She was making a gamble—betting that the other party was merely one of Chu Li’s probing attempts, and her wager was the strong confidence she had built in her skills over many years.
“Click.” Light footsteps echoed in the bathhouse. Qing Xia half-closed her eyes, leaning against the edge of the pool with an appearance of complete relaxation and enjoyment.
The sound slowly approached. Qing Xia’s entire body tensed with explosive power, ready to strike back the moment her opponent made the slightest move. However, the person only slowly drew near. In the silence, she could only hear the increasingly heavy and fearful breathing. Qing Xia frowned—they were already very close, yet there was no action whatsoever. The situation seemed rather strange.
However, just as Qing Xia became alert, a soft splash suddenly and quietly rang out. Though the sound was barely audible, Qing Xia still caught it immediately.
Something was wrong!
A trace of alarm instantly struck her heart. At that moment, a cold presence suddenly pressed close. Qing Xia’s eyes snapped open. Before she could even see clearly what the situation was, her hands instinctively pushed against the pool’s edge, instantly borrowing momentum to leap into the air and onto the platform. A white cotton robe lying beside the platform flew through the air. With a sideways flip, Qing Xia’s hands and feet miraculously slipped into the garment as if by divine intervention. Her left hand emerged from the sleeve, forming a claw with one hand, instantly striking toward the cold, fishy object in front of her. Her body spun once and landed steadily on the platform. At that moment, her right hand had just finished tying the last sash of the robe perfectly.
From the enemy’s attack to Qing Xia leaping out of the pool and getting dressed—all these actions occurred within a single second. The entire sequence flowed like water, swift and agile. Qing Xia’s face was cold and stern, her gaze sharp and piercing. Her left hand gripped tightly in front of her, holding what turned out to be a colorful venomous snake as thick as a forearm!
Looking at the only other female in the bathhouse who stood there dumbfounded, Qing Xia slowly narrowed her eyes, which gleamed with an eerie light like a cat’s.
The young maiden in pink palace attire rubbed her eyes in disbelief, discovering she was still seeing the same scene, and couldn’t help but be greatly alarmed.
Qing Xia’s gaze instantly turned cold, her lips pressed tightly together as she applied slight pressure with her hand. The sound of crushing bones immediately rang out. The struggling colorful venomous snake instantly convulsed and died!
“The sage said: ‘Better to offend a gentleman than a petty person.’ It seems I have indeed committed a great taboo.” Qing Xia’s voice was cold as she looked at Princess Jiayun, whose face was pale and full of shock. A cold smile suddenly appeared at the corner of her mouth, and with a swoosh, she flung the limp dead snake toward Jiayun.
“Ahhh!” A piercing scream immediately shot toward the sky!
Qing Xia put on a gorgeous brocade robe, didn’t spare another glance at Jiayun and the others, and walked alone through the long corridor of the bathhouse toward the main hall of Lanting Palace.
That evening, the news that Concubine Lan of Lanting Palace had taught the domineering Princess Jiayun of Chu Palace a lesson instantly spread throughout the entire harem. While most people applauded, someone was secretly clenching their fists.
When Chu Li returned, it was already the third watch of the night. Though extremely unwilling, Qing Xia still got up from bed at Xiangju’s tearful pleading to welcome this actual master of Chu Palace who had graciously come to visit her despite the late hour.
Chu Li was always ostentatious and domineering. Even though he had a dragon carriage, he still maintained the bad habit of riding horses in the deep palace. A series of hoofbeats broke the night’s tranquility. Countless lamps lit up in response, and women from various palace gates all looked forward eagerly to this young sovereign of the empire. But Chu Li still galloped all the way to the palace gates of Lanting Palace.
There, Qing Xia in a deep purple brocade robe and dark blue cloak, surrounded by a group of serving maids, stood before the magnificent palace gates, quietly waiting for his arrival.
Jumping down from his horse and approaching closer, he discovered that Qing Xia’s complexion didn’t look good. Chu Li’s originally tired and sour face became even more unsightly. He snorted coldly and walked toward the inner chambers without saying a word.
Qing Xia raised an eyebrow, glaring impatiently at the back of this man who had made her stand in the cold wind for so long, feeling anger rising in waves in her heart. Seeing Chu Li’s bad mood and her own master showing no sign of compliance, Xiangju was so anxious that tears were about to flow. Seeing this, Qing Xia became even more impatient and angrily told the servants kneeling on the ground: “Everyone return to your rooms and go about your business.” After speaking, she turned and walked toward the inner chambers.
Xiangju was so frightened that her hands and feet trembled. She felt that ever since her master had beaten Concubine Dan, her temper had become unusually volatile, as if she had become a different person. Now that the Crown Prince was in a bad mood, she hoped her master wouldn’t provoke his anger. After muttering prayers for a long time, she finally had to enter the side room. She didn’t dare to sleep, only waiting for any commotion from inside so she could rush in and plead for her master.
