemptuous gaze, "My senior brother and I have come to your esteemed place not with ill intentions, but simply to inquire about the whereabouts of someone."
"Oh? Inquiring about information?" Luo Qingyu scoffed, picked up an empty teacup from the side, and played with it in her palm. "If it were someone else, I would believe this nonsense, but you happen to be disciples of the Heavenly Mystery Sect."
As soon as she finished speaking, a vein throbbed on Song Qiling's forehead, and a sense of foreboding welled up in his heart. Suddenly, he saw the woman's lips curl into a cruel smile, and her slender white fingers tightened abruptly. The blue and white porcelain cup shattered instantly, turning into dust that leaked through her fingers.
"Go and tell the wronged souls at the bottom of the ship!"
Suddenly, I felt dizzy and the boat floor beneath my feet made a long "crack" sound, and in an instant, it disintegrated like a shattered porcelain cup.
How could this be...?
Song Qiling looked up in astonishment, the words she hadn't uttered falling with her body, quickly swallowed by the darkness.
In the struggle, a hand suddenly gripped his, and Gu Lianzhou's voice gradually faded away with the sound of the wind, "Senior brother, this person is a demon."
Now she sees it.
It's still just a great demon disguised as a human.
Moist air rushed upwards, filling her mouth and nose. Song Qiling pressed her tongue against her palate, tasting the blood in her mouth, and forced a bitter smile.
Perhaps she had been living a peaceful life for too long, and was so careless that she failed to notice even the demon right under her nose.
Before she could have a moment to regret it, a surging wave of air rushed in, making it hard to breathe, and in no time, the icy lake water completely submerged her.
In her hazy state of consciousness, Song Qiling suddenly loosened her grip on her hand, realizing something was wrong.
If Gu Lianzhou, who can't swim, were to fall into the water, he would probably drown.
-
The warm yellow halo magnified in front of my eyes until the entire field of vision was filled with the afterglow of the setting sun.
The emerald green beaded curtain swayed back and forth in the distance, making people dizzy.
"She's awake! She's awake!" A woman's silvery voice, accompanied by light footsteps, grew louder as she approached.
Song Qiling tried turning her head to look, and saw a lotus-pink hem fluttering to the ground like a butterfly.
The woman knelt beside her, cupped her face, and shook it from side to side, muttering, "Great, you're finally awake. I'm not trying to be mean, but if you can't swim, why did you jump into that icy lake? Now you're safe, but you still have to entertain guests tonight. If you ask me, once you're in Pingkang Ward, you should have accepted your fate earlier, so you wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble. Hey, did you hear what I said?"
As her vision became clearer and the lecturing voice grew louder, Song Qiling rolled her eyes and slowly fixed her gaze on the woman's face.
The person speaking to her was a young girl whose figure had not yet fully developed. She had delicate features, red lips and white teeth, and the vermilion mark at the corner of her eye stood out starkly against her snow-white skin.
"Did you save me?" As soon as she spoke, Song Qiling realized that her voice was very hoarse, probably because she had drunk a lot of lake water.
The girl nodded and said, "I grew up on a boat, so of course I can swim. But you, why would you be so foolish as to jump into the water?"
Song Qiling narrowed her eyes, doubting her memory: "It's not that I'm having a mental breakdown, it's clearly your boss..."
A sudden, needle-like pain shot through her temples. The scene before she disembarked flashed before her eyes. Song Qiling quickly propped herself up and sat up, then got up and started to walk out of the boat.
"Hey, where are you going?" the girl asked, grabbing her sleeve from behind.
Suddenly pulled, Song Qiling stumbled and turned around, saying, "Let go."
Seeing her fierce expression, the girl, puzzled, said, "You're not thinking of jumping into the river, are you? I won't allow it." With that, she wrapped her arms around Song Qiling's waist and refused to let go.
"Men and women should not touch each other, let me go!" Song Qiling reached out to pry open the restraints around her waist.
Upon seeing it, their movements froze.
She hadn't noticed it in her haste to stand up, but now she could see clearly that she wasn't wearing her original clothes; instead, she was wearing a thin red blouse.
With a "buzz" in her head, Song Qiling raised her sleeve and looked at it again and again. After confirming that it was a dress for a young woman, she almost laughed out of anger.
"Absurd!" She forcefully broke free from the girl's restraints, glanced at the room's decor, and then her gaze fell on the dressing mirror on the table. Soon, she strode forward, picked up the mirror, and held it up in front of her to examine it closely.
Her face hadn't changed, only she was much paler than before, but her hair had changed from a single bun to a double bun.
"..." Who did it?
Song Qiling shifted her gaze from the mirror to the girl in the center of the room, saying incredulously, "You changed my clothes and styled my hair?"
Upon hearing this, the girl scratched her head, puzzled, and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? You've fallen into the water, and if you don't change your clothes, you'll catch a cold. Besides, we're both women, what's wrong with changing your clothes?"
How did she know she was a woman?
