Chapter 8 Yang Lianghan, Who Doesn't Get Close To Women
To be fair, the cafeteria in front of him wasn't too big.
Especially in the eyes of Ouyang Rong, who had seen it all in his previous life.
But it couldn't stand the fact that it was small in the distance but large nearby, close at hand.
So, opening his eyes and looking over, it really occupied most of his vision, causing even a righteous Gentleman to fall into brief contemplation… He asked with a stern and upright air:
"What are you doing?"
She trembled in fright, shrank back, and knelt down obediently.
"Reporting to Lang Jun, this humble servant came in to bring you a hot water bottle to warm up the bed. Seeing that you had fallen asleep leaning against the pillow, I thought of helping you lie down so you could sleep more comfortably."
"What's your name?"
"Ban… Xi."
The Aunt's personal maid had a slightly strange accent.
Ouyang Rong looked down at her condescendingly.
The maid was wearing a cyan Ru skirt that reached her chest, with a light red belt tied around her waist. Although she was called Ban Xi, her figure was graceful and not thin at all. However, at this moment, she was kneeling obediently at his feet, her eyes lowered, looking pitiful. Her face was also painted with two thin eyebrows, so her elegant name was not wrongly chosen.
"Where are you from?"
"Silla."
Ouyang Rong immediately understood that she was a Xinluo Bi. The Aunt was really willing to spend money to be fashionable.
Don't look at how fierce the battle for the imperial succession is in the Great Zhou Dynasty right now, and how uneasy the court in the capital is every day, but Luoyang City is a scene of prosperity and all nations coming to pay tribute.
Because this is the foundation of the Great Zhou Dynasty: after experiencing hundreds of years of contention between the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the great fusion of Han and barbarians, this newly emerging unified dynasty has a national strength that surpasses all the surrounding barbarian states. Its culture, military, and economy are all hegemonic, and it is an unquestionable celestial empire that governs all directions.
Moreover, this is still an outward-expanding universal dynasty that radiates a strong Chinese culture to the outside world. It should be called an "empire", especially the border troops full of martial virtue, who have always been at the forefront of the empire's expansion.
That's how Xinluo Bi came to be.
When the third emperor of the Great Qian, Qian High Ancestor, was still alive, the current Empress Wei had not yet ascended the throne to rule. She was still the Great Qian Empress, and the couple were known as the 'Two Sages' who governed the court together. When Qian Gaozong became seriously ill, the court affairs gradually fell into the hands of Wei Empress.
At that time, the Eastern Barbarians had three kingdoms: Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, which were constantly fighting. Silla, the weakest of the three, formed an alliance with the Great Qian through distant diplomacy and close offense. Although Wei Empress was getting older, she was ambitious and strong-willed. Wherever her hand pointed, the iron cavalry of the Great Qian and the flying swords of the Practitioners flattened the two kingdoms of Goguryeo and Baekje, and the An Dong Protectorate was established to support Silla in unifying the Eastern Barbarians.
Countless women from Goguryeo and Baekje became slaves of the Qian people. Even the Silla kingdom, which bowed its head in submission and paid tribute, had countless Silla women who left the ruined and desolate Eastern Barbarians to seek a living as slaves in the admired Great Qian Dynasty.
These women were either called Xinluo Bi or Goryeo Ji. Because the Eastern Barbarians were close to the Central Plains and had been influenced by Confucian culture for a long time, Xinluo Bi were gentle, obedient, diligent, and had fair skin and round faces… They quickly gained the love and pursuit of the upper class and powerful families of the Great Qian, and even the Great Zhou, and became hot commodities.
Xinluo Bi, along with Bodhisattva Barbarian, Kunlun Slave, and Western Region Ji, became the 'four treasures of showing off wealth' for the nobles of Luoyang…
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but take another look.
"Where's my Aunt?"
"She went to burn incense for Lang Jun. Madam said that the incense at this Donglin Temple is efficacious, and she wants to pray more for Lang Jun."
"Get up. The Aunt isn't here, you don't need to kneel."
Ban Xi got up lightly, presenting the hot water bottle she had been holding tightly in her arms with both hands. She still kept her head lowered, and the skin on her neck exposed between the oblique collar of her Ru clothing was red.
