Chapter 5 Climbing High

"Where did all that cleverness of yours go!" Li Rong said, her eyes reddening as well.

The bruises around the third sister's wrist prove that the third master of the Zhou family is not a good person!

Li Qu did not respond.

From being trapped in the Zhou family mansion and unable to save himself, to deciding to take a desperate gamble and block the road to plead for change, to witnessing Zhou Jin committing murder with his own hands in the prefectural government office, to escaping from a hopeless situation by encountering Chang San, and finally, because of a single sentence he uttered, angering Zhou Jin...

All the previous events had put Li Qu under immense pressure.

Even now, she doesn't know whether she's crying because she lost her innocence, because she was careless and lost everything, or because she had a useless second sister as a teammate.

"Waaaaah..."

Li Rong knelt down at Li Qu's feet with a thud, hugged Li Qu's legs, and wailed:

"I...I...I was just thinking that the old lady from that wealthy family was doing a good deed, and she was giving away dragon beard candies for free, so I figured I might as well eat them. Little did I know that this was just a pretext to find women for the men in my family!"

"I... I thought you were just like before, handling men with ease. I never expected you to be bullied like this!"

"I...I'm going to report this to the authorities!"

Before Zhou Jin even reached the door, he heard Li Rong's wailing all over.

When Xu Mama saw Zhou Jin coming over, she quickly came in to urge him to hurry up.

Li Rong and Zhou Jin exchanged a brief glance at the door and then walked away separately.

Zhou Jin didn't even glance at Li Rong before stepping straight into the house.

Li Rong's tears were still wet on her face as she pointed at Zhou Jin's back with an incredulous expression: "This, this is Master Zhou?"

Granny Xu grabbed Li Rong's finger and pulled her towards the courtyard: "It's getting late, Second Miss, you should go back and report to your in-laws as soon as possible."

Now that the concubine and the third master have already had physical intimacy, are you refusing to sign the concubine-taking document because you want to sign a contract of servitude?

Li Rong wiped away her tears: "Li Qu is just too lucky!"

The Prince of Yan's heir is a man of great talent, but the Third Master of the Zhou family is even more handsome and dashing.

They are all top-notch handsome men!

Xu Mama agreed with Li Rong's words and said with a smile, "When our Second Master went out to do business, he borrowed money from our Third Master."

Therefore, our Third Master owns a 10% stake in Second Master's businesses.

"You know Zhenbaoge, right? That's the business our second master started with. It has branches all over the country, and our third master owns 50% of it."

A sour feeling welled up in Li Rong's heart.

The initial anguish over Li Qu's loss of innocence vanished in an instant.

The third sister secretly thought, "She escaped a life of luxury and entered one of wealth and riches. She's so lucky!"

Granny Xu earnestly advised, "If the concubine wins the favor of our Third Master, she will enjoy endless blessings in the future!"

Now that the concubine has a child, how can she not take care of her own family?

I advise you to sign that concubine-taking document as soon as possible!

Li Rong immediately looked dejected.

Concubine-taking document?

Her third sister didn't even want the document that the Prince of Yan was taking a concubine!

They walked in silence until they reached their home and saw their worried mother. Li Rong sighed heavily, "Mother, it was indeed Third Sister who drank that contraceptive soup!"

Li's mother instantly slumped into the chair.

Li Rong abandoned her usual playful demeanor and sour thoughts, her face hardening as she frowned and said seriously, "Third Master Zhou is different from the Prince of Yan."

The third sister met the Prince of Yan when she was eight years old. They were childhood sweethearts and had an extraordinary bond.

The Crown Prince cherishes his third sister like a treasure, which is why she can command such respect from him.

"The Third Master of the Zhou family just met with the Third Sister yesterday."

Therefore, the third sister had no way to deal with him.

In addition, the incident yesterday where the third sister sued the Zhou family for abducting a woman has offended the entire Zhou family.

Therefore, he treats his third sister badly!

She paused, then added angrily, "He's a scoundrel! Even if Third Sister loses her chastity, she shouldn't stay with someone who's all show and no substance!"

A cloud of gloom hung over the Li family, and the atmosphere inside Fanghua Garden was also tense.

Li Qu's emotions were completely sealed away upon Zhou Jin's arrival.

When Zhou Jin came to Fanghua Garden for a meal, Li Qu, as a proper concubine, should have stepped forward to serve him the dishes.

However, after Zhou Jin sat down, she followed suit and sat down at a distance.

Granny Xu was shocked.

Zhou Jin glanced at Li Qu, but Li Qu lowered her eyes and ignored him.

This was her silent protest.

At the same time, Li Rong's words made her realize more clearly that Xiao Cong and Zhou Jin were two different kinds of people.

Xiao Cong had feelings for her, so he respected her.

