Chapter 226: Beauty

Chapter 226 Beauty

"Oh?" The other party's words gathered Li Huowang's scattered attention slightly.

"Why say that? I heard before, isn't Liang Country said to be the most fertile place? Other places have droughts, yet people in Liang Country don't go hungry."

"Everyone says Liang Country is good, but how would those who haven't been there know they don't treat people like humans at all!"

After speaking excitedly, Wu Yue seemed to recall some bad memories, clutching her mouth in pain and beginning to retch.

"Hmm?" The other party's words made Li Huowang frown; this description differed greatly from what Bai Lingmiao had said. Her hometown, in her mouth, was a paradise without worries.

Li Huowang gave a glance to Bai Lingmiao sitting beside Xiao Man. Bai Lingmiao, who was drinking water holding a horn cup with both hands, quickly put it down and walked over.

Holding Bai Lingmiao's hand, Li Huowang turned to the woman beside him and asked politely, "Madam, could you elaborate?"

Wu Yue lowered her hand covering her mouth, glanced at the approaching Bai Lingmiao, and finally shook her head.

"It was my rashness. We shouldn't discuss this during meals, lest you lose your appetite. Benefactor, if you truly wish to know, let's speak tomorrow."

Saying this, she turned and left, leaving the two confused behind.

"Miaomiao, in Liang Country, did you live comfortably? Did anyone bully your family? How was the conduct of the officials there?" Li Huowang asked Bai Lingmiao.

Regarding Liang Country, the most likely place for future living, Li Huowang actually knew very little.

He only knew Liang Country was large, and its strength was the strongest among these nations. Beyond that, there was nothing else.

If he truly planned to spend the rest of his life accompanying Bai Lingmiao settled there, this wouldn't do.

"I lived very well! Others dared not bully us! We have many family members, the village chief is my grandfather, and within our village, other uncles and aunts treated me very kindly. Even brothers and sisters of my generation would yield to me."

"Like what Gouwa and Xiao Man said, being looked down upon or disliked due to appearance, that simply didn't exist where we are!"

"Did you only stay at Niu Xin Mountain? What about other places in Liang Country? Have you been there?" Li Huowang asked again, stroking his chin.

"I don't know, I haven't been elsewhere either." Bai Lingmiao's words made Li Huowang pay slight attention to what Baolu's mother had just said.

He was truly curious about what the other party actually wanted to say.

At this moment, Li Huowang saw Sun Baolu far away had drunk until vomiting. He stood up, walked to his side, and led him out of the tent again.

He couldn't wait until tomorrow. Li Huowang planned to ask Sun Baolu first; as her son, he should understand matters regarding his mother.

"Stop drinking, sober up. I'm asking you questions, related to your mother." Li Huowang asked Sun Baolu, who was leaning against a water bucket in a daze.

"Drink! Drink more!" Sun Baolu, smiling foolishly, raised the empty wine cup in his hand and shoved it toward Li Huowang's chest.

"Sigh..." Li Huowang flipped his hand to touch the long sword behind him, grasped the hilt and pulled lightly. In an instant, the sky-high killing intent made Sun Baolu tremble involuntarily, his blurred eyes quickly replaced by extreme fear.

"Clang!" The blade drawn slightly returned to the scabbard. Immediately after, Li Huowang reached out and snatched the empty cup from his hand, scooped a cup of cold water from the nearby bucket, and splashed it directly onto his face. "Sobered up?"

Breathing rapidly, Sun Baolu tremblingly touched the water droplets on his face with his hand, nodding incessantly. "Sobered, sobered!"

"Your mother is from Liang Country? What did she tell you about Liang Country?"

Hearing this question, Sun Baolu's expression became somewhat strange. "Senior Brother Li, what's wrong? We were eating well, why ask this suddenly?"

There was absolutely no need to hide such things, so Li Huowang told him what his mother had just said to him, along with his own concerns.

"If Liang Country is truly as bad as your mother says, then we others must consider whether to settle somewhere else."

Sun Baolu, face very red, lifted his head to look at the full moon in the sky. "Senior Brother Li, may I not say it?"

Li Huowang was somewhat dissatisfied. "Does your family have so many secrets? Can't say this, can't say that. Those who don't know might think you're the Emperor's illegitimate son."

Hearing this, Sun Baolu gritted his teeth fiercely. "Fine! You saved my life and sent me home. Since you want to know, I'll tell you. Look at my mother's appearance, how is it?"

"Hmm?" Li Huowang didn't quite understand which direction this topic was turning. Was this related to the question he just asked?

"My mother looks good, right? Back when she was a young maiden, her appearance was even better than now, truly stunning enough to sink fish and make geese fall!"

"This doesn't sound like words a son uses to comment on his mother. You'd best hold back a bit speaking before an outsider like me." Li Huowang reminded him; Sun Baolu still didn't seem fully sober.

"Senior Brother Li, then you say my mother looks so beautiful, what was she doing in Liang Country before?" Sun Baolu looked at Li Huowang with a bitter smile on his face.

Hearing this, Li Huowang's heart skipped a beat. Regarding this question, he didn't respond, waiting for the other party to speak himself.

"My mother was only fourteen back then, dressed clean and pretty, hired to serve as 'beauty paper' in a household." Sun Baolu trembled as he uttered a word Li Huowang couldn't understand.

"What is beauty paper?"

"My mother used herself to clean others' buttocks! That is called beauty paper!!" Sun Baolu finished saying it almost through gritted teeth.

In this instant, the shocked Li Huowang suddenly understood why his mother retched whenever Liang Country was mentioned, and why she said Liang Country didn't treat people like humans.

Before, his mind thought of being a concubine or a prostitute for others; that was still being human. But such a beautiful woman, in the eyes of some people in Liang Country, her only usable value was apparently fit only for wiping buttocks.

"You think this is disgusting enough? Wrong! This is just the beginning! Do you know what a 'beauty basin' is? People in Liang Country play many tricks!"

Sun Baolu left, leaving only Li Huowang standing alone outside in the chill.

After hearing Sun Baolu's story, he felt somewhat regretful, followed immediately by an instinctive disgust towards such a place.

Compared to them, the Abbess of An Ci Temple appeared infinitely clean.

But when the disgust faded, Li Huowang's face showed deep helplessness next.

He should have thought of this earlier. In this thoroughly mad world, there could never be a paradise. It was merely a difference of slightly worse, or even worse.

"Running these thousand li, what for? I should have just taken over Qingfeng Temple back then."

But in this era, it was merely a thought, after all, he had to consider others needing to return home.

"Senior Brother Li? What's wrong?" Bai Lingmiao poked her head out of the tent worriedly, fearing he had relapsed.

"Nothing, I'm going inside now."

The liveliness inside the tent continued, but looking at the table full of delicacies, Li Huowang no longer had the appetite to eat.

(End of Chapter)