Volume One: The Youngest Among Three Hundred Chapter 103: The Strange Woman
“He... he’s not dead?”
“No... not only is he not dead, he’s become so handsome!”
“Also... also... he’s going to fight Yuan Yunfei, oh my god, he’s really going to fight Yuan Yunfei!”
Zhu Jiawen stood dumbfounded in the inner hall, his mind buzzing. The education he had received since childhood, along with the Confucian classics he had studied, forbade him from understanding, let alone accepting, such a supernatural phenomenon witnessed with his own eyes.
A person who dies... cannot come back to life...
In the courtyard, the second great-uncle, who had been lecturing Su Qingtang and Qin Fuluo in a senior manner to curry favor with Yuan Yunfei, was the first to notice the spirited young man who had risen from the dead. He was so frightened he almost bit off his own tongue.
Next was the third aunt-in-law. When the moving image of Chen Changan appeared before her eyes, she let out a scream and immediately collapsed.
Qin Fuluo, Su Qingtang, and Su Wanqing noticed their reactions and instinctively turned around. First, their eyes widened; then their mouths gaped open; their breathing halted; and finally, in unison, their trembling voices whispered, “Re... resurrected corpse?”
Yuan Yunfei’s face instantly turned pale, as if all the blood had been drained from his body, leaving him cold and lifeless. Stammering, he muttered, “Resurrected corpse, quick... quick, resurrected corpse!”
“Pfft!”
Chen Changan moved forward, grabbed him by the collar, and with a deliberately eerie voice said, “I heard you want to marry my wife?”
“I... I...” Yuan Yunfei, suspended in midair on one leg, hopped around wildly, his pores twitching violently. “No... I didn’t!”
A foul-smelling yellow liquid trickled from his trouser leg, dripping onto the ground, soaking a large patch.
“This... resurrected corpse... I... I didn’t marry her...”
“I...”
“Put me down! My father is the General Protecting the Nation! Put me down at once, do you hear me?”
“Oh!”
Chen Changan ignored him and flicked his right arm gracefully. With a loud bang, Yuan Yunfei fell to the ground with a miserable crash, stirring up a cloud of dust and knocking over the freshly stewed radish dish on the table.
“Ah, ouch!”
“Ouch!”
Yuan Yunfei wailed continuously, struggling to get up and limping painfully toward the door. He glanced back, relieved to see the “resurrected corpse” Chen Changan wasn’t chasing him, but just as he prepared to continue hobbling away with his cane, Su Dingfeng’s furious face appeared in his line of sight.
“You...”
“Ah!” Yuan Yunfei screamed.
The white-clad sword hero made no pretense, grabbing his ear roughly and sneering, “Kid, I heard you spread rumors that I’m pimping out my old mother pig!”
“I... I didn’t...”
“Ah!”
“Smack!”
“Smack!”
Before Yuan Yunfei could protest, Su Dingfeng delivered several harsh slaps to his face, leaving him dazed, stars flashing before his eyes, and burning with pain.
Seeing the scene, Su Qingtang couldn’t help but worry—after all, the man had a strong background—so she tiptoed carefully around Chen Changan and approached to intervene gently, “Dingfeng, don’t act rashly, he is...”
“I know, he’s the son of General Yuan, right!” Su Dingfeng replied nonchalantly, then slapped him again, watching as two bloody red teeth flew out before finally stopping and scolding, “Get lost!”
“I...”
Yuan Yunfei, extremely unwilling, straightened his neck defiantly. After a mere 0.0001 seconds of eye contact, his spirit collapsed: “Fine!”
He picked up his cane and left in embarrassment. Besides his resentment and vow for revenge, he was puzzled, questioning himself with a heavy heart: “Could it be that my identity as the son of the General Protecting the Nation is fake? Why are they not afraid and even dare to lay hands on me?”
“Are all the second-generation officials in Chang’an City this miserable...?”
At the doorway, Su Qingtang, truly helpless in the face of her eldest son’s lawless behavior backed by the Bashan Sword Sect, sighed and bowed her head.
