Chapter 31 The Uninvited Guest Her intuition told her that thorny trouble was brewing. ...
Le Jin was aggressive, as if Madam Zhang was her little chick and she was the mother hen, spreading her wings to protect her.
Meng Shutai, on the other hand, is a wicked fox with its mouth wide open, ready to devour the chick.
Faced with the hostile behavior of "Mother Hen" Le Jin, "Fox" suddenly withdrew its teeth, its eyelashes fluttered like feathers, and it looked so aggrieved that it was about to cry, saying something that Le Jin never dared to imagine in her entire life.
"I was just reminding you not to delay the effects of the medicine, why are you yelling at me..."
In front of the two ladies, he was acting coquettishly towards her?!
Seeing the two locked in a stalemate, Madam Wu quickly tried to smooth things over: "There's only a small amount of candied fruit; eating it will only alleviate the bitterness and shouldn't affect the medicine's efficacy. But the pastries are both sweet and filling, and eating them won't help the illness. My lady, you should listen to your husband."
Le Jin was furious. It was clearly Meng Shutai who was being unreasonable and lying!
But both ladies seemed afraid to provoke him, and if she continued to remain defiant, it would only make them more anxious.
Le Jin's voice was hoarse and she couldn't say anything nice. She just shook her head and tugged at Meng Shutai's sleeve, which was her way of "making up" with him.
Madam Zhang only dared to breathe heavily after the two men had walked far away, and she was so frightened that she kept patting her chest.
"Young Master Meng is handsome, but his aura is so profound! I've seen something new."
Madam Wu nudged her with her elbow, "Xiangyun, don't you find it strange? Lady Le asked us how to make our husbands like us, but..."
She squinted at the direction the two had left, "I think Meng Langjun likes her quite a bit, or at least cares about her a lot. He picks her up, prepares medicine, and even pays attention to her every need, much better than my husband."
Madam Zhang picked up her teacup and drank it all in one gulp. After putting the teacup down, she felt a little strange.
"But didn't you see the look in his eyes when he was still looking for snacks! Hmm..."
She inexplicably thought of going up the mountain with her husband to hunt wild game. When the wolves saw them wandering into their territory, in the deep, dense forest, their eyes were so green, icy, and elusive—just like Meng Langjun's.
Le Jin angrily charged ahead, refusing to stand shoulder to shoulder with Meng Shutai.
She was already feeling bored and restless from being confined to the house by him for so long. When she finally got to know the two ladies, Meng Shutai interrupted her with an attitude of "I've got you," which made her even more unhappy.
Seeing that she ignored him, Meng Shutai had no choice but to keep an arm's length away and follow behind her to explain.
"It's not that I don't want you to eat snacks, it's just that the food outside isn't clean."
How could Madam Zhang and Madam Wu, two gentle and beautiful noble ladies, be unclean?
Le Jin liked the two of them very much, and she was even more annoyed to hear Meng Shutai putting on airs like a proud son of a noble family. So she stood still and retorted to Meng Shutai:
Are you clean?
The evening light was like fire and flame, turning the world into a piece of intensely colored glass, dazzling and splendid.
Le Jin turned to stare at Meng Shutai, her dark pupils glowing with two small flames in the sunset, flickering and burning in her eyes, exuding a cunning and treacherous aura.
She deliberately stabbed him.
If we're talking about cleanliness, Meng Shutai, whose hands are stained with human lives, is the least qualified to be mentioned.
But his wide-sleeved, floor-length blue robe was like a jewel set in fiery glass, tall and solitary, uniquely clear, serene, and transparent.
"Shutai is not an arrogant person. If he were alone, it wouldn't be a big deal if he were covered in mud and lying on the street corner."
He remained calm and composed, his face expressionless, but when he looked at Le Jin, a hint of worry appeared in his eyes.
“But you are different. You are alone in a foreign land, separated from your brother, and even suffering from an illness. Not to mention that we are engaged, even if you were just an ordinary woman we met by chance, Shutai would not sit idly by.”
...Was that a dog saying, "I never advised Jiang Xian to let Jiang Yingyun go"?
