Chapter 61 Jiang Shizi Jiang Shizi
She must have been frightened by her words just now.
Qiu Shuzhi chuckled silently. Although Lan Xuezhao was often cursed as a bewitching consort for his coquettish behavior, deep down he was still a delicate young master.
She ordered Ji Mei to tidy up this place, and leisurely strolled towards Jiang Si’s tent.
Jiang Si’s personal attendant A Man, a young man with a fiery temperament, had been guarding the entrance of the tent all day, not allowing anyone to enter. If anyone asked about Jiang Si, they were met with his sharp-tongued retorts.
Qiu Shuzhi observed slowly from a distance. Until near noon, A Man entered the tent. After about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, he came out with a furtive expression.
Qiu Shuzhi narrowed her eyes slightly, feeling something was amiss inside. She said to Ji Mei beside her, “Follow him and see what he’s up to with that sneaky behavior. Remember, don’t let him discover you.”
Not long after, Ji Mei suddenly ran back to her with an excited face: “My lady, my lady!”
Ji Mei knelt on the ground excitedly: “On the way back, this servant accidentally encountered Jiang Shinu’s personal attendant from last night. I saw him burying something in the soil. After he left, this servant curiously dug it out. Guess what it was?”
“What?”
“Look!” Ji Mei presented a blood-stained handkerchief, exclaiming excitedly, “How could a blood-stained handkerchief suddenly appear? There must be something strange in Jiang Shinu’s tent.”
Qiu Shuzhi immediately looked around. Fortunately, no one was paying attention to them. She stared at the handkerchief for a long time before saying in a deep voice, “This is just a private item that men use every month. Look how excited you got.”
“What?” Ji Mei was shocked, holding the bloody handkerchief like a hot potato, not knowing whether to throw it away or not, her face more bitter than a bitter gourd.
Just like the ancient people in Qiu Shuzhi’s memories from her previous life, people here also viewed menstrual blood as filth.
Qiu Shuzhi chuckled lightly: “Hurry up and dispose of this thing.”
Ji Mei’s face was almost wrinkled into a ball. She muttered something about bad karma and ran away with a disgusted look, holding the bloody handkerchief.
Watching Ji Mei leave while complaining bitterly, the smile on Qiu Shuzhi’s face gradually disappeared. She stared thoughtfully at Jiang Si’s tent.
The blood on it wasn’t menstrual blood at all. It could only fool someone like Ji Mei, who was as straight as an arrow. Fortunately, Ji Mei wasn’t very deep, yet she could also keep her mouth shut.
But since the assassination attempt at the hunting grounds, Jiang Si had changed her previous behavior, always hiding in her tent and not coming out.
Although she had personally examined her yesterday and found no traces of knife or sword wounds on her body, today she had dug out a bloody handkerchief, which was indeed quite strange.
A moment later, she straightened her clothes and walked directly towards Jiang Si’s tent.
As soon as she reached the entrance of the tent, A Man indeed vigilantly blocked her: “You’re the official from last night? What are you doing here?”
Qiu Shuzhi smiled faintly: “This humble official wishes to pay a visit to Jiang Shinu.”
“My Shinu is resting. You should come back later.”
“It’s alright, A Man. Let Official Qiu in,” a soft, sensual voice came from inside the tent.
Qiu Shuzhi lifted the curtain and entered. Jiang Si was wearing a magnificent high-collared robe, with a gold-tasseled hairpin casually inserted in her messy hair. The crimson satin was embroidered with gold and silver threads depicting a lavishly blooming peony. The snow-white petals bloomed luxuriantly on the dress body, attracting two butterflies to flutter over. Just looking at the painting on her body seemed to make one smell the fragrance of peonies.
The tent was adorned with unknown incense, the fragrance layered, the smoke hazy and indistinct.
She saw several partially dressed men lying on the soft couch, shyly covering their bodies with blankets, their eyes shrinking timidly behind the couch.
Jiang Si’s black hair cascaded down loosely, her eyes and demeanor languid and leisurely. She looked as if she had just experienced a bout of lovemaking, satiated and satisfied, just short of an after-sex cigarette.
“This humble official pays respects to Shinu,” Qiu Shuzhi knelt on one knee.
Jiang Si lazily rose from the soft couch, supporting Qiu Shuzhi’s arm with her slender fingers, which were more delicately maintained than a man’s. Her body was filled with fragrance: “Official Qiu, please rise. We are of the same rank, no need for such formalities.”
She helped Qiu Shuzhi sit down. Behind her, those partially dressed men hurriedly put on their clothes, their long hair in disarray.
Even so, after they had dressed, they didn’t leave. Instead, they served tea with red faces, their faces blushing furiously, but their actions extremely practiced, as if this was already a common occurrence.
Qiu Shuzhi inadvertently swept her gaze over the neck of one of the men, which was covered in blue and purple marks, all traces of passionate lovemaking.
Good heavens, several men serving one woman. Jiang Si’s reputation was well-deserved. Not only did she play in a varied manner, but her physical stamina was also impressive.
Previously, she had only thought that the young Emperor’s harem of three thousand was already the model for women in a female-dominated society, but Jiang Si seemed to be even more uninhibited.
While Jiang Si might be enjoying herself, Qiu Shuzhi, as an outsider, truly felt somewhat awkward: “It seems I’ve come at an inopportune time.”
Jiang Si brushed back her sweat-dampened long hair, smiling ambiguously: “Official doesn’t need to feel awkward. We’re all used to being unrestrained. If we hadn’t just deflowered someone last night, we wouldn’t have kept going until noon.”
