Chapter 26: The Quarrel

  The fifth prince stared at Zhen Wan with a dazed and drunken expression, swallowing a mouthful of saliva. "Sixth brother, who do you plan to give this girl to?" It was common knowledge that the sixth prince was promiscuous, and no matter how beautiful a woman was, she would not stay in his bed for long.

  The sixth prince's calm and collected eyes suddenly turned murky, his smile turning wild and evil. "Not yet, if Fifth Brother doesn't mind waiting, let's line up first."

  Among the many palaces that have emerged today, the third prince has already become a father, and the fifth prince has also married a formal wife. However, this does not prevent them from having more beauties. The tradition of male chauvinism in the prosperous Da Rong Dynasty has been going on for too long, and the men of the noble families have made it a fashion to compete with each other for beautiful women. At home, having many wives is a symbol of status. When traveling, being accompanied by beauties who are talented and beautiful represents how much face one has, how heavy one's status is, and how high one's ability is.

  Along with such social atmosphere, the women in the back house mainly have three types. One is a virtuous wife and mother type of lady who is the first choice for the legitimate wives of famous families' sons. One has artistic talents and special temperament small family jade, who has the opportunity to become a concubine. One is a beautiful but poorly born poor woman, once being favored by someone, as a beauty companion accompanying in and out, grasping the chance to give birth to children to gain long-term care, getting rid of the difficulties since birth.

  There is another type of woman in the Great Honor Dynasty, who inherits strong blood, understands the Book of Changes, and masters the art of controlling others' fortunes. They are tightly watched by the highest royal nobles and cannot freely marry ordinary people, yet they are infinitely yearned for by ordinary people to be taken home as wives. Both good and evil men want to seize them, not for anything else, but for their abilities. Unlike male practitioners, female practitioners are easily controlled by their husbands and can be used endlessly.

  Zhen Wan was the third, poor and beautiful, yearning for a good material life. She was originally a farmer's daughter, often following her mother to sell vegetables in Yangcheng, so she heard rumors about Li Leng An. The two young nuns in Li Leng An often played with the young masters who came out to travel, and after the master of the temple died, they ran away secretly, and it was said that they had become concubines of large households. But those men who played with them still didn't know, and continued to sneak into the temple at night to look for them. Although she was born poor, her thoughts were quick-witted, and she realized that this was a good opportunity for her to climb high, so she pretended to be a nun in the temple. After pretending for more than ten days, tonight finally arrived, and what made her even more ecstatic was that the other party turned out to be from the royal family. She not only didn't avoid them like Nan Yue Lan did, but also felt that she had great luck and a good opportunity, and she must seize every moment, making these men infatuated with her.

  She is beautiful, she knows it, so she has long since honed her skills to show off in front of the proud sons of heaven, completely getting rid of the petty appearance of a poor family's daughter. At this time, with every glance flowing and sending charm to every corner, yet forcing people to turn their faces away.

  Zhen Wan's eyes widened in surprise, her face flushing with a mixture of shyness and curiosity as she gazed at the man covering himself, blinking innocently. "Is Your Highness angry?"

  The sixth prince raised an eyebrow, and in the blink of an eye, he hid his smile and pressed her down on the mat. He didn't care about the prying eyes around him, and he fed her wine mouth-to-mouth. It wasn't until after a while that he left those red lips, and he whispered in her ear with a low laugh, "You do have some brains, but unfortunately, compared to brainless women, I find women with some brains even more detestable."

  Zhen Wan still didn't know what he meant, but with a single call, two guards came forward from the front of the hall, looking bewildered.

  "Take her to the brothel." A woman who can set him aside and look at other men is courting death. They are out to have fun, not to find a fox's charm. This girl has too much ambition, and will surely stir up trouble in the future.

  Zhen Wan's face immediately turned pale as soon as she heard the two words "concubine camp". She couldn't pretend to be gentle and delicate anymore, and quickly scrambled up to kneel down, desperately knocking her head on the ground. "Sixth Prince, spare my life! Sixth Prince, spare my life!"

  "Sixth brother, you were fine just now, how did you get into a trance again?" The third prince also coveted Zhenyan. A brothel is for serving soldiers, it's a waste to throw such a beauty in there.

