Mingyue Jian was much better behaved as he showed Lin Qingcheng around the rest of Revelry party events. Perhaps he realized he had overstepped and did not try to tease her or her disciples. He described the other selection events for priestesses in detail and those were not as salacious as the first event.
There was a total of five events that determined five of the six Holy Lunar Priestess spots. These included general services, cultivation, art, beauty, and virginity. The sixth position was a strange one that was chosen directly by the tear so it was left until the end.
The cultivation event was the reason there was a fighting platform. There, women lined up to fight each other to determine who was the strongest. The one with the highest cultivation and combat power would in theory be able to absorb the most amount of blessing and be more effective at transferring it to her clients. A strong priestess was popular among those trying to breakthrough or seeking a quick boost to their own cultivation.
Art involved many different specialties such as playing musical instruments, painting, singing, and poetry. Having these skills showed that a woman was elegant and refined despite her job serving men. Such women were adored and cherished and held in higher regard than ordinary women. Men viewed them as having the epitome of womanly qualities and simply being around them brought joy and relaxation.
Beauty didn't need much explanation. Everyone, man or woman, valued physical beauty. The most beautiful woman was voted on by all the members of the revelry. This event had the least number of contenders because a single woman would often win consecutively for many months. Those that still chose to compete paraded around the party floor in sexy and revealing outfits, socializing with the attendees and trying to win their votes.
Virginity was different from beauty and it was prized by men above all. There was something about claiming a woman's first time that made a man's ego soar to the heavens. Certain women had a special air of innocence and purity. Every man had a sense for such special qualities; the bashful smiles, the coy glances form their nervous eyes, and their tender bodies that retained their baby fat… The virgin priestess was highly prized and drove men wild with desire. After the Revelry, she would sell her first time to the highest bidder and every time the price would be astonishing!
"Golden Madam, we have arrived at the virgin priestess selection." Mingyue Jian said as they arrived in front of an interesting setup.
Lin Qingcheng saw that there was a large circular pen with women seating inside in rings of chairs. The first large ring had twenty or so women. The following ring of chairs were placed on a raised stage and the ones after on an even higher stage. In total there were close to a hundred women.
They each had a sign on their chair that stated their name and which pimp or brothel they belonged to. The attendees would walk around the perimeter, see which one was their favorite, and cast their votes. She could see that some of the women looked very scared and a few were even chained to their chairs.
"Why are some of them tied up? You are forcing them against their will!" She said, "You should know I despise such things; did you bring me here to taunt me?"
"No, no, no." Mingyue Jian quickly said, "Those are just slightly misbehaved… and some are criminals and this is their punishment."
"You…"
Lin Qingcheng felt angry enough to punch his face but before she could do so, somebody else decided to cause a scene.
"Make way!"
"Prince Tian!"
"Get out of the way!"
A scuffle broke out nearby as several large body guards shoved aside the attendees and headed towards their direction. There was another princely young man in between the body guards with a furious and distorted face who was staring straight at Mingyue Jian.
This man finally made his way in front of Mingyue Jian and pointed a finger accusingly at him, "Jian, you asshole! You dare steal my woman; I'll have you locked up!"
His yell attracted a lot of attention and the crowd instantly looked in their direction. Lin Qingcheng's own anger dissipated and she quickly moved away from the third prince, hoping she wouldn't get lumped into whatever problem he was having.
"Second Prince Tian, I don't know what you are talking about." Mingyue Jian said innocently.
"Don't pretend." Mingyue Tian spat, "Look at number thirty-seven. She was originally my woman. But she was stolen from me a week ago. And now she is here, under your name!"
"Woah!" The crowd gasped in surprise and everyone looked towards the woman in question.
Her name was Hua Yulan and she was sitting in the third row. Out of a sea of faces, hers was especially charming and innocent compared to the rest. She looked quite young and her cherubic image tugged at all the men's heartstrings. She was a strong contender. She could very well be the next virgin priestess.
The crowd instantly became noisy as many that had been on the fence rushed to cast their vote for Hua Yulan. Mingyue Tian stared in absolute shock as his anger had ended up benefitting his brother!
"Stop, stop. Everyone, stop!" He screamed at the top of his voice.
A hush fell upon the surrounding as the attendees cowered from the fury of the royal prince.
"She belongs to me! Those votes belong to me! Everyone, I have always been known as the prince who delivers the best virgins. I have won the virgin priestess event for the last two years. Hua Yulan is mine!"
"So what? Does that mean others can't compete in this event?" Mingyue Jian shot back, "She is obviously my woman and has a great chance of winning yet you want to claim her? Rubbish. What proof do you have that she is yours?"
"Oh, you want proof? You can ask your partner in crime, the Golden Madam. Ask her where she was seven nights ago and why the city guards saw her leave the city and come back after two hours. Those two hours were exactly the time when my men were going bring Hua Yulan into the city. Yet all of my men died mysteriously and Hua Yulan disappeared. Now she is here and the Golden Madam is also here accompanying you. Anyone can connect the dots when you make it so obvious!"
Lin Qingcheng cursed inwardly as every pair of eyeballs landed on her. Her infamous reputation was well known among the ruling class and her outfit was more than conspicuous. She had nowhere to hide now and it looked like trouble. She was also furious at being roped into something she wasn't expecting.
"Madam, let's call Grand Master Chen!" Mo Yanmi whispered urgently at her side.
Huang Ruyan also tugged at her sleeved and looked scared.
Lin Qingcheng brushed them aside. Her armor had protected her against immortals like He Xinghan so she wasn't afraid at all. There was nothing these people could do to her.
Mingyue Jian glanced at her, as if expecting her to say something. But Lin Qingcheng remained silent and elbowed him sharply in his side. He played her and he also played his elder brother so she wasn't about to help him in anyway. She didn't like being taken advantage of and she wanted to see what he would do to extricate himself from this situation. She also wanted know what his plan was and why she had been invited to the Revelry.
Mingyue Jian sighed lightly and finally spoke to the crowd. "Honored members of the Full Moon Revelry, the matter is much simpler than you think. We can simply ask Hua Yulan. Yulan, tell them where you are from and how you got here."
"Yes, my lord." Hua Yulan spoke up for the first time. Her voice soft and pure and yet complete irresistible, "My name is Hua Yulan and I am a Sacred Daughter of the Virtuous Order of Chunzhen."
"Woah!!"
The gasp from the crowd this time was loud and filled with shock. Even Lin Qingcheng was taken aback.
The Virtuous Order of Chunzhen was a widespread mortal cultivation sect and religious cult that had branches across many provinces in the Eastern Sanmu Subcontinent. Its members worshipped virginity and had many secret arts that used cultivated their virginity in unique ways.
They were well known across the lands… they were desired by all men and the envy of all women!