Chapter 49 A Show of Force Hopefully, that hateful little mouth won't lie to him. ...
On her first day as a bride, she always has to serve tea to her parents-in-law.
Holding the tea tray firmly with both hands, Le Jin respectfully raised it above his head, feeling incredibly guilty.
Tea served from the hand that had once wounded her son with a knife would probably be hard to swallow, wouldn't it? From the moment she got up and washed this morning until now, Le Jin had sighed countless times, sweating bullets for her future life in the Meng family mansion.
Sure enough, her wrist was already slightly stiff, but Master Meng still showed no intention of accepting the tea to change her address. He simply sat upright in his armchair, glaring angrily to the other side, not even giving her a second glance.
It felt like a rock was pressing down on her head, ready to crash down at any moment. Le Jin's heart was pounding faster and faster. She was so worried and anxious that she was sweating profusely. She felt extremely uncomfortable.
This show of force came way too fast; she wasn't prepared at all...
Just as she was feeling uneasy, the teacup that had been sitting there for so long was suddenly taken away, and her wrists immediately felt relieved.
Le Jin looked up in surprise, thinking that Master Meng had given up on her, but the teacup was steadily held in Meng Shutai's hands. Before she could figure out what was going on, Meng Shutai helped her up and stopped her from kneeling.
He stared calmly at his father, his tone as businesslike as if it were a formality, which even made Le Jin feel a little intimidated.
“Father, I know that neither you nor Mother are happy about this marriage. But I insisted on marrying Le Jin, and no matter what the problem is, it's not her fault. If you are not satisfied with her, there is always Ci Zhang who can find you a satisfactory sister-in-law. But if this causes Le Jin to suffer, I will not allow it.”
Le Jin watched as Meng Shutai handed the teacup to Master Meng's ashen face with one hand. He exuded a chilling aura, and his imposing presence made it difficult for anyone to breathe.
"Please enjoy this tea, Father and Mother."
After saying that, he slammed the teacup on the table, took Le Jin's hand, and turned to leave.
Master Meng leaned helplessly against the back of his chair, his heart burning with rage, threatening to consume his internal organs.
This is eye-opening! They say a married daughter is like water spilled from a cup, but how come their son runs off with someone else as soon as he gets married?
Madam Meng was so anxious that she clenched her handkerchief tightly. Finally, just as Meng Shutai was about to walk out of the main hall, she called out to them.
"Shutai, you've misunderstood. That's not what your father and mother meant." To show her acceptance, Madam Meng called out to Le Jin, "A Jin, Mother has something else to give you."
Meng Shutai stopped and looked down at Le Jin, waiting for her reaction.
We'll be staying here for quite a while, and it wouldn't be good if things got really tense. Le Jin suppressed her embarrassment and shook Meng Shutai's hand, which was holding hers, "Let's go back."
Seeing that she didn't care, Meng Shutai's fierce aura softened, and he became gentle and soft-spoken again.
"Okay, I'll do as you say."
Madam Meng breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the two were willing to return, and turned her handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead.
She forced a laugh and scolded Meng Shutai: "You still mention Cizhang? He was beaten and is lying in his Hengyuan. Will he be able to get out of bed for ten days or half a month? It's not that he did the right thing by secretly changing the marriage agreement between the two families without telling everyone, but look at how you punished him. Your brother can't even attend your wedding. What a pity."
What a pity? If he hadn't been so focused on pursuing Le Jin that day, would that arrogant Meng Cizhang have survived? He was already superfluous, yet he still wanted to appear at his and Le Jin's wedding? If that moment had come, he would have had to carefully remove the smell of blood before massaging Le Jin's shoulders.
He concealed the intense melancholy between his brows, and Meng Shutai lowered his eyes and nodded, still the gentle older brother he always was.
"I will go see him later, Mother, don't worry."
Madam Meng smiled slightly, her gaze lingering on Le Jin for a moment before she quickly regained her composure. "Ah Jin, I just want to be frank with you today. Life in the Meng family is not easy. To outsiders, we are illustrious and prosperous, but the more prosperous we are, the more we have to manage things."
"ah……"
Le Jin had originally planned to hide behind Meng Shutai and keep a low profile today, hoping to get away with it. But judging from Madam Meng's demeanor, it seemed like there was a trap waiting for her ahead, one from which she couldn't escape.
"At the end of the month, the manor will hold a chrysanthemum appreciation banquet. Mother thought that you didn't have many friends in Luoyang before, so why don't you organize the banquet and take this opportunity to get to know other wealthy and powerful people in Luoyang?"
Although Madam Meng was speaking to Le Jin, nine-tenths of her attention was on Meng Shutai. Her daughter-in-law was domineering and vicious. If she could let her observe the manners and behavior of other noble ladies, perhaps she could change her ways, and her son's life wouldn't be so hard.
Le Jin's mind went blank for a moment. She didn't realize Madam Meng's deep love for her son, but her own selfish thoughts also popped into her head.
Madam Meng is mistaken in one respect: she did make a few friends in Luoyang, such as Madam Jiang Yingyun and Madam Zhang Wu. However, after the Lantern Festival, those fragile friendships have likely vanished.
Human emotions are difficult to explain. Even though this second mission had nothing to do with Jiang Yingyun and Yuan Jingming anymore, Le Jin still subconsciously worried about their situation.
Madam Meng took Le Jin's right hand, placed the blank invitation card (which had not yet been filled out) in her palm, and gently patted her, saying, "Mother believes in you."
——
At noon, with the sun high in the sky, a table full of delicious food was laid out in front of Le Jin, but she didn't touch a single bite.
"Not to your liking?"
Seeing her staring at the invitation without saying a word and completely absorbed in it, Meng Shutai suddenly felt like laughing.
