Chapter 1068: Teaching by Example
When Zu An entered the inner room and saw Liu Ji and Chu Ji, he couldn't help but feel awkward. He began, “The two of you…”
However, Liu Ji stopped him and said, “Do not use someone else’s voice. You are the duke right now. This will make it a bit easier for us too.”
Zu An was speechless. He couldn't even use a different voice in his current state even if he wanted to. After using the Kawaii Waifu Voice Changer, if he changed his voice, he would have to pretend to be a cute girl again. He really didn’t want to do that kind of thing more than he had to.
He coughed and said, “I have made the two madams worry in the time I’ve been away.” With things already the way they were, being shy about it was already meaningless. He needed to seize the moment to not waste their sincerity.
The two women’s eyes lit up when they heard him speak. A hint of bewilderment appeared in Chu Ji’s eyes and she muttered to herself, “You really are just like him, almost exactly the same as the duke…”
Liu Ji tugged on her sleeve and remarked, “What do you mean, he is just like the duke? He is the duke.”
Chu Ji’s pretty face turned red. She knew that Liu Ji was reminding her to play the part. After all, the man before them was exactly the same as their husband. As long as they didn’t suspect him of being someone else, it would make the following events much easier to accept.
Zu An sighed in amazement when he saw their entirely different reactions. Chu Ji was just like a bashful young married office lady from his previous world. Even though she was already married, she would still be embarrassed if one joked with her even a little bit.
Liu Ji was more like a passionate and unrestrained mature sister. After getting married, she had become passionate and begun taking the initiative. She would instead be the one who made younger colleagues at the office blush.
Liu Ji said, “Your voice is the same, but the way you refer to us is wrong. The duke would not call us madam. Madam is a title only she uses.” She looked in Yu Yanluo’s direction, her gaze filled with envy.
“Oh. Then what should I call you?” Zu An asked. He figured that made sense as well. How could any outsiders know how the duke addressed his concubines in private?
When she heard what he said, Liu Ji blushed for the first time. After some hesitation, she said, “You should call me ‘precious’.”
Zu An’s expression turned strange. He wanted to laugh, but he held himself back. However, that was still a normal term of endearment between husband and wife.
Chu Ji voiced her surprise, then said softly, “He normally calls me ‘darling’…”
Liu Ji’s expression also turned strange. After all, their nicknames were similar, but also entirely different.
Darling is darling, precious is precious… Zu An thought to himself, This duke really knows how to play around.
“I really don’t know what to call Zhang Ji then,” Zu An said. He was getting a headache. Judging from how the other two were acting, Zhang Ji definitely had her own unique nickname.
“I know her nickname,” Chu Ji said weakly.
Now, even Liu Ji was surprised. She really didn’t know how Chu Ji knew something she didn’t.
When she saw their curious expressions, Chu Ji sounded a bit flustered. She said, “The duke calls Zhang Ji ‘my beloved’. Zhang Ji bragged about it in front of me before, so I ended up knowing about it.”
“Beloved…” Liu Ji immediately felt a little jealous. “Why does she get to have a nickname that is slightly different?”
Zu An was stupefied. This duke seems a bit like a playboy!
After the interruption, the two girls gradually forgot about their initial embarrassment and slowly calmed down. They began to teach him how to address them, the tone he should use when calling out to them, and other such things, gradually correcting his behavior.
Zu An was becoming more and more like the real deal. Together with his appearance being identical to the duke’s, they began to look more and more infatuated. It was almost as if the real duke were right beside them.
However, a strange silence eventually descended on the room. They had taught him everything he should say, but how could words alone fool Zhang Ji? An ambiguous mood filled the place.
Chu Ji’s face became entirely red. She stared at her toes. It was almost as if she were trying to find a hole to hide herself in.
In the end, it was Liu Ji who broke the silence. She took a deep breath, and a dazzling smile appeared on her face as she said, “The duke has worked hard today. Let this humble one serve the duke before you sleep.” She walked over to Zu An’s side tenderly, and began to help him undo his clothes.
Zu An’s entire body went rigid when he felt Liu Ji’s touch. He had never experienced such a thing before. At that moment, he felt the situation was a bit absurd.
Liu Ji chuckled when she sensed his nervousness. If the other party had been a sex-hungry pervert in a rush to take advantage of her, even though she was doing this for revenge, she wouldn’t feel very good about it. But since the other party had gotten nervous first, she instead gathered some courage. She even felt like teasing him, saying, “We’ve been apart for so long, but the duke doesn’t seem to be all that excited.”
Chu Ji couldn't help but raise her head. Her misty eyes were wide open. Big Sister Liu is so amazing… I’m about to die from embarrassment, but she can still joke around.
Zu An sighed. He gathered his thoughts, then played along. “We’ve been apart for so long that I’ve missed my precious to death.”
When she heard the familiar way of address and saw the other party’s identical appearance, Liu Ji couldn't help but become stupefied. It was as if nothing had happened, and that things were the same as before when she used to often spend time with the duke.
