“Puchi!”
Yan Sanhe really couldn’t hold back and laughed aloud.
“This is the third person to get drowsy hearing your qin.”
“Yes!”
Dong Chengfeng sneered coldly: “You three pieced together could form a family. Are you satisfied?”
Why would I be satisfied?
Yan Sanhe detected the sourness in those words and quickly restrained her smile.
“I inquired later. The better the qin is played, the easier it makes people drowsy.”
Dong Chengfeng looked at her for a long moment, breathed deeply, and cursed inwardly:
Go to hell!
Shen Duruo’s sleep drew everyone’s gaze to her.
A maid pushed her.
She opened her eyes, looked around, without the slightest panic said: “I don’t like listening to music. I get drowsy as soon as I hear it.”
“Physician Shen is truly special.”
“If not special, how could she be a female physician?”
“I heard she’s already twenty.”
“Can’t get married probably!”
A cold smile floated on Crown Princess Liang’s lips, her gaze falling heavily on those speaking consorts.
“Have I treated you too well ordinarily?”
Seeing the Crown Princess’s expression, those people quickly lowered their heads in fright.
At this moment, the Crown Prince extended his hand and lightly patted the Crown Princess’s hand: “In the future, managing the household still requires some strictness.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
One timid consort, upon hearing the Crown Prince say this, frightfully stood and bowed to Shen Duruo.
“Physician Shen, I apologize. You’re magnanimous—please don’t hold it against me.”
“Why not hold it against you?”
Shen Duruo stood, bowed to the Crown Prince and his wife, clasped her hands behind her back, and strode away.
He watched her retreating figure and suddenly understood why, among ten thousand women, she alone stumbled into his eyes—
Because special, because genuine.
That night, those consorts who discussed Shen Duruo were confined for three months and fined half a year’s stipend.
From then on, no one in the entire Crown Prince’s estate dared point fingers at Shen Duruo. Upon meeting her, all respectfully bowed.
That night, Dong Chengfeng paced back and forth in the courtyard, his heart unbearably anxious.
The old fox absolutely had to recline in bed listening to music to fall asleep. She, however, could sleep soundly in public.
Yet he was someone who played qin and only knew how to play qin.
What to do?
After pacing several hundred times, he made a decision—get close to her first, then think of other things.
The next day.
Evening.
As Shen Duruo left the Crown Prince’s estate, he blocked her path midway and, without any preamble, opened his mouth: “The Crown Prince and I don’t have that kind of relationship.”
Shen Duruo frowned slightly.
“A year and a half ago, he used one copper coin to trick me into the Crown Prince’s estate, using qin music to help him fall asleep…”
“I know. This is the Five Tones Therapy Method. The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon’s Plain Questions says: When essence and spirit are guarded internally, how can illness arise? The Divine Pivot also states: Grief, sorrow, worry, and anxiety move the heart; when the heart moves, the five organs and six viscera all move.”
Shen Duruo: “The Five Tones enter the Five Organs, regulating blood qi and organ yin-yang. Gong tone enters the spleen, Shang tone enters the lungs, Zhi tone enters the heart. Using music is like using medicine—medicine has three parts toxicity, music has none. This is superior medicine.”
What?
What?
What?
He was completely dumbfounded.
“Dong Chengfeng, actually you didn’t need to come find me. In a few days, I would have come to find you.”
She suddenly smiled, her eyes very clear.
“I’ve been looking for someone who understands qin to research how to use qin music to treat illness. Are you willing to help me?”
“Bang—”
In the dusky night sky, fireworks suddenly bloomed.
Multicolored and magnificent.
Some mischievous child had taken out unfinished New Year fireworks to set off.
Dong Chengfeng smiled like a fool.
“Willing!”
……
The following days weren’t measured in years anymore.
Every afternoon, Shen Duruo would come find him, explaining to him about the Five Elements, Five Organs, Five Orifices; explaining how they operated in the human body, what symptoms would appear if problems arose…
He explained to her about the Five Tones, explaining which pieces made the Crown Prince fall asleep fastest during the year-plus of playing qin for him, which pieces were slower…
“Yan Sanhe, have you had someone you liked? Do you know what it feels like to be with someone you like?”
Dong Chengfeng’s eyes held two clusters of light.
“It’s like fireworks constantly going off in your heart. When you think of this person, the corners of your mouth rise high—you can’t pull them down no matter how you try.”
Those days, when Dong Chengfeng saw the wind, he felt warmth; saw rain, felt entranced; even seeing a dog-tail grass, he thought how beautiful this flower was.
“What about her?”
Yan Sanhe: “Did she also like you?”
Dong Chengfeng looked at Yan Sanhe, ground his back molars, lightly plucked a string—the qin produced a “zheng” sound.
“She couldn’t be said to like me then, but she already felt three to five parts close to me.”
Whether people were the same type could be known after a few days together.
The two of them, though one wild and one cold, shared one common point: genuine.
Wouldn’t speak false words, wouldn’t scheme against people, wouldn’t flatter anyone—straightforward and open-hearted.
Among the same type, sincerity could exchange for sincerity.
Shen Duruo’s words gradually increased when with him.
She would speak of interesting events from four years of travel, speak of the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles, speak of the teacher-friend Bai Zhenshan…
He would speak of grassland customs, speak of past events with his master, also speak of his romantic affairs on the Qinhuai River…
He didn’t conceal anything, choosing honesty instead.
Everyone had some absurd past. Once you’d been absurd and reformed, wasn’t that good enough!
After listening, she froze for a moment, then suddenly asked: “Come, tell me—what’s the difference between men and women?”
He’d been sitting properly, but these words scared him into falling over. Wanting to cry but having no tears, he could only beat his chest in despair.
Amid his utter embarrassment, she laughed heartily.
“Even now, I can’t forget how she looked when laughing.”
Dong Chengfeng drank several mouthfuls of alcohol, his voice oddly hoarse from the alcohol’s moistening.
“Eyes narrowed into slits, showing a mouthful of neat white teeth, long eyelashes trembling, like a spirited rabbit. So beautiful.”
She laughed until tears came.
He climbed up from the ground and pulled out a handkerchief to pass to her.
She took it, wiped the corners of her eyes, and said: “Dong Chengfeng, if there’s a chance, take me to play by the Qinhuai River!”
He deliberately snorted coldly: “Fine. I’ll play qin, you’ll treat patients. One treats hearts, one treats illness—we’ll make all the silver.”
“That’s a good idea.”
She extended her hand: “It’s settled!”
He extended his hand, lightly slapping her palm. His breathing also stilled.
Shen Duruo, someday I’ll firmly grasp your hand in my palm and never let go again.
“Did you grasp it?” Yan Sanhe asked.
Are you trying to infuriate me?
Bringing up exactly what shouldn’t be mentioned!
Dong Chengfeng’s eyes gradually dimmed: “Yan Sanhe, do you know what I regret most in this life?”
“What?”
“Feeling I wasn’t worthy of her and not speaking up earlier.”
The more they interacted, the more he liked her.
The more he liked her, the more inferior he felt.
He feared that once he spoke, he’d lose even the qualification to laugh and talk with her.
Every night, lying in bed, looking at the bed canopy, the words he wanted to say flowed endlessly—
“Shen Duruo, I used to be a rotten person, but after meeting you, I changed.”
“Would you be willing to give me a chance to become a good person?”
“I know I’m not worthy of you, but I… want to try.”
“Shen Duruo, I like you!”
But facing her, his throat tightened like anything—he couldn’t speak a single word.
He feared!
—