Hengjiang County, an inconspicuous small county town in Great Yan.
Joyful Appreciation House
The courtesan accompanying the Young Master saw his absent-minded expression, so she parted her red lips and said, “Young Master, is something troubling you? Perhaps Madam can help you alleviate your boredom if you tell me. Don’t bear it all alone; it’s easy to harm your body!”
The young Young Master chuckled self-deprecatingly, “What could be troubling this Young Master? I have no worries about food or clothing! If you say this Young Master is unhappy, then are you happy?”
The courtesan gave an awkward smile. This Jiang Gongzi had visited many times before, and he used to be very impatient.
This time, not only was he not impatient, but he also uncharacteristically asked to listen to small tunes and played this kind of tune like those poor scholars.
However, the courtesan didn't think much of it; as long as there was money to be made, that was all that mattered. Moreover, although this young Young Master in front of her looked fifteen or sixteen, his family was a prominent figure in Hengjiang County!
Seeing the courtesan just smiling and pouring him wine, the young man felt a bit dispirited.
Ever since coming to this world, Jiang Heng had felt somewhat out of place. There was no air conditioning, no games, only a family of beautiful maidservants and personal maids.
But Jiang Heng knew this wasn't the life he wanted.
It had been almost a week since he arrived in this world, and he had gradually learned about the area where this body resided. It was a relatively remote small county town in Great Yan.
Great Yan had enjoyed peace for over seven hundred years, and he heard there were a few other countries nearby. However, Jiang Heng didn't care about any of that. The first thing he did after his Rebirth was to carefully inquire about any differences in this world.
Unfortunately, there seemed to be no Cultivators in this world, and even Immortal legends were few and far between. Let alone seeking Immortals and the Dao, or pursuing the idea of 'my fate is up to me, not up to heaven.'
Alas! Novels misled me; they are all just nonsense.
This world was more like a combination of the Ming and Song dynasties from Jiang Heng's previous life, emphasizing literature over military might, and everything around him looked no different from ancient China.
“Alas, it seems there’s no extraordinary Cultivation system in this world!” Jiang Heng sighed inwardly.
Just then, Lai Fu, who had been standing by, quietly reminded him, “Young Master, the Master is probably coming back soon.”
“Hmm,” Jiang Heng nodded somewhat dejectedly, waved his hand, “Lai Fu, give them the reward money. We’re going back.”
Lai Fu quickly took a piece of silver from his sleeve, placed it on the table, and followed his Young Master out.
Lai Fu was Jiang Heng’s attendant, twenty-three or twenty-four years old, but he had a pointed mouth and a monkey-like face, and a fawning expression, the epitome of a lackey.
Seeing the reward silver, the courtesan no longer pestered him. She quickly collected the silver and happily saw the esteemed guest out.
Outside the Joyful Appreciation House, a carriage was waiting. Once inside the carriage, a pair of soft, boneless hands were holding an exquisite fruit plate, peeling fruit, and feeding the pulp to Jiang Heng.
“Young Master, today the Master is returning to the manor, so you mustn’t play too late,” said Xiao Rou, the personal maid, in a soft voice.
The personal maid Xiao Rou was only fourteen years old, but she was already very delicate and pretty. She wasn't tall, but even in her relatively loose maid uniform, her graceful figure was evident.
“Hmm.” Jiang Heng nodded slightly, eating the fruit, leisurely reclining on the soft cushion in the carriage. In his heart, he sighed.
Too decadent!
This is not the life I want!
The carriage moved quietly, but after about a few cups of tea, it stopped.
Xiao Rou was about to ask when Lai Fu’s voice came from outside, “Young Master, there’s a funeral procession ahead, blocking the road! Alas, how unlucky!”
Xiao Rou, beside him, frowned slightly, displeased, “Why is there another funeral? When we return to the manor, Xiao Rou will boil water for Young Master to wash away the bad luck!”
