Ya Fei Was Dumbfounded, Teasing

Wutan City, the Mittal Auction House.

Behind a spacious desk sat a beautiful woman.

She wore a red dress. Her mature bearing gave off a faintly alluring charm.

She held a pen in one hand and rested her forehead against the other. Her rosy, cherry-red lips parted and closed as she muttered softly to herself.

From the side, her graceful, captivating curves showed plainly beneath her red dress.

Tap, tap—

Footsteps sounded outside the room. The woman raised an eyebrow, set down her pen, and looked toward the door.

The next moment, the door opened, and a figure walked in.

It was a pretty young girl.

"Xue Li?" Seeing the girl's excited expression, Ya Fei couldn't help feeling curious. "What happened? You look so thrilled."

Xue Li replied respectfully, "Miss, you asked me to watch the arena match between the Xiao Clan and the Jia Lie Family. Guess who won in the end."

"The Xiao Clan?" Ya Fei's red lips moved.

Xue Li nodded emphatically, then declared with complete certainty, "You'll never guess how the Xiao Clan won!"

Ya Fei glanced at her, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and leaned languidly against her chair. Her stunning curves were displayed beneath her red dress.

She drawled, "The Xiao Clan's Third Young Master must have returned."

"How did you know Young Master Xiao Yan was back?" Surprise spread across Xue Li's face.

"Otherwise, given the rules laid down by the Jia Lie Family, who in the Xiao Clan could possibly beat Jia Lie Ao? Xiao Ning? Xiao Qiang? Or that little young master, Xiao Yu?" Ya Fei showed little interest.

She had been assigned to Wutan City by her clan for more than a day or two. She knew a fair bit about its three great clans, along with its other factions.

Given the Xiao Clan's circumstances, among those under twenty-two, anyone with a bit of ability had either gone elsewhere to train or enrolled at Jia Nan Academy.

And since the Xiao Clan had even accepted the rules proposed by the Jia Lie Family, they clearly had something to rely on.

It was simple: their confidence had to come from either the Xiao Clan's First Young Master or its Second Young Master.

However, as far as Ya Fei knew, neither of them had returned in years. She had heard that Clan Leader Xiao had tried several times to urge them to get married, but never got the chance.

With those two ruled out, someone else must have given Clan Leader Xiao the confidence to accept the arena match.

The answer was obvious: the Xiao Clan's Third Young Master had surely returned to take part.

Ya Fei had some interest in this young genius. At eleven, Xiao Yan had broken through to Dou Zhe. Talent like that was as rare as a phoenix feather or a unicorn horn, even in the Imperial Capital.

She asked, "Was the fight intense? How many moves did Xiao Yan need to defeat Jia Lie Ao?"

However,

Xue Li shook her little head vigorously in response. "Miss, you guessed wrong! Young Master Xiao Yan did come back, but the one who actually represented the Xiao Clan was Xiao Yu!"

Xiao Yu?

Ya Fei's face filled with doubt. She stared at her maid for two seconds, then asked seriously, "Are you sure you didn't mistake him for someone else? They're twins and look very alike."

Xue Li shook her head again.

There's no way I could mistake them!

Though Xiao Yan and Xiao Yu were twin brothers, Xiao Yu's features were more finely sculpted and defined than his older brother's.

As for looks alone, Xiao Yu was definitely the more handsome one!

Now Ya Fei was truly dumbfounded.

She exclaimed, "Xiao Yu beat Jia Lie Ao? Xue Li, are you sure you're not pulling my leg? If I find out you're lying to me, I'll sell you off!"

At the end, Ya Fei deliberately put on a vicious expression to scare her.

After all, who in the whole of Wutan City didn't know about the Xiao Clan's extreme twin brothers?

In particular, Xiao Yu had always been at the Third Stage of Dou Qi. He'd been stuck there for years, without the slightest improvement in cultivation.

How could he possibly be a match for Jia Lie Ao, a Three-Star Dou Zhe?

Xue Li quickly swore that if her mistress didn't believe her, she could ask anyone else to confirm it.

Seeing the little maid's expression, Ya Fei's doubts faded, replaced by intense curiosity.

Then, as the maid recounted the story, Ya Fei heard how Xiao Yu had stepped onto the platform at the Xiao Clan's most humiliating moment, faced their doubts, and knocked Jia Lie Ao down with one punch. With three punches, he won a marketplace for the Xiao Clan, leaving the entire crowd so stunned that not a sound could be heard.

Though Ya Fei hadn't been there in person, she could still picture the scene vividly.

After hearing the whole story, her curiosity about Xiao Yu grew even stronger.

Just then, Ya Fei looked up and saw the little maid's pretty face flushed red, her eyes filled with admiration.

"Xue Li, have you fallen for him?" Ya Fei asked at once.

Xue Li's ears turned red, and her face flushed like an apple.

"Come to my room tonight and keep me company. If you make me happy, I'll marry you off to Xiao Yu. How does that sound?" Ya Fei teased with a mischievous grin.

"Miss, stop teasing me. If you really need someone, find yourself a man." Xue Li's voice was barely louder than a mosquito's buzz. Her little hands clutched her skirt, and her fingers twisted together.

After a pause, she added, "I'm just a maid. The Xiao Clan would never think much of me, unless... unless..."

Ya Fei asked, "Unless what?"

"Unless you marry Xiao Yu, Miss. Then I could be your bedchamber maid or something." After saying that, Xue Li seemed to have used up all her courage. She turned and ran out of the room.

Ya Fei froze for a moment. It was a long while before she came back to herself. Then she smiled, a trace of bitterness at the corners of her mouth.

Get married?

Given who I am, do I even get to choose? The decision is probably entirely in the clan's hands!

"Ya Fei! You have to keep trying! You can't give up. Don't forget why you agreed to come to Wutan City in the first place. Wasn't it because you wanted to take control of your own fate?!" She rubbed her cheeks, rallied her spirits, and threw herself back into her work.

Ya Fei put Xiao Yu out of her mind and didn't dwell on him any further.

Wutan City lay at the edge of the empire, close to the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

The Mittal Auction House had always done fairly well, but its business had little to do with Ya Fei.

Simply put, it didn't showcase her abilities.

That troubled Ya Fei greatly.

She had even personally presided over every auction.

But as an auction house, a pretty face could only draw in crowds; it couldn't increase profits.

To make the auction house stronger, they needed people with special talents.

Like alchemists!

Or people with great strength!

Ya Fei bit her red lip with her pearly teeth and lamented, "An alchemist... Heh, how could a place like Wutan City possibly have someone like that? If I could recruit a high-grade alchemist, my standing in the clan would definitely soar."

Time flew by.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye since the arena match.

After making that one appearance, Xiao Yu went back to lazing about as usual.

Most days, he stayed home with his wife and son. Otherwise, he would sit on the cliff behind the Xiao Clan, enjoying the breeze and the scenery.

After giving the matter serious thought, Xiao Zhan decided to name the boy Xiao Fan.

Xiao Yu didn't mind. The name was still much better than Liangchen, Aotian, and Ritian, the names his third brother had suggested.

Xiao Yu even wondered if his third brother was hinting at something, or testing him.

But he didn't really care.

Ever since he was four or five, his third brother had kept trying to test him with secret signals.

From "Palace Jade Liquor" to multiplication tables and the Pythagorean theorem.

Xiao Yu had been on his guard for a long time.