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Chapter 27: The heroine realized too late, and her rival the Empress was simply too cool.

“What did you say?”

Lin Yueyao’s delicate body trembled, and she felt as if struck by lightning.

Realizing she had spoken too bluntly, Qin Jiujiu calmly corrected herself, “Oh, I said I am his friend and don’t want you to bother him, that sounds reasonable, right?”

“Do you take me for an idiot?”

Lin Yueyao froze on the spot.

How could she believe such an outrageous excuse?

Moreover, her woman’s intuition had long told her that the relationship between Qin Jiujiu and Ning Bei was anything but ordinary.

“Fine, so you finally admit it,” Lin Yueyao said, her chest heaving with anger, “and to think you are the chief disciple, yet you covet someone else’s fiancé.”

“Shut up!”

Qin Jiujiu’s pretty face darkened at the words, and she snapped.

Luckily, everyone’s attention was on Ning Bei at that moment, and no one noticed the dispute between her and Lin Yueyao.

“Why should I shut up? You are the one who should!” Lin Yueyao retorted arrogantly, “You shameless freeloader, seducing another woman’s fiancé, you have no shame…”

Slap!

A crisp slap rang out.

“?”

Lin Yueyao was stunned by the slap.

She covered her stinging cheek with one hand and pointed at Qin Jiujiu with the other, “Y-you dare hit me?”

…

Qin Jiujiu’s face remained expressionless.

If she had not stopped the other woman by force, who knew what Lin Yueyao would have said about her and Ning Bei.

“What happened?”

Hearing the commotion, Ning Bei also cast an astonished glance over.

As if grabbing a life-saving straw, Lin Yueyao stamped her foot and cried, “Ning Bei, are you just going to stand there? She actually slapped my face!”

Facing the burning gazes around her, Lin Yueyao pretended not to notice and squeezed out a few crystal tears on purpose.

After all, Ning Bei used to treat her like his reverse scale; even if they were at odds now, he surely would not forget all their past feelings, would he?

So she planned to use Qin Jiujiu’s slap to rekindle Ning Bei’s concern for her.

“Does it hurt?”

The next moment, Ning Bei walked over with a worried expression.

“It…it hurts so much.”

Delighted inside, Lin Yueyao wailed pitifully.

But before she could be happy for even two seconds, she realized Ning Bei had not come to her; he stopped in front of Qin Jiujiu instead.

“Jiujiu, I asked if your hand hurts, why won’t you say anything?”

Lin Yueyao: “???”

“Mm… it’s fine.”

Qin Jiujiu was also a little surprised, but when she collected herself she gave a shy smile.

“Come on, let me take you to wash your hand first.”

Under countless watching eyes, Ning Bei openly took Qin Jiujiu’s hand.

Qin Jiujiu did not refuse, and the two of them left with effortless grace.

From beginning to end, Ning Bei did not spare Lin Yueyao a single extra glance, as though she did not exist.

“Ning Bei…?”

Seeing this, Lin Yueyao stood there dumbfounded.

Watching their departing backs, she stayed rooted to the spot, at a complete loss.

Why did it turn out like this?

She was the one who had been slapped, yet Ning Bei did not care about her at all and even asked whether Qin Jiujiu’s hand hurt?

Then he even took Qin Jiujiu to wash her hand… did he think hitting her had dirtied that hand?

The next moment, laughter rose all around.

“Look, Senior Brother Ning and Senior Sister Qin really are a match made in our academy.”

“Ha-ha, look at that clown, why is she spacing out over there?”

“Serves her right; back then she foolishly broke off her engagement to Senior Brother Ning for that Crap King.”

“Senior Brother Ning treated her so well! Now she regrets it, but it’s too late…Senior Brother Ning is gone for good.”

The crowd’s mockery pierced Lin Yueyao’s heart like countless sharp thorns.

A sudden pain shot through her chest.

Yet compared with their ridicule, her heart was engulfed even more by a heavy sense of loss.

It felt as though she had lost something precious.

And so.

Lin Yueyao left in a daze, and before she knew it she arrived at Yun Qing’s residence.

“Yueyao, what’s wrong?” Yun Qing asked with concern when she saw the girl appear so suddenly, her expression distracted.

“Godmother…”

Once addressed, Lin Yueyao could no longer hold back.

Tears the size of beans rolled from her eyes, and the next moment she threw herself into Yun Qing’s arms and sobbed out what had just happened, “Ning Bei doesn’t want me anymore… Ning Bei wants to be with Qin Jiujiu.”

“What? That is outrageous.”

After hearing the story, Yun Qing said angrily, “Ning Bei is still engaged to you, how can he flirt with another female disciple? That is far too much.”

“Sob… Godmother… what should I do?”