But Zhou Jin only saw her as a target for revenge and a tool for sexual gratification; he showed her no pity whatsoever, only oppression.

Those who lived their past lives under the red flag can hardly accept being oppressed.

As long as there is no document authorizing her to take a concubine or a contract of indenture, she is a law-abiding citizen.

Since they are law-abiding citizens.

Why should she abide by the rules of being a concubine?

The fault doesn't lie with her, it lies with the Zhou family, with Zhou Jin!

When the food was served, Li Qu didn't feel hungry.

After chewing two grains of rice, Li Qu was still preoccupied with escaping her predicament.

People should look forward.

She couldn't stop it when it happened, but after it happened, she had to focus on the present and plan for the future.

She glanced up at Zhou Jin; Hongguo was serving him food, and he seemed to have a good appetite, eating with relish.

Li Qu withdrew her gaze: "You..." As soon as she spoke, she realized that her voice was a little hoarse.

She cleared her throat: "Are you calmed down now?"

"The injury was so severe that I became even angrier."

Li Qu: "..."

He protested in a low voice: "Later, later I did as you said."

"That's because you couldn't resist and gave up the struggle."

Li Qu: "..." Shameless!

I vigorously pounded the rice with my chopsticks.

Zhou Jin's image in Li Qu's mind can be summarized in two sentences:

Those in power in this era.

The outlaw in her heart.

Moreover, Li Qu felt that dealing with Zhou Jin was like a primary school student facing an advanced math problem, completely at a loss.

Zhou Jin had almost finished eating. He glanced at Li Qu, who was angrily counting the grains of rice, wiped his mouth, and threw his handkerchief on the table: "I'll just assume you were ignorant and spoke without thinking before."

Li Qu's eyes lit up as she looked at Zhou Jin: "Third Master, are you willing to let bygones be bygones?"

Zhou Jin took the tea offered by the maid and took a sip: "You're absolutely right about one thing."

Li Qu suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Following me without any official status or title is an honor for you."

Li Qu's eyes dimmed instantly, and she was speechless.

"I'm giving you one chance to change. There won't be a second time."

It seemed to be talking about Li Qu scratching him, but it also seemed to be talking about Li Qu offending him with his rude remarks.

"If you're not afraid of death, just pretend I'm here for a meal today." Zhou Jin put down his cup, got up and walked outside: "If you're afraid of death, then calm down. I'll let you have the honor of being here."

Li Qu felt utterly devastated!

Zhou Jin was serious.

How could this be?

And on what grounds?

Li Qu suddenly stood up, and the chair beneath her crashed over, hitting her calf.

Ignoring the pain, she chased after him. In the moonlit corridor, in the summer night when hibiscus bloomed in splendor, she caught up with Zhou Jin and grabbed his sleeve: "You had to do this..."

The words "to ask someone to do something against their will" stuck in his throat like a stone when he met Zhou Jin's dark, inky eyes.

"Making things difficult for someone?"

Zhou Jin seemed to see through Li Qu's thoughts, gently removed Li Qu's hand from his sleeve, and flicked his sleeve.

"Yes, I'm going to force people to do things they can't."

"You have to climb this high branch whether you want to or not."

"Why?"

Zhou Jin's beautiful eyes, as if painted with ink, were filled with nonchalance, and his tone was condescending yet sarcastic: "Because I am worthy."

Having finished speaking, he missed Li Qu.

They didn't care at all.

Without any regrets.

It's like a noble human catching a beautiful oriole and casually tossing it into a cage.

He strode away.

Li Qu swayed slightly, but was caught by Xu Mama, who had been watching her closely.

"Auntie, are you feeling unwell?"

Things had gotten so bad that they were in a terrible state.

Li Qu clutched her chest, feeling that the summer breeze was too hot and the moonlight too cold.

What to do, what to do!

Is this fate?

Li Qu returned to her room in a daze, collapsed onto the bed, and covered her face with the blanket.

She was unwilling to accept it.

She didn't want to be a concubine.

There must be other ways.

Aunt Li pulled Li Qu out of the quilt and saw that Li Qu's face was covered with tears, and her long, thick eyelashes were covered with glistening teardrops. She looked so pitiful.

Her solemn expression softened slightly: "Auntie, the old lady heard that you are not serving the master, so she asked me to pass on a message to you."

"Now that the concubine has lost her virginity, unless the Third Master agrees, she will probably have to live in this Zhou family mansion for the rest of her life."

Living in this mansion with the Third Master's favor is like living under heaven compared to not having his.

“My aunt is wise. Don’t be blind to your own shortcomings and choose the wrong path again.”

"It's one thing to lose my own life, but what if it involves my parents and siblings? Wouldn't it be too late to regret it then?"

Li Qu's protest seemed weak and powerless: "I am a woman of good birth!"

unimportant.

Nobody cares.