That kind of erotic picture book?
This woman was entirely too bold!
Where on earth did she get such a shameless book and have the audacity to leave it right out in his study for all to see?
If someone else had laid eyes on it, shameless Feng Youyou might not mind making a fool of herself, but he certainly would!
While cursing Feng Youyou in his heart for her lack of shame, he nevertheless picked up the picture book with the guilty stealth of a common thief.
Gathering his courage, he carefully flipped it open as if he were unsealing some profound and mighty martial arts manual.
Volume 1, Chapter 39: Fleeing the Imperial Palace to Roam the Rivers and Lakes
The very first page featured a man without a stitch of clothing.
Whoa! Good grief, was it really this explosive?
Stark naked right from the start?
It really was drastically different from what he had imagined.
Upon closer inspection, however, something was amiss. This wasn't a man at all—it was missing the crucial equipment.
It seemed this was a woman. The artist's skill was truly beyond description; couldn't he at least have drawn someone a bit prettier?
And that figure was far too flat.
Gu Tingxiao sneered. In all his years, this was the first time he had ever laid eyes on such a picture book, let alone found one sitting on a woman's desk.
A woman from the future was indeed different; her openness was downright terrifying.
Feng Youyou must be a seasoned veteran at this. Thank goodness he hadn't acted rashly, or he would have made a fool of himself right in front of her.
With this thought, a sudden surge of solemn respect for the picture book welled up within him, as if he were about to glean the supreme essence of life from its pages—
and transform into a veteran as experienced as Feng Youyou.
Considering how clever he had been since childhood, capable of mastering anything at a glance, he ought to pick this up in no time.
With an eager heart, he turned to the second page. Another bare-chested man appeared in the illustration, his eyes narrowed into slits, looking utterly sleazy at first glance.
Had it gotten straight to the point already?
Nervously, he turned to the third page.
A man and a woman sat facing each other, cross-legged.
?
He was somewhat baffled.
What kind of bizarre posture was this?
Puzzled, he flipped to the third page again. It was still the same two people, except now—why were they squatting in horse stances?
Hmm, and why did it look strikingly like a brawl?
No, he could tell for certain: they were actually fighting!
!
He frantically flipped through the rest of the book from start to finish. It was all fighting.
He simply turned to the final page and found a single line of minuscule characters: To master the divine technique, one must first castrate oneself.
Gu Tingxiao was left with a head full of black lines.
What on earth is this?
With a sharp snap, he closed the book and looked at the cover. Written across it were the words: Sunflower Manual, Martial Arts Secret.
Damn it all, what kind of trashy picture book was this?!
In a fit of fury, he hurled the book fiercely against the desk...
Why on earth would Feng Youyou be reading books like this?
What sort of martial arts manual required self-castration before you could even practice it?
Castration?
Wait a minute. Wasn't Feng Youyou deliberately leaving this book here to trap him into reading it? This was clearly a veiled insult implying that he was a eunuch!
At this thought, his anger flared even higher.
Suppressing the urge to draw his sword, storm into the bedchamber, and cut Feng Youyou down with a single stroke, he strode out of the study with a face as dark as iron.
Li Qi didn't dare to get too close, quietly trailing behind him as they made their way toward Xuanming Hall.
...
Wuyou Palace
Feng Youyou lay in bed, pondering what had just come over her.
Ever since she learned from the original owner's memories that Gu Tingxiao was none other than Xiao Jiu, the little eunuch who had once wanted to marry the original owner,
she had actually felt a tiny flicker of pity for him.
How could she possibly think he wasn't so terrifying anymore?
Since Gu Tingxiao was Xiao Jiu, could his invasion of the Imperial Palace have been to fulfill the promise he made to the original owner all those years ago?
If Gu Tingxiao's feelings for the original owner were so persistent, why on earth did the original owner in history ultimately die because of him?
Feng Youyou let out a deep sigh. Her life was truly wretched; why had she transmigrated into the body of such a tragic character, only to repeat this melodramatic life?
In a fit of vexation, she pulled the quilt over her head, only to hear the System awaken within her mind.
