After placing Wanyan Chongjie on the soft couch, Song Qingshu warned her again, “Remember, no shouting. If you don’t behave, I’ll strip you n@ked and let the people outside come in for an eyeful.”
“I won’t shout, all right?” Wanyan Chongjie pouted and mumbled. She stole a glance at the man beside her. Something seemed to occur to her, but when she tried to grasp it, she couldn’t quite catch that spark of thought.
She was still distracted when the room suddenly darkened. He had leaned down and begun untying her clothes. This sent her into a panic, her voice faltering. “Wh-what are you doing?”
The moment the words left her mouth, she realized how redundant they were. A man and a woman alone together in the dead of night—and given his reputation around Lin’an—what else could he be doing?
Song Qingshu gave her a half-smile and lifted her chin. The smooth, soft sensation transmitted through his fingertips. “What do you think I’m doing?”
“Your martial arts may be formidable, but there’s always someone better. My lover’s martial arts are better than yours. If you dare lay a hand on me, he will avenge me one day and make you wish you were dead.” Wanyan Chongjie knew such empty threats were probably useless, but at this point, trying was better than doing nothing.
“And who might this lover be?” Song Qingshu couldn’t help but smile wryly. *This scene feels strangely familiar.*
Instantly, the image of that man in Daxing Prefecture flashed through Wanyan Chongjie’s mind—the man who could summon clouds and rain with a turn of his hand. “The Golden Serpent King, Song Qingshu!” she blurted out. Then her cheeks flushed. Amid her embarrassment, she silently prayed that the man’s reputation would intimidate this Southerner.
But the man beside her seemed not to have heard. His hands didn’t stop undoing her clothes. By now, her undergarments were already exposed.
Wanyan Chongjie was both mortified and furious. “Didn’t you hear what I just said?”
Song Qingshu shrugged nonchalantly. “I heard.”
“Then why are you still undressing me?” Seeing his indifferent expression, Wanyan Chongjie wanted nothing more than to bite him. But with her acupoints sealed, she had the will but not the means.
In that moment, she even found herself silently cursing Song Qingshu: *That b@stard is always so cocky, but his reputation can’t even scare a dandy from Lin’an! I’m so angry!*
“It’s precisely because I heard that I’m continuing,” Song Qingshu said, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips.
“Huh?” Wanyan Chongjie was confused. She couldn’t follow his logic.
Song Qingshu smiled calmly. “You said I am your lover. So what’s wrong with a lover undressing his own woman?” As he spoke, he had resumed his original voice.
The expression on Wanyan Chongjie’s face was a sight to behold: first confusion, then surprise, and finally a mixture of anger and embarrassment. “Song Qingshu, you b@start!” She had felt a sense of familiarity about this man all along, but couldn’t quite place it. The moment he returned to his natural voice, she instantly realized.
*When he disguised himself as Tang Kuobian and fooled everyone in the Jin court, it makes perfect sense that he’s now appearing as Jia Baoyu.*
“Shh—do you want to bring all those guards in here? With everyone watching, I won’t be able to save you.” Song Qingshu’s face was full of amusement.
“Good! Let them come in and see that the young master they’re so faithfully guarding has been replaced by an impostor!” Though Wanyan Chongjie said this, she unconsciously lowered her voice.
Then, remembering how he had toyed with her, leaving her in fear and suspense, a wave of rage surged within her. She glared at him. “Aren’t you going to unseal my acupoints?”
“Why so fierce? If I hadn’t shown up in time, you’d already be in the hands of the Jia mansion’s guards.” Song Qingshu unsealed her acupoints with a flick of his hand.
“You have the nerve to say that! If I hadn’t come to Jiangnan to save you, would I be in this situation?” Wanyan Chongjie fumed. “Aunt and the others were worried sick about you, and here you are, living it up in Lin’an.”
Song Qingshu knew the “aunts” she referred to were Ge Bi and the others. He smiled wryly. “I only just escaped danger. I only returned to the Central Plains a couple of days ago—I haven’t had a chance to inform you.” Then he shifted the subject. “Your aunts were worried about me—were *you* worried?”
“Pah!” Wanyan Chongjie spat without hesitation. “Only fools like Aunt worry about you. I told them long ago that the wicked live forever. A b@start like you will surely live to a hundred.”
“Is that so?” Song Qingshu laughed. “Then why did you come all this way to find me?”
Wanyan Chongjie’s cheeks colored slightly. She gave a delicate humph. “What choice do my mother and I have? We were poisoned with your Three Corpse Brain Holy Pill. If you die, we die too. So I reluctantly came looking for you.”
“You ungrateful little brat. Looks like those spankings were well deserved.” Song Qingshu chuckled with satisfaction.
