Jiujiu didn't get it. They were insulting each other, but from time to time, Ziyou Yung or the Flareful Empress would say something empathic, and the mood would shift towards a direction she did not appreciate.

"I really can't understand," Ziyou Yung would say at the start of a new topic. "What you must have felt when your father sold you to slavery. It makes sense you wouldn't like the smoke-mongers. Yet you still protected your debauched brothers for so long."

"The Madlanders do deserve better," the Flareful Empress would reply at the end. "Illiterate and savage you may be. Even monkeys can be taught. And the Ziyou name, I can admire. The primal wish to be free of all restraints. Such a shame indeed."

There would be a moment of acknowledgement, and then back to insults.

Jiujiu really didn't understand. But the Dawn Dragon Throne members sitting behind were taken aback, and she even spotted the Flareful Empress hiding a grin with her long imperial sleeves.

"What... are they flirting?" Jiujiu asked Ziyou Ling with dark indignation.

"Whoa. You have a weird imagination, Jiujiu," her new friend replied. "I don't think flirting uses such official and complicated words. So boring."

Jiujiu hoped so.

"Body cultivation is easier!" Ziyou Ling said. They were talking in whispers. "I hope they soon move to the part where they take you in as a disciple."

"Ling~" Jiujiu cried.

"What? You’re a hot potato now, you know that?."

The girls had a nice talk the last night, and Xiu Jiujiu decided she would castrate Youjin Chao if she ever got strong enough. Ziyou Ling deserved better. And Ziyou Yung deserved better too, not that obese vixen.

While chattering, they came to the conclusion that it would be so nice to change their sect from the Twilight Blood Palace to the Dawn Dragon Throne. Or any other for that matter, as long as Youjin Chao and Su Nanya were nowhere in sight.

Of course, sects weren't vegetables you could barter at will. And she didn't want to sacrifice everything, her lovable father and her proximity to Ziyou Yung, just to get out of Su Nanya's smug sight.

Jiujiu was thankful that the boy was nice enough to negotiate a better deal on her behalf.

"Should we have told Ziyou Yung?" Jiujiu leaned towards her friend.

“What? That I also want to join the Dawn Dragon Throne too?” Ziyou Ling shook her head with a complicated expression. "I... I ain’t that sure I can, though. I do want to learn how to be a proper ren lady. And I really don't want to be in the same place as that bastard Chao and Fairy Su. But—"

"What did you say?" The Flareful Empress spoke up. She was looking at the two girls with an intense gaze.

"I—" Ziyou Ling froze up, as did Jiujiu. The aura was heavy, but not threatening. "I-I don’t want to be in the same place as Y-Youjin Chao—”

“Before that.”

“I… want to join the Dawn Dragon Throne too?" But her friend was courageous if anything. Ziyou Ling managed to reply with her head held high.

"Well, that solves the problem." Ziyou Yung grinned. "Ling, are you sure? Have you talked with Uncle Maque?"

Ziyou Ling nodded. "Father gave me the freedom to do what I want. I am a Ziyou, after all. But... Like Jiujiu, I'd rather not be leaving Dim Gold City."

Ziyou Yung turned towards the Flareful Empress, and the regal monarch of the Unfolding Heaven 1st realm did the same.

There was a playful glint there that Jiujiu hated. As if the solution to the problem had fallen like a pie.

The two negotiators whispered to the sect officials from the Twilight Blood Palace and the Dawn Dragon Throne, then snuck a peek at the two confused girls.

"Ahem! May I present to you, Ziyou Ling, a contender of distinction, having triumphantly surpassed the first phase of your esteemed sect recruitments. She now beseeches the grand and gracious Dawn Dragon Throne to rise to her aid in matters of grave importance, the nature of which remain strictly confidential to those uninvolved." Ziyou Yung said with his usual theatrics.

