Li Hong Yuan didn’t sleep for too long. Not even two hours later, he woke up. Just his clothes were wet and even had a strong alcohol smell. That sensation was truly not that good, so he effortlessly tore off all his clothes. The considerate Eunuch Mu just happened to have called someone to lift the bathtub in. The warm water neither cold nor hot, just perfect.

By the time everything was in order, it was already an hour later. Naturally it was long past the afternoon meal time. However, even if the monks in the monastery all abide by strict discipline with oneself, with no reason to take the meal after the time had passed, but who was Li Hong Yuan? You can starve anyone, but you can’t starve him. Never mind just missing the afternoon meal, even if it was in the middle of the night, you better think of a way to fill him up.

Taking in the fact that he was sobering up, and can’t eat greasy items, they thus didn’t need to put in the extra effort to get his meals from the outside and can directly just use the kitchen in the temple. Seeing that it was almost time, Eunuch Mu ordered the kitchen side to start the fire and start cooking.

By the time he sat down, steaming hot and also delicious looking vegetarian dishes appeared on the table just in time.

A clear bowl of broth with nothing in it was placed next to Li Hong Yuan’s hand, and it emitted a faint sweet smell. “What’s this?”

“It’s sobering soup made according to the recipe given by the Head Monk specifically for Wangye.” The monk dressed in gray, who was in charge of delivering the meal, said.

“Should say, as expected of Grandmaster Liao Chen? Even knows about this kind of thing.” Li Hong Yuan sarcastically said.

That monk didn’t retort. After arranging the dishes and performing a bow, he withdrew from the room.

White Dragon Temple’s vegetarian dishes, Li Hong Yuan naturally didn’t eat any less of before. Actually compared to ‘hun[1]‘ dishes, his tastes rather leaned towards mild. These things right now perfectly suited his appetite. After eating his fill, Li Hong Yuan went to the peach orchard behind the mountain to help digest the food.

Eunuch Mu stood far away outside of the peach orchard. Anyone going forward at this time was naturally an unperceptive idiot.

Just these exceptionally beautiful peach blossoms, after Miss Luo leaves, will probably have to suffer. Before, he was still thinking that this year, maybe master wasn’t planning on fermenting peach blossom wine, but then finally recalling in the last two days that master, after learning that Miss Luo entered the capital, probably planned to let Miss Luo properly admire them before harvesting them to make wine.

Li Hong Yuan broke off a branch of peach blossoms, and then plucked off the petals with an extremely bored look. Just a man like him, who had flawless good looks, doing this kind of thing was also rather pleasing to the eyes. After all, not far away under another tree, there already someone infatuated from watching.

After Li Hong Yuan finished plucking the flower petals off of the peach blossom in hand, he finally turned his head over to look. Even if the other person was a first class beauty, he still held a cold expression, even feeling unhappy to have been disturbed.

Eunuch Mu similarly also noticed that woman, inwardly screaming ‘not good’ inside. When did he overlook and let other people go in? No, the other party should have already been inside. Jin Wang coming to White Dragon Temple, although didn’t clear out the entire place, but his status was noble after all. Fearing that others will offend him, wherever he went, there would still be a small scale clearing out. Although this orchard was very big, because the commoners all knew that noble personages frequently appear here, once cleared out, they would all perceptively leave. Else, if something were to happen, it might even implicate their entire family to lose their lives. But now, Li Hong Yuan ran into someone, thus it could only mean one thing, she deliberately avoided the guards. Especially after seeing the other person’s appearance clearly, Eunuch Mu was certain of his own guess.

Despite thinking this, Eunuch Mu didn’t go forward, solely because this woman’s status was very noble. In addition, his own master’s attitude towards her was also rather ‘vague’. The reason he said this was probably because, every time master encountered this woman, although still holding the same attitude he held towards women he wasn’t interested in, compared to other noble women, it was still a bit gentler. If not for knowing that his master had deep rooted feelings for Miss Luo, Eunuch Mu would have assumed that his master fancied her.

