Chapter 167
Chapter 167
What a woman of character. It was good to have character, but one shouldn’t trample on the dignity of others to flaunt it. That was just nauseating.
“I came down from the capital solely for this matter. My parents are not yet aware. It would be best for the reputations of our two families not to be dragged through the mud. If you, Count Xuanwu, personally visit my family to resolve the matter of our engagement, it will be a good outcome for both sides.”
Count Xuanwu trembled all over, his face pale as a sheet. His wife, Su Peipei, was remarkably composed, but her nails were digging so deep into her palms they might have drawn blood. Jin Mucong’s face was beet red, his eyes bloodshot. This was a humiliation he had never before experienced in his life. Xue Le shot a glance at Jin Mucong.
‘A fat, idiotic pig like you dares to think of taking me as your wife? What a pipe dream, you don’t even know your place. I, Xue Le, am the adopted daughter of Consort Zhong. I am a woman of exceptional talent from a truly great and powerful noble family. And I already have a man in my heart. You have no idea how much more handsome and outstanding our young master Zhong is than you. Not only is he the son of a marquis, but he also took first place in the military examinations. Jin Mucong, you couldn’t even reach the dirt on his feet.’
The Zhong Clan was a historic noble family, second only to the royal family in the State of Yue, and the second-in-command of the military, a true warlord. Most of the troops on the western border of Yue, which defended against the State of Chu, came from the Western Pacification Grand Protectorate. The Western Pacification Grand Protectorate was, for all intents and purposes, the Marquisate of Western Pacification. Not even the slightest spark from the King’s new policies could touch such a formidable family. Furthermore, the third prince’s mother, Consort Zhong, hailed from the Marquisate of Western Pacification. The third prince could stand shoulder to shoulder with the crown prince only because he had the support of the Zhong Clan.
Xue Le had grown up with Zhong Sisi, and they were as close as real sisters, which was why Consort Zhong had adopted her. Having witnessed the Zhong Clan’s might from a young age, she, too, had come to disregard the thoughts and reputations of others.
After being subjected to such intense humiliation by Xue Le, it was a long while before Jin Mucong could force out his voice. He enunciated each word clearly.
“Xue Le, I hope you remember these words.”
Xue Le looked at the floor, as if she couldn’t even bear to meet his eyes, and asked.
“What is it?”
Jin Mucong said through gritted teeth.
“‘The world is ever-changing, do not scorn a youth for his poverty!’ M-my brother-in-law will not let your family get away with this.”
And with that, the fatty turned and ran, tears welling in his eyes. It was a shocking sight. Watching his retreating back, Xue Le’s contempt for him only grew.
“I have said all I came to say, so I will take my leave now! I must return to the capital at once!”
She immediately left the Count’s estate. Mulan, too, was trembling with rage. This was the second time she had met a young lady from a noble family so utterly lacking in refinement. The first had been Zhong Sisi, the legitimate daughter of the Zhong Clan. Years ago, upon their first meeting, Zhong Sisi had struck Mulan in the chest. The wound had healed, but not long ago, her husband had mentioned that the meridians in the injured area were knotted. Xue Le, having always followed Zhong Sisi, had evidently picked up all of her arrogant and brutish habits.
Count Xuanwu could not, for the sake of his dignity, stoop to the level of an insolent, arrogant girl. It was just a shame that her husband was away, forcing her to let the girl leave peacefully. Had he been here, he would have taught the impertinent Xue Le a proper lesson. Her husband was extremely fond of his brother-in-law. He could tolerate tormenting Jin Mucong himself, or even his own family members teasing the fatty, but he would never allow an outsider to do so.
* * *
The great docks of Raging Tide City.
One might be given an odd name at birth, but a nickname is never wrong. True to that saying, Qiu Yao'er had several nicknames that were close to the truth: Female Devil, Female Reaper, Pirate Queen, and so on. But the most widespread was Demonic Rakshasa. Xu Qianqian had only been in Raging Tide City for a few days, but she had heard so many stories about Qiu Yao'er that her ears were ringing, yet she had never met the woman herself. Qiu Yao'er had gone off to war again.
Whenever word came of piracy on the seas, Qiu Yao'er would lead her fleet out to kill them, always returning victorious. Her ships always came back laden with spoils of war, and of the captured pirates, half were recruited into her ranks, and half were killed. She decided who would be killed on a whim, so the captured pirates lived in terror, wondering if they would be next.
Because of this, most people had one of two attitudes toward Qiu Yao'er. Merchants were grateful to her, feeling the utmost reverence. Had she not suppressed the pirates with such ferocity, maritime trade could never have prospered as it did now. But the pirates resented her to the bone.
‘Please, my lady. You’re a pirate too. Your father is the Pirate King; he just calls himself the Lord of Raging Tide City. Surely you don’t think of yourself as a military officer, do you?’
No matter how much the pirates resented her, it was useless. The Demonic Rakshasa’s martial skill was truly formidable, and the pirates under her command were incredibly fierce. In every battle, Qiu Yao'er always led the charge, leaping onto enemy ships and slaughtering her foes.
She used twin sabers. Hearing ‘twin sabers,’ one might imagine a pair of light, agile blades, right? The twin sabers she used were nothing of the sort! The ghost-head sabers she wielded were each 160 centimeters long, taller than some short men. What’s more, each one weighed a hundred catties. A normal person would struggle just to swing one such heavy saber, yet she wielded these two ghost-head sabers as lightly and nimbly as if they were willow-leaf sabers.
