淫欲的代价

"Cao Yuemei, what are you trying to insinuate?" Cao Luomei eyed He Yuan dangerously.

Cao Long\'s brows furrowed even as he glared at his second daughter but he had to admit... she was right. He was not present when Cao Luomei accepted those gifts so he couldn\'t stop her in time but now he had to end this and salvage the situation.

"Luomei, Cao Yuemei is right." The prime minister flinched when he saw his precious daughter\'s pained look at his support of his second daughter. "It is indeed inappropriate." He looked to the general. "General Shang. It would be best for you to take back those gifts."

Shang Wu\'s eyes widened. "I\'ve already brought them, it wouldn\'t be nice to take them back." He looked to He Yuan. "Miss, I owe you anyways and since you\'re also from the Cao family, why don\'t you take the gifts?"

He Yuan and Cao Luomei gasped at the same time. He Yuan\'s was more dramatic and he placed his hand on his chest for extra measure. "You are going to give your saviour gifts that was rejected by others?\'

Shang Wu looked stumped. He was a general so his ways tended to be more practical. Since giving it to the first lady was inappropriate, he might as well give it to the second one whom he owed more. Isn\'t this the most effective way?

He Yuan shook his head and sighed sorrowfully. "You hurt me with your words. It\'s best if you take your gifts and never return to the Cao family in the future." Whether his words made sense or not, He Yuan did not care.

He just had to keep Shang Wu away from the Cao household for two weeks. After that, the general would be sent off to the frontlines on an emergency.

In the original storyline Shang Wu had spent seven days waiting on Cao Luomei, who had woken up a week after the incident, so their feelings naturally developed. This time, if that did not happen then maybe Cao Luomei would marry Yu Ming two years later instead of rushing to the frontlines in search of the general and encountering the genius doctor on the way.

He Yuan watched as the general gave an imposing bow and took his leave. He was giddy from excitement. Cao Luomei just lost the second member of her harem right?... Right?!

He was going to have the servants return the gifts to Shang Wu\'s household later and then all ties would be cut.

"I beg to take my leave." He said to Cao Long and skipped out of the main hall before the prime minister or the stunned Cao Luomei could stop him.

Shang Wu looked back at the Cao mansion in contemplation. So the first miss of the Cao household was about to be engaged to the first prince. It\'s no wonder the prince had sent his subordinates to attack him the day before.

The general shook his head and left the premises in his carriage.

Now that Cao Luomei\'s relationship with Shang Wu had been stopped before it began, He Yuan was much happier. This task realm was so relaxing.

Yu Ming visited the Cao mansion the next day but didn\'t stay for long. The prince seemed to have left angrily after speaking with Cao Luomei. He Yuan didn\'t need to be present to know that the altercation was about the matter with Shang Wu.

He didn\'t care though and focused instead on making the meridian cleansing concoction. As soon as the bitter tasting medicine was prepared, he made sure to dutifully drink it twice daily. Once after his morning practice and the second time after dinner, just before bed.

In seven days, He Yuan finally made an improvement. His body felt lighter, his soul denser and he could slightly sense the qi in the atmosphere. He was overjoyed by his progress and practiced the [Strongest Martial Arts] with even more vigour.

On the eight day, He Yuan was in the midst of practicing his moves when he noticed someone standing at the entrance of Cao Yuemei\'s courtyard and watching him with folded arms.

It was Yu Ming.

He Yuan set down the stick he\'d been using as a weapon and tugged on his robes. He\'d lost track of time so he was only just noticing that the sun was high in the sky. He was sweating profusely, making the robes stick to his skin in a revealing manner.

Yu Ming\'s eyes darkened with lust and He Yuan felt even more uncomfortable so he quickly turned around and rushed into his room.

After wiping down and changing into dry clothes, he walked outside. Totally ignoring Yu Ming was disrespectful and would only land him in trouble. He had already pushed his luck when he ran indoors before greeting the prince.

"Your Highness," He said after performing a perfect curtsey.

Yu Ming\'s eyes roamed He Yuan\'s body for a good minute. "You may rise." Once He Yuan straightened, he continued. "I didn\'t know you were interested in martial arts."

"This lowly one wasn\'t." He Yuan replied and then bowed his head shyly. "But this was a gift from the general." If Yu Ming got the impression that he was in love with the general then he would give up on pestering him, right?

