Chapter 438 (2): The Heart Flows Down Like Water
Chen Ping'an's smile faded as he said, "I can let all of our past differences slide, but only if you give me a certain person in exchange."
"That's not going to happen, Mr. Chen, I suggest you forget about it," Liu Zhimao replied with a shake of his head. "She's just a half-human, half-ghost woman from the Vermilion Chord Residence; do you think I would've dared to refuse if Liu Laocheng had tried to abduct her by force that night, or if he had simply asked for her like you did just now?
“He could've easily taken her, and I wouldn't have been able to do anything about it, but he didn’t do that. Have you considered why?"
Chen Ping'an sat in silence across from Liu Zhimao with his hands tucked up their opposite sleeves.
"Not only is she clueless about this secret, even Ma Yuanzhi is completely oblivious, so how did you manage to figure it out?" Liu Zhimao asked in a curious manner.
"I was tipped off by the origins of the name of the Vermilion Chord Residence, and I received further confirmation from the name of a flagon of wine," Chen Ping'an replied.
Liu Zhimao became even more perplexed upon hearing this, and he implored, "Please enlighten me, Mr. Chen."
"Ma Yuanzhi was once an imperial chef, and he's infatuated with Liu Chongrun of Bejeweled Hairpin Island. I've heard his life story from him, and whenever he mentioned the Vermilion Chord Residence, he always seemed very pleased with the name, but wasn't willing to elaborate on why.
“Hence, I paid a visit to Bejeweled Hairpin Island and intentionally brought up the name to Liu Chongrun. She was immediately infuriated, and she was also unwilling to reveal the truth, but she denounced Ma Yuanzhi as a shameless scoundrel.
“After that, I went to Ape Crying Street in Pond Water City under the guise of shopping for ancient scriptures, and I raised some questions to the old shopkeepers of several of the bookshops there, upon which I learned that back in the home nation of Liu Chongrun and Ma Yuanzhi, there was an obscure poem that included the phrase 'Chongrun strums the vermilion chord,' and the mystery was solved.
“Ma Yuanzhi had named his manor the Vermilion Chord Residence as a play on words." [1]