Chapter 2: Wrong Plan, Wrong Person

    Inside a room of the Yi Chang Inn, a young woman cladded in deep blue garments sat at a round table in the corner of the room, her demeanor alternating between impatience and calm. Across from her, another woman in dark purple attire sipped tea in a relaxed manner.

    "Calm down, Yu Ting. Whatever happens, tonight is your night,"

    the innkeeper named Mei Li, sitting comfortably, and sipping her tea, directed her words towards the woman in blue, named Yu Ting.

    "Hmph! I am calm," Yu Ting retorted. "I will wait until the incense in the room and in the bathtub takes full effect."

    "Good," Mei Li responded with a smile. "Especially the scented sachet under the pillow; that one is particularly potent. If you rush into that room before General Feng lies down and lets the sachet under the pillow work its magic, it might end badly. If the aphrodisiac hasn't taken effect, General Feng might kick you out of the room after he saw your face."

    Upon hearing this, Yu Ting glared at Mei Li.

    The woman in dark purple simply smiled more broadly and continued.

    "But if you wait until the drug shows its full potential and then present yourself before General Feng, the general might pull you in, press you down on the bed, and do you until you're dizzy, rather than kicking you out to sleep outside the room."

    "You!" This time Yu Ting glared at Mei Li with flushed cheeks. "What are you saying?"

    Seeing this, Mei Li bursted into laughter.

    "Why are you acting coy? You're the one who wants this. I'm just fulfilling your request for a handsome payment. Capturing a tiger to scare a rabbit, or catching a man completely, isn't something to overthink."

    Mei Li mockingly pointed out, leaving Yu Ting even more flushed. Both her men and women guests tonight stood only to gain, so she had nothing more to consider. Ethics? They are not edible!

    Hearing Mei Li's words, Yu Ting smirked slightly.

    Right!

    With General Feng Xinyang, the formidable man who captured her heart at first sight.

    She had secretly been watching him for a long time, loving him, and doing everything to have him by letting him possess her.

    And now the opportunity had arrived. She had earned the right to follow him from the border to report to the court. She paid Mei Li to secretly place an aphrodisiac in his regular room and waited for him to enter that room.

    At this moment, she was just waiting for the right time according to Mei Li. She desperately wanted to go to him, but what Mei Li said could be true.

    She didn’t want to be driven out if he was still fully conscious.

    If she wanted to lay beneath his body, if she wanted to be tightly embraced and climbed over by him, she must be patient.

    Ah...just the thought raised her goosebumps...

    Yu Ting thought. The thought betrayed her pretty face before she quickly adjusted her mood and asked.

    "But have you prepared witnesses?"

    Mei Li, who had been smiling broadly, paused slightly.

    Ah...she had forgotten. Without witnesses to pressure for responsibility, the plan might be difficult to succeed!

    Realizing this, the innkeeper smiled widely again and exclaimed, "Oh! There are plenty of witnesses, trust me."

    With that, she stood up and hurried out of the room.

    Yu Ting watched her leave, her eyebrow twitching in understanding.

    Hmph! Pretending to remember. When will she be able to enter the general's room at this rate? By now, he must be writhing in discomfort, his body tense and stiff!

    In the deepest room of the Yi Chang Inn,

    the moans and the sound of the creaking bed and flesh on flesh had silenced, leaving only the sound of heavy, steadying breaths.

    The young man, who lay above the slender woman, simply rolled over to lie beside her, exhausted from the intense activity that neither had prepared for. After completing a grueling battle and traveling for days, his body craved rest, yet here he was, expending the last of his energy on an unexpected surge of desire.

    The woman beside him was no less exhausted. She had escaped her home in the evening without having dinner and traveled on foot, using up no small amount of her physical energy. She sought rest but found herself in a strange activity that left her utterly drained.

    Thus, a man and a woman lying side by side, lost in a haze of exhaustion under a thick blanket, fell asleep naked and mindless.

    Yu Ting, standing at the edge of the bed inside this room, found her mind as foggy as she saw the two lying stretched out on the bed.

    She had picked the lock and sneaked into this room, hearing the wooden bed creaking, the man's low moans, and the woman's sweet cries. Thinking she had entered the wrong room, she quickly left and re-entered, spending two incense sticks' worth of time.

    When she was sure she had not mistaken the room, she entered again, only to hear the same harmonious moaning. Shortly after, it quieted down, replaced by heavy breaths settling into a rhythm. She decided to walk in and pull back the bed curtains.

    And she saw...

    It was indeed her General Feng Xinyang, but who was the woman beneath him?

    Who was this woman!?

    She had decided to come to this room, where her General Feng was staying, and had Mei Li spread the aphrodisiac-scented incense throughout the room, under the pillow, and even in the bathwater.

    She was certain he was on the verge of releasing his deepest desires. She had timed her entrance perfectly, ready to offer herself to him. But what was this scene before her eyes!?

    Yu Ting could only stare wide-eyed at the man and woman who were completely exhausted, asleep on the bed in an unexpected state.