"Our illustrious Flareful Empress, with a heart that overflows with magnanimity, finds it utterly intolerable to witness a damsel in distress. Despite the potential loss to her graceful face, she is unflinchingly prepared to journey back to the sombre halls of Dim Gold City, under the scrutinizing gazes of the ignorant masses, extending her imperial aid to the maiden in need. Let us extol her benevolence, a testament to the magnificence of her spirit!" the officiator on the Dawn Dragon Throne's side announced with a hidden grin shadowed behind his practised poker face, jotting down the words on a jade-inscribed paper scroll.

"In an instance of fortunate coincidence, Xiu Jiujiu, who has the same physique as the magnanimous empress and is deemed the 'closest bestie' of Ziyou Ling, brimmed with gratitude towards your illustrious leader. Since it was indeed the Flareful Empress who, in her boundless benevolence, liberated Ziyou Ling from the clutches of whatever it is that ailed her. Xiu Jiujiu, loyal as she is, shall vociferously extol her reverence for both the Empress and the Sect." The boy continued where the officiator left off.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"And the Flareful Empress, as if guided by fate, would take both girls in under her tutelage." The officiator finished the last part of their play, and the deal would thus be struck.

But before that, the Flareful Empress herself added one last clause from their side, "As direct disciples, as it would seem fit. We, the Dawn Dragon Throne, shall make an offshoot branch of the Violet Dragonfly House in the vicinity to that effect."

Ziyou Yung grinned, “I’ll talk with the girls. You get to keep your face, but here in Dim Gold City, we have this thing called ‘employee benefits’ in the plans. You need to add all that to that jade scroll of yours after this.”

No objections were raised.

Ziyou Ling grabbed Jiujiu's hand and squeezed hard, saying, "Holy shit!"

“Language,” The Flareful Empress rebuked.

Jiujiu thought few people were dumb enough to buy such an excuse. But by their words, it was a win-win. Like the Empress said, the truth was corrected to match their reputation.

She didn't really understand. All she knew was that thanks to her newest best friend, she could awaken Ziyou Yung from the vixen's enthralment.

***

Nanya started noticing things she had not before after her mother had gently chided her on the matters of the heart. Tenderly, yet sternly, for such things she had never noticed seemed so obvious now.

"And then the Flareful Empress signed the contract with Xiu Jiujiu and Ling," her servant yammered, lying on the bed beside her and using her beauty as a bolster. His tender hands gently massaged her ample assets, as his soft touch grazed her skin like the ticklish wind on a fair willow.

"Nnnng. A-And then?" Nanya nodded. She enjoyed such 'pillow-talk', and the singular attention Ziyou Yung would shower her with. She loved his lips on hers, their tongue entwined in a subtle dance that refined their Essence qi, and his fingers entwined with her superior digits like ten fleshy mess merging together.

And while she was distracted by this pleasurable touch, Ziyou Yung's slimy paws gradually reached below her waist, and Nanya felt a strong manhood bumping her bottom from behind.

Today was fourthsday, hence they were naked. No cloths no silks. No barriers to bother them, as their sweaty skin melted into one homogeneous being. But again, it was under the blankets, and Ziyou Yung could not see in the dark.

Even though she wished she could lay her extreme yin bare to her ‘boyfriend’s’ glib tongue, to bestow upon him the most sacred nook and cranny of her perfectly forged femininity, as she had read in so many angelic novels, it protested loudly with the rage of a thousand wronged wives. It screamed and screeched, daring her to take in such inferior yang into herself. Never mind the erection, not even the soft tongue!

Her mind bled, and her veins clenched in pain and fury. Her legs dripped with citrusy fluids wetting the sheets even though her servant had not had the utter luck to taste them. Such a waste! They smelled of strawberries and freshly cut grass. The urges, the aromas, she reined them all in. It would be done today, and it would be fast—

"Well, I gotta check in with Wang Gangbao today. Love you," the boy sat up and stretched, then covered Nanya with her silky shawl that had been tossed to the side. He put on his own under wears, then his upper wears, and gave her a toothy grin while combing his dorky hair.

