Three women made a play.
But at this moment, the number of women in Chunhe Garden had already exceeded the fingers on one hand.
There was only one and a half men.
One was Chen Yi; the half... was Xiao Wuge.
In such a setting, few men could handle themselves with ease.
Either they were monks free of the six earthly roots, ignorant children, or men raised since childhood amid clouds of rouge and powder.
Chen Yi naturally belonged to none of those three types. His ability to deal with several ladies and misses of extraordinary birth rested entirely on Xiao Wan'er at his side.
Think about it.
When a woman of transcendent, peerless beauty sat beside you, would you still spare the other women a glance?
It was, more or less, a tangible application of the "darkness beneath the lamp" effect.
With Xiao Wan'er, that bright and dazzling lamp, seated in the pavilion, even if she said nothing and merely smiled gently, all the other women lost their radiance.
At least in Chen Yi's eyes, the only woman who could sit beside Xiao Wan'er and shine just as brilliantly was his wife, Lady Xiao Jinghong.
Fortunately, Xiao Die did not know what he was thinking. Otherwise...
Otherwise, she would not have overthought it.
Instead, she might have said as if it were only natural, "Son-in-law has good taste. Compared with the two misses, Xiao Die is naturally far inferior."
Perhaps she would even have worn a shy smile, thinking it something worth being happy about that Chen Yi had placed her alongside Xiao Wan'er and Lady Xiao Jinghong for comparison.
In any case, throughout the afternoon, for roughly two hours—
Chen Yi merely observed the basic etiquette of receiving guests. He sat properly beside Xiao Wan'er and halfheartedly entertained