Daily Survival After Inheriting a Harem (GL) - Chapter 5

The weather in the middle of the month was similar to summer in the real world. It was the perfect season for flowers to bloom in full splendor.

The original body usually moved around more at night and rarely woke up early. So this morning, several sisters in the courtyard had agreed to bring tea and snacks to the little garden behind the artificial mountain to admire the flowers.

Seven or eight beauties sat around the table, laughing and chatting. Beside them were two lounge chairs. On one of them lay Zu Mianmian, who was habitually sleepy. She ignored the sounds around her and slept extremely soundly with her belly turned up.

“Tch.”

On the lounge chair beside her lay a woman in a dark green dress. Her name was Xiao Chu’er. She waved her fan and glanced sideways at Zu Mianmian with her long, narrow eyes. As the corners of her brows lifted, a charming allure naturally appeared.

“All she knows is how to sleep. Look how fat she’s gotten.”

Lan Tang flapped her wings and flew up, her little feet landing on Xiao Chu’er’s shoulder.

“You’re not allowed to say bad things about Mianmian.”

“Tsk.”

Xiao Chu’er lightly propped her right hand against the side of her face, raised her other hand, and waved impatiently at the little fat sparrow.

“Fat bird, hurry up and get lost. Be careful, or I’ll pluck all your feathers.”

Lan Tang hopped up and fiercely pecked the back of her hand before angrily flying toward Yin Ci’s head.

“Lin Yujin, did you bring the thing?”

With Pei Yuqing absent, Yin Ci sat in the main seat. She did not have such refined interest in admiring flowers and plants. The main reason she had come today was for the jar in Lin Yujin’s hands.

The beastman called Lin Yujin was the legendary mermaid: king of the waters, with a beautiful singing voice and a face like Xi Shi. Her thin figure was the sort that would make human men want to hold her in their arms and carefully cherish and protect her after just one glance. Her appearance was extremely deceptive.

She took a warmed white porcelain bottle from inside her robes.

“It’s here.”

Yin Ci reached out and accepted it, then handed her a bottle of wound medicine.

“Thank you. Take this medicine and use it. Your wound should heal faster.”

The two exchanged the items in their hands. Yin Ci opened the porcelain bottle and lowered her head to sniff it. As expected, the scent of mermaid blood was different from that of other beasts. It had no fishy smell. Instead, it carried a faint sweetness. Aside from that, it could also prolong life and strengthen the body. In the human world, there were even special fishing teams dedicated to hunting mermaids, with extremely high bounties.

And the reason Qiu Qi kept one in the courtyard was simply to expand her own food reserves.

Yin Ci was actually doing this on someone else’s behalf. Pei Yuqing had been injured a little last night and had specifically asked her to borrow this blood from Lin Yujin. That was because, besides all those miraculous effects passed around in the human world, there was one most important point—its healing effect was extremely remarkable and could close wounds in a very short time. For Pei Yuqing, who suffered from the torment of cold poison, it was practically life-saving medicine.

As long as they had it, it could at least preserve her life during the process of removing the rings.

Lin Yujin shook her head and smiled weakly.

“I owe Sister Pei this. Originally, the one who should have gone to serve in bed last night was me. If she hadn’t taken it upon herself, then right now I might already be…”

The gazes of everyone present darkened.

No matter how happily they disguised themselves, it could not change the fact that every single one of them had a ticking time bomb hanging over her head.

Serving in bed. In other places, at most, it would be called serving someone with one’s beauty. But in this courtyard, it meant exchanging life for life.

Aside from Pei Yuqing, no one in the past had ever walked out alive from that bedchamber. So as for what exactly had happened last night, no one dared to ask, nor could they bear to ask. They were afraid that a careless question might step on a sore spot, not only hurting Pei Yuqing’s pride, but also forcing her to recall unpleasant things.

“Sigh, you don’t need to think about whether you owe her or not. Sister Pei’s wish is that as many people in this courtyard as possible can survive.”

At some point, Zu Mianmian had already woken up. Her nose twitched, keenly catching the sweet scent in the air.

