Although her circumstances were somewhat similar to Lin Wanqiu's, allowing her to empathize, anything involving Xiao Minghuang had to be treated seriously.
Having grown up in the palace, she knew a little about the imperial harem's concubine selection process. One of the steps was checking whether a chosen maiden entering the palace was still a virgin.
In the past, this task had always been performed by experienced matrons. But there were no older palace maids here, so she could only do it herself.
At this thought.
Ye Ruoshui's expression turned solemn. She scrutinized Lin Wanqiu and said gravely:
"Lin Wanqiu, I am willing to believe what you said, but only an examination can confirm it."
"And you do not want Her Highness to know about our agreement, do you?"
Lin Wanqiu's delicate body trembled upon hearing this, and a sense of foreboding rose in her heart. She asked hesitantly:
"Of course I will not tell Her Highness about our agreement. But what examination are you talking about?"
"That would naturally be..."
The words reached her lips, yet she could not bring herself to say them.
Ye Ruoshui was, after all, an unmarried young woman. She was simply too embarrassed to speak of such things aloud.
But at a time like this, she had to carefully guard the gate for her Highness, lest some improper woman worm her way into Her Highness's side and deceive her feelings.
Thus, she leaned forward, pressed herself close to Lin Wanqiu's ear, and whispered a few words.
"It is..."
As those shameful words rang out, Lin Wanqiu's little face flushed crimson at a visible speed, burning hot.
Lin Wanqiu lowered her head slightly, twisting her small hands together as she looked at her snow-white thighs and their soft, smooth curves. Her thoughts turned over a hundred times and a thousand times.
She could certainly refuse Ye Ruoshui's unreasonable demand outright, but if she did, the relationship between them would surely plummet to rock bottom.
All her previous efforts would come to nothing, her achievements ruined at the final step.
Ever since she had pulled herself together and resolved to follow Xiao Minghuang, she had never intended to exclude Ye Ruoshui. Rather, she planned to remain by Xiao Minghuang's side while maintaining a good relationship with Ye Ruoshui and deepening the bond between them.
She had come to join this family, not tear it apart.
So she could not simply refuse Ye Ruoshui.
After thinking it over again and again.
Lin Wanqiu parted her legs slightly, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
"Go ahead."
Hearing this, Ye Ruoshui's little face became incomparably serious. To ensure that no improper bad woman appeared at Her Highness's side, she had truly paid too much.
She bent down, knelt upon the soft bed, crawled forward, and reached out to part Lin Wanqiu's legs.
Ye Ruoshui possessed cultivation at the Body Tempering Peak Realm and could see in the dark. Even beneath the dim pearl light, she could still see everything clearly.
This thin pair of underpants naturally could not obstruct her sight.
Very quickly, she pulled aside the silky fabric on both sides, gently spread it with her small hands, took a brief look, and immediately withdrew her hands.
Throughout it all, Lin Wanqiu covered her little face with both hands. She was too shy to raise her head or make even the slightest sound.
Fortunately, Ye Ruoshui did not look at her for too long. After withdrawing her hands, she pulled over the quilt, wrapped herself completely in the bedding, and pressed close to Xiao Minghuang's side, clearly having no intention of leaving.
At a time like this, whoever left would lose!
Lin Wanqiu let out a deep breath. The awkward scene just now had thoroughly doused the fire in her heart. She no longer had much mind for romantic matters and only wanted to rest quietly for a while.
57. Extremely Delicious! Extremely Fresh!
On the bed.
Lin Wanqiu also followed Ye Ruoshui's example, pulling part of the quilt over herself. She shifted to Xiao Minghuang's side and extended a jade-like arm around her waist.
She understood the same principle. This was not the time to rest easy with one's head on a high pillow. She could not leave. If she left, only the deeply sleeping Xiao Minghuang and the eager-to-move Ye Ruoshui would remain. She did not even dare imagine what might happen afterward!
Just like that.
The two women, Ye and Lin, lay on their sides to the left and right, each embracing half of Xiao Minghuang's body. Their gazes occasionally met in midair, and a faint smell of gunpowder seemed to rise from the bed once more.
Lin Wanqiu asked softly:
"Little Ruoshui, aren't you sleeping?"
