As the rooster crowed, the garden gates opened. The servants had already begun their work, with the kitchen being the busiest place as the cooks rushed to prepare breakfast for the masters who would soon awaken. Smoke rose from the chimneys.
Ji Cheng didn’t feel hungry at all. As her hangover began to subside, she suffered from a heated feeling in her lungs and wanted to go to a cool, secluded spot in the garden to catch some breeze. She hoped it might alleviate the stuffiness in her chest. As she reached Qing Garden, she noticed the dew on the bamboo leaves. Unable to resist, she reached out to touch the leaves and extended her tongue to catch the bamboo dew that had been chilled by the cold night.
The bamboo dew was cool and refreshing, with a unique coldness. Ji Cheng felt as if she had tasted the elixir of immortality. She continued to seek out bamboo dew along her path, occasionally bending down to sip dew from adorable chrysanthemums that had collected it. This helped relieve about half of her post-drinking headache and chest heat.
When she heard footsteps behind her, Ji Cheng didn’t turn around. She was standing on tiptoe, tilting her head back to sip bamboo dew. As the cold dew entered her mouth, she slowly turned her head to see Shen Che watching her with a curved smile.
This man was naturally handsome. Even when not smiling, he could captivate one’s soul. When he smiled at you, it was as if all the stars in the sky had fallen into his eyes and were being presented to you. With such natural charm, it would be a waste if he didn’t use it to play with women’s hearts. Even Ji Cheng would feel sorry for Shen Che if he didn’t.
Ji Cheng blinked twice as if trying to confirm whether the person before her was real or an illusion, or perhaps wondering how she should react. Ji Cheng thought to herself that she had already been so open with Shen Che that it was as if she were naked before him, so there was no point in pretending anymore. She simply continued to sip the bamboo dew, not wanting to respond to him, figuring he would leave once he had looked his fill.
The sky had not yet begun to brighten. Tong Yue, who was following Shen Che, still held a lamp to light the way. Ji Cheng’s lamp had been carelessly placed at her feet, casting a hazy circle of light around her.
Shen Che looked at Ji Cheng’s slightly pale face. Normally, a woman after a night of drinking would not look attractive, appearing haggard and worn out. However, Ji Cheng was wearing a scarlet Zhaojun hood with woven gold brocade and white fox fur trim. The weak lamplight shining through the gold brocade cast a red glow on Ji Cheng’s cheeks, giving them a rosy hue. Her eyes were large and bright, like autumn waves rippling behind a curtain, with long, curled eyelashes that fluttered like feathers tickling the most sensitive parts of one’s body.
Ji Cheng’s lips had taken on an unhealthy, feverish red due to the heat in her lungs. It was a color that no rouge could imitate, soft and delicate yet alluring and fragrant.
Before dawn, with the night still deep, and his heart slightly stirred, the person before him was like a fox spirit who had just absorbed the essence of a scholar living in an abandoned garden, intoxicated by that decadent cultivation.
The bamboo leaves gently flicked as Ji Cheng’s pink tongue playfully tapped them, coaxing the dew from the leaves into her sandalwood-scented mouth.
Her tongue tip was small, tender, and pink, beautifully formed. With a light curl, the bamboo dew slid past her pearly teeth.
As Ji Cheng swallowed the bamboo dew, Shen Che’s Adam’s apple bobbed. Unusually, he felt a warm current surging frantically from his limbs and gathering in his lower abdomen.
This kind of stimulation was indeed rare for Shen Che.
In life, there are always gains and losses. As the saying goes, “There’s no first in literature, and no second in martial arts.” From the moment Shen Che decided to follow his master to learn martial arts, he only learned the world’s top kung fu. However, while this supreme martial art didn’t require castration, it was a bit more difficult than that.
Castration with a knife is just a moment of hot-blooded impulse, after which all troubles are gone. But the “Nine Cycles Profound Origin Skill” that Shen Che practiced, though not requiring castration, demanded constant clarity of mind and tranquility, abstaining from male-female relations.
For a normal young man, strong and healthy, especially in his teens and twenties when impulses are at their peak, to force oneself not to think or act on such desires is unimaginably difficult.
Moreover, this Nine Cycles Profound Origin Skill was particularly inhuman to practice. The nine cycles nourished one’s essence, making it abundant and potent, comparable to an elixir of life. Those who practiced this skill had even stronger desires than ordinary people, like being forced to swallow an aphrodisiac but not allowed to release it. Such cruel torture made it almost impossible not to excel in martial arts, yet throughout history, few people have been able to master this skill, simply because they couldn’t control themselves.
In truth, this skill didn’t forbid male-female relations, but one had to weigh the pros and cons for oneself. The essence accumulated through nine cycles of cultivation would benefit a woman like eating Tang Monk’s flesh if one engaged in such activities, while one’s martial arts would regress.
Shen Che’s self-control was so strong that even his master found it astonishing. Moreover, he was absurdly strong to the point of perfection. While others might avoid temptation by the principle of “out of sight, out of mind,” Shen Che did the opposite. From the first time he felt that warm current in his abdomen, he frequently visited brothels, forcing himself to look and think about such things. In reality, after seeing and thinking about it too much, one realizes it’s just that one thing.
Shen Che only experienced impulses during his first few years of encountering such matters. In the past two years, he had become unmovable as a mountain. Otherwise, how could Chu De say he was like a Buddha – a Buddha without emotions or desires?
Unexpectedly, those feelings that had disappeared for years were rekindled by Ji Cheng before dawn on this day. Shen Che not only didn’t feel uncomfortable but found it fresh, stimulating, and extremely exciting. Like a leopard spotting its prey or a shark smelling blood, his eyes were full of light.
