Chapter 628: None of them are easy to deal with!
"Lingyin, what are you doing?" Shen Anyu glanced at Zhong Lingyin and asked directly.
"What's wrong, husband? Why are you glaring at me?" Heavenly Queen Zhong asked back, looking aggrieved. Her voice was a soft, melodic thing, but it carried an edge that sliced through the morning calm of the villa. The light from the vast floor-to-ceiling windows seemed to dim ever so slightly, the atmosphere at the breakfast table thickening with unspoken tension.
She thought to herself, 'My dear husband, you're bringing more and more women home. This can't go on.' It felt like just yesterday she was the undisputed queen of this castle, the center of his world here in Hangzhou. But the illusion was shattering with each new arrival.
It has only been less than half a month since he came to Hangzhou, and there are already three women in No. 1 Villa. First, the icy and powerful Bai Bing. Then the regal and defiant Wu Shenyun. And now, this Zhang Yaqian, with her doe eyes and seemingly innocent demeanor. After half a year, won't all one hundred rooms be filled? The thought sent a cold spike of possessiveness through her heart. A hundred rooms, a hundred new faces, a hundred new rivals. The sheer scale of it was suffocating.
And that wasn't even counting the others. Back in Magic City River View Manor, there are also Second Senior Sister Liu Ruyan, a woman whose mere name brought a flicker of unease to Zhong Lingyin. Then Fourth Senior Sister Ye Liyou, Seventh Sister Yang Luoluo, the little maid Ruan Lingshan, and who knew how many other women were orbiting his life.
Counting them, she couldn't even use both hands. The number was growing, a proof of his insatiable charisma and appetite. He's too much of a playboy!
'Lingyin can get jealous too, alright!' Zhong Lingyin thought, a storm brewing behind her placid facade. This wasn't just about sharing him; it was about defending her territory, her position, her claim on his heart.
At this moment, Zhang Yaqian, sharp as a needle despite her delicate appearance, also realized that Zhong Lingyin was asserting her dominance and acting like the main wife. More importantly, she saw the faint flicker of impatience in Shen Anyu's eyes. Brother Shen didn't seem too happy with this morning's drama. An opportunity.
Immediately, Zhang Yaqian's shoulders slumped, her entire posture radiating a fragile vulnerability. She spoke, her voice barely a whisper, laced with a tremor of sorrow. "Brother Shen, is it because of Zhang Yaqian's appearance that Sister Zhong Lingyin is unhappy? If so… it's Zhang Yaqian's fault. I… I'll leave."
At this point, Zhang Yaqian looked sad, her beautiful eyes glistening with unshed tears. She made a slow, deliberate motion to get up, a perfect portrait of a wronged soul choosing to sacrifice herself for the sake of harmony. It was a masterful gambit, designed to paint Zhong Lingyin as a cruel bully and herself as the pitiful victim.
Before Shen Anyu could speak, Zhong Lingyin moved with lightning speed, her expression one of utter shock and disbelief. She pulled Zhang Yaqian back down, her grip gentle but firm. "Sister Zhang Yaqian, how can you think that of me? How am I unhappy? I'm so happy I don't know what to do! Do you think I, Zhong Lingyin, am a jealous woman?"
Before she finished speaking, Zhong Lingyin burst into tears, crying on cue.
It was a performance worthy of an empress. Zhong Lingyin's crying was not the ugly, wailing kind, with a running nose and blotchy face. No, this was an art form. Her beautiful eyes, already captivating, brimmed with crystal-clear tears that magnified their sorrowful depths. She looked at Zhang Yaqian with an expression of profound hurt, as if her heart had been shattered by a cruel misunderstanding.
Then, the tears, like perfectly matched pearls, began to fall. They traced a path from the corners of her eyes, clinging to her long eyelashes for a moment before dropping straight down, not even touching the flawless skin of her cheeks. It was truly a beautiful crying scene, a spectacle of weaponized grief.
Her face was tear-stained, making her appear even more delicate and pitiable! Heavenly Queen Zhong went all out, her acting was superb, delivering a textbook-perfect crying scene that could melt the coldest of hearts. The raw, manipulative power of it radiated outwards, shifting the emotional gravity of the entire room.
If a hundred strangers saw this scene, a hundred percent would believe it was the fault of the person opposite Zhong Lingyin. The accusation was silent but absolute.
The effect was so potent that even Bai Bing and Wu Shenyun, two women who existed on a plane far beyond such mortal theatrics, felt a flicker of sympathy. That alone showed how strong the infectious power of Zhong Lingyin's crying was.
