This Isn't Some Third-Rate Romance Novel...
Yuan Shu stared at Zhao Yun, who lay motionless beside her. This wasn't even a third-rate romance novel. He was right there—within arm's reach—yet he hadn't laid a single finger on her. Instead, he had simply fallen asleep like a well-behaved child.
At first, she'd pretended to sleep too, just in case he tried something. But as the minutes dragged on with nothing happening, her patience finally snapped. She bolted upright in bed.
What the hell is wrong with this guy?
Just a short while ago he'd been handling her like a beast in heat, rough and unrelenting. Now he was sleeping like some chaste monk? Had he suddenly turned impotent?!
Her pride thoroughly wounded, Yuan Shu kicked the man lying on the floor. Thud!Thud!
He must have fallen into a deep sleep, because even her rather vicious kicks didn't wake him. Growing even angrier, she put her full weight behind it and stomped down hard. Thud!Thud!
Still no reaction. Zhao Yun didn't even open his eyes. It was as if he were silently daring her to do her worst. But without any response at all, kicking or hitting him just felt pointless. The fire in her quickly died out.
With her energy completely drained, Yuan Shu poked his back a few times with her toes before flopping back onto the bed. Far from relieving her anger, the whole thing just left her feeling hollow.
Wait a second... why am I even getting mad?
If anything, the fact that he'd gotten scared and backed off had preserved her chastity. Shouldn't she be relieved? The way she was acting now, it almost seemed like she'd been hoping he would ravish her...
That's ridiculous!
Had spending time with that scoundrel infected her with lewd thoughts? Lately, just being around him made her feel strangely unsettled. Maybe that was the cause. If she fell asleep in this state, she'd probably have nightmares.
That's it!
Since he seemed to be sleeping deeply, now was the perfect time to escape and return home... Wait. She looked down at her clothes. Who in their right mind would go outside dressed like this? Even the cheapest prostitute would turn up her nose at this outfit. If anyone recognized who she was...
Absolutely not.
That bastard...! So that's why he'd torn all her clothes to shreds!
Yuan Shu glared venomously at Zhao Yun's sleeping back before sighing and tossing restlessly on the bed. She normally had trouble falling asleep even when alone. Having a man in the same room only made it worse. Her mind grew clearer with every passing minute.
This was impossible. On a night like this, the rooftop should be empty, right? She might as well go up there and get some fresh air to clear her head.
Yuan Shu sprang up again, glanced cautiously at Zhao Yun, and crept stealthily toward the door.
This is all because of that damn bastard! How dare he kidnap the youngest daughter of the Yuan family of Runan—me, Yuan Gonglu—into a place like this brothel! This humiliation... I won't forget it. I'll pay him back tenfold!
"Hmph!"
With a loud snort, Yuan Shu flung the door open and stomped out, channeling all her irritation into every step. She stormed out of the room with heavy footsteps and headed straight for the stairs leading to the rooftop.
"C-crazy...!"
She thought she heard Zhao Yun's voice from inside the room, but... that couldn't be. The man who'd slept through all her kicking earlier wouldn't suddenly wake up now, would he? Just thinking about him made her mood even worse. She needed to get up there and cool her head.
And so Yuan Shu, dressed in the vulgar outfit that only a deranged nymphomaniac would wear, marched directly to the rooftop of the brothel. Surely, just as she'd hoped, there would be no one up there?
She was wrong. As always.
Shang Gu-su, the rising star of Luoyang's night streets and leader of the Flying Knife Gang, was once again bonding with his subordinates on the rooftop of Honghua Pavilion.
Well, "bonding" was a generous term. In reality, they were just getting drunk while sandwiched between pretty gisaeng girls. But bonding was bonding, right? That's what Shang Gu-su believed, anyway. After all, wasn't that how men forged friendships?
They'd been up there since evening, and now that night had fully settled in, everyone was starting to feel the fatigue. The drinking had grown tiresome, and after grabbing every decent-looking woman and working his hips, his lower body was beginning to ache. Yawns kept escaping him, and even his manhood refused to stand properly. Maybe it was time to call it a night.
He glanced at his subordinates and saw they looked just as exhausted. Should they wrap things up?
But suggesting it first would damage his pride. Just as he was about to signal his men with a look, one of them—Byeong-eun—suddenly widened his eyes and whispered urgently.
"Boss! Look over there!"
"What is it this time... Ohhh..."
Didn't this guy ever get tired? He must be in heat again. Byeong-eun had always been hopelessly weak to women, so it was hardly surprising. But when Shang Gu-su lazily turned his head in the direction his subordinate was pointing, an involuntary gasp of admiration escaped his lips.
Even his thoroughly exhausted member, which had seen heavy use all night, suddenly stiffened back to attention.
Had a woman like that been hiding in Honghua Pavilion this whole time? She must be a new girl.
"Fuck, that rotten bitch Madam Bae must've been hiding her... What? You mean to tell me all the top girls were already accounted for?"