“So mermaid blood smells like this. It smells a bit like powdered sugar.”

“Where did you cut yourself?”

Xiao Chu’er lifted her chin in Lin Yujin’s direction.

“The scent of your blood can be smelled from far away. Since you have medicine, hurry and apply it, lest you attract someone here in a while.”

Everyone present knew exactly who she was afraid of attracting.

After being reminded, Lin Yujin’s face turned pale for a moment. Then she hurriedly opened the medicine jar Yin Ci had given her, untied the bandage around her wrist, scooped out a lump of medicine, and smeared it over the wound.

“Hi, beauties.”

Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives. A rather energetic voice sounded from behind them.

“B-Beauties?”

Zu Mianmian, who was drinking water, choked. She had originally wanted to turn around and see which flashy peacock was speaking so out of line. But the moment she turned her head, her expression instantly froze.

Why had this demon woken up so early today? And why did she have the leisure to come stroll around the little garden?

Sensing something was wrong, Lin Yujin raised her head. When she saw Qiu Qi standing behind them with a smile, her face turned blue from fright.

Qiu Qi wanted to help Pei Yuqing unlock the Mystic Ice Rings, but the most important key was kept in the study. The original body had not entered or left that place for a very long time, and the key had always been kept by the steward. Right now, she was wandering around everywhere looking for someone.

But who knew the steward would appear and disappear like a ghost? She had nearly turned the entire courtyard upside down and still had not found her. She just happened to see people sitting in this pavilion from far away, so she thought she might as well come over and ask.

As a result, as soon as she greeted them, the beauty in the light blue dress in the middle looked at her with an expression of extreme terror. At first, Qiu Qi was still wondering whether her expression earlier had not been friendly enough and had frightened her. But very quickly, she knew the reason.

When her gaze caught sight of the wound on the blue-dressed woman’s wrist that had not yet scabbed over, Qiu Qi’s eyelid suddenly twitched. That uncontrollable force surged up again.

What was frightening was never her as a person, but the Beast Core Pearl in her body, which could lose control at any moment.

Lin Yujin’s breathing began to grow hurried. Her lips completely lost their color, and her entire person looked like a thin sheet of paper, as if a single gust of wind could knock her over.

It was no exaggeration to say that Lin Yujin felt Qiu Qi was looking at her like a jackal eyeing a piece of fatty meat, ready to pounce and tear into her in the next second. But she was a mermaid. On land, her combat strength was not even comparable to that of a human who knew spiritual arts. If something happened, she definitely would not have any ability to fight back.

The two people who had originally been lying lazily on their chairs immediately stood up. Reaching out, they protected Lin Yujin from the left and right. In the tense atmosphere, Yin Ci also drew the dagger at her waist, her eyes carrying the determination to fight.

“My lord.”

Just as Qiu Qi was desperately resisting the Beast Core Pearl inside her body, a calm voice entered her ears from behind, slightly soothing her restlessness.

Pei Yuqing, who had appeared behind them at some unknown point, quickly stepped forward and blocked herself between the two sides, cutting off Qiu Qi’s line of sight.

From the corner of her eye, Qiu Qi noticed the fine sweat on Pei Yuqing’s forehead and guessed that the other woman had forced herself to rush over. Otherwise, she should currently be lying in bed resting.

“Why does my lord have the time to come admire flowers today?”

Pei Yuqing rarely gave Qiu Qi a smiling face, wanting to shift her attention as quickly as possible.

Qiu Qi’s chest rose and fell as she panted heavily. Right now, she had no mental energy to answer questions. In her vision, Pei Yuqing’s beautiful face had already twisted into a blurry shape. The familiar, delicate fragrance at the tip of her nose was the only comfort amid that violent agitation.

“Madam.”

Qiu Qi reached out and hugged Pei Yuqing’s waist, deeply burying her head in her arms and breathing hard. Her whole body trembled with restraint.

“I… I can’t hold it back… What should I do…”

“Mm, I know, my lord.”

