Chapter 333
Chapter 333
Day after day flew by like an arrow, and the day of Shen Lang's decisive battle with Su Nan in the imperial court drew ever closer.
This showdown was truly a matter of life and death.
For the past few days, Shen Lang had been living an unnervingly quiet life, so much so that it was becoming lonely.
Xiao Bing's belly was growing larger by the day, and even with her remarkable skills, there was little she could do.
A man needed to eat rice and meat to live; he couldn't survive on fruit alone.
But in the capital, there was no meat for Shen Lang to eat.
Every time he passed a brothel, desire stirred within him.
'I hear many of the courtesans in the brothels are virgins. Didn't my wife say it was fine as long as the woman wasn't unclean? My beloved wife has shown such generosity; as her husband, it's my duty to follow her wishes! Or perhaps I could just break my vows by chance, just once?
Besides, I'm about to face a decisive battle with Su Nan. It's a matter of life and death, so shouldn't I relax my mind and body beforehand? There are so many pure, innocent, and beautiful young ladies. If I don't sleep with them, their first time will be sold to some rough merchant. A handsome man like me should save them out of the goodness of my heart. If I don't descend into hell, who will?'
Shen Lang spent a full hour convincing himself before putting on a disguise and striding gallantly toward the gates of a brothel.
But just as he stepped inside, his feet refused to move any further.
The image of his beloved Mulan's affectionate, love-filled gaze surfaced in his mind.
In the end, he pathetically turned back.
But when night fell again, he couldn't bear it. The next day, after spending an hour and a half mustering his courage, he once more set foot in the brothel.
But again, he couldn't bring himself to climb the stairs and retreated.
He repeated this charade four or five times. Once, he even made it all the way to the top of the stairs, only to turn back again.
*Sigh!* Every time, the face and eyes of his beloved Mulan would appear in his mind, along with Qiu Yao'er's contemptuous stare, and he just couldn't cross that final threshold.
Shen Lang realized he wasn't *that* much of a scumbag after all.
Shen Lang's pathetic behavior might have gone unnoticed, but one day, the tigress Princess Ning Yan happened to be passing by on the main street outside the brothel and ran into him.
No matter how well he was disguised, she recognized him at a glance.
"Huh? Shen Lang, what are you doing here? Ah, planning to sleep at a brothel, are you? Scum!"
And with that, Ning Yan strode away.
At her words, the people nearby had a sudden realization.
'So that man who kept going in and out of the brothel was Shen Lang. Good heavens! To think it was Young Master Shen Lang!'
Soon, several madams swarmed him.
"Young Master Shen, don't go, don't go!"
"If none of the young ladies have caught your eye, Young Master Shen, what about me? I may be old, but I have exceptional skills."
Shen Lang, usually ever-victorious, fled in a panic.
In that moment, Shen Lang truly wanted to beat that tigress Ning Yan to death.
'Damn it all, this isn't the first or second time you've backed me into a corner. What kind of grudge do you have against me?'
This incident made Shen Lang famous.
Someone summed him up in one sentence: A guy who wants to get laid but is too chickenshit to go through with it.
Afterward, the rumors worsened, spreading the story that Shen Lang kept frequenting brothels because he had problems in that department.
'Shen Lang must not be able to perform. That's why the goddess Jin Mulan isn't pregnant yet. He definitely can't get it up!'
The rumor even reached the Fifth Prince, Ning Zheng, whose gaze toward Shen Lang became somewhat strange.
Shen Lang wanted to cry but couldn't shed a tear, and his desire to kill Ning Yan intensified.
But he was no match for her.
For the past few days, Shen Lang had spent nearly every day eating and drinking with Yun Mengze and Ning Yan.
Every time they met, Ning Yan would shout, "Scum!" at him.
After a few days, she added "you idiot" after "scum."
He really wanted to kill her!
* * *
There were still two days left until the King and the Fifth Prince's deadline.
Which meant there were two days until his life-or-death showdown with Su Nan in the imperial court.
Shen Lang had maintained his chastity for over twenty days and was on the verge of exploding.
Today, he was once again drinking with Yun Mengze and Ning Yan.
This tigress Ning Yan was becoming more and more outrageous.
Her clothes grew thinner, her robes a deeper shade of red.
On top of that, she wore her favorite tight-fitting riding trousers.
It made her already intense figure even more fiery.
Her body looked as if it would burst through her clothes.
The important thing was that she was beautiful and loved to drink.
As she drank nonstop, her face flushed crimson, and her lips dripped with allure.
She was as captivatingly beautiful as a blooming rose, stealing one's gaze.
Fearing something might happen, Shen Lang couldn't look at her anymore and spoke only with Yun Mengze.
"Scum, you idiot!"
The tigress challenged him to a drinking contest, and when Shen Lang ignored her, those two words shot out again.
Yun Mengze asked Shen Lang cautiously.
"Brother Shen, is something big about to happen to you?"
"How did you know, brother?"
"For someone like you to be this tense, it must be something significant."
It was certainly significant.
Su Nan was a giant in the court; this showdown would directly determine his life or death.
No matter how well Shen Lang had planned everything, he couldn't help but be extremely nervous.
Hearing this, Ning Yan whipped around and asked.
"What's going on?"
