"From now on, you must uphold the duties of a husband," she solemnly instructed.
Baili Qingyi suppressed a laugh: "Yes, madam."
So, the little hand placed on his chest gently pulled open his shirt.
Hmph, who's afraid of who?
This wasn't the first time she'd seen this naked man.
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Incense Smokes Leisurely Among the Phoenixes (Part Four)
On the same day, all the unmarried young women in the martial arts world received the exact same invitation:
"I think of it, I yearn for it, I thirst for it, I long for it."
On the 17th of this month, at Yun Pavilion in the capital, the young master in blue robes from Baili Prefecture awaits your arrival. Do not break your promise.
Below the main text is a line of smaller print: "This event is hosted by the Yin Mansion in the capital. For details, please consult any Huanyi Bookstore branch in your area."
Overnight, this martial arts world, which had only recently calmed down, was filled with young girls in the throes of first love, their dreams of romance boundless. Heroines, enchantresses, young girls, and women alike were all eager to win the coveted young man in blue.
However, time is running out. The 17th of this month is only two days away. The contestants have never seen what Qingyi looks like. How can they deal with this?
It was said that everyone at the wedding banquet at Chuxiu Manor had seen the Qingyi Couplet, so the young ladies used all their skills to try and win it with hefty sums. Vendors selling couplets immediately appeared on the streets of the capital, and the price of the sixteen-character Qingyi Couplet plummeted from one hundred taels of silver to ten coins in a single day, yet the number of buyers did not decrease at all.
The next day, the contest for marriage by Qingyi intensified, and proxy suitors began to appear. As the saying goes, a thousand pieces of gold are easy to obtain, but a good match is hard to find. Many literati and scholars put up signs for "sure-win couples" and wrote couplets on behalf of the female knights-errant who were not good at writing.
However, the one who profited the most was Yunge Pavilion in the capital, whose room rate had soared to one thousand taels of silver overnight. Yunge Pavilion was also owned by the Yin family, who, while making a fortune, remained as silent as possible, waiting for the grand event the next day.
Miss Yin, along with all the stewards of the Yin family, took full advantage of this opportunity to hype things up, leaving the stewards, who hadn't witnessed Miss Yin's business acumen in three years, completely dumbfounded. In fact, the vendors selling couplets were all sent out by the Yin family, and even most of the literati and scholars were contacted, hired, and had the Yin family handle all the publicity matters.
Not only that, Miss Yin also sent people to set up a women's poetry society on the other side of the capital, with the slogan "I compose poems about the moon in my heart, regardless of whether the women are dressed in blue or red." A group of refined women gathered to form the society, declaring that they were fighting to revitalize women's poetry and prose, and condemning the infatuated women who composed poems for the men in blue. The refined women and the infatuated women engaged in a war of words, which was about to turn into a shrewish street brawl.
To determine the winner, the two factions held several poetry contests of varying sizes at Yun Pavilion before the official poetry competition, ultimately selecting ten beauties to participate in the formal competition. Unsurprisingly, the venue fees, tea fees, and beverage fees all went into Yun Pavilion's pocket. Meanwhile, the "Guide to Couplets," compiled by poets from the capital's literary circles at the Yin family's organization, also became very popular.
Baili Qingyi was sitting in a private room on the upper floor of Yunge Tower. He lifted the curtain and looked down at the bustling crowd on the street below. He sighed and said, "Xiao'er, how much money did you make from me?" He thought she had agreed to do this because it was a difficult task, but now it seems he had underestimated her. She was just eager to seize this opportunity to make money.
Yin Wuxiao changed into men's clothing and smiled as he waved his fan: "Don't ask me that. Anyway, I won't give you a single penny."
"Not even one percent?" Baili Qingyi brushed aside her fan, leaned close to her ear in an ambiguous manner, and breathed heavily on her neck.
Yin Wuxiao's face flushed slightly, and she angrily pushed him away: "Even half a percent won't do."
"Xiao'er, this is unfair." Baili Qingyi spread her hands. "You make these women of the martial world hand over huge sums of money to you, only to have them leave empty-handed in the end. How can they be willing to accept that?"
"Who said I was going to let them go empty-handed? One of them can win the heart of a handsome man, can't she?" Yin Wuxiao glanced at him sideways.
"Don't joke around!" Baili Qingyi took the fan from her hand and tapped her head lightly.
Yin Wuxiao scratched his head: "I wasn't joking. I'm in business, so naturally I have to be honest."
Seeing her so serious, Baili Qingyi suddenly felt uneasy. He grabbed her slender waist tightly with one hand: "Xiao'er, we have already consummated our marriage, you must not cause any more trouble."
