Chapter 32

A cold wind blew past. Her waistband came loose, and her pants went whoosh, sliding down...

"I'm going to die!" Zhu Bafu grabbed the oversized underpants she had nearly lost, her face burning as she gasped for breath. Only now did she realize Lord Long meant business. He really intended to strip her, then use the Cold Light Sword in his hand to snip off her...

"Hmph!" Longyang held the sword across his lips and gave the blade a teasing, wicked lick. "Next... the underpants!"

"You licked the sword you're going to use to cut that thing off... Are you some kind of monster?! Help! A Demon Cult fiend! A perverted demon! Heroes won't be enough—will some passing goddess please come down and subdue this monster? There's a demon here that sucks people dry!"

You suck people dry! Your whole family sucks people dry! A vein bulged on Longyang's forehead. He really couldn't underestimate the wild leaps this little wretch's mind could make. If the brat kept shouting, every Commander Mansion would laugh him to death!

"Find me a rag and stuff it in his mouth. Pah! Too much trouble. Move aside." He pushed away the men pinning down the little wretch's arms and legs, then tore a strip from his own sleeve.

"Wh-what are you doing? I'm not interested in your body! Don't make me look!"

"You... shut up!"

With a rip, his robe parted. His broad, lean chest rose and fell right before her eyes as he moved shamelessly closer.

She turned her head away in embarrassment, refusing to look at him, but his large hand caught her head and pulled it toward him.

A Coiled Dragon Agate Red Seal Pendant hung against his chest. The red character for "military" swayed before her eyes.

So he was the Military Minister of Dongxu Mansion. Why was his seal still hanging from his own neck? Hadn't he given it to anyone? Given his habit of flitting from one romance to another, he ought to have made a few hundred extra seals to hand out.

Was it even genuine?

At the thought, she reached toward his chest without thinking.

Her fingertips had barely touched him when Longyang slapped her hand away, suddenly on guard.

An unfamiliar heat shot from her fingertips into his chest, prickling like lightning. That stir of a man's body, that sensation—after all his years of experience, he knew only a woman could provoke it! This damned brat...

"You dare touch me?"

Touch him?

"N-no, I just wanted to see..." Whether that seal was the one she was looking for—the one he was supposed to give to the woman he loved.

"Pah! How can there be a man as disgraceful as you? Hm? To avoid trouble, you'd hand your fiancée over to someone else. For money, you'd deliver love letters to men. And now, to save your life, you want to throw yourself into my arms? Don't think I'll take you for a woman just because you've got a pretty face and talk like one. One more look at you makes me sick!"

...Why was he suddenly so furious? Why say something so nasty? She'd only touched his chest by accident! He was the one who'd pulled his clothes open and given her the chance. What was all this about being sickened and disgraced?

Before she could answer, a wad of cloth was stuffed into her mouth, and she was shoved face-first onto the chair.

"Don't worry. I'm quick with my hands. One clean stroke, and you'll have exactly what you want!"

"Mmph mmph mmph mmph!" That's not what I want!

"What's that? You said you've wanted to stop being a man for ages?"

"Mmph mmph mmph mmph!" I was never a stinking man to begin with!

As his hand reached for her waistband, Zhu Bafu's tears spilled over. If he pulled down her pants in front of everyone and let some strange man see her bare bottom, she would go straight to a convent, become a nun, and devote her life to wiping out every vain man under heaven!

Her mouth was gagged; she couldn't even call for help! Hero or god, she didn't care—even if Zhu Bajie appeared to save her right now, she would marry him!

"Lord Long, might you have informed me before assaulting my personal Study Attendant?"

A calm, clear voice sounded behind him. Longyang knew who it was without turning around. He curled his lip in displeasure, grabbed the mumbling Zhu Bafu by the cheeks, and gave her face a shake.

Drool streamed around the cloth in her mouth, her face twisted in misery. Longyang gave a derisive laugh, pointed at her wretched state, and raised an eyebrow at the newcomer. "Your personal Study Attendant? This one? Lord Li, you must be joking."

"Lord Long, you should know I've never been interested in joking with you. Our senses of humor differ."

In other words, Longyang was the one with the lowbrow sense of humor, standing there grinning like a fool!

"Hmph! Since we see things differently, how do you intend to deal with this brat, Grand Secretary Li? As the Military Minister, I'm responsible for the safety and rules of all Dongxu Mansion. And your 'personal Study Attendant' was spying through the window of Xiao Yu's study!"

Li Chenjing's eyes shifted toward the figure trembling where she was pinned against the chair. "You were spying on the Minister of Revenue?"

"Mmph?" Still gagged, Zhu Bafu shook her head frantically, refusing to admit what she had done.

"Heh, now he denies it. Xiaojing, your devoted little attendant was right here at the window. He saw me and ran off in fright."

A soft voice floated down from the Elegant Chamber above. Zhu Bafu hurriedly looked up. A young woman leaned against the railing, chin propped on her hand as she gazed down into the main hall. She wore a Peony Fragrant Embroidered Robe; a smile curved her pink lips beneath long lashes and alluring eyes. Every expression was as dazzling as a peony in full bloom.

But that gorgeous woman was testifying against her and trying to get her killed! What a vicious heart! As a woman herself, what right did she have to stand so openly inside Dongxu Mansion and frame her? They were both women in the same predicament—why tell the truth if it was going to get someone killed?!

"Xiaojing, your devoted little attendant is adorable. He's batting his eyes at me."

Ranking List

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Historical Romance

Woman Dressed as a Man