Chapter 14 "Cousin?" ...

"Cousin?"

He Wenqing was taken aback.

“Yes, my lord.” Wei Yin said, “This cousin is from my maternal family. It seems we are quite a few generations apart, so we don’t see each other often. He happened to be passing through Huangzhou on his way to study and heard that I had also returned to Huangzhou, so he came to visit me on behalf of his family. Now he is about to leave.”

Upon hearing this, He Wenqing looked Lu Hun over again. His clothes under the umbrella were old and made of coarse cotton, looking quite worn. Although he didn't know what kind of relative Lu Hun was, he still asked politely, "Cousin, are you in such a hurry to set off? Since you've come all this way to see your cousin, how can you not stay for a couple of days? Please stay here, cousin. When I have some free time, I'll show you around."

Wei Yin let out a small "ah".

"What's wrong?" He Wenqing looked over in confusion. "Is there a problem?"

Wei Yin looked at him, then at Lu Hun. Having said all that, she couldn't go back on her word, but Lu Hun... he wasn't human.

"Cousin, what do you think?" He Wenqing turned around and instructed the servants, "Bring the young master into the mansion to rest."

After saying that, seeing that Wei Yin's hands were very cold, he didn't let her stand at the door any longer. He took her hand and wanted to take her back to her room. When Wei Yin saw that He Wenqing had said this, she was afraid that he would notice something was wrong with Lu Hun, so she didn't say anything more. She just glanced at Lu Hun uneasily through the umbrella before He Wenqing pulled her into the mansion.

Lu Hun stood under the umbrella without saying a word until Wei Yin and He Wenqing and his wife went inside. Only then did he tilt the umbrella upwards, his gaze falling on the two characters "He Mansion." He stood there silently for a long time, lost in thought.

A servant stepped forward to greet him: "Young Master, please..."

-

Even after the joyous occasion, the celebratory lanterns in the west courtyard still hung there, exuding a festive atmosphere.

Wei Yin returned to her room to change her clothes. He Wenqing watched her wash up and then went to the west courtyard first. When Liu Mama saw her dressed like this, she scolded, "Young Madam, why did you go out alone today? It wouldn't be good if you ran into some ungrateful person..."

Last night, Wei Yin went out alone through the back door, while Liu Mama and many maids and servants went to the front yard and did not return until very late. When they saw that the light in Wei Yin's room was off, they assumed that she had gone to bed early and did not come in to wake her. As a result, no one in the mansion realized that she had not been in the mansion all night.

Wei Yin casually brushed off Liu Mama's words, then lowered her head to scoop water and wash her face. She had originally wanted to take a bath, but after a whole night of tossing and turning, her whole body was so sore that she had no strength left and just wanted to go to sleep as soon as possible.

Granny Liu hurriedly said, "Young Madam, you mustn't be unable to sleep now. Miss Biao will be coming soon to pay her respects and serve tea to you. You must finish Miss Biao's tea first."

Wei Yin had no choice but to agree. Then, remembering something, she added, "Oh, right, wet nurse... a distant cousin from my mother's side has come to the manor. The young master invited him to stay for two days. My cousin is a bit shy, so could you prepare a room for him yourself later?"

"A young master has arrived? I haven't met many of the young mistress's relatives yet." Granny Liu said with a smile, "Don't worry, young mistress, I'll go right now."

The East Courtyard where Wei Yin lived was extremely spacious and elegant. There were three rooms inside and outside the courtyard. The innermost room was her bedroom, which was a bit small. The outer room was where the maids slept when they were on night watch. The outermost hall was where she usually sat idly, or met with close friends or guests. The He family had another flower hall and warm hall in the front courtyard.

After changing her clothes in her bedroom, Wei Yin dozed off on the bedside without even taking off her shoes. A while later, she felt a sudden emptiness in her stomach, so she went to the outer room to see if there was anything to eat. There was only half a plate of jujube cake that she had left over from last night, but luckily it hadn't spoiled.

