Liang Chen calmly looked at the faces of the seven girls that were offering themselves to him. Faced with his calm gaze, even the two previously composed elder sisters were starting to blush, shrinking their necks slightly. After only a few seconds, which felt like several hours, Liang Chen turned away, waving his hand and tossing the bedsheets at the girls."Put on some clothing, I have no idea where I should look. It was Song Bowen who put you up to this, wasn"t it?"
The silken bedsheets landed on the girls, covering their heads. The five youngest quickly grabbed the sheets and wrapped them around themselves, covering their practically nude bodies. But while the five youngest were doing this, the two oldest grit their teeth, looking at Liang Chen with determined gazes, only taking a small piece from the bedsheets to cover their most private parts.
"Are we truly so unattractive that you won"t even look at us? Despise us if you will, but this is something we must do for our nation."
Not only were they presenting themselves, practically nude, which was already shameful enough, but Liang Chen didn"t even look at them, making it even more shameful to them. But even if he despised them for acting like harlots, which is what they a.s.sumed was the reason behind him looking away, they still had to do it. Liang Chen turned his gaze back to the girls, tilting his head slightly.
"Despise you? While I do feel a bit of loathing right now, it"s not towards you."
His loathing wasn"t aimed at them, but rather at himself, or more precisely, his past self. Looking at the seven girls standing in front of him right now, he was reminded of his past self. Just like Liang Chen had been unable to help his parents when they were executed, these seven girls were unable to properly a.s.sure the safety of their nation and their people.
The difference between them was that Liang Chen had been able to change, clawing his way through painful training, slowly acc.u.mulating more strength. Of course, these girls could do the same as him, but they didn"t dare to do so. Liang Chen had been all alone when he started his torturous training, even if he died, nothing would have changed, no one would have been implicated. But if anything happened to these girls, it could easily affect the entire nation, making it so that they didn"t dare easily risk their lives.
Liang Chen stood up from the bed, taking out some large robes from his interspatial ring and wrapping them around the two eldest girls, fully covering their bodies. After doing so, he gave a slight shake of his head.
"I don"t despise you, I both pity and somewhat respect you. I pity you because you have to resort to something like this in an attempt to a.s.sure the safety of your nation, but I also respect you for being willing to sacrifice your chast.i.ty and reputation for your nation and its people. But that does not mean that I will accept you into my bed."
They were willing to sacrifice something that was supremely important to most girls, all so that their citizens could be safer, this was an admirable thing. Liang Chen sat down on the edge of the bed after wrapping up the eldest sisters, but they still didn"t relent, putting on bitter smiles as they looked at Liang Chen, their expressions looking as if they were about to cry.
"Are we really that unattractive?"
They had no choice but to push on, it was already too late for them to pull back. If they simply left now, they found it likely that this event and their actions might actually leave behind a bit of bitterness or anger in Liang Chen, which would only make it harder to a.s.sure the safety of their nation. Of course, they only thought like this because they had no idea how Liang Chen actually thought. Facing their bitter expressions, Liang Chen simply shook his head in a calm fashion.
"It has nothing to do with your appearance. I won"t accept you into my bed because it wouldn"t feel right, there is no other reason."
Liang Chen didn"t consider himself picky, nor did he consider these girls unattractive. On the contrary, the four oldest ones were extremely beautiful, with the three others being too young for him. But the simple fact was that none of these girls gave him a sense of peace and belonging, so sleeping with them would feel wrong.
The seven girls looked like they still wanted to say something, but just as the youngest one mustered up her courage and opened her mouth, a loud sound from the hallway interrupted them. The seven girls were immediately spooked, jumping slightly and running to Liang Chen for protection.
"What was that?! Are we under attack!?"
The rooms within this building were specially prepared for important guests that would be visited by maids trained in the s.e.xual arts, so they were supposed to be completely isolated and soundproof. For such a loud sound, as if someone had shattered the walls, to resound through this building, the girls could only guess that the expected a.s.sa.s.sins had arrived. But contrary to their scared expressions, Liang Chen wore a much calmer expression, even looking as if he was about to laugh. He stood up from the bed and started heading for the door, letting out a low chuckle.
"That would be the less patient and calm one."
The girls didn"t understand the meaning behind his words, but they felt safer around him, so they quickly followed behind him, entering the hallways. After entering the hallway, Liang Chen saw the expected scene.