Yin Wuxiao pursed her lips, looking aggrieved: "I didn't cause any more trouble. I promised to organize this marriage contest for you, and I can't go back on my word."
Baili Qingyi stared at her. It was true that she had agreed to hold this marriage contest, but she hadn't agreed to make it such a grand affair, had she? He seriously doubted how she would handle the situation under the watchful eyes of the entire martial arts world.
"Then tell me, how do you plan to outsmart all the other women and win me back?" He tapped her forehead.
Yin Wuxiao tilted her head and thought for a while, then looked at him with a troubled expression: "I don't know either..."
Baili Qingyi's expression suddenly changed, turning as blue as his clothes.
"What did you say?" he gritted his teeth, looking like a storm was brewing.
Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in attention, Yin Wuxiao snatched back the fan and swiftly positioned himself between the two, innocently explaining, "Look, Yuwen Cuiyu definitely already matched the couplet for Qingyi back at Chuxiu Manor. Quite a few people saw it..." I'm not confident I could come up with a better match.
"But you must have a way of proving that the pair were originally made by you, right?"
"How...how can I prove this?"
"..." Baili Qingyi stared at her speechlessly for a long time before saying, "Then if another woman were to face Qingyi, she would definitely..."
"Then why don't you go home with her..."
"Yin Wuxiao!"
Yin Wuxiao shrank back: "Or... anyway, since you are the best in the world in martial arts, you can deny it on the spot and fly to the ends of the earth, and no one can do anything to you."
"You..." He was beyond furious. This cunning woman, he could neither kill her with a single blow, nor punish her with the code of chivalry, nor could he put on an aloof attitude and deceive her with words. How could he possibly subdue her? Was he... was he, the dignified young master of Baili Prefecture, really going to be completely defeated by her?
"Was it because I failed to satisfy you last night?" he said sullenly.
"What?" Yin Wuxiao was secretly chuckling to himself when he heard this, and almost burst out laughing.
He pressed himself against her from behind: "If there's anything you're not satisfied with, just tell me, and I'll do it." He took one of her earlobes into his mouth and gently licked it with the tip of his tongue.
"Bai... Baili Qingyi!" It was Yin Wuxiao's turn to panic. He had never done anything so intimate with her outside their private room, even though it was a private room...
"...Yun'er, and the shopkeeper... could come up at any moment!"
"I don't care." Baili Qingyi turned her over, his lips landing on her forehead, then her brow, eyelids, the tip of her nose, all the way to her rosy cherry lips. It was as if he was holding a mouthful of fire, which was sent straight into her mouth, burning her throat and making her body weak. She could feel his hands cupping her breasts through her silk upper garment, using his thumb as the center, tracing the rounded contours, the pressure gradually increasing... She gripped his clothes tightly with her ten fingers, enjoying the electric-like sensation he was creating on her body.
It must be admitted that men have other uses besides being someone you can think about.
“Tell me, what do you need me to do?” he whispered to her lips, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Uh?" Her thoughts were in a mess, wondering whether to push him away, strip him naked, or strip herself naked first.
He suddenly stopped everything and pulled her away from him. "Tell me, what exactly are you unhappy about?"
"Huh?" Yin Wuxiao looked back at him dazedly, "I'm not dissatisfied, I'm not..." She hooked her arms around his neck and offered her lips and her whole body to him.
"Then why did you pack me up and give me away to someone else?" Her tone carried a hint of resentment.
"Huh?" Yin Wuxiao gazed at his exquisite features with a hazy look, and decided that she might as well strip him naked. Her small hands parted his outer shirt and undershirt, reaching straight to his bare chest.
Baili Qingyi laughed, a deep laugh that traveled from his throat to her ear, accompanied by passionate breaths: "Yin Wuxiao, you have to admit it, you love me, you love me to the point of no return. How could you give me to someone else? You are destined to spend your whole life with me."
"Hmm..." It took Yin Wuxiao a long time to process those words. The rage quickly faded from her face. She stopped moving, jumped up, and pushed Baili Qingyi away.
He actually used his good looks?! He actually used his good looks!
She glared at him intently: "You damned bastard..." She was both ashamed and angry, and disregarded the demeanor and dignity of the world's number one talented woman. She took off her embroidered shoe and raised it high.
Seeing that things were not going well, Baili Qingyi raised her eyebrows, darted out the door, and slammed her embroidered shoes against the door frame with a thud.
Yin Wuxiao blushed deeply, hopped on one foot to pick up the embroidered shoe, then hopped back on the other foot to sit down. Holding the shoe, she didn't put it on, gritted her teeth, and suddenly chuckled.
She was destined to spend her whole life with him.
Let's spend our lives together then.
Downstairs, three thousand beauties were still bustling about. Yin Wuxiao snorted. Trying to steal her man? No way!