Wherever her pair of ghost-head sabers danced wildly, even the most skilled pirates fell like grass. Not a single intact corpse was left in the wake of her blades, and the number of pirates who had died at her hands was estimated to be around three to five thousand. For this reason, whenever she walked the streets of Raging Tide City, no one dared to come within a ten-meter radius of her. A powerful killing intent emanated from her. Even at a distance of ten meters, people were so terrified they could hardly breathe.
The first time Xu Qianqian saw her, Qiu Yao'er was returning triumphantly from battle, standing on the deck of her ship. At her feet lay a pile of several hundred human heads. The scene sent a great thrill through Xu Qianqian. The first emotion she felt upon seeing Qiu Yao'er was not fear, but admiration! ‘The invincible, fierce general, Qiu Yao'er.’ The words instinctively surfaced in her mind.
Jin Mulan was formidable. Even her fiancé was formidable. Of course, the fiancé she had just thought of was Zhang Jin. Her ex-husband, Shen Lang, was nothing but trash, someone even Xu Qianqian could probably defeat. Zhang Jin had passed the military examinations and was a fierce general on the battlefield, but compared to Qiu Yao'er, the difference in their levels was clear. Qiu Yao'er’s killing intent was so thick that enemies would likely wet themselves upon meeting her.
There was a reason the Sword King Li Qianqiu held Qiu Yao'er in high regard. She was not yet thirty, and as a woman, she was expected to reach the rank of Grandmaster within a few years. What a remarkable person she was.
So, was this invincible, fierce general a woman of steel? The type to be eight feet tall with a waist just as thick? No, not that type at all! Xu Qianqian had never seen a woman with such an explosive figure. The curves of her body, jutting out and dipping in, were beyond description. A body brimming with health and vitality. Not a brawny, muscular build, but a slender, long, and graceful one.
Until now, the woman whose figure Xu Qianqian had been most jealous of was Jin Mulan. That was still true, of course. However, Qiu Yao'er’s figure was even more powerful, with even more astonishing curves. But… she was too tall! About a handspan taller than Shen Lang. In Earth terms, she would be around 190 centimeters. No wonder one of the reasons no man harbored feelings for her was that even on tiptoes, they wouldn’t match her height.
And her appearance? In Xu Qianqian’s eyes, she was beautiful, very, incredibly beautiful. If Shen Lang saw her, he would have described her as an ‘explosion of beauty.’ By modern Earth standards, she was so beautiful she would make everyone around her look plain.
Her skin was as smooth as silk, without a single blemish. To Xu Qianqian, Qiu Yao'er’s skin was even better than her own, full of elasticity and a healthy glow. But the aesthetic standards of the men in this world could not accept a woman like Qiu Yao'er. Her extreme height was already a deal-breaker, though that was less of an issue when lying down. When a woman lay flat, the taller the better. However, her short hair was a fatal flaw.
In this world, all women had long, flowing hair, as did men. But this woman had short hair that came down to three inches below her ears. Moreover, since Qiu Yao'er was always at sea, she had a tanned complexion. On modern Earth, such a skin tone was considered the most sensual and healthy, but in this world, only fair skin was considered beautiful, to the point that pale skin could cover all other flaws.
On modern Earth, Qiu Yao'er would have been considered a stunningly beautiful woman who would outshine all the world’s supermodels. If Shen Lang saw her, he would drool and exclaim, ‘To think such a beautiful woman exists in this world.’
Looking at her with a woman’s eyes, Xu Qianqian felt that Qiu Yao'er’s looks were not inferior to Jin Mulan’s. Jin Mulan was the most beautiful woman Xu Qianqian had ever seen. But in the eyes of the men of this world, Qiu Yao'er was just the fearsome Demonic Rakshasa.
Xu Qianqian thought that if a philanderer like Shen Lang were to meet Qiu Yao'er, his instinctive reaction would be to say, ‘I’m hard.’ Now that Xu Qianqian had finally met Qiu Yao'er in person, she was different from what she had imagined, and the shock was even more intense. A difficult question arose in Xu Qianqian’s mind.
‘How can I lie low by Qiu Yao'er’s side? How can I become indispensable to her?’
* * *
Zhang Chunhua, too, finally saw Qiu Yao'er. Her first emotion was jealousy.
‘To think such a woman exists in this world, so beautiful and yet so full of domineering spirit.’
Women’s aesthetic standards were certainly different from men’s. Most men in this world could not accept Qiu Yao'er’s appearance and figure. But Zhang Chunhua and Xu Qianqian accepted her beauty, felt jealous, and even… felt a little admiration, captivated by her looks. Zhang Chunhua even had the thought that Shen Lang should have been born a woman, and Qiu Yao'er a man. No, that wasn’t right either. Qiu Yao'er possessed an abundance of feminine charm. An unparalleled femininity. But this kind of femininity was hard for most men in this world to accept. She was a tall woman with short hair who wasn’t coquettish or talkative.
Along with this thought, Zhang Chunhua became more certain of the purpose of her journey. Seeing the overflowing spirit of Qiu Yao'er, with human heads rolling at her feet, she was clearly an ambitious sort. The greatest fear of a strategist was to serve a master with no ambition. So, how should she entice her? As long as she had ambition, there was room for a strategist to display their wit. Immediately, Zhang Chunhua went to Qiu Yao'er’s fortress, presented her calling card, and requested an audience. On the card, she clearly wrote her identity: daughter of Zhang Chong, the Prefect of Nu River.
Only a quarter of an hour had passed before Zhang Chunhua was able to meet the Demonic Rakshasa, Qiu Yao'er. And once again, she was overwhelmed by her presence. Qiu Yao'er had just finished bathing and was wearing a white silk robe that served as sleepwear. If any ordinary woman wore that robe, it would have been very loose, but on Qiu Yao'er, it clung to her body in certain places as if it were about to burst, a truly breathtaking sight.