Hearing Baili Jing’s voice, Jiang Qingli fell silent.

’How strange. Why is it that every time someone is in my room, Baili Jing just happens to show up?’

’What kind of skill is this? A one-hundred-percent chance of being discovered...’

But there was no time to dwell on that. Jiang Qingli raised her index finger to her lips, making a shushing gesture at Ye Linyuan.

Ye Linyuan raised an eyebrow, leaned in close, and bit her lip.

His large palm cupped the back of her head, forcing her to tilt her face up. His serpent-like tongue pried her lips apart, tangling forcefully with her own.

And just like that, Ye Linyuan kissed her with total disregard for the situation.

Apparently hearing no response, Baili Jing, who was waiting outside the door, chuckled. "What’s wrong, Xiao Li? Is it not a good time? No matter, I can just let myself in..."

Jiang Qingli’s eyes flew open. She clutched at Ye Linyuan’s shirt, her heart threatening to leap out of her chest.

She had hoped Ye Linyuan would stay quiet and not give them away, but the villain was clearly not the type to lie low.

A moment later, Ye Linyuan released her lips and snapped without a hint of courtesy, "Piss off!"

Outside the door, Baili Jing fell silent.

The young man’s gentle tone grew cold. "Mr. Ye, is this how the Ye Family taught you to behave? Entering without a female master’s permission is exceedingly impolite."

Faced with Baili Jing’s long-winded guilt trip, Ye Linyuan couldn’t even be bothered to waste a single syllable in response.

’Etiquette and rules are just boring civilized games played by the weak.’

’He had no need for them.’

Never expecting Ye Linyuan to go so completely off-script—kissing her only to land her in trouble—Jiang Qingli was about to have a meltdown. "Couldn’t you have just kept your mouth shut?"

Ye Linyuan gripped her wrist and retorted, "Are you that afraid of him?"

’He could have kept quiet, yes.’

’But he hated how Jiang Qingli always acted so scared of being discovered by Baili Jing.’

’It was as if Baili Jing was the righteous, wronged wife catching them in the act, while they were nothing more than a shameful, illegitimate affair that couldn’t see the light of day.’

’Laughable.’

’Even if it were a matter of first come, first served, Jiang Qingli had marked *him* first.’

’No matter how you looked at it, that vixen came after him.’

’Baili Jing was the one who should be hiding, not them.’

Jiang Qingli pursed her lips. "I’m not exactly afraid of him..."

But... she just felt so guilty.

The corner of Ye Linyuan’s mouth twitched, and he stood up. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Jiang Qingli quickly grabbed his shirt. "What are you doing now?"

The snake-like man, a believer in survival of the fittest, answered succinctly, "Making him learn to shut his mouth."

Jiang Qingli was speechless. "..."

They hadn’t lowered their voices, and Beastmen had excellent hearing. Outside the door, Baili Jing had heard every word of their conversation.

"It’s all right, Xiao Li. There’s no need for you to feel awkward."

Though cold, murderous intent flashed in the eyes of the white-fox youth outside, his voice remained gentle as he soothed his Xiao Qing Mei. "Darling, perhaps I should have a nice, long chat with Mr. Ye."

Jiang Qingli believed that Baili Jing might actually sit down for a chat, but she was one hundred percent certain that Ye Linyuan was the type to start a fight.

Baili Jing’s Superpower Level was low; he was definitely no match for the main villain.

Jiang Qingli sighed. "You two, wait. After I take a bath, the three of us will have a proper talk."

After speaking, she closed her eyes and slid down into the bathtub.

A few seconds later, a frustrated stream of bubbles floated to the surface.

BLUB BLUB BLUB...

-

Even though she had to go sort out her domestic drama, Jiang Qingli still allowed herself a comfortable soak before getting up.

Before getting out of the water, she glanced at Ye Linyuan. "Hey."

Ye Linyuan, who had been waiting silently to the side, closed his eyes, his voice lazy. "I know."

With his eyes still closed, he unerringly grabbed a towel and passed it to her.

As Jiang Qingli wiped herself dry, he handed over a bathrobe.

Once he was allowed to open his eyes, Ye Linyuan snapped his fingers, and the moisture in Jiang Qingli’s hair rapidly vanished.

In less than a minute, her hair was completely dry.

Jiang Qingli’s eyes lit up. "So convenient! How did you do that?"

She wasn’t angry anymore, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Ye Linyuan raised a slight eyebrow. "Guess."

"You’re being intentionally mysterious," Jiang Qingli huffed. "I’m not going to guess. If you don’t want to tell me, then fine."

Ye Linyuan gently hooked a finger around the ends of the girl’s now-dry hair, a slight curve gracing his lips.