She carried the plate, stuffing food into her mouth as she walked towards her dormitory.

The door to the outer room was closed, and the light was somewhat dim.

She turned her head unintentionally and caught a glimpse of a quiet, ghost-like figure sitting in the dark corner, on the chair she often sat in.

A mouthful of cake suddenly got stuck in my throat.

After she swallowed it with difficulty, she looked closely and realized that it was actually Lu Hun's ghost.

In the dimly lit room, the maids were nowhere to be seen. He, a ghost, had suddenly appeared in her room without a sound. Inside, separated by a wall, was the women's most private bedroom, where no one except their husbands was allowed to enter. She remembered that she had just stripped naked and spent a long time wiping herself in there. She didn't know when he had arrived! "Did you hear or see anything just now?" she heard her own slightly muffled voice cautiously whisper in her ear.

"You—why are you here?"

Lu Hun slowly walked out of the chair.

His expression was calm and hesitant. After a long while, he frowned and said, "Your nanny, she..."

"Granny?"

"Yin'er, I've brought Xuanhua to serve you tea."

Wei Yin and He Wenqing's voices rang out at the same time. He Wenqing was walking towards them from the west courtyard. Wei Yin was afraid of being misunderstood, so she quickly said, "My husband and the others are here. It would be difficult to explain if they saw us. Please hide yourself first."

Lu Hunning glanced at her, and though he remained silent, his figure gradually disappeared from sight.

Wei Yin put down the pastries and sat down when He Wenqing pushed open the door and walked in. Behind him was Chen Xuanhua, who had changed into her bride's attire. Since it was only the second day after their wedding night, she wore a light pink dress, her hair was neatly combed up, revealing her smooth forehead, and her black hair was adorned with two pearl flowers on each side, and a single pink flower was simply inserted diagonally.

After Wei Yin returned, she changed into a light yellow cloud-patterned satin skirt and wore only a white cloud-patterned shawl. Her snow-white skin contrasted with the bright yellow skirt, making her look as beautiful as a bright yellow peony. She did not wear her hair in a bun; her long, black hair, reaching her waist, was half-tied up and half-draped over her chest.

He Wenqing stared at Wei Yin for a moment before saying, "Xuanhua got up early this morning to wash and dress, and came here specifically to pay her respects to you."

"Sister." Chen Xuanhua looked at Wei Yin carefully, then knelt down in front of her. The maid immediately served tea, which Chen Xuanhua accepted and respectfully held with both hands above her head: "Xuanhua will serve you and my husband well in the future."

Wei Yin was worried that Lu Hun was in her room at the moment and wondered what he wanted to do. She had no interest in dealing with the two of them, so she quickly drank her tea and told them to leave.

“I understand, cousin. I know your feelings. You just consummated your marriage last night, so you must be tired. Let your husband take you home.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuanhua looked up at He Wenqing with trepidation.

He Wenqing then said, "Since I've told you to go back and rest, then go back."

Chen Xuanhua answered "Yes" and carefully withdrew.

He Wenqing had no intention of leaving. Seeing that only the two of them were left in the room, he no longer adhered to his usual etiquette and stepped forward to hold Wei Yin's soft hand, asking tenderly, "Have you been sleeping better these past two days while I was away? Are you still having trouble sleeping because of that strange dream at the Bodhisattva Temple?"

Wei Yin ignored him and simply brushed him off, saying, "Aren't you going to see your father today, young master?"

“My mother said that since I have been keeping watch over her these past two days, and since I have just married Xuanhua, she told me to rest in the morning and go later.”

Wei Yin responded with an "oh".

Before Wei Yin could react, He Wenqing suddenly reached out and half-lifted his wife's waist, forcing her soft body to sit on his lap. He sniffed her neck and then said in a low, hoarse voice, "Yin'er, are you still angry?"

