An Unexpected Obsession
Sure enough, Yeongso's premonition quickly became reality. Young ladies she had never seen before in her nearly three and a half years since marrying into the Thousand Death Alliance approached her with bright, beaming smiles.
"Baek Mi-ho of the Maiden Sect pays her respects to Lady Renju for the first time. Oh my, now that I think about it, the 'Baek' in my alias is the very same character as the 'Baek' in the Baekri Clan!"
Hearing this, the young lady beside her covered her mouth with her sleeve and giggled.
"My, you really will grasp at any straw, won't you? I am the Soul-Snatching Demonic Maiden of the Valley of Extinction."
"A pleasure to meet you, Madam. I am the Myriad Poison Hand of the Flying Moon Sect."
"I am the Lascivious Dragon's Cry of the Black Tiger Manor. Even for siblings, how is it that your eyes resemble Young Master Baekri's so closely?"
The young lady, who looked as though she could suck a man's vital essence dry with a single glance, laughed coquettishly. The introductions continued after that.
There were ten young ladies visiting today in total, and not a single one of them seemed easy to deal with. Not only the atmosphere each of them exuded, but even the energy felt from their aliases was entirely different from those of the Orthodox Path.
Overwhelming yin energy! Poisonous malice! Raw sensuality! Demonic charm! Regardless of faction, if any man were to step foot into Lady Renju's drawing room right now, he would surely be drained to skin and bones and drop dead before he could even draw a single breath.
So these are the female disciples of the Unorthodox Path. Yeongso forced a calm smile. She had originally planned to meet the wives of the Thousand Death Alliance's high-ranking officials first, but since things had turned out this way, she would have to change the order.
But should I be grateful to my brother for this, or not?
Gathering unmarried female disciples was far more difficult than gathering the wives of the officials. To get them to move, one needed a solid pretext. Since they had sought her out first without Yeongso having to lift a finger, Yeong-hyeok had indeed been of great help in that regard. She had no intention of denying that, but as someone who knew her own flesh and blood's past, she couldn't bring herself to be entirely happy about it.
He's just going to stir up their hearts when he has absolutely no intention of marrying any of them anyway!
She only hoped these young ladies wouldn't end up too heartbroken. Yeongso instructed Chocho to bring out tea for everyone.
"Thank you for coming to greet me first. I've prepared some tea brought specially from my maiden home. I hope it suits your tastes..."
"If it's from Madam's maiden home, would it happen to be the tea Young Master Baekri brought with him this time?"
When she nodded, the young ladies all beamed with coquettish smiles.
"Then we must absolutely try it. Oh, by the way, does Young Master Baekri enjoy this tea as well?"
"Yes, my brother prefers strong tea with a smoky aroma. He's been that way since he was young."
"Oh my, oh my. Such a noble, dashing gentleman, yet his taste in tea is so... robust."
The young lady who had introduced herself as Baek Mi-ho gently swept the tip of her tongue along the inside of her lip. Caught completely off guard by such blatant flirtatiousness, Yeongso hastily averted her gaze.
"I wonder if he... prefers a robust taste in other things as well?"
At those suggestive words, the young ladies' laughter deepened. Yeongso desperately wished she didn't understand what they meant, but unfortunately, she was Hwa Banya's wife. Having been subjected to all sorts of shameless remarks on a daily basis, she had been thoroughly educated to comprehend exactly what they were implying.
Yeongso tried her best to maintain a serene smile, but her facial muscles refused to cooperate. To make matters worse, the subject of this suggestive joke was her own older brother.
This is so incredibly uncomfortable that if I'm not careful, I might fall into the Heretical Path out of sheer distress...!
She wanted to slam her fist down until the table shattered, or stomp her feet until the drawing room floor collapsed. Just then, another female disciple noticed Yeongso's flushed cheeks and gasped.
"If Young Master Baekri were to blush, I bet he'd look exactly like Lady Renju does right now!"
At those words, the eyes of all ten Unorthodox disciples locked onto Yeongso simultaneously.
How could they look at me and imagine my brother! And a blushing version of him at that! As Yeongso grew increasingly flustered, her magnolia-white skin burned even hotter.
"My goodness..."
The young lady whose alias was the particularly scandalous Lascivious Dragon's Cry shook her head slowly. "Lady Renju, I know it's a bit much to say upon our very first meeting... but looking at your face just now, I think I just came a little."
This time, it was Yeongso's turn to shake her head vigorously. Why on earth would you say that?! Make some sense, please! No, I don't want to know why. You don't need to explain. Please, just stay quiet.