But everything had already changed. There was no going back. She quietly wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes and pulled herself together. She helped him remove his clothes while saying, “Little sister Chu also misses the duke a lot. Why are you still staying over there, little sister?”
“Ah? I…” Chu Ji nodded in a daze. Her head was completely blank. She could only instinctively obey Liu Ji.
Liu Ji secretly moved over to Zu An’s ear and said, “Even the duke never experienced this kind of treatment before. You’re really lucky today.”
Zu An felt something stir within him. She really was an alluring woman who knew how to tease him!
The world was just that strange. Someone with Liu Ji’s personality, in theory, should have already been in cahoots with Jian Taiding, and yet she wasn’t. Instead, she had firmly made her decision to get revenge for her husband.
Zu An felt deep admiration for her. The only thing he could do was to cooperate and become as much like the duke as possible, so as to not let them down.
…
Meanwhile, Yu Yanluo was still standing outside. She began to mutter to herself, “Yanyou, will you blame me for doing this? But we are all trying to get revenge for you. If you are going to blame anyone, then blame me alone. Please do not blame them.”
After she thought things through, her expression turned resolute as well. She was no longer conflicted over the morality of the matter.
However, her ears couldn't help but prick up after she calmed herself down. She was curious about how things were going inside. She could still hear what was happening inside at first, but later on, their voices clearly became softer.
For some reason, although she was usually calm, was starting to feel a bit ill at ease. She didn’t know why she was feeling so annoyed either. She paced back and forth around the room restlessly.
A cry of alarm suddenly emerged from inside the room. Her expression changed a bit. Was Zu An starting to pressure them forcibly? That rascal!
She was about to go inside to take a look, but Liu Ji suddenly ran out while covering her chest, her clothes messed up. She was alarmed. Even the optimistic and cheerful Liu Ji had such a reaction…
Yu Yanluo quickly stopped her and asked, “What happened? Did that guy do anything to you two?”
Liu Ji shook her head and replied, “That is not it… but I really cannot teach him anymore!”
Yu Yanluo was completely confused. Didn’t you agree just now? How can you suddenly go back on your word? But she still respected Liu Ji’s decision. “Since you are no longer willing, I will not force you anymore. You two should hurry back to your rooms.”
However, she was also confused. Why hadn’t Chu Ji come out yet?
“It is not that we are unwilling, but that we really cannot teach him…” When she saw Yu Yanluo’s confusion, Liu Ji felt a bit conflicted. In the end, she moved over to Yu Yanluo’s ear and said, “It is because he is too… As long as Zhang Ji is not blind, she will immediately be able to tell that he is not the duke. That is why it is meaningless whether we teach him or not.”
Yu Yanluo was speechless. Her face became completely red. Even with all of her calculations, she had never expected that to be the reason.
Even though she was the duchess in name, she had never experienced a normal, passionate romance. How could she have foreseen those details? She couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. That guy looks pretty refined and cultured with his clothes on, but why is he like a donkey down there?
“Call over Chu Ji and go back then,” Yu Yanluo said. She had already completely given up on the plan. It seemed she had to think of another way.
Chu Ji left the room just then. Liu Ji quickly repeated the madam’s words to her.
However, Chu Ji didn’t follow her and instead tugged on her sleeves. Her expression was strange, and her voice was shaking a bit as she said, “He said he has a secret skill called the ‘Wukong Staff’. I do not know what that means either… but he seems to be able to control its size…”
Chu Ji could only be more straightforward when she saw that Liu Ji didn’t understand. “You should go in and take a look. It is now already… the same as the duke’s.”
Liu Ji and Yu Yanluo were speechless.
Chu Ji didn’t know where she had gotten the courage either, but she pulled Liu Ji back. She almost tried to bring in Yu Yanluo too, but she pulled her hand back after reaching out halfway. She felt it was a bit inappropriate.
After the two of them left, another cry of alarm followed. Chu Ji’s shock was even greater than before.
Even Yu Yanluo was a bit alarmed when she heard it. She almost couldn't hold back the urge to take a look herself. But although her feet moved a few times, in the end, she didn’t go inside.
She waited for the people inside to give her an explanation, but even as she waited and waited, no one came out. On the contrary, she heard some hushed voices, sounding almost as if they were about to cry.
Yu Yanluo’s expression changed at first; she thought Zu An was bullying the girls. However, she wasn’t some naive little girl. Even though those sounds left her a bit flustered, she quickly reacted.
She harrumphed and took out a paintbrush. The brush rushed quickly across the page, filling up the scroll. She extended her hand and that scroll extended on its own, quickly forming an incorporeal screen that separated the inside and outside of the courtyard. That way, no one outside could hear anything they shouldn’t hear.
…
After a long time passed, Zu An finally came out.
Yu Yanluo looked behind him, but didn’t see Liu Ji or Chu Ji at all. She frowned and asked, “what are the results?”
Zu An nodded and replied, “The two little madams were righteous and honorable, teaching by example. I have confidence in fooling Zhang Ji and Jian Taiding now. He will definitely think that his older brother has come back to life.”
Yu Yanluo sighed in relief and said, “That is good then. I hope you do not let down their efforts.”