Female Disguised as a Man: A Warring States Hostage Slave Cannot Escape Chapter 25

Inside the second-floor library, Ying Wuji, believing everything had already been taken care of, sat beneath the lamplight carefully studying a secret letter that had just arrived from Handan. The remains of his supper, untouched by the servants, still sat upon the nearby table, consisting as always entirely of vegetarian dishes.

When hurried footsteps echoed loudly up the spiral staircase, sounding as though the newcomer was in desperate haste, he set down his brush and relaxed his brow. Merely from the weak, unsteady rhythm of those footsteps, he remained seated, calmly waiting. He had already guessed who it was.

When Zhao Shu finally climbed upstairs, filthy and bedraggled, supporting herself against the railing, Ying Wuji frowned despite himself. Before he could speak, however, she addressed him in a stern, commanding voice. “Please send your men to Changming Palace immediately and save my younger clanswoman.”

The young man stood several paces away, his hair and clothing soaked with rainwater and caked with mud. It was easy to imagine how many times he must have stumbled on the way here. He looked as pitiful as a stray dog driven from its home, yet the words that left his mouth seemed to have returned to those spoken three years ago, cold, authoritative, and utterly intolerant of refusal.

The sight stirred memories Ying Wuji would rather have forgotten. He had only recently returned from riding along the Qin-Zhao frontier, and with unrest now breaking out throughout the various kingdoms, he had had no intention of wasting any further attention on Zhao Shu.

Water dripped steadily from that pale, icy face, soaking the exquisitely embroidered sleeves and sash of the robe she wore. It was a garment from Changming Palace. Mi Yan and Lord Hengyuan both adored luxury and extravagance, and the palace seamstresses there were unrivaled throughout the realm.

Even stained with mud and rain, the raven-blue robe embroidered with interlocking diamond motifs still accentuated the graceful figure and refined bearing of the person wearing it.

Everything connected to Changming Palace irritated Ying Wuji beyond measure. Yet at this moment, his eyes remained fixed upon the exhausted figure gasping for breath in the antechamber, and no matter how he tried, he could not look away.

“Lord Hengyuan doesn’t retire until the third night watch after drinking well into the night. If someone leaves now, they’ll certainly still make it in time!”

Seeing him merely staring at her in silence, Zhao Shu suppressed her panic and urged him again in an even sharper voice.

Ying Wuji smiled, though the smile never reached his eyes. Tilting back his head, he stretched his somewhat stiff neck before lazily reclining against the couch beneath the window. His voice was cool as he asked, “Do you still think you’re in Handan? On what grounds should I obey your orders and save someone? Whether there’s still time or not, what concern is that of mine?”

The more frantic and desperate she was, the more leisurely and mocking he became.

More than once, Zhao Shu had heard Xin You and the palace servants mention that Lord Hengyuan lived with his days and nights reversed. His evening meal usually consisted of a hundred delicacies accompanied by the finest wines, lasting until the end of the second night watch. Only after bathing in the hot springs would he summon his concubines to attend him sometime after the third watch.

Yet now, according to the water clock in the room, it was only slightly past the beginning of the evening watch.

Some small part of Zhao Shu still clung to hope. She prayed that she had misunderstood everything, and so she resolved to try one final method.

The longer she had remained in Qin, the more completely she had discarded all the dignity and pride that had once taught her it was better to die standing than live kneeling.

Her entire body was freezing. Suppressing the trembling in her chest, she slowly knelt before him once again. This time she spoke no words at all. Instead, she bent deeply forward, imitating the posture Jiaoyue had once assumed, clasping both hands above her head before forcefully knocking her forehead against the floor.

Aside from before her late mother, never in her entire life, not even before Zhao Wang himself, had she ever performed such a humiliating bow reserved for servants.

A dark fire flickered in Ying Wuji’s eyes. For a fleeting instant, he even regretted not quietly disposing of that foolish girl surnamed Qi. At the same time, an inexplicable ache welled up inside him.

On the day his younger sister had been punished, he too had knelt before the icy stone steps of Changming Palace’s main courtyard, desperately begging for mercy.

But that faint pain vanished almost as quickly as it came. People often said that after seven years, a person’s very bones were renewed. His heart had remained numb for so long that even when he looked back upon those memories now, they felt impossibly distant, as though they had happened to someone else.

His gaze settled upon one of Zhao Shu’s feet.

She had lost one shoe while running here. The silk stocking covering that foot was stained nearly black with mud, yet its delicate shape was still unmistakable.

Ying Wuji watched silently. Almost unconsciously, he ran his tongue lightly across one canine tooth. He opened his hand and rubbed his fingertips together in empty air, suddenly thinking that her foot might not even be much larger than his own palm.

He wanted to take hold of it and compare.

He wanted to do so tonight.

“Get up. I have no need for anyone to kneel before me.” He made no move to help her. Instead, he rested his chin lazily upon one hand and leaned casually against the desk with a faint smile. “Do you still think you’re Zhao’s Crown Prince, whose knees are worth ten thousand pieces of gold? You kneel like this, but what benefit do I gain from it? Why should I follow your wishes and rescue someone on your behalf?”

The vague, burning thoughts that had lingered between them seemed at last to be taking unmistakable shape.

Zhao Shu straightened into a kneeling position again, subtly drawing that exposed foot back beneath her robes. Lowering her voice without meeting his eyes, she asked quietly, “Then… what would it take… for you… my lord… to be willing to save her?”

He did not answer immediately. Instead, she heard him rise and begin walking toward her. A moment later, still keeping her head lowered, she saw a pair of black boots stop before her.

In the next instant, two fingers lifted her chin. She found herself looking into a face wearing a smile as gentle as a spring breeze. Bending over her, the man gazed down with eyes of deep emerald green that glittered like polished jade in the candlelight.

“Do you truly not know… what I want?” His final words had already become slightly hoarse. Yet there was no warmth whatsoever in those emerald eyes. Instead, they held the cold composure, and eager anticipation, of a predator moments before closing in on its prey.

The chill in that gaze made Zhao Shu tremble ever so slightly.

To Ying Wuji, that reaction alone was answer enough.

She understood exactly what he wanted.

Ying Wuji’s throat bobbed. His fingers tightened, and with a sudden pull he swept Zhao Shu into his arms. Her cheek bumped against his chest, causing his breathing to quicken. Yet instead of acting immediately, he abruptly changed the subject and asked in a low voice, “Are you really so infatuated with that girl? You’re both only fourteen or fifteen years old. Just how many years has this relationship of yours lasted?”

Having allowed desire to take root, an unconscious note of flirtation crept into his words.

“What nonsense are you talking about? I accepted Yingying as my younger clanswoman. I was always meant to protect her for the rest of my life. I’m nothing like you people… with your filthy minds.”

His broad hand remained pressed firmly against her back. After blurting out those words in frustration, Zhao Shu suddenly recalled the decrepit, debauched appearance of Lord Hengyuan she had seen in the great hall that day. For a moment, she could hardly bear to imagine it. In only a few more hours, that old man, older even than her father, with dozens of children and grandchildren already, might well be lying in the same bed as Yingying after the third watch of the night.

Qi Ying was only fourteen. Even if Lord Hengyuan were Qin Wang himself, Zhao Shu would never willingly let a girl in the bloom of youth become his concubine.

She even found herself thinking that if this man refused to help as well, she would almost rather kill Qi Ying herself with a single stroke of the sword.

Someone pinched her earlobe. Startled back to reality, Zhao Shu looked up with tears glistening in her eyes and said softly, “Everything before… it was all my fault. I know you hate me, Imperial Grandson. No matter what you wish to do… no matter how you wish to take revenge… today… I’ll accept it.”

Ying Wuji paused. His fingertips continued absentmindedly rubbing and kneading her soft, translucent earlobe as the warm glow of palace lanterns bathed the two of them.

After weighing it over and over, he had originally intended not to appear too impatient. Yet the icy body nestled in his embrace burned against his heart, stirring feelings unlike anything he had ever experienced. Never before had he wanted so desperately to be this close to another person, to press them completely against himself.

Strength gathering beneath his palm, Ying Wuji suddenly lowered his head until his forehead rested against hers. His blazing emerald eyes no longer avoided hers but stared directly into Zhao Shu’s anxious, flickering almond-shaped eyes.

A drop of rain slid from her hair into her eye. She instinctively blinked her left eye, then frowned and forced it open again, waiting for his judgment.

Only from such close proximity did Ying Wuji discover that her eyes were actually perfectly round. Illuminated by the candlelight, they resembled those of a rabbit spirit, as though they contained all the vitality and purity of heaven and earth. They were astonishingly clear and endearing.

Back in Handan, those eyes had usually been filled with laughter. Since arriving in Qin, however, they had so often carried sorrow that their natural brightness and charm had remained hidden.

Their temples nearly brushing, he watched her eyes grow even wider. His gaze wandered lightly over the skin of her face, which was far from flawless, before he leaned closer and murmured beside her ear, “You still think this is revenge? If my mother’s death had truly been your doing, you should have been torn apart by five horses long ago.”

“Then what do you want?” Zhao Shu could no longer endure this teasing, leisurely game he seemed to be playing. Just as she tried to lean back and put some distance between them, the man suddenly tightened his grip and held her firmly.

One of Ying Wuji’s hands supported her back while the other clasped the back of her head securely. Straightening to his full height, he let his chin rest wearily atop her rain-soaked hair.

Zhao Shu’s entire face was buried against his chest, making it difficult for her to breathe. Unable to make sense of his unpredictable moods, she briefly wondered if he intended to suffocate her.

Then she heard a low, gentle sigh above her head. “Tonight… stay with me.” His voice was quiet. “Let me… hold you.”

She could not see the faint flush spreading across his face.

After struggling free enough to turn her head and draw a deep breath, Zhao Shu finally understood what he meant by “hold you.” Although she had already suspected as much, hearing him say it aloud still startled her. She bit her lip instinctively and, unable to accept it so easily, rolled her eyes in helpless disbelief.

Before she had time to answer, the world suddenly spun.

Strong arms slipped beneath her knees, lifting her effortlessly into a bridal carry. Without another word or even another glance at her, Ying Wuji simply carried her downstairs.

On the eastern side of the second floor was the bathing chamber. Her fingers clenched the front of his robe so tightly that her knuckles nearly turned white. Then she heard the carved beast-head spout above the bath being turned, followed by the sound of hot spring water pouring steadily into the stone pool.

Silence filled the room. Only the rushing water echoed as warm mist gradually spread through the chamber.

She still gave him no answer. Neither did he speak again.

When the steam had filled nearly half the room, Ying Wuji finally set her down beside the bath. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he reached out with one hand to remove her shoes and stockings, while the other continued supporting her back without ever letting go.

Once her shoes and stockings had been removed, her small, elegant feet were revealed. Her skin was pale as jade, and her toenails, faintly pink and translucent, bore two conspicuous smears of dried mud.

As Ying Wuji bent down to gather her feet into his hands, Zhao Shu seemed suddenly to come back to her senses. She immediately curled her legs up, pulling her feet away.

The man gave her no chance to escape. His movements were astonishingly quick. With effortless ease he caught both of her feet, drew them back into his grasp, and silently began rubbing and massaging them through the warm mist. The force of his hands gradually became less restrained, while an increasingly mesmerizing intensity settled over his handsome features.

“There’s no time… Please… go to Changming Palace and save her first.”

A cool, supple hand rested lightly upon his forearm. Though Zhao Shu spoke hesitantly, there was unmistakable determination in her voice.

