"You silly girl, don't talk nonsense." Yao Ye was mortified by Yue'er's snide comments, yet she couldn't help but pay close attention to Xu Ran's gaze, feeling both shy and hopeful.
"I'm not talking nonsense. Brother Xu Ran has been looking at you all the time. Unlike me, there's nothing much to see," Yue'er muttered. Although she and Yao Ye were sisters, they had different mothers, so she couldn't possibly be like Yao Ye.
"Everyone has a desire for beauty, what do you know, little Yue'er?" Xu Ran said in annoyance as he flicked Yue'er's forehead.
"So I'm not pretty? Wuu wuu. Even though I don't have a great figure, I have learned a lot, I can do anything." Yue'er covered her forehead with one hand and lifted her head to look at Xu Ran with the other.
In the palace, naturally, there were people who taught them about physiological knowledge, and she, being a quick learner, had learned a bit more.
She heard the palace maids saying that if a little loli is tied up and then whimpers, it would make many people like her, and it could arouse their perverted interests.
"Oh? What can you do? I don't understand what you're saying?"
Yao Ye was thunderstruck by Yue'er's crude words, standing there with eyes wide open, unable to imagine such words coming from her little sister's mouth. How could a princess... how could...?
Xu Ran was also stunned for a moment. Even for him, it took a while to recover. Was this little girl corrupted just like that? He used to be the one corrupting others, and this was the first time he met such a dark-minded and knowledgeable little sister.
This is outrageous.
But he was actually curious; he did wonder what the native knowledge of this world was like.
Because of his great strength, there might be many different solutions to problems.
"If you say you don't understand, that would be strange."
Seeing Xu Ran's gentlemanly demeanor, Yue'er puffed her cheeks in pride. Who didn't know that Xu Ran had always been romantic, seducing the Sect Master of the Yunlan Sect, as well as the Mittel Family, the Snake-People Tribe... It could be said that beauties of various temperaments had different types of relationships with Xu Ran.
Fortunately, Xu Ran was a good man, and everyone was eager to send their daughters to his side.
If Xu Ran's image was a bit worse, would he have become a brutal lecher, and then wouldn't all the major families warn their beautiful girls not to go out lest Xu Ran set his eyes on them?
"I am very pure. Although my feelings for Yun Yun and the others are deep, that's all they are, just feelings. In other respects, I'm utterly clueless," Xu Ran reasoned, deciding to maintain his shining image, lest 'a repeated rumor becomes a fact' and his innocence be destroyed.
"Really?"
Yue'er widened her eyes suspiciously at Xu Ran, seeming to ponder the credibility of his words. Yao Ye had been about to scold Yue'er not to discuss these filthy topics, but everyone has a gossip-loving heart, even Yao Ye was no exception.
Most of the rumors about Xu Ran were fabricated. At least now, their understanding of Xu Ran was completely different from the circulating rumors, especially regarding his personality. Although Xu Ran was very strong, when talking to him, it never felt like conversing with someone superior, but rather like interacting with an outstanding male peer.
"Of course it's true. I'm always cultivating in my daily life, so I don't have time to understand other things. Especially in that respect, I'm pure as a blank sheet of paper, and with no one to teach me, I naturally don't know much," Xu Ran came up with a plausible explanation. He... was really quite naive.
"Is that so?" It wasn't just Yue'er; even Yao Ye had some doubts about Xu Ran. Even Yao Ye knew some things; could Xu Ran be that naive? Still as pure as a blank sheet of paper, what did that make them?
But after thinking it over, what Xu Ran said seemed reasonable. Those strong individuals were indeed quite naive, like the president of The Empire's Alchemist Association, who spent his life on alchemy. He was an expert in elixirs, but in other areas, he was not even as good as an ordinary person.
Human energy is limited; the stronger someone is, the more they focus all their energy on one thing. Xu Ran's strength was awe-inspiring, and he probably spent all his time and energy on cultivation, likely even needing maids to take care of daily life tasks, let alone those filthy matters.
Yao Ye, as the Eldest Princess of The Empire, had a much more complex mind and had to consider many things in the imperial palace. She was well aware that she would never become a strong individual in this lifetime. Her energy had been consumed, so her cultivation growth rate was even worse than Yue'er's.
Both women felt somewhat ashamed for a moment. It seemed that Xu Ran truly was a noble gentleman, and those girls were probably trapped by his talents.
"Alright, I believe you. In that respect, I'm an expert. There are people in the palace who taught me." Yue'er thought it over; if no one had taught her, she would never have known about those things in her life. Xu Ran, though strong, was actually limited by his strength and therefore didn't have the channels to obtain that kind of information.
She proudly patted her modest chest, finally finding something in which she could surpass Xu Ran.
But... was this really something to be happy about?
A cute little sister shouldn't turn into a dirty loli, should she?
"Come closer, I'll tell you some things, then you'll know how amazing I am," Yue'er hesitated for a moment, then waved to Xu Ran to come closer. She felt that if Xu Ran really didn't know about those things, if she told him, she might be able to turn defeat into victory and win Xu Ran's favor.
"What? Whipping?"
Xu Ran was flabbergasted.
"Shush, keep it down, don't let my sister hear," Seeing Xu Ran's astonished reaction, Yue'er was also flushed with embarrassment. She had only heard about these from people in the palace; she didn't know.
"What else, what else?"
"Hanging..." Yue'er recalled the strange and bizarre stories the palace maids had shared with her.
Yao Ye's strength wasn't weak, and from the key words Xu Ran blurted out in shock, she could piece together some things.
She hadn't paid too much attention to that excess in the past. But in the imperial palace, it wasn't uncommon for an imperial concubine to have an affair one day, or for some imperial uncle or brother to abduct a common girl the next... And as the Eldest Princess, she often had to deal with such matters, so she was exposed to quite a lot. Even more outrageous than what Yue'er knew. After all, how could the palace maids dare to tell Yue'er those truly evil things?
"Stop, stop. Princess Yao Yue, I feel we're getting off track. What you're talking about seems a bit different from what I was thinking," cough cough, Xu Ran was enlightened after listening for a while. These maids in the palace knew quite a lot indeed. With so many emperors, there were bound to be a few rotten eggs... Quite normal...
"Huh?" Yue'er stood there dumbfounded, confused.