Chapter 23 The diagnosis isn't that you're incapable, it's that your husband is...

Why is the lady like this?

Zeng Zhengqing was puzzled. Besides, she hadn't realized that this was the "dignified" image she was trying to project. Even she herself wasn't used to it. These strange situations only occurred occasionally. Most of the time, she was still her true self. It seemed that she herself had forgotten how to pretend.

Sigh, never mind. I've never been able to keep up with her ideas, so I'll take this opportunity to tell her that she doesn't need to be "weird." Every time he sees her self-righteous "virtuousness," he feels uneasy.

Zeng Zhengqing placed his hand on the door, about to open it, when he heard Qingduo excitedly say:

"It is precisely because of my unremitting efforts and persistent 'dignity' that Qingqing treats me so well and even buys me expensive paints and art supplies, which I couldn't afford before! From now on, I will continue to be 'virtuous and kind' and repay him well! Hmm, he will bring me even more precious gifts!"

Zeng Zhengqing, standing outside the door, almost choked on his laughter. So that's how it was. She had mistaken his affection for a reward for her "dignified" demeanor. She had truly betrayed his deep feelings. He said helplessly in a low voice, "Fool."

How could she associate his kindness with "dignity"? And even more so with the need to repay him with rigid self-discipline? A bitter smile rose in his throat. How could he possibly accept this?

For a fleeting moment, a smile flickered across Zeng Zhengqing's lips. This unexpected misunderstanding was, in a way, quite amusing. Standing outside the door, he found himself quite intrigued, wanting to savor this misunderstanding in detail.

Fang Qing inside seemed equally confused: "Young Madam, what does 'playing the part' mean?"

Qingduo seemed to realize she had misspoke and mumbled, "Um, um, well, Fangqing, I'd like to bring some snacks to my painting class today, could you help me prepare them?"

Fang Qing responded and seemed to walk towards the door. Zeng Zhengqing immediately turned around upon hearing her voice and hurriedly retreated to the courtyard gate. Just as Fang Qing opened the door, she saw him walking steadily through the gate. She immediately reminded Qing Duo, "Young Madam, Young Master is back."

Qingduo hurried out, clasped her hands in front of her, and slowly stopped, murmuring, "Husband—peace be with you—"

Zeng Zhengqing bit his lip to keep from laughing. He put his hands behind his back and said calmly, "Get up!"

Qingduo rose gracefully and said slowly, "I wonder why my husband has returned?"

He deliberately said, "I forgot to bring something with me, and I would like to trouble you to fetch it for me."

Qingduo's brows furrowed suddenly. Couldn't she walk such a short distance herself? Why did she have to go and get it?

Zeng Zhengqing noticed her reluctance. He coughed lightly and said, "Madam has always been 'dignified and elegant'—he emphasized the word 'dignified'—'It's just a small favor, she wouldn't be unwilling...'"

"No, no, I'm willing!" Qingduo quickly replied. She took the letter and ran to Zeng Zhengqing to hand it to him with a flattering smile on her face: "Look, husband, I brought it for you."

"Madam is truly virtuous." Zeng Zhengqing lowered his eyes to hide the smile in them, his voice tinged with a hint of mockery. He tucked the letter into his sleeve, turned to leave, but then an idea struck him. A sly smile curled at the corner of his lips. Since she mistakenly thought he admired "virtue," he might as well go with the flow and lend her a hand.

"By the way, I recently received a new commentary on 'Women's Instructions' and 'Women's Admonitions' from my bookstore, which has been highly praised by contemporary scholars. Madam, you might want to read it. The content of the book is in line with your temperament, and you will surely benefit greatly from it." He turned slightly to the side, admiring Qingduo's astonishment, and smiled slightly. "I will have someone deliver it to you tomorrow."

Qingduo was stunned. What? What instruction? What admonition? How could such instruction and admonition possibly suit her nature! It seemed that although she was pretending, she was very real and natural, and even Qingqing did not suspect anything. She secretly groaned in her heart, but said aloud, "Thank you, my husband. I will read it carefully and not disappoint your kindness."

In an instant, he saw Qingduo scratching her head and cheeks while looking at "Women's Instructions" and "Women's Admonitions". Just imagining her charmingly annoyed appearance made him unable to suppress his laughter. He quickly turned his back and smiled where she couldn't see him, and strode away.

Qingduo couldn't help but follow him outside the courtyard. After he had gone far away, she hesitated and said, "Fangqing, why do I feel like my husband... seems very happy?"

Fang Qing blinked: "Who wouldn't be happy to see the young mistress?"

Although what she said wasn't wrong, it's just... Qingduo stared at Zeng Zhengqing's light and cheerful figure. Was he being too happy?

*

Qingduo stood in the yard, leaning on a broom, and looked up at the apricot tree above her. The apricots, like grapes, hung heavily on the branches, bending them down. Looking at their orange-yellow color, it was as if the flesh was already bursting in her mouth, the sweet juice flowing over her teeth. Qingduo couldn't help but swallow.

