Man Yao's eyebrows jumped, “Your Highness Ninth Prince, your precious beauty is about to have her fingers chopped off and you're still able to laugh so happily?”

The Ninth Prince's wide smile froze and he looked at Chen Yu who was below him, only seeing the trail of red blood near her lips and the resentment in her eyes. He lightly coughed, “I'm not laughing at Chen Yu, but at the sign that I keep imagining.” He was thinking of that wooden Leng Yan. After following his seventh brother for so many years, he's never heard more than three sentences from Leng Yan, and each sentence contained at most, four words. If he were to stand behind Seventh Brother holding that sign, and coupled with Seventh Brother's immortal looks, what type of scenery would that make? As his imagination went wild, he couldn't help but laugh again.

Man Yao pretended to be confused, “Sign? What sign?”

The Ninth Prince replied without thinking, “Of course it's the gold or red sign you were talking about, the one where it read…” The words died on his lips as he felt that something wasn't quite right. Turning his head, he saw  Wuyou coldly glaring at him, and he laughed drily while rubbing his nose.

Narrowing his eyes, Zongzheng Wuyou asked in a frigid voice, “Is it funny?”

The Ninth Prince's lips jerked, and staring at the handsome man who dug a hole for him, he frantically shook his hands, “No, not funny at all, I wasn't laughing at this either, cough cough…”

“Oh…then the Ninth Prince is laughing at Chen Yu guniang?” Man Yao bent down next to Chen Yu, shaking her head, “Aye! It's such a shame for this beautiful pair of hands, in the future, we won't be able to witness her melodious playing or her enchanting dance…what a shame!”

Chen Yu's eyes welled up with tears, crying uncontrollably.

The Ninth Prince was alos moved, “It is quite regretful, the dance wasn't finished.” She smiled and turned w=towards Zongzheng Wuyou, “Seventh Brother, don't punish the ignorant. Taking into consideratino that she is one of my beauties, please give me some face, and forgive her this time.”

Zongzheng Wuyou glanced at him and indifferently expressed, “Haven't I given you enough face?” Finished, he swiped the jade folding fan that the Ninth Prince was holding and slowly walked over in front of Man Yao. When Man Yao stood up, Zongzheng Wuyou's fan knocked on her shoulder, making it feel heavy. That fan seemed to have ac.u.mulated the inner force of a thousand tons, causing her to be unsteady. Turning her head, she used the fan in her own hand to block his, only to see that both of these fans were the same. On the corner of the jade bone, the three words Wu Yin Lou were faintly carved, not a single one missing…no, they were not the same. Other than Wu Yin Lou and some sort of emblem, the jade of the fan she held was clear and smooth, while upon closer inspection, the fan in Zongzheng Wuyou's hand had some lines carved in it as well, seeming to make some sort of drawing. As to what it was, she was unclear.

Seeing the fan in her hand, Zongzheng Wuyou paused for a moment, decreasing the strength in his hand, and his lips curved up, “Don't even think about using these petty tricks in front of benw.a.n.g. Since you think it's regretful, then benw.a.n.g will be magnanimous and let your hands…take her place.”

Man Yao jerked and smiled while she spoke unwaveringly, “It's not often that Prince Lis is so generous. This one will naturally follow your wishes, however these pair of hands are my treasure. If they were to be gone just like that, I am still a little unwilling.”

Zongzheng Wuyou felt a faint sense of familiarity as he looked at her bright and intelligent eyes. In this world, there were very few people who dared to speak to him so casually. Folding his fan, he casually tossed it behind him for the Ninth Prince to catch. Zongzheng Wuyou spun around and took a few steps, his eyes half-closed as he probed, “The things that benw.a.n.g wants to do have never been told…'no' by anyone. Who are you, what right do you have to dare to be so fearless in front of benw.a.n.g?”

When the pressure from Man Yao's shoulders was lifted, she felt much comfortable. Recalling Zongzheng Wuyou's behavior in the great hall, as well as the hatred-filled gaze he had towards the emperor, her eyes looked back and forth, “Zaixia(1) is only a businessman, and I don't have any backing, it's just that I've grown used to speaking this way. Your Highness, you have an invaluable ident.i.ty and you also have His Mjaesty's favor. No matter who sees you, they would be both respectful and fearful, but Your Highness, can you clearly identify who treats you with sincerity and who doesn't? Actually, being born into the imperial family may not be a blessing. Although you have a high status, it cannot compare to being an ordinary person with their simple food and a family full of love, the image of happiness.”