Le Jin was so enraged by his shamelessness that she felt dizzy. Did his hypocritical act of being virtuous mean that he should take care of her? But what right did he have to take care of her?
She gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to spit on him, taking deep breaths to calm her anger.
"Didn't we agree to discuss the engagement later? Why are you taking it so seriously now?"
"Huayan Temple is the national temple of our dynasty. Do you know which powerful and influential people are enshrined in the Lantern Hall? If you are not the future mistress of the Meng family, how can I protect you?"
Upon hearing this, Le Jin immediately wilted.
She is still alive and kicking, which is indeed thanks to Meng Shutai.
Le Jin fell silent, her head drooping, not daring to look at him. Her hands were twisted behind her back, a timid and awkward expression that suggested she was neither in the right nor angry.
Meng Shutai took in her expression.
She silently yielded to him, as if a small copper hammer was tapping along her tailbone down her spine, a subtle excitement and trembling spreading along her spine and ribs, bearing the blood-red, throbbing fruit of her heart.
Meng Shutai lowered his head, concealing the faint smile that seemed to be there. "According to the laws of our dynasty, arson and murder are serious crimes. Publicly acknowledging the marriage agreement was truly a last resort."
Hearing this, Le Jin felt half of her heart break.
These past few days, Meng Shutai had been incredibly good to her, treating her like a precious gem, almost making her think he had fallen in love with her! In the end, it was all "a helpless act."
That makes sense. How could Meng Shutai be so easily moved?
It's normal to act out of necessity.
Le Jin was feeling lost and uncertain about the future of the mission when Meng Shutai suddenly stepped forward, gently cupped her face, rubbed his thumb against her lips, and then stepped back, as if the intimacy just now was only a dreamlike breeze.
She was puzzled, but then she saw Meng Shutai looking at her with a smile.
There's a crumb of sweet cake here.
——
As June arrived, the night wind howled, but even blowing through the bed curtains did little to alleviate the heat. Although there was a tub of ice beside the bed to cool things down, it was barely enough for Le Jin, who was wearing long pants and a long-sleeved shirt over an ancient-style nightgown.
Le Jin was so hot that sweat soaked her short hair, strands of which clung to her eyebrows and forehead. Her stomach was also bloated, and lying down made her feel heavy and painful, so she couldn't sleep at all.
She sat up abruptly, unbuttoned her shirt one button at a time, tossed it aside, slipped on her shoes, got out of bed, poured herself a cup of tea, and gulped it down.
happy!
Meng Shutai must have been out of his mind. Knowing that she had eaten a lot of pastries at Madam Zhang's place, he still forced her to eat a lot of food at dinner, as if he wanted to fight with the pastries in her stomach.
She wouldn't eat, so he put down his chopsticks and stopped eating too. He sat at the table watching her, smiling faintly, as if he could wait for her to start eating forever. The meal left her feeling terrified, and she still felt strangely uncomfortable.
Le Jin was about to have another cup of tea to calm her nerves when she picked up the teapot and found it empty.
"No water?"
The tea room was only a short path away from Meng Shutai's house. Le Jin, who was used to supporting herself, didn't think twice before carrying the teapot and pushing open the door.
A warm breeze caressed my face, and even though the lanterns outside were not lit, the air didn't feel gloomy.
As Le Jin stepped out the door, a scalding hot hand landed on her arm, which was holding a teapot, and pulled her back into the room.
"ah--"
Before she could utter a sound, her mouth was immediately covered by someone behind her, and a familiar boy's voice kept hissing in her ear.
"Don't, don't shout, it's me."
Le Jin was still in shock, but the voice sounded very familiar. She stopped shouting and gently patted the boy's hand, which he immediately withdrew.
As she turned around, half of the boy's face was hidden in the shadow of the doorway, the other half bathed in the pale silver moonlight. One of his round eyes was filled with a reddish tinge, and although he was smiling, it looked like he was crying.
"Feng Yu'en... what brings you here!"
Le Jin took a step back; her intuition told her that a tricky problem was about to arise.
