At first, Shen Tang had worried that she would have to move heaven and earth and use every trick in the book to get Xu Quan to "dress as a woman." If he stubbornly refused to his dying breath, she would have to set her sights on the more obedient young Xianyu Jian instead.
As it turned out—
Xu Quan only hesitated for three seconds before agreeing.
Shen Tang: "???"
Where was his dignity???
Who had just been shouting about being a "man"???
Actually, Shen Tang's worry had been completely unnecessary.
Men these days—especially those born into wealth and privilege—lived very refined lives. Everyone loved beauty, and besides, these days, looks mattered when it came to becoming an official. Everyone was a sucker for a pretty face!
Beauty had to be maintained with careful grooming and dressing; natural good looks alone weren't enough. One needed a little help. Fine clothes and accessories, face powder and flower hairpins—those all helped. The current Velvet Flower market was a classic example: men made up over half of its customers.
For instance, "Ride through the flowers, drunk on a thousand cups."
There were countless Word Spirits like that.
Women's clothes were generally more beautiful than men's, and plenty of Literary Scholars who pursued beauty enjoyed wearing them!
As a scion raised on the Xu Clan's money, Xu Quan's daily life might not have been as debauched as "riding horseback beneath a slanted bridge, with red sleeves beckoning from every floor," but he wasn't completely ignorant, either. Being a Martial Gall Warrior didn't mean spending every day in armor, lifting weights and nothing else.
So—
He was actually pretty comfortable with it.
Shen Tang: "...But I'm not!"
When she saw the freshly made "female Martial Gall Warrior Xu Quan," the sheer impact nearly made her