Ye Ruoshui sneered.
"So you can secretly plot something improper against Her Highness after I fall asleep?"
This verbal exchange seemed to return their relationship to how it had been at the beginning.
But that was only an appearance. In truth, they had already reconciled and become partners.
They had not truly developed any conflict. This was merely their habitual bickering.
After that exchange, perhaps because what had just happened had been too nerve-racking and stirring, their eyelids grew heavy and their minds became drowsy. Without realizing it, they gradually fell asleep.
The next morning.
When the first ray of sunlight fell upon the earth.
Xiao Minghuang slowly opened her eyes and felt as though every joint and every inch of skin on her body had been caught by something. Soft and delicate sensations washed over her from every part of her body, as though she were floating amid the clouds, dreamlike and unreal.
"I'm still not awake..."
She closed her eyes again.
The next instant.
Xiao Minghuang abruptly opened her eyes. Looking to both sides, she saw two fair and lovely little faces, sweet and peaceful smiles hanging from their lips as though they were having some unspeakable beautiful dream.
She also discovered that her hands and legs had each been locked down by the two girls, leaving her completely unable to move.
Even more startling, her tiny movements seemed to have stirred a reaction from Ye and Lin.
Still asleep, Ye and Lin shifted their delicate bodies and pressed even closer against her.
Ye and Lin's legs hooked around her left and right legs from above and below respectively. Their hands locked her in place from above and below, one clasping her at the collarbone and the other at the lower abdomen, leaving her unable to move even half an inch.
The skin of all three was pressed almost completely together, without even the tiniest gap between them, in utterly zero-distance contact.
In such close contact, every inch of Xiao Minghuang's skin could feel the warm body heat and soft touch coming from Ye and Lin's delicate bodies. It was a sensation she had never experienced in either her past or present life, intoxicating and impossible to escape.
She lay quietly on the bed, neither moving nor calling out to wake Ye and Lin.
Xiao Minghuang not only enjoyed the soft, warm bodies of Ye and Lin, but also felt delighted by the warmth and peace of this moment.
In her previous life, she had neither father nor mother. She had never experienced any human warmth, nor had she possessed relatives or friends. She traveled a thousand miles with only herself.
While feeding oneself and leaving the whole family unfed was indeed carefree and easy, there was always a detached feeling of having nowhere to belong, as though the world had nothing to do with her and her existence was neither needed nor missed.
But ever since she had met Ye Ruoshui and Lin Wanqiu, her heart had grown increasingly peaceful. It was as though she had returned to a harbor sheltered from the wind, no longer weathered by raging waves, no longer battered by wind, frost, rain, and snow, gaining the truest calm and serenity from the depths of her heart.
She could not refuse this feeling. She was intoxicated by it.
Xiao Minghuang knew that, for the rest of this life, she would be unable to leave these two girls.
Time passed, and the bright sunlight gradually became warm. Even the sweetest dream would eventually end.
But when Ye and Lin opened their eyes, Xiao Minghuang's gentle smile was the first thing they saw. Their minds immediately spun, their little faces flushing red, while their soft, delicate bodies grew even hotter.
The space beneath the quilt gradually warmed. Xiao Minghuang sensed the changes in their bodies and gently stretched out her arms, embracing the two girls and drawing their little heads against her chest.
"Ruoshui, Wanqiu, did you sleep well last night?"
"Very well!"
Ye and Lin answered in unison.
"That is good... Oh, right. That spring water you gave me last night was truly extremely delicious, extremely fresh. Is there any more? I really want another taste."
Hearing this, Ye and Lin, whose hearts were already racing like startled deer, were instantly thrown into even greater panic.
"Did Her Highness discover what we did to her last night?!"
Lin Wanqiu and Ye Ruoshui swiftly exchanged glances, rapidly communicating their thoughts.
"Quick, think of an excuse!"
"How could anyone possibly make one up in this situation?!"
As Xiao Minghuang's gaze gradually became doubtful, Lin Wanqiu finally made up her mind.
"Your Highness, that spring water from last night was an exceedingly rare thousand-year stalactite spring. We drank it all, and if you want more, I am afraid you will have to wait another thousand years."
