Flower Shadow House

As soon as Duan Rong returned to the dormitory, he flopped onto the bed. The fierce afternoon sunlight streamed through the carved window covered with a thin layer of cloth and fell across his face. He casually grabbed a small stack of Xuan paper, covered his face with it, and fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, Duan Rong saw a tied-haired young man with a thin back and a tall, slender frame. In a dilapidated courtyard, the young man worked tirelessly with his brush, painstakingly honing his painting skills.

He copied and traced paintings without end. As the years passed, the worn-out brush tips he had used piled up into a small basket...

Two hours later, Duan Rong suddenly awoke.

Thinking back on the Thin Scholar's experiences in the dream, he felt deeply moved.

They said the poor pursued letters while the rich pursued martial arts, but the spirit of climbing ever upward remained the same throughout.

In that dream, Duan Rong had clearly felt a fierce refusal to accept fate, a determination to climb upward. Though that scholar had never become a master, he had at least relied on his own two hands to ensure his family never lacked food or clothing...

"Life isn't easy..."

Duan Rong suddenly felt ravenous. He left the dormitory and checked the sky. It was likely around the Xu Hour, and the dining hall had long since stopped serving food.

Duan Rong could only leave the escort agency, order a bowl of wontons and two baked flatbreads from a street stall, and wolf them down.

After eating and drinking his fill, Duan Rong felt warmth spread through his stomach. He paid and returned directly to the Yuan Shun Escort Agency dormitory.

He lit the oil lamp, prepared the pigments, laid out the Xuan paper, and began working.

Duan Rong painted for another entire night. Only when the sky began to brighten did he finally look at the two paintings before him and smile.

They were still full-body portraits of Xiao Zongting and his daughter Xiao Baijiao, but compared with the previous two, these had clearly improved.

Not only was their artistic mood profound and far-reaching, but the figures were also more lifelike, as if they possessed souls.

Duan Rong's brushwork combined Beginner Exquisite Brushwork and Divine Brushwork Proficiency. Together with his modern PS aesthetic sensibilities, he could be said to have fully broken through the technical barrier.

"Having broken through the technical barrier, the next issue is where to apply it..." Duan Rong's fingers unconsciously rubbed together. In truth, he had long had an answer to that question.

Still, he hesitated somewhat.

Although the quickest way to make huge profits was to earn the money of the wealthy, there was always trouble before a brothel's doors!

Duan Rong's gaze sharpened, as though he had already made up his mind. "High risk, high reward!"

Duan Rong put away the Xuan paper before him, then pulled over another sheet of blank paper. Holding a brush, he moved his wrist suspended above the paper. Around the time it took for half an incense stick to burn, Duan Rong looked at the simple lines on the paper and smiled faintly. He set down the brush, rolled up the paper, and left the dormitory.

Duan Rong first ate breakfast by the street, then headed straight for a carpenter's shop at the intersection.

The moment Duan Rong reached the shop entrance, he saw an Old Man with a lean, clear-featured face sitting outside and drinking tea.

This carpenter's shop was called Li's Shop, opened by a father and son both surnamed Li.

The son, Little Li, was around thirty years old. He was tall and powerfully built.

His father, Old Li, was already over fifty, his hair streaked with gray. His back was somewhat hunched from years of labor, but he remained vigorous and hale.

The one drinking tea out front was Old Li.

Duan Rong strode over and said, "Shopkeeper, take a look. Can you make this?"

Duan Rong handed the rolled-up Xuan paper to Old Li.

Old Li paused, not expecting business to come knocking so early in the morning. He accepted the roll of paper and smiled. "Please, have a seat, sir. Have a cup of tea first."

Duan Rong sat down unceremoniously in a rattan chair, but instead of drinking tea, he fixed his eyes on Old Li.

Old Li slowly unrolled the Xuan paper. On the white sheet was a clean, simple ink drawing of an object's structural design.

Yet despite having worked as a carpenter his entire life, Old Li had never seen such a thing.

"Sir, what sort of object is this? Its construction isn't complicated, but forgive these old eyes of mine—I've never seen anything like it." A strange look flashed through Old Li's clouded eyes.

"Shopkeeper, this is called a Sketching Easel. Just make it according to the design." Duan Rong answered with a light smile.

Old Li gave Duan Rong a look. The youth had a square face, bright eyes, and dark skin. He did not appear old, yet his expression was calm and his replies composed. He did not resemble the dull, honest children of ordinary households.

"All right... all right..." Old Li nodded. "It's just... this is something new, so it'll take longer to get the hang of... I'm afraid it'll take some time..."

"That's fine. If I come back in the afternoon, during the Shen Hour, can it be ready?"

"By the Shen Hour? It'll definitely be done."

Seeing Old Li agree so readily, Duan Rong smiled. "Then it's settled. I'll come back during the Shen Hour."

"But... sir, custom orders require a deposit... you see..." Old Li said earnestly as he looked at Duan Rong.

"How much is the deposit?"

"For something of this size and complexity, if it were an old design, it would only cost two qian of silver. But since it's something new, there's an extra qian, making three qian altogether. One qian as a deposit, and the remaining two upon delivery."

Duan Rong paid the deposit, gave Old Li a few instructions, and left.

After leaving the carpenter's shop, Duan Rong returned to the Yuan Shun Escort Agency and practiced his stance work on the Martial Arts Field for an hour and a half.

When Duan Rong finished his practice, his eyes were somewhat listless. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and could clearly feel the hollow weakness in his body.

It was unlike when he had practiced the first level of inner breath. Back then, every time he finished, he would instead feel refreshed and alert. Though his body was tired, he could sense a steady flow of vitality rising from within.

Duan Rong rested for a while. After lunch, he read miscellaneous books in the dormitory for some time, then left the escort agency for Li's Shop at precisely the Shen Hour.

When Duan Rong arrived at the shop, the Sketching Easel was already finished. He tested it and found the workmanship first-rate, the wood used equally fine.

Once folded, it was easy to carry.

This Sketching Easel was really nothing more than a folding tripod with a drawing board. It was not particularly complicated to make.

After paying the remaining balance, Duan Rong spent another dozen or so copper coins on a folding Low Stool. He folded the easel and stool together, tucked them beneath one arm, and walked back to the escort agency.

Flower Shadow House was the largest brothel in Xiangu County.

It was a two-story wooden tower, with upturned eaves, carved beams, and painted rafters. Every night, it blazed with lights as music and songs drifted out in waves.

It was a place that stole souls, and also a pit that swallowed gold. Young masters who threw away fortunes in a single gesture and lecherous old ghosts were everywhere.

The owner and Madam of Flower Shadow House was named Hu Huanhuan. She had once been a Prefecture City Courtesan.

But that had been more than twenty years ago.

Now, Hu Huanhuan had long passed her prime, her beauty faded with age.

Still, it was said that in Yuan Yang Prefecture, she had been the leading courtesan for ten years, unrivaled in her glory for a time.

Later, when her beauty faded and age caught up with her, she returned to the hometown where she had wandered in her youth and opened Flower Shadow House.

Hu Huanhuan was skilled in the arts of seduction. Over the past few years, she had trained Lotus Shadow, Plum Shadow, Chrysanthemum Shadow, and Orchid Shadow—the Four Flower Shadows.

Countless romantic young men and hungry ghosts of lust had fallen beneath the pomegranate skirts of the Four Flower Shadows, willingly becoming ministers beneath their skirts.

The reputation of Flower Shadow House had spread far and wide through the surrounding prefectures and counties.

No one knew how many wealthy households had lingered here, nor how many wastrels had been ruined, their homes broken and their families destroyed...