Song Bowen and his three brothers were sprawled in the hallway, moving slightly as they struggled to stand up. They weren"t wearing clothing that was as revealing as the clothing of the seven sisters, what they wore was more focused on showing off their masculinity and manliness.
The door to Yan Ling"s room was completely shattered, pieces of it spread around the hallway. Shortly after Liang Chen and the seven sisters entered the hallway, a huffing and puffing Yan Ling stepped out of her room, pointing a shaking finger at the four men.
"What the h.e.l.l do you think you are doing?! Do I look like a harlot to you?!"
It was easy for Liang Chen to guess that Song Bowen had tried to entice Yan Ling, but it seemed to have gone far worse for Song Bowen than it did for his sisters. Song Bowen just barely managed to stand up after being flung out of the room and was just about to retort. But it seemed like Yan Ling had been truly incensed by their actions, so seeing Song Bowen open his mouth, she sent out a swift slap, the wind around her hand accelerating its speed.
Song Bowen was only at the late stage of the Houtian Tower realm, so there was no way for him to dodge, he could only close his eyes and wait for the slap. But the slap never hit him, a calm laughter sounding out.
"Alright, that"s enough, no need to overreact like that, it"s not like they meant anything bad with it. Just take a deep breath and calm down."
Song Bowen warily opened his eyes, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw that Liang Chen had stepped forward and stopped the slap by grabbing onto Yan Ling"s hand. Yan Ling still glared at Song Bowen and his brothers, but she quickly followed Liang Chen"s advice, taking a deep breath to calm down. She then swept the people in the hallway with a quick gaze, stopping on the seven sisters for a short second, her gaze eventually landing on Liang Chen, her lips curling slightly.
"No wonder you are so accepting of it. I didn"t know your tastes were so special, enjoying them all at once."
The seven sisters were clad in either the bedsheets or robes given to them by Liang Chen, but one could just barely see the transparent negligee they were wearing. Liang Chen could tell that Yan Ling"s words were said as a teasing joke, her strange way of apologizing, so Liang Chen fired back with one of his own.
"And I didn"t know that someone like you would wear this kind of cute nightwear, I am truly shocked."
His eyes swept Yan Ling up and down as he spoke. She was clad in a thin nightgown that reached down to just above her knees and was light yellow in color. The entire nightgown was covered in embroidered images of small wolf puppies created using green st.i.tches. Compared to how brutish and mischievous she usually acted, it was a bit strange to see her wearing clothing like this. Yan Ling actually blushed slightly out of embarra.s.sment at being seen like this, but she quickly covered it up with a snort.
"What, you think everyone can be like you? Never sleeping and always clad in robes?"
Liang Chen had already told Yan Ling that he no longer felt sleepy, he had told her while they were on the way here, keeping an eye on the chariot and making sure that it was always fully charged while Yan Ling was sleeping. Liang Chen could tell that Yan Ling was still rather angry at the actions of Song Bowen, so he continued to play around with her to lighten her mood.
"What, you want me to remove my robes, is that what you are trying to say? Pervert."
Liang Chen let go of Yan Ling"s hand, which he had forgotten to let go of earlier, taking a step back and crossing his arms in front of his chest, as if he was trying to shield himself. Yan Ling couldn"t help but break into laughter, as the image she saw in front of her clashed completely with the fierce and monstrous Liang Chen she had seen in the Mystic"s Hidden Realm, the contrast too much for her to bear. Once she finished laughing, she waved her hand at Song Bowen and his siblings, dismissing them.
"You can leave. We will never speak of this again."
Song Bowen and his siblings let out a stealthy sigh of relief. Facing the furious Yan Ling, Song Bowen and his brothers had truly feared for their lives. The 11 siblings quickly cupped their hands and bid Yan Ling and Liang Chen farewell.
"Thank you for letting us leave. I will send over Steward Zhan tomorrow when breakfast is ready. Until then, please feel free to occupy another room while I have someone fix the door."
Despite being somewhat bruised and in some pain, Song Bowen managed to show his skills as a Crown Prince, as well as his thick skin, acting as if nothing has happened. The 11 Song siblings quickly left, leaving behind Yan Ling and Liang Chen. After a short moment of silence, Yan Ling spoke up, her voice a bit low.
"Thank you."
She had lost control in her anger, lashing out at Song Bowen. Had her slap hit, while he was unlikely to die, it would have at least shattered his lower jaw. Liang Chen gave a faint smile, shrugging his shoulders and patting Yan Ling on the head.
"No problem, we all lose control at times. Get some sleep, breakfast is going to be rather interesting."