"I'll take you away."
Feng Yu'en grabbed Le Jin's arm again, his rough, dirty fingers sinking into her snow-white flesh, the broken calluses pricking Le Jin.
What happened to your hand?
Le Jin grabbed his wrist and examined it in the moonlight. His once slender, fair hand with well-defined knuckles was now covered with red calluses and broken blisters on the base of his thumb and the fingers.
He's the son of a wealthy businessman, how could he have ended up like this?
Before Le Jin could get a good look, Feng Yu'en pulled his hand away and hid it behind his back, half-laughing and half-scolding: "It's really hard to get into Huayan Temple. As soon as they heard that I was a nobody from Shuzhou, they wouldn't let me in no matter how much money I offered. I managed to get in by blending in with the craftsmen who were building the lantern hall. I worked there for a whole day."
He too had been pampered and spoiled by his parents since childhood, and after a long day, his words were tinged with grievance. However, when he looked up, his bright, round eyes were filled with expectation and sincerity as he gazed at Le Jin.
"Ah Jin, I don't believe you don't want me."
"After I got home, I figured it out. If you come to Luoyang, then I'll come to Luoyang too. As long as we're not married yet, there's a possibility for us."
Feng Yu'en was full of passionate ideas, and the darkness couldn't hide his radiant spirit.
His burning passion splashed onto Le Jin, but each landing point burned a hole in her. Le Jin felt as if she were riddled with holes, the night wind blowing through her, making her rustle like paper, without soul or strength.
"But as soon as I arrived in Luoyang, I saw the Meng family looking for Brother Zhao. When I asked, I learned that Brother Zhao was missing." Feng Yu'en didn't bother to hide her injuries anymore. Holding Le Jin's hands, she made no attempt to conceal her excitement.
"Le Jin, I know you weren't lying when you said you hated engagements and fiancés. Why don't we give it a try? Come with me now, to the ends of the earth, to life and death, we'll be together..."
"I don't love you anymore."
Le Jin looked at him expressionlessly, her eyes calm, showing no sign of any emotional fluctuation from her former lover, and stated her statement in a calm tone.
She broke free from Feng Yu'en's hand and looked at his stiff, pale face, as if she could hear the merciless sizzling sound of a basin of cold water being poured onto a red-hot iron.
But there was no way around it; she had to throw cold water on it.
The boy lowered his head, looking pitiful as he stood alone in the shadows behind the door.
After much deliberation, Le Jin decided to break up with him in a gentle way.
“Yu En, we were just kids before, we didn’t know any better, we were just fooling around and playing together. You have to allow me to grow up.”
Le Jin spoke with utmost sincerity; she had to cut off all her extramarital affairs, at least before marriage.
Meng Shutai had finally given her a few days of kindness, and Le Jin would sweep away any obstacle that prevented her from completing her mission.
But these overly sincere words were too heavy for Feng Yu'en to bear. He murmured old sweet nothings, lost in thought and stubborn.
"You said you would never leave me..."
"That's all just to make you happy."
Le Jin interrupted his sorrow, grabbing him and urging him to leave, "Go. I'm fine now. I really like Meng Shutai, I really like him, the kind of liking that's love at first sight..."
But when the door opened, Le Jin only caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of her eye and was almost scared out of her wits.
At the corner of the long corridor, a glass palace lantern with orchid patterns stood quietly lit. The soft light illuminated a woman in a sea-blue dress, her shadow flickering like will-o'-the-wisps in a graveyard.
Meng Shutai is outside the door?!
When did he arrive?!
How much did he hear?!
Le Jin was struck dumb. In the blink of an eye, she raised her hand and pulled it back, slamming Feng Yu'en to the ground.
"Ouch..."
"Shut up!"
Feng Yu'en didn't understand Le Jin's alarmed expression. "What's outside that you're so afraid of?"
Le Jin closed the door and bolted it, then turned around and answered him in a low voice. She then grabbed his collar and dragged him behind the ice tank, giving him a command.
"Squat down! No matter who comes later, don't make a sound, even if you die!"
A note from the author:
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