Xue Qianxue was lying of course. It was because she was too shy to admit that Yuan Ji had met all her expectations and more.
What she had told Yuan Ji was not the whole truth too but a watered down version. However, it was as close to the truth as she had said it.
Xia Jiajia had told her, "I have heard that there is a one and only portrait of the beardless Great Poet Ji Yuan in the Hundred Flower Divine Palace. If you want to know his beardless look, I do have a stratagem for you to force him to shave off his beard. But I wonder if Sacred Maiden Xue is willing to go along with this plan of mine?"
Yuan Ji had suddenly asked Xue Qianxue, "Erm, since you are not in cahoots with Xia Jiajia, why did you lie to me earlier?"
Xue Qianxue chuckled softly, "I like to see if I am able to provoke the Gentleman of the Sword."
Yuan Ji: …
"Well you have succeeded." He was forced to admit. In fact, he was jumping up and down earlier.
He quickly asked, "Do you know who Xia Jiajia is? What is her background?"
Xue Qianxue shook her head, "She is on par with my level."
After a short pause, she added quietly. "Maybe more."
Then she looked melancholy at him, "She is so beautiful. So you miss her?"
Yuan Ji's heart almost stopped when she was suddenly looking and questioning him just like this. Therefore he decided to tell a white lie. It was because he did not think it was wise to tell her that he had actually liked Jiajia the most and that they even had a hundred year pledge with each other.
He quickly asked, "Do you know that she is actually Xia Jiaqing?"
Xue Qianxue was gasping, "She is one of the four great celestial beauties? Palace Mistress Xia Jiaqing? I really did not know."
Then she lowered her woeful glances, "I've heard that she is missing now and that you have taken over as Palace Master of the Emperor Hall Sect. So you have thought that I may know her and that is why you have come to look for me?"
Yuan Ji: …
He thought: She is still so persistent in her questionings…
So he had decided to tell another white lie. "I've actually come to warn you about a plot against you and your Celestial Orthodox Sect. Most important of all, I've been thinking of you for over a hundred years and I've come specially to see you."
Xue Qianxue was gasping softly, "Really?"
Yuan Ji nodded firmly, "Really."
Xue Qianxue frowned lightly when she had suddenly noticed that Yuan Ji's heart was beating very fast. "Why is your heart beating so fast?"
"Erm, it is because a most beautiful maiden is resting on me and she is not wearing anything."
"You're such a badass…" Xue Qianxue was suddenly giggling as she gave him a painless hit with her hand on his chest.
Yuan Ji was thinking, "Whew. I am safe now?"
All of a sudden Xue Qianxue was looking at him intently, "Do you know Ling Feiyue?"
Yuan Ji: …
He was gasping silently. At this point of time, he had to be very tactful with his words.
"I don't know her at all. As a matter of fact, I've a feud to settle with her." He began to say with great righteousness.
"You don't know her and yet you have a feud with her?" Xue Qianxue asked him suspiciously.
Yuan Ji pretended to sigh heavily, "You should know. I was setup by Xia Jiajia and Ling Feiyue. They are plotting to get you and I am the victim."
Xue Qianxue paused to ponder, "But even then…"
Yuan Ji rolled his eyes. Somehow he got a feeling that one of these days, he would be killed by Xue Qianxue, Xia Jiajia or Ling Feiyue. But the most pressing one was how to answer Xue Qianxue's questions.
He had come to find Xue Qianxue to answer his many questions but now he had found out that he was actually answering to her many questions instead.
It seemed that they were both victims of a deeper conspiracy.
And it seemed that in order to find Xia Jiajia and to find out who she was, he had to find Ling Feiyue first.
All of a sudden he decided on a way to keep Xue Qianxue quiet; he had suddenly grabbed her gentle and he had forced her to bend forward, "Qianxue, you're too beautiful and I've not got enough of you. Let me saddle you…"
Just as Xue Qianxue was nodding shyly to him, a dozen bright lights had blinked into the dark cell as several protégés of the Celestial Sword Sect had entered through the imprisonment array.
"Punishment Elder! You see! One of the holy maidens has secretly visited the prisoner and now they are having their dirty business here…"
"This holy maiden is really daring!"
"We can even hear the sounds of their dirty love making from outside the imprisonment array…"
"Cripple both their cultivation soul sea!"
"How dare they defile the sacred grounds of the Celestial Sword Sect…"
"We must let the Sacred Maiden know immediately and request for her to melt down the harshest punishment on these two adulterous pair!"
All of a sudden the dozen holy maidens and high ranking elders were stunned by the view in front of them!
Their Sacred Maiden was completely naked in front of them and Yuan Ji was 'riding' her when they had suddenly appeared within the imprisonment array.
"Our Sacred Maiden is here…"
"This beast of a man…"
"Kill him!"
"Did he…did he…."
Yuan Ji was completely stunned. "No wait! This is a misunderstanding!"
Xue Qianxue was weeping all of a sudden. It was because she had now lost all her repute in front of the elders and protégés of the Celestial Sword Sect.
Although she was the sect's Sacred Maiden but she was not above the strict laws of the Celestial Sword Sect. The punishments of the sect's senior elders and the Matriarch Sacred Maiden would come swiftly to her.
Yuan Ji quickly seized a robe to cover Xue Qianxue before he said gravely, "Yes, I've violated the Sacred Maiden. I am the beast of a man. This is a fitting punishment to her for trying to imprison me here."
"Seize him! What are you all waiting for?" The Punishment Elder shouted to the holy maidens.
Xue Qianxue gasped silently as she shook her head, "Ji Yuan, no. You will surely die…"
But Yuan Ji returned her a silent nod. "Qianxue, I am happy to know you even if it is so brief. You are the most beautiful and most adorable maiden that I've ever known. I shall bear the blunt of this shameful act."
With another sigh, he muttered. "Good bye my Yan'Er, Chengxi and...Jiajia."