Daily Survival After Inheriting a Harem (GL) - Chapter 11
“Really!” Qiu Qi smiled. “Let me see, let me see.”
Pei Yuqing handed over the small bronze mirror. The not-so-clear, smooth surface reflected Qiu Qi’s face. She leaned closer to the light and carefully examined it.
It really was exactly the same as before.
With her familiar face back, Qiu Qi felt much better. She leaned against the bed, propping her head with one hand, striking an extremely dashing pose. She patted the spot next to her on the bed and spoke to Pei Yuqing in a domineering, CEO-like tone.
“Madam, come to bed.”
Pei Yuqing lowered her head slightly, making no move. “Butler Yan sent word that My Lord will only choose my tablet from now on. That’s not according to the rules.”
“Ah, that.” Qiu Qi stated confidently, “I said I will only have Madam from now on, so of course, I can’t be entangled with other beauties.”
Qiu Qi was so self-assured that even Pei Yuqing was momentarily speechless. After speaking, Qiu Qi even confirmed with Pei Yuqing in a boastful tone, “Madam, aren’t I loyal to you?”
Pei Yuqing looked up and met Qiu Qi’s eyes. The other’s entire face was practically screaming “Praise me.”
“Actually, My Lord doesn’t need to be like this. Yuqing is not a jealous person.”
“That idea of yours is wrong. Have you ever heard the saying ‘one life, one love, one couple’? That’s the kind of love we should have.”
“…” Pei Yuqing had learned to get used to the occasional strange words that popped out of Qiu Qi’s mouth.
“Come up quickly. Let’s sleep early. Tomorrow morning, I’ll go with Butler Yan to Ruyi Workshop to buy some Cobalt-Rhodium Holy Water for Madam, and then we can prepare to safely remove the ring.” Qiu Qi sat up to pull Pei Yuqing’s hand. “Sleep quickly, Madam. Early to bed, early to rise makes you healthy. You need to recover well to be strong and healthy.”
Pei Yuqing’s heart skipped a beat, her eyes flickering. She hadn’t expected Qiu Qi to actually intend to remove the ring for her, and to act so quickly, even having already inquired about Ruyi Workshop.
So diligent, what exactly is the other party’s motive?
Pei Yuqing already had a guess in her mind.
“Madam?” Qiu Qi quietly called out to Pei Yuqing, who was still frozen in place.
“Mm, I’m here,” Pei Yuqing quickly recovered.
Qiu Qi rolled over in bed, wrapped in the blanket. “Alright, don’t overthink it. With me here, nothing will happen to you.”
Pei Yuqing chuckled lightly, thinking, You can barely protect yourself right now, where does that confidence come from?
But she didn’t expose her, leaving Qiu Qi some dignity.
Soon, under Qiu Qi’s gaze, Pei Yuqing stood up. Her fair fingers touched the ties of her clothes. With a gentle pull, the soft fabric piled at her feet. In just a moment, she was left with only a thin, close-fitting garment.
Qiu Qi unconsciously quickened her blinks, keenly sensing an unusual atmosphere in the air.
She remembered that last night, when Pei Yuqing took off her clothes, she had carefully folded each item and placed it on the hanger. What was this now?
Before she could figure anything out, the person radiating a cool, jade-like aura leaned in and pressed down on her.
Pei Yuqing’s long eyelashes, like butterfly wings, lowered, and the expression in her blue eyes became inscrutable. She supported herself with one hand beside Qiu Qi’s ear, her gaze lingering on those slightly parted, full pink lips.
Pei Yuqing gave herself a mental pep talk: At least with this face now, I can go through with it.
In Qiu Qi’s eyes, Pei Yuqing’s beautiful face magnified infinitely. She only saw the other person slowly leaning closer, her long hair, mixed with a rich fragrance, falling and brushing against her cheek, causing a gentle tingle.
Her hand, resting by her side, couldn’t help but clutch the bedsheet. Qiu Qi’s slow nerves finally computed what might happen next, but by then, the kiss had already landed.
Before their lips met, Qiu Qi had no idea that Pei Yuqing, who appeared so cold and distant on the outside, would have such soft lips.
Pei Yuqing only touched her briefly before moving away, a fleeting touch, yet it didn’t stop Qiu Qi’s heart from thundering like a drum in that instant.
“Ma-Madam!” Qiu Qi covered her mouth in surprise, her wet eyes wide and round, with a slight hint of accusation. “You… what are you doing… kissing me?”
