As for how to draw Wei Zhao over to her side, that was simplicity itself for Murong Zhen.

A beauty like her—was not her body the finest instrument of all? Admirers admitted to her chamber, suitors groveling at her hem—Murong Zhen had never once thought there could be too many. And should the need arise, she did not even mind letting a man taste a little sweetness, precisely as in the present situation.

In her view, a man like Wei Zhao, who so loved to put on airs, had behaved coldly toward her overtures that afternoon before so many eyes—and that was not altogether incomprehensible. Had he been too obvious in his eagerness, it would likely have damaged the image he had so carefully built.

But now—deep in the night, no one about, and a ripe, luscious beauty delivering herself to his door—there was surely no need for further pretense!

The result was utterly beyond Murong Zhen's expectations. Two people alone, man and woman, and she had already hinted so plainly and lewdly—yet the wretch Wei Zhao was still playing the prude, still refusing to seize her and drag her inside! Murong Zhen could not help beginning to wonder: was there something genuinely wrong with Wei Zhao's head?

Or was there something wrong with him in that other regard—no interest in women at all? Otherwise there was simply no reasoning why he could withstand her allure!

Seeing Wei Zhao regard her with a cold expression, Murong Zhen hurriedly steadied herself, then, still unwilling to give up, licked her lips with feigned seduction and cooed in a melting voice, "If there's no water, you can fetch some from outside, can't you? Brother Lin, surely you wouldn't have the heart to watch a frail little woman go fetch water all by herself? I'm all sticky right now—not bathing is truly unbearable!"

With any other newcomer at Qingyun Pavilion—some simple-minded specimen like Meng Tong—by the time Murong Zhen had said this much, the man would likely have been unable to restrain himself, hands already roaming, scrambling to become her groveling devotee.

Unfortunately, the man Murong Zhen faced now was none other than Wei Zhao.

Watching Murong Zhen brazenly preen and pose, deliberately striking one seductive attitude after another—stances that would make a man spurt blood from his nose or even unleash the beast within—Wei Zhao could only sigh inwardly. This woman truly would not rest until she got what she wanted!

"Miss Murong, the hour is late, and moreover propriety forbids intimate dealings between men and women. Your request is truly inconvenient—forgive me, there is nothing I can do. Please go back," Wei Zhao said with a calm shake of his head.

"You—!" Murong Zhen was seized with fury, her already prominent bosom heaving unevenly, and she pointed at Wei Zhao for a long moment without being able to speak.

Over the years, the devotees she had captured at her hem numbered no fewer than twenty, and Murong Zhen had always been supremely confident in her own charms. And men—that species—she understood better than anyone: grant a man the slightest taste of sweetness, and he would take the hook without fail.

This trick of seduction had never once failed her, whether back in her hometown or during her days since coming to the Sandie Pavilion. Had she not, in a moment of carelessness, offended Shangguan Lan'er, she would by now likely be swimming in fortune, a celebrated beauty of the Sandie Pavilion.

Even after being banished to the Welcome Pavilion, judging by the reactions of the Qingyun Pavilion newcomers, these people in Murong Zhen's eyes were nothing but goods to be summoned and dismissed at will!

But Murong Zhen could never have imagined that her never-failing seduction would prove utterly useless against this Wei Zhao from the secular world—he would not even take her when she threw herself at him! How was a great beauty like her to endure such humiliation?

For all her wantonness, Murong Zhen was, in the end, still a woman. When even offering herself outright in seduction could not attract a man, the blow and the goading sting of it were absolutely lethal, and the consequences absolutely dreadful.

Frantic with rage, Murong Zhen pointed at Wei Zhao for a long while, then, goaded past shame into fury, cried, "Are you even a man! Do you know the first thing about cherishing a delicate flower! Just some grass-roots nobody from the secular world—what are you so cocky about? This beauty giving you a chance is doing you an honor! Otherwise, a specimen like you—no strength, no backing—this beauty wouldn't even deign to glance at you!"

"So then it's my honor, is it?" Wei Zhao smiled faintly, noncommittal.

"Isn't it? A dull clod who can't appreciate romance like you—this beauty predicts you'll never hook a single woman in this life! You can look forward to dying a bachelor!" Murong Zhen paused, then added, "And even if you did, at best it'd be some sheltered, commonplace painted doll from the secular world—trash not worth the dust off this beauty's little toe!"

"Then I'm truly sorry to disappoint. Those few girlfriends of mine—I wouldn't claim they're peerless beauties, but compared to you, Miss Murong, they're more than a match," Wei Zhao said, his face turning stern as he gave a cold laugh.

He had originally intended to play along with this Murong Zhen for a while. Even if he did not wish to grow close, there was no need to force things to the point of open, irreconcilable hostility. After all, the woman was capable and well-connected; if he could avoid provoking her, all the better not to.

But now the woman had begun cursing his girlfriends as trash, and that was not something Wei Zhao intended to pretend he had not heard. Women, after all, had always been the one scale on Wei Zhao that could never be touched!

Wells and rivers not crossing each other—that had been Wei Zhao's original design. Now that the other party had touched his scale, there was nothing more to be said.

So what if she was a peak early-stage Foundation Establishment expert? So what if she had a Chongtian Pavilion elder backing her? If she truly dared tread on my scale, I'll beat the hell out of you!

"More than a match for this beauty?" Murong Zhen looked as though she had heard the most colossal joke of the age, and suddenly burst into raucous laughter, pounding her chest and stamping her feet, unable to straighten up for a long while.

And Wei Zhao simply stood in the doorway, watching coldly from the sidelines. He rather wanted to see just what other absurd spectacle this woman intended to make of herself.

After laughing unbridled for quite some time, Murong Zhen finally straightened up and, pointing at Wei Zhao, shook her head with a laugh of pure amusement. "Brother Lin, I had thought you a dull, unromantic fool of a man—but it seems I truly misjudged you! If you were really that dull and stupid, how could you have amused me so thoroughly with a single sentence? Come to think of it, I haven't heard such a funny joke in ages!"

As she spoke, Murong Zhen used her slender jade fingers to tap affectionately at Wei Zhao's chest, the teasing intent plain for all to see.

But Wei Zhao, with no gallantry whatsoever, pushed her aside with one hand and said lightly, a hint of mockery in his voice, "A joke? My apologies—I only ever joke with friends, and regrettably, Miss Murong, you are not one. So you'd best not overthink it."

At these words Murong Zhen froze, her bewitching expression abruptly turning exceedingly ugly, and the venomous malice that surfaced in her eyes was enough to make one's blood run cold. (Fourth update! A little survey: would you rather have Tianchan appear first, or Jingjing? Or perhaps Bingtang Xueli?

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