Pei Yuqing nodded and reached out to lightly pat her back. Her tone was as patient as if she were coaxing a child.

The gentle voice was right beside her ear, and Qiu Qi’s nerves slowly relaxed. The rhythmic pats behind her also gave her a deep sense of security. But at that very moment, a dull pain suddenly landed on the back of her neck.

“Madam… ngh!”

Under everyone’s astonished gazes, Qiu Qi fell like a puppet whose spine had been pulled out, softly sliding down Pei Yuqing’s body and onto the ground.

Pei Yuqing withdrew the hand she had just chopped against the back of Qiu Qi’s neck. Her expression was as calm as usual.

“Mianmian, come carry her.”

“Ah?”

Veteran laborer Zu Mianmian froze for a moment, then immediately nodded. She rolled up her sleeves, walked over, and easily lifted Qiu Qi by the collar with one hand.

“Got her.”

Zu Mianmian swung the person onto her back like a sack and carried her, looking a little excited.

“Sis, where are we going to dump the body?”

Pei Yuqing glanced at her indifferently.

“She’s not dead yet. Take her back to the bedchamber first.”

…

Qiu Qi’s body truly was resistant to beatings. Pei Yuqing’s blow would have left an ordinary person bedridden for at least five or six days, but she woke up after only half an hour of unconsciousness.

After opening her eyes, she first stared blankly at the canopy above her for a while. Only then did she react.

She had just been knocked out by her wife.

“My lord, you are awake.”

The culprit stood elegantly by the bed. Qiu Qi strained herself to turn her still sore and swollen neck to look at her.

Very good. Just from her expression, one could tell her wife had not the slightest intention of reflecting on her actions.

Still so full of personality. She liked it!

“It hurts. I need Madam to blow on it before it gets better.”

Qiu Qi stretched her arm toward Pei Yuqing.

Pei Yuqing tilted her head, her smile flawless.

“My lord, what did you just say? I did not hear clearly.”

Qiu Qi’s mouth moved. Her eyes grew wet, and it looked like she was about to start acting again. But Pei Yuqing moved aside and quickly changed the topic.

“I heard my lord spent the whole morning looking for Steward Yan, so I took the liberty of calling her here for you.”

“Oh, right. I was looking for her.”

Qiu Qi struggled to prop up her upper body with her arms.

Seeing this, Pei Yuqing immediately stepped forward and placed a pillow behind Qiu Qi so she could sit up.

“Madam is still the most considerate.”

Qiu Qi looked at her with sparkling eyes.

The corner of Pei Yuqing’s mouth twitched. Her response was perfunctory and formulaic.

“It is only proper.”

“My lord, what are your instructions?”

Steward Yan Wan bent slightly, which counted as greeting Qiu Qi.

From the outside, the steward looked like a frail, thin old woman. But the original body’s memories told Qiu Qi that this person was actually the strongest hidden expert in the harem.

Every generation’s Beast God was chosen through a public martial arts tournament. Yan Wan was an old senior who had once competed for the qualifications to become the Beast God before the previous generation. Although she had ultimately lost by a small margin, no one dared look down on the strength of someone who had taken second place.

If you asked why such a person would be willing to serve as the original body’s steward?

Of course, it was because… she loved money.

As long as enough money was paid, Yan Wan would even go into the pleasure business as a madam. In fact, her rich past experience did indeed include this line of work.

“I just wanted to ask where the key to my study is.”

Qiu Qi cleared her throat.

“For such a small matter, you could have just sent a servant to ask me,” Yan Wan said.

Qiu Qi: You think I didn’t ask? I asked more than ten people, and every single one said they didn’t know! What else could I do? Are they deliberately messing with me?

But on the surface, she still forced out a smile.

“Hahahaha, I’m just a little silly, that’s all.”

Yan Wan was a thousand-year-old fox spirit of a person. Even the original body did not dare clash with her casually, so no matter what, Qiu Qi did not dare show her a bad expression.