Ouyang Rong took it and casually stuffed it into the quilt. Seeing Ban Xi standing there without leaving immediately, he glanced in the direction of the door.
According to the Aunt's nature, the maids under her command wouldn't dare to disturb him without her permission, and even drag out the time and refuse to leave.
Want to use this to challenge my weakness? Hmph, if it weren't for the Gongde Tower, I would really lose everything.
Ouyang Rong sighed deeply, preparing to let her see what the literati and officialdom call 'Yang Lianghan, Who Doesn't Get Close To Women', and use his awe-inspiring righteousness to drive her away.
But the words came to his lips, and he suddenly changed his mind and said, "Reach out your hand."
The Xinluo Bi's shoulder trembled, and she quickly glanced at the "Tanlang" on the couch with a melancholy expression, but she still shyly and slowly reached out her hand, whispering, "Lang Jun…"
But Ouyang Rong didn't want to dawdle at all. He directly grabbed her hand, and then he held this soft hand and waited quietly for three breaths, slightly raising his eyebrows.
He didn't hear the sound of the wooden fish.
Ouyang Rong raised his head, and the little maid who was secretly looking at him quickly turned her head away, but the admiration and expectation hidden in her eyes did not escape Ouyang Rong's eyes.
He frowned slightly, as if considering it, and said with a serious face: "Next… I need you to cooperate."
Ban Xi nodded immediately, and then seemed to think that she had agreed too quickly, so she quickly shook her head twice, but then seemed to think that she shouldn't be reserved, so she continued to nod.
"Are you nodding or shaking your head?"
She nodded.
Ouyang Rong frowned, "Then, the meaning of nodding for you Silla people should be the same as ours in the Great Qian, right?"
She nodded again.
Ouyang Rong said helplessly, "Speak."
Her face red, she whispered, "It's the same."
Ouyang Rong grasped her hand, with a serious expression, said: "Okay, next, listen to me, let's play a special game, don't be too scared, it's just a game, later we'll pretend nothing happened…"
Ban Xi nodded like a chick pecking at rice, she felt like she couldn't hold her breath anymore, and her head was dizzy… She still became a scheming maid who seduced the head of the family, but why… she's not sad at all, but a little happy! Hmm, it must be because Lang Jun's face is too handsome, especially with this scholarly and melancholy sickly beauty aura… Wuwuwu, this servant can't stand it anymore, I want to rub him into my arms… Aiya, why hasn't he come yet?
Ouyang Rong looked at Ban Xi expectantly: "Could you try to feel extremely resistant, extremely disgusted, extremely nauseated by me, treat me as a bad guy who wants to defile your purity, and you would rather die than submit, and I tie you up, making you unable to move, and then I reach out my hand to touch you…"
Ban Xi: "…"
A certain woman eavesdropping outside the door: "? ? ?"
What kind of special hobby is this, Tanlang? Having been a Gentleman for so long, he wants to experience the taste of a playboy forcing a chaste woman, right?!
At this moment, the two women inside and outside the room felt that their brains were a little overloaded…
Ouyang Rong saw the Xinluo Bi looking at him with her mouth slightly open, as if she was deeply shocked. "Um, why aren't you talking? Why are you staring at me like that… Hey, I'm not a pervert."
In fact, he just wanted to test whether physical contact against a woman's will would deduct Karma, and use this to explore the underlying logic of the Gongde Tower.
"Oh, forget it, you can go out, I want to… be alone."
Ouyang Rong sighed, let go of Ban Xi, and lay back in the quilt, his face full of "boredom".
Unexpectedly, when Ban Xi saw his lifeless appearance, she became even more convinced of her previous judgment.
This Xinluo Bi from a foreign land hesitated to speak in front of the bed, as if she wanted to say, "It's not impossible for Lang Jun to play the role of a wicked young master and a chaste girl, but don't gag her mouth, don't tie her with ropes, and don't spank her…"
However, Ouyang Rong had no interest in listening to her, and waved his hand to send away Ban Xi, who looked reluctant and regretful.
