Chapter 35 Lingling's eyes were tinged with desire, her ears...

Feng Wan brought up the matter of drugging Chen Zhelan, who weakly refuted her for a few moments, then cried again. Her defenses finally crumbled, and she stammered out the truth.

The drug she put in the tea porridge was a poison prepared by the maid. She planned to use it to consummate her relationship with Xie Zhuo and force him to marry her. Unfortunately, he was wary and didn't fall for her drug.

Zhao Ying and his wife were greatly shocked, especially Chen Liangzheng, who was furious and speechless for a long time.

Feng Wan gave the princess face and didn't criticize Chen Zhelan too much. She said she couldn't bear to see the General Who Conquers the South being smeared like this, and then left lightly.

Chen Liangzheng scolded Chen Zhelan and went to apologize to Xie Zhuo. Chen Zhelan was left crying in Zhao Ying's arms, begging her to plead with her brother not to punish her severely.

She cried her heart out, and Zhao Ying didn't know what to say. She gently comforted her for a long time before returning to her seat.

That evening after the birthday banquet, Chen Liangzheng told his two elders about his sister's actions. The Chen family rules were strict, and Chen Zhelan had no way to defend herself. She accepted the punishment given by her brother, packed her things, and went to the ancestral hall.

She was to stay in the ancestral hall for a month, copying scriptures and reflecting on her actions every day. The servants in her room were also punished.

Looking at Chen Zhelan's distraught figure, Zhao Ying felt a pang of pity. As she was about to go to bed, she said to Chen Liangzheng with emotion, "My little sister has made a mistake, also because of love. It's really pitiful to see her like this."

“The princess thinks I punished her too severely,” Chen Liangzheng said.

Just now in the hall, the Duke of Yingguo wanted to confine Chen Zhelan to the ancestral hall for half a month. Zhao Ying and Liang Shi both agreed, but Chen Liangzheng insisted that half a month was too short and doubled the time.

"I can't say whether it's minor or major. It's just that I rarely see you so angry. The way you get angry really frightened me."

After Zhao Ying finished speaking, she noticed that Chen Liang had put his arm around her shoulder. He said with a helpless tone, "Princess, you always think of others. Why don't you think of yourself?"

Zhao Ying smiled and said, "When have I ever not thought of myself?"

Chen Liangzheng hugged her even tighter.

"My sister's mistake today is not only a disservice to General Xie, but also to herself and the Chen family. Besides, she has wronged you the most. Today is your birthday banquet, and she chose to cause trouble on this occasion, preventing you from having a joyful birthday. Can you see even a shred of remorse for her?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ying felt a surge of warmth in her heart and turned around to hug him.

"She's young, how can I hold a grudge against her?" she whispered.

Chen Liangzheng kissed her hair. "Princess, you are so magnanimous. I am ashamed to admit that I am not as magnanimous as you. This time, I will help you settle a score."

Amused by her usually kind and gentle husband's assessment, Zhao Ying snuggled closer to him, her voice growing even softer, "Then I thank you, my husband. Alright, let's not talk about me anymore, let's do something else..."

Chen Liangzheng asked, "What other matter?"

Zhao Ying paused for a moment. What was going on? Where was their tacit understanding?

She didn't speak, but leaned back and glanced at the head of the bed. The little white baby, with its chubby body curled up, looked at the two people on the bed with a playful expression.

A smile appeared on Chen Liangzheng's face as he leaned out of the tent and blew out the lamp.

......

A cool breeze slipped into the ancestral hall through the cracks in the doors and windows, and the slender flames of the lamps on the offering table flickered incessantly. One of the three lamps suddenly went out.

Chen Zhelan expressionlessly lit the lamp again and sat cross-legged back on the reeds. According to family rules, she was confined to the ancestral hall and not allowed to have anyone serve her. Apart from a few essential clothes, she was not allowed to bring any extra belongings. The side rooms of the courtyard where the ancestral hall was located were cold and damp, filled with dust. She had no intention of cleaning, so she returned to the ancestral hall and decided to spend the night there.

The ancestral hall was deathly silent after the wind had passed, and the ancestral tablets of the Chen family stood silently in the dim light.

Chen Zhelan sat there blankly, seemingly lost in thought, oblivious to the opening and closing of the door.

It wasn't until the slender figure in plain clothes walked up to her that she belatedly realized what was happening and exclaimed in surprise, "Brother?"

Chen Liangqing nodded. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

"I can't sleep," Chen Zhelan murmured. "The ancestral hall was locked. Brother, how did you get in?"

