Chapter 47 This time it's more... than the previous times.

Taking advantage of Si Qing kneeling on the ground, Yin Yuan gritted his teeth, picked her up horizontally, carried her out of the carriage, and asked for a fast horse to take her back to the mansion.

Throughout the entire process, he covered her face with a shawl. A few curious people on the street, upon seeing that he was the highly respected prefect of the county, all kept their words to themselves.

"My lord... I feel so awful..." she managed to squeeze out the words, "I want to go home..."

After speaking, she put all her strength into her teeth and bit deep into the man's arm, licking the blood that had accumulated on his flesh with each inch she went in, a happy grin spreading across her face.

The man held the reins with one hand, his face expressionless, except for a slight furrow in his brow.

"You only think of me at times like this."

When they arrived at the door, they happened to see Chen Xun instructing his servants.

Chen Xun looked up, left and right, and asked, "Found it? Oh, where did it go? How did it get like this? Who was so lecherous as to do this!"

"Um... sir, should we still have them put up missing person notices?"

Yin Yuan ignored him and went straight into the mansion.

After settling her on the bed, Yin Yuan realized that she had bitten off a piece of flesh from his arm.

His robes were also stained with blood, especially from the cuffs to his arms. However, because the official robes were dark red, the bloodstains were not very noticeable, and there was only a putrid, bloody smell.

Leng Cuizhu was still in pain, lying in bed feeling like she was dying.

Bloodstains remained on her lips, dripping onto the pillow along with her tears.

Unsatisfied, she suffered excruciating pain all over her body, so much so that she fainted.

Yi Yinwan brought her maid in, and upon smelling the blood in the room, she immediately covered her nose. She was terrified to see Yin Yuan sitting on the edge of the bed with his arm wrapped in bandages, and a piece of mangled flesh on the floor.

"My goodness... Brother, what does this mean?" She pointed at the pieces of meat on the ground. "Who was eating here just now? You don't have a dog at home, do you?"

"Please call the doctor."

"oh."

It wasn't until nightfall that Yi Yinwan finally brought the doctor over.

Yin Yuan had already bandaged his arm to temporarily stop the bleeding, and had removed his blood-stained official robe. He then had the physician examine Leng Cuizhu.

She had been dizzy all day, but she woke up just in time and was helped to sit on the bed by the maids.

The doctor took her pulse, examined her eyes and the tip of her tongue, and stroked his beard: "My lady, is there anything wrong with your health?"

She's doing very well now, but she misses Si Qing terribly.

She didn't understand why Yin Yuan wanted to break them up; all she knew was that she missed him. She missed the feeling of sharing a bed with him.

As she thought about it, tears welled up in her eyes: "No... I feel no discomfort."

Yin Yuan sat on the edge of the bed, hesitant to speak.

The doctor scratched his head: "The lady's pulse is normal."

"My lord, please forgive my incompetence; I cannot diagnose what illness my wife suffers from. Perhaps, sir, you could take a look and let me feel your pulse?"

Yin Yuan lowered his voice and flicked his sleeve.

The doctor slunk away.

Leng Cuizhu immediately collapsed onto the bed, panting heavily.

“I want to go back, I’m not going home… I want to see Young Master Si.”

Yin Yuan glanced at her: "Have you eaten?"

"I ate," she wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, sobbing uncontrollably. "Young Master Si fed me. I want to go back to see him. Only he would feed me. He's the best."

"He gave you an aphrodisiac."

"No, that's not true!"

"Otherwise, why would you be constantly in heat?" The man grabbed her flailing hand and questioned her sharply, "Are you so overwhelmed by pleasure that you've lost your mind?"

"Why don't you just sleep outside? Why do you have to come back and get in my way, and make yourself look like a ghost?"

Her hand was pinched so hard it hurt, and she was still wearing the green bracelet that Si Qing had given her.

"Let me go!"

"Why would I let you go? So you go find him again? Is this the freedom you wanted?"

"I thought you went to great lengths to leave me so you could study, learn to read and write, and live a normal life. But instead, you went and hooked up with another man, and even spent so many days with him?"

His gaze fell on the bracelet on her wrist: "He gave you a little something and you're already acting all high and mighty? Aren't you shameless? Aren't you disgusting?"

"What if he's sick? How many times did you do it? Where did it happen? Did he ejaculate inside? Did he wear an enema or did you take medication? Can you be sure about any of these questions?"

She kept her head down and didn't say a word, tears streaming down her face.