***
Suddenly recalling something, she shivered and pointed into the courtyard, “Yes! Yes! Dingfeng, quick, Chen Changan has risen from the dead!”
She knew having her son handle this matter was most fitting, given his expertise.
Su Dingfeng quickly glanced at Chen Changan in the courtyard. Fingering a yellow talisman from his sleeve, he flashed forward, shouting “Zhao!” His arm shot out like the wind as he pressed his hand into a sword shape, aiming directly at Chen Changan’s brow.
The yellow talisman stuck precisely onto the resurrected corpse’s forehead.
Chen Changan was utterly speechless, his facial muscles twitching uncontrollably.
Su Dingfeng observed keenly and clicked his tongue, “How is he still moving? My Bashan Sword Sect’s corpse suppression talisman is useless?”
“Swish!”
Muttering, he produced another talisman and placed it over the first, doubling the suppression effect.
Chen Changan’s facial muscles twitched even more violently.
Su Dingfeng: “...”
Chen Changan: “...”
Su Dingfeng: “...”
Chen Changan: “...”
“No, wait!”
The young and handsome brother-in-law suddenly realized something. Grabbing Chen Changan’s hand and sensing for a while, he burst into laughter and exclaimed excitedly, “He’s not dead, he’s not dead...”
Uh... such a fuss was clearly the reaction of a mortal ignorant of the truth. He promptly corrected his expression, stood tall, hands behind his back, and declared firmly, “He! Is! Not! Dead!”
“Not dead?”
Su Wanqing and Qin Fuluo, who had been trembling with fear and imagining scenes of their brother or son having their neck bitten to drain blood, heard the professional confirmation and immediately transformed their fear into astonishment, then joy.
“Really! Look, there’s a shadow! This is wonderful, wonderful, actually coming back to life!” Qin Fuluo danced about happily.
“Creak!”
The side door opened, and Su Wanqiu, hearing the commotion, stood quietly in the doorway, her face full of joy as she looked at Chen Changan, speaking excitedly, “You’re not dead!”
The next moment, attracted by the newly refreshed and fair-skinned appearance of Chen Changan, nurtured by the Fragrant Courtyard and Peach Blossom, her heart exclaimed, How handsome! She was dazed and lost in thought.
After about half a minute, she finally came to her senses, awkwardly lowered her head, and muttered, “Good... good that you’re not dead!”
With that, she turned and went back inside.
Su Qingtang instinctively wanted to respond similarly for the sake of her wife, but realizing the family was present, she assumed the steadiness and maturity befitting the head of the household and announced loudly, “Everyone, I am very pleased that my son-in-law has come back to life. As for the funeral, it was all a complete misunderstanding!”
“Let’s disperse, thank you all for your trouble!”
Especially looking toward the second great-uncle and third aunt-in-law, she said, “Thank you both for stepping forward. There’s no need to hold the funeral now. You may leave!”
Finally, surveying the surroundings with a commanding tone, she ordered, “Someone, tear down all these white cloth strips and things. They bring bad luck!”
Several servants responded promptly and busied themselves.
Zhu Jiawen, looking dazed and foolish, stepped out of the hall, staring at Chen Changan for some unknown reason, tears streaming down his face silently.
Su Wanqing, who loved her husband dearly, pulled him into a corner and whispered, “Why are you crying?”
Wiping his tears fiercely, Zhu Jiawen narrated, “Just now, inside, as I was burning incense paper, I prayed to my brother-in-law’s spirit in heaven to bless me to pass the imperial examination this year. Right after that, he woke up!”
“People who die cannot come back to life. My brother-in-law would rather be resurrected than bless me. Wanqing, tell me, is there no hope for me to pass the exams in this life?”
Su Wanqing: “...”
After tidying up and disposing of all the funeral decorations, the Su family compound returned to its usual atmosphere. Qin Fuluo excitedly pulled along a similarly joyful Su Wanqing and a rather pensive Su Wanqiu, who was supposed to be the “wife,” preparing a big table of dishes to celebrate.
