Daily Survival After Inheriting a Harem (GL) - Chapter 24

Everyone stared at Qiu Qi with gazes full of envy, jealousy, and hatred. They wished they could shoot through her face veil with their eyes, and even more wished they could travel back to five minutes earlier and become the righteous hero themselves.

“Precisely you, my lord.”

Shi Luoning’s tone was unhurried, as if she was very confident that Qiu Qi would follow.

“My madam is still waiting for me at home, so I’ll take my leave first. Thank you, Miss.”

After Qiu Qi finished speaking, she pulled Zu Mianmian up and prepared to flee, only for four tall and strong guards at the door to block her path.

“Do you want to try beating up these four?” Zu Mianmian caught sight of the totems on the guards’ arms and whispered beside Qiu Qi’s ear. “They’re all dual-spiritual-arts practitioners.”

Qiu Qi whispered back, “You can definitely beat them. You do it.”

“But I don’t want to go back.” Zu Mianmian was completely righteous. “I’ve never seen what a courtesan looks like before. You were the one who said it’s rare to come out and see the world, so don’t be cowardly.”

She had been stuck in the crowd all night and had not found a chance to act. Now that there was finally an opportunity, how could she let it go?

Once they entered the room later, she could casually strike that delicate, weak courtesan once and remove the third party. Wouldn’t most of the matter then be settled?

At this moment, an old woman with a hunched back had already walked behind Qiu Qi and Zu Mianmian. She gestured in a direction with her left hand.

“Please, both of you.”

Qiu Qi: “So you people even force buying and selling, huh? Other than the few melon seeds I just took from the fruit plate, I don’t have a single coin left on me. I’m saying this in advance.”

The old woman answered in a hoarse voice, “Please rest assured. Honored guests personally chosen by the courtesan need not pay.”

“There’s… there’s even such a good thing?”

Qiu Qi was a little tempted.

In any case, she had come here to look for inspiration. If she could closely observe this world’s most popular beauty, then more than half of the material for her new booklet would be settled.

The old woman nodded and stuffed a plaque into Qiu Qi’s hand.

“Please take this plaque to the room at the end of the corridor. Knock three times, and the door will open.”

Qiu Qi accepted the plaque with both hands, thinking that they really had quite a few tricks. It felt like the person she was about to meet was not a courtesan, but the current emperor.

Zu Mianmian smiled as she followed Qiu Qi into the room.

The room was very large. Peach-pink gauze curtains divided it into two sections. Inside was a large redwood bed, while outside were instruments, tables, and chairs. There was even an incense candle burning on the table.

Qiu Qi fanned the air under her nose with her hand. Her brows unconsciously furrowed, feeling that the fragrance was somewhat choking.

The people outside told them to sit here peacefully and wait for a while, saying Shi Luoning would arrive soon. In the end, after waiting for more than ten minutes, the door finally opened, but the ones who came in were the pair of green-tea sisters from the opening performance.

Earlier, they had been far away onstage, so Qiu Qi had not seen them clearly. Now that she could observe them up close, her picky eyes instantly found quite a few flaws.

Their waists were not straight enough. Compared to her madam’s bearing, they were simply too far off. And their skin—at a distance, it looked fine, but up close, their pores were very obvious. The lip color they chose also did not suit them. The eye makeup had not been blended well and looked a little messy. They were not even half as good-looking as Pei Yuqing’s bare face when she had just woken up.

“When is your Miss Shi coming? I’m in a hurry to go home for dinner.”

Qiu Qi propped her chin on her hand and complained softly. She missed Madam.

“Miss Shi will be here shortly. She specifically ordered us to perform a song for my lord as an apology.”

Qiu Qi indifferently curled her lips.

“I’ll wait for another half incense stick’s time. If she still hasn’t come, I’m leaving. This kind of hunger marketing doesn’t work on me.”

“My lord, please calm down.”

The green-tea sisters bowed slightly, stood their pipas upright, and began to play.

Their fingers plucked the strings, shaking out lively notes. Qiu Qi’s melon-seed-cracking movements stopped. Her breathing grew hurried with the music entering her ears, and her body temperature suddenly climbed like a pile of firewood splashed with hot oil.

“Ugh… what’s going on?”

Clearly, she was not the only one who felt something was wrong. Beside her, Zu Mianmian’s face burned pink, and she lay on the table, restlessly twisting her body.

Deng—

After a brief pause, the music quickly entered the next climax under the fingers of the green-tea sisters, and Qiu Qi’s heartbeat followed, losing its originally steady rhythm.

“You’re using tricks?”

Qiu Qi knocked the incense candle on the table away. There was an uncontrollable restlessness in her body. This made her have to suspect that perhaps she had really stumbled blindly into the real thing. The moment she came to experience it, she had experienced it thoroughly and directly encountered the legendary aphrodisiac.

