Chapter 287

…

Walking out from where he had rested last night, Zhao Yu rubbed his slightly sore waist and thought, “Ten is still a bit too much.”

The five new girls were easy to handle—one each was enough to leave them all writhing, unwilling to fight again.

—To be honest, facing them gave Zhao Yu a real sense of accomplishment.

This was also why Zhao Yu liked new girls so much.

But when it came to the veterans—Xiao Puxian, Xiao Sesè, and the two voluptuous young matrons—they were no longer reserved or fearful of Zhao Yu. They launched their own attacks, each using every trick they had to extract benefits from Zhao Yu.

Even Yelu Yabuli, who had only become a matron less than a month ago, did the same.

Because they all knew clearly: in Zhao Yu’s harem, there were too many wolves and too little meat; after this night’s service, when they would next be called, or even if they would ever be called again, was uncertain—so they could only seize this moment and strive for a permanent chance to bear the imperial heir.

Later, these five clever new girls, seeing how eagerly the veterans acted, realized the truth: opportunity knocks but once. So they dropped their reserve, stepped forward, and joined the fray.

As a result, Zhao Yu’s pressure naturally increased.

In the end, although Zhao Yu won the battle, he himself was nearly at his limit.

“Next time, no more than eight. Better to preserve the green hills than burn all the firewood.”

As he thought this, Zhao Yu faced a girl of about ten.

She had an oval face, almond eyes, delicate arched brows like moonlit smoke, powdered skin and jade-like features—reminiscent of young Nezha from “The Prequel of Baolian Lantern,” brimming with youthful charm, sweet as honey.

On closer look, she bore some Khitan physical traits: brown eyes, a high nose bridge, and a tall, slender frame.

The instant Zhao Yu saw her, he wondered: could she be one of his daughters?

He couldn’t help it—his children were too numerous, and he interacted with them so rarely that he could barely recognize all his sons, let alone his daughters.

To avoid major blunders—or even royal scandals—Zhao Yu had long sent his sons to live independently and his daughters to “girls’ schools,” where they lived and studied until they reached sixteen or seventeen, then married them off.

This girl’s age sat right on the borderline between being eligible to leave the palace and not yet being so—leaving Zhao Yu uncertain whether she was truly his blood.

As Zhao Yu hesitated, the girl bowed gracefully before him: “Your servant pays homage to Your Majesty.”

Instantly, Zhao Yu understood: she could not be his daughter—otherwise, she would have called him “Father Emperor,” not “Your Majesty.”

“Did Yelu Yanxi send me a girl this young among the maidens?”

After a moment’s reflection, Zhao Yu realized who she was.

—She was Yelu Yanxi’s other daughter, the last princess of the Liao Dynasty in history: Princess Shu, Yelu Yuliyan.

Looking again at Yelu Yuliyan, Zhao Yu noticed she resembled Xiao Sesè closely—she would likely grow up to be another Xiao Sesè.

Zhao Yu had not expected that Yelu Yuliyan, who had not yet been born when he first arrived in the Zhao Song court, had now grown so tall.

This made Zhao Yu sigh inwardly: “Time really flies.”

Zhao Yu smiled and said, “Looking for your mother? She’s inside.”

Then Zhao Yu walked away.

In fact, Zhao Yu was wrong—Yelu Yuliyan had come to find her sister, Yelu Yabuli.

Before Yelu Yabuli arrived, the Liao court had instructed her to spend more time with Xiao Sesè and Yelu Nanxian, as they judged these two women had stronger ties to Liao.

So upon entering Zhao Yu’s harem, Yelu Yabuli immediately sought out Xiao Sesè, and there met her half-sister, Yelu Yuliyan, for the first time.

Yelu Yabuli brought Yelu Yuliyan many gifts and actively befriended her, and soon they formed a deep sisterly bond.

Thus, Yelu Yuliyan loved to cling to Yelu Yabuli, listening to her recount the glory of the Khitans, tales from the grasslands, and their relatives back in Liao.

Yesterday, Yelu Yabuli had promised to teach Yelu Yuliyan horseback riding today—and the childlike Yelu Yuliyan had rushed over early to find her.

Yelu Yuliyan watched Zhao Yu depart until he was out of sight, then stepped into the battlefield of his night’s conquest.

With Zhao Yu gone, no one cared about others’ safety—so no one stopped Yelu Yuliyan from entering to find Xiao Sesè and Yelu Yabuli.

As soon as she entered, Yelu Yuliyan smelled an indescribable scent in the air—the lingering afterglow of battle, mingled with a faint floral fragrance and the rich musk of dragon’s saliva—making the entire room seem veiled in a hazy, ambiguous mist. Her steps slowed involuntarily; a blush of curiosity and shy embarrassment rose on her face.

Yelu Yuliyan looked around: the brocade quilts were disheveled, gauzy curtains fluttered, every furnishing and every shaft of light seemed to whisper of last night’s fierce struggle.

Her heart quickened—this scene was both novel and alien to her.

But then again, Yelu Yuliyan had grown up in the harem; though she had never eaten pork, she had certainly heard pigs squeal.

Without exaggeration, everyone around her—whether they had served the bed or not—always spoke of Zhao Yu, and within a few sentences would mention who he had visited last night, then speculate how she herself would behave if she ever earned his favor.

Even worse, since Yelu Yuliyan was a child, people had joked that she would one day be visited by Zhao Yu, likely alongside her mother Xiao Sesè—always teasing her with such talk.

At first, Xiao Sesè would stop these women from making such jokes.

But over time, Xiao Sesè either accepted her fate or lost the energy to intervene, and stopped caring.

As a result, Yelu Yuliyan had known from a very young age that she too would one day become Zhao Yu’s concubine.

Precisely because of this, even as a child, Yelu Yuliyan would secretly observe Zhao Yu.

Just now, Yelu Yuliyan could have waited—she had seen Zhao Yu from afar.

But she desperately wanted to see Zhao Yu up close and speak to him, so she gathered her courage and greeted him.