Love from the Male Protagonist’s Harem

Chapter 8- Without Truthfulness, There Is No Trust Part 1

For about two seconds, Xia Ge hesitated between the choice of working like a dog under her beautiful Senior Sister or continuing her days of darkness in Siguo Pavilion.

Xia Ge: “In that case, the Liuli tree……”

Gu Peijiu: “If you’re not going to do the examination, why do you still need the Liuli tree?”

Why would Xia Ge want the Liuli tree if she wasn’t taking the exam?

Because she could trade it for some shining white silver!

Obviously Gu Peijiu didn’t know how her words had hit a sore spot. Xia Ge’s eyes immediately widened into a glare: “Why would I not do the examination?! Who won’t take it?! How could I not?! What, I should use my lovely charms to get in through the back door?! I, Xia Wuyin, am upright and honest, how could I let people view me any other way?!”

“What’s more, the Liuli tree is worth money, isn’t it?!”

Gu Peijiu: “……” So that was the important point?

Not knowing the meaning of shame, Xia Ge continued: “Senior Sister, you said Danfeng disciples must be truthful, so please be honest……you’re lusting after my beauty, aren’t you?”

Speechless for a long time, Gu Peijiu studiously eyed the self-declared beauty up and down. The boy who was sitting up straight, apparently full of fear that his purity would be defiled……such a young and free boy.

His black hair was falling down past the shoulders, tied back with a ribbon. White clothes and a red ribbon were the pride of a Danfeng disciple, and even outer disciples wore the red ribbon in their hair to identify themselves. So Gu Peijiu didn’t know whether the young man before her was an eccentric nonconformist or just someone who persisted in their set ways no matter what anyone else said to them……

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Because while other Danfeng people’s ribbon was red, this person’s was green.

Two careless strands of hair dangled down on either side of the face, and he wore the standard hemp garment of an outer disciple with a dragon-shaped jade pendant hanging elegantly from the waist. The pendant was the only part of his appearance that could be considered commendable, yet the right corner of it looked as if something had bitten it off. That missing piece made the boy’s image hard to put into words.

Weren’t beautiful jade dragon pendants usually given to beautiful noble sons? On this boy, the dragon pendant felt like a cheap copy, giving him an almost tragic look.

His face was pretty enough, but if you threw him into a crowd…..would anyone notice him?

True, his eyes were a bit cat-like, and when they were opened big, stirred feelings of pity. However, when the eyes were squinted, he simply resembled a sly kitten.

Obviously getting sized up, Xia Ge felt uncomfortable. After snorting to herself a couple of times, she again stressed: “……I’m not the kind of person who uses to their beauty to get in through the back door!”

Gu Peijiu pondered for quite a while before speaking the truth.

“To be honest, Gongzi Xia, I don’t see the beauty you think you possess.”

In order to demonstrate that she was viewing him as a man, and not as a disciple or child, Gu Peijiu intentionally used the honorific ‘gongzi.’

She thought the boy would suffer a blow to his pride when he heard her words. With that expectation, Gu Peijiu felt a little uneasy and started trying to come up with some consoling words.

But she’d horribly underestimated the other’s level of shamelessness.

Xia Ge’s expression turned grieved: “Senior Sister, I know how good-looking I am. You were just talking about how Danfeng disciples should always be honest. Telling such a lie, have you no conscience?”

Gu Peijiu: “……”

Though unable to completely articulate how, Gu Peijiu felt that this little bastard was constantly ridiculing her words: “Without truthfulness, there is no trust.”

Slick SOB.

Taking the Liuli tree out of her sleeve, Gu Peijiu threw it on the last intact pearwood table next to Xia Ge: “I never lie.”

Xia Ge’s eyes immediately lit up. Glancing at him, Gu Peijiu didn’t know why, but observing his glistening eyes, she saw ‘poverty’ written in the left and ‘sudden wealth’ in the right.

“You can insist on taking Danfeng’s entrance examination, I won’t object. However, you should consider carefully.” Gu Peijiu’s face was expressionless: “You must pass the examination. If you don’t……”

Xia Ge lifted her eyes from the Liuli tree, smiling from ear to ear. “I must pass? Is the situation that dire?”

