Dongfang Bai was utterly bewildered. This was the first time anyone had carried her over his shoulder like this, and her instinct was to slap the fellow dead. In the end, however, she held back.
Once she had wheedled the Mount Hua Sect's top-secret intelligence out of him, she would kill him.
After entering the boudoir, Tian Hao set the beauty on his shoulder down and reached back to close the door.
"How much silver would it take to buy your freedom from this place?"
Tian Hao sat down on a stool, legs planted wide, and asked.
Before coming, he had already drawn up a targeted strategy in his head. His first priority now was to dispel Aunt Dongfang's hostility and ensure his own safety. Then he could find an opportunity to download her data.
"Young hero, do you want to keep me as your mistress?"
Momentarily taken aback, Dongfang Bubai leaned forward, bringing her flawless, jade-like face close to inspect him. Finally, she smiled.
Her main reason for staying at Like Water Through the Years as its star courtesan lately was to experience what it felt like to be a woman, and to unwind a little.
What could she do? At the end of the day, she was still a woman!
"Please behave yourself, Auntie. My upbringing was very strict. My benefactor, my master, and my master's wife wouldn't allow me to keep a mistress outside."
Tian Hao put a hand against the face before him and pushed it away. He had never intended to keep this Aunt Dongfang as his mistress.
Besides, he was only eighteen this year, while Aunt Dongfang had to be at least thirty-five—nearly twice his age. He certainly wasn't going to let this old auntie get such a bargain.
"Auntie?"
Her dark brows twitched slightly, and anger surged in Dongfang Bai's heart, but she ultimately forced herself to swallow it.
"Then why would you buy my freedom, young hero? Fleeting Years values me very highly. It would take at least ten thousand taels of silver."
"Here are fifteen thousand taels in banknotes. Take them and buy your freedom."
With extravagant generosity, he pulled a wad of banknotes from his sleeve. Each was worth a thousand taels, fifteen in total. His master's wife had stuffed them into his hands before he came down the mountain.
Of course, this was his own money to begin with, part of the treasure from Guan Family Fort.
He, Tian Hao, now counted as someone with the superpower of money!
"You really want to keep me?"
Looking at the thick stack of banknotes on the table, Dongfang Bai froze, unable to fathom what the man before her truly intended.
Could this brat have fallen at the hem of her pomegranate-red skirt too?
Still, she had to admit that having a man fling money around like dirt for her felt rather nice.
He just wasn't much to look at. Otherwise, she wouldn't have minded teasing him a little.
"Don't misunderstand. It's just that you look a little like my late mother, Auntie. If she hadn't died back then, she would probably be about your age now."
Suddenly growing melancholy, Tian Hao couldn't help recalling his mother in this world.
He should count as having been reincarnated, rather than reborn by possessing someone else's body. He had already had vague sensations while in his mother's womb, so his mother in this world was truly his mother.
Unfortunately, this world was far too dark and chaotic. Back then, he had been too young and too powerless to protect his parents.
"Auntie? Mother?"
The delicate hand inside her sleeve clenched hard, fine veins twitching on its back.
Am I really as old as you make me sound?
"You jest, young hero. I am but three times eight years of age, hardly the same as your mother."
Forcing out a smile, Dongfang Bai silently recited the Heart-Cleansing Mantra, suppressing the anger in her heart.
"Thirty-eight? You are different from my mother, then. If she were still alive, she would only be thirty-seven this year, a year younger than you."
Tian Hao nodded in understanding. That age sounded quite plausible to him.
The version of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer from his previous life had been pretty ridiculous in many respects, but if he worked it out carefully, Auntie Dongfang was definitely nearing forty.
After all, ten years before the story began, she had already been able to scheme against Ren Woxing, suppress the powerful members of the Sun-Moon Demon Cult loyal to him, and become its leader. Her strength certainly couldn't have been lacking.
In the story, Dongfang Bai had been no child when she became the disciple of the Sun-Moon Demon Cult's leader from two generations earlier. She had definitely been nearly twenty.
"Three times eight means twenty-four!"
Dongfang Bai corrected him one word at a time, her pale, jade-like hand clenching even tighter.
"Stop pretending to be young, Auntie. Judging by the wear on your teeth, you're at least thirty-five. Huh, do you like chive pancakes too?"