No one answered Qiu Qi’s question. The music continued.

“So hot… so hot…”

Zu Mianmian’s eyes were half-closed. Her mouth spat out blurry words, and her hand moved up along Qiu Qi’s arm. Unable to control herself, she pressed her whole body against her.

Qiu Qi herself was not much better. She had just been about to stand and move farther away from Zu Mianmian to prevent the two of them from losing control, but who would have thought the other woman’s self-control would be this problematic? Zu Mianmian directly pounced on her.

Her whole body had gone soft and weak, so she could not withstand Zu Mianmian’s pounce at all. The two of them fell together and crashed onto the floor.

“Ha… my lord, what’s happening to me?”

Zu Mianmian was still completely unaware of the situation in front of her. That hot breath brushed against Qiu Qi’s face, wildly teasing away what little reason she had left.

Qiu Qi gritted her teeth and pushed away Zu Mianmian, who was pressing on top of her. She picked up a teacup and splashed it onto her face.

“Wake up. It’s me. No matter who you go into heat for, it can’t be me, that great demon.”

Very obviously, this cup of water had no awakening effect on Zu Mianmian at all.

Beastmen had always been driven by desire first. In this drugged state, they had a much harder time controlling themselves than ordinary humans.

Qiu Qi could barely take care of herself. Faced with Zu Mianmian’s approach, she could only retreat step by step until her back hit the corner.

“I’m telling you, don’t come any closer. If you come any closer, I really won’t be polite.”

“Mianmian… hot… my lord…”

Zu Mianmian did not seem to understand Qiu Qi’s words at all. She only called her name with reddened eyes.

She felt so empty inside, but she did not know exactly what she wanted. She only knew that when she got close to Qiu Qi, she felt slightly more comfortable. But Qiu Qi was like a slippery fish. No matter how she tried, she could not catch her in her arms.

Having lost patience, Zu Mianmian abruptly spread her arms wide. The long hair draped behind her head turned into snow-white cotton fluff and expanded with a pop like popcorn, directly surrounding Qiu Qi completely.

“What the hell?”

Qiu Qi stepped into the cotton mass and sank in, her body tilting as she fell onto it.

She reached out and tugged. It was soft, like sheep’s wool, but its texture was much sturdier and harder. She secretly thought, not good.

According to the original body’s memories, Zu Mianmian usually looked gentle and harmless, as if she had no attack power. But she had a skill that could be called a bug—anyone who touched the fur of her beast form would temporarily lose all spiritual power and beast core power, becoming an ordinary person.

And at that time, as prey trapped by Zu Mianmian, one could only be left entirely unable to resist and let her do whatever she wanted.

Qiu Qi tried using strength to pull at the wool, wanting to crawl out from inside, but discovered that the wool was as hard as steel wires. It was tightly wrapped into a ball, leaving not even a gap for her. Most importantly, even her only advantage of brute strength had been reset to zero. That struggling force was probably not even enough to tickle Zu Mianmian.

The door creaked open. The footsteps that followed into the room became the only variable in this anxious situation. Everyone’s attention was drawn over, and Qiu Qi was no exception.

“I was only late for a moment, yet this room has become rather lively.”

This leisurely voice was one Qiu Qi would not forget after hearing it once. It was Heyang House’s top courtesan, Shi Luoning.

“What is your goal?”

At this moment, Qiu Qi had completely lost the mood to admire a beauty. She gritted her teeth, glaring at Shi Luoning as if she wanted to swallow her alive.

Shi Luoning laughed softly, smoothed the hem of her skirt, and sat beside the table. She even leisurely poured herself a cup of tea.

After taking off her face veil, her beauty was even more soul-stirring. Her fiery red lips curved with a faint smile that seemed present and absent. When she lowered her eyes, her long lashes lightly swept over her cheeks, but it was the hearts of the onlookers that trembled out of rhythm.

“My lord, why say such a thing?”

She smiled, swaying the tea in her cup. The water rippled, stirring up ring after ring of waves.

“Heyang House, Heyang House—a place where yang joins and guests are pleased. You cannot truly have thought that we… only conduct those clean businesses, right?”

“You want to do business, right?”

Qiu Qi had no leisure to beat around the bush with her.

“Give me the antidote. Name your price.”

“Name my price? Of course not.”

Shi Luoning turned her head. Her interested gaze fell on Qiu Qi, one hand lazily supporting her chin.

“Why doesn’t the Beast God obey your own desire and enjoy yourself properly? After all, this little woman is truly curious about how you look when you lose control.”

After that struggle just now, Qiu Qi’s face veil had long been pulled off. At this moment, her fair, tender face was flushed like a ripe peach. She was clearly already terribly uncomfortable, yet she still forced herself to put on an extremely unskilled fierce expression like a young beast. Not only did it fail to scare people, it even made her look cute and teasing-worthy.