“It’s your decision,” Gu Peijiu spoke unemotionally, “And I’ll give you a choice. If you fail the examination—-”

The next second, a powerful killing aura abruptly surrounded Xia Ge!

Her pupils slightly contracting, Xia Ge’s hands underneath her hemp clothes unconsciously clenched as she suppressed her instinct to strike back—–

Gu Peijiu’s cold voice continued: “While I won’t concern myself with your purpose for coming to Danfeng, I also won’t let you stay.”

“At that time, should you fail again, there will be only two paths for you.”

“Leave Danfeng. Or spend a lifetime copying Danfeng’s teachings.”

Recognizing that Senior Sister was just making threats and there was no immediate danger, Xia Ge let herself relax, coughing before saying: “Why are you so stern……really, Senior Sister, you frightened me.”

Gu Peijiu gave Xia Ge a wooden stare.

Picking the Liuli tree up off the table, Xia Ge quickly tucked it into a hemp sleeve, her eyes reddened, her tone pained: “What purpose would I have……I just really want to be an inner disciple of Danfeng too. I came here with Ye Ze, and he’s already an inner disciple. I want to be to put on the white silk and call him Senior Brother……but I’m poor and have no innate talent for liandan……”

[Ding! You Have Retrieved The Liuli Tree!]

公子[gōng zǐ]
son of a feudal prince or high official
son of an official / son of nobility / your son (honorific)

炼丹[liàn dān]
(try to) make pills of immortality (as a Taoist practice)

Chapter 8- Without Truthfulness, There Is No Trust Part 2

On the outside, Xia Ge spared no effort to appear wronged and pathetic. But hearing her system’s notification, inwardly she was immeasurably pleased with herself—-it seemed that the Liuli tree Senior Sister had thrown on the table was the real thing. Senior Sister hadn’t despised stolen goods and thrown it away to be replaced with a fake.

Not bad at all…’genuine goods at a fair price.’ Upgrading was within sight!

Hmmm. Become an inner Danfeng disciple? What bullshit was that? Why did she need to pass the entrance examination? Sure, her liandan level was beyond crappy. However now that she had the Liuli tree back, her level had just ascended to new heights. Why copy in Siguo Pavilion for a lifetime when she could cling tight to the male protagonist’s thigh? No need for begging, Brother Ye brought her food and occasionally took her to drink wine. And even as an outer disciple, she still enjoyed a monthly salary. Why become a servant to someone else?

Irrespective if it was serving a beautiful Senior Sister, Xia Ge could not!

Gu Peijiu stared at the crying yet slippery little bastard, feeling once again that the youngster was hatching wicked plots in his heart.

Whilst crocodile tears rolled down her cheeks, Xia Ge’s internal abacus was rattling away, a picture scroll of a happy yuppie life unrolling before her eyes—until Gu Peijiu’s limpid voice interrupted.

“No matter.”

Looking up, Xia Ge’s hazy eyes met the black pupils of Senior Sister.

Huh? No matter? What didn’t matter?

“If you don’t like it, I can teach you instead.”

—–“Teach you until you know how.”

Xia Ge: “……”

“……teach what?” Unsticking her thoughts, Xia Ge asked belatedly.

The exquisite scene of her delightful yuppie life aborted before it could come to fruition……

The young lady in white silk locked eyes with Xia Ge, enunciating her syllables sharply.

“Lian—dan–.”

Xia Ge: “……”

No……no, Senior Sister. Why must you stick your nose into everything? Don’t you have your own business to worry about?

Where on earth did you come from? America? That you’ve got time to try and teach this unambitious salted fish?!

Dumbfounding!

Trying to turn Senior Sister away from such horrible ideas with her own great gift of persuasion, Xia Ge said: “Senior Sister, if I’m being quite honest, I’m naturally slow-witted……”

Gu Peijiu bent down and picked the Yimei that Xia Ge had vanquished with one knife throw, casting Xia Ge a meaningful glance: “Don’t undersell yourself. You’ve clearly got talent.”

“Tomorrow at noon, come to the river. I’ll teach you liandan there.”

Having made herself plain, Gu Peijiu turned around and headed for the door.

Senior Sister had turned her back to Xia Ge—-

Xia Ge’s face felt a little stiff.

