[Negative Emotion: 40]
"Chen… Chen Hundreds…"
Min Ming swallowed a mouthful of saliva, instinctively speaking in a coy tone.
Chen Yi grabbed her ear and asked again:
"Who sent you here?"
Min Ming cried out in pain, the corners of her eyes slightly twisted, her dark brows furrowed. The pitiful look she employed was precisely what made people lavish her with riches.
"Reporting to Chen Hundreds, I came by myself… I heard that Chen Hundreds recently accepted a beautiful maid from Prince Mansion, so I decided to come and see…
Please show mercy, Chen Hundreds, spare me a way out."
Chen Yi revealed a faint smile,
"Those who intrude without cause during the night, the master is entitled to slay them immediately, it is indisputable. According to the laws of Great Yu, I could kill you right now."
Min Ming's face turned pale.
But her mind, like that of a white slug, worked swiftly to devise a plan. She moved her hands and feet, nearly clinging forward, feigning a tearful voice:
"I no longer have the strength to protect myself; my life is now in your hands, yet I'm merely a pure courtesan, with no assets to my name. What could I possibly offer to buy my life from you?
I've always served others with my beauty but have adhered to the righteous path, never resorting to intimate services…"
Her words carried a blatantly clear implication.
Chen Yi stared straight at her.
She hesitated but spoke shyly:
"If you do not abandon me, I would be willing to vow myself as a sworn spouse."
Min Ming's alluring charm was a calculated deployment, as she had something to rely upon.
Tied to her somewhere was a silver makeup knife, a tiny blade often carried by women subjected to invasions by the Hu people. Thin as cicada wings, it was intricate and small.
As soon as Chen Hundreds let his guard down, bewitched by lust, she could end his life with one swift stroke.
As for True Qi… she could always cultivate more later.
"You truly are as captivating as a drowning fish or a falling goose."
Chen Yi chuckled.
Min Ming secretly rejoiced.
It worked.
But it seemed a pity to kill him.
Even if she were to truly serve him, perhaps it wouldn't be entirely a bad outcome.
A face of such caliber was rare even in the Capital City. The only comparison Min Ming could think of was the top-ranking male courtesans, but they bore an overly soft aura. In terms of presence, they couldn't even hold a candle to this martial artist.
Perhaps crippling his martial arts and making him a eunuch to serve her would suffice?
Min Ming sinisterly pondered.
She took a deep breath and looked at Chen Yi in an even more enchanting manner.
Chen Yi smiled brightly.
He stretched out his hand, grabbed her ear, and pulled it upwards with force.
Min Ming let out a sharp scream in pain.
Chen Yi spoke with casual indifference:
"You think your beauty is enough to lure me.
But have you ever considered that I'm not interested in you at all."
As the words reached her ears, Min Ming froze, staring upward with disbelief, her face instantly drained of color when she found no trace of desire in his gaze.
[Negative Emotion: 50]
Catching her expression, Chen Yi sneered coldly.
He had not deceived her.
During his first save file's playthrough, he had already thoroughly learned all there was to know about her.
What you cannot obtain always stirs restlessness, but what you have obtained ceases to be that enticing.
"You are a mere pure courtesan, not a child from a respectable family. Apart from your looks, what else do you have?"
Chen Yi's words hit Min Ming's most vulnerable spot, causing her negative emotions to rapidly soar.
"You only possess beauty, yet you exploit it constantly. How did you turn yourself into something so cheap?"
"Did you think it was difficult for me to make demands of you?"
Min Ming quivered with fear.
Chen Yi untied the waist badge and pressed it against her cheek, patting her lightly,
"This alone is enough to make you comply."
[Negative Emotion: 60]
Humiliating words fell like heavy blows, making Min Ming shudder.
As a pure courtesan, she had long been accustomed to seeing sisters around her serve others with their beauty. The gossip among entertainers often told tales of fortunes exchanged for a single night, leading her to believe that beauty was the most valuable commodity on earth.
Chen Yi's words, however, shattered that cruel misconception.
Beauty wasn't the ultimate value—power was.
Chen Yi released Min Ming, drawing out the Brocade Spring Blade.
Silver light burst forth.
Min Ming shrank back sharply, shouting desperately in terror.
Whirr.
The silver gleam descended.
Under the precision of the blade's edge, the hemp ropes binding Min Ming were completely severed. She sat dazed in place, her face pale as death.
[Negative Emotion: 80]
[Condition Met: Resentment Yin-Yang Technique Triggered]
[Initial mastery of Resentment Yin-Yang Technique, ten years of foreign True Qi may be absorbed, yielding three years of True Qi. Min Ming's negative emotion rewards three years of True Qi.]