“Give me the antidote.”

Qiu Qi emphasized each word.

“Since that’s the case, I’ve already given you a chance.”

Shi Luoning moved her gaze away and turned toward Zu Mianmian.

She took out a small golden bell from her sleeve. With a movement of her wrist, it let out a crisp sound.

“You are called Mianmian, yes?”

The muddle-eyed Zu Mianmian seemed to regain focus after hearing the bell.

“I am.”

“I know you have always lived poorly. You were abandoned in the wild by your family. After finally surviving alone and cultivating into a beastman, you were captured by this demon and suffered endless grievances in her courtyard, becoming a trapped beast.”

“Are you not angry? Do you not want to kill those who betrayed you and hurt you to take revenge?”

Shi Luoning’s lowered voice carried an emotion that could bewitch people’s hearts.

“Go. Indulge your heart. Now is your chance.”

The clear bell rang again and again, like fingers teasing the string of reason. Zu Mianmian’s eyes were lifeless, like a puppet without vitality. Suddenly, she stood and walked straight toward Qiu Qi.

Qiu Qi panted heavily, her back pressed tightly against the wall. She tried to clench her fists, but very quickly released them weakly. Right now, the strength in her whole body had been nearly used up. Even the most ordinary human could probably knock her down with one punch.

The corner of her mouth lifted in a mocking curve. Qiu Qi had no idea where this idle thought came from, but right now, what she was thinking was: I should have listened to Yan Wan’s advice and not wandered around outside. Great, now something really happened.

When Zu Mianmian’s hand closed around her neck, Qiu Qi did not resist. Instead, she closed her eyes with an expression of relief, looking as if she would let Zu Mianmian do whatever she wanted.

The force tightened more and more. Qiu Qi’s face was soon dyed a deep purple from the blood rushing to her head. The Beast Core Pearl in her chest throbbed, the force growing increasingly violent, as if clamoring for Qiu Qi to resist. But she pressed down hard on her arms, forcibly enduring that impulse.

Shi Luoning’s brows lowered, and a trace of displeasure flashed through her eyes. She stopped shaking the bell in her hand.

“Why not resist? Even if you are weak, surely you are not so weak that you cannot defeat a puppet controlled by me?”

Blood suddenly rushed back. Qiu Qi was so dizzy that she saw stars. Miserably, she clutched her throat and coughed, tasting a trace of blood on her tongue.

Hearing Shi Luoning’s question, she laughed softly. Specks of blood clung to her snow-white teeth.

“I just don’t want to do as you wish. What about it?”

“You have backbone.”

Shi Luoning did not get angry and instead laughed. She raised her right hand slightly, and the green-tea sisters behind her immediately stepped forward. One on the left and one on the right, they tied Zu Mianmian up and dragged her aside to restrain her.

Seeing the threat temporarily removed, Qiu Qi was finally able to relax. Her legs went soft, and she collapsed to the floor without any image. When she raised her eyes again, Shi Luoning had already moved in front of her.

There was a rich fragrance applied to the woman’s clothes, extremely distinctive. Qiu Qi felt that after today, she might develop PTSD toward this scent.

“The rumors were not wrong. You have changed.”

Shi Luoning crouched down. Her fingers painted with red nail polish lifted Qiu Qi’s chin, staring into her eyes. The end of her brow lifted slightly.

“Why are you so calm? Do you truly think I don’t dare kill you?”

Qiu Qi turned her head and spat out a mouthful of blood, then bared her big white teeth at her.

“I don’t believe that the top courtesan of Heyang House, who is worth a thousand gold a night, would care about that little bit of money from the bounty on my head.”

Besides, if Shi Luoning truly wanted to kill her, why would she stop her in front of everyone? After entering the room, why did she not simply take out something and act directly, instead of making such a roundabout effort to use Zu Mianmian?

However, although Qiu Qi could be certain about the safety of her own life, she could not guess Shi Luoning’s true goal, so she still held back somewhat in the conversation.

“You are very smart.”

This was something Shi Luoning had not expected. Rumors said this Beast God was all brawn and no brains. She had not expected that after meeting the real person, she would find her quite clever.

“Then guess. What exactly do I want to… do to you?”

She raised her finger, lightly sliding it along Qiu Qi’s burning cheek. Her fingertip rubbed against Qiu Qi’s tense chin, then followed her slender neck down into her collar.

With only a few nimble movements, the clothes fell open under her fingers, revealing Qiu Qi’s shoulder, which was pale to the point of looking sickly from never seeing the sun.

Shi Luoning noticed Qiu Qi’s body trembling in a way almost imperceptible to the naked eye, and the smile in her eyes deepened. She lifted her chin, her lips parting slightly, and stretched out her tongue to lick her slender index finger. Then she pressed it against Qiu Qi’s thigh. In Qiu Qi’s eyes, this action was a preview, a terrifying warning that made her skull explode.

