Shen Mianmian had to admit that Bai Qingzhou was flawless in appearance.
Even though her personal preference was for rugged, masculine men, every time she saw an ethereal beauty like Bai Qingzhou, she couldn’t help taking a second look.
But there was no way she would ever develop feelings for him.
She constantly reminded herself that she was a transmigrator trapped inside a novel.
The less emotionally invested she became, the better.
Once she got immersed in the story, she would lose.
And if she lost, she would probably lose any chance of returning home.
After all, every transmigration novel followed the same pattern.
The moment the transmigrator fell in love, they either stayed in the ancient world forever or somehow dragged their lover back to the modern era.
Besides, she knew perfectly well that cannon-fodder characters were destined to die.
Protecting herself was already difficult enough.
She didn’t have the ability to save another major cannon-fodder character.
As one half of the novel’s “cannon-fodder dragon-phoenix duo,” the most rational strategy was to stay as far away from Bai Qingzhou as possible.
If necessary, she would even sacrifice him to save herself.
After calming her emotions, Shen Mianmian greeted him coolly.
“This servant greets the Heir.”
“The Heir must not be busy today if he has time to visit me.”
Bai Qingzhou stiffened.
Busy?
When had a useless playboy like him ever been associated with the word “busy”?
Before this, they had spent nearly every day together.
Reading books.
Listening to her stories.
Listening to her strange modern ideas.
After a long pause, he asked softly,
“Are you… angry with me?”
Shen Mianmian blinked.
“Angry about what?”
Hidden within his sleeves, Bai Qingzhou unconsciously rubbed his fingers together.
“I acted too impulsively.”
“I went to Mother and asked her to raise your rank.”
“After Mother drove me out, I heard she summoned you to the main courtyard.”
“You… weren’t severely punished, were you?”
Realization dawned on Shen Mianmian.
“Oh, that.”
Suddenly an idea struck her.
Why not repeat everything she had already told Madam Ding?
If Bai Qingzhou saw that beneath her transcendent appearance was an utterly vulgar soul, perhaps he would finally lose interest.
And if he lost interest, she would be safer.
Clearing her throat, she said,
“Heir, I already told Madam the truth today.”
“Since we’re here, I might as well tell you too.”
As she spoke, her eyes subtly flicked toward a corner of the room.
Hanrong was there.
Shen Mianmian had deliberately left her behind.
She wanted Hanrong to report every detail to Jiang Yinjin.
The hidden message was simple:
If you’re going to take revenge, target the heir.
Leave me out of it.
Bai Qingzhou quietly clenched his hands.
“I’m listening.”
Shen Mianmian then launched into a detailed explanation of the “Yangzhou Courtesan Training Program.”
She described how students were taught according to their talents.
She exaggerated the lessons about psychological manipulation.
She even painted herself as someone who deliberately lured wealthy patrons before revealing her true colors.
The more she spoke, the paler Bai Qingzhou became.
His already porcelain-white complexion seemed almost bloodless.
Even Hanrong, listening from the corner, found it painful to hear.
She felt that Shen Mianmian was describing herself far too harshly.
After serving her for so long—especially after the heir’s wedding—Hanrong had come to view her mistress as intelligent, witty, and free from worldly ambition.
There was nothing vulgar about her.
She couldn’t understand why Shen Mianmian insisted on portraying herself this way.
Finally, Shen Mianmian spread her hands.
“That’s everything.”
“I’m sorry I deceived your feelings.”
“But you can’t throw me out of the estate now.”
“The entire capital knows you’ve taken a courtesan as a concubine.”
“If you drive me out, the Marquis’ reputation will suffer.”
“So just keep me here and feed me.”
“You…”
Bai Qingzhou’s eyes reddened.
Tears gathered in them.
Yet his stubborn pride refused to let them fall.
Even his voice shook.
Hanrong felt miserable watching the scene unfold.
She truly couldn’t understand why Concubine Shen could be so heartless.
Bai Qingzhou tilted his head back, forcing the tears to retreat.
After a great deal of effort, he managed to steady his voice.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Why not keep pretending?”
“I’m just a useless fool.”
“If you’d kept acting, I never would have discovered anything.”
“…”
Shen Mianmian was speechless.
“You…”
Bai Qingzhou started to say something else.
But in the end, he simply turned and ran away.
Hanrong looked anxiously after him.
Then she glanced back at Shen Mianmian.
The woman stood by the table, head lowered, casually playing with a brand-new writing brush.
As though none of this concerned her at all.
Biting her lip, Hanrong finally gathered her courage.
Even at the risk of angering her mistress, she asked,
“Concubine Shen… what are you thinking about?”
Shen Mianmian didn’t answer immediately.
She continued turning the brush in her fingers.
After a long moment, she finally looked up.
“I was wondering whether I should ask the Young Madam to hire a female tutor to teach me calligraphy.”
“Then I decided it would be too troublesome.”
“I’ll just start writing directly.”
