Chapter 227 - Beauty

Chapter 227 - Beauty

“Oh?” Her words managed to get Li Huowang to refocus his scattered attention. “Why do you say that? I’ve heard that the Liang Kingdom is the most affluent place here. While the people from other places have to endure droughts and hunger, the people of the Liang Kingdom never go hungry.”

“Everyone says that the Liang Kingdom is good, but how can those who haven’t been there truly understand how they treat their people?” asked Wu Yue agitatedly. She seemed to have recalled some unpleasant memories as she almost started retching and had to cover her mouth in distress.

“Hmm?” Li Huowang furrowed his brow at her words. Her description contradicted what Bai Lingmiao had said. She had once described her hometown as a carefree paradise.

After a moment, Li Huowang signaled for Bai Lingmiao to come over. Seeing his signal, she promptly set down her cup beside Xiaoman and joined them.

Taking Bai Lingmiao’s hand, Li Huowang turned to the lady beside him and asked, “Madam, can you tell us some more?”

Wu Yue lowered the hand that had been covering her mouth as she looked at Bai Lingmiao, who was leaning forward, and eventually shook her head. “I was thoughtless. We shouldn’t talk about such things during mealtime as it might ruin your appetite. Benefactor, if you want to know more, we can talk about it tomorrow.”

With that, she turned around and left, leaving both of them puzzled.

“Miaomiao, did you live comfortably in the Liang Kingdom? Did people bully your family? How are the local authorities there?” After a moment, Li Huowang began questioning Bai Lingmiao.

In fact, Li Huowang knew very little about the Liang Kingdom, the place where he envisioned living in the future. He knew that the Liang Kingdom was quite large and was the strongest among all these countries, but that was about it.

If they were going to spend their whole lives there, then he needed to know more.

“We’re living very well! Nobody dares to bully us! I have quite a large family, and my grandfather is the village chief. All the other uncles and aunts are very kind to me, and even my elder brothers and sisters treat me quite well. In fact, what Puppy and Xiaoman said about looking down on or disliking someone based on their appearance doesn’t happen where I come from at all,” said Bai Lingmiao.

“Have you only ever stayed in Cowheart Mountain? What about the other parts of the Liang Kingdom? Have you been there?” Li Huowang asked again.

“I don’t know... I haven’t been to other places,” replied Bai Lingmiao.

Bai Lingmiao’s words made Li Huowang slightly concerned about what Baolu’s mother had just said earlier. Now, he was genuinely curious about what she had wanted to say.

“Senior Li, if my mother was as beautiful as I said, then what do you think she did in the Liang Kingdom before?” Sun Baolu looked at Li Huowang with a bitter smile.

Hearing this, Li Huowang’s heart skipped a beat. He chose to remain silent as he waited for Baolu to continue explaining.

“My mother was only fourteen when she was dressed up and hired at a noble's mansion to serve as a ‘beauty paper’,” Sun Baolu shivered as he uttered a phrase that Li Huowang couldn’t comprehend.

“What’s a ‘beauty paper’?” asked Li Huowang.

“My mother used to clean people’s buttocks with her tongue. That’s what it means to be a ‘beauty paper’!” Sun Baolu gnashed his teeth as he finished the sentence.

This revelation stunned Li Huowang. He finally understood why Baolu’s mother felt ill when discussing the Liang Kingdom and why she believed that they treated people inhumanely.

Previously, he had thought that being a concubine or a prostitute still implied a sense of humanity. However, in the Liang Kingdom, these beautiful women were valued solely to wipe people’s buttocks.

“You think that’s too disgusting? Wrong! That is just the beginning! What do you think ‘beauty pots’ refers to? Those Liang Kingdom people have all sorts of twisted ways to dehumanize people!” shouted Sun Baolu as he stormed away, leaving Li Huowang standing alone in the cold outside.

As he watched Sun Baolu’s departing back, he felt a little regretful; however, that regret soon turned into disgust.

Compared to what he had just heard, even the Abbess of Benevolent Nunnery seemed clean and pure.

But just as the feeling of disgust settled in, he also felt a profound sense of helplessness.

He should have known that there was no utopia in this insane world.

Why did I even bother traveling thousands of miles? I should have just taken over the Zephyr Temple when I had the chance.

However, this was just a passing thought. After all, he still needed to think about those who needed to go back to their homes.

“Senior Li, are you okay?” Bai Lingmiao poked her head out of the tent, feeling concerned. She was worried about him having another episode.

“Yes, I’m heading in soon,” replied Li Huowang.

The party within the tent continued, but at this point, Li Huowang had completely lost his appetite.