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

The weather in mid-month was similar to summer in the real world, a perfect season for flowers to bloom.

Ordinarily, the original owner was more active at night and rarely woke up early. So, this morning, several sisters in the courtyard agreed to bring tea and snacks to the small garden behind the rockery to admire the flowers.

Seven or eight beauties gathered around a table, laughing and chatting. Beside them, two lounge chairs were set up. On one, the usually sleepy Zu Mianmian lay sprawled, oblivious to the surrounding sounds, sleeping soundly on her back with her belly exposed.

“Tch.” On the other lounge chair lay a woman in a dark green dress named Xiao Chu’er. She fanned herself, her slender eyes casually glancing at Zu Mianmian, her brows raised with a natural flirtatiousness. “All she does is sleep, look how fat she’s gotten.”

Lan Tang fluttered its wings and flew up, its tiny feet landing on Xiao Chu’er’s shoulder. “You can’t say bad things about Mianmian.”

“Tsk.” Xiao Chu’er lightly rested her right hand on her cheek, then raised it, agitatedly waving at the little fat sparrow. “Fat bird, go away, or I’ll pluck out all your feathers.”

Lan Tang hopped up and pecked her hand fiercely before flying angrily towards Yin Ci’s head.

“Lin Yujin, did you bring the item?” With Pei Yuqing absent, Yin Ci sat in the main seat. She didn’t have the leisure to admire flowers and plants; her main reason for coming today was for the jar in Lin Yujin’s hand.

“I brought it.” The beast-person named Lin Yujin was the legendary mermaid, queen of the waters, with a beautiful singing voice and looks like Xi Shi. Her slender figure made human men want to hold and cherish her. Her appearance was very deceptive.

She pulled out a warmed small white porcelain bottle from her embrace. “It’s right here.”

Yin Ci reached out to take it, then handed her a bottle of wound medicine. “Thank you. Take this medicine; your wound will heal faster.”

The two exchanged items. Yin Ci opened the porcelain bottle’s seal and sniffed. The scent of mermaid bl00d was indeed different from other beast-folk; instead of a fishy smell, it had a faint sweetness. Furthermore, it could prolong life and enhance physical constitution. There were even specialized human hunting parties that specifically hunted mermaids, with extremely high bounties.

As for why Qiu Qi kept one in the courtyard, it was simply to expand her “food reserves.”

Yin Ci was actually doing someone a favor. Last night, Pei Yuqing had sustained some injuries and specifically entrusted her to borrow this bl00d from Lin Yujin. Besides the miraculous properties rumored among humans, this bl00d had one crucial quality: its healing effects were remarkably significant, able to heal wounds in a very short time. For Pei Yuqing, who suffered from the cold poison, it was practically life-saving medicine.

As long as it was available, it could at least save a life during the ring removal process.

Lin Yujin shook her head and smiled weakly. “I owe Sister Pei. Originally, it was supposed to be me serving last night. If she hadn’t volunteered, I might already be…”

The eyes of everyone present darkened. No matter how happily they pretended to be, it couldn’t change the fact that they all had a ticking time bomb over their heads.

“Serving the master”—for others, it might simply mean using one’s beauty to gain favor, but in this courtyard, it was a life-for-a-life exchange.

Apart from Pei Yuqing, no one had ever emerged alive from that sleeping chamber. So, as for what exactly happened last night, no one dared to ask, nor could they bear to ask, fearing that they might accidentally touch a raw nerve, not only hurting Pei Yuqing’s pride but also making her recall unpleasant things.

“Sigh, you don’t need to worry about owing anything. Sister Pei’s wish is for as many of us in this courtyard as possible to survive.” Zu Mianmian had woken up at some point. Her nose twitched, keenly catching the sweet scent in the air. “So, this is what mermaid bl00d smells like. It’s like the smell of powdered sugar.”

“Where did you cut yourself?” Xiao Chu’er gestured towards Lin Yujin with her chin. “I can smell your bl00d from far away. If you have medicine, put it on quickly, lest you attract unwanted attention.”

Everyone present knew who they were afraid of attracting.

Lin Yujin’s face turned pale for a moment at the reminder. Then, she hastily opened the medicine jar Yin Ci had given her, unwrapped the bandage on her wrist, and scooped out a bit to apply to her wound.

“Hi, beauties.” Speak of the devil, and she shall appear. A rather energetic voice came from behind.

“B-beauty?” Zu Mianmian, who was drinking water, choked. She had intended to turn around and see who was talking so out of line, but as soon as her head turned, her expression instantly stiffened.

Why is this demon up so early today? And in the mood to stroll in the small garden?

