83. Love is late

When Yun Zhihe returned, his head was still dizzy.

In just one day, the news spread everywhere.

What about the Second Prince's bold pursuit of love, what about the Second Prince forcefully kissing Yun Zhihe, what about the Second Prince and Yun Zhihe secretly getting married, what about...

She could hardly imagine how this would be handled.

She should not act rashly at this moment. If she does anything else, the rumor will inevitably spread more fiercely.

So... the pressure shifted to Xuanyuan Ying.

Xuanyuan Ying listened to the whole story, his brows twitching, his face cold, and a darkness like a deep pool brewing in his eyes.

"……absurd!"

He stood up, breathing rapidly, and the court officials beside him were so frightened that they dared not breathe.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

Xuanyuan Ying's voice cracked. "He's so presumptuous and arrogant. Where does this place the dignity of the imperial family?! Absurd and foolish... I'm confining him to his room for three months, and he's not allowed to leave unless summoned!"

The courtier paused, closed his eyes and knelt.

"Your Majesty...these two have kissed...The Second Prince's innocence is gone. Why not ask Madam Yun if she's willing to be his consort? This will preserve the Second Prince's reputation. Otherwise, otherwise..."

Xuanyuan Ying frowned and looked coldly at the kneeling courtiers, as if trying to change the subject.

"……go out."

He felt a dull, sour pain in his chest, which spread densely, especially when he heard the word "kissed".

The courtier paused, realizing that His Majesty was furious, and hurriedly bowed and left.

Xuanyuan Ying closed his eyes and pursed his lips. He felt a sour and dry feeling in his throat.

He raised his eyes and asked Eunuch Li, "What did she say? Did she really... kiss...?"

Eunuch Li shook his head and hurried forward to rub his back to calm him down. "Your Majesty, Madam Yun sent someone to say that the Second Prince restrained him and only wiped the corner of his lips, not kissed him..."

Xuanyuan Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes no longer red, and he seemed to have thought of something before asking again.

"Did she say anything? When will she enter the palace?"

Eunuch Li paused, shook his head, and coaxed again.

"This matter is urgent. Everyone knows about the Second Prince's affairs. Madam Yun may not have the time. I just ask you not to think too much about it."

Xuanyuan Ying closed his eyes and nodded almost imperceptibly.

…

Yun Zhihe hadn't met Qingzhu very often these days. Because of that incident, she had asked Azhi to do Qingzhu's work, and it was Azhi who served her personally and poured tea and water.

Ah Zhi started to complain a bit, rubbing her wrist.

"I haven't been this busy for a long time. Why don't you let Qingzhu serve you?"

It's funny to say that before Qingzhu was redeemed, Azhi was the one who did all the work of serving tea and water. It has only been a while since she last did it, but she is so uncomfortable with it.

Yun Zhihe frowned and said only one sentence.

"...I had thoughts I shouldn't have had."

Ah Zhi scratched his head and almost understood what was going on. He could only sigh that his young lady was so charming that it was a pity for the young man's heart.

She looked at Yun Zhihe hesitantly again, "Then, then... you and the Second Prince... have kissed, but are you going to get married?"

Yun Zhihe suddenly stopped, stroking the teacup between his fingers, "No."

He rubbed his forehead with his fingertips. "I don't know how to redeem his reputation. Even though His Majesty has sealed his mouth, but..."

"It all depends on how Your Majesty handles it. If I intervene, it will only make things worse."

Azhi's expression darkened, he lowered his head in disappointment and said "Oh".

She understood what he was thinking. She and Chunya, the second prince's close friend, had been interested in each other for a long time. The boy and girl had been getting close to each other, but they had fled when their feelings were exposed.

...If the young lady married the second prince...she would be able to see Chunya every day.

Azhi shook her head and quickly threw away the beautiful thoughts in her mind.

As the sky gradually darkened, Yun Zhihe walked towards his room to prepare for bed.

She went into the house to light the lamp, a little absent-minded. When Qingzhu was here, she was always meticulous and never neglected the small matter of lighting the lamp. Every time she entered the house, the lights were bright.

Probably feeling restless, he had no intention of studying anymore, so he took off his clothes and went to sleep in them. As soon as he pulled back the quilt and got into bed, he was suddenly pressed against a warm body.

