“She said: ‘The straight string dies by the roadside; the curved hook gains nobility.'”

Word by word, like thunderclaps exploding in Yan Sanhe’s ears.

Few knew this saying. For Shishui to quote it so readily showed she favored it. And someone who could favor such words had a character that was not only proud, but also obstinate.

Obstinacy differed from stubbornness.

The former was an attitude, something fused into one’s bones and blood.

The latter referred to temperament—and a person’s temperament could gradually change through the events and people they encountered in life.

Heroes recognize heroes; beauties pity beauties.

Yan Sanhe seemed to see another version of herself, struggling bitterly in fate’s quagmire.

“Miss, did I remember it wrong?”

Seeing her silence, Guihua felt embarrassed. “I don’t understand these words. I tried many times to memorize them but couldn’t. Later, after Shishui became courtesan queen, she slowly taught me to remember them.”

“You remembered correctly.”

Yan Sanhe looked at her. “Shishui directed those words at the mama. Her days afterward wouldn’t have been easy.”

“With me secretly protecting her, they were easier.”

Guihua’s eyes showed a hint of pride. “That little cheap thing Xia Yu might be well-liked, but she’d only been at the Music Bureau a few years. Could she compare to me?”

“With Shishui’s temperament, she would certainly have refused your help.”

“Miss guessed half right, but who wants to suffer beatings and humiliation when they could have peaceful days?”

Guihua: “Xia Yu, that little cheap thing, teamed up with other young ladies to bully her. I’d plant my hands on my hips, put on a fierce attitude—who would dare step forward?”

She’d grown up at the Music Bureau, most skilled at making scenes, rolling on the ground, cursing parents, acting tough and unreasonable. After she dealt with Xia Yu a few times, she became docile.

“You protected her. Someone like her would consider you a good friend.”

Yan Sanhe: “Am I right, Guihua?”

Not a single word wrong.

Gradually, the way Shishui looked at her changed.

She was responsible for cleaning the Red Building. Whenever Shishui saw her coming, her eyes would follow her.

A scholar’s eyes differed from ordinary people’s eyes—very black, very clear, very bright. When they curved downward, they resembled a crescent moon.

During the day, they would gaze at each other from afar and smile knowingly. At night, she’d find ways to enter the Red Building and pull Shishui into rambling conversations about everything under the sun.

She’d tell Shishui all about the Music Bureau—what to watch out for, which people couldn’t be offended, where one could slack off, and the backgrounds of each mama…

Shishui would tell her about the outside world, about the four seasons in the capital, where was most beautiful; about the streets and alleys, which shops had the best food; about the opera houses, which performers sang best.

“Guihua.”

Yan Sanhe interrupted. “Did Shishui enjoy listening to opera?”

“She loved listening to opera most. She knew clearly every opera’s story, every lyric.”

Guihua suddenly smiled. “One night, she even sang for me—twisted her little waist, lifted her orchid fingers, sang just like the real thing.”

Yan Sanhe’s heart trembled slightly.

Just then, a finger poked her back again. Without thinking, she knew it was that master. This master had once said: when the drumbeat sounds and the small gong strikes, the opera begins.

Jingchen obsessed over a drum sound—he was reminding her, could the heart demon be related to opera singing?

Quite possibly!

Yan Sanhe nodded lightly in response.

“Which opera did Shishui most enjoy, Guihua? Do you know?”

“She enjoyed them all—there wasn’t one favorite. At first, whenever the Music Bureau set up an opera stage, she couldn’t walk away.”

“At first?”

How perceptive was Yan Sanhe? “So that means later, when the Music Bureau set up opera stages, she could walk away?”

Only now did Guihua truly scrutinize Yan Sanhe again, sighing inwardly: What a clever girl!

“Later, I don’t know why, but she stopped loving it.”

“When did she stop loving it?”

“This…”

Guihua thought for a long while before answering uncertainly, “It seems like after she was selected as courtesan queen.”

Yan Sanhe asked, “Why did she stop enjoying opera after becoming courtesan queen?”

She’d asked Shishui this question too.

“The clappers are sounding—you don’t have clients right now. Let’s go listen.”

“I won’t go!”

“Why not? Don’t you love listening to opera most?”

Shishui walked to the window, pointed at the distant opera stage, and after staring blankly said:

“They’re singing opera, and we’re also singing opera. They cry in the play, and we also cry in the play. They cry for the audience to see; we can only cry for ourselves to see.”

She was unwilling to remain a prostitute for life!

Yan Sanhe’s eyes showed pity as she asked, “Did Shishui’s selection as courtesan queen go smoothly?”

Guihua shook her head. “At first, she didn’t want to compete for courtesan queen.”

“Why not?”

“Because of her status.”

Yan Sanhe instantly understood this sentence’s meaning.

Tang Qiling had once held the noble position of Crown Prince’s Grand Tutor. For the Grand Tutor’s daughter to end up as courtesan queen, entertaining and sleeping with men—how humiliating for the then-reigning Crown Prince?

By rank, the former Crown Prince should have addressed Shishui as junior martial sister.

“What happened next? How did she regain her fighting spirit?”

“Later…”

Guihua’s face contorted with indignation. “Shishui heard people secretly saying she wasn’t a virgin.”

Yan Sanhe couldn’t wait to ask, “And then?”

So many years had passed, yet Guihua still seethed with resentment thinking about these slanderous words.

“Then she charged up and fought with those people. Don’t let her delicate appearance fool you—when she got fierce, no one was her match.”

Two soft gasps sounded almost simultaneously—one from Yan Sanhe, one from Xie Zhifei.

Xie Zhifei reached out again to poke Yan Sanhe’s back.

A young lady from a scholarly family—forget fighting, even cursing was rare.

For Shishui to charge forward regardless and fight with others showed these words had touched her bottom line.

Yan Sanhe turned her head slightly. Her gaze brushed lightly against Xie Zhifei’s before turning back. “What happened next?”

“Shishui was locked in the woodshed and starved for three days. When she came out three days later, she’d lost so much weight it hurt my heart to see.”

“Who was spreading gossip behind her back?”

“Who else but that cheap thing Xia Yu?”

Guihua sneered coldly. “Using such filthy tactics to ruin Shishui’s reputation so no one would compete with her for courtesan queen—that slut’s belly full of dirty tricks.”

“Was there proof?”

“What proof was needed? One look from my eyes and I could make that slutty fox show her true colors.”

Hearing her boastful talk, Yan Sanhe didn’t expose her, asking instead, “Because of Xia Yu, Shishui decided to compete for courtesan queen?”

Guihua nodded. “When she came out of the dark cell, she fell ill, burning with fever all night. Near dawn, she grabbed my hand, crying while saying…”

“Saying what?”

“She said, ‘Guihua, they all wish the Tang family would stink, rot, and decay. I can’t let them have their way. I must live well, live until the day of clear skies and bright moon.'”

These words struck everyone’s hearts hard.

Xie Zhifei even impatiently poked Yan Sanhe’s back again.

Yan Sanhe quickly turned her face. In that fleeting glance, she saw Third Master’s somewhat grave expression.