Ying Wuji scarcely paused to think. “Very well.” He answered softly. 

Immediately afterward, he turned toward the window and gave a sharp whistle. Within only a few breaths, a shadow guard appeared silently upon the floating bridge outside the window.

The guard had just started forward when he heard his master call through the open window. “Go to Changming Palace. Tell Cheng Wu to hurry and make sure everything is handled properly. By tomorrow morning, I expect to see her.”

The guard visibly froze.

His master had always been calm and meticulous. Tonight, however, he seemed like an entirely different person.

Even when every shadow guard had already been summoned to Lantai, Ying Wuji’s usual habit was to issue every order, great or small, with the utmost caution. Whenever they were mobilized, he would normally summon them into the secret chamber, or at the very least into a private room, before giving instructions.

Never had he acted so…

The shadow guard was a straightforward soldier rather than a man of letters. He had only just managed to settle on the word impatient in his mind when the window above slammed shut with a sharp bang. Though astonished, he dared not delay. He cupped his fists respectfully toward the room before disappearing once more into the curtain of rain to carry out his master’s orders.

***

Spring rain poured from the heavens in unrelenting sheets. Though it was only the end of the you hour, the torrential downpour had already turned the evening sky nearly black. Inside the bath chamber on the second floor of the small pavilion, Ying Wuji moved through the circular inner rooms, closing each window one by one. Only half of the western window in the music room was left slightly ajar to allow a sliver of fresh air inside.

Once he had made certain that the person waiting in the bath chamber would not be chilled by the night wind, he began removing his clothes as he strode quickly back inside.

First came the jade belt clasp inlaid with luminous moon pearls, then the black outer robe embroidered in dark gold with taowu motifs, followed by his thick-soled black boots. By the time he crossed the short distance, garments had been discarded across the floor behind him.

When Ying Wuji finally reached the edge of the bathing pool, only a single ivory-white inner robe remained.

The robe itself was woven from the finest Yue silk, embroidered using the exceptionally intricate double-palace technique. From a distance it appeared completely plain, yet upon closer inspection the understated craftsmanship revealed itself. Threads of the same color had been used to create sweeping patterns of auspicious clouds and mountains. As he moved, the embroidery shifted like drifting clouds and glowing dawn mist, giving him an almost celestial air.

Zhao Shu had already struggled upright from where she had been slumped beside the pool and now sat weakly against the corner of the wall.

With his outer garments gone, the difference in their physiques became even more striking. She dared glance at him only once before quickly averting her eyes. Unwilling to let him see her unease, she fixed her gaze upon the faintly visible embroidery on his robe instead, pretending to study its patterns.

“Take yours off.” Ying Wuji never once looked away from her. The instant those words left his mouth, he noticed her body shudder dramatically. He immediately softened his voice and added, “People fall ill easily in early spring. Get into the water first and warm yourself.”

Zhao Shu remained seated with her knees drawn to her chest. Her snow-white feet, still streaked with mud, rested upon the black-and-white veined mica stone beside the pool.

The sight alone stirred an old memory in Ying Wuji’s mind.

Once, while attending to urgent business, he had accidentally intruded upon Mi Rong during one of his amorous affairs. He had seen Mi Rong bind a beautiful young man across an agate couch, the pale body stretched out against the crimson stone like red plum blossoms upon fresh snow.

Mi Rong had laughed then, saying that if a boy’s first night took place in warm water and one proceeded patiently, it was less likely to cause lasting injury.

Now, as Ying Wuji stared at the flowing black and white patterns across the polished mica floor, he found himself wondering what Zhao Shu’s pale skin would look like lying bare upon those stones.

The thought unexpectedly reminded him of silky white tofu dotted with reddish-brown bean paste.

His throat instantly went dry.

Merely imagining the scene was enough to provoke a physical response.

“The spring… it’s too hot. I… I don’t feel cold… yet.”

Her timid, kitten-soft voice only intensified it.

