Chapter 10 Go to the memorial tablet, go and tell my husband!
(ten)
During her recovery, Chu Li's days seemed to stretch out longer, and three days passed in the blink of an eye.
My legs were set at some point, and although they still hurt terribly, at least they weren't ruined.
That day, after falling into the hunting pit, she vaguely remembered someone holding her and comforting her; it must have been Wuming. He didn't mention her escape at all, showed no intention of reprimanding her, and even went out of his way to heal her wounds.
He seemed genuinely intending to "take things slowly" with her.
The last person she had to take things slowly with was Shang Xinglan, and now the grass on her grave is already five meters tall.
Chu Li was slightly taken aback, her brows furrowing. She realized that she had recently been frequently comparing this devil to Shang Xinglan.
This is terrifying; this demon has indeed infiltrated her life.
Looking up, I saw Wuming idly trimming the flowers and plants in the room, and surprisingly, he trimmed them very well. He clearly didn't seem to be interested and was just cutting casually, but how could the flowers he cut be so delicate and elegant, as if he knew how to trim them by nature?
Chu Li stared at him secretly, and soon saw him start picking vegetables again, as if he was preparing lunch.
Her well-defined fingers, white to bluish-white, peeled the bamboo shoots slowly and deliberately, like a piece of cold jade, clear and refreshing.
Her hands suddenly paused, and soon she looked up and met the other person's meaningful gaze.
"Haven't you seen enough yet?"
When Chu Li was discovered, she quickly crawled back under the covers. Her haste aggravated her wound, causing her to gasp for breath in pain.
It hurts so much...
It's all his fault! I'm so angry!
"Is the wound hurting again?"
He put down the bamboo shoots, walked to her side to check her injuries, pinched her face and examined her carefully for a long time, his cool fingers slightly tinged with the fragrance of fresh bamboo shoots, lingering there with lingering affection.
"Well, it's nothing, it just looks a bit ugly."
A question mark slowly rose above Chu Li's head.
Who taught him to talk like that?
She pushed his hand away in disgust and covered her head before he could speak, saying, "My head hurts so much."
Wuming leaned closer and whispered a scolding, "Who told you to run away in the middle of the night? Your eyesight isn't good enough, and you still jumped into such a big pit."
Nonsense, why would she run away in the middle of the night if she wasn't locked up? It's all his fault.
Chu Li grew angrier the more she thought about it, and found Wuming even more displeasing.
"I'm hungry, I want to eat meat."
Since Wuming likes her, he should listen to her orders.
Wuming got up and tucked the blanket around her, saying, "I'll make you some pine flower cakes."
Chu Li subconsciously retorted angrily, "Eating meat? Don't you even know what meat is?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she belatedly realized that her tone was inappropriate. She quickly looked at Wuming's expression and explained softly, "I'm sorry, I was starving."
The other person seemed to be taken aback for a moment, then chuckled softly.
"It's alright, you did it just fine."
He got up and went to the kitchen, his voice gentle, "You can't eat greasy food while you're recovering. I'll let you eat meat in a couple of days. You can eat whatever you want then, even my meat."
Chu Li watched him leave in astonishment, increasingly feeling that as a demon, his temper was simply outrageously good.
However, Chu Li is precisely the kind of person who loves to push his luck.
She looked at the food on the small table: a plate of pine flower cakes drizzled with honey, a bowl of bamboo shoot and meatball soup, and neatly sliced pickled sausages.
She swallowed hard, picked up her chopsticks, and began to eat a slice of sausage. Wuming sat beside her, resting his chin on his hand, watching her eat with a smile in his eyes.
"Ugh, this is awful." Chu Li spat out the sausage, continuing to push his limits. "How could you make sausage this bad?"
The nameless man narrowed his eyes slightly. "What's wrong with it?"
Chu Li pursed her lips, her voice softening, "Too salty."
Anyway, he was wearing a mask, so he couldn't taste it himself.
Sure enough, he took the plate of sausages away and went back to the kitchen to stir-fry a plate of bok choy and bring it up.
Chu Li took a sip and shook her head, "It's too bland."
“Is that so?” Wuming paused for a moment, then slowly pinched her face. “I guess there’s something wrong with her mouth. Let me check it out.”
"I'm sorry." Chu Li gripped his wrist, tears welling in her eyes like a bullied rabbit with red, swollen eyes. She said indistinctly, "I thought you'd feel sorry for me not being able to taste anything..."
