After Becoming a Succubus, I Was Offered to My Mortal Enemy - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Sikong Xue regretted those words the moment they left her mouth. Even if she didn’t have to toil over stacks of documents today, she shouldn’t be wasting her time on such matters.

Ning Yuan was now certain: Sikong Xue was staying here specifically to mock her. Or perhaps, Sikong Xue wanted to use this display of power as a warning, so she wouldn’t dare act rashly. If it were the latter, she wouldn’t be afraid of Sikong Xue at all.

Ning Yuan remembered that Sikong Xue used to be quite a coward. When they were children and got lost while playing, before Ning Yuan could even say she was scared, Sikong Xue would be clutching her arm, begging for comfort. Back then, she was so busy comforting Sikong Xue that she forgot to be afraid herself.

Yun Ni allowed Sikong Xue to stay, but she cupped her hands in a salute and said, “Since the Prime Minister insists, this subordinate shall return to the military camp first.”

Yun Ni hadn’t understood at first; the General had specifically named her to come to the Prime Minister’s manor, and others had looked at her with strange eyes. Now she realized the Prime Minister was simply using them as a joke just to amuse the beauty in her manor. With military affairs so pressing, how could she join in their nonsense? She had been at the manor for less than an hour and was already taking her leave.

Ning Yuan stared blankly at Yun Ni’s retreating back, only later realizing that Sikong Xue likely didn’t want anyone to teach her at all, so she had found someone to tease her and then leave.

Sikong Xue said guiltily, “It must be that you refused to practice properly and angered Captain Yun away.”

Ning Yuan glared at Sikong Xue huffily. “You clearly did this on purpose to stop me from learning!” Her body was just a bit weak; it wasn’t that she wasn’t practicing seriously.

Once Ning Yuan got angry, she was no longer submissive. Looking at her willful, spoiled manner, Sikong Xue was reminded of Ning Yuan once again.

She immediately chilled her expression and said, “Do not forget your status. Although you are a foreigner and do not understand the rules of Great Liang, you must know the difference between superior and inferior.”

Being scolded like this, Ning Yuan immediately looked aggrieved. After speaking, Sikong Xue felt her tone had been too harsh. She cleared her throat and said, “I do not like to bind people with those rules, but you must remember: in the future, you are not allowed to glare at me like that.”

Sikong Xue was still acting fierce, but she wasn’t as frightening as she had been a moment ago.

To the side, Chun He and Xia Xun had been holding their breath in fear, thinking Sikong Xue was truly angry and going to punish the girl. They didn’t expect that after all that talking, she only forbade the girl from glaring at her.

After Sikong Xue left with a flick of her sleeves, Chun He and Xia Xun hurried over to comfort Ning Yuan.

Chun He said, “Miss, do not be sad. Martial arts are so exhausting; it’s fine not to learn.”

Xia Xun added, “Yes, yes! Chun He and I will fetch some hot water. Miss is exhausted and has sweated so much; it’s better to bathe and change clothes first.”

Soaking her body in the warm water, Ning Yuan thought about Sikong Xue’s words and couldn’t help but rub her cheeks. She used to glare at Sikong Xue whenever she was unhappy; that habit would have to change in the future. She was living under someone else’s roof; she could no longer throw tantrums at Sikong Xue.

After washing away the light sweat, Chun He and Xia Xun came in to help her dress. They were startled when they saw the marks on her body.

Xia Xun cried out, “Oh my! That Captain Yun was too heavy-handed. How did she bruise the Miss’s arm so badly? It’s a good thing she left; if she were in the manor every day, how could the Miss endure such tossing about?”

Belatedly, Ning Yuan raised her hand to look at her arm. Yun Ni had pinched her arm to test her strength. She thought it would just hurt for a moment, not realizing it would turn blue. This Succubus body was truly too weak, though fortunately, it was nothing serious.

Chun He said worriedly, “Injured like this, we must apply medicine. Miss, please don’t dress yet; I will go fetch some ointment for bruises.”

Chun He found Song Yan and explained the situation. Song Yan said, “Lord Yin isn’t coming to the manor these few days… as for bruise ointment… the Master might still have some.”

Sikong Xue practiced martial arts every day, so her room was always stocked with medicinal oils. When Song Yan went to retrieve it, Sikong Xue asked a follow-up question. Upon learning that Ning Yuan had only been pinched by Yun Ni and already had bruises, Sikong Xue frowned.

“Delicate,” she muttered. A Succubus was truly troublesome, even more delicate than A-Yuan. If she was like this, wouldn’t she start crying at the slightest use of force in bed?

