As a male concubine, one's daily meals are delivered by a special person, or one can ask the steward for whatever one wants to eat. Relying on connections, money, or personal favors is all possible.
Those in charge are also followers, and it's common for them to flatter the powerful and belittle the weak. For example, this time, because Xiang Wan hadn't shown up for a long time and hadn't gone to explain the situation to anyone in time, someone actually had the audacity to not deliver anything to her!
After thinking it over, Xiang Wan realized that this was the first time she, a grown man, had to deal with something like this. At noon, she dressed neatly and went to the kitchen with great seriousness. She stuffed whatever looked good into her mouth, as filling her stomach was the most important thing, regardless of who it was for.
After eating sashimi for so long, she was too lazy to get up in the morning and was so hungry that her stomach was practically sticking to her back. If she didn't eat something soon, she wondered if she could just become an immortal.
The kitchen staff didn't dare stop her; the person in charge was probably busy currying favor with others. Xiang Wan didn't hold back either, taking everything in sight. Just as she finished eating, she saw the rumored favorite young master Li arrive in a swaggering manner, followed by a large group of people. The man surnamed Li was quite handsome; no wonder he was favored. This scene wasn't in the original story.
Xiang Wan glanced sideways and saw that almost all of her male favorites had come out, along with a fawning steward and servants delivering meals.
“Young Master Zhuang, we are both under the same cult leader. Can’t we talk things out properly? I know you’re unhappy that the cult leader ordered me to manage the courtyard, but you can’t treat me like this, as if I didn’t prepare food for you.”
"Hey, what are you saying, Young Master Li?" Xiang Wan tossed the chicken leg back into the bowl and patted Li's shoulder with her greasy hands. "Young Master Li has managed this backyard and has never let us go hungry. How could anyone be so blind as to say you mistreat the leader? I understand you're too busy today. Sharing your burdens is sharing the leader's burdens. Someone said the food was poisoned, and I thought, this can't be blamed on you, Young Master Li, so I volunteered to risk my life. Oh dear, now my stomach seems a little upset. Young Master Li, what should we do? If I die, will they posthumously confer upon me a title of 'sacrificing oneself for righteousness'?"
The man surnamed Li's breathing grew heavier, clearly suppressing his anger. The manager lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought, while the others wore expressions of righteous indignation.
"Don't just stand there. I know you all want to share the burden for the leader. You usually skimp on food and clothing so that our sect can grow stronger. But since it's for our sect, how can I risk my life alone? Come on, everyone, let's all work together. For the leader and for Young Master Li, we have to roll up our sleeves and get to work!"
As she spoke, Xiang Wan held a bowl in each hand and gave one to each of the young masters who came to watch the excitement. Some of them had their eyes light up, while others were unwilling, so Xiang Wan forcibly stuffed the bowls into their hands.
"Don't just stand there! Eating is for the future of our Crimson Sun Sect. Not eating is disloyalty to our leader. Everyone, I'm ready to die for you. Don't you have any desire to contribute to our leader?"
Seeing Xiang Wan urging everyone to eat as much as possible, the guy surnamed Li was almost losing his composure. Hadn't he always presented himself as a kind, humble, and gentlemanly figure? Xiang Wan was determined to be unreasonable. If she had the guts, she'd tear off her mask and ruin her image, then see who would listen to her afterward.
Xiang Wan didn't care; leaving was inevitable anyway. She had already decided to take down the Zhuang family first, then deal with Qu Chiyang. Most importantly, she wasn't mentally prepared. Of course, being gay was incredibly stressful for her.
"You, you, you can't do this! This was prepared for the cult leader. If you eat it all, what will happen to him? Aren't you afraid he'll kill you?"
"Don't worry," Xiang Wan said earnestly, rubbing against his clothes a few times, which he dodged. "The Sect Leader is magnanimous; how could he make a fuss over such a small matter? Besides, we're just trying to help the Sect Leader; what's wrong with that? If anyone's wrong, it's you, Young Master Li, for not having someone test the poison on them and instead making us do it ourselves. Tell me, if one of us dies, wouldn't you, Young Master Li, be held responsible?"
"You're just making excuses; the cult leader will definitely kill you!"
Xiang Wan chuckled, leaned closer, and whispered in his ear, "Why do you think I'm still alive, Young Master Li?"
The man surnamed Li looked at Xiang Wan with surprise and suspicion. When he saw her knowing and confident expression, along with a hint of smugness, his expression changed, and a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes.
Xiang Wan ignored him, turned around, and said to the steward, "From now on, keep your eyes open. Who knows who among you here might become the future empress? You'd better curry favor with them, or else... hmph!"
After giving the steward a nudge, Xiang Wan waved goodbye and left without a trace.
"Everyone, now that you've finished eating, remember to thank Young Master Li for giving us this opportunity to test the poison for the sect leader. In the future, if there are any good things like this, remember to ask Young Master Li for help. Such favor shouldn't be monopolized."
The man surnamed Li was furious, and several of the more cunning among them began planning for the future. Whether these people liked it or not, once they entered Qu Chiyang's harem, there was no possibility of them leaving. If they didn't strive to climb the ranks, they wouldn't even be able to get decent food; what was the point of living?
It's easy to imagine that Li's life will no longer be so smooth sailing, and Qu Chiyang would never indiscriminately kill for a little food. If Li were to report this to him, the most likely outcome would be that they would both be punished, and it would be good if they didn't lose their lives.
Therefore, the more wives and concubines a man takes, the more unsettled his harem becomes. As long as his private affairs remain hidden, no one will care. This can be considered an unspoken rule.
This time, I slightly embarrassed that guy surnamed Li, and he'll definitely hold a grudge. I didn't provoke him before, but this body still got tricked. This time, I'll make sure that guy surnamed Li walks right into the trap.
That night, Xiang Wan changed into clothes suitable for nighttime travel and jumped out of the bedroom. She wanted to see what Qu Chiyang relied on to develop the Chiyang Sect. Was there any peerless martial arts manual here, or the origin of Qu Chiyang's martial arts skills? In her previous life, Zhuang Batian's alliance with others to besiege the Chiyang Sect was likely not merely about eradicating the sect; given his wolfish ambition, there must be something he desperately wanted here, or rather, some enormous profit. Xiang Wan needed to get her hands on it before the Zhuang family sent anyone to contact her, thus giving her leverage against them.
The first place she needed to check was that forbidden area. Xiang Wan would never admit that it was because her martial arts skills were too weak that she couldn't go anywhere else except her male concubine's harem, which was why she chose this place.
There was no one else in the forbidden area. Xiang Wan wandered around the lake for a while, then looked at the surrounding mountains and chose one of the easier ones to climb.
Where she had just stood, a pair of eyes were fixed on her. When she turned around, she found no one there. Xiang Wan shook her head, climbed up for a while, and found a window. She gently pulled open the window frame, peeked inside, and then jumped in.
If she knew where she was, she would never have gone out for a stroll in the middle of the night. It's just that the plot was too cruel and she was incredibly unlucky.
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