Her face flushed crimson, the heat spreading from her ears downwards, even her fair, slender neck turned a large patch of red, making one wonder if the body beneath her clothes was also a tempting pink, like a boiled shrimp.
Pei Yuqing hadn’t expected such a reaction from her. “Isn’t this what My Lord wanted?”
All that mental preparation she went through, enduring humiliation, only for the other party to look at her with an expression of being violated.
“Me?”
“If it wasn’t to get close to me, why would you issue the order to choose my tablet every day, and even spend hundreds of gold to find Cobalt-Rhodium Holy Water for me?” Pei Yuqing straightened her expression. “Isn’t this the price for removing the ring for me?”
After hearing Pei Yuqing’s words, Qiu Qi realized that the other person had always thought her kindness towards her had an ulterior motive.
Okay, she admitted she had ulterior motives, but that was for her own life’s sake! She had never steered the wheel of thought in such a sordid direction!
“No, you misunderstood.” Qiu Qi shrunk her flushed face into the quilt, only showing her eyes, but she dared not look at Pei Yuqing. “The matter of removing the ring, I had already promised you. And the Cobalt-Rhodium Holy Water, I bought it willingly. I said I wanted to compensate you, that’s why I’m good to you. You don’t… you don’t need to sacrifice yourself.”
“Are you serious?” Pei Yuqing frowned, her gaze fixed on Qiu Qi, not wanting to miss any subtle movement.
“Of course.”
Pei Yuqing remained silent, meeting Qiu Qi’s gaze for a moment, finding the other’s eyes open and unwavering.
“I overthought it,” she said, slightly raising the corner of her mouth, withdrawing the overly aggressive posture she had adopted over Qiu Qi.
At the same time, Pei Yuqing’s hand, hidden behind her back, deftly moved her fingers a few times, silently tucking the dagger, concealed in her sleeve, back into her waistband.
In fact, as soon as Butler Yan went to inform Pei Yuqing about her being chosen, Pei Yuqing had already prepared to implement her backup assassination plan.
This dagger was different from ordinary ones; it was forged by the first blacksmith after countless heating and hammering, taking eighty-one days to complete. Its special feature lay in the final process: Pei Yuqing took Qiu Qi’s bl00d, mixed it with silver at high temperatures, and coated the blade with it. The blacksmith named it the Demon Slaying Blade, meaning it was the only dagger capable of harming Qiu Qi’s indestructible body.
Now, Pei Yuqing had already obtained the study key and, thanks to Yan Wan’s disclosure, knew the location of the profound ice ring’s key. Coupled with the mermaid bl00d and Cobalt-Rhodium Holy Water, the ring removal no longer needed Qiu Qi to be completed.
Although due to the servant contract, she couldn’t directly kill Qiu Qi, she could injure her to the point of incapacitation, then imprison her, preventing her from doing evil again.
This was the foolproof plan they had devised: Pei Yuqing wouldn’t die, and the others in the courtyard could live without constant fear.
This dagger had been prepared long ago, just waiting for the day they could get close to Qiu Qi. The reason they prioritized the witch’s plan before was that they originally wanted to destroy Qiu Qi and the Beast Core Orb together. But now that plan had failed, they could only risk using the more likely-to-fail Plan B.
“It’s okay,” Qiu Qi softly comforted Pei Yuqing, taking her hand and placing it over her own heart. “It’s normal for Madam to be suspicious after being treated that way. You don’t have to trust me, but you have to trust yourself. When you doubt me, just touch me and read my mind. I won’t hide anything from you.”
“Sorry.”
“Madam never needs to apologize to me,” Qiu Qi trustingly rested her head on Pei Yuqing’s shoulder, extending her arm to encircle her slender waist.
Pei Yuqing’s body visibly stiffened. “Wait…”
“Hm?” Qiu Qi’s questioning voice sounded, her expression innocently curious as she felt Pei Yuqing’s waist. “Madam, why do you have something hard tucked into your waist? Won’t that hurt you when you sleep?”
“It’s fine,” Pei Yuqing’s throat nervously swallowed, and she stiffly uttered two words.
Author’s Note:
These might be the fastest main characters I’ve had kiss.
P.S.: Someone asked yesterday if Sister Pei and the original body had ever s*x. To clarify: no, they haven’t. The first attendant/sleepover was at the beginning of this novel. She originally intended to die together with the original body, but then Sister Qiu intervened. Similarly, Sister Pei is not someone who would suffer a loss for nothing.