She pointed toward the inkstone.
“Do you know how to grind ink?”
Hanrong immediately nodded.
“Yes, Concubine.”
Shen Mianmian set down the brush and rubbed her hands together excitedly.
“Perfect.”
“You grind the ink.”
“I’ll count how many characters are in the Great Compassion Mantra.”
“…”
Hanrong was completely bewildered.
Yet Shen Mianmian truly opened the scripture and began counting each character one by one.
With a sigh, Hanrong started grinding the ink.
A little while later, Shen Mianmian closed the booklet.
“Not bad.”
“There are four hundred and fifteen characters.”
“If I copy it nine hundred and ninety-nine times, that’s four hundred fourteen thousand five hundred eighty-five characters.”
“If I write two thousand characters a day, it’ll take about two hundred seven days.”
“If I push myself and write three thousand a day…”
She paused.
“Nah.”
“What’s the rush?”
“I’m not exactly busy.”
“I’ll take it slow.”
Hanrong stared blankly.
“Concubine…”
“You didn’t even use an abacus.”
“How did you calculate that?”
Without looking up, Shen Mianmian replied casually,
“This is part of the curriculum for courtesans like me.”
“We’re different from those who specialize in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, or dance.”
“We learn all sorts of rare skills that ordinary people never encounter.”
Hanrong immediately understood.
Her eyes filled with admiration.
“There is something this servant has always wanted to say.”
“Please don’t misunderstand.”
“Most people look down on courtesans.”
“But I genuinely admire them.”
“Courtesans possess real skills.”
Shen Mianmian nodded solemnly.
“Of course.”
“Otherwise, why would they be so attractive?”
“‘The sharpness of a sword comes from grinding.'”
“‘The fragrance of plum blossoms comes from enduring winter’s cold.'”
Hanrong’s admiration instantly deepened.
In her eyes, courtesans were now inspirational figures.
Poor girls who survived through relentless study and hard-earned skills.
What could be more admirable than that?
Shen Mianmian pulled over a chair and prepared to start writing.
Just then Hanrong spoke timidly.
“Concubine… this servant… has a request…”
“Denied.”
“…Understood.”
Shen Mianmian didn’t even ask what the request was.
She could already guess.
Hanrong probably wanted to learn these “courtesan skills.”
Absolutely not.
What was she supposed to teach?
Modern mathematics?
Modern education?
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to.
It was that she couldn’t.
As a cannon-fodder character, she was already trying her best to stay invisible.
Jiang Yinjin had died full of hatred in her previous life.
The heroine would never let things go easily.
Hanrong was relatively safe while keeping her distance.
But if she got too close, she might become a target too.
There was no reason to drag more people into the cannon-fodder category.
One dragon and one fledgling phoenix were enough.
No need to recruit additional sacrifices.
With that thought, Shen Mianmian finally began writing.
Rather than copying the scripture immediately, she used the first pass as practice.
Her goal was to familiarize herself with the traditional characters.
Only after that would she begin the actual copying.
She wrote until evening.
Darkness gradually fell.
Hanrong silently lit a lamp.
Then she lit a second one and placed it closer to Shen Mianmian.
She worried her mistress would damage her eyesight.
Even though Shen Mianmian had mercilessly rejected her earlier request, Hanrong felt no resentment.
Instead, she felt strangely sorry for her.
She couldn’t decide what troubled her more:
The fact that she was the Young Madam’s spy while sympathizing with Concubine Shen…
Or the fact that she served Concubine Shen while secretly working for the Young Madam.
An hour later.
After dinner and a brief walk around the courtyard, Shen Mianmian hurried back, eager to officially begin copying the mantra.
She had just picked up her brush when she heard servants outside offering greetings.
The heir had arrived.
Immediately, a headache formed.
Why is he back again?
Wasn’t my self-sabotage convincing enough?
How much worse do I have to make myself look?
The visitor was indeed Bai Qingzhou.
With a sigh, Shen Mianmian set down her brush and went forward to greet him.
“This servant greets the Heir.”
“Have you come to sleep?”
“Sorry, but I can’t accompany you tonight.”
“I need to copy the Great Compassion Mantra for Madam.”
The poor young man’s face instantly turned green with anger.
“Shen Mianmian!”
“Do you have to put it so bluntly?”
Shen Mianmian blinked innocently.
Her bright eyes resembled those of an untainted woodland deer.
“Blunt?”
“Is sleeping together considered blunt?”
“I didn’t say things like ‘making love,’ ‘romantic intimacy,’ ‘shared passion,’ or—”
“Enough!”
Bai Qingzhou pressed a hand to his temple.
His head throbbed from frustration.
“I’m not here for that.”
Shen Mianmian froze.
“Then why are you here?”
Bai Qingzhou looked at the stacks of scripture paper.
Then he answered:
“I’m here…”
“…to help you copy the Great Compassion Mantra.”
Shen Mianmian stared at him.
“What?”