    She stood there, dumbfounded, and silent, as if frozen, her body numb as though her spirit had drifted away, lifeless.

    She stood silently, petrified like a statue for a long while before deciding to turn and flee from the heart-wrenching scene like a fool.

    Outside the innermost room of the Yi Chang Inn,

    Mei Li was performing her role excellently by bringing witnesses to the room as she had arranged with Yu Ting.

    She was incredibly lucky to have stumbled upon a group of Master Ling’s men. They seemed to be searching for someone, unclear who, but that was beside the point. She only wanted witnesses for Yu Ting. This group was just the right size to pressure the man into taking responsibility.

    Mei Li thought gleefully as she gracefully led the group of people.

    "We must thank you for your cooperation," one, a stern-looking guard leader from the Minister of Treasury Department’s manor tasked by Master Ling Yitang to find Miss Ling Wei, spoke to Mei Li.

    "It's nothing at all," Mei Li responded with a prim smile and a wave.

    "Just don't blame us if you don't find the person you're looking for."

    "Of course, of course,"

    The man replied with a small smile.

    "Please, follow me," Mei Li invited them, guiding the group of five men through the Yi Chang Inn's corridors.

    In just a brief time, Mei Li arrived at the target room. She had timed it perfectly; by now, the two should have finished their passionate endeavors and lay in each other's arms. She would not dream of interrupting anyone's romantic escapades; she had to wait for them to have fully released their desires and fallen into a contented sleep.

    "This way, gentlemen," Mei Li gestured for the men to follow her into a room after she boldly entered first, surprising the men from the Ling family, though none voiced their confusion.

    The innkeeper in the dark purple dress wasted no time getting to business, striding over to the bed with more confidence than humanly possible and flinging the bed curtains open, followed by a shriek of alarm.

    "Aiya! What have you done General Feng?"

    Mei Li's shrill voice caused the group that entered with her to jump in shock.

    Mei Li continued her act smoothly, her objective being General Feng and the woman lying with him, according to the plan she had laid out.

    "General Feng, you and... how audacious,"

    the unscrupulous innkeeper kept up her high-pitched cries, startling the bulky man on the bed into consciousness.

    Feng Xinyang opened his eyes, furrowing his brows with a peculiar headache, forcing him to lift his large hand to his forehead before beginning to scan for the source of the noise that disturbed his sleep.

    He squinted at the sight. Wasn't this the innkeeper of Yi Chang Inn?

    "General Feng, you've... "

    Mei Li continued with her scripted phrase but suddenly paused upon fully seeing the woman beside Feng Xinyang. "Aiya! Who is this?"

    "What is it?"

    Feng Xinyang asked irritably in a hoarse, deep voice, his sharp gaze fixing on the owner of the shrill, ear-piercing voice standing beside his bed.

    "G- General Feng, who... who is this?" This time, Mei Li was genuinely startled, her words faltering as she pointed unexpectedly at the woman beside Feng Xinyang.

    The muscular man on the bed then cast a dark, piercing look following that finger, and he saw a beautiful woman lying asleep under the same thick blanket as him.

    The head guard of the Ling family manor, curious, boldly approached the bed, only to recoil two steps back in shock.

    "Mi-Miss Ling!"

    His exclamation caused the others who followed to rush forward to look as well.

    "Miss!" They exclaimed in unison, hastily retreating and ducking out of the scene, knowing their manners.

    Feng Xinyang shook his head slightly, beginning to realize what was happening.

    The strange scent of incense spread throughout the room and in the bathwater, along with the sudden arousal

    and the tempting woman on the bed.

    Ah... he had made a mistake.

    The screams of the woman and the noisy uproar of several people

    intermittently pierced Ling Wei's consciousness, calling back her drifting awareness. From comfortably dozing off, she began to regain her senses.

    The woman started to come to, her head throbbing lightly, but the heavier ache seemed to be in her midsection, from her waist downwards.

    She struggled to lift her heavy eyelids, opening her eyes with difficulty. But when she finally did, she had to blink several times upon seeing the broad, bare back of a man sitting in front of her.

    She reached up with her small hand to rub her eyes in disbelief that someone was sitting with her on the bed. Who was this man? His large build, sharp facial features, especially those intense eyes looking at her as if he wanted to cut her into pieces.

    Was he angry at her for something?

    "Wh-Who is this woman, General? How did she end up sleeping with you in this condition? How did she get into your room? What is going on!?" Mei Li's voice rose in shock once again, startling Ling Wei into full alertness.

    The woman blinked, staring at the man with the bareback who was looking at her intensely, before looking down at her own body.

    And when she saw her own naked state, she gasped and sat up in shock, quickly pulling the blanket up to cover herself, the pain in her midsection intensifying as she frowned tightly.

    Intending to scream, she had to bite down hard to suppress the severe pain in her lower abdomen.

    At the same time, as the blanket was pulled up, her gaze fell on blood stains on the bed.

    Ah... what... what is this!?