Yet alongside his desire, a wave of irritation and cold resentment suddenly surfaced.

Before the assembled ministers, he was regarded as an upright and virtuous statesman beyond reproach. He cherished talent, respected worthy men, patiently navigated the stubborn traditionalists forever preaching ancestral law, and carefully weighed Qin’s future amid the chaos engulfing the realm.

To him, noble bloodlines and ancient aristocratic pedigrees meant nothing if they lacked ability.

The person before him embodied everything he had always despised.

Unable to ride or command troops, ignorant of military strategy, even among the idle young nobles of the various kingdoms Zhao Shu had always ranked among the most useless in his eyes.

Had it not been for what happened three years earlier, Zhao Shu should have died on the very night of arriving in Qin as a hostage, pierced through the heart by heavy crossbow bolts. Grandson of the Son of Heaven or not, Ying Wuji was not like Mi Rong, who delighted in such amusements. He would not even have spared the corpse a second glance.

And yet…

This utterly useless person now sat huddled miserably in the bath chamber, hugging their knees.

And somehow, that alone was enough to awaken such desire within him.

Suppressing the darkness gathering in his eyes, Ying Wuji lowered his gaze.

If his thoughts had already reached this point, then perhaps it would be better simply to have her completely. Once the novelty had worn away, perhaps she would no longer have the power to unsettle him.

The thought only made his desire more restless and irritable.

His sash fluttered lightly as he suddenly crouched beside the pool to test the water’s temperature.

Seen from Zhao Shu’s angle, his relaxed posture revealed something she had never noticed before. Though he usually appeared imposing and broad-shouldered, without his outer robes his back and shoulder blades beneath the thin silk looked unexpectedly lean, even gaunt compared to most warriors.

He was not yet twenty.

His profile was sharply defined, his nose straight and elegant. When silent, both his brows and lips carried a naturally gentle beauty. His deeply set eyes, inherited from his northern Hu ancestry, always seemed to hold an endless hint of desolation whenever they grew still.

Having risen from the status of a condemned slave to such heights, what burden still weighed upon his heart?

He drank no wine, sought no banquets or pleasures, kept no beautiful women, and had even abandoned lavish feasts of meat and delicacies.

Among all the kingdoms, she doubted another man like him could be found.

Surely he was not like those Confucian scholars who spent every day lamenting the suffering of the common people and dreaming of rescuing the world?

The room had become comfortably warm beneath the drifting steam. Just as Zhao Shu’s thoughts began to wander, the man suddenly turned his head toward her.

Their eyes met.

His emerald gaze blazed with startling brilliance, and a dangerous smile curved his lips. Like ice melting beneath the warmth of spring, every trace of the melancholy she had imagined moments before had vanished.

The meaning in those eyes struck Zhao Shu like a thunderclap.

She drew in a sharp breath.

Before she could even rise to retreat, his long arm swept out, catching her effortlessly. In one motion he pulled her toward himself, rolled with her, and pinned her against the mica-patterned stone floor beside the pool.

The hot spring truly was warm enough that even the stones beside the water had been heated.

Yet the young man looming over her burned hotter still. “If you’re not cold…” he murmured, “…then we may as well bathe afterward.”

Using only part of his weight, he restrained her so completely that she could not move. Freeing one hand, he gently brushed his fingertips across her trembling, chilled lips. Though desire filled his eyes, his touch remained restrained as he spoke in the gentlest tone he could manage.

“Don’t be afraid. If it hurts too much… I’ll stop for a while. I won’t hurt you.”

Her shoulders, arms, and legs were all held firmly beneath him. It was the first time Zhao Shu had ever remained fully conscious while being embraced so closely by a man.

Many things in life seemed entirely different when experienced firsthand rather than merely seen or heard.

The warmth of his body left her frightened, bewildered, and utterly at a loss.

But before she could think of some excuse to delay him further, his handsome face suddenly descended toward hers. She instinctively turned her head to avoid him. Instead, his teeth closed gently around her earlobe.

