Xuanjing Tian, standing behind Zhu Youning, froze for a moment when she saw him suddenly pull her older sister into his arms.
She had been kneading his shoulders, but her hands stopped. Clearly, she was startled.
But she reacted quickly, resuming her massage after only a second. At the same time, she sighed inwardly.
After all, they were undercover. What was bound to happen would happen sooner or later.
Miaocheng Tian was feeling very nervous now, completely at a loss as to what to do.
Although Huan Yin Workshop was a place of wine and women, she was one of the Nine Heavens Holy Concubines and didn't have to entertain people with her beauty.
In all her life, she had never lain so close to a man.
Smelling the unfamiliar masculine scent, Miaocheng Tian instinctively wanted to resist, but she couldn't.
Their lives belonged to the Empress, and the Empress had already ordered the sisters to infiltrate Zhu Youning's household.
Zhu Youning could feel how stiff Miaocheng Tian was. Even her breathing had turned uneven; she was clearly at a loss.
But Zhu Youning couldn't be sure whether Miaocheng Tian was putting on an act.
Of course, whether she was acting or not was none of his concern. Either way, he had to do something.
Otherwise, it wouldn't seem natural or normal.
A prince with power and money could do whatever he wanted with a beautiful maid.
If he let two lovely maids sit around without doing anything, that would arouse suspicion.
They might start wondering whether their true identities had been exposed, or whether Zhu Youning was even a real man.
To put their suspicions to rest, and to prove that he was indeed a real man, Zhu Youning made his move.
After all, Miaocheng Tian had been massaging his legs for ages. It was about time he let her relax a little.
As the art of war said, "From high ground, one's momentum is like a bamboo split from the top." Zhu Youning truly was a man who had studied military strategy; he knew how to control the battlefield.
As evening fell, after an afternoon of fooling around, Zhu Youning finally decided to retire for the night.
But then Xuanjing Tian spoke, her head bowed. "My elder sister isn't feeling well, so she can't serve Your Highness. Allow this servant to attend to you instead. After I've seen you to bed, I'll return to my room."
Zhu Youning looked at Xuanjing Tian.
Miaocheng Tian could go back, since her Innate Severed Meridians seemed to have flared up.
But Xuanjing Tian going back... She could dream on!
She'd offered to stay and attend him for the night. Did she think he'd let her slip away?
So Zhu Youning said to Miaocheng Tian first, "Since you're feeling unwell, Miao'er, go back and rest."
"Yes."
Miaocheng Tian curtsied, then slowly walked out of the room.
She soon reached a deserted spot. After making sure no one had followed her, she whistled, and a carrier pigeon flew over.
Miaocheng Tian immediately wrote down that Zhu Wen hadn't attended court for many days, along with the many medicinal herbs Zhu Youning had been buying, and other matters. Then she tied the note to the pigeon.
After securing it firmly, Miaocheng Tian released the pigeon, but worry was written all over her face.
Naturally, she was worried about her younger sister's situation.
Back inside, after sending Miaocheng Tian away, Zhu Youning beckoned to Xuanjing Tian. "Come here."
"Yes." Xuanjing Tian walked up to him in small, uncertain steps.
Zhu Youning examined Xuanjing Tian closely and saw how different she was from her elder sister, Miaocheng Tian.
Miaocheng Tian seemed alluring, while Xuanjing Tian had a sharper, more clever air about her.
Zhu Youning couldn't help taking Xuanjing Tian's small hand. Her palm was cool and soft, but he could sense the strength it held.
It looked delicate and boneless, yet one palm strike could take a person's life.
Of course, with Xuanjing Tian's Great Star Realm strength, it would be difficult for her to kill Zhu Youning with a single strike.
As long as she dared to strike, the Northern Dark Divine Art would drain all her inner power.
At that moment, Zhu Youning held Xuanjing Tian's cool hand, but she made no move to attack or resist. It seemed they really had been tasked with keeping an eye on him; otherwise, she wouldn't have let him handle her as he pleased.
At that thought, Zhu Youning's mind went a little crooked.
How did that saying go?
"If Heaven gives you something and you don't take it, you'll be punished for it. If the moment comes and you don't act, disaster will follow!"
When someone came right to your door, you'd be a fool not to take them.
So Zhu Youning gave a casual tug, drawing Xuanjing Tian closer until she was leaning against his chest.
"Your Highness..."
Xuanjing Tian trembled and called out timidly, but Zhu Youning knew perfectly well she was faking it.
Xuanjing Tian didn't resist, though inwardly she wished she could slap Zhu Youning to death.
But when she looked up again, she had a shy expression on her face. Zhu Youning played along and asked, "Xuan'er, are you afraid of what comes next?"
Xuanjing Tian hesitated for a long time before answering, "No."
If she wasn't afraid, then that made things easy.
Xuanjing Tian lay with her eyes shut, her dark hair spilling in a tangled mass across the bed. A delicate sheen glimmered on her skin.
The intense exertion soon sent Xuanjing Tian into a deep sleep, but Zhu Youning wasn't ready to retire.
Lying in bed with a soft, fragrant beauty in his arms, Zhu Youning naturally began thinking about something.
That was how to handle Xuanjing Tian in his arms, and her older sister, Miaocheng Tian.
He had brought the two of them back to his residence. They were pleasing to the eye, and he could even enjoy their attentions, but they were still a liability.
After all, the two of them were members of Huan Yin Workshop. Their current aim was to act as spies and pry information from him, but there was no guarantee they wouldn't actually try to harm him.
Still, everything was a double-edged sword.
Miaocheng Tian and Xuanjing Tian wanted to get Liang State's military and political secrets from Zhu Youning. But he wanted to get Qi State's military and political secrets from them, too!
As two of Huan Yin Workshop's Nine Heavens Holy Concubines, Miaocheng Tian and Xuanjing Tian were also members of Qi State's political elite in Fengxiang.
What they knew was exactly what Zhu Youning wanted—such as the layout of Qi State's military terrain.
With a military map, Liang State's conquest of Qi State would become much easier.
Zhu Youning believed that with Qi State's military map, all he needed was an elite assault force to march straight to Fengxiang.
But a military map wasn't something they would carry around with them, let alone the King of Qi.
Still, Zhu Youning was certain the map existed in their memories.
To reproduce those memories perfectly on paper, he needed a tool.
[Nine Yin: Soul Capture Chapter: A soul-capturing technique from the Nine Yin Manual. It can seize a person's mind. The greater the practitioner's skill, the higher the chance of success.] [Nine Yin: Soul Capture Chapter: Can be exchanged for 15 martial arts training points.]
That was right. The Nine Yin: Soul Capture Chapter was the tool Zhu Youning had in mind.
In the game I Practice Martial Arts From the Heart, the Nine Yin: Soul Capture Chapter's function was to seize a person's mind. Put simply, it controlled an enemy for one turn, with the success rate depending on the difference between the two sides' levels of skill.
In the real world, the Nine Yin: Soul Capture Chapter was a kind of mind-control technique.
The greater the gap in skill, the more relaxed and scattered the target's mind, and the weaker their will, the greater the chance the technique would succeed.
However, to successfully use the Nine Yin: Soul Capture Chapter, one needed to master the technique to a high level.
Mind control was, in the end, a highly refined art that required a great deal of practice.
A martial art one had just exchanged for certainly wouldn't do. And the system's four automatic training slots were already full, so Zhu Youning decided to practice it himself for a while.
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