In the past two years, with his desires greatly reduced, much of the pleasure in life had gone, leaving him listless and uninterested in everything. Moreover, his martial arts progress had stagnated. The Nine Cycles Profound Origin Skill was inherently the most contradictory method in the world – it required abundant essence yet forbade its release. Once the desire for essence diminished, one’s yang energy would also weaken. This skill required constant torment by fierce flames, yet one had to transform that torment into internal energy to succeed.
Shen Che was like a wolf that had been overfed, losing its fighting spirit. Now that he had tasted the feeling of hunger again, how could he not be excited?
Ji Cheng seemed to sense the fire in Shen Che’s eyes. She lowered her raised heel back to the ground and looked at Shen Che with confusion. If he was happy, it surely meant someone else would be unhappy.
As Ji Cheng was lost in thought, she heard Shen Che say, “The bamboo dew is cold. Don’t drink too much when you’re heated from alcohol.”
Unsolicited favors are either villainy or theft. Ji Cheng was already on high alert internally but responded with a perfunctory “Mm.”
“If you want to drink bamboo dew, there’s the most at Jiuli Courtyard,” Shen Che added.
Ji Cheng inwardly scoffed. Of course, she knew there was a lot of bamboo at Jiuli Courtyard, but she simply didn’t want to go there.
Shen Che looked at Ji Cheng, who seemed rooted to the spot, avoiding him like a tiger or wolf. Was he really that frightening? Reflecting on his actions, he realized they had indeed been somewhat inhumane. Whether out of personal feelings or official business, Shen Che didn’t want Ji Cheng to harbor such a strong aversion towards him. So he said, “Ah Cheng, I would have done that thing even without you, and I didn’t necessarily have to choose the Ji family. It was only because I saw that you were intelligent and capable that I decided to place my bet on the Ji family. You’re so smart, you must understand this, right?”
Ji Cheng had already figured this out a few days ago, otherwise she wouldn’t have written to her father with such strong persuasion.
“Thank you for thinking highly of the Ji family, Cousin Che. My father will cooperate with you to the best of his ability,” Ji Cheng said.
“Has your father’s reply arrived?” Shen Che asked.
Ji Cheng shook her head, “Not yet.”
Shen Che smiled. It seemed this girl was sensible and should be able to persuade Ji Qing.
“Let me give you a maid. In the future, if you have any messages for me, you can tell her,” Shen Che said.
Ji Cheng had long expected that Shen Che would place someone to monitor her, but she didn’t expect him to be so eager. “We have a set number of people serving us, and I can’t overstep Sister Wan and Sister Qian. It might not be appropriate to suddenly have an extra person around.”
“I’ll find a way,” Shen Che said with a slight smile.
Looking at the smile on Shen Che’s face, Ji Cheng thought he was smiling too much today. This smiling tiger never smiled without a reason, and if he planted someone by her side, it would be inconvenient for her to do anything in the future.
However, Ji Cheng also knew that if Shen Che wanted to place someone with her, she couldn’t stop him. His smiling demeanor was just a way to win people over, just like calling her “Ah Cheng” to show familiarity. Did he think she would be grateful for this?
As Ji Cheng was lost in thought, Shen Che’s gaze had already turned to a large tree not far to the left. Su Yun was hiding behind the tree, on the verge of tears. She had long sensed something amiss between these two, but Ji Cheng’s behavior had been so open that she thought she was overthinking things. She never imagined that Ji Cheng had already been secretly communicating with Shen Che.
Su Yun wiped away her tears and hurried away. She too was recovering from a hangover and had wanted to take a walk in the garden. Who knew she would see Ji Cheng, walking unsteadily, also heading to the garden? She couldn’t help but follow, only to witness Shen Che and Ji Cheng talking intimately, with a smile on his face that he had never shown to her.
Su Yun’s heart was both sour and painful, but she had nowhere to vent her feelings. She wasn’t anything to Shen Che, and if Shen Che liked Ji Cheng, she had no way to stop it. She only hated herself for not being as good as Ji Cheng.
Ji Cheng didn’t have Shen Che’s keen hearing and eyesight. When she arrived at the study hall in the morning and greeted Su Yun, she was ignored, which puzzled her greatly. Although Su Yun had her little tempers and thoughts, she always maintained perfect surface courtesy. It was extremely rare for her to be so impolite as to not even acknowledge someone.
A moment later, Su Yun came to her senses and smiled apologetically at Ji Cheng. “Sister Cheng, were you calling me just now? I must have been lost in thought.”
Ji Cheng knew Su Yun’s little thoughts all too well. Although she didn’t know that Su Yun had witnessed the morning’s events, she was aware that Su Yun was wary of her. Ji Cheng wasn’t one to exploit others’ weaknesses, and besides, she had too many troubles of her own to bother competing with Su Yun for some man’s affection.
So Ji Cheng just smiled faintly and overlooked Su Yun’s rudeness.
However, when Su Yun saw the smile on Ji Cheng’s lips, she felt as if she was being mocked as a loser. And indeed, she was a loser, having lost to Shen Cui in the last performance at the central altar.
As old and new grievances surged in her heart, Su Yun immediately recalled her grandmother’s words. Old Mrs. Su was Old Madam’s cousin and also came from a distinguished family. She was wise with age. Shen Cui’s skills were far inferior to Su Yun’s, so why did Shen Cui win the performance at the central altar? The old lady saw it clearly – it must have been because Ji Lan had used some underhanded methods behind the scenes.