The pleasure of the past few days had given her an unusual flush, and a thin layer of sweat covered her delicate oval face. Her once bright eyes were now filled with a sorrowful and hazy look, and a few strands of sweat-dampened hair clung to her forehead.

Yin Yuan glanced at her sideways and let go of her hand.

"It must be a problem with that medicine. Just bear with it for one night."

She closed her eyes and couldn't stop sighing.

A moment later, Yin Yuan got up to leave.

She said, "But I love him."

"……Um."

He left the inner room without looking back.

Incense was burning in the room. She kept crying until she had a headache and felt weak. She then fainted in a daze, but woke up not long after and started crying again.

This situation lasted for a long time until she finally had no strength left and lay on the bed, only her eyes could barely move.

My fingertip was suddenly pricked by a needle.

She turned her head and saw a strange woman kneeling by the bed, who had entered at some point.

The woman looked at the bright red blood on her fingertips from left to right, and then brought the candlestick over to shine on it.

Yin Yuan came in from outside and walked to the bedside: "How are you?"

The old woman grabbed her fingertip, sucked the blood from it, and laughed, "Eh, just as you guessed, my lady is under a spell. Even the blood tastes sweet."

"The one who tied the knot must untie it. I can't undo the curse that someone else cast, but drinking more water will help flush out the toxins from your blood and make you feel better."

Leng Cuizhu could hardly believe what she had just heard.

She couldn't understand it either. Just hearing the old woman say that brought out all the sorrow, frustration, and anger in her heart, which tangled together and made her heart ache terribly.

Once they were alone in the room, he said, "Did you hear that? You don't love him; he's the one who put a spell on you."

“No one will fall in love with someone so deeply just because of a few days of pleasure. Even if you do love him,” Yin Yuan’s eyes deepened, “you love the act of being with him in bed, not the person he is.”

"No, that's not true..."

"Then do you know his character? Do you know his likes and dislikes?"

"If he's always drinking, gambling, and frequenting brothels, how could you love such a despicable scum?"

She turned over without answering, clutching her pounding chest.

"..."

Yin Yuan stroked the gauze on his arm, his fingertips sinking into the indentation as if he wanted to dig out the flesh and blood.

The maids brought in the food and set up a small table by the bed, helping Leng Cuizhu up from the bed.

Yin Yuan was still standing in the corner of the room.

He walked slowly toward the bedside, and the maids scattered like a school of startled fish, retreating to various corners.

"Drink up." He sat on the edge of the bed, scooped up a spoonful of white porridge, and held it to her lips.

It's called congee, but it's really just bland rice soup with only a few grains of rice floating on the murky white surface.

"You heard me too, I told you to drink more water."

She sat motionless, not even opening her lips.

"No aphrodisiacs were added," Yin Yuan said calmly. "And no poison was used either."

She stared at her utterly haggard reflection in the spoon and suddenly burst into tears.

"I feel so bad..."

Yin Yuan still held up the spoon: "Drink the water."

"Hurry up, I have to go to roll call this morning."

She bit her lip and leaned her head over.

After she finished the bowl of thin rice porridge, Yin Yuan took the cordyceps and black chicken soup that the maid had ladled out and continued to feed her.

He only said to finish the water, without mentioning that it was just rice porridge.

She had no appetite for the greasy and bitter chicken soup: "I don't want to drink it..."

Yin Yuan still ladled soup and handed it to her, showing no intention of granting her request.

She still drank the bowl of chicken soup.

The soup was too salty, and after she finished drinking it, she grumbled that she wanted water. Yin Yuan had a maid pour her a cup.

After finishing one cup, she wanted more, and drank several more cups. The teacup in her hand was replaced with a porcelain bowl, and she drank several more bowls until the maid said there was no more warm water.

She rubbed her stomach and lay down silently.

Yin Yuan glanced at her from the bedside and then told the maids to pack up and leave.

"Where's Leng Zhen?" she asked, more sobering up. "How has he been these past few days?"

Yin Yuan: "He drowned himself in the lake."

She sat up abruptly: "Did he jump into the lake?"

The man glanced at her again: "She's been rescued."

"He's still alive."

She breathed a sigh of relief, lay back down, and turned her back to the man.

"...Why did he jump into the lake?"

"I had an argument with Yi Yinwan."

It seems that Leng Zhen and Madam Yin are really at odds, but Leng Zhen has never seemed to get along with anyone; she's a complete oddball.

