Chapter 46: Redemption

"You—you—how did you do that?"

Wu Zetian had never seen anyone actually stuff such a large chest into a tiny pouch before; this was surely beyond what could be explained by martial arts.

For a moment, Wang Bo's image became increasingly unfathomable in Wu Zetian's eyes.

This was exactly what Wang Bo wanted.

Otherwise, he would not have deliberately shown off in front of Wu Zetian; it was all to impress upon her mind that he was not to be trifled with.

So far, the effect seems quite good.

Even a woman as deeply calculating as Wu Zetian stammered when she spoke, showing just how great an impact this scene had on her.

Wang Bo gave Wu Zetian an inscrutable smile, and without replying, turned and left.

He knew that his performance today had been about right—going too far would be as bad as not going far enough—so it was time to leave.

Wu Zetian's lips quivered slightly, as if she wanted to call out to Wang Bo, but in the end she did not speak, watching helplessly as Wang Bo disappeared from her sight.

When Wang Bo left the restaurant, he gave a slight nod to Lian Nishang, who was standing guard at the entrance, and then left without looking back.

He could tell that Lian Nishang was now completely won over by Wu Zetian and had become her subordinate.

Although in The Legend of the White-Haired Demoness, Lian Nishang is at least the female lead.

But, in the final analysis, Lian Nishang is after all a bandit chief. Although her martial arts are decent, compared to the eternal female emperor Wu Zetian, she falls short by more than just a little.

One is heaven, the other earth.

So it is only natural that Lian Nishang was won over by Wu Zetian's charm and boldness.

After all, in the five thousand years of Chinese history, Wu Zetian was the first and only female emperor.

Even Wang Bo, though he overpowered this woman in martial prowess, undeniably admired her greatly as well—at the very least, she accomplished what no other woman in the world could.

……

After the incident at the restaurant, it was unclear whether Wu Zetian had been thoroughly subdued by Wang Bo.

In any case, for the next month, she did not appear before Wang Bo again.

This allowed Wang Bo to enjoy a stretch of very languid days... or so he thought.

In fact, on the third day after the tavern incident ended, Hanyue and Yushu from Shuyuxuan came together to Wang Bo's residence, their purpose being to inquire about Yuan Zhen's whereabouts.

Because Yuan Zhen has not yet returned from his travels.

This made Yushu somewhat restless. Even when she went to the Clear Heart Tea House, the answer she got was... "My young master is traveling far away and has not yet returned."

So Miss Yushu was most eager to obtain a different answer from Wang Bo.

But unfortunately, although Wang Bo knew that Yuanzhen had been captured by the Eastern Islanders, he himself was not very clear about where exactly their lair was hidden.

So for Yushu's plea, Wang Bo was also unable to help.

Of course, this was nothing but an excuse.

If Wang Bo had been willing to investigate, finding Yuan Zhen would have been only a matter of time, but unfortunately, Wang Bo and Yuan Zhen were no more than passing acquaintances.

Wang Shao'ai and Yuan Zhen were on quite good terms, but unfortunately Wang Bo was not Wang Shao'ai.

He and Yuan Zhen truly had only a passing acquaintance.

So he truly couldn't be bothered to go to great lengths for Yuan Zhen. After all, in the original plot, Yuan Zhen didn't die but turned into a monster, and as long as an imperial physician was summoned, he could change back at any time.

But this also reminded Wang Bo of one thing: in this world, the master of the male supporting character Shatuo Zhong is an imperial physician, and this physician also seems to be named Wang Bo—sharing his exact name.

This discovery merely surprised Wang Bo slightly.

After all, in this world, there are simply too many people with the same name and surname.

In short, Wang Bo couldn't be bothered to go to great lengths over the matter of Yuan Zhen, so faced with Miss Yushu's downcast sorrow, he could only feel sympathy but was unable to help. However, he would occasionally join Miss Hanyue in comforting Miss Yushu.

For instance, performing a magic trick, going shopping, or playing a game of Fight the Landlord.

Both Hanyue and Yushu were exceptionally bright girls; after Wang Bo took out the playing cards and explained the rules, the two quickly picked up the game.

Sometimes the three of them would sit around together, munching on sunflower seeds and peanuts, sipping soda, and playing Fight the Landlord, whiling away an entire afternoon.

Thus, the three grew increasingly familiar. In the days that followed, Hanyue and Yushu often visited Wang Bo's home.

Wang Bo would occasionally visit Shuyu Pavilion to spend time with the two girls.

Gradually, Wang Bo noticed that Miss Yushu, who had always been worried about Yuan Zhen, became much more cheerful. Her attitude toward him changed from the initial courteous formality to laughing and chatting, very intimate.

Wang Bo was hardly the sort of clueless straight man who stays single on merit; he soon noticed that when the three of them were together, Miss Yushu brought up Yuanzhen less and less, and occasionally she would fish for information about him in a roundabout way.

Clearly, this Miss Yushu seemed to have developed a fondness for herself.

This made Wang Bo think of a phrase... taking advantage of a weakness.

In the eyes of others, Wang Bo was clearly just such a person—secretly walking into Miss Yushu's heart while she was grieving over Yuan Zhen.

Even Hanyue once said to Wang Bo privately, with a hint of jealousy, "Recently, Sister Yushu has been asking me about you. It seems she cares about you a great deal."

Wang Bo also admitted that, in a sense, he had indeed taken advantage of a vulnerability.

But at first, he didn't do it on purpose. Initially, Wang Bo indeed took out a few novel trinkets to comfort Yushu, for Hanyue's sake.

But who could have known that Yushu would be so easy to win over.

Of course, Wang Bo reckoned that the reason Yushu was so easy to win over had much to do with her heartache over Yuan Zhen; it was precisely because her heart was empty that Wang Bo was given an opportunity.

But now that things have turned out this way, what else could Wang Bo do?

Refuse Yushu?

How could that be? He's not an idiot. Since Yushu had taken a liking to him, and Wang Bo quite admired Yushu as well, he might as well marry them both and be done with it.

In this world, anyway, it is only natural and proper for a great man to have three wives and four concubines.

So after spending a month with Hanyue and Yushu, one afternoon Wang Bo finally proposed buying their freedom and taking them as his wives.

Through their time together these days, the two had long known that Wang Bo was not the kind of person who would discard the old for the new; in their shyness, they did not refuse, but instead nodded in agreement.

So Wang Bo took the gold after the "meltage fee" and went to Shuyu Pavilion to redeem the two women.

This matter immediately caused a sensation in Luoyang. Not to mention Hanyue, Yushu was the top courtesan of Shuyuxuan and a former candidate for Luoyang's flower queen. Although the flower queen title fell to Yin Ruiji, Yushu's admirers were still as numerous as carps crossing the river.