Chapter 402: The Difficult Life of a Live-in Son-in-law, the Cuckold Hangs Empty

"Thieving eyebrows and rat-like eyes; one look and I can tell you're nothing good. You can go back!"

A gorgeously dressed fish-crone walked up to a True Immortal with decent features and a spirited air, took one look at him, and scolded him very unceremoniously.

Another fish-crone nearby was all over a handsome Human Clan immortal, then opened her mouth and railed at him wildly: "You're so thin you're all ribs, not a bit of meat on you. Can a physique like yours satisfy our Princess? You have the nerve to want to be the son-in-law of our Longgong?"

"So short, are you a rat turned spirit? Eliminated!" Another fish-crone walked up to a demon immortal less than seven feet tall, didn't even look at him, and announced his elimination directly.

"Scruffy beard, messy hair, reeking of alcohol—too slovenly. Eliminated!"

An unkempt immortal with a wine gourd hanging at his waist, possessing quite the air of a wild scholar, was disparaged as worthless by the fish-crone who came to examine him.

"Eyes darting around, unfocused and spiritless; your heart must be crooked. Eliminated!" An immortal who was clearly imposing in appearance was scolded thoroughly by the fish-crone who approached him.

"Legs weak and floating, face pale—you must be excessive in your lusts. To think you have the nerve to come here! Eliminated!"

Some of the overly pretty-boy immortals did not escape the humiliation of these fish-crones either.

Fang Longye, Niu Mowang, and the others sat on the high platform, watching these fellows who wanted to live off a woman being humiliated by the fish-crones—who resembled elderly Human Clan women—until they cried for their parents, and they couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Tell me, is this so-called second round just an assessment of these pretty boys' looks?"

Peng Mowang sat on the high platform and laughed heartily.

Fang Longye heard this, shook his head with a smile, and said:

"Fourth Brother, you're wrong there, or perhaps only half right. The assessment of looks is just incidental; the greater purpose is to further suppress these people, so as to select those with docile temperaments."

As he spoke,

he gestured for Peng Mowang to look at the few "talents" who had passed the fish-crones' assessment so far.

Among them,

most looked decent, though not exactly handsome; they were just delicate and pleasing to the eye, mainly possessing a gentle and refined temperament.

And people with this kind of gentle, refined temperament are usually not easily angered, can endure, and are not good at arguing; they will only be scolded in the future.

They can be called excellent material for being a live-in son-in-law.

Hmm, there were only two who were very handsome; facing the fish-crones' endless nitpicking, they remained calm and composed, quite extraordinary, and could be called impeccable.

"Damn it, even immortals with such good looks and temperament are thinking of coming to be pretty boys living off women. The world today has truly changed!"

Peng Mowang shook his head as he watched.

Fang Longye smiled and didn't reply, instead looking at Wansheng Dragon King, who was sitting to the side, and laughed: "Old Dragon King, I wasn't wrong just now, was I!"

"But you really have a way about you. To pick a satisfactory live-in son-in-law, you really are looking for bones in an egg! Is your daughter even willing to have a future husband who is a coward that lets others hit and scold him?"

Fang Longye held reservations about this.

One must know, this Wansheng Gongzhu wasn't exactly stunning; the old Dragon King had brought her out earlier for the seven of them to pay their respects, and she could only be described as having a pretty face, but just that kind of ordinary beauty.

There was nothing that made his eyes light up.

It was just as described in the previous life's Journey to the West through the mouths of the two fish spirits Benbo'erba and Babo'erben: "A pretty face, twenty percent talent," "a daughter born beautiful, with alluring charm"—nothing more.

But as for her temperament, that was another story.

So-called Longgong princesses are countless in the Earth Immortal Realm, but there are few like Wansheng Gongzhu who dared to sneak into the Heavenly Palace to steal the Nine-Leaf Spirit Ganoderma grass that Wangmu planted in front of the Lingxiao Treasure Hall.

Not evaluating her actions, just speaking of her guts, she was not small. And a woman as bold as her has always dared to love and hate; it is hard to imagine she would like a future husband who is a coward that lets others hit and scold him.

"Young Lord's words are very true; this process is exactly what this old one was thinking." Wansheng Dragon King saw Fang Longye looking at him with a smile and hurriedly apologized with a smile.

Then,

he sighed and explained to them: "There's no help for it. These days, it's too hard to find a son-in-law who is handsome, obedient, and capable. Handsome and capable is easy; many of the people who came below meet this standard, but when it comes to being obedient, it can only be done by selecting them layer by layer like this~"

"As for little Wansheng's opinion, since ancient times it has been 'parents' orders, matchmaker's words.' Besides, I only have her as an offspring; would I harm her?"

