Chapter 194 The odor

　　Shang Xin was a person that liked to pay back grat.i.tude and revenge directly. Just like beating and kicking those prisoners in the dungeon and slapping Shu Yue a moment ago. Only when the other party felt real pain would it give her a sense of happiness. Therefore, she was still a little unhappy with how Shu Huan dealt with Shu Yue.

　　This girl didn't have much deep schemings. Everything was written clearly on her face. When Shu Huan turned her (SH) face and saw that she (SX) had her eyes lowered and her lips pouted, she couldn't help but pull her over and say, "Think, that she had been locked up in the dungeon, no matter if she had endured torture or not, but her reputation would be destroyed."

　　Shang Xin nodded and then looked at those people who were whispering in a distance. She said, "This is inevitable. It wouldn't take long before her vicious reputation would be spread throughout the city!"

　　Because, people as vicious as Shu Yue was very rare. So rare, that it would be spread around as an uncommon story!

　　In this era, the reputation was the most important. Not to mention that the mind of the kind of persons like Shu Yue was very easy to guess. Shu Huan said, "When her reputation is damaged, it will be difficult for her to marry, let alone marry into a rich family. Let her be tormented her whole life for being impoverished, suffer the torture of hunger and be beleaguered. She would never be able to be a cut above others or frown and look coldly at someone. To her, isn't this more painful than death?"

　　After she said that, Shang Xin seemed to have understood. This was like her uncle who was addicted to drinking and gambling. If one didn't let him drink or gamble, it was more painful than taking his life. Such a punishment was better than selling Shu Yue as a slave! Because a slave may be sold to a wealthy and kind family and enjoy good food and wear fine clothes. She could even use her good looks to become a concubine. But, an impoverished person could only work hard all day long and pa.s.s one's days in torment.

　　Shu Huan saw that she had understood, so, she (SH) didn't explain further. In fact, she as someone who had time-traveled with profound experiences, there were truly many ways that she could punish people. She could learn from Ah Zi, peeling off someone's clothes and apply honey on his body. Then, throw him to the ants and let them bite him. Or she could be more b.l.o.o.d.y, by incapacitating Shu Yue and throw her out on the streets to beg. If she wanted to be more cruel, she could learn from Empress Lü's ways when she dealt with concubine Qi…

• Ah Zi: a female character from the novel Demi-G.o.ds and Semi-Devils by Jin Yong (Louis Cha).
• Empress Lü was the empress of the founding emperor of Han dynasty. Empress Lü resented concubine Qi because of the dispute between Qi's son and Lü's son over the succession of the throne. She had Qi stripped of her position, treated like a convict (head shaved, in stocks, dressed in prison garb) and forced to do hard labour in the form of milling rice. She then had Concubine Qi killed in an inhumane manner: she had Qi’s limbs chopped off, eyes gouged out, ears sliced off, forced her to drink a potion that made her mute, and thrown into a latrine. She called Qi a “human swine”.
• Consort/Lady Qi: a consort of Emperor Gaozu, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty.

　　But there was no need for such cruelty. If she did so, she was no different from people like Gu Xuan and Shu Yue. She (SH) still preferred the relatively gentle way to let those sinful people have a taste of their own medicine. Moreover, she didn’t get things into a state where there was no turn around. This kind of mental punishment would come to an end when the person who was punished turned over a new leaf. Just like Shang Xin's uncle, if he had completely quit drinking and gambling, he might be able to start a new chapter in his life.