A cat was fishing with its tail dangling over the surface of the pond, its earnest expression exactly like Le Jin's.
"Are you really going to hold a chrysanthemum appreciation banquet?"
"Is it not allowed?"
Meng Shutai smiled and gave Le Jin a deep look, his expression containing a hint of mischievousness that seemed to want to say something but couldn't.
"Yes, of course."
Le Jin tilted her head slightly, like a primary school student about to go on an autumn outing, her heart and eyes full of longing for the new scene.
However, this longing was shattered the very next day.
A whole bunch of invitations that had been sent out were returned untouched. Bao Yin, her eyes drooping, complained to Le Jin about how disrespectful the maidservant of a certain second-rank official's wife was.
"They said the invitations to her wife for the conference weighed a hundred pounds, so they didn't have time to deal with us. They just tossed the invitations aside and left!"
Le Jin was asking the cooks in the manor about how the dishes and snacks were prepared for banquets in previous years when Bao Yin's angry words hit her like a club, leaving her feeling a burning pain all over her body.
Luo Jing's xenophobia is unreasonable. She is now the young mistress of the Meng family. How could they not give the Meng family face?
Le Jin sensed something was wrong, and after dismissing Bao Yin and the cook, she glanced at the knife and flew towards Meng Shutai.
He examined the household accounts page by page, and although they were just dry numbers, he gradually began to smile.
"Madam, you are wise; this has nothing to do with me."
Le Jin said irritably, "Then why don't they want my posts?"
Closing the account book, Meng Shutai winked at Le Jin, looking a hundred times more innocent than her: "After the Lantern Festival, no respectable family in Luoyang wants to have anything to do with you for various reasons. Why did you come to ask me, A-Jin?"
Le Jin was speechless for a moment.
Yes, they are afraid of Le Jin now, just as Le Jin is afraid of Meng Shutai.
But nobody paid any attention to her. Was she just going to spend every day in the deep courtyard of the mansion, looking at Meng Shutai with mutual loathing? What a nightmare this was!
Le Jin groaned and collapsed onto the small table in the tatami room, looking as miserable as a fish about to be scaled and slaughtered at the market.
"You really want to play with other people?"
Meng Shutai sat on the other side, propping his head up with one hand and looking at her with a puzzled expression.
Why does Le Jin always seem so interested in other people? Those mediocre fools are nothing but empty shells filled with ulterior motives. Are they as handsome as him? As intelligent as him? As concerned about her as he is? Why does Le Jin like them so much?
Le Jin was sullen and had no mood to answer Meng Shutai. It wasn't just the disappointment of being rejected; it was more of a helpless fear, as if the whole world had rejected and abandoned her. This was undoubtedly another kind of death, robbing her of her spiritual life.
But how can you talk to this madman? It's like casting pearls before swine.
"Sigh..." Le Jin sighed as if the world before her eyes had gone by forever, and all the colors and scenery had faded away.
Amidst this gray and white expanse, a piece of white jade with extremely simple lines suddenly appeared, about two inches long, tied with silk tassels, swaying in Yue Jin's sight.
"What's this?"
"My personal seal."
Meng Shutai moved closer, admiring the wide-eyed look in Le Jin's eyes, deliberately moving his gaze from left to right and then from right to left.
“I will stamp all those invitations with my personal seal and send them back without changing a single word. I guarantee that there will be no one at the chrysanthemum appreciation banquet.”
Le Jin raised one eyebrow and said suspiciously, "But they knew the invitation was sent by you... Madam, and they returned it."
Meng Shutai smiled, as if demonstrating to a three-year-old how one plus one equals two using counting rods. "These people in Luojing are all cunning foxes. They don't know my attitude towards you, so they can only observe or stay away. But your invitation with my seal signifies that we are of one mind, and they dare not be negligent."
He spoke so casually, as simply as breathing, but Kele Jin's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, almost forming a knot.
Meng Shutai effortlessly rose above her, forming an invisible and intangible net that surrounded her.
Isn't this private seal also stamped on Le Jin's body?
As long as she is his wife, she will be bound to him tightly, and every part of her, from head to toe, will bear his unique mark.
"Want it?"
The white jade seal lay in Meng Shutai's palm, and Le Jin suddenly remembered the lotus seeds that had once lay in his palm as well.
This was the bait! Lure her to his side, to offer her soul for him to possess. The real show of force, it turned out, was Meng Shutai himself.
But this is also the only moment of freedom she can currently obtain, her "spring outing".
“I want it…” Le Jin reached out to Yu Zhang, but the white jade was taken back by Meng Shutai in the blink of an eye.
"you!"
"Promise me one thing. If you do, this seal is yours and you don't need to return it."
"What are the conditions?"
Meng Shutai reached across the small table, his sleeve brushing against a bright red camellia on a glass bottle, and pinched Le Jin's chin, forcing her to look at him.
His thin lips parted slightly, and he spoke each word very softly, like a faint breeze that contained a potent poison.
"No matter how many people are outside, you can only play with me, okay?"
Choose me, be loyal to me, believe in me.
Meng Shutai gradually increased the pressure on his hands, making Le Jin's chin ache and her bones feel a dull pain.
Le Jin was furious. When did this man become so childish? It was just a chrysanthemum appreciation banquet; all the guests were women. He couldn't possibly be jealous of them, could he?
She simply couldn't understand Meng Shutai, but her jaw was so sore that she could only nod and casually agree.
"Okay, okay, I promise you, give me the seal."
Upon hearing this, Meng Shutai smiled with satisfaction, greatly reducing the pressure on his hands. When he released Le Jin's chin, his thumb even rubbed against her soft skin to help relieve her pain.
Hopefully, that wretched little mouth won't lie to him.
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Author's Note: Le Jin: What should I do if I want a divorce right after getting married?
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