"Eh? Eh?? Sister Zhong Lingyin, don't cry, don't cry. It's Zhang Yaqian's fault, Zhang Yaqian misunderstood." Zhang Yaqian immediately panicked. Seeing Zhong Lingyin's tear-filled eyes and beautiful, sorrowful crying, she quickly rushed to comfort her, but she was absolutely furious inside. The tables had been turned on her with breathtaking speed.
'You, Zhong Lingyin, you're such a tea-like bitch!'
[Akarin's Note: "Tea-like" (茶里茶气, chá lǐ chá qì) is a modern Chinese internet slang for a "green tea bitch" (绿茶婊). It describes someone, usually a woman, who presents a pure, innocent, and harmless facade while being manipulative, calculating, and passive-aggressive, especially when competing for male attention.]
Zhang Yaqian was a hundred percent certain that Zhong Lingyin was faking it. The performance was too perfect, too polished. It was a declaration of war disguised as a plea for peace.
But Zhong Lingyin was crying like this, with a tear-stained face and looking so beautiful and sorrowful, that she couldn't fight back. To do so now would be to appear aggressive and heartless, confirming the very accusation Zhong Lingyin's tears were making. She had been completely outmaneuvered.
Zhang Yaqian, of course, didn't want to leave just now. Her earlier offer was a classic case of using retreat as a way to advance, a gambit to win Shen Anyu's pity. However, Zhong Lingyin, Heavenly Queen Zhong, had defused it with her textbook-perfect, beautiful crying scene.
'Little trickster, trying to fight me? Hmph hmph.' Zhong Lingyin cried with a tear-stained face, but felt a little proud and smug inside. A quiet victory. Except in front of Second Senior Sister Liu Ruyan, where she felt a little guilty and humbled, she wasn't afraid of other women. She knew the rules of this game better than anyone.
Seeing her opening closing, Zhang Yaqian steeled herself and made a desperate move. She dove headfirst into the act as well. "Wuwuwu, Sister Zhong Lingyin, I love my husband so much, I don't want to leave, please don't drive me away, okay?" Zhang Yaqian also started crying, clinging to Zhong Lingyin's arm, her sobs matching her rival's in pitch and sorrow. The drama had escalated into a full-blown opera.
Bai Bing and Wu Shenyun finally came to their senses, the spell of manufactured sadness broken. They exchanged a glance of profound disdain and looked at Shen Anyu with a half-smile, their eyes filled with mocking amusement. 'Look at the mess you've made.'
Shen Anyu's mouth twitched. 'These two… none of them are easy to deal with.' He mused. Fortunately, he was quite wealthy and could house them in separate villas. The thought of putting them all under one roof was terrifying. If they were all together, the mansion would probably explode. They would be enacting 'Empresses in the Palace' every single day, with schemes and poisonings behind every corner.
Can they be put together? Absolutely not.
Especially if Susan was also put in the mix. The fierce, possessive mercenary queen wouldn't just play mind games. It wouldn't be 'Empresses in the Palace' anymore; it would be a horror battle royale!
These Destined Heroines were all beautiful women of exceptional talent and charm, queens and prodigies in their own right. If it weren't for their maxed-out favorability that wouldn't drop, and their inherent loyalty born from the System's influence, they would have left in a huff ages ago. Or, more likely, they would have chopped Da Shao Shen into pieces with a cleaver.
Now, merely being jealous and enacting a Shura Field was already perfectly normal behavior, almost tame by comparison.
Fortunately, Shen Anyu had the Supernatural Skill Love Infinite Teleportation, allowing him to instantly move to the side of a Destined Heroine with a favorability of ninety or above. He could visit multiple beds in multiple cities in a single night, a logistical feat that was the only thing keeping his sprawling empire of affection from collapsing. Otherwise, he would probably be overwhelmed and completely explode from the sheer pressure.
But Shen Anyu couldn't let them continue to make a fuss like this. The entertainment value was wearing thin. He leaned back in his chair, a lazy, predatory smile spreading across his face.
"Whoever cries again," he said, his voice calm and even, cutting through their sobs like a razor. He spread his fingers, counting them off. "I'll accompany her for ten days and ten nights."
The effect was instantaneous.
Zhang Yaqian and Zhong Lingyin instantly stopped crying. The manufactured tears vanished as if a switch had been flipped. Their delicate bodies trembled slightly, and a faint pallor washed over their faces.
They knew, better than anyone, just how formidable Shen Anyu was. His stamina was monstrous, his energy boundless. If he were to accompany them for ten days and ten nights… could they still live? They would be bedridden for a month. It was a terrifying, exhilarating, and ultimately exhausting prospect.
They were afraid that Shen Anyu would accompany them too little, and also terrified that Shen Anyu would accompany them too much!