Yun Zhihe froze, and a soft, hoarse voice was heard behind his ears.

"Madam Yun..."

The sound and the scene are particularly familiar.

...It's Qingzhu.

Qing Zhuchi/was naked, pressing against her back, his lips rubbing behind her ears, his voice becoming softer and softer.

"Madam Yun... Qingzhu knows she's wrong..."

He began to sob, his voice hoarse, "Wu... It's Qingzhu, bewitched, trying to seduce you..."

"Qingzhu really knows his mistake..."

"But Qingzhu doesn't seek fame or fortune... He just loves Madam Yun."

"Ever since Madam Yun redeemed Qingzhu from the brothel, Qingzhu has been determined to serve you."

"You despise Qingzhu for disrespecting her body, but Qingzhu has no parents, is alone, and grew up in a brothel... The only thing she cherishes is her virginity... That's why I beg you so much."

He sobbed even more, his voice was gentle and sweet.

"You said you would set Qingzhu free and let me find my own way... But, but Qingzhu is just a man, without a father or a mother, with nowhere to stay in this vast world. If he leaves the Yun Mansion, I'm afraid he'll be captured and forced to serve as a servant... Can you, can you really bear it?"

His tears soaked the tips of Yun Zhihe's ears, and his breaths became more ambiguous and moist with each breath.

“Qingzhu, Qingzhu really wants to give you this only precious thing… Please, Madam Yun, take this slave.”

Suddenly, my head buzzed.

"I seek no official position, nor fame or fortune... I'd rather be just a bed-warmer, or even the humblest servant... I only ask for one night with Madam Yun..."

His voice gradually lost its crying tone and became deliberately low and hoarse. His waist moved restlessly, and he stuck to Yun Zhihe like a water snake.

"...Madam Yun, please..."

“Hmm—”

Yun Zhihe's buzzing head gradually calmed down. She shook off Qingzhu's hand, grabbed Qingzhu's chin with her backhand, and pressed him on the bed.

Qingzhu cried out in pain.

Her voice was cold, suppressing her anger.

"...Qingzhu, I originally thought you were a sensible person, but I didn't expect you to be so unconscious, time and time again. Do you think I'm some lust-induced fool or a woman who only thinks with her body?"

"I don't like people who disobey me so many times. Seeing that you are smart, Uncle Wang must like you a little, so he is so tolerant of you. Why do you have so many extra thoughts?"

"You keep talking about admiration, yet you despise your own body and moral character, and even despise me as someone who covets beauty... Is this what you call admiration?"

"Your admiration makes me..."

Yun Zhihe paused and was about to say the word "disgusting" with a frown, but when he saw Qingzhu turned her face away, tears rolled down her eyes and wet the quilt, he stopped and changed his words.

“…troubled.”

Qingzhu just turned her face to the side, naked on her body, just restrained by her, she shed tears in a daze, but there was no sadness or joy in her eyes, and her delicate face was full of broken tears.

He listened to Yun Zhihe finish her words, turned to look at her, and blinked away the tears in his eyes.

"Madam Yun, do you not know how to love or do you not know how to express your feelings?"

"Men and women who are infatuated with each other are like this, each one more despicable than the other..." He sneered, his eyes red, "Qingzhu only knows how to use such despicable methods."

He spoke again.

"Madam Yun probably doesn't know, but Qingzhu put a strong aphrodisiac in the tea. It's something from that brothel, and it's particularly potent. If you take it, you'll lose your mind and only care about making love."

Qingzhu smiled, her eyes filled with a hazy moonlight and a hint of smile.

"If Madam Yun had just drunk it, then at this moment, you and I..." He stretched out his voice, the ending tone trembling, "should be entangled."

"Varied……"

He paused, looked at Yun Zhihe's bewildered face, his voice a little hoarse.

"But don't worry, Madam Yun... Qingzhu poured out the medicine."

He raised his hand and stroked Yun Zhihe's cheek, his fingertips stroking the corners of her eyes, his expression a little confused.

He then followed his fingertips and gently touched the corner of her bitten lip and the marks on her neck that were about to disappear.

"How strange..." He asked in a hoarse voice, muttering to himself.

