“Princess…” Qingchen spoke up.
Chu Yunge smiled, though it wasn’t quite a smile. “What? Does Master still wish to plead for them?”
Qingchen shook his head. “No, this monk… understands why you did this. He just wanted to tell the Princess that, from beginning to end, only three maids spoke up to express their feelings.”
From Chu Yunge’s standpoint, this was a perfectly normal reaction. He merely feared there might be some injustice.
“That’s more like it. If you kept blocking and speaking for them, This Princess would have been disappointed.”
Chu Yunge finally smiled. “Then please quietly tell This Princess their names.”
It was a good chance to see how Maid A handled things and check her character.
Du Ruo quietly withdrew, not daring to act rashly. She only hoped the maids would mess up and disappoint the Princess.
Qingchen paused for a moment before naming the three.
Chu Yunge nodded and looked at his expression. “Feeling guilty?”
“A little.” Qingchen nodded frankly. “But Qingchen is certain he did nothing to seduce them. One can only say that everyone has their own affinities. Many thanks to the Princess for sparing their lives.”
Chu Yunge nodded. Qingchen was indeed a good man, truly kind. But if he stubbornly took all the blame upon himself and started self-flagellating from here on…
Then he really would be a Buddha. She had already advised him once; there was nothing more to say.
Fortunately, he did not.
“As long as you understand.”
“This has made a spectacle of myself before the Princess.” Qingchen apologized again.
Chu Yunge set aside the plan written in Pinyin and put it away. She pointed at a chair. “Sit. It’s no spectacle. It’s quite normal for them to admire and like you—after all, you truly are charming.”
Qingchen’s appeal went beyond his handsome face. It was his bearing and temperament that were truly captivating—this was a fact.
Qingchen paused upon hearing this. “This monk will take it as a compliment from the Princess. Indeed, quite a few people have been fooled by this monk’s appearance, but rest assured, Princess—this monk won’t be swayed by mere beauty, much less cause trouble in the Princess Mansion.”
Others saying this might sound laughable, but when Qingchen said it, it did not, for he had the confidence to back it up.
He had been born into the Shen Family clan and once been the renowned Young Master Qingchen of the Chu State. He had never lacked admirers, and he had won the affections of countless women. To him, beauty was but skin deep.
At this thought, he frowned slightly. “To speak frankly without fear of the Princess’s laughter: after shaving my head, the number of people who confessed their feelings to this monk has not decreased but increased compared to before. Perhaps this monk’s cultivation is still insufficient, and he hasn’t done well enough, which is why they act this way.”
Seeing Qingchen genuinely reflecting, Chu Yunge shook her head.
“That’s not it. On the contrary, it’s because you’ve done too good a job as a monk—that’s why they’re like this.”
Qingchen looked utterly puzzled. “The Princess has this monk completely confused.”
“Asceticism.” Chu Yunge gave the direct answer. “Because you’ve done too good a job as a monk, you exude even more asceticism. The more ascetic you are, the more it scratches at people’s hearts.”
Chu Yunge indicated that she understood this feeling all too well.
This time, genuine bewilderment appeared on Qingchen’s face.
“Qingchen, you truly don’t know your own charm?”
Chu Yunge glanced at him. “You’re aloof and ascetic, and as a monk, you carry an even stronger sense of the forbidden compared to when you were Young Master Qingchen. That’s why they’ve gone so crazy for Master Qingchen.”
Chu Yunge drew closer to Qingchen. “Of course, they also increasingly want to make you go crazy for them. Think about how thrilling that would be.”
Qingchen: “…Thrilling?”
“Mm. Even This Princess feels thrilled just imagining it.”
“Princess.” Qingchen called out, his expression somewhat helpless. Unbidden, an image flashed in his mind of her intimate moments with Li Guangi.
“Just put yourself in their shoes. Imagine one day making the world-famous Master Qingchen go mad and bow for you—how much sense of accomplishment, how much envy from others.”
Whether others envied it or not was another matter, but making a usually gentle and ascetic person lose control was incredibly enticing. No wonder the maids confessed regardless and the Princess even drugged him to force herself on him.
A forced melon might not be sweet, but some people’s tastes ran to the sour.
Sour could be quite refreshing too.
If he weren’t such a pure soul, she would have wanted to take a bite or two herself.
Sweet, sour, or bitter—she wanted to taste them all.
Master Qingchen naturally could not tell from Chu Yunge’s words whether that ‘him’ or ‘her’ was meant for him or her. He pondered with a thoughtful look, then gave a wry smile.
“I hadn’t considered that.”
Chu Yunge’s voice was lazy. “Human nature is base, that’s all.”
“Everyone hopes to be special, so everyone wants to be the special one for you. They know it’s impossible, yet they refuse to believe it. They think they can make you moved enough to break your precepts. That maid from earlier was just like that.”
“She simply couldn’t accept it, which is why she said ‘she would be special.’”
Qingchen was speechless. “So that’s how it is.”
Qingchen was thoroughly convinced.
He had comprehended many Buddhist principles, yet he had not truly comprehended human nature.
“These words from the Princess have once again opened this monk’s eyes. I’ve benefited greatly.”
He sincerely praised Chu Yunge. “The Princess is a person of great talent, with truly unique insights.”
Chu Yunge: “…”
Was it possible she simply knew human flaws because she herself was a scumbag woman, so she understood these thoughts particularly well?
Looking at Qingchen, who even thanked her, the heartless Chu Yunge sighed.
“No need to be so polite. This Princess isn’t one for teaching others, yet I’ve spouted all this crooked reasoning for no reason. Actually, This Princess just follows one principle: in all things, you’re never wrong—learn to find the reasons in others instead.”
Chu Yunge declared it righteously. She refused to torment herself inwardly.
Qingchen was stunned for a moment, then another, before he couldn’t help but laugh.
This laugh differed from his usual spring-breeze smile.
Chu Yunge glanced over and suddenly understood men’s confidence: was he smiling at her like this to seduce her?
Why else would he smile so captivatingly, like a lotus blooming right before her eyes?
Beautiful, pure, unfeigned—it purified the heart.
Chu Yunge sighed. “My Master Qingchen, though your smile is lovely, for your own safety, smile less in the future. Lest you stir women’s desire to conquer.”
Hadn’t the maids been moved by lust? Sending them away was all the more necessary, lest they use some honey trap to betray and scheme against her, their master.
Compared to the maids, she had little conscience but plenty of lust.
She didn’t want her mind filling with lines like ‘to be admired from afar but not profaned,’ either. Modern people were mostly perverts—they only wanted to profane.
Thinking of that lotus fragrance she had smelled last time made her even more eager to study the principle behind its emission.
A disaster of a handsome man.
She, whose heart had been still as water, felt her appetite stirring again from just one smile.
Qingchen: “…”
Under Chu Yunge’s gaze, Qingchen slowly withdrew his smile, feeling inexplicably uneasy.
He glanced once, then averted his eyes to avoid meeting hers. He turned back, took a food box from the little bald attendant’s hands, and opened it to change the subject.
“Princess, last time you said you wanted to eat lotus flowers. This monk has brought some.”
Qingchen lifted the first layer of the food box, revealing two lotus flowers beneath.
“These are lotus flowers, coated in egg batter and flour then deep-fried. They’re quite good, but they need to be fried fresh to stay crisp, so this monk didn’t fry them ahead of time.”
Chu Yunge nodded. “Then have them fried fresh at lunch.”
What she had wanted last time was indeed fried lotus flowers, but what she craved just now was a different lotus.
This lotus was not that lotus—just a substitute. But better than nothing; she would make do.