“Steward Yan! Save me! If you don’t come soon, my late-life integrity won’t be preserved!”

Qiu Qi opened her throat and imagined herself as a megaphone spirit, shouting as loudly as she could.

“Shh! Quiet.”

Shi Luoning’s expression faded. She leaned over and pressed her elbow against Qiu Qi’s neck, covering her mouth with one hand as she warned in a low voice,

“If you anger me, I don’t know what excessive things I might do.”

“Moreover, I placed a barrier around this room. Not a single sound from inside can get out. That steward of yours probably won’t be able to come.”

Shi Luoning narrowed her eyes. Her index finger rubbed Qiu Qi’s already frightened-pale lips.

“So listen to me and be good, all right?”

Qiu Qi nodded. But the moment Shi Luoning loosened her hand, she opened her mouth wide again and used all her strength to howl.

“Madam! Save me!!!!! Ahhhhhhh! Mmph—”

“An’an.”

Shi Luoning turned to speak to the black-clothed woman following behind her.

“Make her quieter.”

“Yes, Master.”

The masked woman called An’an nodded. After taking a deep breath, a long, drawn-out song flowed from her lips.

“Sleep… sleep… my beloved baby…”

After hearing this voice, Zu Mianmian, who had kept her head lowered as if lifeless, suddenly opened her eyes.

“Anbao… that’s Anbao’s voice…”

Zu Mianmian’s eyes widened round, and her mouth let out an unbelievable trembling sound.

She struggled to hold up her eyelids, wanting to see clearly the face of the person standing beside Shi Luoning. In the end, however, she still fell before that sleep spell.

…

Back courtyard.

With that person’s clingy voice rarely absent from her ears, Pei Yuqing took some free time and sat in the cool pavilion admiring flowers.

Steam rose from the teacup on the table, showing that the tea had only just been brewed not long ago. She picked it up, blew once, and lightly sipped from the edge of the cup. The faint fragrance of tea slipped from the tip of her tongue into her throat, adding another layer of flavor after the sweetness returned.

“I went to the west garden just now. Why didn’t I see Steward Yan there? At this hour, shouldn’t she be tending that field of purple iris flowers of hers?”

The fan in Xiao Chu’er’s hand stirred the air.

“Who knows? Zu Mianmian also rarely missed afternoon tea today. I don’t know if she overslept during her nap. That lazy sheep.”

Hearing this, Pei Yuqing cast her a glance.

“Mianmian is not here either?”

“What’s wrong?”

Xiao Chu’er looked back at her.

“You didn’t really take her words to heart, did you? Don’t worry. With her memory, she forgets what she said herself after two days. Assassination or whatever, she’s long thrown it to the back of her mind.”

Pei Yuqing put down the teacup. Perhaps because her mind was elsewhere, she did not even notice when her fingers were scalded by the tea. By the time she came back to herself, a large patch of skin had already turned red.

Yin Ci sharply noticed something was wrong with her.

“Do you want me to go to the study and take a look?”

“No need.”

Pei Yuqing suppressed the inexplicable agitation in her heart and maintained a calm tone.

“Let them make trouble as they please.”

As soon as her voice fell, the totem on the back of her hand abruptly emitted a burst of blinding light. Her skin hurt as if it had been burned.

When the servant contract took effect, totems would appear on both parties. As long as the master side sent out a summons, the other side would sense it. If the servant did not hurry to the other party’s side as quickly as possible, the totem would continue torturing the servant side by burning.

This was exactly what Pei Yuqing was enduring now.

Yin Ci had just poured herself a cup of tea and had not even had time to take a sip when she saw Pei Yuqing, who had looked calm and breezy just now, suddenly stand up. Pei Yuqing did not even notice that her sleeve had knocked over the teacup.

Yin Ci stared blankly at the shattered pieces on the ground, then lowered her head to look at the water stains splashed over her robe.

What a pity. This was newly bought clothing, with special material that could not touch hot water and easily shrank.

“What happened? You look anxious. That is unlike you.”

Pei Yuqing’s expression was grave.

“Something happened.”

“To whom? Mianmian?”

“Qiu Qi.”

This was the first time Pei Yuqing had spoken this name. Yin Ci reacted half a beat slowly. Before she could ask clearly what had happened, the person before her flashed white and disappeared into thin air.

Xiao Chu’er straightened up and lifted her chin toward the direction where Pei Yuqing had vanished.

“What happened to her?”

Yin Ci wiped the water stains from her clothes, her back looking somewhat miserable.

“She went to save someone.”

“Save who?”

“Who else could it be?”

Author’s Note:
Her late-life integrity can be preserved. thumbs up