books/role-topology/dr-DRAFT-1afb531162-r2.json

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 "content": "**Chapter 3: Go Play with an Egg, Please**\n\n_Bang, bang-bang. Bang, bang-bang._\n\nThe night watchman making his rounds struck a rhythmic beat on his wooden clapper.\n\nThe sound drifted into the stilted bamboo lodge. Fang Yuan opened his dry, heavy eyelids and thought to himself: “It's the fifth watch.”\n\nHe had lain in bed for a long time last night, planning and scheming, and had only managed a little over two hours of sleep.\n\nThis body had not yet begun cultivation, its energy was not abundant, and so waves of weariness and drowsiness still enveloped his mind and body.\n\nHowever, over five hundred years of experience had long forged Fang Yuan’s will into something as deep and unyielding as steel. This slight desire to sleep was nothing at all.\n\nHe immediately pushed aside the thin silk blanket and rose cleanly without hesitation.\n\nHe opened the window; the spring rain had stopped.\n\nA fresh, damp air mixed with the scent of earth, trees, and wildflowers rushed to meet his face. Fang Yuan instantly felt his mind clear, the last traces of his heavy sleepiness dispelled completely.\n\nAt this moment, the sun had not yet risen, and the sky was a deep blue, caught between darkness and light.\n\nLooking out, the stilted lodges built of green bamboo and timber stood against the mountains, a scene of tranquil, verdant green.\n\nThe stilted lodge had at least two floors, a unique structure for mountain dwellers. Because the terrain was rugged, the first floor consisted of massive wooden stilts, while the second floor was where the people lived.\n\nFang Yuan and his younger brother Fang Zheng lived on the second floor.\n\n“Young Master Fang Yuan, you’re awake. This servant will come up right away to help you wash.” Just then, a young girl’s voice came from below.\n\nFang Yuan looked down and saw his personal maid, Shen Cui.\n\nHer looks were only average, but she dressed well, wearing a green shirt with long sleeves and trousers, embroidered shoes on her feet, and a pearl hairpin in her black hair. She radiated youthful vitality.\n\nShe cast a joyful glance at Fang Yuan, and carrying a basin of water, she clambered up the stairs with a *tread, tread, tread*.\n\nThe water in the basin was warm, used for washing the face. For rinsing the mouth, she used a willow twig dipped in rock salt, which cleaned and whitened the teeth.\n\nShen Cui served him gently, a smile on her face and spring in her eyes. Then she helped Fang Yuan dress and do up his buttons, all the while occasionally brushing her full, plump chest against his arm or back.\n\nFang Yuan’s expression was blank, his heart as still as water.\n\nThis maid was not only an informant for his aunt and uncle but also vain and fickle by nature. In his previous life, she had deceived him. After the Aperture Opening Ceremony, when his status plummeted, she immediately turned her face and gave him more than a few cold stares.\n\nWhen Fang Zheng arrived, he happened to see Shen Cui smoothing out wrinkles on Fang Yuan’s chest. An envious, jealous glint flashed in his eyes.\n\nThese years, he had lived with his elder brother and had been looked after by him; he too had a servant to attend to him. But it wasn’t a young maid like Shen Cui; it was a fat, blobby old woman.\n\n“If only, one day, Shen Cui could serve me like that… what would it feel like?” Fang Zheng thought to himself, half-daring, half-afraid.\n\nThat his aunt and uncle favored Fang Yuan was common knowledge throughout the household.\n\nOriginally, he hadn’t even had a servant; it was Fang Yuan who had requested one for Fang Zheng.\n\nDespite the difference in rank between master and servant, Fang Zheng didn’t dare look down on Shen Cui in his daily life. This was because Shen Cui’s mother was Auntie Shen, the very steward of the entire household, deeply trusted by his aunt and wielding considerable authority.\n\n“Alright, no need to fuss anymore.” Fang Yuan impatiently brushed aside Shen Cui’s soft little hands. His clothes were already neatly arranged; Shen Cui’s attentions were more about seduction.\n\nTo her, his future was bright, and the chance of him having an A-grade aptitude was high. If she could become Fang Yuan’s concubine, she could turn from servant to master, a one-step leap to heaven.\n\nIn his previous life, Fang Yuan had been fooled by her, even growing to like this maidservant. But after rebirth, he saw everything with crystal clarity, his heart as cold as frost.\n\n“You may withdraw.” Fang Yuan didn’t even look at Shen Cui, adjusting his own cuffs.\n\nShen Cui pouted slightly, feeling a mix of strangeness and grievance at his lack of appreciation today. She wanted to say something coquettish, but she was suppressed by Fang Yuan’s faint, indefinable aura. She opened her mouth a few times, and finally only said, “Yes,” and obediently retreated.\n\n“Are you ready?” Fang Yuan looked at Fang Zheng.\n\nHis younger brother stood dumbly at the doorway, head down, staring at his own toes, and let out a soft *uh-huh*.\n\nActually, he had woken up at the fourth watch, too nervous to sleep. He had snuck out of bed and gotten ready early, and now dark circles ringed both his eyes.\n\nFang Yuan nodded. What his brother was thinking, he hadn't known in his past life, but in this one, how could he not understand?\n\nBut pointing it out now was meaningless. He said calmly, “Then let's go.”\n\nSo the two brothers left their dwelling. On the way, they encountered many peers of the same age, in groups of twos and threes, clearly heading for the same destination.\n\n“Look, it's the two Fang brothers.” Whispers came to his ears.\n\n“The one walking in front is that Fang Yuan, the one who wrote the poem.” Someone emphasized.\n\n“So it's him. With that expressionless, look-at-me-I-don't-care attitude, he really is as arrogant as the rumors say.” Someone said sourly, tinged with envy and jealousy.\n\n“Hmph! If you could do what he does, you could be that arrogant too!” Another person replied coldly, hiding a sense of discontent.\n\nFang Zheng listened without any expression; he had long been used to such talk.\n\nHe kept his head down, following behind his brother, walking silently.\n\nAt this moment, dawn light was breaking at the edge of the sky, and Fang Yuan’s shadow fell across his face.\n\nThe morning sun was slowly rising, but Fang Zheng suddenly felt as if he were walking into darkness.",
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