“I have the key.”

Chen Liangqing developed the habit of reflecting on his own mistakes when he was young. If he made a mistake, he would come to the ancestral hall to kneel and recite scriptures without being punished by his parents.

“Oh,” Chen Zhelan also remembered, “then why did you come tonight, brother?”

Chen Liangqing put down the lantern in his hand, spread out his robes, and knelt properly on the cushion, his eyes lowered and silent.

A few days ago, he passed by the artificial hill in the mansion and heard two people talking softly in the hills. They were his maid and servant.

Does this stuff really work?

"Of course. Caihong, if you don't believe me, I'll eat it tonight, and you and I'll try it. I guarantee you'll be... [experienced/deceived]..."

The filthy words were unbearable to hear, so Chen Liangqing decided to turn around and take another route.

Just then, Caihong interrupted the servant's ambiguous laughter with a reproachful tone, "Who's going to try it with you? You're talking nonsense. I'm serious, this medicine works for ordinary men, but can it work for men who have practiced martial arts and are exceptionally strong?"

"Oh dear, my good Caihong, my darling, who are you going to give it to?"

“It wasn’t me who used it.” Caihong’s voice lowered again. “I’m telling you, but you mustn’t tell anyone. Third Sister likes General Zheng Nan, but the general has someone else in mind. Third Sister wants to take advantage of the fact that the general’s marriage is still undecided, and drug him at the princess’s birthday banquet, forcing him into marriage, so that the general will have no choice but to marry her! So I’m asking you, can this drug handle the general?”

The servant yelped a few times, "How can you not handle it? The general is a man too. Even Liu Xiahui, after taking this medicine, would have to crawl under the young lady's skirt. Hehe, I'm worried that the third young lady can't take it."

"Alright, alright, why are you being so nosy..."

The two whispered to each other for a while longer before emerging from the artificial hill and walking away one after the other.

Chen Liangqing stood with his hands behind his back for a while, then went to do his business with an unchanged expression.

That evening, while retrieving a book from the library, he encountered Chen Zhelan, who had come to return a book.

Chen Zhelan was distracted and put the book in the wrong place several times. Chen Liangqing noticed this and reminded her.

She thanked him, and before leaving, she suddenly asked, "Brother, if I suffer any injustice, will our parents protect and help me?"

Before he could speak, she hurriedly added, "I was just asking casually. I... I just read a story in a book about a woman who was assaulted by a man. The man denied it and refused to take responsibility, and the woman's parents wouldn't help her either..."

Seemingly aware that his question was odd, Chen Zhelan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Never mind, it's just a silly question from a young lady. Brother, you don't need to worry about it. I'll be going now."

"Little sister."

Chen Liangqing stopped her and said, "You are a lady of the Duke of Ying's mansion. Your father, mother, elder brother, and I are all your closest relatives. No matter what grievances you have suffered or what you desire, we will help you and stand with you. Don't worry."

Chen Zhelan nodded vigorously, "I understand, thank you, brother."

That day, Chen Liangqing clearly saw his own dark desires, which secretly sprouted and unknowingly swelled, becoming so powerful that he could not resist them, and thus went astray and became a villain.

Chen Zhelan deserves a share of the blame for the mistakes he made and the punishment he received.

"It's just a trivial mistake," he replied gently to Chen Zhelan.

Since her brother didn't want to talk about it, Chen Zhelan stopped asking.

The two sat and knelt in silence.

A moment ago, there were lights that flickered on and off outside the window, but now they were all dark. The night wind swept through the dark courtyard and rattled the windowpanes again.

"Brother, I'm cold."

The girl spoke tremblingly, and Chen Liangqing took off his outer robe and let her wrap it around herself.

"What about my brother?" she asked.

"Brother, you're not cold."

Catching a cold should also be considered part of self-punishment.

Chen Zhelan put on her robe, shrank into a small ball, looked at Chen Liangqing who was still kneeling upright, and felt extremely ashamed. She whispered, "Brother, a gentleman like you must think I am both stupid and wicked."

Chen Liangqing gazed at the flickering candlelight, in which the image of that beautiful, smiling face would occasionally appear. She was asleep on the bed, she was in his wild dreams at night, she was in the unfinished painting—each of them would appear in turn, softly calling out to Chen Lang, and bewitching him.

"Love can easily cloud the mind, turning good people into bad and intelligent people into fools," he said firmly, closing his eyes.

