“Initiation ritual?” Qin Qingyue’s dragon eyes opened slightly, full of confusion.
What initiation ritual? How had she never heard of this? When Su Yingman joined, wasn’t it also muddled and…
Wait, could it be another gift-giving thing?
Su Yingman’s red lips curved, forming a peculiar arc as her gaze unabashedly landed on the full, shapely outline of Zhuxin’s hips, her words shocking:
“According to the rules of some great clan sects and distinguished Shijie families of ancient times, a newly entered concubine must remove her lower garments, raise her rear high…”
“To allow the husband and the main wife to inspect personally, as a sign of belonging—henceforth, both body and mind belong to the master’s family.”
Ritual? What ritual?
In this world, women reigned supreme, and men took concubines mostly for indulgence and pleasure, gaining in power and prestige—when had such cumbersome etiquette ever mattered?
Su Yingman simply thought: since she had to do it during her own initiation, this Zhuxin, who looked down on her, should be no exception.
Back then, she even had to say her own Name Vessel out loud.
Zhuxin’s body suddenly stiffened, and the humiliation she had just suppressed surged once more.
She bit her lower lip hard, fingernails digging deep into her palm.
To make her assume such a degrading posture before Jiang Huai and Qin Qingyue? That was worse than killing her.
However, to Su Yingman’s surprise, Zhuxin did not explode this time.
She simply lifted her eyelids slowly and gave Su Yingman a cold, slicing glance.
Just you wait.
Then, with Qin Qingyue watching with amusement, Su Yingman gloating, and Jiang Huai dumbfounded,
the lower half of Zhuxin’s Red Armor really began to slip down, flowing like fire.
Revealing beneath it close-fitting Chihong Silk Trousers of the same red, along with a glimpse of smooth, taut waistline.
She pressed her lips together tightly, expressionless, slowly turning around. Her jade hand trembled as she reached for the last barrier.
Ready to kneel in humiliation and offer so-called “sincerity.”
“All right, enough. Stop it.” Jiang Huai’s voice rang out just in time.
Zhuxin’s movements froze instantly, leaving her awkwardly caught with her silk trousers half-off.
Stiffly, she turned her head to look at Jiang Huai.
The usually proud light in her eyes was now brimming with aggrieved tears, and beneath it, a dazed disbelief.
Jiang Huai did not look at Su Yingman or Qin Qingyue.
He walked straight up to Zhuxin, reached out, and—his motion gentle yet firm—pulled her half-removed trousers back up and carefully tidied them.
“You actually believed her?”
“With me, you’ll never be treated like a plaything. There’s no need for such things.”
“Just focus on your cultivation here.”
His words, warm and respectful, swept away the fragile wall Zhuxin had built with her willpower.
Her tense body trembled slightly. The Red Armor swiftly re-covered her smooth waist and legs, restoring its intact form.
Su Yingman: “???”
Husband, look me in the eyes and answer me!
Then what about me back then? What about me kneeling and splitting myself open?
‘Mistress, look at him!’ Su Yingman cast a resentful look at Qin Qingyue, her beautiful eyes full of accusation.
What did this mean? Why was it different for her?
Qin Qingyue looked at Su Yingman with a half-smile, making no move to stop Jiang Huai.
People, after all, were different.
Zhuxin was proud and unyielding; to force her would only backfire, even sowing future disaster.
Jiang Huai’s approach might actually win her heart.
Qin Qingyue neither sided with Su Yingman nor stopped Jiang Huai, as if simply appreciating a play.
Zhuxin gave Jiang Huai a long, deep look—one filled with too many complex emotions.
Shock, gratitude, and a deeper confusion.
She said nothing, just quickly lowered her head and hid all her tumbling feelings in the shadow beneath her hair.
“Qingyue, I’m a bit tired. I’d like to rest.” Jiang Huai turned to Qin Qingyue, his tone tinged with weariness.
After his breakthrough, his body was spent.
Qin Qingyue nodded slightly, her dragon tail lazily swaying. “Go ahead, focus on consolidating your realm.”
She gave no comment on the earlier commotion, as if nothing at all had happened.
“Get away! Don’t follow me! I don’t need you trailing after me!”
Zhu Siyao’s clear, fiery voice exploded in the courtyard as she glared at the two dragon maidens in red soft armor.
Both were voluptuous and mature, with small crimson horns on their heads and short dragon tails swaying behind them, exuding a faint aura of flame.
They were Red Dragon Clan members, their bloodlines thinner—specifically “traded” from the South Sea Dragon Palace by Qin Qingyue.
With such diluted blood, their cultivation would never be too high. Both before her were Nascent Soul Realm, already more than enough to protect Zhu Siyao, “the Dragon Lord’s stepdaughter.”
With Qin Qingyue’s reputation, none in the Sect dared provoke this little ancestor.
“Miss, the Dragon Lord instructed us two sisters to keep you safe at all times,” the more gentle dragon maiden said, her tone helpless.
“I don’t need you! Give me back my mother!” Zhu Siyao’s face flushed red, like a bristling little lion.
Now that the hidden dangers in her cultivation were gone, and with a trove of magical treasures, everyone envied her.
But the biggest problem was: the whole Sect knew that her mother, Zhuxin, had been taken as a concubine for a man!
Jiang Huai—the East Sea Dragon Lord, Qin Qingyue’s husband—overnight became her nominal father.
Good news: No one in the Sect dared mock her as a fatherless wild child anymore.
Bad news: This father looked about her own age.
At Zhu Siyao’s tearful demands for her mother, the two dragon maidens could only exchange wry smiles and remain silent in their vigil.
Such matters concerning the Dragon Lord’s household were not for them to meddle in.
“Get out! I don’t want you in my courtyard!” The girl finally erupted, unsheathing the gleaming sword at her waist, its tip aimed straight at them.
The two dragon maidens exchanged another helpless glance.
The gentle one stepped forward, her voice still soft but with an undercurrent of warning:
“Miss, please calm your anger. The Sect has sent word—the Xuan You Secret Realm will open soon, a gathering of Foundation Establishment talents from the Five Provinces.”
“The Sect asks if you wish to participate and make your name known?”
As the young Sect master, by reason and by right, she should appear—both for experience and to meet talented peers.
At the mention of the Secret Realm, Zhu Siyao’s head jerked up, her grip on the sword tightening as she pressed anxiously:
“That man—Jiang Huai—will he be there?!”
Jiang Huai, that man called Jiang Huai!
She would never call him father, never!
She wanted to find him in the Secret Realm and settle accounts!
Zhu Siyao quickly calculated: with Jiang Huai’s cultivation that day, he would be at most early or mid Foundation Establishment.
Her realm was already ahead, and her training had made leaps and bounds—she might not lose to him.
In the Secret Realm, the East Sea Dragon Lord’s hand would not reach so far.
She would demand an explanation!
The gentle dragon maiden’s brows knit slightly. Her voice grew even softer, yet carried a warning beneath the surface:
“Miss, you really mustn’t seek trouble with Young Master Jiang.”
She hesitated, lowering her voice, a trace of pity mingling with a truth that had to be spoken:
“Sect Leader Zhu is now Young Master Jiang’s… concubine.”
“If you anger Young Master Jiang, he might go back and take it out on your mother.”