The moment Qiu Qi said that affected, coquettish “I’m just,” the expressions of both people present stiffened. Their eyes contained the grievance of having eaten shit but being unable to spit it out.

“Please wait a moment.”

Yan Wan was professional after all. Very quickly, she adjusted her state of mind and put on a respectful, deferential appearance toward Qiu Qi.

She took out a large iron ring from her waist that could have served as a cow’s collar. It was densely strung with keys, and visually estimated, it weighed around ten jin. Yet Yan Wan’s expression remained stable as she lightly held it up with a single index finger.

“This is the key to the study. Please keep it well.”

She took out one of the keys and presented it to Qiu Qi with both hands.

“Thank you.”

Qiu Qi took the key and habitually reached toward her waist. Only after touching nothing did she remember that these clothes had no pockets. Seeing this, Pei Yuqing beside her reached out and accepted it.

“My lord, I will hold it.”

“Okay, I’ll trouble Madam.”

Qiu Qi did not guard against her. After all, she had asked for this key for her in the first place.

After handing over the key, Yan Wan still did not plan to leave. Instead, she took a scroll from her sleeve and began reading.

“This morning, the human race sent tribute.”

The reason the human race sent tribute to the beastman race was because of the peace agreement both sides had signed a thousand years ago. Beastmen were powerful in combat, but their minds were average, and they knew nothing about farming, weaving, or labor. Therefore, their food, clothing, and daily necessities all came from the human race, who were skilled at trade and social dealings. Meanwhile, the human race had set their eyes on the fertile land beneath the beastmen’s feet, using goods to exchange for mining rights and the safety of their own race.

One line in this agreement was especially emphasized: beastmen were not allowed to arbitrarily harm humans. Violators would either be executed by the beastman leader or handed over to the human race for punishment.

In the early days of this rule, not many beastmen cared about it. But after humans comprehended the five elemental spiritual arts and gained the ability to fight beastmen, it gained true deterrent power.

“Oh, then after checking it, put it in the warehouse.”

Qiu Qi’s mind was currently full of thoughts on how to remove the Mystic Ice Rings, so she was not really paying attention to Yan Wan’s words.

“My lord.”

Yan Wan emphasized her tone as she called Qiu Qi. After the other party looked at her, she continued unhurriedly.

“What I want to say is that there are still problems with the tribute sent by the human race this time. I have checked it. Although the quantity is not lacking, nearly two-thirds of the cloth and jewelry are inferior goods passed off as good ones. Even half of the fruit and grain are not fresh.”

Qiu Qi propped up her chin and temporarily shifted her attention to the matter of tribute.

According to Yan Wan, the problem of short-weight and shoddy tribute had not been happening for just a day or two. She recalled the original body’s past methods.

Without exception, after listening to Yan Wan’s report, the original body would fly into a rage, then have the messenger who delivered the tribute brought over and beaten violently before sending someone back with the messenger’s head as a warning.

This method was effective at first. But as mentioned above, the human race’s spiritual arts had made rapid progress in the past few centuries. More and more people had gained the ability to protect themselves. Once their combat strength rose, so did their confidence. In particular, their newly appointed Saintess was said to be a rare genius who had comprehended all five types of spiritual arts by herself. In the hearts of the human race, she was practically a godlike existence.

The tribute had started having problems three years ago, and this Saintess had also just taken office three years ago. Qiu Qi could guess with her toes that this matter was definitely connected to her.

“All right.”

Qiu Qi sighed and beckoned toward Yan Wan.

“Their messenger hasn’t gone far yet, right? Call him in for a bit.”

Yan Wan did not immediately move.

“My lord, at this point, killing the chicken to warn the monkeys will likely have little effect.”

“Who said I was going to kill a chicken to warn the monkeys?”

Qiu Qi knew Yan Wan probably thought she was going to cut off the messenger’s head again as a warning, so she explained.

“I have now laid down the butcher’s knife and turned back to shore. I’m not interested in all that fighting and killing anymore. I’m calling him here simply to talk. Don’t worry.”

Yan Wan raised her head, but her eyes went toward Pei Yuqing.

Receiving the doubt in her eyes, Pei Yuqing gave her a light nod.

“If my lord says so, then there will be no problem.”

“Very well. I will go invite the messenger here now.”

Yan Wan bowed and backed out through the door.

Qiu Qi rolled up her sleeves.

“Madam, is there paper and a brush? I’ll write a letter.”

“Yes, my lord. I will go to the study and fetch them now.”

Pei Yuqing moved very quickly. She took the key and went to fetch several sheets of paper, placed them on the table, then consciously began grinding ink.

Qiu Qi tried hard to recall the way her calligraphy teacher had taught them to hold a brush back in school. She lifted the soft, limp brush and wrote on the paper. Although the characters were a little ugly, she felt it was enough as long as they could be understood.

Pei Yuqing silently lowered her head and ground the inkstone, but secretly, her gaze never stopped drifting toward Qiu Qi.

The original body could not recognize a single large character. What she hated most in daily life was reading books and characters, so all written work in the courtyard was handled by the steward, even the account books. Yet how could such a person now write so skillfully and smoothly? If it really was amnesia, it was impossible for an extra skill to appear out of thin air. This did not align with common sense.

Connecting it with all of Qiu Qi’s behavior from the past two days that differed from the past, Pei Yuqing felt that, compared to amnesia, saying that the soul inside this body had been replaced would be more appropriate.

Qiu Qi did not notice the observing gaze above her head. She frowned and seriously finished writing what she wanted to convey. After finishing, she felt that the tone on paper seemed a bit too serious. So after thinking for a moment, she added a toothy smiling face.

After drawing it, she lifted the paper in front of her and admired it.

Putting everything else aside, this drawing was much better-looking than the few characters she had just written. With only a few strokes, she had drawn out her own playfulness, cuteness, liveliness, and vivid charm.

Sure enough, doing her old profession was still more comfortable.

Qiu Qi twirled the brush and felt her hands itch a little. As an artist skilled in drawing restricted content, going even one day without practicing human anatomy made her uncomfortable. Tsk.

“My lord, this is dirty.”

Pei Yuqing walked over, lifted Qiu Qi’s right hand, and turned it over. The inner side of her slender, fair wrist was covered in black ink she had carelessly smeared on earlier.

Qiu Qi turned her head to look and saw that it really was. The quality of this ink was average and it dried very slowly, so even a little bit could get rubbed everywhere. To exaggerate, her whole arm was nearly black now.

She rubbed the skin with her thumb, but even after rubbing the skin red, the color did not come off. She had just said the quality was bad, and now it wanted to fight her on that?

“I will do it, my lord.”

Pei Yuqing dampened a handkerchief and walked over. She crouched beside Qiu Qi, then took her hand and patiently rubbed it bit by bit.

To be honest, Qiu Qi was indeed quite moved at first. Especially from this angle, she could clearly see Pei Yuqing’s lowered long lashes and the perfect curve of her nose bridge. But very quickly, the pain in her hand dragged her away from the peaceful pleasure of admiring the beauty and back into cruel reality.

Qiu Qi gritted her teeth and lowered her head to look at Pei Yuqing’s movements.

Mm. Long fingers, distinct knuckles, and skin so nearly translucent and tender that it looked as if it would break with a blow. It was a good hand, truly a good hand. It was just this strength…

How was this helping her wipe her hand? This was clearly trying to crush her hand bones alive!

“Hiss—”

Qiu Qi let out a pitiful cry.

“Madam, it hurts…”

Pei Yuqing raised her head. Her face actually carried a gentle and friendly smile.

“My lord, bear with it a little longer. It will be clean soon.”

Qiu Qi: Like hell I believe you. Last night, when you were about to kill me, you said this exact same line, okay!

“Fine…”

Qiu Qi stared at the face before her, every feature perfectly aligned with her preferences, and forced out a smile.

“My skin is thick and my flesh is tough. I can indeed endure a little longer.”

Author’s Note:

Sister Pei is really too doting. Not.