Chapter 4: I Am Also Qing Li's Beast Husband

The entire room was in shock.

Are you kidding me?!

The onlookers whispered among themselves, some showing sympathy, others gloating.

Some were even secretly taking photos to send to the news agencies.

Beastman ranks go from high to low, with S-rank being the highest and F-rank the lowest.

And the twelve interstellar cities are strictly stratified.

The noble females living in the central area of the First District command the most elite resources in the galaxy, and the system prioritizes matching them with high-ranking male beastmen.

F-rank beastmen are the lowest of the low. Being born into nobility, this would be a lifelong humiliation; if one were a commoner, they wouldn't even have the qualifications to enter the Upper City.

Jiang Qingli had read the book, so she naturally knew what an F-rank beastman represented.

Before the system matching, the original owner had secretly paid a high price for a simulation, which resulted in three A-ranks, which was why she had convinced her parents to trade their resources for Bai Yiyi’s engagement.

Jiang Qingli didn't really care about that.

Her primary goal now was to survive. It didn't matter if her beast-husbands were low-ranked; she could always find more later.

But a casual glance at the list made Jiang Qingli freeze.

Among the list of five beast-husbands, she saw a familiar name—Ye Linyuan.

H-how did he become her beast-husband?

Ye Linyuan was the major villain in the book who almost killed the female lead; how could he possibly be F-rank?

And people from the Underground City were all unregistered residents; how could he be openly assigned to her?

How is this different from the original text?

"Big sister, don't be sad."

As Jiang Qingli was pondering, her hand was suddenly held.

Looking up, she saw Bai Yiyi’s face full of concern: "I know, you liked Chi Yun and the others more, you must be very sad right now..."

"Who said I was sad?" Jiang Qingli pulled her hand away and scanned her surroundings. "When I look for beast-husbands, the most important thing is loyalty. That kind of trash who betrays their female master isn't even as good as an F-rank beastman."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of Ling Qing and the others changed.

Chi Yun couldn't hold back: "Jiang Qingli! What do you mean by that?!"

Jiang Qingli ignored him, leaned in closer, and whispered in Bai Yiyi’s ear: "Yiyi, if they could betray me for you today, who’s to say they won't betray you for someone else tomorrow?"

"A female can only be bound to a maximum of ten beast-husbands. The difficulty of divorcing an S-rank is not the same as an F-rank. Are you really going to waste your slots on these five traitors?"

Bai Yiyi looked up at her abruptly.

Jiang Qingli’s eyes curved into crescents, but the smile didn't reach them.

The five beast-husbands had gotten her sent to the Underground City and married Bai Yiyi the very next day; it was impossible that they hadn't planned it.

Jiang Qingli felt that since she was already the villainess, it wouldn't be too much to sow some discord, right?

Anyway, those five beast-husbands couldn't hurt her anymore.

After saying this, Jiang Qingli didn't wait for Bai Yiyi to react. She straightened up and walked away with a light step, showing no signs of sadness or depression.

Hearing this, the surrounding crowd turned their gossiping gazes toward Bai Yiyi and the others.

"What did Jiang Qingli mean by that? Could it be that these five were already with Bai Yiyi behind her back?"

"Isn't that cheating? Even if they weren't married yet, it's still disgusting."

"I heard that Bai Yiyi gave her beast-husbands to Jiang Qingli just to secure the position of Vice President of the Imperial Royal Academy Student Council... Could it be that she was secretly hooking up with all five of them?"

"She gave up the Vice President position? That’s a huge sacrifice! If those five hadn't committed some fundamental breach, why would Jiang Qingli have rejected them?"

Beastmen have excellent hearing, and the expressions of the five beast-husbands were not looking good.

Chi Yun looked back at Bai Yiyi and found that her usually gentle eyes held a hint of wariness and dissatisfaction.

"Sister Yiyi!" Chi Yun grabbed Bai Yiyi’s hand. "What did that idiot say to you? She’s just jealous of you! Don't believe her!"

Ling Qing stared at Bai Yiyi: "Yiyi, she’s lying, right? How could you possibly abandon us for the Vice President position?"

"How could that be? The Vice President position is publicly elected!" Bai Yiyi pursed her lips, the corners of her eyes drooping in a pitiful arc. "Don't doubt me, you guys are all I have now."

Seeing her like this, the five men stopped thinking about it, pulled her aside to coax her for a while, and finally made her smile again.

Just as they were about to leave, several reporters appeared in their line of sight. They must have heard about Jiang Qingli’s situation and were holding microphones, interviewing people to verify the facts.

Bai Yiyi curled her lips and found the staff member who had assisted Jiang Qingli with the system matching.

She righteously demanded a re-test: "My cousin has the purest noble bloodline, and her father is an S-rank dragon beastman. She should have at least five S-rank beast-husbands, how could it be like this? There must be a mistake!"

