As Ji Bozai sat back down with an expressionless face, Ming Yi tugged at the corners of her mouth and said, “Lord Ji is the best person I’ve ever met.” Her tone was perfunctory, dispassionate, and even seemed mocking.
Ji Bozai raised an eyebrow and asked, “Am I better than Situ Ling?”
Ming Yi frowned, “How old are you compared to him? Why are you competing with a child?”
“You only see him as a child?”
“What else? As a father?”
“…Don’t speak so harshly.” He flicked her forehead and clicked his tongue. “Women are indeed most charming when gentle. Look at you, previously so approachable, now you’re all prickly.”
“Before, it wasn’t about being approachable. It was about being weak and easy to take advantage of, anyone could toy with me.” Ming Yi lowered her eyes to look at him. “If I had stayed that way, I’d only be a novelty to you for a year or two. After that, you’d have plenty of other beauties, and who knows where I’d end up dying alone.”
“But now, I have money and a means to support myself. I could find any kind of man I wanted. Just having a normal conversation with you makes you feel I’m thorny. Simply put, it’s because I’m not easy to manipulate or control anymore, which makes you uncomfortable.”
Ji Bozai’s heart sank as he sat up straight. “What did you say?”
She raised an eyebrow. “I said I’m not easy to manipulate now…”
“The sentence before that.”
“Just having a normal conversation with you.”
“The one before that.” Ji Bozai narrowed his eyes at her, containing a thin layer of anger. “You had the guts to say it, but not to repeat it?”
Ming Yi was bewildered for a moment. Realizing what he was angry about, she suddenly smiled maliciously, looking straight into his eyes, and said word by word, “I said that now, I have money and a means to support myself. I could find any kind of man I want.”
“You!” His jaw tightened. “Women in Qingyun Realm can’t remarry.”
“Oh.” Ming Yi nodded. “But you and I haven’t officially married. How would I be remarrying?”
“…You’re registered as my concubine in Chaoyang City’s household records.”
“That’s even simpler then, I’ll just move to another city.” Ming Yi shrugged. “Chaoyang men are strong and valiant, Feihua men are romantic and affectionate, Zhuyue men are considerate and attentive, Cangxue men are handsome and elegant. What kind couldn’t I choose?”
At this point, Ming Yi’s eyes brightened: “Oh right, there’s even a male brothel in Feihua City, the only one in the six cities. Since we’re here, I might as well take a look.”
His chest filled with an uncomfortable emotion, Ji Bozai had never felt this way before. He laughed angrily, “You’d degrade yourself just to irritate me? You must not be over me.”
“My Lord misunderstands.” She pouted. “It’s natural human desire. As long as it’s consensual, I’ve never thought women were at a disadvantage, let alone considered it degrading. Other women might find it shameful, but to me, it’s no different from eating or sleeping.”
“Moreover, if I were to find someone else, it wouldn’t be to irritate you, My Lord. We have no relationship anymore. In other words, even if I don’t find anyone else, it’s not about maintaining chastity for you. It would only be because I haven’t met someone I like and don’t want to find anyone.”
Ming Yi looked at him seriously: “We’re all born human. If my Yuan Power can be like a man’s, even surpassing most men, why can’t my other actions be the same as men’s?”
These words would sound absurd to anyone else, but Ji Bozai listened. Moreover, he felt she made sense. If he could be promiscuous, so could she. In terms of looks, figure, and strength, she was no less than him in any aspect.
He opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. It was like holding a handful of sand – grip too tight and it flows away, grip too loose and it also flows away. He couldn’t control it either way.
Ming Yi keenly caught the fleeting panic in his eyes.
She suddenly smiled, leaning closer to him, and asked, “My Lord, do you like me?”
Ji Bozai snapped back to his senses irritably, looking at her coldly. “Who would like you as you are now, lawless and unruly?”
“Then why are you so angry?” Her smile deepened.
He brushed her off awkwardly, gritting his teeth: “It’s you who likes me, I wouldn’t…”
“Oh my.” Ming Yi fell backward with his movement.
His heart tightened, and he quickly hooked her waist, pulling her back.
Their eyes met, Ming Yi’s full of cunning.
Ji Bozai quickly let go of her, turning his head away with a cold snort: “It was you who deliberately approached me and tried to please me in every way.”
“But now that I’m not trying to please you anymore, why does My Lord seem anxious?”
“I’m not anxious.”
“Oh, is that so?” Ming Yi nodded and stood up. “Then My Lord must not take today’s events to heart. It would be a shame if you got upset and didn’t go to Chaoyang City.”
“I’ll go as soon as my wounds heal. Who would be upset with you?”
Nodding with satisfaction, Ming Yi turned to leave.
They were two people least suited for talking about love because neither liked to admit defeat. Love was like handing over half of one’s life at the beginning of a game, and clever fighters would never do that.
However, Ming Yi smirked.
She found Ji Bozai’s reaction just now interesting as if he cared about her. Something that even bringing up the Meng family couldn’t settle was resolved with just a few words of banter.
Before departing, she left the house and land deeds of Feihua City to Xiu Yun: “I’ll be back soon, just wait for me here.”
Xiu Yun was a bit reluctant: “How long will you be gone?”
Ming Yi thought for a moment: “If it goes quickly, I’ll be back in a month.”
If it went slowly, she might not come back at all.
This trip with Si Hou was originally meant to eliminate future troubles. She didn’t know what she would face.
When the wound had scabbed over, Ming Yi boarded the flying beast carriage again with Qin Shangwu.
“I’ve never been to Chaoyang City before,” Luo Jiaoyang asked Ming Yi excitedly. “Is the city much bigger than our Muxing? Are the streets full of high-level fighters?”
Ming Yi thought carefully: “It is quite big, but Chaoyang City is in a precarious position. The main city is built on the edge of a cliff, the land is not suitable for farming, and the people’s lives are difficult.”
Everyone listened with surprise, and Fan Yao asked, “Then what do the people rely on to survive?”
“Trade,” Ming Yi said. “They receive a lot of tribute from the lower three cities each year, and most of it flows into the civilian market for trade.”
This meant that anyone could fall out of the upper three cities, except Chaoyang City. Once they fell out of the upper three cities, their people’s livelihood would be in jeopardy. So even at the cost of their reputation, they had to cooperate with Zhuyue City to maintain their position in the upper three cities.
As for the rising Muxing City, it became even more of a threat to their status, one they wished to eliminate as soon as possible. So when they set out, She Tianlin specially gave Ming Yi a piece of armor.
“You are the rising sun(Chaoyang) that will not fall,” Old She looked at her with hope in his eyes at the time. “Welcome back to Chaoyang City.”