DLWAV CH141

Ao Ruize only found out about this matter the next morning.

Because the Little Milk Dumpling came limping back.

Ao Ruize: “…What happened to you?”

The Little Milk Dumpling immediately huffed and puffed as it recounted the entire sequence of events.

Ao Ruize: “…”

Was this the legendary “crawling through the internet cable to pick a fight”?

The Little Milk Dumpling: “Do you know what the main point is? That guy, that guy selling fake medicine is one thing, but it actually refused to admit it even to the death—”

Ao Ruize: “…”

Ao Ruize touched his nose: “So you lost the fight?”

“No, I won.”

The Little Milk Dumpling was quite proud: “How could a Pallas’s cat spirit that looks like a ball possibly be my match?”

Ao Ruize looked at its perfectly round, chubby body: “…”

So the “fight” it spoke of was at most just two dumplings crashing into each other—you press on me, I press on you, one waving its claws trying to scratch the other’s face, while the other kicks its two short little legs desperately trying to push the other away.

Ao Ruize: “…”

The mental image was a bit too cute, so much so that he suddenly didn’t feel as guilty anymore.

The Little Milk Dumpling added: “And I even snatched another supreme body-strengthening potion back from it.”

“I’m going to go use it on my wife right now.”

Looking at the Little Milk Dumpling, which had instantly reduced to nothing but a retreating back, Ao Ruize: “…”

Alright, he should still feel a little guilty.

Towards the Little Milk Dumpling, and also towards that Pallas’s cat spirit supplier.

At this thought, his finger twitched slightly. Two streams of golden light instantly appeared in the air; one flew towards the departing Little Milk Dumpling, and the other directly disappeared into the void.

Right at this moment, Wu Chuyao returned.

Seeing Ao Ruize, the expression on her face instantly froze.

Mainly because she felt embarrassed.

After all, she had done something so rebellious and shocking to the world.

Even though this matter was nine times out of ten instigated by Ao Ruize.

Most importantly, she still clearly remembered everything that had happened last night, including what she had said to those male courtesans—

When she realized she had actually been brought to a male brothel, she was shocked.

Those courtesans were also shocked when they saw her.

In their own words, they had stayed in the male brothel for so many years and seen all kinds of noble young masters and wealthy heirs, but it was their first time encountering such a beautiful, noble young lady coming to patronize them.

After she snapped out of it, her first reaction was to leave.

However, in the next second, she was surrounded by those courtesans who had also snapped back to their senses.

“Don’t go, Miss, since you’re already here.”

“If you leave like this, Papa will definitely think we didn’t serve you well, and we’ll all inevitably be subjected to a whipping.”

But her footsteps didn’t hesitate for even a fraction of a second.

Not because she lacked sympathy, but because the scent of cosmetics and powder on these courtesans was simply too heavy, making it somewhat unbearable for her.

That is, until one of the courtesans added: “I know you.”

“You are Princess Changping, the young miss of the Wu family.”

“Yesterday, we even got into a huge argument on your behalf with those bitches from the Spring Breeze Pavilion next door.”

“Those bitches said you had no sense of shame, that you were even worse than them… Bah—”

She subconsciously stopped in her tracks.

Seeing this, the courtesans directly pulled her to the table and sat her down.

“I think their business is just too good… they’ve heard the same things too many times, and their brains got waterlogged.”

“Why don’t they think about it a bit more? Out of all these incidents, one by one, which one was your choice? Which one did you initiate? You are the true victim!”

“It’s one thing if they don’t sympathize with you, but how do they have the face to gossip about you behind your back?”

In that moment, she suddenly felt that the scent of cosmetics on them wasn’t so unbearable anymore.

“We must toast you with a cup.”

The courtesans immediately poured her a cup of wine.

“To your strength.”

“Strength?”

She couldn’t help but freeze for a moment back then.

“That’s right, strength.”

The courtesans said, “If it were me, with so many rumors and slanders crashing down like a mountain, I probably wouldn’t have been able to hold on long ago. If your ability to endure until now isn’t strength, what is it?”