She immediately frowned and struggled violently to evade him. The instant she felt his warm breath brush the corner of her lips, Zhao Shu fought desperately to free one arm, raising it to block his lingering affection. She still managed to maintain an outward appearance of calm and fearlessness as she said coldly and seriously, “I don’t trust the people you’ve sent. Take me outside Changming Palace first. Once Yingying comes out…”

The man answered in a low voice with a solemn promise, “I’ve already dispatched two groups. Something this minor won’t go wrong. By tomorrow morning, she’ll be standing before you safe and sound.”

As he spoke, he bent down to continue, but Zhao Shu could not break free. She simply covered his lips with her palm and said gently, “I’m still worried. This isn’t something that can be treated lightly.”

At that, although Ying Wuji was still burning with desire, the sour pang in his heart cleared his mind somewhat. Raising an eyebrow, he teased her, saying, “Even if I take you there, I can’t openly march into that man’s residence. We’d only be waiting outside Changming Palace until they found an opportunity to make the exchange and bring her out. By then, it would be at least the Hour of Hai.”

The further he spoke, the more panic he saw filling the eyes of the person beneath him. Suddenly, Ying Wuji found that watching her struggle like a trapped beast, making futile attempts to resist, held a peculiar kind of fascination.

Yet the fear in her eyes did not seem feigned. Strangely, it cooled some of the heat coursing through his body. As his lust diminished slightly, something warm and tingling seemed to take root and sprout within his chest. He did not understand what it was, only that it felt somehow even more satisfying than desire itself.

He wanted to see her surrender completely, helpless and alone, with nowhere to turn except him, able only to direct pleading eyes toward him alone.

So he added fuel to the fire. “The first time won’t take long. If we start now, you’ll still make it to Changming Palace before the Hour of Hai…”

Just as he was about to tease her further, Zhao Shu interrupted, “But… I… I suddenly… I’m so hungry. Y-you should at least give me something to eat first.”

Faced with such an obvious and clumsy attempt to stall for time, the man’s patience finally began to wear thin. Chuckling in irritation instead of humoring her, he pinched her chin between his long fingers and demanded, “What? A descendant of the Zhou royal clan expects this lord to rescue someone for you, and now you’re planning to swindle me out of my reward?”

A dark displeasure gradually surfaced in his eyes. Having resolved to shatter the fantasy that had haunted him these past days, he was just about to act when his fingertips suddenly became wet with tears. Then he heard the youth sob through choking breaths, “I’ve never gone back on my word or owed anyone anything! I really am starving, my stomach hurts. You… just give me some wine. Once I’ve had a drink, I won’t… I won’t cheat you!”

It was like a stone falling into a still lake, sending ripples across its surface. The resolve he had only just solidified was thrown into disarray.

An inexplicable heaviness clogged his chest. Breathing roughly, Ying Wuji turned his gaze aside. In the end, he rolled off her and let her go, pulled on his outer robe with a dark expression, and strode out.

Less than half an hour later, attendants arrived carrying steaming pastries, soup, meat dishes, vegetables, and a pot of warmed wine. Most of it consisted of rich meats and sweet desserts, and two of the dishes had once been Zhao Shu’s favorites.

She had only intended to buy some time, ideally until the beginning of the Hour of Hai. Then she would trick him into taking her to Changming Palace first. Once there, she would find a way to send Qi Ying away alone, while she herself would use the excuse of preparing a new prescription for Duchess Yong to slip back into Changming Palace.

As for the secret of her identity, so long as there remained even the slightest possibility, she had to keep struggling to protect it.

Perhaps the food was simply too delicious, or perhaps the sight of the man reading a scroll while occasionally chatting with her was sufficiently disarming. After only two cups of Floating Pistil Spring wine, Zhao Shu gradually relaxed from her initial state of tense vigilance.

Thinking of all the hardships she had endured entering Qin, along with the uncertain cruelties that awaited her in the future, she could not help drinking another couple of cups.

