She should have been a Daughter of Heaven. With her talent, her future achievements would have soared to unimaginable heights.
Instead, she stood here, a glorified servant—no different from a common maid.
The disparity cut deep. Yue Ming had once roamed free, unchained by obligation or duty. Those days were gone.
From this moment forward, her existence revolved around serving Ye Qian. She had to abandon her identity as a Daughter of Heaven, bury it beneath layers of practiced deference.
Unhappiness simmered beneath her carefully neutral expression, but she forced it down. .
Rash action would doom not only herself but her entire family. If Ye Qian's displeasure turned toward her, the consequences would be merciless.
Standing behind Xia He and Qiu Lan, Yue Ming's face betrayed the conflict roiling within her.
Ye Qian caught the subtle shift in her expression and understood immediately—his two maids had filled her in on the reality of her new station.
A dignified Daughter of Heaven, reduced to this.
Pride still flickered in Yue Ming's heart, unconvinced and unwilling. But pride meant nothing here. She could only endure.
"Yue Ming, come here."
Ye Qian's voice was soft, but the gentle beckoning carried undeniable authority.
Yue Ming froze when she heard him. She saw his hand gesture toward her, hesitation warring with obedience. After a heartbeat, she stepped forward.
"Young Master, what are your orders?"
The title felt foreign on her tongue. She no longer dared address him by name—Xia He had made that abundantly clear.
To call him 'Ye Qian' would constitute profound disrespect, an insult she couldn't afford.
Thinking of her circumstances, of the precarious position her family occupied, Yue Ming clenched her jaw and swallowed her pride.
Ye Qian ignored the tension written across her features. Instead, he asked, "Yue Qingshan—do you know this person?"
He had harvested two hundred Villain Points from someone named Yue Qingshan.
Given that the System had even mentioned him in Yue Ming's introduction, she was undoubtedly familiar with the name. That was precisely why the question had leapt to his mind so suddenly.
Hearing the name, Yue Ming's eyes widened slightly. Confusion flickered through her mind.
Why would Ye Qian know about Yue Qingshan?
Though Yue Qingshan possessed respectable talent—having ascended to the Late Stage of the Divine Ability Realm in a remarkably short cultivation period—he shouldn't have warranted the attention of someone like Ye Qian.
If Yue Qingshan had cultivated as long as she had, his strength might even rival hers. Yet such a person should have remained beneath the Young Master's notice.
Unable to divine Ye Qian's intent, Yue Ming chose honesty. She recounted everything she knew.
"Young Master, Yue Qingshan is a disciple of our Yue Family.
In his youth, his talent appeared utterly ordinary. His cultivation progress was unremarkable, nothing worth mentioning.
But over the past few years, he rose meteorically. His cultivation speed accelerated beyond all expectations, earning widespread acclaim within the family.
He has now reached the Late Stage of the Divine Ability Realm and is considered a rising star among the younger generation."
Ye Qian absorbed this brief introduction with interest.
The pattern was unmistakable—Yue Qingshan must have acquired some fortuitous encounter, some hidden advantage.
Otherwise, how could an ordinary youth transform into a Child of Destiny?
Children of Destiny always possessed Golden Fingers. Yue Ming's was her past life memories, which would awaken when she turned twenty-two, along with powerful immortal cultivation techniques.
Yue Qingshan, however, had already begun his ascent. His advantage was already active, unlike Yue Ming's dormant potential.
What exactly was his Golden Finger?
A memory surfaced in Yue Ming's mind—something Yue Qingshan had said the night he came to rescue her. She decided to share that information as well.
"Also, Young Master, before I was sent here, Yue Qingshan attempted to help me escape. I refused him at the time.
When he left, he told me he would challenge and defeat you, then take me away."
Yue Qingshan likely never imagined that Yue Ming—the woman he yearned for, the one he dreamed of rescuing—would reveal everything about him to Ye Qian without the slightest hesitation.
If he knew, the betrayal would probably make him cough blood in rage.
…
At that very moment, deep in seclusion, Yue Qingshan worked frantically to break through to the Enlightenment Realm.
His heart suddenly twitched.
An ominous premonition crawled up his spine, cold and unsettling. His brow furrowed, but he forced the distraction aside.
He couldn't afford distractions—every moment counted in his pursuit of breakthrough.
…
Back in Ye Qian's chambers, a faint smile curved his lips as he processed Yue Ming's report.
So Yue Qingshan was a Child of Destiny who had fallen for a Daughter of Heaven. How predictable.
If Ye Qian hadn't intervened, sparks might well have ignited between them eventually, weaving them into some grand romantic subplot.
Unfortunately for Yue Qingshan, that future was ashes now. Yue Ming belonged to Ye Qian. The Child of Destiny would never touch what was his.
Ye Qian opened Yue Ming's personal information panel. At the bottom of her status screen, a Loyalty entry had appeared—identical to the one displayed for Xia He and the others.
However, while Xia He and the others showed one hundred Loyalty, Yue Ming registered only twenty points.
Still, compared to having zero Loyalty initially, twenty was already progress.
Those twenty points had accumulated because Ye Qian had forcefully kissed her in the main hall earlier, applying overwhelming psychological pressure that shattered her resistance and planted the first seeds of submission.
Ye Qian studied Yue Ming, then reached out and gently pinched her chin between his fingers.
He tilted her face upward, forcing her beautiful eyes to meet his dark, unfathomable gaze. His smile deepened.
"It seems that Yue Qingshan harbors quite a favorable impression of you, Yue Ming. Am I correct?"
Something in that smile made Yue Ming's heart clench with instinctive dread.
Panic surged through her thoughts—had Ye Qian misunderstood the relationship between her and Yue Qingshan? She had to clarify immediately.
"Wait, Young Master! Yue Qingshan and I merely know each other. There's no special relationship between us whatsoever. We've barely even met."
After their brief acquaintance, Yue Ming still couldn't read Ye Qian's temperament accurately. She didn't want to provoke his anger over something so trivial.
If she angered him because of Yue Qingshan, her future days would become unbearable—of that much, she was certain.
Seeing the naked nervousness etched across Yue Ming's delicate features, Ye Qian released a soft, amused laugh.
"No need to be so nervous, you silly girl. I was merely taking an interest in my new maid. Why so tense?"
He released her chin, letting his hand fall away.
From the beginning, Ye Qian had known the relationship between Yue Ming and Yue Qingshan was ordinary at best.
Perhaps in some distant future, things might have evolved differently. But for now, at this precise moment, they were barely acquaintances.
More than likely, Yue Qingshan's feelings were entirely one-sided—wishful thinking wrapped in heroic delusion.
He probably imagined Yue Ming would gladly flee with him, that love would blossom spontaneously once he proved himself strong enough to claim her.
Freed from his grasp, Yue Ming lowered her head slightly. Her small hands twisted together, fingers intertwining nervously.
[Ding! The Host's dominance caused Yue Ming to feel fear. Loyalty increased by five points.]
Ye Qian hadn't expected a simple question to yield five Loyalty points. Yue Ming's Loyalty now stood at twenty-five points.
Five points wasn't a massive gain, certainly.
But considering this was only the first day, and she had already accumulated twenty-five points? The progress was more than satisfactory.
At this rate, complete submission was merely a matter of time.