She immediately threw her head back and drained that cup of wine in one gulp.

“Good.”

The courtesans promptly refilled her cup.

“So you came over today because you wanted to viciously slap the faces of those sour pedantic scholars?”

Then, without waiting for her to answer, the courtesans said with a look of excitement: “Well done.”

“Come, let us toast you another cup!”

“Honestly, we were all molded out of mud by Goddess Nüwa; why should women naturally be considered inferior to men?”

“Those so-called pure and righteous great scholars keep saying that starving to death is a small matter, but losing one’s chastity is a great matter—so if a woman loses her chastity, she should end her own life. But isn’t a gentleman’s moral integrity also a matter of chastity and virtue?”

“But those well-known cases of powerful tyrants enslaving the commoners, and high officials perverting the law for bribes—weren’t they all committed by men? Yet to this day, they are still living their carefree, comfortable lives.”

“At those times, why didn’t we see those so-called pure and righteous scholars step up to manage them? Don’t they constantly compose poetry and lyrics praising their own concern for the country and the people?”

“So you see, those so-called pure and righteous scholars are just a bunch of hypocrites fishing for fame. You don’t need to take their words to heart at all; just treat it as if they’re farting. No, wait, the farts they let out are much louder than ours.”

…

She couldn’t help but drain the wine in her hand again.

The courtesans, however, were still continuing: “So you absolutely must not back down.”

“You have to show those hypocrites: on what grounds are men allowed three wives and four concubines, allowed to patronize women and men? Whatever men can do, women can do too, and dare to do.”

…

She had never drunk wine before, so perhaps because she drank too much, she actually felt that what those courtesans said made a lot of sense at the time.

After that, she simply passed out drunk, and didn’t wake up until this morning.

Although absolutely nothing happened during that time, and she knew that the reason those courtesans said those things was nine times out of ten just to flatter her and retain her as a customer, after sobering up, she still felt they had a point.

So one could well imagine just how complicated her mood was right now.

Mainly, she still couldn’t quite get over this mental hurdle inside.

So much so that, for a moment, she didn’t know what to say to Ao Ruize.

But what she didn’t expect was that Ao Ruize had absolutely no intention of discussing the matter with her anyway.

He said: “You’re back? The kitchen saved breakfast for you; just send someone to get it in a bit.”

“Mr. Jiang is feeling a bit unwell, so he probably won’t be able to give you a lesson again today. Just review by yourself for the day.”

“I still have some official business to handle over there, so I’ll head out first.”

After saying that, he simply left.

Wu Chuyao breathed a sigh of relief for no apparent reason.

But soon, her brows furrowed again, because she knew full well that her days ahead were likely to become even more difficult.

Sure enough, that very afternoon, the news of her spending the night at a male brothel spread throughout more than half the capital.

In an instant, countless angry curses rang out from the streets and alleys of the capital, especially from prestigious places like the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial College.

“Whore, truly the number one whore of all time—”

“How does she still have the face to live in this world? How dare she do such a thing?”

“The Wu family’s face has been completely lost by her.”

“We are going into the palace right now to seek an audience with the Emperor and ask him to uphold justice.”

“Let’s go.”

…

After learning of Wu Chuyao’s actions, the disgust Emperor Jianzhao felt for her in his heart instantly more than doubled.

He immediately ordered people to summon Wu Chuyao and Ao Ruize into the palace.

Who knew that fifteen minutes later, only the eunuch who went to deliver the decree returned.

Emperor Jianzhao: “What happened?”

The eunuch who delivered the decree fell straight to his knees and said, trembling in fear: “Re… reporting to Your Majesty, Prince Wu said that if Your Majesty is summoning them just for such a trivial matter, then there is no need for them to make the trip.”

“A-after all, there is not a single clause in the Great Yang laws stating that women cannot spend the night in a brothel. And… and the Great Yang laws clearly stipulate that if a commoner sues an official, or a subordinate sues a superior, they are to receive thirty blows with a cane. Princess Changping is a super-rank princess, while these officials are nothing but a bunch of lowly minor bureaucrats…”

“Insolent!”

