She was so bashful that she did not even dare look at the vixen's clothes, but she still asked out of curiosity.
"Ling'er would never wear that. Why would you wear it, Your Highness?"
"Because I need to criticize it!"
The princess consort lifted her nearly perfect oval face and declared with righteous conviction.
"To criticize these vixens, I have to delve into their ways. I want to see just how these vixens seduce men, wearing clothes like these all day."
"?"
The little maid looked utterly bewildered. Although she felt her mistress made a good point, something about it still seemed wrong.
The princess consort coughed twice, then spoke with a stern, expressionless face.
"Ling'er, step outside for a moment. I'm going to change."
"Yes!"
Creak!
The door closed.
The little maid soon left the room and began tossing pebbles around the courtyard out of boredom.
Meanwhile, Han Lingxuan furtively picked up the translucent silk undergarment.
She bit down on her rosy lips.
After hesitating for a long time, she finally changed into it.
The candle flame flickered.
In the dim light, the Princess Consort of the Southern Pacifying King stood before the bronze mirror, supple and graceful.
The translucent silk garment outlined her fully ripened figure, making it all the more alluring.
Yet at that moment, she was unbearably irritated, tugging at the bellyband over and over.
"What kind of lousy garment is this? Why is it so small? It can't even cover the important parts!"
She could not help complaining, though she knew perfectly well that her troublesome figure made many clothes seem too small.
She could hardly blame the garment.
After a great deal of effort, she finally managed to arrange the undergarment into something barely acceptable.
Only then did the Princess Consort of the Southern Pacifying King look into the bronze mirror.
In its reflection, her skin, like creamy white jade, appeared even more lustrous.
Paired with that translucent undergarment.
It gave her a unique allure that left even her staring in a daze.
I-it seemed that wearing this made her look even more wanton than those vixens in the brothels...
No! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
She was the Princess Consort of the Southern Pacifying King, dignified and elegant.
How could those vixens possibly compare to her?
She shook her head and hurriedly banished that ridiculous thought, only to keep gazing spellbound into the bronze mirror.
The longer she looked, the more entranced she became, and the more her heart stirred.
Without realizing it, she twisted her jade-white legs together.
She had barely managed to endure three years of imprisonment, but for some reason, wearing clothes like these tonight set something inexplicably fluttering inside her.
It was as though something was about to crawl out, leaving her both frightened and a little expectant.
What a wonderful night...
What an exquisite body...
Why did she have to be all alone?
Perhaps tonight, she should just give in...
No! Absolutely not!
There was a sea of blood between her and that fiend. Besides, she was a princess consort of noble standing. How could she submit to him?
But...
This was so hard to bear!
She agonized for ages, heaven and humanity waging war within her heart.
Only then did she suddenly remember that the fiend was incapable of performing as a man.
The fire in her heart finally subsided.
She spat fiercely.
"Damn these vixen clothes! They really do cause no end of harm. Even someone as steadfast as me nearly fell victim to them. Tonight is an exception. I must never wear clothes like these again."
The Princess Consort of the Southern Pacifying King gritted her teeth.
Then...
She dug out an illustrated book from a corner, one quite popular among the noblewomen of the Tang Kingdom. Apparently, vixens loved learning from it, and once they mastered its contents, they could lure a man's very soul away.
She had never looked at such things before.
But tonight, to send the fiend into cultivation deviation, she could only sacrifice herself and learn a few more pos... pieces of knowledge!
At that thought, she drew a deep breath and opened the illustrated book with trembling hands.
The White Snow Lion Cat sidled over as well.
Chapter 8: Something Has Happened to the Demon Venerable
Beneath the dim candlelight.
A woman and a cat huddled together, poring over a booklet too obscene to look at.
The cat blinked.
Ripples spread through those glass-like eyes.
Meanwhile, the Princess Consort of the Southern Pacifying King's lovely face flushed scarlet as she looked at the shameful positions.
"Pah!"
"Utterly vulgar and shameless!"
"Only those vixens would look at things like this."
She could not help spitting in disdain.
Then...
She kept reading.
Her lovely face grew redder and redder, and she bit her lips harder and harder. The White Snow Lion Cat curled into a ball, making whimpering sounds that resembled sobs.
A long time later, they finished leafing through the entire illustrated book.
The Princess Consort of the Southern Pacifying King exhaled a stale breath and put the book away, her face expressionless.
She picked up a wooden basin and gathered two undergarments.
Then she opened the door and headed outside.
"Your Highness, where are you going so late at night?"
The little maid asked in confusion.
The princess consort paused and tossed out a curt reply.
"To bathe and wash my undergarments!"
With that, she hurried toward the mountain behind the residence.
Behind her, the Lion Cat, who had watched her go through the entire illustrated book, followed close at her heels.
The cat needed a bath too.
An hour later, at the Demon Venerable Pavilion.
Dressed in black robes, Fang Yang walked out with an expressionless face.
An ineffably mysterious aura shrouded him the entire time.
It made him seem like an abyss.
Mysterious and unfathomable, impossible to see through.
The guards at the entrance were the same cultists who had stood watch outside the secret chamber earlier.
The instant they saw Fang Yang emerge.
They all lowered their heads.
They felt a terrifying pressure radiating from the Demon Venerable.
That pressure seemed to come from the Heavenly Dao itself, making their souls tremble.
It was stronger than it had ever been before.
Only when the Demon Venerable was about to leave the Demon Venerable Pavilion did they begin whispering cautiously among themselves.
"Why do I feel like the Demon Venerable is stronger than before?"
"I feel the same. Could the Demon Venerable have broken through?"
"Surely not? Everyone outside is saying the Demon Venerable suffered cultivation deviation. Why else would he spend a whole month in secluded cultivation?"
"..."
They speculated in hushed voices.
Before you continue