Chapter 27027: I'm afraid I might go too deep if you're unhappy.

Now that she's inside, no matter how hesitant or apprehensive she was outside, Li Yue'er will suppress all her emotions and walk inside.

The outer room is not noticeable, but as soon as the curtain is lifted in the inner room, you can smell the light, damp air.

This proves that the mistress has already washed up, and the mist drifted into the inner room from behind the screen in the clean room.

Li Yue'er peeked at the bed and saw that the mistress was indeed reading a book with her hair down, leaning against the hard pillow at the head of the bed. The light red quilt embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in the water was pulled up and covered her lower abdomen, just enough to cover the hem of her inner garment.

The other person clearly heard me come in, but still didn't look up, not even glancing over out of the corner of their eye, focused only on the book in their hands.

The mistress had always acted this way before, and Li Yue'er hadn't thought anything of it. But now, with her attitude like this, Li Yue'er felt a pang of bitterness and pain in her heart.

The mistress clearly wouldn't speak to her first, so Li Yue'er took a deep breath, placed the tray on the round table, and asked softly, "Why haven't you eaten all day?"

The mistress ignored her.

There wasn't even the sound of pages turning.

Li Yue'er bit her lower lip and took the initiative to move closer, squatting down on the footstool by the bed and looking up at the mistress's expression.

She looked up into the light, while the mistress looked down against the light.

Li Yue'er couldn't see clearly, but she felt that the mistress's thick eyelashes drooped down, obscuring the emotions in her eyes, and even the small red beauty mark at the corner of her eye was no longer visible.

“You’re angry with me,” Li Yue’er said firmly.

It was her step back that displeased the mistress.

The only response she received was the sound of pages turning.

The mistress's long, slender fingers turned the pages of the book slowly and deliberately.

Silence is not a form of expulsion.

Li Yue'er's eyes lit up slightly, as if encouraged. She boldly reached out through the blanket to wrap her arms around her mistress's waist, slowly lifting her up and then leaning down to snuggle into her mistress's embrace.

Li Yue'er leaned half her body against her mistress's chest, her face pressed against her heart, and softly said, "Then punish me."

The mistress seemed to look up at her.

Li Yue'er unconsciously smiled where the mistress couldn't see, and slowly slipped her hand under the covers, hugging the mistress's waist through only a thin layer of undergarment. "I'm being punished by not being allowed to sleep even if I 'drink' my fill today."

Qu Rong, "..."

Li Yue'er knew that her period hadn't ended yet.

Qu Rong lowered her eyes and glanced at the top of Li Yue'er's head.

Her long, disheveled hair from the morning was tied up with a light blue silk ribbon. Although it wasn't a tall, pretty bun, it exuded a unique, youthful charm.

Qu Rong spoke in a cold and indifferent tone, "Aren't you afraid of me?"

They hid so far away.

Li Yue'er climbed up the mistress's upper body like a clinging vine, resting her chin on the mistress's shoulder. Her fingers, hidden under the bedding, slipped under the hem of the mistress's inner garment, her cool fingertips gently parting the edge of the garment and cautiously touching the mistress's warm skin.

The mistress's eyelids trembled slightly from the cold, and her body stiffened for a moment, but she then slowly relaxed as if nothing had happened.

This was nothing short of a silent invitation to Li Yue'er.

If the mistress really didn't want to talk to her, she would just give her a look, and Li Yue'er would know to get out without even saying a word.

But she didn't.

Whether she was too angry to notice or unintentionally condoned it, Li Yue'er hugged her mistress after she had washed up, still wearing her outer clothes, and even half-lay on the clean bed without the mistress making a sound.

Li Yue'er gently rubbed her forehead against her mistress's shoulder, her palm slid across her waistline, and placed it behind her back, her arm encircling her slender waist. "I'm scared."

The scent of cold plum blossoms emanating from the mistress, along with the warmth of the bedding and her body, continuously enveloped her.

When Li Yue'er said "afraid," her tone was lazy and soft, as if she had sugar in her mouth. Even such a cold and hard word sounded sweet and glutinous when she uttered it.

Qu Rong glanced at her sideways.

Li Yue'er suddenly looked up at her, her eyes bright and her lips tinged with blood, "I'm afraid that if the mistress is unhappy, I might go too deep."

Qu Rong, "..."

Qu Rong's eyelashes fluttered slightly as she slowly looked away from her.

