To be fair, Zhou Zhiruo was not small—at least above average. It was just that the other two women were so exceptionally gifted by nature that they made her look inadequate by comparison.
Zhao Min quickly noticed Zhou Zhiruo’s discomfort. After a moment’s thought, she understood what was bothering her. She couldn’t help sidling over and saying with a grin, “Zhiruo, dear, would you like me to tell you the secret to making them grow?”
“Not interested.” Zhou Zhiruo refused flatly, her face darkening even more. She had known Zhao Min for so many years—how could she not know what kind of person she was?
Zhao Min glanced at her chest, a half-smile playing on her lips. “I’ve heard that after a w0man marries, that part becomes fuller. It seems you can’t believe everything you hear.”
Zhou Zhiruo rose abruptly, fury in her eyes. “Surnamed Zhao, are you ever going to stop?”
“Oh my~” Zhao Min patted her chest, pretending to be frightened, and quickly hid behind Lan Fenghuang. “I didn’t say anything, now did I? Why are you so angry?”
Zhao Min’s skill at insinuation was truly formidable. Zhou Zhiruo knew she was being talked about, but she had no idea how to vent her rage. Her heart was in agony.
“Princess, you women of the grasslands grew up eating beef and drinking mare’s milk. Naturally, your bodies are better nourished than those of other peoples. Sister Zhou, among Han Chinese, your size is already quite good,” Lan Fenghuang quickly interjected to ease the tension between the two women. Only then did Zhou Zhiruo’s expression gradually soften.
Zhao Min knew it was enough to tease Zhou Zhiruo a little. If she went too far and truly provoked her, she couldn’t win a fight against her. “Sect Leader Lan, you didn’t grow up eating beef and drinking mare’s milk, did you? So why are you… why are you so spectacular?”
Hearing her question, Zhou Zhiruo also pricked up her ears. She couldn’t replicate Zhao Min’s ethnic advantage, but Lan Fenghuang’s situation was similar to her own. Perhaps she could learn something.
Faced with such a private question, even Lan Fenghuang, usually so bewitching and seductive, showed a hint of shyness. “I don’t really know why either. It seems… I was just born this way.”
Zhou Zhiruo, who had been waiting to hear some advanced wisdom, nearly passed out from frustration. Lan Fenghuang’s words dealt her a critical hit of 9999 damage.
She felt that if she stayed with these two women any longer, she would go mad. So she hurriedly wiped herself down, got dressed, and sat to the side, fuming in silence.
Noticing her reaction, Zhao Min’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction. She deliberately drew Lan Fenghuang into a discussion about chests. Lan Fenghuang, unaware that Zhao Min was doing it to provoke Zhou Zhiruo, chatted with her without reservation.
Zhou Zhiruo’s lovely face was shrouded in frost. She rose to leave the room, thinking that if she couldn’t see, she couldn’t be bothered. But just then, her peripheral vision caught Zhao Min’s exposed, crystal-clear, jade-like skin. Her eyes darted about, and she had an idea. She sat back down again.
Zhao Min had been thoroughly enjoying Zhou Zhiruo’s expression, as if she had swallowed a fly. But then, to her surprise, Zhou Zhiruo suddenly calmed down. No matter what Zhao Min or Lan Fenghuang said, she remained unmoved. Instead, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, as if she were smiling at some happy thought.
Zhao Min lost interest. She chatted casually with Lan Fenghuang for a while, then stepped out of the bathtub. Just as she was about to reach for her clothes, Zhou Zhiruo seized the moment and tossed a piece of scented soap onto the floor.
With Zhou Zhiruo’s current martial arts, she could hit a target with a thrown projectile every time—let alone a piece of soap. The soap landed right in Zhao Min’s path, and as luck would have it, she stepped directly on it.
Completely unprepared, Zhao Min let out a shriek of fright. She lost her balance and crashed heavily to the floor. Naked, her body made intimate contact with the wooden planks. The pain brought tears to her eyes, and she couldn’t help groaning.
Zhou Zhiruo, who had been stewing all evening, finally found release. She nearly jumped up and clapped for joy.
Lan Fenghuang also stood up in the bathtub, leaning out with a concerned expression. “Princess, are you alright?”
Before Zhao Min could answer, the door suddenly burst open. Song Qingshu rushed in like a gust of wind. “What’s… what’s going on?”
When he saw the scene in the room, he stood there dumbfounded.
Zhao Min lay n@ked on the floor, every inch of her skin exposed before him without reservation. Her skin was as translucent as jade. Because she had just stepped out of the bath, tiny droplets of water still clung to her skin, shimmering under the lamplight, breathtakingly beautiful. Perhaps because the fall had hurt, Zhao Min’s delicate brows were slightly furrowed, evoking the same kind of tender sympathy as Xi Shi pressing her heart. [G: “Xi Shi pressing her heart” refers to a famous story about the ancient beauty Xi Shi, whose frown was said to be so beautiful that it became an idiom for a woman’s captivating allure even when in distress.]
Beside her, Lan Fenghuang had most of her b0dy exposed above the bathtub. Her dazzling whiteness was dizzying. Whereas Zhao Min’s skin was as white as jade, Lan Fenghuang’s whiteness was closer to the milky white of fresh cream. Especially where her full, rounded breasts pressed against the rim of the wooden tub—the exaggerated sense of compression was visually striking.
