Chapter Fifty-three The carved balustrades and jade terraces should yet remain (III)
Word Number:207
Author:一曲雨霖铃
Translator:
Release Time:2025-09-28
It is said: Old affections are hard to forget and can still be recalled; How many new loves there are, no one can yet know. After the Xue Huaiyi affair, Wu Youning’s admiration for Princess Taiping only deepened; he entirely forgot that she was his sister-in-law and let his mind be filled with the longings of lovers. Wu Youning thought of the princess’s coiffure like piled emeralds, her powdered face newly springlike, brows and eyes full of feeling, a slender waist, a thin gauze robe—truly seductive. The thought made him melt inside. One day, consumed by longing, he asked a retainer for advice. “You, minister, if you help me win her, I will raise you to wealth and rank,” Wu Youning said. The retainer replied, “Your Highness, hear my counsel: matters of intimacy are the most difficult. Five things must be present for success.” Wu Youning asked eagerly, “What five things?” The retainer said, “First, the looks of Pan An; second, a well-proportioned manhood; third, wealth like Deng Tong; fourth, youthful vigor; fifth, ample leisure time. These five we call ‘Pan–Ass–Deng–Leisure.’ If all five are met, the matter may be achieved.” Wu Youning laughed: “What would I lack? I may not