"Pfft~"

Mihou Wang couldn't help but sneer upon hearing this. He was naturally jumpy and perverse, and Wansheng Dragon King, a mere Golden Immortal, naturally wasn't in his eyes, nor would he save any face for him, so he said directly and unceremoniously: "Old Dragon King, you speak better than you sing. To put it bluntly, isn't it just that you can't bear to part with your family business and are afraid your daughter will bring a wolf into the house~"

Wansheng Dragon King's face flushed red upon hearing this, and he defended himself, saying: "Great Sage Tongfeng, you underestimate people. This old one is not reluctant to part with any family business; I am truly thinking of my daughter."

"As parents, we are never afraid of our daughters emptying our family business; we are only afraid that our daughters will meet the wrong person and have their whole lives ruined by a man. That is what parents can least accept."

"You Great Sages are all young and promising, few have started a family, and even if you have, you haven't produced offspring yet. When you have offspring, especially a daughter, you will understand my thoughts~"

"Tch, high-sounding words,..."

Seeing Mihou Wang still wanting to argue, Fang Longye waved his hand, interrupting him, and said: "Alright, Sixth Brother, the old Dragon King's words are sincere; it doesn't sound like high-sounding words."

"That's right,"

Niu Mowang also spoke up to help:

"Those who are parents plan deeply for their children. Sixth Brother, you haven't reached the time to be a parent, so naturally you can't understand the Dragon King's thoughts."

Mihou Wang curled his lips upon hearing this, clearly not very convinced, but since the eldest and second brothers had both said so, he naturally found it hard to refute anything further.

Wansheng Dragon King was also sensible and hurriedly apologized with a smile: "I saw that Great Sage Tongfeng was quite interested in testing these people earlier, wasn't he? Why not go down and try?"

Mihou Wang felt a bit eager to try upon hearing this, but thinking of his status, he really couldn't bring himself to be with those fish-crones, so he gave up the idea.

He hummed, waved his hand, and said reservedly: "This is only the second round; let's talk about it later!"

Thus, after a round of "beauty pageants," the thousand or so pretty boys were reduced to about three hundred.

Turtle Prime Minister nodded with satisfaction upon seeing this, then clapped his hands and said: "Next, is the third round!"

Then, he instructed the fish-crones: "Alright, start checking their bodies!"

"Checking their bodies?"

These remaining pretty boys were originally happy about passing the second round, but upon hearing Turtle Prime Minister's words, they were stunned, and then their faces changed drastically.

But seeing these fish-crones who resembled old women, each smiling as they pulled them toward a palace not far away that had already been prepared.

The look on their faces made one's hair stand on end; no young man wouldn't have dirty thoughts upon seeing it. These pretty boys had the heart to break free, but most still gave up; it wasn't that their cultivation was insufficient.

In fact, few of these fish-crones had achieved immortality; most were only at the Primordial Spirit Realm. If they really wanted to break free, it would be easy.

But after all, the position of son-in-law of Wansheng Longgong was right before their eyes. Except for a very few immortals who truly couldn't stand the repeated humiliation of Wansheng Longgong, most endured the humiliation and cooperated with the fish-crones, entering the palace not far away to accept the so-called physical examination.

After quite a while,

these trembling pretty boys who had followed the fish-hags into the palace for inspection filed out of the palace one by one, clutching their number tags.

Their faces were all expressions of utter hopelessness and tearless grief, as if they had suffered a great humiliation.

It was indeed a great humiliation, even though these fish-hags had not actually done anything to them.

But just imagine, if it were you, stripped naked, surrounded by a group of old crones, and forced to endure their critical scrutiny—what would your mood be? It was truly a naked insult. After coming out, these pretty boys discovered in a daze that the high platform was already empty; the seven Great Sages and the Dragon King were nowhere to be seen.

"Ahem—" Turtle Prime Minister coughed and said, "Dragon King Majesty and the seven Great Sages have grown weary and returned to rest; we shall speak of the fourth round later!"

These pretty boys looked at each other in dismay. How long had they even been inside? They were already weary? This was truly not taking them seriously at all.

"You all wait here for now!"

Turtle Prime Minister waved his hand casually and ignored these people further, leaving them behind to return to Wansheng Longgong with the fish-hags, parting the waters as they went.

……

Bibo Tan, Wansheng Longgong.

In a garden filled with exotic flowers, rare grasses, and grotesque rockeries, Fang Longye and the other six sat in an octagonal pavilion, sipping fragrant tea brought by maidservants and eating pastries.

"These fellows are quite composed!"

Jiao Mowang cast a Water Mirror Technique to display the scene outside Bibo Tan, and saw that although these pretty boys were looking at each other in dismay, not a single one had left.

He couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Otherwise, would that old Dragon King of Wansheng intend to leave them hanging for another ten days or half a month? It is obvious that these people have great patience! They are far from their limit."

Peng Mowang tossed a piece of pastry into his mouth, glanced at these people through the Water Mirror Technique, and smiled.

"In ten days or half a month, there will always be some who cannot endure; it is just the right time to filter them further. Those who can remain unmoved will surely be even more sincere."

Fang Longye also glanced at these people and shook his head with a laugh. To put it bluntly, this was actually a disguised way of increasing the sunk costs for these "talents."

It would make it harder for them to give up during the even more excessive suppression and tests to come, forcing them to grit their teeth and persist.

"That's right, we can just use this to beat them down a bit more!" Niu Mowang said in a deep voice.

"At this rate, this Dragon King of Wansheng isn't selecting a son-in-law; he is clearly tormenting them to death!" Yurong Wang couldn't help but sigh.

That Dragon King of Wansheng had just said that there were several more rounds waiting for these people ahead.

Not only that, this old dragon also said that if, after the several planned rounds of tests were finished, the number of people who passed was still high, he would continue to design more rounds to keep testing them.

Until the number was whittled down to about ten.

"Old Seventh, stop worrying about things that don't concern you. You aren't participating in the selection, yet you're speaking up for these people? I even think the intensity from the Dragon King of Wansheng isn't enough!"

Mihou Wang rolled his eyes and said speechlessly.

"By the way, Old Sixth,"

Shituo Wang, who had been taciturn, suddenly remembered something and asked with a look of gossip:

"Aren't you skilled in listening and well-informed? I have always been unable to figure this out: Princess Wansheng is indeed of age, but by the Dragon Clan's age calculation, she has only just reached womanhood. The Dragon King of Wansheng is in such a rush to find her a husband—do you think it could be that she is already pregnant and he is looking for someone to take the blame?"

As soon as Shituo Wang said this, it immediately piqued the interest of the other five, who all turned to look at Mihou Wang.

"Hehe, Fifth Brother, you seem to speak so little, I didn't expect you to have so much on your mind!"

Mihou Wang chuckled and teased Shituo Wang, then changed the subject: "However, I don't know either."

"I have three 'don'ts': don't look at what is improper, don't listen to what is improper, don't speak of what is improper. I won't pry into the matter you mentioned, and even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you."

"Tch!"

Before Shituo Wang could say anything, Peng Mowang became dissatisfied first, saying with a look of disdain:

"Do you think that besides you, we have no way of knowing if there is any entanglement in this?"

Mihou Wang made a face and said, "Then Fourth Brother, you try it and see what you can find out."

Hearing him say this, the others secretly thought that there must really be some entanglement, and they all began to deduce it privately, but none of them could deduce anything.

Fang Longye was the same; he only felt that the Heavenly Secrets were in Chaos, and it was impossible to know what the specific entanglement was.

"This is because the people involved have Great Divine Ability practitioners behind them," Niu Mowang raised his head and said in a deep voice.

"Second Brother is right."

Fang Longye nodded in agreement.

Thanks to his experiences, he had dealt with plenty of people backed by Great Divine Ability practitioners and was quite experienced; he could confirm that Niu Mowang was correct.

"I don't know if Princess Wansheng is pregnant, as it involves Great Divine Ability practitioners and there might be means to conceal it, but I can be certain that Fifth Brother was right about one thing: the position of son-in-law that those pretty boys outside are fighting for is indeed a role for someone to take the blame."

Since the topic had come up, Fang Longye no longer hid it; in any case, the Dragon King of Wansheng was not present.

He had deep attainments in the path of Dual Cultivation; when Princess Wansheng came out to greet them earlier, he had seen at a glance that she was no longer a maiden.

Combining this with the original Journey to the West he had read in his past life, he could even vaguely guess who the guy was that had plucked Princess Wansheng's maidenhead.

Hearing this, Niu Mowang and the others looked at the pretty boys outside with sympathy. These people were truly unlucky; they fought with their lives and endured humiliation, only to end up fighting for a cuckold's hat.

They wondered which of these long-suffering pretty boys would be the unluckiest in the end, to be chosen by the Dragon King of Wansheng and win this green hat. Just as they were sighing,

a Longnu came to pay respects, saying that the Dragon King of Wansheng invited them to the front hall for a meal. The seven of them took one last look at these unlucky wretches, stopped paying attention to them, and went along happily.

Who the Dragon King of Wansheng found to take the blame was none of their business; in any case, it wasn't them.

As for those unlucky wretches outside, they were all fellows who wanted to live off a woman's wealth with thick skin; suffering and enduring for a green hat was only what they deserved. (End of chapter)