Here, Qing Xia entered the bedroom and saw Chu Li sitting beside the low table on floor mats, drinking cup after cup of sullen wine, knowing he was in a bad mood. Actually, even without looking at him, Qing Xia knew he was in a bad mood. She had originally hoped he wouldn’t come to Lanting Palace these few days. Once news of Qi An’s return to the State of Qi was released and Zhuang Dianru safely returned to Southern Chu, she would find an opportunity to escape—everything would be perfect. But she hadn’t expected that human plans were no match for heaven’s will. This Crown Prince of Chu seemed incompatible with her on the surface, but these past few days he seemed to have fixated on her, coming here daily whether he had business or not. Thinking of this, she felt quite helpless and decided not to provoke him at this time. Qing Xia very consciously walked toward the bed. After a hard day, especially being bothered by that willful girl in the evening, she felt extremely tired. As soon as her body touched the bed, she almost collapsed and was about to fall asleep.
This series of actions made Chu Li’s eyes blaze with fury. Prince Qi had escaped from the heavenly prison—the situation was critical and dangerous, with countless urgent matters. He had been so busy at the military headquarters that everything was in chaos. But when he heard she was being harassed by Jiayun in Chu Palace, he immediately put down all his work and rushed back overnight. Yet what he faced was this kind of expression from her—how could this not make the proud Crown Prince of Great Chu furious to the point of heart attack?
Chu Li angrily stood up abruptly and walked toward the bed, roughly yanking away the blanket covering Qing Xia, angrily shouting: “Get up!”
The woman lying on the bed slightly frowned, tilted her head back slightly, and looked somewhat angrily at the Crown Prince of Southern Chu behind her in military attire. Wearing a white silk nightgown with two long, beautiful white jade legs beneath, her slender neck slowly raised as she spoke indifferently: “Truly a family—all without the slightest upbringing.”
This sentence instantly ignited the fury Chu Li had suppressed all day. His sword-like eyebrows immediately stood up. He grabbed Qing Xia’s tender white wrist with great force, suddenly pulling her body up and pressing her tightly against his own.
“Say that again for me to hear.”
His low voice slowly rang out. Qing Xia raised her eyebrows to look at the furious man, and a cunning gleam instantly flashed through her eyes. Half-kneeling on the bed, looking up at the man in front of her, she suddenly reached out with both arms and tightly embraced the man’s waist encased in light armor.
“What do you want me to say?” With a sweet smile, Qing Xia’s expression instantly became like a cat that had stolen fish. Her chin rested on the man’s lower abdomen, her face radiant with smiles, her lips soft and gentle, her eyes bright as gems under the lamplight.
The sudden gentleness completely shattered the frost on the man’s face. His wide eyes stared hard as if he had seen visitors from outer space, utterly shocked.
What was this situation? Shouldn’t she angrily curse back and respond with cold words? Shouldn’t she try to resist with a face cold as frost? How could she suddenly become so compliant, even with a hint of coquettishness? What on earth was happening?
“You want me to…” Qing Xia’s voice drew out long and slowly. Tightly embracing Chu Li’s waist, she looked up at him from below. Her bright eyes seemed ready to drip water. She extended her pink tender tongue and lightly bit her lower lip, then slowly bit it with her pearly white teeth, her voice gentle and breath fragrant as orchids: “Say what?”
Chu Li’s face was like iron, but it was no longer as unsightly as before. Following Qing Xia’s smooth face and snow-white neck downward, he could see the snow-white bosom faintly visible under the wide neckline. A surge of hot blood instantly rushed to his brain, and his Adam’s apple involuntarily moved up and down.
Back in the 21st century, Qing Xia had been a top beauty in the Military Intelligence Agency—otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to seduce an Iranian pilot to defect. Seeing Chu Li’s appearance now, how could she not understand his reaction? Immediately, her eyes rolled, and with a beaming smile, she took hold of Chu Li’s thick hand hanging at his side, carefully retreating backward on her knees on the bed.
“You’ve been busy all day. Aren’t you tired?”
There could be no more provocative words than these. The earlier displeasure had long been thrown to the clouds by Chu Li. Looking at Qing Xia, who was completely unlike her usual self, a thrill secretly rose from the bottom of his heart.
The weak and timid Zhuang Qingxia, the refined and elegant Zhuang Qingxia, the bold and fearless Zhuang Qingxia, the calm and self-controlled Zhuang Qingxia, the clever and decisive Zhuang Qingxia, and now the charming and alluring Zhuang Qingxia—which one was really her?
With a “thump,” Chu Li in light armor crashed down onto the bed. Qing Xia bit her lower lip and slowly removed the armor from his body from behind. She moved to his waist, gently caressing as she gradually removed his belt bit by bit. Her tender, slender fingers wandered over Chu Li’s chest, now clad only in a blue cotton robe, gradually parting the two sides of his garment. Her fingernails, painted with nutmeg, lightly slipped inside, slowly tracing across the robust chest muscles.
Chu Li’s handsome face gradually took on a layer of intoxicated flush. Looking at the plainly dressed woman half-kneeling before him, he felt she was like an alluring enchantress. No wonder Prince Qi An would risk everything to come rescue her.