“Why the long face? Aren’t you about to have a joyful wedding? Why aren’t you happy about having a woman to hold at night?”
The Crown Prince of Yan had disguised himself to drink at the Blossom Pavilion with his friend General Yang tonight. He was still teasing him in high spirits, completely unaware of his friend’s distress.
“Come on, raise your cup. We don’t stop until we’re drunk.”
Yang Jian cast aside his troubled thoughts, lifted the wine cup before him, and drained it in one gulp.
“Ah... That’s more like it, my friend.”
The young Crown Prince chuckled softly before raising his own cup to drink. Beautiful women surrounded him on both sides, crowding around his distinguished presence.
Yang Jian coldly wiped the drunken moisture from his perfectly shaped lips, yet the gesture was extraordinarily graceful. The pressure of his strong fingers against his lips left them bruised, making their vivid red resemble blooming roses. His sharply defined face still radiated a profound charm, causing all the Blossom Pavilion’s flower girls who had been granted the honor of serving tonight to stare at him without looking away.
Every one of them was captivated by his handsome features, which blended rugged strength and overwhelming power to perfection.
“Young Master, have another drink. I’ll pour it for you.”
One of the beauties hurriedly picked up the wine jar and filled his cup, hoping to get him drunk and out of his senses so she could take him upstairs and do all sorts of things with him in private.
She was the Blossom Pavilion’s number-one beauty, so neither her bearing nor her manners differed in the slightest from those of a noble young lady from a great family. She possessed an alluring charm, a flawless, radiant face, and beautiful, dewy eyes that could pierce straight through a man’s heart. Most men had only to receive a sidelong glance from her to fall hopelessly in love, surrendering both body and soul at her feet.
The young woman was exceptionally clever. With one quick glance, she knew that the man before her was no ordinary person. Even though he had disguised himself and concealed his true status, he could not hide a powerful aura—not even a fraction of it. She thought that if she could buy this man and take him home, she would live in comfort and luxury for the rest of her life, free from all worry. Even if he already had a wife, she did not care.
The beauty waited until Yang Jian had finished the cup she offered him, then hurriedly coaxed him.
“Young Master, have another cup.”
There was something one needed to know. Besides specially prepared incense meant to soothe a man’s mind and make him pliable to a beauty’s wishes, the wine was also mixed with something that made men more intoxicated than alcohol alone. Every cup they swallowed deepened its effect, making them fall more hopelessly under a woman’s spell.
There was no need to explain what it was. Any man who came close to one of these women would naturally desire a taste of her—of something far more than wine.
Many men had even forgotten their wives because they became so enamored with a beauty. It was not the wine cup in their hands that held their attention.
The exquisite carnal pleasure offered by the number-one beauty was the pinnacle of desire.
Yang Jian narrowed his eyes at the owner of the full, lush breasts who was trying to press herself against his strong arm.
“Have another cup, Young Master...”
“Move away...”
His voice was icy, and his sharp eyes gazed at her with frigid indifference. The young general merely accepted the wine cup and drank with composure. He had no intention of quenching his thirst with any woman’s body.
The beauty’s face fell.
When even the number-one beauty was driven away, the other women saw their chance and hurried over to fawn on him in her place.
“Young Master, you should drink from my cup instead.”
Two beauties held out wine and snacks before him, eagerly trying to please him, but Yang Jian glared at them.
The young Crown Prince looked on irritably. “How long are you planning to keep acting so precious?”
Since they were disguised as nothing more than ordinary young masters without titles, there was no need for lofty manners, formal speech, or excessive deference.
Yang Jian therefore replied to the Crown Prince in a heavy voice, “I’m not interested.”
“Not interested, or are you disgusted by them? Come on. Tonight, all you have to do is choose an untouched virgin to buy. You can even take her home and keep her.”
The Crown Prince’s words made the two women who had been watching them suddenly brighten with bold hope.
“Me, Young Master. I’m perfectly untouched.”
“Me too, Young Master. I’ve never received a guest before.”
How could the number-one beauty be slow to act? She immediately shoved the two women aside and rushed forward.
“Hua’er offers you her life.”
Yet Yang Jian did not respond to her—not even half a word. He continued drinking in silent, icy indifference, letting the burning wine slowly slide down his throat. Its effects left him hazy, and once again he thought of those mysterious eyes, brimming with bewitching allure and demonic charm.
The Crown Prince snorted before turning his attention to his own beauty, no longer bothering with his beloved friend.
Why should a man suffer so much merely because he had received an imperial marriage to a woman he did not love? He himself had to bring countless consorts into the Eastern Palace, and not one of them was pleasing to him—yet he had never complained.”