Chapter 23: Haven’t You Satisfied Him?

Chapter 23: Could It Be That He Wasn't Satisfied?

"Go pray to the Buddha a bit more, and maybe you'll be fine."

Lan He seemed convinced and nodded: "Alright, then I'll go along too, to pay my respects to the Buddha."

"That's more like it. It's getting late, so get some good rest. Call me if you need anything—I'll be in the room next door. Just don't bug me unless it's important."

"Alright."

Pei Yuhuai yawned and instinctively rubbed his butt as he left.

That little move caught Lan He's eye, and his face flushed red again.

Pei Hang, oh Pei Hang.

How could you know how much you draw me in? Too bad you're just an ordinary man, with no memory of past lives or love and hate.

-

The next day.

When Pei Yuhuai woke up, his memory of last night's fling had subtly changed—he now thought he'd been the one bullying Lan He.

In his memory now, the roles had naturally flipped, with him on top.

Right now, Pei Yuhuai was pacing the room, scratching his head, totally agitated and full of regret.

"How could I be such an animal? How did I lose control? What am I gonna do now?"

"What do I do, what do I do—if he holds a grudge, I've got way too many weak spots."

"Sin, sin. Maybe I should go vegetarian and worship Buddha from now on, to make up for it. What if I end up dying a miserable death because of this debauchery? That'd be a huge loss."

"Right, that makes sense. The Buddhist path is pure—how could I dirty it? If I end up getting dismembered, it must be because I did something heinous. This is probably the worst thing I've done so far..."

"While I still have the chance, I should stop now, apologize—yeah, apologize—then go vegetarian, pray, and devote myself to being good."

Pei Yuhuai muttered to himself, trying to reassure himself.

Extremely conflicted mindset.

Going back and forth.

So fickle.

And he didn't even realize it.

The young monk came to deliver breakfast, following the Zen master's earlier instructions: the young lord of the marquis's household loved meat, so breakfast included two big meat buns.

Smelled amazing.

But Pei Yuhuai had no appetite right now.

He waved his hand: "Little master, take the meat buns away. I'm not eating them; I'll just have the porridge."

After breakfast, Pei Yuhuai did a lot of mental prep, glanced at Lan He quickly, and left before he could say anything.

Run.

As long as he pretended nothing happened, everything would be fine.

Back home,

Pei Yuhuai was restless. Lately, he'd been getting bolder, constantly bullying Lan He—a monk, a Buddhist.

He knew he shouldn't be doing this.

Why couldn't he stop himself?

Frustrated and annoyed, to test whether his urges were really that strong or if it was just Lan He's beauty he couldn't resist, he went to Xunhuan Tower again.

He ordered up eighteen girls at once.

Each one beautiful in her own way. Pei Yuhuai stroked his chin, looking left and right—hmm, nothing.

Forget it, he still liked men.

Money makes the world go round, so the madam arranged ten male attendants for him, each said to be exceptionally good-looking.

Pei Yuhuai wore a bamboo hat and veil, covering his face.

"Young master, let me take care of you~"

A bold male attendant approached him first, flaunting himself, reeking of makeup even more than any woman.

It choked Pei Yuhuai so bad he nearly gagged.

"Back, back, back off." He waved his hands frantically. "All of you, stand still. Don't come near me. Stand still."

"But young master..."

"Shut up."

Pei Yuhuai stood with his hands on his hips, two meters away, studying each of their faces one by one. Just then, a gust of wind blew the door open with a bang.

One of the male attendants immediately dashed over to close it, smiling at Pei Yuhuai like he wanted praise.

It made his skin crawl.

He missed Lan He.

Lan He was way more normal.

Speak of the devil, and the devil... didn't show.

Pei Yuhuai stayed for half an hour, totally uninterested and not feeling it at all, and went home dejected. But news of his visit to the pleasure quarters still reached Lan He's ears right on time.

The details even included how many girls and male attendants there were, and that one male attendant had kissed the young lord's face, making him jump three feet in the air with excitement.

After hearing all of this.

Lan He shot up from his sickbed.

He clenched his fists, grinding his teeth, and spat blood in fury: "Leaving in such a hurry this morning, and it turns out he was rushing off to a brothel! How outrageous!"

Was he not satisfied?

Lan He's face turned icy, his words freezing cold: "Pei Hang, oh Pei Hang, it seems I've been too lenient with you."

At this moment, Pei Hang had no idea disaster was about to hit.

Two days later.

The Marquis came back from the palace with news that the Sangguo people had agreed to postpone the wedding date for the alliance between the two nations by one year. In a year's time, the Prince of Sang Kingdom and the Princess of Dayin would finally wed.

With the major matter settled, the Sangguo delegation was set to head home the next day, and the Emperor ordered the Crown Prince to escort them to the border.

As luck would have it, Qishan was just outside the capital, right on the way.

Pei Yuhuai and Pei Rongjing put their heads together and decided to tag along with the group heading out of the city the next day, just to see the commotion.

As for Lan He.

They acted like they forgot about him and left him behind.

The whole crew set off, and to everyone's surprise, Princess Ruoning tagged along out of the capital too, joining the Crown Prince to see the guests off.

Partway there, Pei Yuhuai and Pei Rongjing veered off toward Qishan and met the nun Pei Rongjing had talked about.

But...

Pei Yuhuai stood to the side, chin resting on his hand, watching. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't get over it—this nun was way too young, around sixteen or seventeen years old.

Just like Lan He, she hadn't shaved her head.

If not for her monastic robes and the prayer beads in her hand, she'd be no different from a proper young lady from a noble household—calm as still water, gentle and captivating.

Her slender brows curved like crescent moons, her eyes sparkled with feeling. With no makeup at all, she was prettier than any goddess. Her voice was as soft and sweet as a nightingale's song, utterly pleasing to the ear.

Pei Yuhuai couldn't help but marvel at her, let alone that idiot Pei Rongjing, who was totally stunned, his two eyes staring blankly as if he wished to see right through her.

The nun, both shy and annoyed, recited "Amitabha" with a displeased expression. "Benefactor, if you have nothing else to do, please step aside."

Pei Rongjing didn't react.

Pei Yuhuai couldn't stand it any longer and kicked him. "Pei Rongjing, aren't you here for a fortune reading? Show your fortune slip to the nun."

That kick snapped Pei Rongjing back to his senses. His face instantly turned as red as a peach, and he scratched his head awkwardly before handing over his fortune slip. "Venerable Nun, please take a look. This is my fortune. I'd appreciate your guidance."

The nun took it and explained its meaning to him.

Pei Yuhuai, bored, looked around and seemed to remember something. He told Pei Rongjing he'd be back and headed to the main hall.

He had broken his promise—he hadn't brought Lan He, and he'd left him in such a state. At the very least, he needed to offer a sincere apology.

So he went to pray for a peace amulet, planning to give it to Lan He as a token of apology.

He also needed to repent before the Buddha.

Pei Yuhuai personally burned three sticks of incense, knelt before the Buddha's statue, and bowed with devout reverence, murmuring something with a serious look on his face.