Walking out of the bathroom, Jiang Qingli’s eyes immediately fell on Baili Jing, who was sitting on the sofa.

Strangely, even though the air conditioning was on, he was wrapped up tightly in a blanket, looking like a little bun.

Baili Jing patted the spot beside him. "Darling, sit here."

Jiang Qingli had only taken a few steps when she felt a prickling stare on her back, forcing her to change course and sit on the sofa opposite Baili Jing instead.

At the same time, she gestured for Ye Linyuan to sit on the remaining sofa.

The three of them occupied three separate sofas, forming a stable triangle.

Ye Linyuan leaned against the backrest, one arm draped over the armrest, and cut straight to the chase. "So, what’s there to talk about?"

Baili Jing smiled. "Mr. Ye, I believe that if you continue to barge into Xiao Li’s room like this, it’s quite unfair to the other Beast Husbands."

Ye Linyuan sneered internally.

’Unfair? Then they can just go and die.’

’Death treats everyone equally.’

But that wasn’t something he could say out loud in front of Jiang Qingli.

Ye Linyuan looked up at Baili Jing. "I seem to recall you saying that it is the female master’s choice who she spends the night with. A rule the Empire has upheld for a thousand years."

His golden, slitted pupils were heavy with mockery. "What’s the matter? The female master chose me for a few days, and suddenly the thousand-year-old rule has changed?"

"Or is it just that Mr. Baili is feeling a little salty because he wasn’t chosen?"

His taunt skill was maxed out, but Baili Jing’s smile didn’t waver. "As Beast Husbands, we are naturally supposed to listen to our female master."

"It’s just that *some people* are fond of malicious competition, even going so far as to coerce our female master. Such behavior inevitably lowers the moral standard of the household."

He kept saying "some people," but he might as well have just used Ye Linyuan’s name.

Ye Linyuan’s eyebrow twitched. "Coerce?"

He looked at Jiang Qingli. "Between the two of us, it seems the female master is the one doing most of the coercing."

As both men’s gazes fell on her, Jiang Qingli felt her scalp tingle. "..."

’You two can argue all you want, why do you have to drag me into it?!’

Jiang Qingli hugged a throw pillow to her chest in a futile attempt to hide.

But Ye Linyuan had no intention of letting her off the hook. "Female master, what do you think?"

Seeing no escape, Jiang Qingli rested her chin on the throw pillow and proposed, "How about... we set up a schedule? One person per day?"

She remembered Lin Xiyue mentioning that many females did this.

Ye Linyuan was not happy with this suggestion. "Absolutely not."

Baili Jing said with a smile, "I’ll abide by whatever Xiao Li decides."

Jiang Qingli clapped her hands. "Two votes to one! It’s settled!"

The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. Five Beast Husbands, one for each weekday, and weekends off. Perfect!

Jiang Qingli pulled out her terminal and tapped the screen. Just as she was about to open the calendar, Baili Jing suddenly spoke up. "There’s no need for all that trouble right now."

"It’s just me and Mr. Ye with you right now. We can just take turns, one day each," Baili Jing said. "We’ll figure it out with the others when they arrive."

Jiang Qingli considered that she needed to practice her Spiritual Healing, which meant she did need to spend every day with them, so she nodded in agreement.

But this raised a difficult question. "So... which of you will be with me tonight?"

"Pick me."

"Xiao Li, may I?"

The two men spoke in unison.

Ye Linyuan scoffed. "You were with her last night."

"If I’m not mistaken, Mr. Ye has snuck in to be with Xiao Li several times before, including one time when they stayed out all night," Baili Jing retorted with a smile. "I think it would be best for me to go first this time, to properly establish the rules."

Ye Linyuan let out a cold, harsh laugh.

’So all that buildup was just for this.’

’He couldn’t stand these hypocritical aristocrats. If this were the Underground City, he’d have killed this guy and fed him to the snakes long ago.’

Still, the final decision rested with Jiang Qingli.

Both men turned to look at her in unison.

Jiang Qingli thought for a moment. ’Ye Linyuan’s ’pollution value’ is quite high. I might not be able to handle it well at first, and I could even pass out. It would be better to start with Baili Jing, whose pollution value is lower.’

Under Ye Linyuan’s piercing gaze, Jiang Qingli meekly pointed at Baili Jing and said to Ye Linyuan, "You’ve already been with me several times..."

Ye Linyuan shot the vixen a deadly glare, then rose and stormed out, slamming the door so hard the whole room seemed to shake.

"Xiao Li, come over here."

From under the blanket, Baili Jing’s hand emerged to pat the empty space beside him.

Jiang Qingli walked over. The moment she sat down, he pressed close to her. His voice was a low whisper, the upward curve of his eyes particularly alluring.

"Darling, lift the blanket."

"There’s a present for you underneath..."