As she twisted, the curves below her slender waist looked ready to burst, and Shen Lang once again averted his gaze.
"That's right. A matter of life and death."
"Is it happening in the next few days?"
"Most likely."
"Brother, being this tense could cause you to mess things up. You need to relax. This brother of yours has no power or influence, but I can at least support you in spirit."
Then, Yun Mengze picked up the wine jug and personally poured wine for Shen Lang and Ning Yan.
Shen Lang drank one cup, then another, and the tigress princess also kept drinking.
Shen Lang soon noticed something was wrong.
His whole body grew hotter and hotter, as if an uncontrollable flame was burning within him.
He looked at Ning Yan; she was panting heavily as if on fire, and her gaze upon him was wild and burning.
'The wine was drugged.'
Seeing the drug he had given Shen Lang and Ning Yan take effect, Yun Mengze stood up.
He picked up Shen Lang with his left hand and the tigress Princess Ning Yan with his right, carried them into a room, and tossed them both onto a large bed.
"Brother, no need to thank me!"
"Sister Yan, enjoy yourself!"
And with that, Yun Mengze locked the door from the outside.
"Tigress, what—what are you doing? Don't do this! I said don't! No, stay away, stay away!"
A moment later, fiery and intense sounds erupted from within.
* * *
The next morning, the sky was clear without a single cloud.
The room was an indescribable mess.
The tigress Princess Ning Yan woke up very early, but she wasn't fully awake yet, her eyes still hazy.
She felt like she had a strange dream last night.
In the dream, she had slept with the scum Shen Lang.
No, it would be more accurate to say that in the dream, Shen Lang had been taken by her.
The dream was so shocking and realistic that Ning Yan had nearly woken up in surprise.
After a yawn, the tigress stretched her limbs wide and was about to go back to sleep.
But then she realized she was lying on top of someone.
'Am I... am I seeing things?'
She reached out to touch the person, and her eyes snapped open.
The person sleeping next to her was none other than the scum, Shen Lang.
And he wasn't wearing a single stitch of clothing.
She came to her senses and looked down at herself; it was the same.
Her gaze shifted to the floor, which was littered with torn pieces of clothing.
*'Aaaah!'*
The tigress Ning Yan let out a sharp scream, but only in her mind.
Wouldn't it be too embarrassing to show her shock by screaming out loud in reality?
I, Ning Yan, am not some timid person who startles easily, am I?
No matter how flustered she was inside, her expression had to remain calm.
'It's just a man and a woman sleeping together, right? It's not like it's my first time with a man.'
No. She... had actually never slept with a man before.
No, to be precise, this was the first time she had truly been with a man.
Then, her mind began to race with wild thoughts.
'What do I do now? What should I do? Should I sneak away quietly? Yes, that would avoid any awkwardness. Besides, Shen Lang has wanted to sleep with me for ages. Now that he finally has, he'll surely cling to me for dear life. No. I have to think of a way to crush any such ideas. No matter how good last night was, I, Ning Yan, am a proud warrior woman. I can't be tied down by the affairs of men and women.'
While Shen Lang was still asleep, the tigress Princess Ning Yan prepared what she would say when he woke up.
'How do I reject Shen Lang when he desperately clings to me?
This was just an accident, so don't take it seriously. Don't have any illusions about me, Ning Yan. We can't be anything to each other. This is the first and last time. I, Ning Yan, don't even like you in the first place.
Yes, I'll say that. I have to say it with a firm attitude. Otherwise, Shen Lang will never stop clinging to me.'
Just as Ning Yan finished organizing her thoughts, Shen Lang finally woke up.
The moment he opened his eyes and saw the naked tigress Ning Yan, his eyes widened in shock, and he began to recall the memories of last night.
Ning Yan put on a serious face, ready to deliver her prepared speech in a dignified tone, but Shen Lang was faster.
"Princess Ning Yan, last night's events had nothing to do with me. Didn't you pounce on me? To be precise, I am the victim. I won't take responsibility for you, so don't you harbor any foolish expectations of me. I love my wife dearly and am perfectly content being a live-in son-in-law, so I will absolutely not be taking you in. Let's just pretend last night was a dream and that nothing happened. We're all people of the world, aren't we? We should be open-minded about these things. Why are you looking at me like that? As if you're about to hit me? Your heart is so vast, what's a small mistake between a man and a woman? Let the past be the past.
Huh? But there's blood?
Princess Ning Yan, surely this wasn't your first time, was it? That would be too absurd. How could someone who's been married for years still be a virgin? Did you perhaps bite your own finger to try and fool me?"
A person with a cheap and dirty mouth needs to be beaten to their senses.
The next moment, Shen Lang was thoroughly beaten by Ning Yan, letting out a continuous stream of wretched screams.
She beat him for a full ten minutes.
Ten whole minutes!
After the beating, the two inexplicably became entangled again, and another thirty minutes passed just like that.
Ning Yan pointed at Shen Lang and said.
"Scum, you just stole my lines."
Shen Lang was filled with regret.
If he had known Ning Yan was thinking the same thing, he wouldn't have had to speak first.
He had needlessly made himself out to be the petty one.
But from Shen Lang's perspective, he had only struck first out of fear that she would cling to him.