Chapter 9: Come On—Let’s Revel!

He wanted to know if Ji Yin was truly, as the rumors claimed, a useless person who hadn’t awakened any soul power.

Ji Yin’s waist was still entangled with the white gauze, and she had to dodge Xuan Yuanji’s attacks at the same time, which was truly infuriating. Suddenly, while evading his strikes, she ripped open her clothes, shrugged off her outer robe, and in the process, slipped free from the white gauze’s hold.

Seeing the white gauze and Ji Yin’s discarded clothes on the floor, Xuan Yuanji’s brows knitted tightly. Wuyan immediately stood up from the tree trunk, looking anxious. How had the fight turned into her undressing!?

Ji Yin raised her head to look at Xuan Yuanji and suddenly curved her lips in a sly smile. “Little brother, your mouth says no, but your body is quite honest. Are you really that reluctant to let me go? If you can’t bear to part, just say so—I’ll stay with you tonight!”

She suddenly strode toward Xuan Yuanji’s bed, threw herself onto it, lay on her side, patted the empty space next to her, and beckoned invitingly with her finger. “Come on, let’s have some fun!”

The white gauze on the floor suddenly shot up again, flying straight at Ji Yin. She flipped off the bed in one swift motion. Seeing the gauze about to wrap around her again, she immediately unclasped her belt and lashed it out to fend off the gauze.

All of a sudden, she felt a chill at her legs—her trousers had slipped off to the floor, revealing a pair of long, beautiful legs and a single undergarment.

Xuan Yuanji drew back the white gauze and snapped, “Put your trousers back on!”

Ji Yin grabbed her belt and yanked her trousers up, eyeing Xuan Yuanji warily. “I came to see how you were out of the kindness of my heart, but you not only don’t appreciate it, you even attack me without a word.”

He sure made it sound reasonable! Came to see him out of kindness? More likely, she was up to no good.

In front of Xuan Yuanji, Ji Yin fastened her belt, showing not a trace of shame. Xuan Yuanji had never seen anyone so shameless!

After straightening her clothes, Ji Yin walked up to him. “Not fighting anymore? If you’re done, I’m leaving.”

She took a couple of steps, and Xuan Yuanji didn’t react at all. Ji Yin suddenly turned around and, with a mischievous grin, asked, “It’s a long, lonely night—are you sure you don’t want me to warm your bed?”

Suddenly, a wave of force struck Ji Yin, and her body was lifted uncontrollably, landing her straight in the bathing barrel. Caught completely off guard, she plunged into the water, which flooded her mouth and nose.

That’s what she got for running her mouth.

Struggling, Ji Yin clawed her way out of the water, coughing violently at the edge of the wooden tub.

Xuan Yuanji was already standing beside the tub, his gaze suddenly sharpening.

The girl slumped over the tub’s edge, gasping heavily, her hair tumbling down her back. Aside from her facial features, everything else...

A face-changing technique?

At last, Ji Yin caught her breath, propped herself up on the tub, and wiped the water from her face.

Her clothes were now soaked through, clinging tightly to her body, revealing every flawless curve.

There was an unripe beauty about the girl, a hint of innocence that was yet devastatingly alluring—like a green fruit blushing faintly red at the tip, making one’s heart itch with the urge to pluck and taste it.

Why had the Ji family concealed Ji Yin’s true identity? Why raise a daughter as a son, even going so far as to recover the lost art of the Smiling Face technique?

Suddenly, Xuan Yuanji understood.

The Ji family probably didn’t want their only daughter to enter the palace as a consort.

For the Crimson Feather imperial clan, the only way to check the power of the ministers was to take their daughters into the harem.

Ji Yin stood in the bathing tub, pointing angrily at Xuan Yuanji, biting her lip in frustration. “Just because I lost to you today doesn’t mean I’ll always lose! Wait until the day I can beat you—you’ll see!”

“I will make you pay for today’s humiliation!” Ji Yin vowed, clenching her fists in secret.

A glimmer of amusement flashed in Xuan Yuanji’s eyes. What a little grudge-holder.

Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside.