Flower Stealing Master

Cheng Ying was taken aback outside the door. She thought to herself, *Cousin is being so distant today.* But because she was still somewhat dazed from what had happened earlier, she didn’t dwell on it and simply answered, “I wanted to chat with you, cousin.”

Cheng Yaojia pinched Song Qingshu’s waist, then said, “I’ve already gone to bed. How about another time?”

Silence fell outside the door. Just when Cheng Yaojia thought her cousin had left, Cheng Ying’s voice came again: “I know it’s not right to disturb you so late, cousin, but I have so much on my mind and no one to talk to.”

It turned out that Lu Wushuang, having exhausted her energy from the pain during the day, was now deep in sleep to recover. Besides, Cheng Ying had always been the mature, understanding older cousin figure in front of Lu Wushuang, and she felt embarrassed to pour out her heart to her. Cheng Yaojia was different—she was her older cousin, and having been married for years, as a woman with experience, she could surely offer some advice.

Cheng Yaojia inwardly groaned. The m@n on top of her seemed utterly unconcerned, still charging and ramming. Finally, during one particularly fierce thrust, she wasn’t prepared and cried out, “Ah!”

“Huh?” Cheng Ying outside the door had clearly heard the unusual sound and quickly asked, “Cousin, are you alright?”

Cheng Yaojia wanted to answer, but her whole body was trembling uncontrollably. Wave after wave of ecstasy washed over her. She knew that if she opened her mouth, she would only make embarrassing sounds, so she kept her lips tightly shut and endured in agony.

“Cousin? Cousin?” Cheng Ying called out several times. Receiving no response, only faint heavy breathing, she frowned. “Cousin, I’m worried about you. I’m coming in.”

Hearing her cousin’s voice, Cheng Yaojia grew even more nervous. But the more nervous she became, the more sensitive her body grew. She didn’t dare open her mouth to stop her.

Cheng Ying pushed at the door and found it locked from the inside. However, she was after all the Eastern Heretic’s closed-door disciple. With a gentle release of internal energy, she snapped the door bolt and looked around with concern. “Cousin? Cousin?”

At this critical moment, Cheng Yaojia reached out and pulled down the bed curtain, blocking the view.

“I’m here, cousin.” By now, Cheng Yaojia had somewhat recovered and was finally able to speak.

Hearing that her voice was a bit hoarse and seemed deliberately lowered, Cheng Ying asked suspiciously, “Cousin, your voice…?”

Cheng Yaojia pulled up the quilt to cover the man in bed while propping herself up against the headboard. “It’s nothing. Just a bit of a cold.”

Beneath the covers, Song Qingshu nearly laughed out loud. *Who would have thought that Cheng Yaojia, who seems like the most proper, well-bred young lady, could lie so convincingly?*

“A cold? I studied medicine for several years at Peach Blossom Island and know a bit about healing. Let me have a look at you, cousin.” Cheng Ying walked toward the bedside.

“No!” Cheng Yaojia’s heart nearly leaped out of her chest. She instinctively cried out.

Startled by her intense reaction, Cheng Ying stopped in her tracks. “Cousin, what’s wrong?”

“I… I…” Cheng Yaojia was at a loss for words, but her mind seemed to be working many times faster than usual. She quickly came up with an excuse. “It’s just a minor cold—nothing serious. It will pass soon. But you’ve been taking care of Wushuang up close these days. If I gave you my cold and you passed it to Wushuang, that would be terrible.”

Cheng Ying paused, considering that her cousin made some sense. Wushuang had just received treatment for her broken leg and was at her weakest. If she caught a cold from her, it would only make matters worse.

“In that case, I’ll just sit here and talk with you, cousin.” Cheng Ying brought a stool and sat down about ten feet from the bed, next to the table.

Cheng Yaojia wished she would leave immediately, but how could she say that now?

“Speaking of Wushuang, one big reason I came is to apologize on her behalf,” Cheng Ying said apologetically.

Feeling the man on top of her misbehaving again, Cheng Yaojia sucked in a sharp breath and tried her best to keep her voice steady. “You… apologize for her for what?”

“The way Wushuang acted during the day—so young and impulsive, taking the matter all the way to the Old Lady—it put you and my brother-in-law in a difficult position. And you both bore the brunt of the Old Lady’s anger when she lost her temper,” Cheng Ying replied softly.

“The Old Lady… is… is an elder. It’s… it’s only right that she… reprimand us younger ones.” Cheng Yaojia’s delicate fingers lightly traced characters on Song Qingshu’s chest, silently begging him to stop his mischief.

Cheng Ying glanced suspiciously toward the bed. *What’s wrong with cousin today? She’s acting so strangely.* But she was preoccupied with her own thoughts and didn’t dwell on it. She continued, “Cousin, I want to ask you about something.”

“What is it?” Cheng Yaojia just wanted her to finish quickly and leave. She couldn’t bear this feeling of dancing on the edge of a cliff much longer.

“What happened during the day…” Cheng Ying paused, as if searching for the right words. After a long moment, she continued, “It seems my brother-in-law is quite familiar with the Golden Serpent King, Song Qingshu?”

“Fairly familiar.” Cheng Yaojia was astonished. She never expected her cousin to ask about Song Qingshu. If she weren’t afraid of making too much movement, she would have bent down and bitten the man.

“Oh.” Cheng Ying acknowledged and then fell silent again.

This only piqued Cheng Yaojia’s curiosity. “What exactly do you want to know?”

“I was wondering… are *you* familiar with Song Qingshu, cousin?” Cheng Ying finally asked.

“Well… somewhat.” Cheng Yaojia thought to herself, *The m@n is right on top of me right now. What do you think?*

After hesitating for a long time, Cheng Ying finally asked, “Cousin, can you tell me what kind of person Song Qingshu is?”

Feeling the man’s body change, Cheng Yaojia inwardly spat, blushing as she hummed, “Why are you suddenly asking about him?”

“No… no particular reason,” Cheng Ying answered awkwardly. Remembering what had happened that afternoon, even after so long, she still wished the ground would swallow her up. “It’s just that seeing him set aside past grievances today to heal Wushuang’s leg, I’m very grateful. Naturally, I’ve become a bit curious. I’ve spent most of these past years on Peach Blossom Island and don’t know much about affairs in the Central Plains, so I wanted to ask what kind of person he is.”

“Him…” Feeling the man’s masculine virility and heat, Cheng Yaojia’s heart was filled with tenderness. She answered softly, “He’s a great hero—unmatched in martial arts, a man of true stature. He imitated Zhang Liang’s attempted assassination of the First Emperor by striking at the Kangxi Emperor for the sake of the Han people’s land. Then he defeated all the world’s experts to become the Golden Serpent King. After that, he summoned the wind and rain, causing the complete annihilation of a hundred thousand Qing troops…”

Hearing the affection in her voice, Song Qingshu was deeply moved. He stopped teasing her and made his movements gentler. Cheng Yaojia clearly felt his response, and her voice grew even more tender.

“So he’s that remarkable.” Cheng Ying’s beautiful eyes sparkled as she listened. She also noticed the coquettish tone in Cheng Yaojia’s voice and couldn’t help covering her mouth with a smile. “Cousin, you sound quite fond of this Song Qingshu. Won’t my brother-in-law be jealous?”

Cheng Yaojia smiled shyly. “Your brother-in-law won’t be jealous.”

Cheng Ying looked surprised. “Cousin, you have that much confidence in my brother-in-law?”

Cheng Yaojia smiled but didn’t answer. How could outsiders possibly understand the relationship between the three of them?

“I… I want to ask you something personal, cousin. Please don’t be angry,” Cheng Ying said hesitantly.

“We’re sisters. You don’t need to be so formal.” Cheng Yaojia looked at her cousin with surprise. She knew how elegant and refined this cousin was. What could be troubling her so?

Even Song Qingshu under the covers stopped moving and pricked up his ears to hear what she would ask.

“Here goes,” Cheng Ying took a deep breath, then asked calmly, “Cousin, have you ever used your mouth… for my brother-in-law… that?”

Song Qingshu, listening intently, nearly choked. Cheng Ying had always been so pure and lofty, radiating an almost ascetic air. Someone like her should be discussing things like music, chess, poetry, painting, the Five Elements, and the Eight Trigrams. Who would have thought she’d ask such a scandalous question?

Even Song Qingshu, a man from the future, thought the question was quite bold, to say nothing of a proper lady like Cheng Yaojia in this world. She was both embarrassed and angry. “You’re an unmarried young lady. How… how can you ask such a thing?”

But Cheng Ying seemed determined. She pressed on, “Have you or haven’t you?”

“No,” Cheng Yaojia answered firmly. “Never.”

In truth, for a traditional, sheltered young lady like her, she wouldn’t even have understood Cheng Ying’s question before. But after being with Song Qingshu for so long, they had tried all kinds of variations to please him, so she naturally understood immediately.

Seeing her cousin’s strong reaction, Cheng Ying became somewhat dazed and murmured, “So even between husband and wife, doing something like that is considered immoral…”

Cheng Yaojia didn’t catch her words. “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” Cheng Ying shook her head, then continued hesitantly, “If a woman accidentally used her mouth to… ki$$ a man… there…”

Before she could finish, Cheng Yaojia gasped, “In that case, the woman has only two choices: either kill the man, or marry him.”

“Ah?” Cheng Ying was dumbfounded. She had to emphasize, “But the woman didn’t mean to. It was all an accident.”

“Regardless of whether she meant to,” Cheng Yaojia sighed, “this world is unfair to women. Men care greatly about a woman’s chastity and reputation. Take Hai Rui of the former Ming Dynasty—that upright, incorruptible official revered by all. Because his daughter accepted a single pancake from a male servant, he believed it compromised her virtue and starved his five-year-old d@ughter to death… If the situation you described occurs, and the w0man cannot kill the man or marry him, the consequences will be terribly grim.”

Under the covers, Song Qingshu curled his lip. *The story of Hai Rui killing his daughter was widely circulated in later times too, but some scholars have questioned its authenticity. It doesn’t appear in official histories—only in the private writings of Yao Shilin, Shen Defu, and Zhou Lianggong. The reliability of such anecdotal records is questionable. Hai Rui offended many people with his uncompromising integrity, and literati are best at using their pens to kill without leaving bloodstains.*

But Cheng Ying outside was thoroughly frightened. Her face turned deathly pale. She thought, *With Song Qingshu’s martial arts, even my master probably couldn’t kill him. Does that mean I have no choice but to marry him?*

“Cousin, my heart is a mess. I want to sleep beside you.” Cheng Ying’s heart was in turmoil. She seemed to have lost her soul and pitifully walked toward the bed.

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