They just keep saying these inappropriate things.

Li Yue'er stared at the mistress with great interest, looking at her lowered eyes, the brightly colored beauty mark at the corner of her eye, and her gently pursed lips.

Li Yue'er was certain that her mistress had calmed down, so she tilted her head back and gently kissed her earlobe, pleading softly, "Don't be angry anymore, okay?"

The mistress neither said it was good nor bad; she simply closed the book and pressed it against her face.

Li Yue'er was gently pushed by the book, and she was about to roll off the bed and stand up while still holding the book, but a hand landed on her waist, silently stopping her from getting off the bed.

Li Yue'er's smile widened. Holding the book in one hand, she lifted it up like a veil, her eyes darting upwards from under the book as she bit her lip and looked at her mistress with a smile.

The mistress scoffed at her, "Shameless."

Li Yue'er giggled and snuggled into her mistress's arms, "That was all because you spoiled her."

Qu Rong lowered her eyes, neither refuting nor denying, but as if she found it an eyesore, she reached out and pulled off the silk ribbon on Li Yue'er's head.

Li Yue'er nestled in her arms and spoke softly, her tone filled with heartache and regret, "The jade hairpin you put in my hair this morning has been broken."

Qu Rong: "Mm."

A light and subtle melody.

She saw it.

Aunt Qiu's jade hairpin, which she had been holding that morning, was smashed into three pieces. Even more pitiful and broken than the hairpin was Li Yue'er, whose black hair was disheveled and whose eyes were red. Jade is just a stone, and even when broken, it is still just a stone. But she was like the moon's reflection scattered in the water; even if she were restored, she would never be the same as before.

Qu Rong began to regret setting her up.

Li Yue'er didn't know what the mistress meant by that "hmm," but judging from her tone, she seemed to have stopped being angry, so she felt relieved.

Having appeased her mistress, Li Yue'er felt as if she had appeased herself. Her heart settled down, the pain in her chest subsided, and the heat in her nose disappeared. Once she relaxed, she pressed her face against her mistress's shoulder and whispered an explanation of her behavior that morning.

"I was frightened by the old lady." For the first sixteen years of her life, Li Yue'er was from a respectable family. Before the changes in her family, she was even considered a girl from a scholarly family in a small town.

For the cook hired by the family, she was still a young mistress, having never been a servant before, and had never seen such a scene before.

If we were to use the analogy of an angler and a fish, Li Yue'er never considered the feelings of the fish when she was fishing. Only today, when she became the fish and was held and placed on the chopping board, did she truly understand the fear of being unable to control her own destiny.

Her indenture was held in the hands of the Qu family. Whether she lived or died, whether she stayed or was sold, was entirely up to her masters to decide.

Especially since the old lady looked unapproachable and had Xu Xinmei dragged away in a soft voice, Xu Xinmei became even more afraid.

Li Yue'er's voice was muffled and soft, and her breath sprayed onto the skin of her neck.

That feeling of closeness, where he confided his grievances and pride only to her, returned.

Qu Rong's scalp tightened slightly, feeling extremely pleased inside, but she scoffed lightly, "Oh? You're only afraid of her, not me?"

Li Yue'er replied without hesitation, "I'm not afraid of you."

Qu Rong asked, puzzled, "Why?"

Li Yue'er looked up at her with a smile on her face, "You look beautiful."

Qu Rong, "..."

This was the first time Qu Rong had ever heard of someone being able to decide whether or not to be afraid of another person based on their appearance.

Li Yue'er didn't know if her mistress was satisfied with her answer, but she could feel her mistress gently combing her loose long hair with her fingers, and then seemingly using something to tie her hair up.

After the mistress finished her work, Li Yue'er, with the mistress's tacit approval, got out of bed and walked to the mirror with a hint of suspicion.

She raised her hand to touch her head.

The mistress styled her hair into a bun resembling that of a married woman, using a mutton-fat jade hairpin.

Li Yue'er was stunned.

The mutton fat jade, smooth and lustrous like oil, radiates a gentle, understated yet captivating glow under the light of an oil lamp.

The white hairpin seemed to suit her black hair better, and also suited her temperament.

Li Yue'er turned to look at the mistress, her lips pursed, her eyes red-rimmed, unable to say anything.

Qu Rong glanced at her, then looked at her again, before looking away. "Stop crying. It's just a reward for helping me succeed."