Chen Zhelan thought Chen Liangqing would deny her self-deprecation, and hearing him say that made her even more upset. "Yes, I'm like I'm under a spell. I think about General Xie all day long. He's the first thing I think about when I wake up, and he's the last thing I think about before I go to sleep. When I see him with Princess Yongning, I get so angry."

"I really want Princess Yongning to disappear completely, so that General Xie will notice me."

"If I could win General Xie's heart, I would give anything for it."

Chen Zhelan murmured to herself, while Chen Liangqing kept his eyes closed, his face as calm as water. The dim lamplight cast shadows on his plain white clothes, which made Chen Zhelan feel that he was aloof and holy, untouched by worldly affairs.

Her brother possessed outstanding virtue, kneeling as punishment for even the slightest transgression, while she, despicable and vile, paled in comparison. Yet Chen Zhelan found this perfectly acceptable; she could freely express her true feelings, unconcerned about being looked down upon by her brother. After all, who could possibly appear noble in front of her brother?

“Brother, I really envy you, you are not troubled by love. Unlike me, I was bewitched and turned from a smart person into a fool.”

Chen Liangqing looked at her with pity; she was unaware that she was a fool.

She didn't know that he was just as ugly and pitiful as she was.

He wasn't even as brave as she was.

What is more despicable than baseness and filth is cowardice.

Chen Zhelan read sympathy in Chen Liangqing's eyes, and this touch of pity moistened her heart, making her want to cry. But she had cried for too long today, and no tears could flow.

"Brother, you're so kind. You didn't blame me. You don't know how Father and my eldest brother scolded me..." Chen Zhelan murmured, feeling sleepy. Her thin body trembled from the cold, and she weakly rubbed against Chen Liangqing's shoulder.

Although my brother is thin, his shoulders are strong and warm, which makes me feel at ease.

This was what Chen Zhelan needed and longed for most after crying all day. She couldn't help but greedily take more and slowly moved it to Chen Liangqing's chest.

She was surprised; her brother's chest was indeed warm. It turned out that no matter how noble and detached her brother was, his body also had a fiery temperature.

She closed her eyes, imagining it was the chest of her beloved, and hugged it tightly.

Chen Liangqing looked at the young woman nestled against him with mixed feelings, and placed his hand on her thin back.

On this cold, desolate night, he seemed to need some comfort, the comfort of someone who shared his plight—nothing could be more fitting.

......

The Xue residence.

Xue Mingyao is still suffering from insomnia.

In the afternoon, she parted on bad terms with Xie Zhuo and bid farewell to Zhao Ying before leaving the princess's residence. Zhao Ying told her apologetically about Chen Zhelan's actions, saying that she felt she should know about it and that she should not spread it around.

Xue Mingyao laughed after hearing this.

Zhao Ying looked at the smile on her face with puzzlement.

Xue Mingyao hesitated to admit that Chen Zhelan's actions reminded her of herself, thinking to herself, "No wonder Xie Zhuo didn't want to mention it at all. He must deeply despise such tactics."

Finally, she said to Zhao Ying, "Yingniang, why are you apologizing to me? I think this is quite funny. It's a pity she didn't succeed, otherwise she could have helped me avoid this marriage."

Zhao Ying shook her head and saw her out.

On the carriage ride back, Green Branch asked her, "Princess, do you really hope that Lady Chen will succeed?"

"I want to see Xie Zhuo get his comeuppance," Xue Mingyao said with a nonchalant smile.

"But then General Xie might really have to marry her."

"Hmm, I suppose he can't use my brother to threaten me now."

Green Branch took a deep breath. "Princess, but that's Xie Qinglang, my beloved husband. It's one thing if you don't want to marry him, but how can you be happy to see him marry someone else?"

Xue Mingyao lay in bed, recalling Lüzhi's words, and found it amusing.

Xie Qinglang is no longer hers.

Why can't he marry someone else?

She met him in the snowy forest of Xichuan. Wasn't her initial plan to play with him for a while, then release him, and then have his beautiful wives and concubines have nothing to do with her anymore?

Besides, he is Xie Qinglang, but he is no longer like Xie Qinglang.

However, in the dim light before his eyes, Xie Qinglang's image in his wedding attire slowly appeared. He wore black leather boots, a gold and jade belt around his waist, and a long, flowing red brocade robe with wide sleeves. His handsome face was as beautiful as jade and as radiant as a rainbow, exuding a cool and serene aura.

She watched him walk towards his beautiful bride, drink the nuptial wine with her, and saw his once-cold eyes turn lustful, his ears turn red, and the white collar of his dress smudge with rouge...

Xue Mingyao gritted her teeth.

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Author's note: Getting married soon [shrug]