After the evening banquet ended, Lu Yuzhu, Zhou Xuetang, and Xiao Ningxue did not take their leave as Liu Changxu had expected. Instead, they headed straight for their rooms in the Purple Tenuity Palace. Their familiarity with the place made it clear that they were very close to Duan Yuwei.
When he followed his wife, Duan Yuwei, into her bedroom, his eyes widened the moment he stepped inside, his face filling with astonishment.
Zi Ling and the other seven maids stood gracefully before him, like eight delicate flowers blooming beneath the moonlight. They wore gauzy robes as light as mist, embroidered with fine threads in elegant floral patterns that shimmered beneath the gentle caress of the lamplight. Tiny tassels along the hems swayed with their faint breaths and movements, like heads of grass stirring in the wind.
Rather than concealing their graceful figures, the translucent gauze perfectly outlined their exquisite curves. Beneath the sheer fabric, their skin looked as smooth and warm as mutton-fat jade, glowing with an alluring sheen. Their faces were picturesque, their eyes like pools of clear spring water, brimming with vivacity and bashfulness. Their delicate noses were finely shaped, their cherry lips red without rouge, and the slight upward curve of their mouths held just the right touch of gentle warmth.
The scene seemed to drape the entire bedroom in a veil of gorgeous gauze, filling it with an intimate, enchanting atmosphere.
Liu Changxu was thoroughly stunned. His eyes full of astonishment, he quickly cast a questioning glance at Duan Yuwei, hoping she would offer an explanation.
Yet Duan Yuwei acted as though she had not noticed her husband's searching gaze, not even sparing him a glance from the corner of her eye. Turning gracefully toward Zi Ling and the other maids, she parted her red