Originally, she was saying this for Zongzheng Wuyou to hear, but towards the end, she still felt melancholic about the matters that happened in her previous life. If her father wasn't the president of Man Corporation and was busy every day dealing with business matters, her mother wouldn't have pa.s.sed away so early either. She clearly had relatives, but she seemed more like an orphan. Other than her father telling her the proper way for her to behave, he had never cared for what she wanted or what she liked or disliked. When she was sick, the only person who ever took care of her was her nanny. When her mother pa.s.sed away, her father was abroad and didn't even come back, so she had to arrange her mother's funeral by herself. That year, she was only twenty-one. If she wasn't the only daughter of Man Corporation's president, there also wouldn't be anyone trying to use her because of her ident.i.ty and manipulating her feelings. If she wasn't the sole heir to Man Corporation, she wouldn't have died due to the manipulation of the greed of other people and come to this foreign world.

Zongzheng Wuyou's gaze became deeper. At the bottom of his eyes, there were countless emotions moving through them only to be suppressed and left to dissipate. Staring blankly at the person in front of him, he saw a flash of torment through those clear eyes, as well as a deep sense of helplessness and bleakness. Why did those eyes give off such a familiar feeling? It was as if he was looking at himself. For a moment, he was still, thinking that these words weren't just said for show, but were what the person in front of him personally experienced. This person was definitely not just an ordinary businessman.

The Ninth Prince gazed at Man Yao with interest. There were countless people under the heavens that were envious of their imperial ident.i.ties, as they were above others the moment they were born; however, this white-robed man in front of them actually said that their lives couldn't even compare to a commoner's? Even though it was true that their lives weren't as splendorous as other people imagined, this was not something that could be said lightly. If done wrong, someone's head would roll.

The surroundings became quiet again, and Qin mama who had been kneeling on the ground all this time kept shaking. Chen Yu didn't even dare to lift her head, and everyone else was even more frozen, not daring to make a sound.

After looking at her for some time, Zongzheng Wuyou suddenly looked left and right with his brows furrowed, “How come there's not even a stool here?”

The crowd was startled at the sudden development, confused at what just happened. Qin mama was the first one to react, rus.h.i.+ng to fawn while smiling, “There is, there is, what are the rest of you dazing off for, hurry and give w.a.n.gye a stool, oh, no, give him a chair!” The moment these words landed, everyone frantically rushed to bring a chair over. In no time, there were more than ten chairs filling the lobby.

Qin mama got up from the ground and bent her body, beaming, “w.a.n.gye, please sit. What kind of tea would you like to drink?”

Zongzheng Wuyou didn't bother to look at her, making a gesture for her to leave. Afterwards, with a wave of his clothes, he sat down. Lazily leaning into the back fo the chair, his sinister eyes locked onto Man Yao without some of the coldness he had before, “You're quite daring! Just based on your words, you could die ten times over.”

Man Yao didn't bother to be polite and sat down in front of him, crossing her legs in a casual yet elegant manner and gave a faint smile, “As long as Prince Li says that I did not commit a crime, then I don't need to die at all.”

Zongzheng Wuyou slightly curved his lips, “If you want benw.a.n.g to let you off, what would the reason be?”

Man Yao lightly smiled, “I heard that Your Highness likes tea, is that true?”

Zongzheng Wuyou: “It's true that I like tea, but I don't like all tea. Furthermore, my residence already has all the common types of tea.”

Man Yao: “Of course. However, the way of tea does not involve just the tea itself…if Your Highness is interested, then in three days, please head to the Moonlight Tea Garden near Heavenly Lake in Xicheng. I guarantee that Your Highness will not be disappointed. However, Your Highness must prepare something first.”

Zongzheng Wuyou: “What is it?”

Man Yao: “Your mood.”

Zongzheng Wuyou's eyebrows jumped, “Mood?”

Man Yao calmly smiled, “That's right, the mood to taste tea.”

Not understanding, the Ninth Prince laughed loudly, “What kind of mood needs to be prepared in order to taste tea? I've never heard of that before.”

Man Yao smiled but didn't speak. Zongzheng Wuyou stood up and before he left, he spoke, “Alright. I hope that after three days, you won't disappoint benw.a.n.g, otherwise, what's chopped off…won't just be fingers but also your pretty neck. Someone come—Notify Jingcheng's Prefect Yin, that if benw.a.n.g still sees this brothel operating tomorrow, tell him to bring his head to see me.”

(1) Zaixia: Used by someone to refer to themselves when speaking to someone of a higher status.

Forchen Notes: A glossary has been added! You can find it under the main page. Also, if there are any spelling or grammatical mistakes you spot, please feel free to let me know so that I can edit them!