“Yueyao, don’t cry yet.”

Yun Qing wiped the girl’s tears away.

Yet right then she did not know how to comfort her god-daughter, especially since the rumored woman involved with Ning Bei happened to be the supremely talented and beautiful Qin Jiujiu.

Anyone with eyes could see Qin Jiujiu’s excellence, and no man would be able to refuse her.

Even the strikingly pretty Lin Yueyao could not compare with Qin Jiujiu.

But looking at the daughter crying like a pear blossom in rain in her arms, Yun Qing knew she had to say something, “Yueyao, this is not your fault; blame that Qin Yu, if he had not sown discord you and Ning Bei would never have ended up like this.”

“Sob…”

Lin Yueyao could not listen at all and only kept sobbing.

This time she was truly panicked.

It seemed she had only just realized that Ning Bei’s distance was not a provocation but a genuine wish to part ways.

In the past she always felt Ning Bei was not worthy of her and could never leave her.

Only now did she see that she was not that important… and that Ning Bei had an even better choice.

For a moment Lin Yueyao felt both anxious and unwilling, and blurted, “Godmother, could you ask the Grand Preceptor to step in and persuade Ning Bei to reconcile with me?”

“Going to the Grand Preceptor for this…”

Yun Qing looked troubled, but just then Qin Yu’s voice sounded outside the door, “Yueyao, I heard Jiujiu hit you, are you alright?”

“You again, you useless thing?” Yun Qing stormed out and scolded, “You still have the nerve to look for Yueyao? You kept bragging about entering the Inner Sect yet lost five matches in a row to Outer Sect disciples, making Yueyao lose face because of you.”

Receiving scolding the moment he arrived, Qin Yu felt angry and helpless, “Elder Yun, that was an accident… I even gave you two heaven-rank techniques, have you forgotten?”

He tried to bring up the techniques to make Yun Qing treat him a little better.

Unexpectedly, Yun Qing threw the techniques to the ground and said, “Take your techniques and get out!”

These past few days she had not dared cultivate them at all; who would risk training with techniques given by a part-time disciple?

What if she suffered qi deviation?

Seeing Qin Yu’s useless display today made her even more suspicious that the two techniques might be defective fakes.

That good-for-nothing wanted to harm her!

“Elder Yun… this?”

Qin Yu was dumbfounded.

He stared at the two precious techniques on the ground; he had begged the soul remnant for them and could not bear to trade them for spirit stones or other resources.

Yet now they lay on the ground like garbage.

“Yueyao, why did you come out?”

Yun Qing’s expression froze and she turned to the girl.

“Yueyao, have you been crying?”

Seeing the redness around her eyes, Qin Yu showed immediate distress.

Lin Yueyao did not answer; she went straight to Qin Yu and said, “You said Qin Jiujiu is your sister, right?”

“Yes… don’t worry, Yueyao; for slapping you I will definitely make her give you an explanation,” Qin Yu promised.

“I don’t need her explanation,” Lin Yueyao said coldly, “If she really is your sister, make her stay away from Ning Bei and never speak to him again!”

“What?”

Qin Yu froze.

He was no fool; how could he not hear the subtext…she cared about Ning Bei and was jealous, that was why she made such a demand.

Seeing that the girl still cared about Ning Bei made Qin Yu feel miserable.

“What, you can’t do it?” Lin Yueyao snorted coldly and threatened, “If you can’t, then don’t ever show yourself before me again; I don’t want to see you.”

“But Yueyao…” Qin Yu said nervously, “I saved your life!”

“I already lost Ning Bei because of you, isn’t that enough to repay the life debt?” Lin Yueyao said aggrievedly, “Do you know how good Ning Bei used to be to me? All because of you… today he saw me slapped by your sister and didn’t feel sorry for me at all, he even asked whether her hand hurt!”

“Tell me, did her hand hurt or did my face hurt?”

Faced with her irrefutable resentment, Qin Yu swallowed his words and could only relent, “Alright, alright, rest assured Yueyao, I will definitely make Jiujiu leave Ning Bei.”

Meanwhile.

Ning Bei and Qin Jiujiu arrived at a fountain.

“I’m done washing.”

Qin Jiujiu walked back to Ning Bei, swinging her two fair hands and saying with a bright smile.

The scene looked like a doting daughter playfully showing off to her father.

“Come, let me see if they’re clean.”

Ning Bei joked as well.

“Ayya, I’m not a little child~”

Qin Jiujiu giggled nonstop at the tease.

She tossed her head casually, three thousand strands of black hair fluttering in the wind, and her stunning face, tinged with shyness, radiated pure beauty.

For a moment Ning Bei was mesmerized, “Jiujiu, you are so radiant!”

“Hm?”

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