Back when she had been the Holy Maiden of Martial Soul Hall, she had been raised according to the standards of Qian Xunji's fiancée. From her bearing to her looks, every aspect of her had been meticulously refined to perfection.
She possessed a charm steeped and mellowed by the years—not the fresh, radiant beauty of a young girl, but something deeper.
Like a jar of wine sealed away for years, whose fragrance became all the richer and more restrained once the lid was lifted.
Having borne a child seemed not to have diminished her charm in the slightest. On the contrary, it had made her allure more layered, more evocative.
That feeling was somewhat different from Ah Yin's.
Ah Yin had, after all, been reborn. Though she too carried the charm of a mature woman, her body was not yet truly that of a fully mature beauty. The fullness and softness tempered by childbirth and time had yet to fully take shape in her.
But Bibi Dong, standing beside him at this moment, was beauty in the truest sense.
There was a graceful completeness about her, carefully polished by time and experience.
She possessed both the gentle warmth that came only after becoming a mother and the authority and sharpness accumulated over years as the Pope of Martial Soul Hall. Interwoven, the two formed a unique aura that was contradictory yet harmonious.
Beneath her robes, that body was smooth-lined and voluptuous. Every curve carried the composure and weight unique to a mature woman, like an exquisite portrait of a beauty rendered in perfectly balanced shades of ink—the longer one looked, the harder it became to look away.
"Sure enough..."
"Once a man goes bad, there's only the first time and countless times after..."
Gu Linyuan muttered.
Sometimes, that forbidden thrill