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Incense Smokes Leisurely Among the Phoenixes (Part Five)
Imagine tens of thousands of people crammed into a tiny space like the Cloud Pavilion. It's unimaginable.
Therefore, the Yin family would never allow such a thing to happen. On the day of the young master in blue's marriage proposal, only one hundred people were allowed to enter to watch the spectacle, making tickets extremely difficult to obtain. However, these one hundred people were the most powerful and influential people in the martial arts world, and also the most fond of watching a good show.
This day was a day of revelry in the martial arts world; who wouldn't want to know who would emerge victorious? Betting had already opened at the other end of Chang'an Street, with odds of 20 to 1 for the title of the world's most talented woman, Yin Wuxiao. After all, the title of the most talented woman was well-deserved.
However, some people doubt that Yin Wuxiao will participate in this marriage contest at all. Since the contest was entirely organized by Miss Yin, why would she publicly hold a marriage contest for him if she were interested in the young man in blue?
However, secrets can't stay hidden forever. The various ambiguous affairs between Miss Yin and the young man in green have long been circulating in the martial arts world. For example, the young man in green nearly lost his life for Miss Yin at Seven Deadly Cliffs, and Miss Yin spared no expense in seeking medicine for him. It would be strange if Miss Yin could truly remain uninvolved.
The most fascinating thing about this world is the endless stream of gossip.
The candidate with the second-highest odds after Miss Yin is Yuwen Hongying, the second young lady of the Yuwen family. It is said that the eldest young lady of the Yuwen family once publicly matched a perfect couplet in blue, but later she passed away, missing her chance with the young master in blue. However, it is possible that her younger sister did not inherit her talent. Moreover, Yuwen Hongying has been infatuated with the young master in blue for a long time, so it is reasonable for her to match this perfect couplet in blue if she really had a stroke of luck.
Halfway through the poetry contest, news came from the Cloud Pavilion that the top five beauties had all completed their matching lines, each a perfectly crafted and eloquent response, their words flowing seamlessly with emotion, making it difficult to distinguish between them. However… however, neither Miss Yin, who was ranked first in the odds, nor Yuwen Hongying, who was ranked second, had shown up to participate in the competition. Could the result be a major upset?
Miss Yin's odds at the gambling den plummeted, dropping to 3 to 1.
"I'm telling you, are you really going to sit here and do nothing about it? Just leave your man to those ravenous women?"
Across from Yunge, Shi Mansi and Yin Wuxiao had booked a small private room to observe the situation.
Yin Wuxiao spat: "What do you mean by 'your man' and 'my man'? How vulgar."
Shi Mansi laughed and said, "I'll be as uncouth as I am, and you can be as aloof as you are. Just don't cry if someone else snatches the young master in blue away. Seriously, are you really that confident that your poetry is the best in the world?"
Yin Wuxiao shook his head: "Who dares to say that their poetry and prose are the best in the world? There are always people better than you, and there are always mountains beyond mountains."
Shi Mansi raised an eyebrow: "Then why are you still sitting here calmly?"
Yin Wuxiao smiled wryly: "How can I be sitting on the sidelines? I'm just waiting for someone to stir things up, so I can remain unchanged and deal with all changes."
Shi Mansi exclaimed, "Look, here comes the troublemaker." She suddenly felt a pang of guilt: "Awu, if it weren't for saving me, you wouldn't have..."
Yin Wuxiao picked up the teacup and looked at the red figure that flew into the cloud pavilion; it was none other than Yuwen Hongying.
"The person I'm referring to as a troublemaker isn't her."
"Uh...you mean..." Shi Mansi finally realized, "Really? Do you really think that someone of the Empress Dowager's status would get involved in this mess?"
Yin Wuxiao took a sip of tea and remained silent.
Why doesn't the Empress Dowager get involved in this mess? She's the one who stirred it up.
"Mansi, Mansi, your personality has changed because of Alu. You even apologized to me."
Shi Mansi's face darkened.
“Awu, sometimes I feel that the relationship between a man and a woman is like an unresolved debt. Whoever owes whom will eventually have to pay it back. Now it’s my turn to pay back my debt. He doesn’t remember me, so I have to do everything I can to make him remember me.”
"What if... he never remembers you for the rest of his life?" Yin Wuxiao asked with some pity.
“Then I’ll wait for him my whole life,” Shi Mansi said earnestly.
"Awu, are you in debt or paying off debt?"
Yin Wuxiao was taken aback.
Her heart softened. In truth, she wished that the debt between her and Baili Qingyi, regardless of who owed whom, would never be settled.
In fact, the Empress Dowager did get involved in this mess. However, she didn't condescend to come herself; instead, she sent someone else.
Deng Qinghui, the current prime minister.