Not sure if it was the previous show of loyalty that worked, or if handsome guys just have a special advantage, but right now Emily Grant was truly in high spirits, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him outside: “Hungry? Come on, let’s go to Baihua Courtyard.”

“Hey, you little brat, are you dragging me to a brothel?”

“You think brothels only sell girls and not fine food? Master was right, good-looking men really do have nothing but grass in their heads.”

Is this the male version of ‘big chest, no brains’ in another world? I’ll admit I’m weak in a fight, but for a little illiterate girl who can’t even do basic math to say I’ve got grass for brains… James Carter was both amused and exasperated, but he was also genuinely interested in their business model, so he followed Emily Grant with enthusiasm.

When the two arrived at Baihua Courtyard, they were greeted by Charlotte, who looked at James Carter with a mix of worry and resentment, then bowed her head in greeting: “Young Sect Master, Young Master Xue.”

Looks like this girl still doesn’t know her flirting was broadcast live. Emily Grant didn’t expose her, just smiled and said, “Get us a private room.”

James Carter added, “Preferably one with a good view of the main hall.”

“Huh?” Emily Grant tilted her head and glanced at him. “Are you really preparing to take over the accounting?”

James Carter smiled slightly. “Trust me, I can do far more than just accounting.”

Even if it’s a bathhouse, I could turn it into a paradise on earth, right?

Following Charlotte upstairs to a private room, James Carter’s attention was immediately drawn to the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall.

Ink-wash landscapes, freehand flowers and birds… and some poetry. So these things still exist… but the quality of these poems and paintings is really quite rough. Not sure if the art just developed poorly here, or if Baihua Courtyard’s standards are low.

Looking down at the main hall, the sound of a guqin drifted up gently. James Carter stood by the door, listening intently.

Compared to appreciating calligraphy and painting, music was truly his specialty…

After listening for a while, James Carter was a bit shocked. Not shocked by how bad it was, but by how incredibly good it was! Far superior to those poems and paintings!

Instrumental solos are quite limited, so modern music puts a lot of emphasis on accompaniment and harmony, but the musician downstairs was using just a seven-stringed zither, paired with a sweet and soft singing voice, and managed to create a gentle, enchanting atmosphere, like a spring breeze brushing the heart, tingling and numbing.

This was a high-level combination of composition, performance, and singing, reaching straight to the soul—a level rarely found in the modern world.

The cultural foundation may be abysmal, but they’re masters of singing, dancing, and music. This isn’t just like a girl group—it IS a girl group, and a super talented one at that!

Chapter 9: What a Transmigrator Should Do

James Carter turned to ask Emily Grant, “Didn’t you say that everything except strength is just a side branch? How is the music here so advanced?”

Emily Grant replied lazily, “Because sound is also a part of martial arts, and our sect happens to be very good at it. What you’re hearing actually already has a touch of our sect’s charm technique mixed in, which is why it feels like it reaches your soul. If she stopped using her skills, the level would be just average.”

“Uh…” James Carter finally understood. Anyway, anything useful for martial arts—like clothing and performing arts—becomes part of their charm techniques, so those areas develop a lot. But things useless for martial arts, like calligraphy and poetry, are just hobbies and develop weakly.

It’s not just their Xingyue Sect that’s like this, but the whole world.

Emily Grant pointed to her own nose: “If you’re really interested in music, I’m actually a top expert—one of the best in the world. And here you are, eager to listen to a courtesan sing. Really, your head is full of grass.”

You’ve never performed for me… How about playing the flute in a bamboo grove sometime? James Carter couldn’t be bothered to bicker with a kid, so he just asked directly, “Compared to the music, the lyrics just now were unbearably tacky. Stuff like ‘My lord hasn’t come for so long, my heart is anxious and restless’—could they be any dumber? No matter how good the tune is, it ruins the mood! Do the customers really buy it?”

“You think the customers are that literate? Even if the girls sing flowery, passionate lyrics, what’s the point if the customers can’t understand them?” Emily Grant looked at him strangely. “Isn’t that how most things are? Like when you write a martial arts manual, it’s for your own legacy, so the clearer the better. Unless you’re trying to trick people, if you write it all cryptic and someone practices it wrong, you’re just cutting off your own legacy, right?”

So you’re saying Huang Shang was an idiot? Daoist jargon can be blamed on Mei Chaofeng being uneducated, but why was the main manual in Sanskrit… what was he thinking… James Carter realized he’d actually been brainwashed by Emily Grant’s words, and started to wonder if Huang Shang really was a bit dumb… It took him a while to snap out of it, and he twitched his mouth: “What you’re saying… But I’ve seen how prosperous the capital is—people can’t be that uneducated, can they? They can’t even understand a song?”