Chapter 13: A Real-Life Phoenix Man

In the Shangshan Ward of Luoyang, many official government offices were situated, and the nearby residences were occupied exclusively by imperial relatives, high-ranking officials, and the nobility.

Inside the study of the Duke of Zheng’s mansion, the Duke held a thread-bound book, shaking his head and sighing as he read. How times had changed; what noble lady was not surrounded by servants and maids? How could there ever be an opportunity for a secret rendezvous with a young gentleman? This book was nothing but nonsense—likely the figment of some destitute scholar’s imagination.

"My Lord, it is a disaster!" A servant stumbled in, panting heavily.

The Duke frowned; why had the help become so ill-mannered? Just as he was about to reprimand the man, he heard the servant stammer, "The Madam is in a towering rage. She has ordered the Young Miss to kneel in the ancestral hall and has forbidden anyone from bringing her food."

The Duke stood up abruptly, his voice sharp. "What has happened to the Young Miss? Why is she being confined?" He knew his wife valued propriety above all else and adored their youngest daughter; she would not be so angry without a grave cause.

The servant’s eyes darted around evasively. "My Lord, I dare not speak of it. You must go and see for yourself."

Seeing that he would get no answers, the Duke glared at him and strode out the door.

***

"Madam, what great matter has caused you to confine our third daughter?" the Duke asked the moment he entered the room, not waiting to sit down.

He found his wife with red-rimmed eyes, breathing heavily, her hair ornaments disheveled, and her silk shawl cast aside in a heap. She had entirely lost her usual elegant composure.

"What matter? Hah! It is all the doing of your fine daughter and your fine protégé!" She sneered, tossing several letters into the Duke’s face.

The Duke did not have time to be angry before he was captivated by the letters. There were two types: one was ordinary stationery, the kind his household frequently used, and the other was peach-blossom paper, faint with the scent of flowers, clearly the kind used by young women of the inner chambers.

The Duke’s heart skipped a beat, a sense of foreboding washing over him. He hurried to read the letters. They documented the transition of a man and a woman from strangers to acquaintances, and finally to mutual infatuation. By the end, the language grew increasingly explicit. Phrases like "The reeds are lush and green, the white dew turns to frost," and "Master Guan, I only wish that your heart may be as mine," filled the pages.

The Duke had not expected that the story he had dismissed as fake only moments ago would manifest so suddenly in his own home.

***

Both the man and the woman had a flair for prose. If this were not happening in his own house, the Duke might have loudly praised their talent and blessed the couple. Instead, he only wanted to shout profanities. Yet, as a Duke, he could not bring himself to use such crude, rustic language. Finding no words to vent his rage, he could only pant heavily like his wife, struggling to keep his blood pressure from spiking and causing him to faint.

"That scoundrel! A mere bookworm dares to covet my daughter!" the Duke gritted his teeth.

"I told you from the start! Even if you set him up in a separate residence, you thought I was merely looking down on him. Well, look now! I hope you won't look down on him when your daughter marries him!" The Duchess was clearly in a fury, lashing out blindly.

This "Master Guan," known as Guan Yan, was the son of a distant relative of a friend of the Duke. He had come to Luoyang for the provincial examinations. Having moved away, his family lacked connections in the city, and he had turned to the Duke for help. Seeing the young man had some talent, the Duke had taken him in. Who would have thought this wretch would be so bold as to covet his daughter!

"Madam, it is not too late to mend the fence. The priority is to make our daughter change her mind!"

"And does the Duke have any brilliant ideas?" his wife glared at him. A young girl who considered herself deeply in love and willing to defy the world was the most difficult to persuade.

The Duke frowned and pondered, until, in truth, he thought of a way.

***

Xu Chengyue’s life had been quite comfortable lately. After dealing with a contrarian, she spent her days writing drafts and reading letters from readers. It was pure bliss. The only thing that worried her was bathing. She needed to bathe every three days at the very least; any longer and she could not bear it. Thus, money for coal flowed out like water. Not to mention other daily necessities, like toilet paper—she refused to compromise on quality, so she could only watch as her hard-earned money vanished. This gave her even more motivation to write her novels.

Lying on a custom-made rocking chair, reading a letter while sipping tea and inhaling the fragrance of flowers brought by the breeze, she felt perfectly content.

"Oh? This letter..." Xu Chengyue sat up, weighing the stationery in her hand.

"What does the reader say, Miss?" Xia He asked curiously while fanning her.

"These readers usually have such interesting things to say. This letter says the sender has some modest assets, but their young daughter has been deceived by a poor boy from a distant relative’s family. She refuses to marry anyone else. He asks if I have a solution, and if I can resolve it, there will be a generous reward."

"Isn't that just like the story you wrote, Miss?"

"Indeed. They must have asked me precisely because they saw it in my book."

"Are you going to help them, Miss?" Qiu Lu asked, curious upon hearing their conversation.

"Of course! Whether there is a reward doesn't matter; the main thing is that I don't want to see an innocent girl being deceived." Xu Chengyue puffed out her chest, filled with righteousness.

She took out paper and pen, expanding upon the story of Father Chu and Mother Chu from her novel, *The Divine Doctor and the Poisonous Concubine*. She detailed the flowery lies Father Chu used to coax Mother Chu, and how he reacted when faced with the pressure from her father—summarizing all the tactics of a social climber. She did this purely to help the deceived young lady, and certainly not to secure the reward.

***

The Duke of Zheng paced his inner chamber anxiously. Two or three days had passed since he sent the letter, and the author had yet to reply. He was so worried he did not know what to do. He had been desperate and grasped at straws; such a matter could not be made public, and he had no one else to turn to. If handled poorly, his daughter’s life would be ruined!

"My Lord, the letter has arrived!" A servant hurried in and presented it. The Duke had been cautious, using the address of a private villa unknown to others, and had ordered the servant to bring it to him immediately upon arrival.

He snatched the letter from the servant’s hand. It was quite thick, but he ignored that, tearing open the envelope and flipping through it quickly. He found it contained the same content as the book he had read, though much more detailed. The Duke, already in a foul mood, felt his anger spike. Was this brat trying to deceive him?

However, upon reaching the final page, he found the end of the letter detailed exactly how to use this article, what he and his wife needed to do, and how to handle any sudden outbursts. It told the Duke exactly what to do, step by step.

The Duke held the letter, hesitant. Would this really work?

"Hurry up! Are you finished yet?" The Duchess was impatient and snatched the letter away. Though she did not entirely trust the Duke, she had no other options. She unfolded the letter, her eyes growing brighter as she read.

"Husband, this method is feasible."

She knew her daughter best; though she was excessively naive, she was not a fool. All she had to do now was let her daughter see the man’s true face.