Lin Yujin, sensing something was wrong, looked up and turned pale with fright when she saw Qiu Qi standing behind her, smiling.

Qiu Qi wanted to help Pei Yuqing remove the profound ice ring, but the crucial key was in the study. The original owner hadn’t entered or exited that place for a long time, and the key had always been kept by the housekeeper. She was currently wandering around, looking for someone.

But who knew this housekeeper was so elusive? She had almost turned the courtyard upside down and still couldn’t find her. Just then, she saw someone sitting in the pavilion from afar, so she thought of coming to ask.

As soon as she said hello, the beauty in the light blue dress in the middle looked at her with extreme horror. Qiu Qi was initially wondering if her expression just now wasn’t friendly enough and had scared them, but she soon understood why.

Her gaze landed on the still-unhealed wound on the blue-clad woman’s wrist, and Qiu Qi’s eyelids twitched violently. That uncontrollable force surged forth again.

—What was truly terrifying was never her as a person, but the Beast Core Orb in her body that could go out of control at any moment.

Lin Yujin’s breathing began to quicken, her lips completely devoid of color. She looked like thin paper, as if a gust of wind could blow her over.

It was no exaggeration to say that Lin Yujin felt Qiu Qi’s gaze on her right now was like a jackal eyeing a piece of fatty meat, ready to pounce and tear at her at any second. But as a mermaid, her combat strength on land was no match for a human with spiritual arts; she would definitely have no chance to fight back.

The two who had been lazily lounging in chairs immediately stood up, stretching out their hands, one on each side, shielding Lin Yujin. In the tense atmosphere, Yin Ci also drew the dagger from her waist, her eyes showing a determined readiness for battle.

“My Lord.” Just as Qiu Qi was desperately resisting the Beast Core Orb within her, a calm voice from behind her reached her ears, slightly soothing her agitation.

Pei Yuqing, who had appeared behind them unnoticed, quickly stepped forward, placing her body between the two parties to block Qiu Qi’s line of sight.

Qiu Qi glanced at the fine sweat on Pei Yuqing’s forehead and guessed that she had rushed there, enduring the discomfort, otherwise she should be resting in bed right now.

“Why is My Lord here to admire flowers today?” Pei Yuqing rarely offered Qiu Qi a smile, trying to quickly divert her attention.

Qiu Qi’s chest heaved, breathing heavily. She was in no mood to answer questions now. In her vision, Pei Yuqing’s beautiful face was distorted into a blurry image, and the familiar faint scent she detected at her nose was the only comfort amidst the wild agitation.

“Madam.” Qiu Qi reached out and grabbed her waist, burying her head deeply into Pei Yuqing’s embrace, breathing heavily, trembling with effort to restrain herself. “I, I can’t control it… what do I do…”

“Mm, I know, My Lord,” Pei Yuqing nodded, gently patting her back, her tone as patient as if coaxing a child.

The soft voice against her ear slowly relaxed Qiu Qi’s nerves. The rhythmic patting on her back also made her feel very secure. But just at this crucial moment, a dull pain suddenly struck the back of her neck.

“Madam… ugh!”

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

Pei Yuqing withdrew the hand that had just struck the back of Qiu Qi’s neck, her expression as calm as ever.

“Mianmian, come help carry her.”

“Huh?” Veteran strongman Zu Mianmian froze for a moment, then immediately nodded, rolled up her sleeves, walked over, and effortlessly lifted Qiu Qi by her collar with one hand.

“Got her.” Zu Mianmian flung Qiu Qi onto her back like a sack, her expression a little excited. “Sis, where are we dumping the body?”

Pei Yuqing gave her a faint look. “She’s not dead yet. Take her back to the sleeping quarters first.”

••••

Qiu Qi’s body was indeed resilient to beatings. With Pei Yuqing’s strike, an ordinary person would have to rest in bed for at least five or six days, but she woke up after only half an hour.

Opening her eyes, she first stared blankly at the bed curtains for a while, then realized that she had just been knocked out by her wife.

“My Lord, you’re awake.” The culprit stood gracefully by the bed. Qiu Qi painstakingly turned her still-sore neck to look at the person.

Good. From her expression, I can tell my wife has no intention of reflecting whatsoever.

Still so much personality, I like it!

“It hurts so much. Madam needs to blow on it to make it better.” Qiu Qi extended her arm towards Pei Yuqing.

Pei Yuqing turned her head, her smile flawless. “My Lord, what did you just say? I didn’t hear you clearly.”