Her voice immediately attracted several reporters.

The staff member clarified immediately: "Miss Bai, don't talk nonsense. Our system has been like this for many years; there is absolutely no way there’s a problem!"

Bai Yiyi sighed and turned to leave, but was blocked by several reporters.

"Excuse me, could we ask about Miss Jiang’s situation?"

*

After leaving the Marriage and Birth Center, Jiang Qingli didn't go straight home.

After the system matched her with the beast-husbands, it also sent their contact information.

Three friend requests appeared in her inbox. One of them, with a pure black avatar and no name, sent two messages.

【Ye Linyuan】

【[Address]】

Jiang Qingli: "..."

So arrogant.

But she did have things to ask him.

Jiang Qingli told Yin Nuo to go back to the assigned villa first, throw away all of those five's things, and add the cleaning fee to their bill.

Jiang Qingli got out of the vehicle near the location.

While waiting for the red light, she looked up and saw a white-haired man on a giant electronic screen, his head held high, looking down at the camera with a cold, sharp aura.

It was Ling Qing.

Two young females were taking photos next to it.

One of them clicked her tongue: "So handsome. What a pity, he ended up with that legendary Miss Jiang."

"How is she worthy of Ling Qing? She’s full of lies. She even claimed that the fireworks on Ling Qing’s birthday were set off by her? Hilarious, it was clearly prepared by Bai Yiyi!"

"Exactly, and that brooch from before—it was clearly a gift from Bai Yiyi, but she insisted on saying she made it herself..."

Just as they were about to curse a few more times, the advertisement screen flashed, revealing a gentle and handsome face.

The white-haired youth had an elegant temperament, his beautiful eyes slightly upturned, with a small tea-colored mole at the corner of his eye. When he looked up, it was soul-stirring.

"Ahhh, Baili Jing!" The female’s tone turned gentle instantly. "He’s so handsome... He’s perfect in every way except for his low rank. He’s also so devoted; he’s been in the industry for ten years and his first on-screen kiss is still intact. It’s said he’s saving it for his 'white moonlight'!"

"He even said he entered the industry just so his 'white moonlight' could see him. I’m convinced, how can there be such a pure male..."

As they were speaking, a flying vehicle zoomed past them arrogantly, the wind blades sharp, scaring the two females into screaming.

"Who is that, so rude!"

"It’s Qin Muye!" the other female said with disdain. "This male is rated as the 'Empire’s Most Useless Prince.' He’s the Emperor’s illegitimate son who lived outside. He’s been like this ever since he was brought back a few years ago, hanging out and fooling around all day."

She clicked her tongue in disgust: "This kind of playboy looks indecent. I don't know who’s unlucky enough to end up with him."

The green light turned on.

The two females hurried away.

Just as Jiang Qingli was about to cross the street, she saw the same flying vehicle come barreling back, stopping right in front of her.

The window rolled down, revealing a cold and handsome face.

The youth had sharp features, his silver hair was exceptionally defiant, and he wore four or five earrings that reflected blinding light in the sun.

He took off his sunglasses, squinted, and his arrogant gray-blue eyes scanned Jiang Qingli up and down, his tone full of disgust—

"You’re Jiang Qingli? My female master?"

Jiang Qingli matched his name with the beast-husband profile: "Qin Muye?"

Qin Muye clicked his tongue, clearly very dissatisfied with her: "Get in. I have something to tell you."

Jiang Qingli didn't buy it: "I’m busy right now. Get in line."

"Get in." Qin Muye’s tone deepened. "Don't make me say it a third time!"

"I am your female master. You should show respect to your female master. Did the royal family not teach you that?" Jiang Qingli raised an eyebrow, her tone even worse than his. "Don't make me say it a second time, or I’ll whip you!"

Ever since Qin Muye returned to the royal family, he had been arrogant and haughty; he had never been spoken to like this, and he immediately frowned: "You—"

He climbed out of the vehicle and walked over aggressively.

Just as he was about to reach out and grab Jiang Qingli, a young man stepped in front of him and behind Jiang Qingli.

Jiang Qingli felt her feet slip, and her body fell backward uncontrollably, landing in a warm, fragrant embrace.

"That is not how you treat a female." A gentle and elegant voice came from above her head. "Females are precious and need to be cherished."

Jiang Qingli looked up and saw the handsome face that had just appeared on the billboard.

Qin Muye sneered: "Who the hell are you? Teaching me how to do things? I’m her beast-husband! This is between us!"

Baili Jing gently hooked Jiang Qingli’s waist, pulling her completely into his arms.

Wrapping his arms around Jiang Qingli, Baili Jing curled his lips in satisfaction.

When he looked up at Qin Muye again, his light golden eyes flickered with a hint of provocation—

"What a coincidence."

"I’m Qingli’s beast-husband, too."