This woman had the surname Ruan, personal name Fang Fei. She was the Head Cabinet Minister, Ruan Rui Zhong’s, youngest di daughter. One has to know, Ruan Rui Zhong’s age even exceeded Luo Pei Shan’s. It can be inferred that this was adequately having a daughter at an old age. Of course, because she came from the second wife, it didn’t cause any waves. If it was a fifty plus year old woman, ‘an old oyster producing a pearl’, then that would really be rare. After all, in the upper class inner court, women over forty, for the most part, no longer shared beds with their husband. If others found out that they still did, they would probably even be called shameless, not embarrassed at old age, a jealous woman, already at such an age, should just obediently arrange some tender and considerate younger women to serve their husband.

Seeing Li Hong Yuan looking towards herself, Ruan Fang Fei retracted the infatuation in her eyes. She didn’t avoid, but rather leisurely walked forward, “This subject greets Wangye, may Wangye live thousands and thousands of years.” A pair of eyes like limpid autumn waters, filled with tender feelings, seemingly about to overflow.

In the morning, when Imperial Concubine Li approached Li Hong Yuan, how did he describe it? Of course, Ruan Fang Fei was still a lady of the boudoir, naturally can’t be said to be reaching over the garden wall, but in Li Hong Yuan’s eyes, this man who’s unable to hold a second woman in his eyes, it was just a different tune played to the same effect.

Ruan Fang Fei admiring Li Hong Yuan, this matter, the people that knew weren’t many, but it definitely wasn’t considered less either. Especially in private, whenever she met Li Hong Yuan, she’s never hid it. A girl who was as gentle as water on normal days, yet in front of him was instead bold and enthusiastic. She even once said, she hoped for Li Hong Yuan to be able to marry her after she reached marriageable age.

In the capital, Ruan Fang Fei was a noble young lady as equally famous as Sun Yi Jia. Thus one can infer, her talents and appearance naturally must all be top notch. Just, Sun Yi Jia was cold and introverted, while Ruan Fang Fei leaned more towards sweet and charming. At the same time, the two of them were the same age, just Ruan Fang Fei in terms of months was two months younger than Sun Yi Jia.

“How come you’re here?” Li Hong Yuan dryly asked.

“This subject learned that Wangye came to White Dragon Temple, and thus followed.” Ruan Fang Fei fixedly stared at him, not concealing her intentions in the least.

“This prince asked why you are alone in the peach orchard.”

Ruan Fang Fei softly chuckled, “Naturally because only by being alone can one more easily avoid the monks of the temple that were clearing out the area.” In her eyes, a hint of craftiness flashed by, there was even a little smugness. “Is Wangye worrying about this subject? This subject knows, Wangye treats this subject differently than the others.”

Li Hong Yuan very much wanted to ask, just where did you get this kind of conclusion from?

When Ruan Fang Fei was eight, she met Li Hong Yuan for the first time in the palace. At the time, she already said she wanted to marry him when she grows up. Because she was young at the time, the elders even teased her about it. Everyone else all treated it as a joke. Only Ruan Fang Fei kept her words to heart.

As Li Hong Yuan got older with age, and his reputation becoming increasingly unbecoming, the other noble daughters all rushed to avoid. But only she alone, repeatedly approached, time and time again attempting to get close to him. No matter how many rumors she heard about him, she’d never once shrink back in fear.

Last year, after Ruan Fang Fei reached marriageable age, she once again asked Li Hong Yuan, when will he marry her?

Li Hong Yuan expressionlessly stated clearly, ‘This prince has no interest in you.’

Yet Ruan Fang Fei acted like she didn’t hear. She said she didn’t mind his violent temper, didn’t mind his frivolous nature. If he fancied any beauty, regardless of male or female, she would all be willing to help him get his hands on. With her as a cover, he didn’t need to slight himself and go embrace those lower status women. If he wanted the throne, she will also go convince her father, as long as he was willing to marry her.

When she was saying these things, she wasn’t pitifully begging, nor was she even too worked up, she just very calmly narrated a truth—-he can benefit from marrying her.

