Ju reflexively rubbed her eyes with the back of her palm and then cleaned her ears, hoping she had heard wrong.
But when the next announcement followed half an hour later, the women's nightmare slowly became a reality.
"Hey, have you heard?! The cleansing ritual has already started. As we speak, Yu Xiaoguang is almost finished getting dressed and ready."
From listening to the guards, Ju and Ruolan could pick out that there was a process one had to go through before having a first consummation. It included a vigorous scrub in their finest soaps and spices. Followed by an elaborate adornment and makeup ceremony, and then finally, an exchange of drinks, which was meant to link their souls as one.
So far, Yu Xiaoguang was still on the first stage, but that alone made the women on edge.