Jiang Heng remained silent, merely lifting the curtain to look outside.
Sure enough, there was a funeral procession ahead, presumably heading outside the city to bury the deceased.
This was already the eighth time this week he had encountered such a situation.
“Are too many people dying in the city?”
He was very puzzled. It wasn't a time of war and chaos, nor was it a time of widespread plague. Eight incidents in one week seemed very strange.
“Alas! Unlucky, another death. I think if this continues, Old Wang's coffin shop in the east of the city is going to make a fortune!”
Outside the carriage, pedestrians were discussing among themselves.
“Isn’t that right? I heard that Liu Erlang died quite mysteriously!”
“Didn’t they say Liu Erlang went to collect debts outside the city, suddenly fell gravely ill, and died suddenly?”
“Hehe, you believe that? When Liu Erlang was carried back, his body was already stinking. Tell me, how could there be a corpse smell after only one day of death?”
“You mean?”
“It’s something unclean! Ghost!”
“At least Liu Erlang had a complete corpse. It’s said that it’s not peaceful outside the city now.”
“Indeed, I heard…” The person in the crowd suddenly lowered his voice and whispered, “I heard that some time ago, a pair of merchants stayed overnight at Zhao Family Village outside the city, but the next day, not a single one was alive, and their bodies were all in pieces.
Not only that, but the worker staying next door didn’t hear any unusual movements all night. Don’t you think this is strange?”
“Haha, Old Man Wang, aren’t you just a storyteller? You’re not making up stories to scare us, are you?” Someone recognized the person’s identity and burst out laughing.
Jiang Heng was not too far away, so he vaguely heard some of it. Hearing this, he put down the curtain and shook his head repeatedly.
Ghost?
Jiang Heng wouldn’t believe a single word of it. It had been a week since his Rebirth, and he hadn’t even seen a ghost’s shadow. It was simply an ordinary parallel ancient world.
It was just rumor-mongering.
After coming to this world, Jiang Heng had thought of many things, especially after realizing there were no extraordinary systems, his thoughts became much calmer.
He had thought about studying to achieve official titles.
The status of literati in this world was still very high. The classic saying, 'All other professions are Low Grade, only studying is high,' was also very popular in this world.
Jiang Heng had also thought about achieving official titles and then living a rich and extravagant life. Unfortunately, after his Rebirth, he knew that he already possessed all of these from the start.
He had also thought about building airplanes and cannons in this world, but unfortunately, he had mostly forgotten his physics, chemistry, and mathematics.
This was the sorrow of a poor student!
So Jiang Heng had degenerated. Wasn’t a life of no worries about food and clothing, where food was brought to his mouth, wonderful?
“Young Master! The road is blocked. I saw a calligrapher and painter nearby. I know Young Master likes these, so I specially bought this for you!”
Just then, the fawning voice of the lackey Lai Fu sounded from outside the carriage door.
“Bring it in!”
Immediately after, a painting was handed to Jiang Heng.
Collecting antiques, calligraphy, and paintings was a habit from when he first underwent Rebirth, possibly influenced by some antique from his previous life selling for hundreds of millions.
Later, he found out that his antiques weren't worth much in ancient times. So he gradually lost interest.
He took the painting and quickly scanned it. The scroll's patina looked very old, as if it truly had some years on it.
When he unrolled it, it was a painting of plum blossoms in a snowy landscape.
Eh! ~
With just that one glance, Jiang Heng couldn't take his eyes off it.
It wasn’t because the painting was exceptionally brilliant, but because the moment he saw the scroll, Jiang Heng felt an invisible warm current surge from his eyes.
Finally, this warm current converged in his abdomen, about an inch and a half below his navel, which was where his Dantian was located.
This warm current swirled in his abdomen for a while, as if it had been absorbed.
Jiang Heng only felt a warm sensation in his abdomen.
Is this the Golden Finger?!
Jiang Heng pondered slightly.