  "Exactly, Sixth Brother. This beauty is so obedient, I see you're also very pleased with her. Ask you when can I have my turn, but instead you make me wait in line. It's only been a short while, and yet you've already changed your mind." The Fifth Prince thought to himself that he was the first one to ask for her, and couldn't let Third Brother snatch her away.

  Zhen Wan didn't stop kowtowing, her eyes shining brightly as she stared at the ground, but she didn't realize that this furtive joy made her begging motion a little slower.

  The sixth prince lowered his eyes, his expression arrogant but wild, no one could see through his thoughts. "I'm just happy."

  "You don't look happy." The fifth prince chuckled, "I don't care, you made me line up, I was the first one. Now if you don't want her, she'll naturally belong to me."

  "This woman is not only a fake aunt but also a fake fox spirit. If the two imperial brothers insist on marrying her, don't blame me for any future troubles." He was really delighted.

  The third prince and the fifth prince looked at each other, neither of them listened to Liu's words, they only knew that it was their turn to fight for it. So, the third prince proposed that whoever catches the beautiful prey first tomorrow will get her. The fifth prince agreed.

  The sixth prince stood up, his long legs striding across the table to walk out of the camp, without even a glance at Zhen Wan who was shivering with fear. Or rather, he had seen enough of her clumsy posturing.

  The third prince asked, "Where did the sixth brother go?"

  "Return to the city." His figure was straight as a pine tree, his voice cold and gloomy.

  Twenty or thirty figures emerged from the darkness, shielding the Sixth Prince and disappearing behind a cluster of tents, followed by the sound of galloping horses.

  The fifth prince let out a long sigh and said to the third prince, "Third brother, I told you not to call him over, but you insisted. Look, he's already taken advantage of one of our concubines' beauty and isn't satisfied yet. Who knows what else he'll stir up? Not only does he want to make the beautiful girl miserable, but now he says he's leaving just like that."

  "The Emperor dotes on Qi Fei the most, and also likes Sixth Brother a lot. Let's be more tolerant." When it comes to topics other than women, the Third Prince is very calm and composed.

  "But Third Brother, you are actually the eldest son of the Emperor, the position of Crown Prince should belong to you, and the future throne should also be yours." The fifth prince, who had been joking around all along, suddenly became serious and pulled others to help him, "Ran brother, Sai brother, Sheng brother, what do you think?"

  Yu Ran smiled with a radiant smile, "The Emperor still wants to marry a concubine, it's clear that he is strong and healthy, now saying these things is a bit early." Turning her head to look at the Third Prince, "Third Brother previously said that someone among us recognized Nan Yue Lan in his previous life, who was it?" She changed the subject.

  "Ah, I had forgotten. It was Sixth Brother. When he was young, he contracted a chronic illness and the imperial physician was at a loss for what to do, so he moved into the National Preceptor's residence to borrow the South Month Jade Dew to dispel the disease energy. He probably stayed there for about half a year, I think he must have met South Month Orchid then." The Third Prince smiled, feeling close to his older brother.

  "But I think Sixth Brother doesn't seem to know her," said the Fifth Prince.

  "The Guoshi Mansion is so big, and Nan Yue Lan Sheng is also someone the Grand Lady dislikes. It's possible they've never met before. Never mind, to distinguish between true and false, we'll ask the Great Guoshi tomorrow morning and we'll know. The Third Prince's demeanor was also elegant and refined, seemingly not too concerned about the failure of his strategy to win over the Fifth Prince. He said to everyone, "It's late at night, let's disperse for now. Tomorrow, bring out your true skills and let's have a fair competition to see who gets to take the beauty home. This prince will also offer an extra reward."

  Xuan Sai stumbled and staggered to his feet, "Ah Sheng, come help me." He had been drinking heavily since he sat down, and also couldn't help but sneak a glance at Nan Yue Lan.

  Xuan Sheng grumbled as he helped his brother back to the main tent, while Xuan Rang came over to assist. As they left, the young masters who had been lurking in the shadows also retreated, returning to their respective camps.

  The night feast has come to an end.