A trace of disappointment appeared on Xiao Minghuang's face. Half-annoyed, she said:
"Such delicious spring water, yet I cannot taste it again. What a pity."
Upon hearing this, Ye Ruoshui muttered softly:
"Your Highness will definitely be able to taste it again..."
The moment the words left her mouth, Lin Wanqiu shot her a glare.
Ye Ruoshui realized she had misspoken and immediately shut her mouth.
Seeing the little movements between Ye and Lin, Xiao Minghuang's eyes filled with curiosity. She teased:
"Ruoshui, Wanqiu, when did the two of you become so close?"
The moment those words fell, Ye Ruoshui immediately became nervous. Her soft, delicate body seemed to stiffen as she lowered her little head, not daring to look at Xiao Minghuang.
Lin Wanqiu raised her little face, revealing a flower-like smile as she said sweetly:
"Your Highness, Little Ruoshui and I felt like old friends at first sight and opened our hearts to one another. We are already as close as sisters!"
"Good, good!"
Xiao Minghuang raised her hand and stroked the soft crowns of the two girls' heads.
As the two most important people by her side, she naturally wished for nothing more than Ye Ruoshui and Lin Wanqiu to maintain a good relationship.
Especially since Lin Wanqiu had always been exceptionally generous. She had never held Ye Ruoshui's jealous behavior against her and instead acted like an older sister.
Xiao Minghuang nodded, smiling brightly.
"Wanqiu is the older sister, so you must take good care of Ruoshui from now on. If there is anything she does not understand, teach her properly. You must not bully her, all right?"
"Of course, Your Highness, do not worry!"
Of the three of them, Xiao Minghuang was the eldest. Lin Wanqiu was one month younger than her, while Ye Ruoshui was two years younger than them both. So it was not wrong to call Ye Ruoshui their little sister.
58. You Are Both My Good Girls!
As time passed, the sun gradually rose higher, and the sunlight became warmer.
Xiao Minghuang and the other two were not children, so naturally they had no habit of lingering in bed. They each dressed and got out of bed.
Notably, this time Ye Ruoshui brought over that bright yellow dress and, together with Lin Wanqiu, helped Xiao Minghuang put it on.
The three held hands and left together.
In the days that followed, Xiao Minghuang and the other two wandered around Beiyang City and its surroundings, sightseeing and enjoying themselves along the way. During the day, they traveled through the mountains and forests; at night, they stayed beside small streams. Sometimes they cultivated, sometimes they played, living leisurely and contentedly.
During this period, Xiao Minghuang gave most of the valuable things she carried to Ye and Lin respectively.
The valuable items in her possession included the Mysterious Tier Top-grade Pill, Spirit Solidifying Pill, obtained from Qingwei's remains, as well as the Mysterious Tier Mid-grade Magic Treasure, Azure Shadow Sword.
Finally, there was also the Dragon Tiger Sect's secret Mysterious Tier Mid-grade pill, the Tiger Bone Body Strengthening Pill, which she had obtained from the yellow-robed old man.
She gave the Azure Shadow Sword to Lin Wanqiu, receiving in compensation a Mysterious Tier High-grade magic treasure. Because dragon-shaped patterns were engraved upon its blade, she named it the Dragon Pattern Sword.
As for the Spirit Solidifying Pill and the Tiger Bone Body Strengthening Pill, she gave them to Ye Ruoshui.
The former was compensated with an Earth-grade low-rank pill, the Spirit Returning Solidifying Pill. Since it only strengthened spiritual awareness, it was of little use to Xiao Minghuang, while being immensely useful to an alchemist, so she gave it to Ye Ruoshui.
The Tiger Bone Body Strengthening Pill was less fortunate. It did not trigger a qualitative compensation, and after merely landing a tenfold critical return, she received ten identical pills.
However, those pills were enough for Ye Ruoshui to dismantle and study. If she could figure out the pill's formula, that might be the greatest compensation of all, greater than the pills themselves.
As for the less valuable pills, spirit stones, heavenly treasures, and low-grade cultivation methods and martial arts, she gave them to Ye and Lin in batches. The compensation multipliers she received were not high, mostly between twofold and fivefold.
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