“So it was because you encountered a similar lower back ailment in Nanyue that you dared to treat her chronic condition?”

Zhao Shu nodded. Naturally, she was not about to admit that she had acted on impulse and had only cured Mi Yan’s back ailment through sheer blind luck.

Of all the dishes on the table, only a tenth or two had been eaten. She kept chewing without pause, taking an absurdly long time to finish even a single bite.

Another half hour passed. Seeing that the water clock was approaching the end of the Hour of Xu, Ying Wuji gently coaxed the still unusually pale-faced girl, “Are you full yet?”

Before Zhao Shu could answer, she let out a loud burp. “There’s still so much sliced meat left on this plate…”

The man rolled up his bamboo scroll and set it down on the table with a crisp snap. Rising to his feet, he crossed the room in two strides. “If you’re full, then it’s time for this lord to collect his reward.” As he spoke, he bent down, hoisted her upside down over his shoulder in one motion.

“I’m not full yet! P-put me down first!”

Hearing her continue trying to delay him, Ying Wuji smiled. He tossed her lightly onto the couch beside the bathing pool, where clothes had been piled high, then pecked her lips. “If we wait any longer, it’ll be dawn. You’re full now, but you’re going to let your benefactor go hungry? What kind of logic is that?”

As their lips met and something burning hot pressed against her leg, Zhao Shu, emboldened by the wine, bit down viciously on his thin lip. While he recoiled in startled anger, she summoned every ounce of strength she possessed and lashed out with both hands and feet.

Miraculously, she actually managed to kick him several steps away. Knowing she had already struck him, she steeled herself, rolled off the couch, crashed onto the mica-patterned tiled floor with a painful grimace, and before he could grab her again, shouted recklessly, “What kind of benefactor are you? You’re nothing but a despicable man who takes advantage of others when they’re vulnerable! You b*stard! Aren’t you supposed to like men? Then I’ll let you like one!”

The moment she finished shouting, she did not hesitate. She threw herself into the bathing pool. The water was pleasantly warm, soothing her chilled body. Then the youth emerged from the water, facing upward, raised a hand, and rubbed hard along the line of the jaw before slowly peeling away the disguise adhered to the skin.

When the entire mask finally came off, she casually flung it aside, revealing a face that was strikingly similar to before, yet utterly different, a young maiden’s face, delicate and youthful, soft as jade and lovely as a flower.

Ying Wuji stared in stunned silence.

Standing in the pool with her clothes soaked through, Zhao Shu had shed her disguise. In her male disguise, she had appeared merely as a refined-looking young man, but now her true features seemed to spring vividly to life. Her beauty could not even be described as one capable of toppling kingdoms. Her blushing face was youthful and innocent, and above all, there was an ethereal purity in her expression, as though an immortal child from the Ninth Heaven had descended into the mortal world.

“You…” He barely managed to recover himself, frowning in confusion as he asked, “Among the rulers and nobles of the various states, there are plenty blessed with exceptional beauty. Why did you go through so much trouble disguising yourself like this?”

Even after all that, he still hadn’t recognized her? Zhao Shu suddenly felt as though she had wasted more than ten years wearing that disguise.

Since she had already taken this step, there was no point in stopping halfway.

No longer speaking in riddles, she lifted her chin and removed the hairpin from her head. Her dark hair cascaded down like a waterfall of black silk, and she loosened the binding across her chest after slipping off her outer robe.

Her figure, soaked through by the pool water, was slender and gracefully curved. Half-lidding her eyes, she met his gaze calmly. “I am the only daughter of the late Queen of Zhao. In the genealogies of the Zhou royal house and the State of Zhao, the single-character name recorded for me is ‘Shu’ (殊), but my true name is Zhao Shu (姝). I am not fifteen this year, but seventeen. The Princess Changle who died young and is enshrined in Handan’s ancestral temple… is none other than the present-day Young Master Shu.”