Yu Ming\'s face changed. Shang Wu again. "You\'re usually so strict when it comes to contact between male and females but then I hear that you had pulled the general into your bosom in order to save him. What\'s so good about that general?"

He Yuan nearly burst into laughter at Yu Ming\'s outrageous words. When did he pull Shang Wu into his bosom? Is that what the rumours were saying now? Leave it to people to exaggerate in order to make their story catchier.

"This lowly one did no such thing. This lowly one only pulled the general out of harm\'s way." He placed a palm on his chest and said dreamily, "The general is so young and handsome and fights for our safety, this one didn\'t want him to get hurt."

Yu Ming took in He Yuan\'s look of infatuation and his nostrils flared. He grabbed He Yuan\'s arm and pulled him forward. "Cao Yuemei. Why do you pretend not to notice my feelings for you?"

He Yuan jumped back. "Your highness please watch your words and actions. You\'re about to be engaged to my sister, this one absolutely cannot have anything to do with you."

"What if i cut off all ties with Cao Luomei?" The prince said a little desperately. "You just have to say the word."

He Yuan laughed softly. "With all due respect your highness. Even if you were the last man alive, this one would still not want to have anything to do with you."

Yu Ming\'s eyes widened and he stumbled back a few steps. How dare she?! He was about to lash out at He Yuan when a voice came from behind him.

"Brother Ming?"

Cao Luomei stepped into the courtyard. She heard from her servants that the first prince had come but after waiting for some time, he didn\'t show up at her courtyard.

Thinking he was with her father, she walked to the study only to find out from some servants that Yu Ming had come here instead. "Why are you here?"

Her eyes widened when Yu Ming turned around and left, totally ignoring her presence. She looked to He Yuan with reddened eyes.

"Cao Yuemei, what did you say to the first prince? Why did he ignore me?" When He Yuan shrugged, she got angrier. "Don\'t think I don\'t know that you\'ve been trying to seduce him. Do you think he would like you when he finds out what sort of woman your mother was?!"

He Yuan narrowed his eyes at Cao Luomei. In ancient times, it was very easy for the reputation of a female child to be affected by her mother\'s actions or personality.

If people should find out that Wan Ruo tried to sell Cao Luomei, they would peg Cao Yuemei to be just as vicious. Forcing her mother\'s sins onto her and drowning her in scorn and spittle.

But,

"Cao Luomei, you\'re not stupid. We both know that if you spread the events of that day out, both of our reputations would suffer. After all, as a female child, you had actually come in contact with traffickers. No one knows what really happened so it would be very easy for people to think up a few assumptions."

Cao Luomei\'s eyes widened. "Cao Yuemei how could you be so dirty minded?! I was a child!"

He Yuan scoffed. "We both know no one would care about that fact." As hateful as his words sounded, it was the truth. The people of this time still had a feudal mindset that blamed women for most of the misfortunes that happened to them.

Although the feudalism in this ancient realm was not as bad as most, it was still there.

If Wan Ruo\'s sins got out, the both of them would truly be affected. That was why both the Cao and Wan families did their best to keep the news under wraps.

Cao Luomei huffed in anger before storming out of the courtyard. No doubt to rush over and report to Cao Long.

Yu Ming must have received a heavy blow that day as he returned three days later to fix his relationship with Cao Luomei. He avoided He Yuan like a plague.

He Yuan wasn\'t bothered by this. On the contrary, he was very happy and spent his days between cultivating and practising his martial arts.

Somewhere in the middle of the year, Yu Ming and Cao Luomei had their engagement party. He Yuan did not attend, he had feigned sickness.

He practiced and practiced until the moves were ingrained in his brain and he even moved on to the third set of moves. Sometimes, he dragged Cao Xiwang to practice with him but the kid was more interested in medicine so He Yuan let him be.

Just like that, two years elapsed and the capital was thrown into turmoil when they received news of the general going missing at the frontline.

The soldiers had run out of supplies and things were not looking good for the nation. He Yuan was in the middle of practicing when Wu Bai told him the news.

He sighed. Cao Luomei\'s actions this period would determine whether he would need to go to the frontline or not.

Hopefully not. He hated wars.