During this, the family, out of meticulous concern, couldn’t help but ask why the resurrection occurred, especially Su Dingfeng, whose eyes burned brightly from within.
As for Chen himself, naturally, he did not reveal the truth that after sleeping with Peach Blossom in the Fragrant Courtyard, he felt as if he had been reborn. Instead, he feigned ignorance and gave vague answers.
Fortunately, the event was so supernatural that a few vague words sufficed. The family did not press for details but rather concluded he was simply lucky and favored by fate.
***
Su Dingfeng sat across the table, staring at Chen Changan with eyes as deep and dark as a pit.
Chen spat out a bone fragment from his mouth, tightened his collar, and asked curiously, “Brother-in-law, why are you staring at me like that?”
Su Dingfeng chuckled, “Something seems off, but when I look closely, I can’t figure out what!”
“That means there’s nothing wrong!” Chen Changan shot back decisively.
Qin Fuluo propped her chin on her hand, gently shaking her head with a radiant smile, “Who says there’s nothing? You’ve become much more handsome than before!”
Judging by her expression, demeanor, posture, and tone, anyone unaware she was Chen Changan’s mother-in-law might have thought she was lovestruck!
After dinner, the family, exhausted physically and mentally, went to their rooms to sleep. Chen Changan sat alone on the steps outside the main hall, deep in thought. A moment ago, he had slowly awakened in the Fragrant Courtyard, completely naked...
According to Peach Blossom’s explanation, because the Fragrant Courtyard’s record was burned to ashes, triggering a passive effect, it sent him there. When a person dies, their soul leaves the body. To be reborn, one must transition into a new medium.
And to make the transition, there was only one method, euphemistically called: the bridal chamber!
“Who would have thought that when I was with the first courtesan of the Fragrant Courtyard, I was actually dead? I didn’t feel anything at all. Sister Peach Blossom, isn’t this somewhat taking advantage of the situation?”
“No, I need to recover for a while before going again. I want to take the initiative!”
As he spoke, he opened the record of the Fragrant Courtyard, which had been burned to ashes and then restored. It had two pages of content. The first page:
Peach Blossom’s current favorability: 100%!
Alleviation of Peach Blossom’s loneliness: 93.7%!
Gifts obtained: Flying Sword Immortal-Slaying Talisman; Heart-Protection Mirror; Sheepskin Fragment!
Possessed Courtesan Secret Techniques: Peach Blossom’s Seduction; Flower Divination; Soul Retrieval; Herbal Compendium.
Current maximum stay in Fragrant Courtyard: 108 hours!
Except for the first two items, the rest remained unchanged. Hmm, reaching 100% favorability indicates that cunning flattery is not the right way to win a lady’s heart; only life-and-death moments can reveal the truest emotions.
However, the alleviation of loneliness was still shy of 100%, which was surprising. Perhaps the joy of interaction could never be fully satisfied unilaterally.
The second page:
Youwei’s current favorability: -6.9%!
Alleviation of Youwei’s loneliness: 2.3%!
Gifts obtained: None!
Possessed Courtesan Secret Techniques: None!
Current maximum stay in Fragrant Courtyard: 108 hours!
Hah... the little courtesan on the second floor is really something. He clearly remembered the favorability was -2.3 last time, and now it has plummeted to -6.9. He hadn’t even met her, yet her dissatisfaction was growing. Why? Maybe she was spying outside when he was in the bridal chamber with Peach Blossom last night and felt disappointed in him?
“Big sister, I’m dead already, what else do you want?”
“But Youwei’s alleviation of loneliness is rising. I’m 6/9 with Peach Blossom, not with you. Strange woman!”
Muttering a few complaints, Chen Changan closed the book, pinched his brow, and exhaled deeply.
“Ah, it feels great not to be dead!”
“Bang!”
Just as he finished speaking, the corpulent Wu Yuanheng burst through the Su family gate with a muffled noise, looking around anxiously at the empty courtyard, shouting, “Why wasn’t a funeral held? Chen Changan, has he already been buried?”
“Quick, dig him up! I want to save him!”
Chen Changan: “...”