Tian Hao really disliked women who lied. Little Zhang's mother in the neighboring Great Yuan Kingdom had once spoken words of profound wisdom: the prettier a woman, the better she was at deceiving people.
They really were words of profound wisdom. This auntie before him actually wanted to pretend she was young right in front of him. Far too dishonest.
"How did you know I like chive pancakes?"
Her expression shifted slightly. Dongfang Bai even wondered whether a traitor had appeared among her subordinates. Otherwise, how could this man know she liked chive pancakes?
"There's a piece of chive stuck to the inside of your teeth. I had some chive pancakes just now too. They were pretty good."
Tian Hao pointed out the beauty's flaw without the slightest hesitation. He had never believed that good-looking people somehow had different bodies from ordinary people.
Descriptions like "breath fragrant as orchids" and "sweet-scented sweat" were all lies. Even if they were true, it only meant someone had been marinated in perfume until the scent soaked through.
"..."
Those words left Dongfang Bai, who had been suspecting her underlings, mortified. She hurriedly poured a cup of tea and drank it to rinse her mouth.
This was far too embarrassing!
At the same time, she felt this brat knew a little too much. Should I kill him right now to silence him?
"How old are you?"
Forcing down the urge to hack him apart, Dongfang Bai brought up another topic to keep the awkwardness from lingering.
"Eighteen this year!"
Tian Hao proudly puffed out his chest. He was right on the dividing line between adulthood and childhood, which was why he had just had the nerve to demand that she call him a young hero.
He was still a fresh, tender young lad!
"I'm not thirty-eight yet. I'm merely four times nine years of age."
After falling silent again, Dongfang Bai revealed her true age. At least it was a little better than thirty-eight.
Still, calculated that way, she really was about the same age as this brat's mother. For a moment, she was filled with emotion.
If that calamity hadn't happened back then, she would long since have married and had children. Her child would probably have been this old too.
"Thirty-six? You really are an old maid. But you've taken such good care of yourself, Auntie. You don't even have crow's feet. Just like my master's wife, you only look twenty-something."
At this point, Tian Hao couldn't help marveling at the wonders of internal power. Although it couldn't grant immortality, extending one's lifespan was no problem, and it could even preserve one's youth-especially Daoist internal power, like that of the Carefree Sect's love-triangle trio.
"Has no one ever told you that you're terrible at talking?"
The words "old maid" made Dongfang Bai's delicate hand tighten inside her sleeve again, and the urge to kill him to silence him resurfaced.
This brat knew far too much!
"My master's wife has said that, actually. But I believe men and women should be equal. And if we want equality between men and women, we have to maintain fairness. Women shouldn't receive excessive preferential treatment. That kind of treatment is itself a form of discrimination.
Women can hold up half the sky too!"
Nodding, his expression turning solemn, Tian Hao voiced his own ideals.
There was certainly nothing wrong with protecting women, but flowers raised in a greenhouse couldn't withstand wind and rain. Sometimes, moderation was necessary.
An appropriate amount of tempering helped people grow, and naturally, the same applied to women.
Just like the way he drilled and trained his junior elder sister-look how quickly she had improved over the past few months.
"Women can hold up half the sky too!"
Murmuring those words, Dongfang Bai was deeply moved.
Her true identity was no secret among the cult's upper ranks. Although those people acted respectfully on the surface, inwardly they all looked down on her for being a woman.
Even her closest brother, Tong Baixiong, had changed somewhat after learning she was a woman.
That was men's innate disdain for women. She had never expected to encounter a brat who valued women here in Mount Hua territory.
"In the past, humans needed bodies strong enough to fight off external threats to survive. Women were indeed at a considerable disadvantage in that regard. But now we've entered a civilized society and invented weapons.
Whether a man or a woman, anyone stabbed through a vital spot with a sword will die. Not to mention the emergence of internal power. Women are no worse than men, and even have considerable advantages in some areas.
Besides, the greatest difference between us humans and wild beasts is intelligence. There's no gap between men and women in intelligence.
We can foresee that in future civilizations, men and women will no longer be treated differently. True equality will be achieved, and women will even be able to become rulers of nations through the normal process."
Seeing that Dongfang Bai was moved, Tian Hao stepped up his efforts to talk her around.
If he wanted to win the approval of a powerful woman like her, this was definitely the right angle.
Before you continue