He Wenqing only occasionally glanced at her like this in private, unaware that there were other people in the room, perhaps watching the couple. Although Wei Yin used to like to be affectionate with him in front of the maids and servants, no matter how thick-skinned she was, she could never do what she was doing now, in front of... a sixteen-year-old male ghost, being so affectionate with him.

She pushed him away in embarrassment.

"Although my mother and the others arranged for me to marry Xuanhua, I still want you and me to have a child. Since we have nothing to do this morning, shall we go to the room?" But He Wenqing thought she was still unhappy, so he decided to coax her properly. He casually pulled her fingers to touch his waist: "You know where Jie is. I need you to help me get it off."

Wei Yin, looking like she was about to cry, quickly covered his mouth and said in a serious tone she had never used before, "My lord! How can a scholar act so recklessly in broad daylight? It's also a time when Father is seriously ill. Since you're not tired, you should go and see Father."

He Wenqing stared at her with a strange expression for a long while.

She looked solemn.

Only then did he have no choice but to frown and let go of her.

"I know you're still angry with me. If that's the case, let's talk about it again in a few days. You should rest."

After He Wenqing left, Wei Yin stood up and peeked outside. Seeing that he had gone out of the courtyard, she breathed a sigh of relief and closed the door. Just as she was about to turn around and call Lu Hun, he appeared, his back to her, standing in the corner by the window with his head down, as if deliberately avoiding something he shouldn't see.

Wei Yin straightened her hair and clothes, which He Wenqing had messed up a bit, and walked over with feigned composure, asking cautiously, "What did you say happened to the wet nurse?"

Lu Hun glanced at her with his head slightly turned, but immediately looked away again, frowning as he said, "Your nanny... is a bit too enthusiastic. She said I came from afar and had a long and tiring journey... so she had several maids come to pull me to take a bath."

In wealthy households, a whole host of maids would serve one's bathing and washing.

Wei Yin was stunned for a long time before he could react. He had always lived in poverty and was used to being aloof. He probably wouldn't be used to being served like this, especially since he was no longer human.

The wet nurse was very attentive, and she had been so busy having the wet nurse tidy up her room that she forgot to tell her not to disturb her.

Wei Yin hurriedly said, "I understand, I will talk to the wet nurse. However, if you do not wish to stay, I can talk to the young master."

Lu Hun didn't respond to her, but suddenly whispered, "Make sure you wear the amulet properly and don't take it off."

Wei Yin stared at him in confusion, her expression tightening. What did he mean by that?

-

The words Lu Hun said when he left her room made Wei Yin feel uneasy. Although she was sleepy, she tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep. The scene of her childhood with her mother's corpse kept flashing in her mind, making her extremely uneasy. She subconsciously wanted to ask two people to chant scriptures for her, but then she thought of Hu Datian, who locked his own daughter to death in the stone house in order to pray for rain. No wonder He Wenqing disliked these ghost and spirit matters. She had no choice but to suppress these thoughts, hold the peace charm hanging on her chest, close her eyes and force herself to fall asleep.

She was so tired that she fell into a deep sleep without realizing it.

During this time, He Wenqing came to the room to check on her a few times. Seeing that she was unconscious, he thought she was sick. It wasn't until the doctor took her pulse and said that she was weak and asleep that he breathed a sigh of relief. He only instructed Liu Mama to keep a close eye on her and prepare some soup and food from time to time to coax her to get up and feed her a few bites so that she wouldn't starve.

And so, when she opened her eyes again, she found that it was already the next night.

Wei Yin looked at herself, her clothes soaked with sweat.

Unable to bear it any longer, he quickly summoned a maid to boil water for a bath.

When she was bathing, she wanted to soak in the hot water quietly by herself, so she didn't let the maidservants serve her.

She tested the water temperature with her hand and, seeing that it was just right and the steam was rising gently, poured a little of the prepared perfume into it. She then gathered her long hair back and prepared to take off her sweaty clothes to get into the bathtub.

At this moment, Wei Yin heard a sound coming from outside the clean room.

A note from the author:

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