…
Outside Sanhui Courtyard, after getting farther away from the house, Zhen and Ban Xi stood under the eaves, the two staring at each other for a while.
Ban Xi couldn't help but speak first, "Niangzi, did you hear that, Lang Jun's request… makes this servant a little scared."
Zhen said with a straight face, "What's there to be afraid of? Tanlang is just teasing you, you took it seriously. Don't you think it's possible? Tanlang just looks down on your weak willow quality, and is kind-hearted and unwilling to refuse, so he made an excuse. If a man doesn't like a woman, he can have countless excuses. Alright, alright, you can go down first."
Ban Xi's eyes were a little red, she lowered her head and said "Oh", her fingers twisted together, and she retreated.
"Remember!" Zhen suddenly called out to Ban Xi, without turning her head, she said coldly: "Nothing happened in the house today, Tanlang didn't say anything to you, you didn't hear anything! No one outside will ever know about this, otherwise…"
Ban Xi was so frightened that she quickly prostrated herself on the ground and kowtowed, vowing not to talk nonsense. Zhen snorted softly, broke off a green willow branch extending from the long corridor, and left.
However, after she walked away, Zhen's calm and composed expression instantly collapsed. She subconsciously wrapped the broken willow around her index finger, her eyebrows furrowed with worry:
"What to do, what to do, it's all my fault for suppressing him too hard when he was studying before, look at how suffocated he is, his hobbies have already developed to such a heavy taste…"
Finally, the woman in the silk skirt covered her chest with both hands and sighed, "Well, well, at least there is still good news—Tanlang likes women, and not… not being indifferent to women and being close to men."
She shook her hand and scattered the broken willow twigs in her palm: "Forget it, never mind him, being able to marry a Five Surnames woman is enough to pass on the family line, as for the boudoir hobbies… let him do whatever he wants!
"Also, this Ban Xi is not good, she admires the strong but is timid, she is clever but lacks decisiveness, she can't capture Tanlang's heart… I have to add a suitable beautiful maid to Tanlang's room one day, to warm the bed and play with him, let him do whatever he wants, as long as it doesn't spread outside!"
Zhen stood quietly on the corridor for a while. Before leaving, she turned her head and glanced at a peach blossom protruding from outside the tall red wall, muttering:
"Logically speaking, even if you take the land route, it's only a few days later than taking the water route, why haven't you come yet? If you don't come again, Tanlang will go down the mountain…"
…
At night, Sanhui Courtyard, at the dining table.
Ouyang Rong and Zhen sat at the round table to eat. Ban Xi, with some red marks on her forehead, served the Aunt and nephew with rice and vegetables, along with several maids.
Everyone was silent, their expressions as usual, as if nothing had happened in the morning. Ouyang Rong quietly glanced at Ban Xi's forehead.
In fact, there was nothing to say at the dinner table. This era emphasizes not speaking while eating or sleeping, unless it is an important matter.
Soon, dinner ended. Zhen kindly instructed Ouyang Rong a few words, and then left with Ban Xi and the others. Ouyang Rong sent them to the entrance of the courtyard.
"Tanlang, go back and have a good rest."
"Aunt, you too."
It was midnight again, Ouyang Rong woke up, turned over, and subconsciously stretched his hand under the pillow, groping around, but found it was empty… then he realized.
"What are you groping for, there's no phone now… I'm really confused." He muttered, smiled wryly, "But if you want to touch a girl, you can touch her anytime during the day, but why don't you touch her, huh?"
Ouyang Rong turned over, lay on his back in the darkness, staring at the dark ceiling, and thought of Ban Xi's matter during the day, and Zhen's constant silence, but in fact, she always had the Five Surnames noble daughter in mind to honor the family, and he was clear about these little thoughts of the women around him, but…
"I'm sorry, I still want to go home, I don't want to leave any ties." Someone sighed softly in the darkness, and then murmured: "Is there anyone who has completed their Karma, become a Buddha in the flesh, and ascended to Jingtu Underground Palace…"
Ouyang Rong suddenly sat up, and in the next second, he turned over and got out of bed, tiptoed, dressed neatly, and fixed his eyes on the moonlight in front of the bed.
He was going to go to Jingtu Underground Palace again.
…
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