Having botched the poison last time, the System had cowered and stayed hidden for days without showing its face. Today, as soon as it arrived, it shrieked at the top of its lungs.
[Host, cheer up! Your system has upgraded!]
Feng Youyou was in a foul mood and didn't feel like paying it any mind.
The System chuckled.
[What's wrong, Host? Your system has upgraded, aren't you happy? The Host harvested a full crop of emotional growth values today, and the System has successfully upgraded to Level Two! The Host immediately receives one Great Recovery Pill.]
Feng Youyou no longer held any hope for the System. The last upgrade had given her a poison that killed at the mere sight of blood; she had thought that slipping it into Gu Tingxiao's mouth would send him straight to heaven, but in the end, it still hadn't managed to poison him to death.
To this day, she still couldn't figure out whether Gu Tingxiao had realized she was trying to poison him that day and dealt with her on purpose.
If so, how on earth had he known she was poisoning him? Why did he catch her red-handed both times?
Hearing that the System had upgraded, she lay lazily on the bed, feeling not a shred of surprise.
[Heh, a Great Recovery Pill? What kind of nonsense is that? Is it going to be another poison, expecting me to go poison Gu Tingxiao? Hmph, I think I'll pass; that path is a dead end.]
The System was immensely proud. [Why is the Host so lacking in confidence toward the System? The System doesn't only provide poisons. This Great Recovery Pill isn't a poison at all—it's a tonic! Eating it allows one to instantly possess martial arts and transform into a martial artist.]
Hearing this, Feng Youyou stared blankly and asked, [Eating this Great Recovery Pill will give me martial arts? I won't be this weak chicken anymore?]
The System nodded solemnly.
Feng Youyou was overjoyed.
Whoa, the System is amazing!
The System had really stepped up to the plate this time, bringing her the martial arts she wanted most!
What was she waiting for?
She was going to escape this melodramatic life right now, take her little System buddy, and roam the ends of the earth where the sky was vast and the sea was wide.
[System buddy, I love you to death!]
She sprung up from the bed with a carp's leap.
If the System had a physical form, she would have loved to grab it and plant a kiss on it.
Flustered and flattered, the System offered a timid reminder.
[However, the grade of this Great Recovery Pill isn't very high, so the martial prowess the Host acquires will be mediocre.]
Feng Youyou snapped her fingers. [Good enough! As long as it's enough for us to escape the Imperial Palace and run far, far away, that's all that matters. You're going to upgrade again anyway, so you can just give me an even more powerful Great Recovery Pill later.]
The System sounded thoroughly confident. [As long as the Host can acquire enough emotional growth value, the System can bring the Host even more good things.]
Feng Youyou smiled with satisfaction. [Let's leave right now, and walk right out of this ghost place in broad daylight!]
The moment she leaped out of bed, the little eunuch guarding the door stepped forward and knelt, waiting to see if his master had any instructions.
Suppressing the turmoil in her heart, Feng Youyou asked the little eunuch in a flat tone, "Where is the Marquis?"
The little eunuch replied respectfully, "The Marquis has already gone to Xuanming Hall."
Feng Youyou's eyes rolled. Although she now possessed some martial arts, the System had stated that the grade wasn't high, so she still needed to proceed with caution.
She threw on her outer robe and got to her feet. "Go prepare the carriage. This Palace is going to Xuanming Hall."
The little eunuch asked doubtfully, "Eldest Princess, it's not even dawn yet. Why are you going to Xuanming Hall? Should this slave go report to Steward Li first?"
Feng Youyou thought for a moment. Li Huaiyu? Perfect. Summoning him would come in very handy.
"This Palace has urgent business to see the Marquis about. First go summon Li Huaiyu, and then have the carriage prepared. My back hurts, so I can't take a sedan chair today; I will ride in a carriage."
The little eunuch hesitated for a moment before acknowledging the order and scurrying out.
Within the blink of an eye, Li Huaiyu hurried over from next door.
He had been wondering why the Eldest Princess was summoning him before dawn, but the moment he stepped through the door, he was knocked unconscious.
With his eyes blown wide, he watched Feng Youyou wielding a long candle holder before collapsing to the floor.
Feng Youyou secured the door and took Li Huaiyu's waist plaque.
Heh, with this—the waist plaque of the Grand Eunuch and Chief Steward of the Imperial City Bureau—her departure would be completely unobstructed.
Feng Youyou hurried over to the side room, shook Xiaoli awake, and tossed a set of regular attendant robes meant for a young eunuch out of the palace onto her. "Hurry up and get dressed, you're coming with me."
Xiaoli was still half-asleep, rubbing her drowsy eyes as she looked at Feng Youyou, who had already changed into men's attire.
"Princess, what are you doing?"
Volume 1, Chapter 40: Young Hero, Please Save This Poor Maiden
"I'm taking you to escape the Imperial Palace."
Xiaoli assumed she was talking in her sleep. "Did the Princess receive help from the Jade Emperor himself? How on earth are we supposed to escape?"
Feng Youyou urged her impatiently, "Never mind that, just hurry up and get up. Once we're out, I'll take you to live a carefree life."
...
Along the desolate palace road, the sound of horse hooves was crisp and resonant.
Feng Youyou and Xiaoli had cast aside their outer cloaks and veiled hats, revealing the attendant uniforms underneath.
The two young eunuchs who had been driving their carriage had already been knocked unconscious and stashed away inside.
The Imperial guards stationed at the city gate spotted a carriage rushing toward them from a distance.
"It's the middle of the night, why are two eunuchs leaving the palace?" A commander on duty eyed them warily.
Feng Youyou sat in the driver's seat while Xiaoli sat demurely inside the carriage. From afar, the commander caught a glimpse of a sturdy figure that looked like an official of fairly high rank.
Feng Youyou produced the waist plaque she had prepared long in advance and handed it over.
"It's Chief Steward Li inside the carriage. He's leaving the palace on urgent official business."
The commander inspected it closely, his expression instantly turning to one of alarm. "Ah, so it is Chief Steward Li."
A ingratiating smile bloomed across his face. "Thank you for your hard work, Chief Steward Li, heading out on official business at such an hour! Hard work indeed!"
He waved a hand at the guards behind him. "Open the gates."
The city gates swung open.
The carriage swaggered out through the palace gates.
With Li Huaiyu's waist plaque, they smoothly cleared the Imperial Palace in no time at all.
Taking advantage of the pre-dawn darkness, she whipped the horses relentlessly and pushed out past the city walls.
When she looked back, the towering, majestic Imperial Palace had already receded so far that only a faint, recognizable glimmer of lights remained in the night sky.
The carriage pulled over by the roadside to rest.
Xiaoli's jaw hung slack. Back in the palace, she had witnessed with her own eyes how the Eldest Princess—who previously lacked the strength to truss a chicken—had cleaved a young eunuch unconscious with a single palm strike.
Unable to believe her eyes, she asked, "Princess, you... you... you know martial arts?"
Feng Youyou held her head high with pride, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hmph, there are plenty of things I know how to do."
She rolled her shoulders; driving the carriage for so long had left her arms somewhat sore.
Xiaoli had entered the palace in her youth, and this was her very first time venturing beyond its walls.
Now, swept up in a mixture of excitement and nervous thrill, she cast her gaze around her surroundings...
It was the pitch-black, wind-whipping hour before dawn.
In the middle of a desolate country path stood a dilapidated temple. Before its leaf-strewn gates, a few flickering, dying paper lanterns swayed in the chilly wind.
There wasn't a single living soul in sight; everywhere was deathly quiet.
In those pitch-dark corners, countless malevolent eyes seemed to be lurking.
Having grown up entirely within the brightly lit confines of the Imperial Palace, Xiaoli felt a twinge of fear toward the encroaching darkness.
The joy of having just escaped the palace evaporated almost instantly.
Cowering close to Feng Youyou, she looked up with a worried expression and asked, "Princess, where are we going? There's not a single person in these barren hills, it's so terrifying. Is this what the Princess meant by roaming the ends of the earth?"
At that moment, perched upon the eaves of the ruined temple, a bald monk in Buddhist robes lay leisurely twirling the monk's shoe on his foot.
He had spotted Feng Youyou's swaying carriage trundling closer from afar.
Quietly, he listened in on the conversation unfolding beneath the eaves.
The two individuals standing below were entirely oblivious to the presence of someone right above them.
Shoving Xiaoli's bothersome head aside, Feng Youyou hopped down from the carriage.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and reached out to embrace the air of freedom.
"I've finally escaped! I've finally managed to rewrite my fate! Ah, such sweet air, the air of freedom..."
Just as she was blissfully basking in this hard-earned freedom, something slammed abruptly into her outstretched arms.
The impact sent her staggering, nearly knocking her to the ground.
Had she not recently acquired martial arts, that fragile, delicate body of hers would have practically had half the life knocked out of it by that collision!
"Young hero, save me!"
A dainty, seductive feminine voice rang out beside her ear.
Indignantly, Feng Youyou snapped her eyes open to find a coquettish, breathtakingly alluring beauty hurling herself into her arms, gazing up at her with a look of fawning entreaty.
Before Feng Youyou could even process what was happening, another sweet cry for help rang out, and a second equally gorgeous woman crashed into her arms...
And then a third!
Without exception, they were all stunning beauties of an alluring archetype, clinging entirely to her chest and pressing their hands right against her pectorals...
Fortunately, she was wearing a tight chest binder, so her chest felt remarkably like a solid pair of pectoral muscles at the moment.
Feng Youyou's face was covered in black lines.
Look here, my good ladies, I just wanted to embrace the air of freedom, why are you all burrowing into my embrace?
Off to the side, Xiaoli had no earthly idea what was going on. She rubbed her head and stared up at the sky—where on earth had these three gorgeous women suddenly popped up from?
The stunning beauties stroked Feng Youyou's "sturdy chest," and when they looked up to see Feng Youyou's handsome, refined face, etched with a trace of anger and possessing an androgynous, heroic aura,
their terror instantly melted into a hint of coy shyness.
Clearly, they had been completely captivated by the beauty of this "youthful young hero."
With blushing cheeks and amorous glances, they coquettishly whined at Feng Youyou, "Young hero, please save this poor maiden, someone is trying to forcibly seize us beauties."
"Young hero, have pity on us..."
Their breath, sweet as orchids, washed over Feng Youyou's ear, raising a forest of goosebumps.
Good lord! With these flickering lanterns, this terrifying ruined temple, and these alluring, bewitching beauties, was she running into ghosts?
The kind of female ghosts that specialized in sucking the vital yang energy of a "youthful young hero" like her!
Shivering, Feng Youyou shoved backward hard, trying to shake them off.
To her dismay, the beauties clung to her like octopuses, refusing to budge no matter how she tried to throw them off!
The lantern flickered...
A sharp clanging of swords rang out from behind her, and three masked men in black landed softly around Feng Youyou like phantoms.
Feng Youyou's heart tightened.
These visitors meant business!
Needless to say, these men had come precisely to forcibly seize these stunning beauties.
And right now, Feng Youyou was caught holding them all in her arms. The moment the three beauties caught sight of the men in black, they began to tremble and buried their faces into her chest.
To all appearances, it looked as though this young hero had stepped forth to right a wrong and was actively protecting the beauties in his embrace.
Naturally, she had also made herself the primary target of the assassins' attack!
Good mother in heaven!
She had claimed she wanted to roam the rivers and lakes, but she hadn't expected to be surrounded by a pack of martial arts experts right out of the gate!
She was truly a greenhorn just stepping into the pugilistic world, and she hadn't even had a chance to catch her breath.
She had no idea whether her martial arts skills were formidable or shallow; if she couldn't beat them, making a fool of herself would be a minor issue, but losing her life would be a major disaster!
At this terrifying spectacle, Xiaoli shrieked and burrowed right into her arms as well.
The Princess currently looked rather formidable; she ought to be able to protect her.
Feng Youyou instantly felt the crushing weight of responsibility.
No! Her head was throbbing with a dozen headaches at once.
The men in black touched down and immediately formed a tight encirclement around her, looking ready to launch an attack at any second.
At that moment, Feng Youyou deeply understood what it meant when they said: once you are in the pugilistic world, you are no longer the master of your own fate!
With a sharp whoosh, one of the men in black lunged at her with a drawn blade.
Feng Youyou's brain instantly shifted into combat mode. To her amazement, she didn't need to think at all—her body instinctively knew how to handle it.
Leaping into the air, she delivered a two-legged flying kick that sent the assassin crashing to the ground.
Another one came up from behind, whom she promptly flipped over her shoulder and slammed hard into the earth, where he let out a miserable wail.
Incredulous, Feng Youyou glanced down at the fallen assassin, then back at her own hands.
Whoa! The Great Recovery Pill was truly formidable.
The remaining assassin, short and stocky, watched his two companions bite the dust, yet maintained his ferocious demeanor as he leveled his saber at this seemingly frail youth.
"Hoh! You actually know a trick or two, kid. Got any other moves? Grandpa will play with you!"
Volume 1, Chapter 41: These Beauties, I'll Take Them off His Hands
Having effortlessly flattened two imperial palace guards, Feng Youyou was riding a wave of high spirits.
She cared even less for this short, stocky, and utterly unremarkable assassin.
Dusting off her lapels, she curled her lips into a smile, reached out to wrap an arm around the three terrified beauties, and spoke in a soothing whisper, "Don't be afraid, maidens. With this young hero here, I will certainly keep you safe!"
With eyes swimming in terrified, grateful tears, the beauties nodded repeatedly.
Feng Youyou cast a contemptuous glance toward the menacing assassin.
Faking a deepened, gruff voice, she shouted, "Scum! In broad daylight, how dare you attempt to forcibly seize innocent maidens? This young hero is here to uphold justice on the road. If you know what's good for you, clear out now while you still can!"
Throwing his head back, the assassin let out two booming laughs and barked fiercely at Feng Youyou, "Hey, kid! What broad daylight? It isn't even dawn yet! Are you spouting such arrogant nonsense even in your dreams? Hahaha..."
Only then did Feng Youyou raise her eyelids to properly appraise the short, stocky assassin.
Then, with a look of astonishment, she turned her head to exchange a glance with Xiaoli.
Wait—wasn't this fellow Li Qi?
Although he was wearing a mask, his distinct duck-call voice, the thick brows and wide eyes exposed above his veil, his diminutive stature, and the enormous saber that was practically dragging along the ground—
he was far too easy to recognize.
Feng Youyou and Xiaoli exchanged another glance.
Even with his face masked, they had recognized him instantly.
Was this Li Qi completely blind? The two of them had merely changed into different outfits, yet Li Qi hadn't managed to recognize them at all.
Lying atop the roof eaves, the monk gazed out into the dark night, a detached smile playing across a face that possessed the striking, proud brilliance of anything but a man of the cloth.
Even he, a wandering monk, had seen right through it.
Those were obviously two young women...
Feng Youyou suppressed a laugh inside.
As a high-ranking imperial guard and the Regent Marquis's personal attendant, Li Qi undoubtedly went out of the palace on official business from time to time.
But if he were truly executing official duties right now, why bother wearing a mask?
Could he be up to some shady, unspeakable business?
Was he actually here to forcibly seize beauties?
Shaking her head, Feng Youyou clicked her tongue twice and let out a disdainful chuckle. "Hoh! Truly, a crooked beam at the top means the rafters below are crooked too!"
Hearing this, Li Qi's eyes bulged with rage as he bellowed, "Kid, what did you just say?"
Calmly lowering her gaze, Feng Youyou glanced at the stunning beauties in her embrace—both in their early twenties, strikingly gorgeous and utterly alluring.
Perhaps Gu Tingxiao, that bullying, lawless perverted psycho, had taken a fancy to these stunning beauties, and when they refused to submit, he had sent Li Qi to capture them.
That had to be it.
In that case, she was all the more obligated to rescue these beauties and prevent them from falling into the tiger's den.
Shielding the beauties behind her, Feng Youyou crossed her hands.
Li Qi brandished his saber and swept it toward her.
The razor-sharp blade whipped up a flurry of fallen leaves with ferocious momentum.