A breathtakingly beautiful girl looking at you with watery eyes, saying she’ll agree to any condition…any man would inevitably let his imagination run wild.
“Are you sure…any condition?” Song Qingshu looked at the girl before him with a half-smile.
Ah Ke’s cheeks flushed slightly, her full chest heaving several times before she calmed herself to answer: “Yes!” As Chen Yuanyuan’s daughter, how could she not know how easily her words could be misconstrued?
Truth be told, if Zhao Gou had been a normal husband, she wouldn’t have said such suggestive things to another man. But theirs was merely a political marriage, devoid of any affection…and that alone she could have accepted, since many couples started that way and grew to love each other. The real problem was that Zhao Gou wasn’t a real man; theirs was a marriage in name only. When she’d begged him to punish Huang Shang and been coldly refused, she’d completely given up on her nominal husband.
She didn’t know if she’d have said something so bold if this man weren’t Song Qingshu, and she didn’t want to think about it.
Seeing her reaction, Song Qingshu realized this wasn’t a slip of the tongue…it was a deliberate decision. Seeing how a naive, romantic girl had been reduced to this, his heart grew heavy.
“What if this is my condition?” He reached out, wrapped his arm around her slender waist, and pulled her into his embrace. He decided to scare her off…this path was a one-way street. With her beauty, if she started using it as a tool, there would be no turning back.
He soon regretted it. The girl’s body was soft and supple, their abdomens pressed together. Her thin clothes did nothing to conceal the allure of her form. And with the unresolved tension from his afternoon with Chen Yuanyuan, a fire had been smoldering inside him all along…this stimulation made his body react immediately.
With a soft m0an, Ah Ke went weak in the knees. Though still an innocent maiden, she’d been in the palace long enough to have some understanding of such matters. Sensing that Song Qingshu wasn’t indifferent to her, she felt both pride and shyness.
Seeing her shy and compliant, looking as if she were his for the taking, Song Qingshu’s heart stirred. He couldn’t help but lean down and press his lips against her cherry-red mouth.
Their lips met, but ultimately her maidenly modesty prevailed. Startled, Ah Ke pushed him away, her face crimson: “You haven’t even heard what I want yet.”
His mouth dry, he replied, “There aren’t many things in this world I can’t do. Go ahead.”
“Kill Huang Shang for me!” Her voice was like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing the fire within him.
“Kill Huang Shang? Why?” He exclaimed in disbelief. *That’s insane! Huang Shang’s martial arts are unfathomable. He’s a revered figure whose* Nine Yin Manual *has benefited countless experts. And he’s the Yellow-Robed Maiden’s master…if I touched him, she’d fight me to the death!*
“He’s a top-tier master, yet he struck at my mother…a defenseless woman who knows no martial arts…all because of some ‘calamitous beauty’ nonsense! Those men were the ones who failed…why should my mother take the blame? Even though I don’t think she’s at fault at all, she’s spent all these years with a solitary lamp and Buddha, cultivating herself to atone for the sins of her early life. How could he harm such a kind woman?” Ah Ke grew angrier as she spoke, her whole body trembling. “My mother doesn’t know martial arts…she couldn’t withstand his full-force strike. She’s probably… probably…” She broke down and sobbed into Song Qingshu’s chest.
He patted her back gently, his earlier desire gone, replaced by boundless pity: “Don’t worry. Your mother has been blessed by heaven and earth…she’s not destined for an early death. I’m sure she’ll pull through.” He couldn’t very well tell her the truth…that he’d been the one to abduct Chen Yuanyuan and save her…so he had to comfort her this way.
“Really?” She looked up at him with hopeful eyes, like a desperate soul grasping at any straw, no matter how flimsy.
“Trust me. Your mother will be fine.” Song Qingshu nodded.
Something in his unwavering gaze reached her, and she finally calmed down, wiping her tears. “I asked around earlier. I know Huang Shang is one of the most formidable figures in the martial world. Asking you to kill him is too dangerous.”
He breathed a long sigh of relief. *Thank goodness you realize that.*
But his relief was short-lived…her next words left him speechless: “So here’s another option. You could kill the assassin who broke into the palace today instead. That bastard molested…”
She suddenly blushed, not wanting to tell him about that incident. She quickly changed the subject: “If you accomplish either of these two tasks, I’ll consider my request fulfilled. And then… then you can come to me for your reward…” With that, she pushed him away, her face red, and ran off.
Song Qingshu stood there in the wind, utterly flummoxed. *What kind of deal is this? Two options…kill Huang Shang, or kill myself. Neither one is doable.*
“Wait! I still need directions!” But by then, Ah Ke had already disappeared. He had no choice but to use his qinggong to climb a tall tree, survey the entire palace from above, and make a beeline for the brightest, most lavish building.
The banquet was held at Jiying Hall, which was normally where scholars took the palace examinations, but occasionally hosted court banquets as well.
“Oh, my little ancestor…finally!” The Honglu Temple official had been waiting at the door, straining his eyes. “His Majesty is almost here. If you’d been any later, my head would have rolled!”
He’d been dumbfounded when the Yellow-Robed Maiden returned alone without Song Qingshu, and had run after her only to be rebuffed. Given her special status, he couldn’t press, so he’d had no choice but to wait anxiously, praying for Song Qingshu’s return.
Song Qingshu gave him a few reassuring words before taking his seat. Passing by the Yellow-Robed Maiden, he noticed she wouldn’t even look at him and sighed ruefully. He was about to find a way to speak with her when officials surrounded him, vying for his attention, and he had to abandon the idea.
“The Emperor arrives!” About half an hour later, Zhao Gou finally made his entrance. Everyone rose to bow. Song Qingshu, given his special status, simply stood to show respect rather than kneeling like the others.
He suddenly froze…Zhao Gou was accompanied by a consort. Her beauty surpassed pearls and roses…it was Ah Ke, whom he’d just parted from not long ago.
Unlike the charming little maid she’d been in her servant’s outfit, now adorned in grand palace attire, she looked even more noble and radiantly beautiful.
She clearly saw him too. Whether because of their encounter by the lake, a faint blush crept across her jade-like cheeks, making her even more alluring under the candlelight.