A wooden basin appeared before them, with water droplets still trembling on the surface of the apricots inside. Lu Nong held the basin and said with a smile, "They were just washed with well water, they're cool and delicious, eat up!"

Qingduo giggled, took the apricot, and took a bite. The flesh burst open with a "pop," releasing its sweet flavor. Eating a few on a hot day like this was perfect for cooling off. As she ate, Qingduo said, "Sister Lu Nong, the place Brother Zhu found for you is wonderful! Not only is the rent cheap, but they even gave you an apricot tree for free! It's such a great deal!"

Lu Nong didn't have much money on her, so she had been staying temporarily at Jiyue Nunnery. However, the nunnery was always busy, making it inconvenient to write stories there. Fortunately, Qingduo helped her get back the money she had spent on her storybooks, so she used part of it to rent this courtyard. Zhu Yi and Qingduo helped her tidy up the courtyard, and she moved in quickly.

"Qingduo, you helped me get my money back and cleaned up after me. I don't know how to thank you enough," Lu Nong said apologetically.

"Oh, Sister Lu Nong, you're here again! Didn't we agree last time? You just focus on writing the second volume of 'Hua Tang Chun,' and I'm your loyal reader. I'm waiting to read it!"

Her eyes were full of eagerness: "Have you written anything recently?"

"I did write it, but only a little bit..."

"Where, where, where?" Before she could finish speaking, Qingduo interrupted impatiently, looking around and sniffing like a mouse searching for food, as if she could smell the manuscript.

"It's on the table in my room..." Before Lu Nong could finish speaking, the Green Arrow had already left the bowstring. Lu Nong hurriedly caught the broom that was about to fall, smiled helplessly, and continued sweeping the floor.

The rustling sound of sweeping gradually subsided, and the entire courtyard had been swept. Qingduo had not yet come out, and Lu Nong looked inside in puzzlement. She hadn't written more than a few pages, so Qingduo should have finished reading by now. She propped the broom against the wall, wiped the dust off her hands on her coarse apron, and stepped over the threshold into the house.

"Haven't you finished reading yet?" Lu Nong asked casually. Seeing Qing Duo sitting in the chair with her back to her, holding her manuscript in her hand and not moving, she felt strange and called out, "Qing—"

As soon as she uttered the first syllable of her name and walked up to her, Lu Nong noticed her dazed expression. She quickly patted Qing Duo's shoulder and asked in surprise, "What's wrong? Why are you so distraught?"

Qingduo seemed to wake from a dream. She looked blankly at Lu Nong, her eyes still unfocused, and said, "Oh..."

Lu Nong took her manuscript and read it again. She asked, "Is there a part that doesn't flow smoothly? This part is about Shen Siyao, no, let's use my female lead's name again. Yin Zhixu returns to the Xie family with a new identity to seek revenge. She has not been pregnant for a long time, so her mother-in-law, Zhou, makes things difficult for her and tries to sow discord between her and her husband, hoping that her son will divorce her."

"Where do you think there are any omissions in the text? If there are any inappropriate parts, please feel free to point them out. I will rethink it and rewrite a section. This will also help me."

"I..." Qingduo's eyes gradually returned to their senses. She sighed heavily and murmured, "I had completely forgotten about this."

Huh? What did you mean, huh? Lu Nong was completely confused and was about to ask when Qing Duo suddenly stood up and dashed out the door: "See you next time, Sister Lu Nong! I'm leaving now! I have something to do!"

"Where exactly did I go wrong?" Tu Liulu stood there, staring at the manuscript, reading it over and over again, still completely baffled.

*

"Didn't I tell you that your father went hiking these past few days and that you didn't need to come?" Under the grape trellis, Zhu Niang watched Qing Duo drink two cups of water and fanned her with a fan. "It's so hot, you can come if you want, but why run around? Be careful not to get heatstroke."

"It's extremely urgent!" Qingduo put down her water bowl and said seriously, "Aunt Zhu, I have a question for you: how can I have a baby?"

Zhu Niang loosened her grip on the fan, and it fell to the ground. "Why, why are you asking this?" Zhu Niang asked warily. It wasn't that she was being paranoid; Tang Li's daughter resembled her father in many ways, and she couldn't rely entirely on common sense. It was best to ask carefully.

“Of course I want to have a baby.” Qingduo stared straight at her. “I know that a big belly means I’m pregnant, but how do I ‘put’ the baby inside?”

Zhu Niang chuckled. It was the first time she had ever heard the term "chuai" (揣), but that wasn't enough. Qing Duo had rushed over and suddenly said she wanted to have a baby. She couldn't leave it unanswered, so she asked, "Why did you suddenly think of this?"

Qingduo suddenly became dejected. She said with a worried look, "I just realized today that wealthy families value offspring the most. My mother-in-law is a 'fake family,' but she's actually thinking about everything. If my husband and I don't have children, she'll urge him to divorce me."