Zhang Yaqian and Zhong Lingyin exchanged a final, charged glance. The unspoken truce was sealed. They both snorted, a flicker of their earlier rivalry still present, and turned their attention back to the man at the head of the table. The battlefield had shifted.
"Husband, Zhang Yaqian will serve you breakfast." Zhang Yaqian quickly picked up a delicate green qingtuan with her chopsticks and brought it to his lips.
"Sister Zhang Yaqian, husband doesn't like qingtuan, he likes meat. Come, eat this pearl meatball," Zhong Lingyin countered, deftly intercepting with a juicy meatball, her own chopsticks poised perfectly.
The two women's gazes met over the table, and for a second, it felt as if electric sparks were flashing between them. Then they both looked at Shen Anyu, their voices merging into a single, saccharine-sweet question:
"Husband, what do you want to eat?"
"Everything," Shen Anyu declared with a magnanimous grin. "I have a good appetite. I'll eat everything."
He opened his mouth and, with two quick movements, ate both the qingtuan and the pearl meatballs that Zhang Yaqian and Zhong Lingyin had picked for him, devouring their offerings without prejudice. "It's delicious," he murmured, chewing thoughtfully. Then, his gaze, full of playful tyranny, shifted to the other end of the table. "Ice Slave, Yun Nu, do you also want to feed me?"
"Hmph. Damn master, go to hell." Bai Bing glared fiercely at Shen Anyu, a flash of cold fury in her silver eyes. The jealousy twisting in her gut was a physical pain. She stood up abruptly, the legs of her chair scraping loudly against the polished floor, and strode away without another word. Her heart was a vortex of conflicting emotions. She wanted to cultivate, to become stronger, to surpass everyone. Strong enough to imprison her damn master, to chain him in an ice palace and make him her private pet, where no one else could ever look at him again.
"I'm full. I'm going to cultivate now." Wu Shenyun's reaction was more controlled but no less intense. She slowly, gracefully wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin, her phoenix eyes locking with Shen Anyu's for a long, meaningful moment. 'This scoundrel of a man truly deserved to be trampled underfoot and severely punished!'
She also wanted to become stronger. The desire burned within her like a divine fire.
Shen Anyu had already imparted the Martial God Art to Wu Shenyun. With her monstrous, once-in-a-generation talent, she had shattered the barrier to the first layer in a single night. She believed that in due time, she would definitely be stronger than Shen Anyu.
At that time, she would suppress him. She would make him kneel and beg for mercy. The image was vivid in her mind: Shen Anyu, the arrogant Da Shao, kneeling before her, washing her feet, serving her in various ways, utterly at her command.
'Yun Nu? He calls me Cloud Slave? Soon, he will learn I am Yu Nu, his Desire Empress!' she vowed silently before rising with regal grace and departing.
Not long after Wu Shenyun and Bai Bing left, Shen Anyu also finished a delicious breakfast, served with meticulous care by the now-cooperative Zhang Yaqian and Zhong Lingyin.
"Husband, I also want to Cultivate!" As soon as the meal was over, Zhang Yaqian became serious, her earlier theatrics gone. Her eyes were fixed on Shen Anyu, burning with a newfound intensity.
She had already discovered that Wu Shenyun and Bai Bing were not normal. The faint, oppressive aura they exuded, the confidence in their every step—they were both very powerful, both extraordinary beings from a world she could barely imagine. And she wanted in. She also wanted to Cultivate.
On one hand, it was curiosity and a desire for those incredibly powerful forces, a doorway to a brand new, extraordinary world. On the other hand, a more practical, urgent need drove her. Only by cultivating and becoming stronger could she get closer to Shen Anyu, to truly stand by his side and not just be a fragile doll he kept in a pretty house.
It was impossible for a Mortal and a god to be together for long. And in Zhang Yaqian's heart, Shen Anyu was already a god.
"No problem, I'll guide you in cultivation," Shen Anyu responded without hesitation. His smile was warm, but his mind was calculating. Even if Zhang Yaqian hadn't brought it up, he would have initiated it himself. His women becoming stronger was a direct increase to his own power, not to mention the investment rebates he would receive from the System. It was a perfect, mutually beneficial arrangement.
Seeing Shen Anyu and Zhang Yaqian discussing the serious matter of cultivation, Heavenly Queen Zhong no longer acted jealous. The petty morning squabbles were set aside in the face of more important matters. Only after they had finalized their plans did she approach, her smile returning, this time with a hint of intimacy and conspiracy.
"Husband, after you guide Sister Zhang Yaqian into the path of cultivation, I have something I want to tell you~"
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