"Aren't you of the fire property?" Yao Ye stared dumbfounded at everything unfolding before her.
She felt she knew too little about Xu Ran.
Water and fire were incompatible; as an alchemist, Xu Ran was naturally of the fire property, yet now he also possessed the water property.
"Your man here can do a little bit of everything." Xu Ran pinched Yao Ye's cheek and began to wipe over her slippery body.
"Don't..." Yao Ye closed her eyes tightly, her eyelashes fluttering. This was not tending to her bath; it was clearly...
But she, lacking any strength in her body, couldn't stop Xu Ran, oh, even in normal circumstances, she couldn't hinder anything Xu Ran wanted to do.
Time became achingly slow.
Yao Ye was slowly drifting off to sleep as Xu Ran gently cleaned the droplets of water from her body with a handkerchief, almost making her forget his other properties with his tenderness.
"Xu Lang is truly a capricious oddity." Yao Ye didn't know which Xu Ran was the real one. The legendary alchemist, the invincible fighter, the playful scoundrel that infuriated Yue'er, or the man before her now, gentle and flawless like jade.
The fact that a legendary fighter would condescend to bathe her so gently had completely captured her heart.
In her view, it was already a rare privilege to be seen by Xu Ran given her lowly status, what merits did she have for him to treat her with such gentleness?
It was rare for husbands to bathe and dress their wives in normal marriages, not to mention the vast differences between her and Xu Ran.
"Why are you staring at me like that? Do you think your husband here is particularly handsome?" Xu Ran struck a handsome pose on purpose, but it only made Yao Ye giggle.
"I just feel a bit embarrassed. How can you be so kind to me?" Yao Ye always felt Xu Ran's kindness towards her was somewhat unreal. Having come from the royal household, she had a clear understanding of the political marriages within, where a woman's status was invariably seen as lower than a man's.
No matter the plane, the gender disparity leading to an imbalance in status existed.
It was the same in both Soul Land and the Fighting Spirit Continent.
Families training strong individuals would typically prioritize male cultivators first and female cultivators later. After all, cultivating a strong individual who ends up married off meant training an asset for someone else, which was not cost-effective.
And in battle, women were invariably at a disadvantage compared to men.
For a multitude of reasons, in the Xuanhuan Plane where strength was revered, women were always a step behind men.
Xu Ran didn't hold so many biases, although he could be quite chauvinistic at times, but he gave more respect and care to women rather than belittling them.
In my past life on Earth, there were spoiled women who enjoyed the perks of ladies first and special treatment, while demanding equality between men and women, which was completely unreasonable and caused opposition between the sexes. Men are simple creatures, naturally inclined to show a lot of courtesy to graceful and delicate women. But if a woman acted like a shrew, instead of courtesy, one would wish to slap the foul mouthed across the face.
If one didn't compete for it, everything that should be given would be given, and even more. But the more one fought for it, the more likely one would fail, and in the end, all the special treatments would be withdrawn and one might even be knocked back to square one.
It's like in a "Harem," those who constantly demand the emperor to do this or that, only end up being despised eventually and relegated to a lower position in the harem. The smart women would stand behind a man, supporting him quietly.
Fortunately, in this otherworld, the ones I met were very good, so good that it made Xu Ran feel guilty. Unable to satisfy them emotionally, he felt guilty and wanted to make it up to them in other ways.
"From now on, we are husband and wife. Although we aren't married yet, in my eyes, you are already the woman of my lifetime. You can't escape from the palm of my hand, and I will definitely not abandon you. I'm not the kind of scumbag you imagine," Xu Ran said, and couldn't control himself from kissing her again. This was his promise to Yao Ye. A wife is to be cherished, which only applies to the kind of wife that makes one's heart ache. Clearly, Yao Ye was such a wife.
In the bathtub, Yao Ye's long hair floats on the water, and the steam from the water makes her delicate features appear even more radiant.
"Lord Xu Ran..."
Xu Ran's sweet nothings made Yao Ye fall completely for him, her tired complexion instantly radiant.
No matter what the future holds, with Xu Ran's words, she has no regrets.
"What about Yue'er later on?" After a long time of intimacy, Yao Ye began to worry. She never thought Xu Ran would want her, and since she had to inherit the future throne of the Jia Ma Empire, she hadn't considered such matters. But now that it had happened, she accepted it gladly.
As the future Empress, her bloodline with Xu Ran should be the excellent. However, with Xu Ran's perspective, he probably wouldn't think much of the small Jia Ma Empire, and might not want their child to have anything to do with such a small place. But that was all for the future. The most pressing issue was Yue'er.
Yao Ye knew very well how much Yue'er liked Xu Ran.
When in the imperial palace, Yue'er would often come to her and talk about it. And just yesterday, Yue'er was still fantasizing about her life together with Xu Ran... If Yue'er knew that she was now with Xu Ran, Yao Ye couldn't imagine how she'd feel.
"What do you think we should do?" Xu Ran played with Yao Ye's smooth hair, momentarily forgetting all about Yue'er. With such a beauty by his side, why would he think of anyone else? Moreover, it wasn't a big deal.
"What if Yue'er does something drastic when she finds out? You don't know, she really likes you. When rumors about you being a Genius Alchemist were circulating outside, she even left the palace to look for you, but by that time you were no longer in Wu Tan City. Back then, she was eager to challenge you in Alchemy and wanted to expose your supposed facade," Yao Ye said.
"But later, as the rumors about you grew, and with Ya Fei breaking through to the Dou Huang Pinnacle, followed by Yun Yun Sect Master and Queen Medusa's successive breakthroughs into Douzong, the doubting voices disappeared. That's when Yue'er began to like you," she explained.
At first, Yue'er didn't believe the Jia Ma Empire had a genius Alchemist greater than herself, so she was naturally unconvinced. However, later on, she had no choice but to accept it, as Xu Ran's Alchemy had far surpassed the level at which Yue'er was.
"So what do you suggest we do?" Xu Ran, for his part, hadn't expected Yue'er had come looking for him. But since he often traveled from place to place, it was normal for Yue'er to have missed him.
"Why not win Yue'er over as well? It's not a big deal to have one more. Isn't Yue'er's figure exactly what you men like?" Yao Ye boldly stated.