Chapter 507: IF Line 6: To Flirt, You Must First Have Feelings

Ji Qingwu’s delicate brows were knitted in a frown. The war manual was filled with terms she didn’t understand.

It wasn’t until her lips accidentally brushed against the cartilage of his ear that Ji Qingwu realized just how close they were.

She had deliberately gotten close to him, but this touch had not been part of her plan.

Ji Qingwu was about to straighten up, but his gaze captivated her as he turned his head. The candlelight reflected in his deep eyes, which looked like scorching magma churning beneath a sheet of ice.

“Understood? Time to turn the page?” Zhao Mingyan asked.

Ji Qingwu resisted the urge to back away. Tucking a half-dry strand of hair behind her ear, she shook her head honestly.

“I don’t understand. Will you teach me, General?”

“Not that,” Zhao Mingyan said.

Just as Ji Qingwu was about to ask what he *would* teach, his eyes dropped and swept down from her neck. Her whole body tensed instantly, as if his gaze were a physical caress.

Then, he unfastened a dagger engraved with a cloud pattern from his waist and threw it onto the long desk with a loud CLANG.

Ji Qingwu’s gaze fixed on the dagger.

‘I knew it. A cold and dispassionate man like him can’t be won over by simply throwing myself at him. That would only infuriate him.’

She explained nervously, “I didn’t mean to offend you, General!”

Her eyes shimmering with unshed tears, Ji Qingwu said, “That was an accident. I… I was just concentrating on the book. I didn’t know you would turn your head, or that this would happen.”

Zhao Mingyan raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t know?”

Just as Ji Qingwu was about to swear a solemn oath to prove her innocence, an arm suddenly tightened around her waist. She looked down to see it was his.

With a light tug, he pulled her into his lap. The shawl draped over her shoulders fell to the floor. Through her damp clothes, the calluses on his palm seemed to brand her lower back.

Zhao Mingyan’s voice was deep and cold. “You dare enter my tent without knowing what might happen?”

This sudden turn of events was so drastic that Ji Qingwu couldn’t react in time.

Zhao Mingyan pressed on, “Who sent you?”

Ji Qingwu lowered her eyes and said softly, “It was my… I came of my own volition…”

The end of her sentence was cut short by something cold and hard pressed against her chin.

Ji Qingwu’s breath caught. The cold glint of the dagger reflected her rapidly shrinking pupils.

Zhao Mingyan used the dagger to lift her chin. “Whatever your reasons for coming, has anyone ever taught you how to seduce a man?”

Her eyelashes fluttered as the back of the blade traced a path along her trembling throat.

With a turn of his wrist, he used the edge of the blade to flick open the first knotted button at her collar. The small bronze fastener popped loose and fell to the floor.

Ji Qingwu’s heart fluttered in time with it.

Because it was damp, the front of her robe didn’t fall open, instead clinging to her body. Only a sliver of her skin, as white and lustrous as jade, could be seen.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her lips pursed tightly as if she were terrified.

Zhao Mingyan didn’t continue. He tossed the dagger casually back onto the desk, released his hold on her, and leaned back in his chair.

“You should leave.”

But Ji Qingwu didn’t stand up. She looked up at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

‘I was still afraid, but more than that, I refused to be defeated after being so underestimated.’

She said with a sharp wit, “I may not know how to entice a man, but I imagine the General is unlike any ordinary man. Even if I did know how, it would be useless on you.”

Zhao Mingyan arched a long eyebrow.

Still sitting on his lap, Ji Qingwu said softly, “You haven’t taught me yet, General.”

“What is it you want to learn?” His voice was tinged with surprise.

“To learn…”

Ji Qingwu took his hand and placed it on the second bronze fastener of her robe. She leaned forward, pressing closer, her gaze locked on his.

“How to seduce you, General.”

‘How to seduce him? I’ll have him teach me himself.’

Their eyes met. The atmosphere should have been romantic, but Ji Qingwu’s gaze was resolute, as if she were prepared to risk her life.

As Zhao Mingyan looked at her, a glimmer like shattered gold appeared in his eyes.

“If you were to pick up that dagger right now, you’d look more like an assassin.”

Receiving such a comment, Ji Qingwu was taken aback. ‘Am I really that intimidating?’

She started to press even closer, but Zhao Mingyan pushed her away. He adjusted the hem of his robe, his expression unreadable.

Ji Qingwu stood before him, completely at a loss. ‘How could this not be working?’

Zhao Mingyan said, “If you wish to flirt, there must first be feelings involved.”

On this point, Ji Qingwu’s thinking aligned with his. Her eyes lit up again.

“Then what if I come to your tent every day? Can feelings grow over time?”

Zhao Mingyan said nothing.

Ji Qingwu leaned on the edge of the desk and asked again.

“I’ll just show up every morning to bring you breakfast, General. I won’t disturb you the rest of the time. Is that all right?”

For some reason, the color of Zhao Mingyan’s eyes deepened. After a moment, he looked away and said flatly, “Suit yourself.”

Ji Qingwu felt a wave of relief. It was wonderful to get his permission.

Her voice brimming with a smile, she said, “Feel free to go to your morning training, General. I’ll wait in the tent for your return. See you tomorrow!”

Smiling, she was about to turn when a cloak was tossed over her.

Hugging the thick, dark blue cloak, Ji Qingwu thought, ‘The General is surprisingly kind, worrying I might catch a chill.’

But when she looked down, she saw the wide expanse of pale skin at her collar. Her ears turned red as she hastily fastened the cloak.

“I shall take my leave now.”

Zhao Mingyan watched her cheerful figure depart, a slight curve touching his lips. After a moment’s thought, he pulled out a few sheets of paper and began to write.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhao Mingyan summoned Li Yuzong and handed him two handwritten letters.

“Send these to the Marquis Mansion.”

Li Yuzong took them and said in surprise, “Princely Heir, are you sending a letter home?”

The Old Marquis of the Marquis Yong’an Mansion was in poor health, and all affairs of the estate were managed by his second wife. But the Princely Heir had never been close to his stepmother, so why would he suddenly think to write a letter home?

Zhao Mingyan said, “The one on top is for my elder sister.”

Li Yuzong said, “Princely Heir, the informant just reported in. We’ve found out Doctor Ji’s background.”

Zhao Mingyan nodded. “Go on.”

Li Yuzong’s expression soured. “Princely Heir,” he said, looking troubled, “she’s also from Lin’an. And… she’s connected to you.”

‘Connected to me?’

Zhao Mingyan’s expression grew cold. “Is she from the Cui Family, or a relative of the Zhao family?”

Li Yuzong felt a pang of regret. He replied, “She’s the missing Fifth Missy of the Ji Family.”

Zhao Mingyan’s long fingers tapped lightly on the desk. “Hold off on sending the letters.”

「The next day.」

Ji Qingwu woke bright and early and went to the kitchen with Aunt Bai.

She had already decided what to make before bed. While preparing the ingredients, she noticed Aunt Bai drinking a medicinal decoction. Sensitive to the smell of medicine, she wrinkled her nose.

“Who prescribed this medicine for you?” she asked.

Aunt Bai clutched her throat and said hoarsely, “Just something I found. A folk remedy.”

Ji Qingwu picked up some of the dregs and examined them. It was a remedy for a heat-related ailment.

Then, under the pretext of asking Aunt Bai how to shape dough into decorative patterns, she casually and intimately touched her wrist.

Aunt Bai did indeed have a heat-related ailment.

But Ji Qingwu frowned. ‘This medicine should have completely cured her after half a month. Why hasn’t there been any improvement?’