Nanya wanted to punch his nose and break it the other way. Perhaps then it would be symmetrical.

Ziyou Yung left. Nanya welled up, then dived into the firmament once more, crying for the matriarch.

"M-Mother! He did it again! He—How dare that wretched aaarghhh!"

An hour later.

Nanya came back sniffling. She combed her Su Xiya's fur. The small fox could not groom herself as well as her elder souls, and yet needed pampering.

"Maid. Maid!" Nanya shouted.

With a gust of azure wind, Su Yafeng appeared in her prim and proper visage. Expressionless as a stone atop the tallest peak of apathy.

"We require artifacts that dampen."

"…" Su Yafeng coughed.

"Did you not hear us? Prepare us the proper tulle! Our Harmonious Heaven grade items automatically cleanse themselves of all undesirables. Mother told us that such things are not actually undesirable to the average stinky layman!"

Su Yafeng brought her hands up to her heart and clasped them together in a prayer strong enough to crush skulls. "The matriarch did what?"

Nanya immediately picked up on the true intentions of her frigid maid. She tied a ribbon around Su Xiya's neck and gave the small fox a kiss on the snout.

"Woof!" Su Xiya barked, then jumped out of the window to do her adorable foxy things.

Nanya patted the empty space next to her on the bed. "Come sit."

Su Yafeng scuttled and sat. "What exactly did the matriarch say?" She stopped, then brought her knees to her chest. "Why did the matriarch say it?"

"Our servant wishes to tame us like a pet. Like a beast of burden that salivates at the ring of a bell." Nanya was enraged. She was fuming. Never once in her long life had a man dared to humiliate her like so. "He kisses our nape passionately but leaves at the final hour. He grazes our breasts with his tongue like he licks a ceramic bowl full of creamed milk! Before, his tender care would at least strive to extend beneath our sultry skirts, yet such foolish a traitor he is! Now, he leaves the yin under our waist wanting, not even attempting to cross the final divide of woman and man. Have you any idea of the ache that we suffer? The heat in our heart that is to never be quenched even as we touch ourselves to the vices of demonic novels?" She talked about all the sins her servant had committed against her body. She vented her pent-up emotions and her own body's rebellion.

Su Yafeng grabbed a pillow and hugged it between her knees and chest. "Hnng!" She covered her face with the pillow and squeezed. Looking up, her expression was unchanged, but Nanya could see her fox ears blushing red.

"And then what happened?" Su Yafeng asked, squeezing the pillow tighter.

"He left! He, that utter imbecile of crooked nose and callused hands, left for some wretch named Gangbao!"

Su Yafeng squirmed again, of course, in her prime and proper way. "And what did the matriarch say?"

"That he perhaps wishes us to break our stalemate. If we wish to lay with his yang, perhaps it is time for us to take the lead, as all princesses should."

"Hnnng. M'lady means to copulate before marriage."

"We do not! As is usually the case with everything, we merely wish to confirm. Yes, indeed such is so."

"Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng!"

"Maid... you have changed."

“M’lady. What if this is what Ziyou Yung wants? By being so obvious in his deceptions, he is in turn committing a counter suggestion?”

“As in?”

“Indirect persuasion. Reverse Psychology. To hoodwink the gullible m’lady, who is so hopelessly in love.”

“Do not be ridiculous, oh maid untouched by the tender touch of men. We are but acting on our own free will. Is it not obvious that we wish to tame our naughty servant from his confident naughty—oh dear me, that sneaky servant of no moral bottom lines how dare he?! ”

"Will the satin lace-wear do? They originally belonged to Su Xiya before her mature ordinal body was killed." Su Yafeng scooted to the other end of the bed and squeezed the pillow a few more times. She then got up and dusted her hanfu. Her blush gradually lessened, and she was back to being truly expressionless. "They dampen quite well."

Nanya nodded.

He thinks of me cheap and helpless to his guile. We shall show him. We shall show him good!