Certain people who were aware of her intentions, at the same time thinking she was too brazen and didn’t know shame, also felt that she was too lowly. As someone with a high status, directly burying oneself into the mud like this, even if she could obtain her heart’s desire, what good was there? However, Ruan Fang Fei didn’t feel she was lowering herself, and Li Hong Yuan similarly didn’t think this either. In his eyes, she was a very weird person. Her thoughts seemingly all circled around Li Hong Yuan, but because he completely wasn’t affected by her, he didn’t lose his footing. He could see very clearly, Ruan Fang Fei actually was genuinely the most selfish and self-serving. In order to accomplish her goals, she was unscrupulous with her means, even able to abandon everything. This kind of person, would make one guard against, and even feared.

Didn’t you know this prince cursed wives?

Ruan Fang Fei’s gaze towards him appeared even more tender and sweet, as she said: That’s because our fate is set by the heavens. Because this subject is young, the heavens naturally needed to have those hinderances blocking between us eliminated. Look, even those marriages personally bestowed by his Majesty with a decree all had the same outcome. Isn’t it enough to explain the problem?

Li Hong Yuan actually laughed at this bit. The hinderances between him and Wan wan does need to be eliminated, but as for who was doing the eliminating? The heavens…..heh.

Perhaps, for the sake of expressing her sincerity, not even two days later, Ruan Fang Fei had a beautiful woman sent up to Li Hong Yuan’s bed. That girl was her niece, and moreover, was someone waiting to be married. Just like that, she was drugged, stripped and sent before Li Hong Yuan.

If not for her(the niece) complete trust towards her(RFF) would she(the niece) have that easily been tricked into Li Hong Yuan’s villa?

Other’s trust in her(RFF), this was exactly how she reciprocated. But did she ever once think, losing one’s chastity before marriage, what kind of ending will her niece end up with?

Ruan Rui Zhong, that old fox among old foxes, whose abilities even Li Hong Yuan exceedingly praised, did he know that this daughter of his that he raised in the palm of his hand had such a terrifying side?

Because she saw Li Hong Yuan being indifferent, Ruan Fang Fei began undressing herself, letting her and her niece serve him together, how about it?

Li Hong Yuan, on the contrary, wasn’t surprised by her exceedingly improper conduct. Because in his past life, he’d already witnessed it before. At that time, he’d just turned 19, and because he was born into the imperial family, he possessed a temperament ordinary people couldn’t surpass. However, he hadn’t experience any real storms yet, and still maintained a trace of innocence. Not only at the time was he shocked, he was even somewhat frightened. Despite somewhat losing face, it was still a fact. And it was also because of this that he didn’t have Ruan Fang Fei, this beauty, taken into his embrace.

(T/N: Somehow the idea that her craziness scared him senseless in his past life is hilarious to me. Kinda hard to picture with his current persona.)

Have to say, his reputation in his past life and current life was still vastly different. Yet Ruan Fang Fei just had to have her eyes one him. This was probably also an ill-fated karma.

With just the words, ‘This prince likes reserved, dignified, and clever women’, Ruan Fang Fei perhaps still spoke as boldly as usual in front of him, but her conduct no longer exceeded the proper boundaries in the least, showing off that she was the most proud, most fitting, most dignified, and most perfect noble daughter. Yet, one was unable to find the least bit of likable feelings on her.

Li Hong Yuan had this self-proclaimed perfect woman scanned from head to toe. This can also be considered her greatest honor.

Her clothes weren’t too brightly colored, her hair ornaments weren’t too ostentatious, and her make up was also just perfect. Not one wasn’t drawing in the direction of the word ‘dignified’. But clearly not an attire that belonged to someone her age, yet she was able to steadily master it. Even the most picky noble madam in the capital wouldn’t be able to find the slightest inappropriateness on her either.

[1] Hun – The term ‘hun’ in Chinese, which is what’s used to describe the foods here, means both strong smelling food, like garlic and onion, and also non-vegetarian food, like meat and fish.

T/N: Ruan Fang Fei is what I’d called those ‘oh this guy looked me in the eye, he must be in love with me’ type, very delusional and very scary.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com