The Bedchamber

Yang Ning drew a deep breath, reached out to part the jingling red crystal Beaded Curtain, and stepped inside.

Beyond the curtain, the view opened up before him. From the outside, the bedchamber had appeared square, but its interior had been ingeniously designed as a circular domed hall.

The most eye-catching feature was the enormous dome overhead. It had not been built from ordinary bricks, stones, and wooden beams, but artfully assembled from thousands of irregular, many-faceted glass panels, fitted together seamlessly into a harmonious whole, as if formed by nature itself. The glass was translucent and dark red, like aged wine, bathing the entire hall in a hazy, ambiguous crimson glow.

Yang Ning's gaze instinctively swept across the hall, then snapped away. On a wide chaise longue draped in scarlet brocade, Shi Xuanfei lay on her side, languid and relaxed. Her yellow eyes shimmered like starlight as she stared unblinkingly at Yang Ning, who had just entered.

At that moment, she wore nothing but a gauzy robe as thin as a cicada's wing. Her graceful curves showed through beneath it, while the red undergarment beneath traced out a breathtaking silhouette.

"Ahh~" She seemed to have only just fully awakened. Lazily stretching out in a long, languorous yawn, she sat up. As she moved, the gauzy robe slipped from her shoulder and hung at the crook of her arm. Her jade feet, painted with vivid red nail polish, lightly touched the warm, smooth Warm Jade floor.

"Just in time. I'd only just woken up when Boss Yang brought my Skincare Products~" Her tone was light, as if she were merely making a casual remark. "Perfect. Sorry for the trouble, Boss Yang, but could you help me use them now~?"

As she spoke, she stood and let the gauzy robe trail behind her, then slowly walked over to a red Embroidered Stool nearby and sat down gracefully. In front of her stood a polished bronze Dressing Table mirror.

"Come on, Boss Yang~" She gazed through the mirror at Yang Ning, frozen in place behind her, her voice utterly seductive.

At first, the sight had indeed sent Yang Ning's blood rushing. After all, across two lifetimes, he had never experienced intimacy between a man and a woman. But years of brutal life in the camp, followed by his current career as a spy, where every step was fraught with danger, had tempered his will like steel. His powerful reason was more than enough to suppress the stirrings of his body.

Yang Ning stubbornly kept his back to Shi Xuanfei, doing his best to keep his voice calm. "Peak Master Shi, why go to such lengths? Why make things so difficult for a lowly shopkeeper like me?"

Shi Xuanfei turned to look at Yang Ning's rigid back and chuckled. "That's true. Boss Yang is a clever man. I'm sure you guessed my true identity on the way up the mountain."

As she spoke, her gaze casually drifted toward the Dressing Table. A stack of documents lay beside it, carelessly piled up. The top page clearly recorded Yang Ning's detailed information.

Yang Ning continued to face away from her. "Peak Master Shi, you flatter me. Before you, I'm no more than an insignificant shopkeeper. But to me, whether you're a Peak Master or a Mortal, you're simply a customer of Myriad Things Come. Today, I personally brought the gift box to Jade Maiden Peak, sincerely demonstrating our shop's commitment to service. I hope Peak Master Shi... won't make things difficult for me any further."

"Right, Boss Yang has a point." Shi Xuanfei actually nodded in agreement, then abruptly changed tack. "But this 'Lai Bo Ni' gift box is worth two hundred Spirit Stones, which is no small sum. I've already paid in full. What's more, Boss Yang, you said yourself yesterday that I could 'try it out.'"

She put deliberate emphasis on "try it out," her tone teasing. "The most important thing for a merchant is 'honesty.' What is it, Boss Yang? Are you trying to go back on your word and grow fat on it?"

Yang Ning immediately retorted, his voice still steady. "Peak Master Shi, you're mistaken. I never said you couldn't try it out."

Shi Xuanfei chuckled at that, her voice as sweet as silver bells. "But, Boss Yang, I've never seen or heard of these Skincare Products before, let alone learned how to use them~ If you don't apply them yourself and demonstrate for me, how am I supposed to use them on my own~?"

At this nearly shameless argument from Shi Xuanfei, Yang Ning's brows drew tightly together. The feeling that he had walked straight into a trap grew stronger by the moment.

"If Boss Yang insists on refusing..." Shi Xuanfei drew out the words. "Then I'm afraid that once you leave this room, everyone in the sect will know that Boss Yang did business with Jade Maiden Peak and then went back on his word—not even providing the most basic after-sales service~ If word gets out, it'll be terribly bad for your shop's reputation and business~"

As she spoke, she rested her chin on both hands and leisurely admired her flawless reflection in the bronze mirror.

"Oh, right~" she added, as if she had suddenly remembered something. "I heard Boss Yang recently got a fine new position as an Advisor to the Law Enforcement Hall? I suppose you don't care much about that little shop of yours anymore, do you? Anyway, even if its business suffers, you could still live on the salary my icy senior sister pays you~"