Qiu Qi’s mouth moved, her eyes welled up, looking like she was about to start acting again. But Pei Yuqing stepped aside, quickly changing the subject. “I heard My Lord has been looking for Butler Yan all morning. So, I took the liberty of summoning her for you.”

“Oh, right, I was looking for her.” Qiu Qi laboriously propped up her upper body with her arm.

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

“Madam is still the most thoughtful,” Qiu Qi said, looking at her with starry eyes.

Pei Yuqing’s lips twitched, giving a perfunctory and formal smile. “It’s my duty.”

“My Lord, what are your commands?” Butler Yan Wan bowed slightly, greeting Qiu Qi.

The housekeeper outwardly appeared to be a frail, thin old woman, but the original owner’s memories told Qiu Qi that this person was actually the strongest hidden master in this harem.

Each Beast God was chosen through a public martial arts tournament. Yan Wan was an old veteran who had competed for the previous Beast God’s title. Although she ultimately lost, no one dared to underestimate her second-place strength.

If you were to ask why such a person would be willing to be a housekeeper for the original owner?

Of course, it was because… she loved money.

As long as the money was enough, Yan Wan could even go out and become a madam in a brothel. The facts proved that her extensive past resume indeed included this.

“I just wanted to ask you where my study key 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: Didn’t I ask? I asked a dozen people, and everyone said they didn’t know! What else could I do?! Are you deliberately messing with me?!

But on her face, she still forced out a smile. “Hahaha, I’m just a little clumsy, you know.”

Yan Wan was a thousand-year-old demon. Even the original owner wouldn’t dare to directly confront her casually, so Qiu Qi wouldn’t dare to show her any displeasure.

As soon as Qiu Qi uttered that affected “you know,” the expressions of the two people present stiffened. Their eyes held a stifled grievance, like they had eaten something unsavory but couldn’t spit it out.

“Please wait a moment.” Yan Wan was professional after all. She quickly adjusted her mindset and adopted a respectful demeanor towards Qiu Qi.

She pulled out a large iron ring from her waist, big enough to be a cow’s collar, densely strung with keys. It probably weighed around ten catties, but Yan Wan held it lightly with just one index finger, her expression calm.

“This is the key to the study. Please take good care of it.” She took out one of the keys and handed it to Qiu Qi with both hands.

“Thank you.” Qiu Qi took the key, habitually reaching for her waist, only realizing it had no pockets when she felt nothing there. Seeing this, Pei Yuqing reached out and took it. “My Lord, I’ll hold it.”

“Okay, thank you, Madam.” Qiu Qi didn’t guard against her; after all, this key was originally for her.

After handing over the key, Yan Wan didn’t immediately leave. Instead, she took out a scroll from her sleeve and began to read.

“This morning, tributes arrived from the Human race.”

The reason the Human race sent tributes to the Beast race was due to a peace treaty signed a thousand years ago. The Beast race was militarily strong but generally lacked intellectual abilities and had no understanding of farming or labor. Therefore, their food and clothing came from the Human race, who were skilled in trade and social interaction. The Human race, in turn, coveted the fertile land under the Beast race’s feet, exchanging goods for mining rights and the safety of their own race.

One particularly emphasized clause in this agreement was that Beast-folk were not allowed to harm Humans at will. Any violator would be executed by the Beast-folk leader or left to the Human race’s discretion.

In its early days, this rule wasn’t taken seriously by many Beast-folk. However, after the Human race mastered the Five Elemental Spirit Arts and gained the ability to resist the Beast-folk, it gained true deterrent power.

“Oh, then count them and put them in the warehouse,” Qiu Qi was currently preoccupied with how to remove the profound ice ring and hadn’t paid much attention to Yan Wan’s words.

“My Lord,” Yan Wan raised her voice to address Qiu Qi, and only when the other party looked at her did she calmly continue, “What I want to say is that the tributes sent by the Human race this time still have problems. I’ve counted them. Although the quantity isn’t reduced, nearly two-thirds of the fabric and jewelry are inferior, substandard products, and even half of the fruits and grains are not fresh.”

Qiu Qi propped her chin, temporarily shifting her attention to the matter of tributes.

According to Yan Wan, the problem of short-changed tributes wasn’t a new one. She recalled the original owner’s past actions.

Without exception, after hearing Yan Wan’s report, she would fly into a rage, then order the envoy who brought the tributes to be brought in and brutally beaten, and then have the envoy’s head sent back as a display of power.

This approach was effective at first, but as mentioned before, the Human race’s spiritual arts had made rapid progress in recent centuries. More and more people possessed self-preservation abilities, and with increased combat power, they also gained confidence. Especially their newly appointed Saintess, rumored to be a rare genius who had mastered five spiritual arts, almost a god-like existence in the hearts of the Human race.

