The woman, dressed in a white gauze dress, had rosy cheeks, like a blooming peach blossom, delicate and lovely.
Young Master Li stared intently at Shen Yuan, wishing he could break this delicate flower from its branch and ravage it right now.
"Miss Peony, let me teach you how to pluck the strings of this pipa." As he spoke, Young Master Li reached out and grabbed the hand that was holding the pipa, pulling it into his arms.
Shen Yuan tried to break free, but she couldn't overcome the other person's strength.
She frowned, and her other hand, which was hanging under the table, reached for the sole of her shoe.
Just then, a long arrow pierced the night sky, carrying an unstoppable chilling aura, whistling past Shen Yuan's side, leaving a bloody mark near Young Master Li's ear, and shooting straight towards the curtains on the roof.
The arrows were wrapped in burning oilcloth, and the flames fell onto the curtain, instantly igniting a sky full of fire.
All of this happened so fast that before Young Master Li could react, Shen Yuan broke free from his hand, stepped over the tea table in front of her, and ran towards the door.
Young Master Li, clutching his ear which had been grazed by the arrow's fletching, saw blood on his hands and screamed in terror. He scrambled to his feet and tried to run towards the door, yelling, "Murder! Murder! Help!"
Seeing that he was trying to run away, Shen Yuan took out a porcelain bottle from her bosom and poured it onto the stove.
When the cooking oil comes into contact with the charcoal fire, a flame leaps up from the blazing charcoal fire, taller than a person.
The flames instantly tore through the roof curtains again, sparks flying everywhere. The window was open and the cold wind howled through, and the sparks that fell burned elsewhere. When the wind blew, they ignited another flame.
In a short while, the entire house was engulfed in flames.
Young Master Li stared at the stove blocking his way, too afraid to approach or run outside. He glanced at the open window, then glared furiously at Shen Yuan: "You're all in cahoots! You're all in cahoots! I'm going to tell Mama Hua, you bitch, I'll make sure you suffer a horrible death!"
Shen Yuan, who was standing by the door, turned around and looked at the man who was blocked by the stove when she heard this.
Instead of walking any further, she bent down and pulled out a dagger hidden in the sole of her shoe.
Upon seeing the dagger in Shen Yuan's hand, Young Master Li turned deathly pale. He trembled and backed away, asking, "What...what are you going to do?"
"Young Master Li, now that you know, you won't be leaving here alive!"
Shen Yuan gripped the dagger tightly in her hand and walked step by step toward Young Master Li. He had seen her before and knew what she had done, so he absolutely could not leave alive!
"Help! Help!" Young Master Li cried out for help as he backed toward the window. Suddenly, his body froze, and he looked down in disbelief.
An arrow pierced his heart, the sharp point still stained with warm blood.
Shen Yuan's eyes widened as she looked in surprise toward the direction from which the arrow had come. Through the pitch-black night, she couldn't actually see anything, but she could inexplicably sense that Xiao Ling was standing on the balcony not far away.
With a thud, Young Master Li collapsed stiffly into the stove. Shen Yuan nimbly stepped forward, pulled the arrow out of Young Master Li's body, broke it in half, and threw it into the brazier.
Then he turned and ran out the door.
Everything that just happened took less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn.
Shen Yuan pushed open the door in a panic, shouting, "Help! Something terrible has happened! Fire! Fire!"
The two maids outside the door had already heard the commotion inside, but the drumming and music outside were too loud, and they couldn't hear what was being said inside. They only heard the crackling sounds.
They initially thought it was the sound of a customer forcing a girl to knock over a wine pot, since such a situation was quite common at their Drunken Spring Pavilion.
But to their surprise, Shen Yuan came out covered in flames.
Seeing the flames on Chen Yuan's skirt, the two maids were terrified and quickly cried out, "Quick, bring water! Quick, bring water!"
Shen Yuan ran outside and pretended to stomp on the flames on the train of her skirt, but instead of extinguishing the flames, they leaped onto the gauze curtain outside the door.
Outside the private rooms of Zuichunlou is a three-story-high central well, below which is a stage for singers and dancers to perform, and above which are colorful gauze curtains hanging under the eaves of the second and third floors.
So as soon as Shen Yuan lit the gauze curtain in front of the door, the flames went up along the curtain and burned all the way to the third floor.
Zuichunlou was instantly thrown into chaos.
Shen Yuan then stepped out the flames on her skirt.
The girls at Zuichunlou wore very long dresses, so long they trailed on the ground. When Shen Yuan was dealing with the arrows on Young Master Li's body, a corner of her dress was also burned. So she decided to play along, deliberately running out in her burning clothes, thus diverting the fire elsewhere.
After extinguishing the flames on her clothes, Shen Yuan ran downstairs.
But before she could run down to the second floor, she was stopped by Hua's mother, who rushed up to her.
Upon seeing Mama Flower, Shen Yuan immediately rushed forward, crying, "Mama Flower, there's a fire! It's so scary! Waaah—"
"Useless thing, where is Young Master Li?"
“The house caught fire, and he ran out by himself, without caring about me at all.” Shen Yuan wiped away her tears.
Upon hearing that Young Master Li had escaped, Madam Hua immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Young Master Li was the only grandson of the magistrate of Dongyang County, the only son in three generations. Their precious lineage could not be cut off at Zuichunlou!
"Go to the backyard and fetch water to help put out the fire!"
"well!"
Shen Yuan agreed and turned to run downstairs.
Watching Shen Yuan's retreating figure, Mama Hua suddenly felt something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She hurried to comfort the frightened guests, but after taking only two steps, she suddenly shuddered.
"No! She drank that tea, how could she still have the energy to run? No, no!"
"You guys get that brat back here right now, don't let her get away!"
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