A certain famous female writer once said, "The passage to a woman's heart... (look up the rest yourself)."
Since losing herself to Xu Xiao was already a fact, and the secrets she had heard from him were so shocking, especially the secret of A Zhu's birth parents...
In the end, A Zhu stopped crying and making a fuss. She let Xu Xiao help her dress, then sat down to eat with a cold face.
Women, well, sometimes all you had to do was give them a way down the steps, and they would gradually soften.
A Zhu understood that she could not resist. A woman like her could forget about standing against Xu Xiao.
Judging by how Xu Xiao could pass judgment on the heroes of the realm and knew so many secrets, this ugly-faced man was definitely not someone to be trifled with.
A weak woman like her had no choice but to face the facts and bow her head. Besides, she truly was interested in the secrets Xu Xiao spoke of.
She was especially eager for news of her birth parents. Having grown up an orphan, she desperately wanted to verify whether what Xu Xiao had told her was true.
At the table, Xu Xiao slowly sampled A Bi's cooking.
There was a pot of plain rice porridge, two or three side dishes, and a fresh fish just caught from the lake. Xu Xiao ate with relish.
Whether it was a feast of mountain delicacies at the Dali royal residence or A Bi's simple farmhouse dishes, Xu Xiao found them both good.
During the apocalypse, he had often filled his stomach with things ordinary people would never have imagined. Now, having anything to eat at all was good enough.
Now that he had power, Xu Xiao looked back on those hard days and only regretted not activating his cheat sooner, wasting seven years in the apocalypse for nothing.
After eating and drinking his fill, Xu Xiao looked at A Bi, who sat timidly to one side, and smiled as he spoke:
"A Bi, your cooking really is excellent. Sorry to trouble you with the meals for the next few days. Afterward, I guarantee you'll both live in embroidered clothes and feast on delicacies."
A Bi nodded timidly and glanced at Xu Xiao, whose eyes were full of appreciation, before lowering her head again in fear.
Compared with the young master Murong they had served in the past, Xu Xiao's face really was much uglier. He looked like a skeleton, barely human at all.
What young woman didn't hope her man would be handsome?
But things had come to this, and all they could do was sigh helplessly.
Xu Xiao could also tell that A Bi was afraid of him, but he could only try to reassure her:
"Don't be so afraid. This isn't what my face originally looked like. In a few days, I'll find a few more people with profound Internal Energy to absorb, and it'll naturally get much better. I may be unscrupulous, but now that you're my women, I won't hurt you."
"In a few days, once I've finished my important business, you can put your minds at ease and enjoy all the glory and riches the world has to offer."
Faced with Xu Xiao's grand promises, A Zhu continued sipping her porridge with a cold face, while A Bi kept her head down and timidly answered, "Mm."
At that, Xu Xiao had little more to say. A Zhu and A Bi were two different kinds of people.
The former had inherited some of her mother's and father's genes. She looked weak, but was stubborn at heart.
The latter had the most common temperament among women of the Northern Song era: gentle and patient, or, one might say, submissive to whatever came her way.
In the original story, when Murong Fu ended up with nothing and lost his mind, only the loyal A Bi remained at his side.
Normally, A Bi was somewhat clever and lively, but after going from a maiden to a married woman overnight, she could no longer be lively.
"All right, once you've finished eating, rest for a while, and then we'll go to Mantuo Manor. There's another girl there I need to take away."
Seeing that neither woman would pay him any attention, Xu Xiao had no choice but to give his instructions regardless.
"Ah! Young mistress! Are you going to make a move on the young mistress?" A Bi exclaimed.
A Zhu, beside her, also shot him an angry look. The words "flower thief" were practically shining in her big eyes.
"Of course. They say Wang Yuyan is as beautiful as a fairy from heaven, so naturally I have to see her. Murong Fu doesn't know how to appreciate her, but I can't bear to see a beauty shed tears."
Xu Xiao made no attempt to hide his desire.
A mere pair of pretty maids was nowhere near enough to satisfy his appetite.