That makes sense; Zhu Niang had heard many similar stories in the neighborhood. She comforted her, saying, "You two have only just gotten married, so there's no need to rush. You're both still young, and maybe you'll have a baby this year."

She suddenly remembered something, tugged at Qingduo's sleeve, and winked at her: "That thing you told me about last time, did it come to fruition?"

Qingduo asked, puzzled, "Which one?"

"That's it!" Zhu Niang looked at Qing Duo's blank expression and already knew the answer in her heart. It seemed that it hadn't worked out, otherwise, how could she not understand the code!

"It's about your consummation of marriage!" she sighed, revealing the truth, and then added, "If you didn't consummate your marriage, how could you have a child?"

Qingduo's face flushed instantly. She lowered her head and fiddled with her skirt. "So...so that's how it is." She sighed and said, "Last time you made me drink, and I did, but it didn't help at all. It didn't lessen my fear at all. I'm still scared!"

"What's there to be afraid of! It only hurts for a moment when you come in, it'll only last for a short while, and then it'll all be good days." Zhu Niang took out a handkerchief to cover her mouth and teased, "I think your husband is quite considerate of you, just tell him to be gentle." After saying that, she covered her mouth and chuckled.

"You make it sound so easy!" Qingduo exclaimed anxiously, "If all that stuff came at me, it would hurt like hell!"

"What do you mean by 'a lump'?" Zhu Niang asked curiously, as she had never heard of such a way of describing that thing.

"It's just..." Qingduo put her index fingers and thumbs together, roughly making a circle, and said timidly with a blush, "It's like this!"

Zhu Niang hesitated for a moment, then extended her right hand, slowly raised her index finger, and asked, "No, like this?"

Qingduo frowned as she recalled that on their wedding day, she had kicked Zeng Zhengqing to the ground, causing his head to hit the bed frame. When she got up to check on his injuries, what she inadvertently saw was not what Aunt Zhu had gestured. So she made a circle with her hands again, insisting on her statement: "It was definitely a clump. I saw it clearly that night."

Her firm tone and gestures combined to make it seem as if to say, "Losing your head is nothing more than a small scar."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Niang gasped. Seeing this, Qing Duo grabbed her and shook her, urgently demanding, "What happened? Tell me!"

Zhu Niang sighed, "What a tragedy! How could your father have chosen such a person for you! Isn't this making you live like a widow? I was wondering why your father said he didn't have any concubines. Every young man in his twenties has had three or four, so why is he so chaste? Now that I think about it, no wonder, no wonder!"

She said worriedly, "Ah Zhao, it's not that you're incapable, it's that your husband is incapable!"

Qingduo's eyes widened: "He's impotent? What does that mean?"

“Your husband—” Zhu Niang lowered her upright index finger and said sadly, “is impotent!”

A note from the author:

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Zeng Zhengqing: Disaster strikes from the sky while one is sitting at home.

My next book is called "My Eldest Brother is Actually My Loyal Servant." Add it to your favorites if you're interested! [Thumbs up]

Faced with the newly purchased red soil, Xunyi was worried that he had no help.

Heaven has a way of helping others achieve their goals; she turned around and picked up a handsome, wet man on the water.

This person looks vaguely familiar...

Ah! This is not the same woman who was once spirited, aloof, and ethereal.

Is he the senior brother who looks down on others?

"Thank you for saving my life, young lady. But, who am I?"

Seeing him rubbing his forehead in a blank expression,

Xun Yi blurted out, his eyes gleaming with cunning: "Your name is Xiao Shuanzi, and you are my loyal servant who is always at my beck and call."

From then on, the flower on the high mountain became cattle and horses in the fields.

Jiang Chenqing never imagined that the "master" he had been calling for so long was the same opponent who had once made him lose face.

He still remembered the deliberately surprised face on his face when he was defeated two years ago:

"What's going on, Senior Brother? Doesn't your sect practice martial arts?"

When he finally found her, who had vanished without a trace, she had lost all her memories and asked blankly, "Who am I?"

“Your name is Xiao Huanzi,” he said without changing his expression, “and you are my loyal servant who is always at my beck and call.”

Xunyi followed him home, only to discover that he did not need any servants.

He was the one who cooked porridge in the morning, did the laundry during the day, and slept in the leaky woodshed at night.

On a stormy night, he barged into her bed reeking of alcohol, startling her so much that she struggled desperately, but he pulled her into his arms: "Ayi, who was it that wanted to hold me for warmth last year?"

Xunyi's face flushed red.

Nonsense! That's not true! Does he really think he's lost his memory?

#Good news! My aloof senior brother has become my loyal servant after losing his memory.

#Bad news: Counterattack fails, and you get tricked instead

#It's outrageous that he can lie without even flinching.

#How did the supposedly aloof beauty turn into a domestic whiz?