Flower Stealing Master

Chapter 922: Shameless

Song Qingshu’s agreement came so readily that Wanyan Ping couldn’t help but suspect a trick. Still, since things had already come to this, she decided to stay and make the best of it.  

“There are no outsiders now. Stop using my brother-in-law’s face—it’s unsettling,” she said. Before, whenever she saw that bearded face, she had felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity. But now that she knew it was just Song Qingshu in disguise, the sight of it made her skin crawl.  

“If Ping’er doesn’t like it, I’ll take the mask off,” Song Qingshu replied with a chuckle, removing the disguise to reveal his true features.  

Staring at the handsome young man with sharp brows and bright eyes, Wanyan Ping felt an unfamiliar distance between them and suddenly found herself at a loss for words.  

Song Qingshu, however, was perfectly content to gaze quietly at the beautiful girl before him. 

After a long silence, it was Wanyan Ping who finally broke under his intense stare. Pointing at the mask, she asked, “How did you manage to mimic my brother-in-law so perfectly? Even my sister and I couldn’t tell the difference.”  

Women were naturally meticulous, especially when it came to those closest to them. The fact that she had unwittingly given herself to this man still gnawed at her.  

“Oh, that? I skinned Tang Kuo Bian’s face to make it,” Song Qingshu said casually.  

“What?!” Wanyan Ping was both horrified and furious, her entire body tensing as she instinctively drew her dagger.  

“Look how worked up you are—I was just joking,” Song Qingshu laughed.  

His smirk made her want to punch him. Coldly, she held out her hand. “Let me see it.” She didn’t fully trust him and needed to verify it herself.  

Song Qingshu tossed her the mask. “Before he died, Tang Kuo Bian really did let me peel his face off to ensure I could impersonate him flawlessly. But such a bloody mess doesn’t suit this young master’s tastes, so of course I didn’t do it…”  

Wanyan Ping ignored his rambling, her fingers lightly tracing the mask. The material was strange, its texture nearly indistinguishable from real skin. However, having grown up in the Laundry Courtyard, she could tell the difference between real human skin and a fake. Relieved to confirm it wasn’t her brother-in-law’s face, she let out a long breath.  

“Tell me what happened to my brother-in-law in Kaifeng,” she said. Though she had already heard most of it from her sister, she wanted to know how he had spent his final days.  

“Tang Kuo Bian was lucky to have such a devoted sister-in-law,” Song Qingshu remarked before recounting everything that had transpired after their meeting.  

Wanyan Ping interjected with questions now and then, though they were all trivial details—as if she wanted to reconstruct every mundane moment of Tang Kuo Bian’s last days.  

Song Qingshu answered patiently, never showing the slightest impatience. 

By the end, Wanyan Ping even knew how many times Tang Kuo Bian had visited the latrine in those final days. Only then did she finally fall silent.  

Outside, the night had deepened. 

Pucha Shijie hadn’t gone far, standing in a corner dozens of feet away, letting the cold night air wash over him. But his heart was colder than the wind.  

Years of longing couldn’t be abandoned so easily. Even though he knew there was no future between him and Wanyan Ping, he still cared for her deeply.  

Yet no matter how long he waited, she never emerged from the tent. His mind conjured images of her beneath Tang Kuo Bian, yielding in pleasure, and his spirit withered.  

Pucha Shijie let out a few self-mocking laughs before rising and walking away, his figure steeped in loneliness. Only now had he truly let go.  

Inside the tent, an unspoken tension lingered. With nothing left to say, the silence grew so thick that Wanyan Ping could hear her own heartbeat.  

‘If he dares climb onto the bed, I’ll stab him!’ She touched the chastity dagger strapped to her thigh, and her restless heart calmed slightly.  

But as fate would have it, she suddenly sensed movement beside her. Turning, she found Song Qingshu lying next to her, watching her with an amused grin.  

“What do you think you’re doing?” she yelped, scrambling away like a startled rabbit.  

“You,” Song Qingshu answered bluntly.  

“…?” Wanyan Ping was confused at first, but then his meaning dawned on her. Flushing with anger, she snapped, “You scoundrel! Get down!”  

She tried to kick him off, but Song Qingshu seized her ankle instead.  

“You were much gentler with me that night,” he mused. Truthfully, his feelings toward Wanyan Ping were complicated. He had deliberately kept his distance before, enduring her misunderstandings without explanation, thinking it better to cut ties cleanly. That had been possible only because she didn’t know his true identity—he could slip in and out of her life unnoticed.  

But now that she knew the truth, he couldn’t walk away so easily. Seeing Pucha Shijie hovering around her had filled him with irrational irritation. The thought of her ending up in another man’s arms drove him mad. If that was the case, he might as well play the villain.  

‘Ah, a man’s possessiveness is truly a terrible thing.’ Though he understood this flaw, he couldn’t overcome it—so he might as well indulge it.  

“Don’t you dare bring up that night again!” Wanyan Ping’s heart softened despite herself. This man was her first—and so far, only—lover, and that fact left her emotions in turmoil.  

Song Qingshu lay beside her without making any further moves. “You’re right. There’s no point dwelling on the past. Let’s talk about how we move forward.”  

“What’s there to discuss?” Even though they had already been intimate, his proximity now made her unbearably tense.  

“I’ll go first,” Song Qingshu said. “I have only one condition: you can’t be with another man for the rest of your life.”  

Wanyan Ping was so angry she laughed. “So I can’t be with anyone else—only you?”  

Song Qingshu smiled. “Exactly.”  

“Have you no shame?” she fumed.  

“Compared to shame, I’d rather have you.” He turned onto his side, gazing intently into her eyes. His boldness stemmed from her reactions—after all, when she had learned his true identity, her response hadn’t been as vehement as he’d expected. That made him think there might still be a chance.  

Unable to withstand his burning stare, Wanyan Ping averted her eyes. “I… I need time to think.”  

Song Qingshu’s lips curled slightly. “Take your time.” As he spoke, he leaned in to press a ki$$ against the smooth curve of her neck.