Shang Gu-su spat on the floor and licked his lips. That bitch was on a completely different level from the others. Just look at that face—and that body. She clearly knew how beautiful she was, which was why she'd dressed so provocatively. Her eyes held a rebellious glint that didn't suit a mere gisaeng. She looked like a woman who had no idea how terrifying men could be.
Wearing such a slutty outfit yet carrying that haughty aura? Even a dying old man would get rock hard at the sight of her. Ah, he couldn't hold back.
"Ahem...! She's quite my type. Yes, bring her over."
"Hehehe, got it, Boss!"
With heavy footsteps, Byeong-eun—the Flying Knife Gang's master of seducing women—approached Yuan Shu.
"Hey, wait a second. You dropped something."
"What?"
Yuan Shu was already in a foul mood from seeing a group of men on the rooftop. Having some vulgar thug speak to her only made it worse. But her ordeal was only just beginning.
Shing!
The man suddenly drew a blade from his clothes with a chilling sound. Yuan Shu's face turned deathly pale at the sight.
"W-what do you think you're doing?!"
"Just come quietly. We're the famous Flying Knife Gang around these parts. Even a girl like you must've heard of us, right?"
Of course she hadn't. There was no way Yuan Shu would know about some lowlife gang operating in a brothel district. Flying Knife? Were they fishmongers or something? Her face twisted in disgust.
Mistaking her expression for fear, Byeong-eun grinned at her.
"No matter how much of a Honghua Pavilion gisaeng you are, you'll have to crawl for us. Don't even think about screaming if you know what's good for you!"
What? Gisaeng?
This pathetic worm just called the youngest daughter of the Yuan family of Runan—a gisaeng?!
Yuan Shu's body began to tremble with rage. Watching from the side, Shang Gu-su chuckled.
"Heh, as expected of Byeong-eun! The guy's useless at everything else, but when it comes to picking up women, he's a damn genius."
Would she come along now? Shang Gu-su watched the girl with a lecherous gaze, but...
"Do you even know who I am?! How dare a lowly worm like you—someone who wouldn't even be worthy of looking at me on any other day—run that filthy mouth of yours? Do you have any idea who you're calling a gisaeng?!"
Before either Byeong-eun or Shang Gu-su could react, Yuan Shu shook off Byeong-eun's hand, raised her slender arm, and slapped him across the face with all her might.
SLAP!
"Aaargh! Has this bitch lost her mind?!"
The surprisingly painful slap made Byeong-eun's face flush red as he glared at Yuan Shu. But if she were the type to be scared by a mere thug's glare, she wouldn't have committed so many atrocities in the first place. Instead, she was the one huffing indignantly, furious that the lowlife hadn't immediately dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness.
"Not only is your face hideous, but it seems your brain is just as ugly. Why haven't you knelt and apologized yet? It looks like you'll only come to your senses after your lowly parents and pathetic children are punished alongside you!"
She'd even thrown in a mother insult. Byeong-eun's face turned an ugly shade of purple after being roasted by a supposed prostitute.
"Y-you fucking—!!! What the hell did you just say, you whore?!"
He's raising his hand? What... Is he actually going to hit me?
Has he gone mad?!
Having never once imagined in her entire life that a lowly commoner would dare strike her, Yuan Shu finally registered the threat before her eyes. Even her father... even her late mother had never laid a hand on her, yet this scum...?
She stared at Byeong-eun in disbelief, but when his fist came flying toward her, she squeezed her eyes shut in terror.
CRACK!!!
"GYAAAAAH!!!"
"Kyaa! How dare you...! Not even my mother or father ever laid a hand on me, yet you dare—! ...Huh?"
What was going on? Why was that thug rolling on the ground? There had been a loud noise, but she felt no impact. She cautiously opened her eyes and saw the rude bastard with his arm bent at a grotesque angle—and Zhao Yun, who should have been sleeping in the room.
"Seriously, if you're dressed like that, shouldn't you just stay quietly in the room? Why come out here and cause trouble?"
Zhao Yun wore his usual disapproving expression, but to Yuan Shu, he had never looked more welcome.
"Z-Zhao Yun...! How long I have wa— Ahem! What took you so long? I nearly suffered an outrage at the hands of these vermin! To think that Yuan Gonglu, who has never been struck by her own parents, would be threatened by such lowly creatures... How pathetic!"
Watching Yuan Shu spout her usual nonsense, Zhao Yun clicked his tongue. Maybe she hasn't been beaten enough, which is why she acts like this? ...Perhaps it's time for some proper loving discipline?
"This bastard broke Byeong-eun's arm! Does he even know who we are?!"
Unfortunately, the loving discipline would have to wait for another opportunity. The men had already surrounded them, tightening the encirclement. A woman pressed close to a man, the man protecting her, and the gangsters threatening them both.
It was a scene straight out of a third-rate romance novel.