Ji Bozai’s behavior seemed off to Yan Xiao. He appeared to be a completely different person, doting on Ming Yi as if she were the only thing in the world. His days were filled with nothing but practicing and Ming Yi. He didn’t even spare a glance at the dancing girls who approached him, let alone visit Hua Manlou.
However, Yan Xiao had seen this behavior before. Last year, when Ji Bozai was pursuing a young lady from a noble family, he acted similarly. He seemed to have suddenly reformed, dedicating himself wholeheartedly to brewing tea and discussing paintings with her. At that time, he had fooled everyone, even making Yan Xiao believe he might be ready to settle down.
But then, when that noble lady’s family arranged a marriage for her with someone else, she came to Ji Bozai in tears, begging him to elope with her. Ji Bozai, sitting on the terrace of Hua Manlou, merely swirled his wine cup and asked with a smile, “Elope? To where? You’re about to be married. You should go home and focus on embroidering your wedding dress.”
The young lady was stunned. Trembling, she asked, “How can you bear to see me marry another?”
Ji Bozai opened his fan and laughed, “My lady, we were merely kindred spirits who enjoyed painting together. Was there anything more between us?”
Yan Xiao remembered that young lady because she was different from the others. Most women would approach Ji Bozai eagerly, but she had initially looked down on him for his humble origins and lack of refinement.
Back then, she had rudely refused a cup of wine from Ji Bozai, which only made him more determined to pursue her. He sent gifts, invited her to banquets, and occasionally showed concern for her well-being. Then, in a public setting, he treated her with marked preference, causing her to soften and gradually look forward to their meetings.
When things were good between them, they would ride together in public, oblivious to the envious glances of other young ladies in Mu Xing City as they chased the stars. At the time, Yan Xiao thought that if this noble lady were to be betrothed to another, Ji Bozai might use some tactics to win her back.
But he didn’t. When news of her engagement came, Ji Bozai didn’t even raise an eyebrow, let alone take any action.
When Yan Xiao asked him about it, Ji Bozai simply said, “I’m not ready to settle down yet. How could I hold back a young lady’s future?”
What a beast in gentleman’s clothing! When he was pursuing her and giving her hope, he never mentioned anything about holding her back.
From then on, Yan Xiao knew that Ji Bozai treated emotions as playthings. He could never truly settle down for anyone.
However, Yan Xiao never expected that Ji Bozai would use these tactics on Ming Yi. For some reason, Yan Xiao felt that Ming Yi was different from other women. If Ji Bozai used these methods on her, he might not have ended up victorious. But Yan Xiao didn’t want to warn him. He was curious to see if this undefeated playboy of the romantic battlefield would ever experience a day of losing his soul and heartbreak.
He was quite looking forward to it.
Packing up his medicine box, Yan Xiao said to Ming Yi, “His wound isn’t too serious. It’s just flesh pain. You needn’t worry too much, Miss.”
Ji Bozai glared at him coldly, clearly displeased. But when he turned back to Ming Yi, he rested his head on her lap, feigning strength as he said, “Yes, it’s not serious. Don’t worry.”
Yan Xiao wondered where Ji Bozai had learned in such an affected manner. He wanted to mock him, but Ming Yi seemed to fall for it. She frowned delicately and said, “Even flesh pain is suffering. How can we not take it seriously?”
She stood up and said, “Rest well. I’ll go check on things and come back to take you home later.”
“Alright,” Ji Bozai replied, covering his wound and forcing a weak smile.
Ming Yi left the room with a cold expression.
“What is she going to check?” Yan Xiao asked, confused.
Bai Ying, standing by the door, said softly, “Miss just went to look at Tan Zhongyue’s divine artifact earlier, and suddenly it stopped working. Now that she’s seen the Young Master’s wound, she might want to check on Tan Zhongyue himself.”
Yan Xiao: “…”
Bai Ying wasn’t wrong. As soon as Ming Yi left, she headed straight for Tan Zhongyue in the training grounds.
Without his divine artifact, Tan Zhongyue was no match for Luo Jiaoyang. However, Luo Jiaoyang was mindful of the Duke Gong behind Tan Zhongyue and hadn’t struck too hard. After fighting for half the day, Tan Zhongyue was still standing, albeit clutching his chest and grimacing in pain.
Luo Jiaoyang raised his hand forcefully, but Fan Yao called out, “Jiaoyang, calm down.”
Reluctantly, this palm strike landed lightly.
Ming Yi watched from the side for a while, then smiled and said, “How long is this going to continue? May I take over?”
Luo Jiaoyang looked at her in surprise and lowered his hand. But his opponent wasn’t so honorable. Taking advantage of Luo Jiaoyang’s withdrawal, Tan Zhongyue landed a blow.
“Puh—” Luo Jiaoyang spat out blood and staggered back two steps.
“Hahaha!” Tan Zhongyue laughed triumphantly. “You’re not as formidable as they say. Ji Bozai should let me join the team now, right?”
Ming Yi helped Luo Jiaoyang to sit down nearby, then smiled and said, “I’m the weakest in our team. If you can beat me, you can certainly join.”
Tan Zhongyue grew angry at the sight of her. “What did you do to my divine artifact earlier? It’s not working anymore!”
“If you win against me, I’ll help you fix it,” Ming Yi said elegantly, writing out a challenge letter word by word.
Tan Zhongyue was taken aback. Challenge letters weren’t usually written for training matches. What was she up to?
But then he thought, she’s just a decorative woman. Even with a challenge letter, she couldn’t possibly kill him, right?
She could.
Ming Yi raised her hand, summoning the Realm of Darkness. For the first ten moves, she merely dodged attacks, appearing quite weak. Tan Zhongyue lowered his guard, thinking she wasn’t much of a threat.
However, after ten moves, white Yuan Power began to flow from Ming Yi’s fingertips.
Before Luo Jiaoyang and the others could see her technique, Tan Zhongyue was suddenly severely injured. His protective shield shattered like glass, and he was thrown against the wall of the Realm of Darkness. He fell heavily, his head buried in the sand, motionless.
The other onlookers from the Tan family stood frozen in shock before finally reacting and rushing forward to help him.
Ming Yi withdrew her Yuan Power and sighed lightly, “As a mere woman, how could I know how to control my strength? If I accidentally went too far and someone wants to blame me, I can’t help it.”
Luo Jiaoyang burst into laughter, slapping the weapon rack as he exclaimed, “Brilliant!”
Earlier, that scoundrel had noticed Luo Jiaoyang’s reservations and deliberately attacked his lower body. Luo Jiaoyang had wanted to beat him up like this but couldn’t, as it would implicate his father back in the village.
Ming Yi was different. Among all those present in Mu Xing, no one could touch her father.
“That move just now was really powerful,” Chu He followed her, asking eagerly, “How did you exert such force without damaging your meridians? Whenever I use Yuan Power explosively, my meridians ache terribly.”
“Just line your meridians with a layer of Yuan Power,” Ming Yi explained candidly. “But it takes time. If I couldn’t dodge his attacks in those first ten moves, I’d be the one on the ground now.”
Chu He frowned, thinking this method was too tricky. Who could fill their meridians with Yuan Power? It was both costly and time-consuming. Against a more formidable opponent, wouldn’t it be a dead end?