Senior Sister……

You’ve exposed something……

{little puppet, conduct strength reconnaissance}

Wide hemp sleeves sweeping over the scattered wood chips on the table, Xia Ge tilted her head slightly as she considered Gu Peijiu’s receding figure, a gleam of red light flashing in deep black eyes.

Turning your back to me……an opportunity to kill—-

[Ding! Strength Reconnaissance Finished!]

[Name: Gu Peijiu

Status: Senior Disciple Of Danfeng

Age: 16

Strength Estimate: SS

Beauty: SSS

Height: 178

Weapons: Unknown

Specific Rank: Unknown

Specific Skills: Unknown

Soul Detection: —-Drop, —Drop,—Malfunction—Drop,—Drop—]

Xia Ge: “……”

As expected of her garbage system! Malfunctioning when detecting the other side’s data, giving itself no face!

[Ding! Soul Detection Failed. The Following Is A Comparison To Known Data! Host, Please Take Note!]

{……hold on, don’t give me the comparison results!}

[Host

Age: 13

Status: 10

Rank: Puppet Apprentice

Strength Estimate: E

Beauty (Current): No (Ugly)

Height: 156

Specific Skills: {ghost and shadow}, {soul capture}, {one strike}

Weapons: None

Other Data Of Other Party Is Incomplete And Cannot Be Compared!]

The system was very considerate, showing the data in a colored chart. Gu Peijiu’s data was on one side, contrasted with the appalling spectacle that was Xia Ge’s, making the differences impossible to ignore.

Fine. It was what it was. Most all the characters were in green. Yet most heartrending were the characters that were not……

‘Beauty’ and ‘strength’ were in red, the text bolded.

What a cruel comparison between her ‘strength estimate’ of E and Senior Sister’s estimate of SS. And Xia Ge’s ‘beauty’ was a ‘no,’ against Gu Peijiu’s SSS?!

Xia Ge: “……”

Garbage system! Garbage system!!

Putting a ‘no’ after beauty was bad enough. But then her garbage system added ‘ugly’ in brackets too?!!

She’s ugly?! Ugly?!

[Ding! Systems Offers A Warm Reminder. Host, Please Keep Feet On Solid Ground. Do Not Be Impulsive. Act According To One’s Ability.]

Receiving her system’s silent criticism, Xia Ge was angry with being so odiously compared to others. She quickly calculated her own strength against that of the Senior Sister leaving with the Yimei in her grasp, and……the likelihood of felling Senior Sister with one strike and any possible aftermath.

One thing was certain. This Senior Sister who liked to pop up out of nowhere had Xia Ge starting to doubt herself.

Whatever suspicions Senior Sister had of Xia Ge were unimportant. But there was no getting around the fact that Gu Peijiu was paying more and more attention to Xia Ge. Getting noticed was absolutely not a good thing. Xia Ge was practicing puppetry, supported by her system, and any extra attention paid her greatly increased the chances of it being discovered—-if she got caught, she’d die!

Puppetry was an unconditionally forbidden art on this ‘wind and moon’ continent!

Besides Senior Sister was only 16 years old and the system could already rate her strength as SS. Frustrated, Xia Ge tilted her head.
Sure enough, she was ‘old wine in a new bottle’ and therefore no match for such a gifted young lady.

No wonder she’d lost so tragically that night on the back mountain.

Well, she could to continue to play cute under Senior Sister’s yoke, working like a dog and acting the idiot. Advancing gradually, entrenching herself at every step, always walking on thin ice. Or better yet, should she assassinate the young lady and then travel the world?

E class strength against SS class strength. What was the chance of winning? With her ‘one strike’ skill, it wasn’t impossible……

Still, thinking about it carefully, the detriments outweighed the benefits……

“Xia Wuyin.”

The young lady carrying the Yimei paused her steps, posture perfect as ever, her cool, clear voice ringing out.

Xia Ge was a little startled.

“Bear in mind, Danfeng disciple, living honestly and truthfully is important, but……”

Dim moonlight spilled into the pavilion, casting hazy light on the lovely countenance of the young lady who’d looked back: “I also hope that every disciple can live the way they want.”

新瓶装旧酒[xīn píng zhuāng jiù jiǔ]
old wine in a new bottle; the same old stuff with a new label