Fuzhu's Ballad

3

Chapter 3 Makeover

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The old man held up a candle to scrutinize Lan Dan’s face, occasionally using a blunt silver pin to lightly poke at certain acupoints on her face, asking if it hurt.

Lan Dan shook her head.

The old man’s brows creased with unsatisfaction. “This will do for now. It will take more time before you can control your facial expressions.”

Lan Dan couldn’t care less. These days she was dazed and disoriented. Wrapped in layers of gauze, naturally her face was expressionless all day long but she didn’t find anything wrong with this. After listening to the old man’s words, she tried to frown. The corners of her mouth almost didn’t budge. She was not even curious about her current appearance, let alone worried about whether she could make expressions.

“You can go see him now.” The old man put down the candle holder and added tiredly, “I can leave now, too.”

There was no change in the old man’s attitude towards her. He still despised and loathed her. Lan Dan didn’t mind. On the contrary, she felt at ease. At least, he was consistently honest.

“Anyway, thank you.” She felt that she should at least thank him. This was the only words she uttered these days.

The old man twisted his lips resentfully. “Don’t be so eager to thank me. I’m afraid you may want to tear me apart in the future.”

Lan Dan smiled softly, just a very faint smile that didn’t even move the corners of her mouth. She shook her head. She understood that he was just acting on someone else’s orders, but regardless of his personal feelings, she respected his loyalty to his duty.

Also, she was a little worried about him. He was only responsible for altering her appearance. As far as the whole conspiracy was concerned, he was just an outsider, just like she had been back then. She hoped… that he could safely leave.

After a short silence, the old man said coldly, “I hope you will survive this ordeal and be reborn as a human being. A smarter one at that!”

Lan Dan wanted to laugh, but her condition didn’t allow her. The old man’s words were as precise and fierce as his silver needle.

She was indeed reborn as a human being, but she didn’t even have the qualifications to drink Granny Meng’s soup. Many of the things she wanted to forget were becoming more and more persistent these days.

On a soft and warm autumn afternoon, the sunlight shone through the window of the small hall, and Shentu Cheng stood in the pattern of light and shadows, holding her hand. She looked up at him, and his long, curled eyelashes were golden in the sunlight, while his deep pupils were dark and bottomless under the shadow of his eyelashes.

“Danyang.” He lifted his hand to caress her temples. “I like you so much. I want to spend my whole life with you. This is the only way.”

Princess Danyang of Yuehua Palace only heard the first part of this declaration, but the nameless fugitive in the mass grave looked back and realized that Shentu Cheng only meant the last sentence. This is the only way.

Shouldn’t she be smarter now?

It was only now that she could tell which of his words were true and which were false.

“He will come and pick you up tonight,” the old man said with a meaningful sigh.

Lan Dan heard it and understood.

In this world, there was no such thing as free lunch. If someone was willing to risk their life to save her, could they also take her away to enjoy a comfortable life? She just couldn’t figure out what she had that was worth this person’s effort.