Fuming, Qiu Lingshan fixed Wei Zhao with a stare and argued her case. "Wei Zhao, I, Qiu Lingshan, am not a loose woman. If you won't believe me, then there is nothing I can do about it! But I will say this: before that time in the basement, no man had ever seen my body!"

"All right, I believe you. But not being loose and being a flirt have no necessary connection." Wei Zhao did not want Qiu Lingshan tempting him any further. If this went on, something was bound to happen sooner or later; better to draw a line under it now, once and for all!

By now Wei Zhao had finished helping Qiu Lingshan raise her strength, which meant she would not be coming to him again any time soon. That was precisely why Wei Zhao had agreed to boost her power in the first place!

Otherwise, knowing the way Qiu Lingshan's mind worked, heaven only knew how she imagined this so-called "raising of her strength" was to be carried out! Touching herself right in front of him? Once or twice he could stomach, but give it enough time and — it was not as though Wei Zhao's inclinations were abnormal — something was sure to go wrong!

"Then I... will only be a flirt with you..." Qiu Lingshan thought better of correcting herself. So long as Wei Zhao believed in her innocence, that was all that mattered. As for flirting with Wei Zhao — what of it? She had already been his brainless girl and his little silly girl; she did not mind being his flirty girl for a change. So Qiu Lingshan said, "If you like, you may call me your flirty girl too..."

"Pfft..." At Qiu Lingshan's words Wei Zhao froze on the spot, and nearly stumbled and fallen flat on his face!

Since when was that all right? There were actually people who volunteered to be called a flirty girl? You had got to be kidding!

"I have things to do. Let's keep in touch by phone." Wei Zhao realized that he was having rather a hard time holding out.

Qiu Lingshan was a rare beauty indeed — and the way she groveled before him, with that faintly masochistic streak of hers, stirred in Wei Zhao a urge to climb over her and ravage her at his pleasure!

Unquestionably, among the women at Wei Zhao's side, each had her own particular charm, yet Qiu Lingshan was in a class by herself. For all the iron authority she showed before outsiders, before Wei Zhao she was obedient to the point of absurdity — a peculiarity that gave him a singular thrill, an inexpressible sense of accomplishment!

This feeling struck Wei Zhao as dangerous — and it left him hooked, unable to pull away.

Wei Zhao said nothing more to Qiu Lingshan; he simply pushed open the door and walked out of her apartment.

Watching Wei Zhao's cold, indifferent back, Qiu Lingshan let out a disappointed sigh.

She simply could not fathom this man. Even as he set her heart stirring, he left her thoroughly bewildered. Did he like her or didn't he?

Qiu Lingshan gritted her teeth. Wei Zhao, you have seen every inch of me, Qiu Lingshan. In the eyes of a clan that prized a woman's chastity, that is unforgivable — unless Qiu Lingshan married Wei Zhao, were the story to get out, she would be mocked without fail!

That was how the great families worked. A man might keep three wives and four concubines; the young masters of the great clans could amuse themselves with as many women as they pleased before marriage, and no one would breathe a word of it. But a daughter of such a clan was absolutely forbidden any entanglement with a man before her wedding — unless he was her betrothed, for even having her hand held or her body looked upon was utterly out of the question!

That was why, earlier on, Qiu Lingshan had been ready to throw all caution to the winds. But as the days went by, she had genuinely fallen for this domineering man. In her heart she felt that only Wei Zhao was worthy of her!

All of these reasons combined to bring Qiu Lingshan to the decision she made today.

But the decision came to nothing, for Wei Zhao did not dual-cultivate with her at all — indeed, he seemed rather repelled by the very notion of it.

Could it be that Wei Zhao was frigid? Qiu Lingshan speculated, and not without a certain malice.

Dead with rage, dead with rage! Qiu Lingshan stamped her feet in fury. Whether Wei Zhao was frigid, Qiu Lingshan knew perfectly well — back in the hospital, he had plainly responded! That was exactly why she was so angry!

"Hmph! Wei Zhao, the man I, Qiu Lingshan, have chosen will never be swapped!" Qiu Lingshan said through gritted teeth.

After railing at Wei Zhao for a while, Qiu Lingshan grew excited all over again. The joy of her newfound power made her want to tell her grandfather the news at the very first moment.

Qiu Lingshan shoved Wei Zhao temporarily out of her mind, snatched up the phone, and dialled the number for Grandfather Song's room.

"Hello?" Song Xiangwen, head of the Song family, picked up at once. This line was his private number, and the only ones who knew it were the members of the Song family and the heads of the other great clans. By day Song Xiangwen almost never left his room, cultivating in seclusion, so the moment the phone rang he was there to answer it.

"Grandfather, it's me!" Qiu Lingshan said, her voice brimming with excitement. "I have good news for you!"

"Oh? Shanshan, it's you! You haven't called your grandfather in ever so long. What is it — what good news have you got for me?" At the sound of his granddaughter's voice, Song Xiangwen's tone softened at once. Qiu Lingshan was the most outstanding of the Song family's juniors — so young already, and possessed of late Yellow Stage strength; her prospects knew no bounds.

Still, sometimes Song Xiangwen felt a pang of regret that Qiu Lingshan was a girl. How wonderful it would have been if she had been born a son!

"What do you mean, ever so long? Last time I broke through to the late Yellow Stage, didn't I call you straight away to share the happy news?" Qiu Lingshan said with a petulant pout. In her grandfather's presence she became a wheedling little girl all over again — another facet of Qiu Lingshan's many-sided nature.

"Heh, and how many days ago was that?" Song Xiangwen laughed. "Come now, Shanshan, what good news have you for your grandfather?"

"Guess," Qiu Lingshan said with a smile, keeping him in suspense.

"Oh? Very well, let your grandfather have a go. Did you crack a big case — are you due for a promotion?" Song Xiangwen ventured.

"Not that," Qiu Lingshan said lightly. "I've cracked my share of big cases, true, but that is only work — it is my duty, nothing worth celebrating."

"Not that either?" Song Xiangwen blinked, thought for a moment, and said, "Don't tell me you've taken a boyfriend?"

At her grandfather's words, Qiu Lingshan's face flushed scarlet. The speaker had no such intent, yet the listener took it to heart! Song Xiangwen knew his granddaughter set her standards impossibly high, so he had said it only to tease her — never imagining he had hit the mark exactly.

Hearing Qiu Lingshan fall silent on the other end of the line, Song Xiangwen started. Had he guessed right after all? Had his granddaughter taken a boyfriend? And with that, a certain unease crept into Song Xiangwen's heart.

In his eyes, Qiu Lingshan was the most exceptional of all the Song family's juniors — which made it all the more necessary to be scrupulous when it came to choosing her a husband.

For the fastest updates and a pop-up-free reading experience, please bookmark the site.