Song Qingshu felt his nose tingle. The nosebleed he had been trying so hard to suppress finally betrayed him.
The three women in the room were dumbfounded. Zhou Zhiruo had only wanted to get back at Zhao Min to vent her frustration. She had never imagined that Zhao Min would scream so dramatically when she fell. Song Qingshu, guarding outside, had thought something terrible had happened and rushed in.
Though on the surface, Zhao Min was the one who had been seen n@ked—her loss—Zhou Zhiruo felt a sourness in her heart, as if she were the one who had suffered.
Zhao Min stared blankly at the man before her, her mind a complete blank. Though her relationship with Song Qingshu had been ambiguous, and there had been no lack of physical contact, never had she been so utterly defenseless before him.
Her instinct was to scream. But then she thought: what would screaming accomplish? Because she was too clever, countless thoughts surged through her mind at that moment. A complex, indescribable feeling spread through her entire body. She remained where she was, dazed and lost.
Lan Fenghuang, having weathered many storms, was the one who kept her composure. Though she had also been nearly seen completely n@ked, after the initial shock, she covered her chest and sank back into the water. Quickly regaining her calm, she noticed Song Qingshu and Zhao Min staring wide-eyed at each other. She couldn’t help laughing. “Young Master Song, is it that beautiful? You’ve been looking for so long and still can’t bear to look away?”
Only then did Song Qingshu snap out of it. He said sheepishly, “What if I said I didn’t mean it? Would you believe me?”
Lan Fenghuang giggled. “Whatever the Young Master says.”
Zhou Zhiruo’s face was dark as she snorted. But she understood that she couldn’t blame her husband. She regretted her actions deeply. *I shouldn’t have tried to prank Zhao Min.*
Zhao Min finally recovered from her dazed state. Seeing that he showed no sign of looking away, she was both embarrassed and furious. “You d@mned lecher! You filthy p9rvert! Are you still looking?”
Song Qingshu smiled calmly. “Since I’ve already seen, what difference does one more glance make?”
Zhao Min nearly fainted from anger. *How can there be such a shameless wretch in this world?* Though her relationship with Song Qingshu had always been ambiguous, they had not yet reached the point of being completely bare before each other.
She struggled to get up, but the fall had been too hard. Her entire body felt as if it had fallen apart. She tried several times but couldn’t rise.
Noticing the piece of scented soap on the floor and looking at Zhou Zhiruo nearby, Song Qingshu roughly guessed what had happened in the room. He smiled wryly, reached out, and drew the quilt from the bed into his hand. He walked over to Zhao Min and gently covered her with it. “Don’t get upset. Let me help you.” As he spoke, he lifted her in his arms.
Zhao Min had never expected him to dare hold her in front of the other two women, especially Zhou Zhiruo. Overwhelmed by his strong masculine presence, her mind went blank. Normally so resourceful and quick-witted, she now could only hear the pounding of a heartbeat—she could no longer tell whether it was his or her own.
Watching what was happening before her, Lan Fenghuang’s red lips gaped wide enough to fit an egg. She looked at Zhou Zhiruo, then at Song Qingshu, and was filled with profound admiration.
Zhou Zhiruo could no longer bear it. She rose abruptly. “Qingshu, what are you doing?”
Song Qingshu smiled wryly. “Cleaning up after you.” He nodded toward the door. The commotion had roused the nearby guests, and some were already craning their necks, trying to see what was happening in the room. Naturally, he couldn’t let anyone else see Zhao Min’s flawless naked body.
Zhou Zhiruo bit her lip. Her form flickered, and she appeared at the doorway. Her beautiful eyes brimmed with cold fury as she glared at the nearby onlookers. “Get lost, all of you!” She was now thoroughly frustrated herself. The pain of shooting herself in the foot was indescribable. She could only channel it into a vicious Nine Yin White Bone Claw, gouging five deep finger holes into a nearby pillar to vent her anguish.
Intimidated by this display, the onlookers outside dared not linger. They fled in panic.
Inside the room, Song Qingshu had already laid Zhao Min on the bed. Seeing her looking so pitiful and vulnerable for once, he was moved. He leaned in and gave her a gentle ki$s on her luscious, glistening red lips.
Zhao Min’s almond eyes flew wide open. She instinctively covered her mouth with her hand, her face a mask of disbelief. Lowering her voice, she said, “Are you insane?” She glanced toward the doorway. Seeing that the other two women’s line of sight was blocked by Song Qingshu’s body, they hadn’t seen what had just happened. Only then did she breathe a slight sigh of relief.
“Yes, I’m insane.” Song Qingshu smiled brightly and leaned in to kiss her again.
Zhao Min stared blankly at what was happening. Only when he pried open her teeth did she finally snap back to reality. Overwhelmed by shame and anger, she bit down hard with her teeth.
But Song Qingshu, as if anticipating this move, withdrew just in time. He simply smiled at her.
Zhao Min blushed. “Surnamed Song, you’re becoming more and more despicable.”
“What are you two talking about?” Zhou Zhiruo walked over at that moment.
Song Qingshu sat up straight, putting some distance between himself and Zhao Min. Without changing expression, he said, “Miss Zhao was just thanking me for my help.”