Emperor Jianzhao cut him off directly.

The eunuch immediately began kowtowing desperately: “This slave deserves death, this slave deserves death.”

Emperor Jianzhao waved his hand impatiently.

The eunuch immediately retreated.

And the expressions of the civil and military officials present also shifted from disbelief to furious rage.

“Prince Wu… how could Prince Wu say such a thing?”

“Is he truly a descendant of the Wu family?”

“A complete disgrace, a complete disgrace to decency!”

…

“We beseech Your Majesty to severely punish Prince Wu and Princess Changping.”

Hearing this, Emperor Jianzhao instead said: “This… Prince Wu and Princess Changping are, after all, descendants of the Wu family.”

“…And Prince Wu is also not wrong; there is indeed no clause in the Great Yang laws stating that women cannot spend the night in a brothel…”

Hearing even Emperor Jianzhao say this, those civil and military officials could only return with faces full of anger.

Seeing this scene, the Crown Prince impatiently leaned in and flattered: “Congratulations, Imperial Father. This way, the Wu family’s reputation among the pure scholars is completely ruined. If they ever want to recruit courtiers in the future, no one will pay them any mind.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that.”

Seeing the Crown Prince’s face, Emperor Jianzhao grew even more impatient.

He thought to himself that, at the latest, right after Prince Rui pacified Prince Cheng and the others, he would depose the Crown Prince.

Because anyone could figure out that if not for all this, why would he forcefully suppress his rage and show favoritism toward those two little beasts, Wu Ruize and Wu Chuyao, in front of so many ministers?

But to them, was this the most important thing?

The most important thing was—if they could all see it, could Wu Ruize fail to see it?

Yet Wu Ruize didn’t care in the slightest.

What did this mean? It meant it was highly likely that Wu Ruize’s strength was far beyond their expectations, and that he might even already have the confidence to defeat them.

Yet the Crown Prince completely failed to see this point.

Emperor Jianzhao couldn’t even be bothered to lecture him anymore, simply flicking his sleeves and leaving.

And upon returning to his sleeping quarters, the first thing he did was summon the head eunuch.

The ruthlessness in his eyes practically materialized into substance: “Immediately send a message to those death knights planted in Prince Wu’s manor. Tell them to kill Wu Ruize and Wu Chuyao at all costs.”

The current situation no longer allowed him to take things slowly and scheme gradually.

The head eunuch immediately replied: “Understood.”

But what he didn’t know was—

Half an hour later, Ji Zimo, having received the missive, with practiced ease, held the letter over the candle flame.

He couldn’t really be blamed for not following orders. It was mainly because Ao Ruize’s body was truly too enticing; so much so that even after playing with it for over a month, he still hadn’t gotten tired of it.

At this thought, after the final sliver of flame dissipated, he lay back down on the soft couch to continue resting and building up his energy.

Because that ‘fellow townsman’ of his had just sent over another ‘little lamb’.

Outside, the sunlight was perfect.

Wu Chuyao’s mood also strangely improved.

Even after learning that hundreds of pure scholars had impeached her at court, and even after knowing that someone had sneakily splashed manure on the back door of Prince Wu’s manor early this morning.

She suddenly felt that those male courtesans were absolutely right.

Those so-called pure scholars were nothing but a bunch of hypocrites sucking the blood off women’s backs.

There was nothing frightening about them.

And she had nothing to be ashamed of.

At this thought, she clenched her fists and headed back to that male brothel.

Meanwhile, in the backyard of the Minister of War’s estate, upon hearing this news, Meng Jiao’s eyes went wide.

“Sister is so brave.”

She did exactly what Meng Jiao wanted to do but never dared to.

So much so that her favorable impression of Wu Chuyao instantly went from negative to a positive one hundred.

After all, she too had long had enough of this completely evil feudal morality—