Li Yue'er deliberately ignored her mistress's unpleasant mouth, gracefully turned around, sat on the edge of the bed, leaned her upper body on her mistress's lap, and looked into her eyes, "Thank you for the gift, Mistress~"

She didn't ask when her mistress had prepared the jade hairpin by her pillow, nor did she ask whether her mistress would insist on waiting for her to come to her tonight, or whether she would compromise and have someone call her to serve her. She simply hugged her mistress affectionately.

A good result is enough.

Even if the mistress doesn't call her, she will take the initiative to come and apologize.

The mistress seemed to only then notice that she was wearing an outer garment, and frowned in disgust, "You're wearing clothes again on my bed."

The mistress said, "...and rubbed against me for a long time."

Li Yue'er feigned distress, her tone becoming delicate and affected, "What should I do? As soon as I heard that Mistress hadn't eaten all day, I was so anxious that I forgot everything else."

Qu Rongcai didn't believe her.

If she were really in a hurry, she would have come before lunchtime. Why has she been dawdling until now?

Qu Rong looked up at Li Yue'er, who was hugging the blanket on her lap and rubbing against her twice more in front of her, "..."

That's downright provocative.

Qu Rong turned her face away, a faint smile playing on her lips.

Teng Huang said that it was precisely because Li Yue'er was late in coming that it proved that Li Yue'er was not after her profit, unlike the Zheng family. As soon as Xu Xinmei was sent over, the Zheng family sent someone to apologize before lunch and even offered to send another daughter to the Qu family as a concubine to atone for their sins.

The fact that the Zheng family acted so quickly precisely demonstrates that the Qu family's attitude will determine the benefits they can obtain in the future. Even a half-minute delay in apologizing would be a loss of money.

If Li Yue'er only had interests to offer her, she wouldn't dare to break ties with her in the slightest, much less neglect her.

Qu Rong understood the reasoning, but the thought of Li Yue'er taking that half-step back to avoid her made her too full to eat.

The thought that Li Yue'er's intimate physical contact with her was nothing more than feigned compliance and pretense, and that she might actually be afraid of her deep down, made her even more irritable and displeased.

She wanted Li Yue'er to be afraid of her, but she couldn't accept that Li Yue'er was actually afraid of her like this.

Qu Rong leaned against the hard pillow, looked up at Li Yue'er who was being unreasonable with her, and deliberately put on a stern face, "Go wash up."

They're getting more and more arrogant; they even dare to lie on her bed wearing their coats.

Li Yue'er: "I'll take a shower while you eat."

As soon as she finished speaking, the mistress of the house actually lifted the quilt.

Li Yue'er's eyes lit up instantly. She sat on the edge of the bed and asked expectantly, "Are you going to eat?"

The mistress said, "I'll get up and change my clothes, and then call someone in to change the bedding."

Li Yue'er, "..."

Clearly, she couldn't stand it for even a quarter of an hour for her to soil and dirty her clothes and bedding.

Qu Rong glanced at Li Yue'er and saw her looking at her with pouting lips, her eyes filled with grievance and worry. After a moment of hesitation, Qu Rong looked away and said, "I'll eat after you finish washing."

I'll compromise just this once.

Next time, whether she goes to bed in her coat or pretends to be pitiful and begs her to do something, she won't tolerate it or soften her heart.

Qu Rong went to the wardrobe to pick out a nightgown.

She wore her undergarments far less often than her nightgowns, and today, on a rare occasion, Li Yue'er's icy hands slithered under the hem of her clothes like little snakes, even briefly prying open the edge of her bodice to reach up.

While Qu Rong was changing clothes, Li Yue'er stood beside her, blushing, watching intently.

The left and right gamboge and cinnabar hadn't brought the water yet, and she couldn't just take off her clothes and wait inside.

Her gaze was so intense and direct that Qu Rong's breathing tightened, and she glanced at her sideways as if issuing a warning.

Seeing that Li Yue'er was truly shameless, he raised his hand and threw the undergarment he had taken off over her head to block her view.

"Huh?" Li Yue'er blinked and asked, holding up the clothes, "You're giving me this one too?"

Qu Rong, "..."

Li Yue'er: "What about the one that's closest to your skin?"

She wants it too.

Qu Rong, “…………”

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Mistress: Can I give you everything I have? (Threatening smile)

Yue'er: That's a bit embarrassing, isn't it? (She shyly reaches out her hand)

There will be another update at midnight. [shy]