And then…

Sikong Xue was suddenly jolted—it was broad daylight, how could she think of such things! That foreign woman was merely a lookalike; how could she be compared to A-Yuan? A-Yuan would never deliberately seduce her, nor would she call her “Master” with every breath.

In the past, A-Yuan would call her “A-Lin” when she was happy, and when angry, she would snap, “Sikong Xue, I hate you!”

Thinking of the past, A-Yuan’s voice seemed to drift by her ears, and Sikong Xue’s lips unconsciously curled upward.

She remembered when she was fourteen, her tutor asked her to choose a courtesy name. At that time, Sikong Xue hated studying and hated thinking about such things even more, so she pleaded with A-Yuan: “I feel annoyed just looking at those characters. Why don’t you think of a courtesy name for me?”

Though A-Yuan was two years younger, she was far more diligent in poetry and literature. Ning Yuan looked at her, thought for a moment, and wrote the two characters “Lin Feng” (Cold Wind) on the paper.

Seeing Sikong Xue’s apparent confusion, Ning Yuan said, “I always felt it was inappropriate for the Grand Preceptor to name you ‘Xue’ (Snow). You dislike poetry and books and dream all day of building a career and achieving merit… since you need a courtesy name, there’s no need to quote the classics. Why not take ‘Lin Feng’? Cold as frost and snow, noble as the riding wind.”

At that time, her eyes were full of A-Yuan. Seeing A-Yuan’s eyes curve into crescents as she smiled, Sikong Xue smiled along with her.

Seeing that Sikong Xue seemed to like it, Ning Yuan giggled, “Then from now on, I’ll call you A-Lin, okay?”

Sikong Xue nodded. She liked whatever A-Yuan called her. However, looking at the elegant handwriting on the paper, Sikong Xue felt a surge of selfishness. This was the childhood name A-Yuan had thought of for her; how could she let anyone else call her that?

So, the next day when the tutor asked if she had decided on a name, Sikong Xue glanced at the expectant A-Yuan and told the tutor: “I have no need for a courtesy name. In the future, I will build a great career, and everyone shall call me ‘General’.”

When Sikong Xue said this, all the girls in the school laughed. Someone said, “Sikong Xue probably doesn’t know many characters and couldn’t think of a name, so she made up that excuse. If the Grand Preceptor finds out, he’ll punish her again.”

At this, the laughter grew louder. Even Yin Chiyun was laughing at Sikong Xue; only Ning Yuan was unhappy. Ning Yuan thought Sikong Xue didn’t like the name she had chosen.

After a day of moping and tossing and turning, Ning Yuan sat up at midnight and talked to herself: “Why should I care if Sikong Xue likes it or not? The more she dislikes it, the more I’ll call her that.”

Thus, whenever Ning Yuan saw Sikong Xue, she would defiantly call her “A-Lin.”

“A-Lin, A-Lin, A-Lin… I will only call you A-Lin from now on. You don’t like it? I’ll call you that anyway.”

She was so focused on annoying Sikong Xue that she didn’t notice Sikong Xue could barely suppress the upward curve of her lips. Later, Ning Yuan grew so used to calling her that, completely unaware that Sikong Xue treated those two words as a secret belonging only to the two of them.

Song Yan had come to fetch the bruise oil, only to find Sikong Xue dazing again after just a few words. It was likely because Lord Yin hadn’t been to the manor lately that the Master was like this.

“Master, do you still have the bruise oil?” Song Yan reminded her softly. Only then did Sikong Xue snap back to reality.

A-Yuan was gone; no one would ever call her by that name again.

Handing the half-empty bottle of oil to Song Yan, Sikong Xue rubbed her brow, thinking of her lapse in composure today, and sighed involuntarily. Was she really going to keep this Succubus for a lifetime? Seeing that A-Zhi’s officers were unwilling to get close to her, if she allowed her to marry a civil official, she feared others wouldn’t be able to protect her.

With Yuchi Jin watching so closely, she absolutely could not let Yuchi Jin use this foreign woman to insult A-Yuan.

Sikong Xue opened that unfinished book, “The Annals of Foreign Tribes,” once more. When she saw a line of text, her heart, which had just calmed down, became restless again.

Succubus constitutions are unique; one cannot casually use medicines that promote blood circulation and remove stasis. If used improperly, it will trigger the heat of passion.

Thinking of that face, thinking of how she looked when the heat of passion was triggered… Sikong Xue slammed the book shut and slapped it heavily onto the desk.

Why was she never peaceful from the moment she entered the manor? Did she not know she couldn’t use bruise oil?

Thinking of the first time that foreign woman had entered her heat in front of her—it was when Chun He had come to report to her—Sikong Xue had felt something was strange even then. This woman was born in the foreign tribes; she should understand her own body.

Once, twice… was she truly seducing her on purpose?

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