Rumors circulate among the powerful of the capital: at the Dreamlike Pavilion in the alleys of West Street, you can meet the person you miss so dearly, though death has separated you.
The exact same face, the exact same voice, even the exact same personality.
As long as you can pay, you can get a perfect stand-in for the person in your dreams.
The new top scholar, fresh from the Spring Examination and brimming with poetic talent, writes a hundred poems just to win a faint smile from the young wife who once sewed and mended for him, but died too soon;
The devoted young heir of the Prince's estate offers a thousand taels of gold, wanting only to hear the little maid who died taking a blade for him call him "Young Master" once more;
The invincible Divine Martial General remains devoted to his deceased wife, asking only to see again the newlywed who was captured by the enemy and took her own life at the city gate.
Yu Yinyin: Consider it done!
Yu Yinyin: A friendly reminder: our prices are clearly marked, and we treat everyone fairly. A hundred taels to see their face, double that to hear their voice. Personality customization available, no lingering debts. Scheduling conflict? The highest bidder goes first!
The Dreamlike Pavilion's stand-ins: fulfilling your wistful dreams of youth.
**
Few people know that besides the Dreamlike Pavilion, which deals in stand-ins, the enterprising Yu Yinyin also runs a place called the Human Realm House. It specializes in revenge for devoted women who have been betrayed, used, and abandoned, offering an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
Wives whose in-laws have drained them dry and used up their strength, maids treated as worthless pawns and casually cast aside by their masters, general's wives shot dead by their husbands as bait...
Yu Yinyin: Consider it done.
Yu Yinyin: A friendly reminder: if you wish, you can deliver the final blow yourself.
My upcoming novel, I Am Still Number One Under Heaven Ten Years After My Death, is open for follows. A swordswoman at the peak of martial arts versus an unscrupulous ambitious schemer. If you're interested, please add it to your favorites!
In the battle at Endless Cliff, Yu Guzhou was cast out of her sect. Alone, she fought the entire martial world until she ran out of strength and fell from the cliff.
The beloved genius of the past became a demonic heretic, hated by everyone. The only one who searched beneath the cliff for three months and gathered her remains was her fiance, who had put righteousness above family.
That year, the tumultuous campaign to destroy the demons finally came to an end. Ambitious schemers climbed to thrones of power over the blood and bodies of their fellow disciples. Martyrs were buried in desolate graves, their heroism returned to the dust. The Thousand Mechanisms Ranking, which had gathered all the world's heroes, announced it would close for three editions in tribute to the world's number one, who had fallen too soon.
Years later, Zhuo Shaoyan, now the leader of the righteous sects, went up the mountain to seek medicine.
A friend climbed in through the wall in the middle of the night, full of excitement. "I heard your fiance stabbed you at Endless Cliff back then. How about I put some poison in his medicine?"
Yu Guzhou was polishing her sword and didn't even look up. "I repaid the stab to my left shoulder with three of my own. Every one aimed at a vital point, and he still managed to survive. Hah, what a lucky man."
Her friend was unconvinced. "Then shall we go stab him again now?"
A flash of cold light, and the sword slid back into its sheath.
Yu Guzhou gave a slight nod.
"Fine."
Theme: Sincerity should never be betrayed; false affection earns only falsehood in return.