"Why did I pour it out?"

"I clearly... hate the marks on your body. I don't know which bitch left them there."

"Why...did it fall out?"

He paused, as if suddenly realizing something, and smiled again.

"It seems so. I'm afraid you'll hate me."

He seemed to be waiting for praise with complacency, looking at her with curved eyes, but his eyes were flushed and his throat was choked with sobs.

"Look, Madam Yun..."

"I, a bitch who grew up in a brothel, now understand love, don't I?"

His voice grew softer.

His expression changed from confusion and fragmentation at the beginning to calmness.

Qingzhu let out a light breath, curled the corners of her lips and stopped talking. At the moment when Yun Zhihe was distracted, she broke free from her restraint, stood up and put on her clothes.

He seemed quite relaxed at this moment, and his expression no longer showed the infatuation he had just shown. He turned his head to look at Yun Zhihe, with the belt tied in his hand.

Laughed.

"Madam Yun, Qingzhu will take her leave first."

He remained calm and composed, like a young master of a wealthy family. He bowed and retreated gracefully, extremely elegantly.

Yun Zhihe paused and looked at his departing back.

She covered her face and sighed softly.

A dreamless night.

The next morning, Yun Zhihe saw Uncle Wang secretly wiping away tears. He paused and asked.

Uncle Wang then spoke through sobs, "Zhihe... Qingzhu, Qingzhu left me a letter and then left."

He held the letter in his hand.

The letter said that he was sorry for bothering Uncle Wang and thanked him for his kindness. He said that he could never repay the Yun Mansion for their great kindness and would just wait to repay him handsomely in the future. He was already a free man and it was obviously inappropriate for him to stay in the Yun Mansion.

Uncle Wang wiped his tears and cried and complained.

"He, he has a gentle and kind personality. How could such a good husband go out into the world alone? This world isn't meant for men... He has no parents, how can he survive out there alone? Woohoo, such a good child... I already treat him as my own son..."

He took out some books while crying and explained to Yun Zhihe in a hoarse voice.

"Here, these are the Buddhist scriptures he copied for me. He wrote them all by hand, saying they would bless me with peace and safety. Yet he himself is so busy every day that he has no time to rest, rushing to do all the work: washing, cooking, cleaning... He dried your books in the sun himself, leaving them undamaged. Yet he himself caught a cold in the winter from all that hard work. Who in the mansion doesn't like him?"

"His hands are covered in calluses. He said that no one else could clean your official robes, so he washed them over and over again in the winter. His hands are covered in chilblains. A young man his age has such terrible hands..."

"He, how could he be so depressed... he has to, wow... leave..."

Uncle Wang cried more and more sadly. Yun Zhihe was stunned and pursed his lips. "Daddy, I'll send someone to find him. Don't cry anymore... He must not have gone far."

"Someone come here!" Yun Zhihe turned around and sent someone out to look for Qingzhu.

Uncle Wang stopped crying at this time and just hugged Yun Zhihe to express his gratitude.

Before Yun Zhihe could breathe a sigh of relief, Ah Zhi came forward and said, "Miss, Master Wen is here."

Yun Zhihe nodded.

As soon as she walked into the main hall, she saw Wen Yanhe waving away his attendants. He was wearing a clear and jade-like robe, which made his face as handsome as jade, like a fairy from heaven, but his expression was calm and composed. When he saw her, he pursed his lips and nodded.

It is said that since he became an official, his demeanor has changed. He has a strong character, and the clarity and charm of a fox fairy are mixed with a touch of charm.

Yun Zhihe followed his wishes and dismissed the attendants, leaving only two people in the main hall.

Just as she was about to ask what was going on, she saw Wen Yanhe lift his robe, straighten his back, and slowly kneel down.

Even now that she is kneeling, she is still beautiful and graceful.

“You are…”

Yun Zhihe paused, not knowing why he was kneeling down. She went forward to pull him up, but before she could walk over, she heard a gentle and clear, particularly pleasant voice.

It was clear and sonorous, like spring water, and each sound was particularly shocking.

"I beg Madam Yun to accept me into your mansion as a servant to your husband."

The author has something to say:

Why is the plot of Qingzhu always full of nonsense?