"On my alias and my pride, I absolutely must see Young Master Baekri's face flushed in that exact same shade."
Ah, it's no use. I heard it. I'm doomed. Yeongso cast her eyes downward. With this, a corner of Baekri Yeongso's mind was officially broken.
To make matters worse, Chocho and another maid brought in the tea right at that moment. Savoring the tea infused with the rich fragrance of plum blossoms and smoke, the young ladies each chimed in with their own thoughts on 'Young Master Baekri's tastes.' Yeongso had braced herself, but the conversation showed absolutely no signs of moving on to any other topic. In a slightly resigned tone, she asked her guests:
"Is my brother Yeong-hyeok... really that special?"
The chatter, which had been as lively as songbirds in a morning forest, instantly ground to a halt. Without fully realizing the gravity of what she had just done, Yeongso continued.
"I mean, I know. I know Brother Yeong-hyeok is handsome and speaks kindly. He always tries to maintain basic manners around women, regardless of whether they are from the Orthodox or Unorthodox Path. Perhaps that's why the maids back at our clan estate often fought over who got to tend to his quarters."
Yeongso looked down at her untouched teacup.
"But it's not like he's... some kind of overwhelmingly breathtaking beauty, is he?"
The guests' expressions froze. Even Chocho and the other maid, who were heading out to wait by the door, blinked in utter disbelief at what they were hearing.
But he is an overwhelmingly breathtaking beauty.
His looks are far beyond just 'handsome.'
You could shake down the entire Thousand Death Alliance and you wouldn't find a single man with such a gentle and noble aura.
The way he maintains such perfect manners only makes it more of a tease. Can't you see how flushed I am right now?
Only Yeongso remained completely oblivious to the sudden shift in the room's atmosphere.
"What I mean is, there are plenty of men as handsome as Brother Yeong-hyeok. So, since he has no intention of marrying, placing too much expectation on him..."
"There are plenty?"
Finally, someone couldn't hold back any longer and interrupted her. "Lady Renju, where?"
"Pardon...? Oh, well... in the world..."
"What in the world? Has Lady Renju been living in a completely different world from the one we've grown up in?"
Blinking several times in sheer disbelief, the young lady asked again, "Is someone of Young Master Baekri's caliber actually common in the Orthodox Path?"
Yeongso searched her memories. Because she had lived practically confined to the clan estate during her sickly childhood, she hadn't seen many men. However, recalling her brothers, her brothers-in-law, and the visitors who frequented the clan during holidays, Yeong-hyeok seemed to rank somewhere around the upper-middle tier.
"Well, he's not exactly common, but he's not particularly rare either...?"
This casual remark from Lady Renju sent massive shockwaves through the Unorthodox disciples.
The Orthodox Path was a land overflowing with such potential?!
Is it some kind of unconquered dreamland?
I've already devoured five hundred Unorthodox bastards, so maybe it's time to expand my territory to the Orthodox Path...
Some among them even began to harbor grander ambitions.
Since Lady Renju married into the Thousand Death Alliance, it's only fair that someone from our side marries into theirs. Should I take this opportunity to devote myself to the grand cause of Orthodox-Unorthodox harmony?
Determined, the gazes of the ten young ladies locked in midair. Soon, they swarmed Yeongso like moths to a flame, showering her with questions.
"If you are interested in matchmaking events for unmarried youths, I could look into organizing something within the Thousand Death Alliance..."
"No, thank you, I'm not buying!"
For some reason, the young ladies seemed utterly obsessed with Orthodox men now.
The guests finally departed. Yeongso stared at the mountain of gift boxes piled high on the table and muttered to herself.
"It feels like a hurricane just swept through here."
And how incredibly generous they were. Some of the young ladies had brought four or five gifts all by themselves.
Yeongso stared blankly at the pile before taking a deep breath.
"Well, let's just consider it a major task checked off the list."
Even if things had taken a rather unexpected turn.
"It was a social gathering I had to get through sooner or later anyway."
"As long as the guests left satisfied, that was all that mattered."
"I should start sorting through these gifts..."
Using a thank-you note as an excuse to visit someone or invite them to the next gathering was the absolute basic of socializing. To do that, she needed to meticulously record who had given what.
Amidst the ornate hairpins, bracelets, silks, and cosmetics, one particular gift caught her eye. Yeongso picked up a book with a worn, reddish-brown cover. Because it had been half-hidden by a wrapping cloth, she only saw the title clearly after picking it up.
The Secret Manual of Bedchamber Cultivation
"The Secret Manual of Bedchamber Cultivation?"