Having tasted the marrow, he craved its flavor. Last night's pleasures had not suppressed Xu Xiao's lust; instead, they had shown him a new joy. Naturally, he could not pass up Wang Yuyan, the most beautiful woman in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.
The jade statue in the Langhuan Blessed Land alone had already set his heart racing with longing for her.
It was said that Wang Yuyan looked exactly like Li Qiushui, the woman the statue depicted, only even more striking and radiant. How could he pass up such a beauty?
Now that he had power, he naturally had to sleep with the most beautiful women, eat and drink the most delicious things, and, while he was at it, do the most outrageous things. What kind of man would he be if he had transmigrated only to shrink back in fear?
Seeing the delight on Xu Xiao's face, A Zhu and A Bi exchanged a glance, then shook their heads in private sorrow.
The man before them was not someone the two of them could change with a little cleverness. Now that he had set his sights on Wang Yuyan, all they could do was mourn for her.
But if this scoundrel really takes the young mistress, with her beauty, will he still treat us sincerely?
Without meaning to, A Zhu had thought of another question, but she quickly shook her head and put it aside.
It was in women's nature to compare themselves with others, and hearing such news, they could not help feeling worried.
In this era, three wives and four concubines were normal. Judging by how he had behaved like a starving ghost of lust last night, he would definitely not have just one woman at his side.
And so, with the two women in a somewhat complicated mood, Xu Xiao held one in each arm and flew toward the island where the Wang Clan lived.
The Wang Clan and the Murong Family were on excellent terms. The two families were related by marriage, and both had established holdings outside Gusu City.
With the two women guiding him and flying through the air, Xu Xiao reached the Wang Clan's Mantuo Manor in less than half an hour.
He landed with a beauty at either side, surrounded by brightly blooming camellias.
"To plant an entire island with Yunnan camellias here in Jiangnan-Madam Wang's feelings for Duan Zhengchun truly run deep."
Walking amid the flowers, he unhesitatingly blurted out Madam Wang's sordid business.
"Ah?" A Bi, who had no guile at all, gasped beside him, then hurriedly covered her mouth.
She had never expected to hear such explosive news.
Madam Wang adored camellias and hated men setting foot on the island. For that reason, she had spared no expense planting camellias all over the mountain and even turned men from outside into flower fertilizer.
Yet according to Xu Xiao, she had done all that to remember a man. How could A Bi not be shocked?
A Zhu, meanwhile, heard the familiar name and could not help asking, "Is the Duan Zhengchun you're talking about the same person you told me about before?"
"Of course." Xu Xiao turned his head with the hint of a smile and said:
"Other than your womanizing father, the Prince of Zhennan, who else has enough charm to win over Madam Wang? No, I should say Madam Li."
"After all, her dead husband was another man made to wear a green hat. Even his daughter was Duan Zhengchun's own flesh and blood."
With that, Xu Xiao glanced at A Zhu, then teased:
"Come to think of it, you and Wang Yuyan really are sisters with the same father and different mothers."
"You!" Unable to stand his teasing, A Zhu huffed angrily and started walking ahead.
But after only two steps, a pair of warm, large hands caught her around the waist and pulled her back.
"You, honestly. Don't be so headstrong. Whether it's you or this younger sister of yours, I'm determined to have you both."
"Don't think me shameless. Compared with your original fates, following me is how you'll truly enjoy great blessings."
Unable to resist, A Zhu could only pound Xu Xiao's chest twice with her fists to vent her displeasure.
Xu Xiao merely smiled and paid it no mind. With an arm around A Zhu and A Bi's hand in his, he headed farther into the island.
Women, well, sometimes letting them throw a little tantrum was also a way for them to release their emotions.
At least she was no longer crying that she wanted to live or die. That counted as progress.
With the two beauties close, Xu Xiao strolled through Mantuo Manor as he pleased. Before long, he heard women giggling nearby.
Who else could the young women on the island be but Wang Yuyan and a few of her maids? Xu Xiao immediately headed toward the flower bushes where the voices came from.
A Zhu and A Bi exchanged a glance. They had already recognized the voice as their young mistress Wang Yuyan's.
This starving ghost of lust had actually run into the person he was looking for the moment he set foot on the island.