At these words, the man whose neck was covered in marks blushed so red he seemed about to drip blood. He whimpered coquettishly: “Shinu, please stop.”
Deflowered?
Qiu Shuzhi remembered that in the Great Qi country, men would bleed after losing their virginity. Could it be?
Jiang Si laughed out loud, her well-maintained jade hand pinching the man’s face, teasing: “Now you’re shy? When I took your virginity last night, you bled the most, even more than your brother A Man. Your brother had to help you deal with the virgin blood. You weren’t shy then, were you?”
Indeed!
It seemed that the bloody handkerchief A Man went out to bury today was this man’s virgin blood. What a misunderstanding.
However, Qiu Shuzhi still felt something wasn’t quite right. It all seemed a bit too deliberate.
Her doubts were all resolved by Jiang Si’s few words, as if she knew what she was thinking.
The more it was like this, the more Qiu Shuzhi dared not easily let down her guard.
“Shinu!” The man blushed crimson and stomped his foot: “A Li won’t talk to you anymore.”
Jiang Si watched with amusement as the man named A Li ran out. She took a sip of strong tea, her full lips curving into a smile more brilliant than a peony: “A Li is young and can’t take teasing. I hope Official doesn’t mind.”
Qiu Shuzhi shook her head.
“By the way, I heard that the assassin who caused such a commotion last night has been caught?” Jiang Si raised her slender eyebrows slightly, the slightly elongated corners of her eyes inadvertently revealing a charm more beautiful than a man’s.
Such a bewitching charm, she had only seen on Lan Xuezhao before.
“Yes,” Qiu Shuzhi answered plainly: “The assassin was someone from Jing Guiren’s palace. There’s already evidence that Jing Guiren ordered it. He has been executed by lingchi.”
Jiang Si calmly sipped her tea, her regretful tone devoid of any emotion: “To think Jing Guiren would dare to attempt to assassinate Her Majesty. Such a treasonous act indeed deserves death. Lingchi is also a warning to others.”
“However, the scene of lingchi is truly unsightly. It must have frightened many people.” Jiang Si chuckled lightly, the peony on her chest seeming to come alive with her laughter, slowly blooming and budding.
“Indeed, it even frightened Rong Fei earlier,” she replied.
“Rong Fei?” Jiang Si’s voice paused.
“My little brother has been spoiled by the people of the Miao village since childhood. He hasn’t seen such bloody scenes before. No wonder he was frightened by the lingchi scene,” Jiang Si sighed and shook her head, the gold-tasseled hairpin in her hair swaying slowly, the pearl shadows dancing.
“Rong Fei is your brother?” Qiu Shuzhi was somewhat surprised.
Jiang Si smiled faintly, her whole body exuding an air of aristocratic pride: “It’s no wonder you don’t know. Xiao’er and my birth father are from the same clan. We are cousins, but I’ve lived in the Dian Wang Fu for many years, while he lived in the isolated Miao village. We haven’t met often, so not many people know about this relationship between us.”
“I see.”
No wonder she had always felt that there was a hint of similarity between Lan Xuezhao and Jiang Si’s features. So there was such a blood relationship.
“However, Xiao’er is in the deep palace, and I’m just an outside official. Even if I wanted to see him, it would be extremely difficult. I don’t know how he’s doing all alone in the palace,” Jiang Si’s delicate features revealed a hint of melancholy.
Suddenly, Jiang Si grabbed Qiu Shuzhi’s hand. Her slender fingers were like exquisite jade, carefully polished. Her charming eyes looked at her eagerly, “Official is the leader of the Yulin Army. From now on, I entrust my brother to your care.”
Qiu Shuzhi couldn’t stand this sudden enthusiasm: “This humble official only holds a nominal position in the Yulin Army and cannot interfere in harem matters. Moreover, Rong Fei is now the most favored in the harem, loved by Her Majesty. Shinu need not worry-”
Jiang Si sighed gently, gripping her hand tighter, her delicate warmth comparable to a tender paradise.
“Official doesn’t know, my brother has been spoiled and doesn’t know the rules of the palace. He has offended many people, even the Empress…”
Another sigh: “His current favor is only due to his good looks, merely a temporary infatuation of Her Majesty. When Her Majesty tires of him and he loses favor, his days in the harem won’t be easy.”
There was a hint of hidden worry in her features. The gold-tasseled hairpin hooked in her messy sideburns, reflecting her charming eyes, was even more beautiful than the most coquettish man, even more alluring than Lan Xuezhao who was unrivaled in the harem.
In her previous life, Qiu Shuzhi’s biggest fetish was liking to see beautiful, soft, and delicate young ladies. In this life, after transmigrating to a female-dominated country, most women were hard and cold, and those who met modern aesthetic standards like Jiang Si were truly rare.
But her mind was still clear. Although Jiang Si was beautiful, her thoughts were always difficult to fathom.
Even with such beauty before her, Qiu Shuzhi dared not let down her guard: “Shinu, please rest assured. The Empress’s kindness and generosity are well-known throughout the harem. Although Rong Fei is favored, he has never done anything to offend the Empress or other consorts. The harem consorts have always gotten along harmoniously. The Empress and Her Majesty will certainly not mistreat Rong Fei.”
Jiang Si’s delicate and soft hand suddenly stiffened for a moment. She hadn’t expected Qiu Shuzhi to be so impervious to both hard and soft approaches.
