Chen Nan’s scalp tingled.
She could even smell the rouge on Madam Wu Ning?
Did this girl have a dog’s nose?
Before Chen Nan could explain,
Song Ziwei’s eyes welled up with tears of grievance. “Young Master, you’ve gone too far. How could you go to pleasure quarters? If Madam knows, how will you explain yourself?”
“Aren’t you afraid she’ll be angry?”
“You are the young master of the Chen family.”
“The son-in-law of the Leng family!”
“There are some things you cannot do.”
“Yes, I know writing is difficult for you.”
“But you have me!”
“It’s not like I’m unwilling to cooperate with you.”
“But why did you spend money to visit pleasure quarters?”
“The women in brothels are not clean. Aren’t you afraid of getting sick?”
“Also.”
“You didn’t even let me cooperate with you when you went to brothels. Do you think I’m worse than those women of the night?”
The more she spoke, the more wronged she felt.
She looked so pathetic, so heart-wrenching.
Chen Nan found it incredible. “Just because I smell of women’s rouge, you conclude I went to a brothel? What is in your head? Can’t you have some basic trust in your young master?”
Song Ziwei sobbed, “You didn’t go to a brothel to find women?”
Chen Nan swore with all his might, “I swear to the heavens, if I went to a brothel to find women, may lightning strike me and may I die a horrible death!”
Song Ziwei: “But where did the rouge smell on you come from?”
Chen Nan sighed. “I won’t hide it from you. I intended to buy you a bottle of rouge as a gift. After all, girls love makeup, and your young master is earning money now.”
“So I picked one at the rouge shop.”
“But it fell out of my pocket on the way back and I accidentally broke it.”
“And then it got on my clothes.”
“I was planning to buy you another bottle tomorrow to give you a surprise.”
“Instead, you questioned my character.”
“Alas!”
“Young Master is truly too disappointed!”
Song Ziwei hadn’t expected that. She acted like a child who had done something wrong and pouted, “Young Master, I was wrong. Can you forgive me just this once?”
Chen Nan’s face was stern. “Only this once, and never again!”
Song Ziwei nodded excitedly, wiped her tears, and hummed as she left.
Chen Nan breathed a sigh of relief, as if a great burden had been lifted.
Fortunately, his reaction was quick.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to explain the rouge smell.
Just then.
A wave of intense pain surged through him.
After all, water at around seventy degrees Celsius was quite hot.
Not to mention, he was sitting entirely in the wooden tub.
But.
Chen Nan’s willpower was exceptionally strong.
His tolerance for pain was far beyond that of ordinary people.
All of this stemmed from his experiences in the mortal world.
He sat cross-legged in the wooden tub.
He silently recited the Yin Absorption Technique, absorbing the medicinal effects from the tub.
Gritting his teeth, he didn’t let out a single sound.
The medicinal effects in the tub were entering his body through every pore, cleansing his physique.
Tempering his bones and roots.
And this was destined to be a very long process.
After the medicinal bath in the wooden tub completely cooled down.
Chen Nan slowly opened his eyes.
Disappointment flickered in his eyes.
“Even after soaking in the medicinal bath, the original host’s body was too weak.”
“To completely transform, it will require at least a hundred soakings.”
Calculating this.
It would cost at least ten thousand taels of silver.
Chen Nan was not discouraged.
He had already made up his mind.
Starting tomorrow, he would increase the dosage of the medicinal herbs.
His willpower was strong, and he didn’t fear pain.
As for making money.
Bai Yu’s book would at least have six volumes.
Each subsequent book would be priced higher.
He wouldn’t have to worry about money at all.
He used the shortest possible time to finish the remaining stories by Teacher Bai.
Then came the medicinal bath.
As the dosage increased, the pain he felt became more intense.
After the medicinal bath, his muscles felt as if they were strained.
However.
This was a good thing.
Because he could clearly feel that his body was much stronger than before.
The host’s previous body was very frail.
He could barely lift a bucket of water.
In this regard, he was even weaker than Song Ziwei.
But after soaking in the medicinal bath for these few days, he could now lift two buckets of water simultaneously for fifteen minutes.
And he didn’t even flush or gasp for breath.
Regarding this result.
Chen Nan was quite satisfied. “As long as my bones and muscles improve, I can practice the Yin Absorption Technique and become a cultivator in the underworld.”
“Then I will become a Yin Messenger, enter the eighteen levels of hell, find Empress Houtu, and return the realms of the living and the beasts to her.”
“With her abilities, she can then erase the memories of past lives of those reborn in the mortal world.”
“Restore the balance of yin and yang, and prevent the annihilation of the three realms.”
On the fifth day.
Chen Nan brought the drafts of the third and fourth volumes to Wu’s Printing House.
Compared to the deserted scene a while ago.
Now, many people were gathered in front of the bookstall outside Wu’s Printing House.
He entered through the back door.
And found Madam Wu Ning.
Madam Wu Ning was currently settling accounts with a silver-haired elder over sixty years old.
Seeing Chen Nan arrive, Madam Wu Ning warmly invited him to sit down and ordered tea to be prepared.
Chen Nan asked, “How have the sales been recently?”
Madam Wu Ning said excitedly, “Our printing house has been working overtime recently, printing fifteen thousand books. They have all been sold out now.”
Within these five days.
Teacher Bai’s book had exploded.
The price of two taels of silver was not expensive, let alone the content of two other novels.
The story was also very interesting.
It left people with endless aftertastes.
Unable to extricate themselves.
And, after reading it once, people wanted to read it a second time.
Just as Chen Nan had said before, readers’ imaginations were boundless.
Even on the second read, they had different feelings.
Chen Nan said, “Continue printing the first volume, but the second volume should also be put on the agenda.”
Madam Wu Ning nodded. “You’ve come at the right time. I just had someone exchange for silver notes. We can settle the accounts!” She then added, “This is Uncle Yan, he is my Wu family’s steward. You two can discuss the account settlement.”
Hearing this.
Chen Nan couldn’t help but frown.
Before, it was between him and Madam Wu Ning.
Now an outsider had appeared.
Could it be that the Wu family was already guarding against Madam Wu Ning?
He felt a pang of sympathy for Madam Wu Ning.
She had worked tirelessly for the development of the Wu family.
Yet now, her husband was not even dead, and the Wu family was already guarding against her.
It could be imagined that after her husband’s death, her situation would be dire.
If he had known this would happen.
He should have negotiated a three-seven split in the contract.
Uncle Yan said politely, “Young Master Chen, the books sold this time generated thirty thousand taels of silver.”
“According to the contract, you are entitled to eighteen thousand taels. Here are eighteen thousand taels in silver notes. Please check them.”
Chen Nan took the silver notes and began to count them.
After confirming the silver notes were correct, he directly put them into his embrace.
Eighteen thousand taels of silver notes!
Splendid!
Just then.
A group of yamen runners carrying long swords entered in an orderly fashion.
The person at the head had a cold expression. “We received a report that you are selling prohibited books and have gained a large amount of illegal income. Please hand over the illicit funds and accompany us back for investigation!”
Chen Nan’s eyes widened. “Which eye of yours saw us selling prohibited books?”