With a suspicious look, Song Qiling reached for the belt around her waist, and after groping around for a while, she finally pressed on a slightly bulging triangular pouch.
The talisman that conceals one's form is still there.
Could it be that... her current appearance is all an illusion?
"Lanhua'er, have you lost your mind? Should I find a doctor to take a look at you?" The girl said with a worried look, "Your body is perfectly healthy, so how did you damage your brain? How will you face your guests tonight?"
"What kind of guest are you meeting?" Song Qiling paused, then raised an eyebrow slightly. "You call me Lan Hua'er?"
The girl blinked her large, grape-like eyes and asked curiously, "Could it be that she's really stupid? How come she can't even remember her own name?"
Song Qiling remained silent.
The girl continued, "You, me, and the two girls who went up to the second floor were all on the same ship. We were given the names 'Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum' by the owner. Your name is Orchid, mine is Cold Plum, and the other two are called Green Bamboo and Ink Chrysanthemum respectively."
Seeing that she remained silent, Hanmei assumed that she was determined to die, so she softened her tone and said, "Lanhua'er, you are beautiful and have a good figure. You can sell your hair for a good price. Once you get the money, you can send it home to treat your mother's illness."
“Just listen to me, bear with it, and you’ll get through it. Why fight your own life?” She sighed softly as she finished speaking, “This is our fate.”
"What kind of fate is this?" Song Qiling's eyes almost blazed with fire. She took a few steps forward, forcing Hanmei against the wall. "I have hands and feet, and I can still do some manual labor to earn a meal. How did I end up selling my smile?"
Hanmei shrugged, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes: "But Lanhua, your father has already sold you to Pingkangfang, you can't escape."
Song Qiling seemed to choke, unable to utter a word for a long time.
She—no, she is an orchid.
Is there really a woman named Lan Hua with a tragic fate on this painted boat?
Why did Luo Qingyu transform her into this form, and why did he force her to accept the identity of Lan Hua?
Where is my junior brother? What has he become?
Just as I was filled with worry, there was a knock at the door. A man said in a gruff voice, "Are you done yet? It's getting dark. Don't miss the auspicious time."
Hanmei hurriedly craned her neck and shouted back, "The person is already awake. Give us a little more time to wash and get ready. We won't be late!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the figure at the door didn't leave. Seeing this, Song Qiling whispered, "Are you spying on me?"
Hanmei chuckled awkwardly, "Lanhua, everyone goes through this. Why are you going against the master? Hurry up and help me get ready. Tonight is your big night, you shouldn't be treated so carelessly."
To hell with combing the night!
Song Qiling sneered, spotted the nearby wooden window, rushed forward in a few steps, kicked it to pieces, and climbed out of the window!
The last rays of the setting sun were swallowed up by the cold lake water, and I felt a chill that went straight to my bones, as if a thousand thorns were rolling over my body.
A commotion arose in my ears, and one person after another jumped into the water like dumplings being dropped into boiling water, the sound of splashing echoing throughout the area.
Song Qiling took a deep breath and swam towards the bottom of the lake. In the instant she lost consciousness, the sound of shattering porcelain suddenly echoed in her mind.
-
"Sigh." A woman's sigh echoed softly. "I told you, you can't escape."
"Even if you die, your body and your soul will belong to Pingkangfang."
"Things will be fine after tonight, just bear with it for now."
The woman's eyes, hidden beneath her eyelids, darted around. Then, her delicate brows furrowed slowly, she groaned a few times, and slowly opened her eyes.
Within my limited field of vision, all I could see was a blurry red.
Song Qiling tried to raise her head, but felt weak all over, as if she had been given anesthesia, and even opening her mouth to speak became difficult.
The sounds seemed to come through a thick film of water, coming in waves.
With difficulty, I deciphered the words, which were something like "combing the night" or "highest bidder wins," and there was also the laughter of the men below the stage.
"Is it because you are so ugly that you can't be seen by others? How can people see your face if you cover it up?"
"They're just bluffing; they probably have girls they can't sell, so they're using inferior ones to pass off as better ones."
Listening quietly like this, she was able to move her hands and feet again. Song Qiling looked around and saw that she was now leaning against a soft couch behind a red gauze curtain as thin as a cicada's wing, with a soft cloth covering her face, which gently brushed against her cheeks with her breathing.
Behind the gauze curtain, shadowy figures and a throng of people could be seen pointing and gesturing at her, as if they were observing an object waiting to be sold.
An extreme sense of discomfort rose from the bottom of my heart, and my five fingers, hidden under my sleeves, slowly clenched, making a grating "crunching" sound.
"Starting bid: one tael of silver," the woman announced loudly.
Following the direction of the sound, she saw the person turn around and glance at her, a triumphant smile flashing in their eyes. This person wore a silk robe with a jeweled belt, and a cloud-like shawl wrapped around their arm, making them look like a fairy from a painting.
Song Qiling's pupils trembled slightly.
The person standing on the stage hawking her wares was none other than Luo Qingyu, the very person who had caused her to fall to this spot.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