Anyway, we should make sure he comes to the Yin residence less often in the future. She's no longer working in the opera troupe, and Leng Zhen has rested for so long that she's almost fully recovered. It wouldn't be right for him to come to the Yin residence for free meals.

"Yin Yuan, why don't you find him something to do? It's not good for him to be wandering around aimlessly all day."

"I contacted him, but he ignored me."

"...Alright then."

It's better to keep the father and son away from each other, lest they trigger something strange that makes them fall in love again. She still has lingering fears about the time she was drugged.

Although it seems now that Yin Yuan and Leng Zhen will not only not fall in love, they can't even be normal father and son, and might even turn against each other at any time.

Their relationship wasn't so bad more than a decade ago. Yin Yuan was still willing to hold Leng Zhen and would even find a wet nurse for her because she didn't have enough breast milk.

As Leng Zhen grew older and learned to speak and swear, the relationship between the father and son deteriorated. However, it was mostly Leng Zhen who was venting her anger, and Yin Yuan never paid any attention to her. He would just sit and drink tea until Leng Zhen finished venting her anger and broke down in tears before he would speak to her.

Leng Cuizhu felt that it was precisely because of his previous silence that his current hysteria seemed all the more ridiculous.

She only now realizes how beneficial it was to run away for a while, wait for the other person to break down, and then come back.

No wonder she used to mistakenly interpret Yin Yuan's casual question as a sign of tender concern after arguments.

Now, Yin Yuan has followed in her footsteps.

Her gaze fell on the pool of blood on the ground. She remembered that he had brought her back on horseback earlier that day, and asked curiously, "How are your injuries from before? Do they still hurt?"

"...Are you going to see him again tomorrow?"

Leng Cuizhu turned to look at him, her face full of confusion and bewilderment.

"What are you doing? I didn't even mention him, why are you bringing him up again? Do you just want to argue with me?"

"Not yet," Yin Yuan seemed relieved and answered gently, "Go change the dressing in two hours."

"Oh, then you should go back and rest. I'm fine now."

"I won't reply."

"I'll take care of you."

"……oh."

She turned her back to him and closed her eyes to sleep.

She had only been asleep for a short while when she felt hot all over.

This time it was more intense than the previous times. She was not only hot, but also in pain. A sore and weak feeling spread from her toes to her brain. She cried out in pain, her shoulders trembling.

Yin Yuan sat on the edge of the bed, showing no reaction.

A few strands of mottled white hair on his shoulders were illuminated by the dim light, while his face was completely hidden in darkness, and even his eyes were devoid of light.

She was at her wit's end: "Yin Yuan..."

"My lord... I feel so bad..."

The man stretched out his hand in front of her.

"Bite it."

She clenched her hands and shook her head repeatedly: "No...no...I..."

She doesn't want this.

She just wanted Si Qing to be with her, to undress her piece by piece, and to reach inside... He would also scold her and ask her those incredibly shameful questions. Even if she accidentally peed on him, he wouldn't be angry; he would only touch her trembling shoulder blades, saying she looked like a kitten in heat, and gently nibble on her earlobe.

Yin Yuan was right. Every time she made love with Si Qing, she would feel so good that she would lose her senses. Before that, she had never thought that sex could be so wonderful.

Even if he had cast a spell on her, she accepted it, only hoping to see him one more time.

"I want to see Si..."

Yin Yuan interrupted her: "You can't see him now, and you'll never see him again."

"But I miss him so much..."

"Think about it a few times, until you feel like you're dying, and then you'll forget about it."

She got out of bed, hugged the man from behind, and sobbed on his shoulder, tears rolling down his shoulder.

She breathed on the man's neck and said in a seductive voice, "But I feel unwell... He's not here, why don't you come?"

"...What's coming?"

Yin Yuan suddenly realized.

"What did you say?" she murmured, stroking the man's neck, her brown eyes gleaming. "My lord, guess?"

The next moment, she was pushed onto the bed.

"What kind of curse did he cast on you?"

Yin Yuan pressed her down, gripping her neck, the veins on the back of his hand bulging: "You really took aphrodisiacs? These past few days, you and he have been doing this every day?"

He thought it was just a love potion that would make people fall deeply in love, but he never expected that after being infected by this potion, he didn't want much love, but his desires were like an overwhelming tide.

"When you say you miss him, do you mean you want to make love to him?"

Leng Cuizhu was being choked, and the man's messy hair fell across her cheek. She opened her lips and caught a strand of hair in her mouth, nodding with a smile.