[Remaining True Qi: Twelve years]
After those words, her hatred for him soared from forty to eighty, which greatly pleased Chen Yi.
He truly desired nothing from her.
However, that didn't mean he wouldn't take her.
Seeing as this was a perfect save file,
He would take it all!
Frankly, when he started this file, he treated it as just a game, doing things purely for optimal benefit in the early stages—much like slaughtering a village after turning in a quest in "Bod Gate." While he hadn't gone to such extremes, he had done plenty of profiteering, including embezzlement, scams, and manipulation. He was very much an ice-cold machine for ideal openings.
Take, for instance, the Dragon-Slaying Blade Technique, which he acquired by marking theft and stealing directly from Min Ning.
Chen Yi kept Min Ming locked up for an entire night.
After confirming no more assassins arrived, the next morning, after finishing his own preparations, Chen Yi came to the guest room.
"You can leave. I don't care where you've come from, but don't spy on me again."
Chen Yi spoke in an indifferent tone.
Min Ming looked at him in disbelief, gradually comprehending the weight of his words. They didn't merely strike her ears but stabbed directly into her heart.
[Negative Emotion: 80]
Recalling the events of last night, she was filled with shame and anger. The flush on her face broke through layers of thick rouge, but she dared not utter a word now, lowering her head in silence.
"Chen Hundreds!"
A sharp voice called urgently from outside the courtyard.
Chen Yi immediately recognized who it was upon hearing the somewhat familiar sound.
Crossing the threshold and into the courtyard, an extraordinarily spirited face appeared before him.
The eyebrows tapered low to high, exuding an innate heroic aura that commanded authority without anger. Unfortunately, the youthfulness still showed, and traces of immaturity lingered. Her nose was high, fingers rested on the hilt of her blade, making her look full of vitality.
Truthfully, her features carried an innate melancholy—a sorrowful brow combined with heroic spirit. Though seemingly contradictory, the contrast created a unique appeal.
She was, indeed, his superior, and had always disliked him.
"Min Thousands, visiting my humble abode so early, what brings you here?"
Chen Yi spoke slowly.
Min Ning, styled Yue Chi, one of the main heroines of "Heavenly Realm," began her story arc disguised as a male West Factory Thousand Households overseeing the Eastern Factory, contrasting sharply with Min Ming, representing opposites of integrity and deceit. According to typical strategy guides, if one could secure both of them, they could nearly achieve omniscience within the Capital City.
Her heroic face, coupled with the disguise of a fabricated Adam's apple and paired with her chivalrous personality, had once fooled the first-save version of Chen Yi thoroughly, leading him to regard her as a true confidant.
Moreover, her tender fragility beneath the heroic facade tugged at the heartstrings, leaving one pondering how to truly understand the South Liang dynasty.
As everyone knows, South Liang was succeeded by…
"Chen Hundreds,"
Min Ning's androgynous voice interrupted Chen Yi's musings,
"Have you seen… a pure courtesan from Baihua Building?"
Her tone grew increasingly heavy, as though attempting to coerce Chen Yi.
"Chen Hundreds, your unauthorized interrogation of a criminal woman last night violated our Great Yu laws…
If you listen to me, I might be willing to turn a blind eye and help cover things up to some extent."
She exerted immense effort to say these words.
The impression of her chivalry was that she detested such collusion most intensely.
Chen Yi stared at her and scoffed quietly.
Min Ning tightened her grip on her sword hilt even harder, her fingers angular as though they might pierce through her skin.
In the past month, this Chen Hundreds, leveraged by Lin Cabinet Elder backing him, had committed a string of atrocities during his initial tenure. Min Ning herself suffered multiple humiliations by him, vowing by the riverwater that should the day come for familial retribution, the first head she would claim would be this parasite's.
"Don't worry, she's fine."
Chen Yi gestured behind him as Min Ming emerged with her head hanging low, a face full of lifelessness.
Looking at her sister's deadened expression, Min Ning's knuckles turned blue as veins bulged on the back of her hand. Her fiery gaze brimmed with a desire to tear Chen Yi apart and consume him whole.
[Negative Emotion: 60]
Min Ning could lower her head, forsake her cherished code of chivalry, and endure humiliation for the greater good. But what she absolutely could not tolerate was harm befalling her kin.
Chen Yi turned his face, grinning wickedly,
"She offered to serve me. I refused."
Min Ning froze in disbelief.