“You…” Remembering that strange experience—especially the lingering burning sensation on her backside—Wanyan Chongjie was overwhelmed with shame and anger.
But Song Qingshu was already musing to himself, “If I really did die, having a beautiful mother-daughter pair like you to accompany me in death doesn’t sound so bad.”
Wanyan Chongjie’s face instantly chilled. “Are you eyeing both my mother and me?”
As if not noticing that she was on the verge of exploding, Song Qingshu gave her another half-smile. “If I said I wasn’t, would you believe me?”
“Of course not!” Wanyan Chongjie’s voice was cold. “Of all the men in Daxing Prefecture who want to get us both into bed for their amusement, there must be at least eight hundred, if not a thousand. All you men are disgusting, perverted creatures.”
Feeling her body tremble slightly, Song Qingshu said gently, “Not all men are like that.”
His calm, steady voice relaxed her taut nerves slightly. She unconsciously leaned against him, as if only this could melt the ice that had long been buried deep in her heart.
Then her gaze drifted downward and landed on the undergarments still exposed to the air. Remembering what had just happened, she shoved him away in fury. “You talk a good game, but the moment you get a chance, you take advantage of me—”
Perhaps the movement was too sudden. It aggravated her injuries—she cried out softly, the pain swallowing the rest of her words.
“I was just trying to treat your wounds. See? You’ve shifted the bones and made it worse.” Song Qingshu examined her injury with a reproachful look.
“If you wanted to treat me, you could have just said so. Not… not just undress me like that.” Gone was Wanyan Chongjie’s usual willful sharpness; her voice grew softer and softer.
“Even if I told you, undressing would still be necessary to set the bones. So I might as well just undress you and be done with it.” Song Qingshu said this as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“But…” Wanyan Chongjie hadn’t expected him to be so matter-of-fact. “But I’m a girl.”
“So what?” Song Qingshu replied calmly, probing the location of her wounds with his fingertips.
His hands made her face burn crimson. She bit her lip. “How am I ever supposed to marry after this?”
Finally, Song Qingshu looked at her seriously. He reached out and pinched her chin, chuckling softly. “Do you think I’d ever let you marry another man?”
*I knew it!*
Wanyan Chongjie inwardly sighed. Yet she wasn’t particularly discouraged—she had already been mentally prepared for such an outcome.
Now that her fate was sealed, she no longer agonized over possibilities. Her eyes regained their former sly cleverness. “Aren’t you afraid of making Aunt angry? After all, I’m her junior.”
“Ge Bi is more magnanimous than you imagine. Besides, she’s always liked you.” Song Qingshu answered.
Wanyan Chongjie opened her mouth to continue, then glanced down at the hands exploring her body. Blushing, she said, “Are you really… setting my bones?”
“What else would I be doing?” Song Qingshu said impatiently. “With your little figure—no meat on your chest, a flat backside—you really think I’m so eager to t0uch you?”
As if stung by his words, Wanyan Chongjie snapped, “Have some conscience! Compared to my mother and aunts, my chest might be a little small right now, but I’m still young. At my age, they might not have been any bigger!”
“And my backside isn’t flat! I’ve overheard more than once the men in Daxing Prefecture saying how round and perky it is!”
Seeing her more outraged at this than when he had been taking liberties with her, Song Qingshu couldn’t help but laugh. As mature as she sometimes seemed, Wanyan Chongjie was still just a young girl at heart.
“All right, all right. I was wrong about you, okay?” As he spoke, he reset her ribs with a quick twist of his hands.
“Ah—” Caught off guard, Wanyan Chongjie nearly cried out from the pain. Fortunately, Song Qingshu had anticipated this and covered her mouth in advance, keeping her cry from escaping.
“I need something to immobilize your ribs.” Song Qingshu looked around but couldn’t find any suitable cloth. His eyes fell upon the undergarments half-hanging from her chest. “This is perfect.” With a flick, he removed them.
Wanyan Chongjie wailed inwardly. *This trip to Lin’an has been a disaster. He’s seen and touched every part of me.* Yet, for some reason, she didn’t actually mind his assertiveness. On the contrary, it brought her a sense of security.
*Perhaps it’s because I grew up without a father’s love.* Song Qingshu’s maturity, wisdom, and occasional dominance all matched the vague image in her heart.
Growing up, seeing her mother bullied by villains while she could do nothing, Wanyan Chongjie had fantasized more than once about a man who would come to protect them both. But no such man had ever appeared. In the end, she had learned martial arts by chance and buried that childhood dream. Only after meeting Song Qingshu did that long-forgotten image gradually become clear again.
“Young master? Young master?” Suddenly, someone knocked on the door outside.