The tribute problem started three years ago, and this Saintess also took office three years ago. Qiu Qi knew with her gut that this matter was inextricably linked to her.

“Alright,” Qiu Qi sighed and waved at Yan Wan. “Their envoy hasn’t gone far, has he? Call him in.”

Yan Wan didn’t move immediately. “My Lord, at this point, the ‘kill the chicken to warn the monkey’ tactic might not be very effective.”

“Who’s talking about ‘killing the chicken to warn the monkey’?” Qiu Qi knew she probably thought she was going to chop off the envoy’s head again as a show of force, so she explained, “I’ve laid down the butcher’s knife and turned over a new leaf. I’m not interested in all that fighting and killing. I’m just calling him in for a talk. Don’t worry.”

Yan Wan looked up, her gaze, however, flickered towards Pei Yuqing.

Pei Yuqing received the doubt in her eyes and nodded gently to her. “If My Lord says so, then there will be no problem.”

“Good, I’ll go invite the envoy now.” Yan Wan bowed and backed out the door.

Qiu Qi rolled up her sleeves. “Madam, do you have paper and a brush? I want to write a letter.”

“Yes, My Lord. I’ll go to the study and get them right away.” Pei Yuqing moved quickly, taking the key and returning with several sheets of paper. She placed the items on the table and, on her own initiative, began to grind ink.

Qiu Qi tried hard to recall the brush-holding posture her calligraphy teacher taught her in school. She held the limp brush and put it to paper. Although her handwriting was a bit ugly, she thought it was legible enough.

Pei Yuqing silently lowered her head, grinding the inkstone, but secretly, her gaze never stopped drifting towards Qiu Qi.

The original owner was illiterate, disliking reading or writing. Therefore, all written work in the courtyard, including the account books, was handled by the housekeeper. Yet, how could such a person now write so skillfully and smoothly? If she truly had amnesia, it was impossible for her to suddenly gain a new skill out of thin air. This defied logic.

Connecting this with Qiu Qi’s various uncharacteristic behaviors over the past two days, Pei Yuqing felt it was more appropriate to say that a different soul had entered this body rather than simply having amnesia.

Qiu Qi didn’t notice the observing gaze fixed on her. She frowned, earnestly finishing what she wanted to convey. Afterwards, she felt the tone of the letter seemed too serious, so she thought for a moment and added a grinning, toothy smiley face.

After drawing it, she held the paper up to admire it. Leaving aside everything else, the drawing was far better than the few characters she had just written, depicting her own playful cuteness and lively spirit with just a few strokes.

Indeed, sticking to my old profession feels right. Qiu Qi twirled the brush, feeling a little itchy. As a skilled certain-forbidden artist, it was unbearable for her not to practice drawing anatomy for a day, tsk.

“My Lord, this is dirty.” Pei Yuqing walked over, took Qiu Qi’s right hand and turned it over. The inside of her fair, slender wrist was covered in black ink from her earlier carelessness.

Qiu Qi turned her head to look. It was true. This ink was of average quality and dried very slowly, so even a little bit would smudge everywhere. To exaggerate, her entire arm was almost black now.

She rubbed her thumb against her skin, but it only turned red from the rubbing; the color wouldn’t come off. Did it just hear me say its quality was bad and decide to mess with me?

“Let me do it, My Lord.” Pei Yuqing dampened a cloth, walked over, squatted beside Qiu Qi, then took her hand and patiently rubbed it clean, bit by bit.

To be honest, Qiu Qi was quite touched at first, especially from this angle, where she could clearly see Pei Yuqing’s long, drooping eyelashes and perfectly arched nose. But soon, the pain in her hand pulled her back from the tranquility of admiring the beauty to the cruel reality.

Qiu Qi bit her teeth and looked down at Pei Yuqing’s actions. Hmm, slender fingers with distinct knuckles, skin almost transparent and delicate. Good hands, but this force… Is she helping me clean my hand, or is she trying to crush my hand bones?!

“Hiss—” Qiu Qi whimpered pitifully, “Madam, it hurts…”

Pei Yuqing looked up, a friendly and gentle smile on her face. “My Lord, bear with it a little longer, it’ll be clean soon.”

Qiu Qi: I don’t believe you. You said the same thing last night when you were trying to kill me!

“Fine…” Qiu Qi stared at the face before her, where every feature perfectly matched her preferences. She forced out a smile. “I have thick skin, I can definitely bear it a little longer.”

Author’s Note:

Sister Pei is truly too doting (not really)