In an instant, his ring finger paused slightly, and he gently released her, letting out a long sigh.
"It was my fault."
It was really strange; he couldn't say no to her expression, even though he clearly knew she was deliberately picking a fight and feigning pitifulness.
Perhaps they were afraid she would run away in the middle of the night and fall to her death.
Chu Li watched triumphantly as he took the food back to the kitchen to start over. She had completely figured out Wuming's bottom line—this man had no bottom line at all. As long as he still liked her, he could bully her however he wanted.
Love at first sight is a wonderful thing.
If Shang Xinglan had also fallen in love with her at first sight, they wouldn't have had such a life-or-death struggle, separated by death forever.
After finally serving Chu Li her meal, Wuming watched as the well-fed Chu Li lay back in bed, his eyes darkening slightly. He then lifted the covers and slipped inside.
Chu Li was startled by his movement and sat up in surprise to look at him. "What are you doing?"
Wuming didn't say anything, but took off his shoes and socks, got into bed, and covered himself with the blanket.
"sleep."
Upon hearing this, Chu Li was stunned for a moment, then quickly reached out to push him away, "This is my bed. Men and women should not touch each other. How can you do this?"
Wuming was a whole size bigger than her, and no matter how much she pushed him, she couldn't move him. He was incredibly heavy and refused to leave her bed, clearly to get back at her for being so picky and demanding earlier.
His heart isn't even as big as a pinhead!
Chu Li glared at him angrily. After a while, she reached out and rolled up the blanket, wrapping herself up tightly and huddling in the corner.
Wuming turned around and saw that she had wrapped herself up like a rice dumpling, small and extremely cute, and he chuckled to himself.
He felt that Chu Li was like a hedgehog, only showing her soft belly when she put away her quills, but once she sensed danger, she would stick out all her quills and hurt everyone.
“Achu.”
He lay down beside her and gently poked her shoulder. "How is your relationship with your husband?"
Wuming himself didn't know why he suddenly asked such a question.
He just wanted to know if the husband she longed for and couldn't forget was truly worthy of her affection.
What's it to you?
Chu Li gritted her teeth secretly, but pretended to be calm and said, "It's alright."
“Oh,” Wuming replied nonchalantly, “then why did you throw away all his food, clothing, and belongings?”
He had already looked at the house when he first arrived; it only contained women's and children's clothes and shoes. If Chu Li hadn't taken out the nanmu box containing valuables, he wouldn't have even found half of the deceased husband's belongings.
With such a good relationship, how could she be willing to throw away everything he owned?
Chu Li's face turned pale instantly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. Her fingers, hidden inside her sleeve, clenched tightly. After a long while, she took a deep breath: "Because I really love him. I love him so much that I can't stand seeing anything of his."
The nameless man paused.
"You've never been married, have you?" Chu Li asked softly. "I can tell you don't know what it feels like to love someone. After my husband died, I couldn't sleep at night. I often fantasized that he might come back any minute and, as always, comb my hair, put flowers in my hair, and give me gifts."
The man lowered his eyes, a barely perceptible hint of cold melancholy flashing across them.
“He is the best man in the world, no one is better than him.” Chu Li continued, “He is well-read, talented, and comes from a prestigious family. He is also incredibly gentle and considerate towards me, down to the smallest detail. You couldn’t find a man like him even with a lantern. Most importantly…”
Wuming looked up at her.
"Most importantly, he is kind-hearted and would never kill anyone."
Chu Li mustered her courage and turned around to meet his gaze. It was what he wanted to hear, not what she insisted on saying.
Through the mask, Wuming looked at her calmly and coldly. "And what else?"
What else is there to say? She's running out of things to say. How could a dead person be so kind?
The nameless voice carried a strong sense of oppression, as if Chu Li had to look away and focus her gaze on the small blanket covering her, pulling herself even tighter.
"What else would you like to hear?"
The nameless man stared intently at her: "All of them."
You won't give up until you hit a brick wall, huh?
Chu Li dug her fingertips into her palm, deciding to go all the way.
"Since you're curious, I'll tell you. We were a young couple; I married him when I was sixteen, and he was only two years older than me then. We treated each other with utmost respect. He named me, taught me to read and write, and taught me music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Everything I have is from him, and I will only ever love him in this lifetime..."
He abruptly interrupted Chu Li, saying indifferently, "Tomorrow."
Chu Li was stunned for a moment, staring blankly at him, "What?"
The nameless man's lips, hidden beneath his mask, curled slightly as he cruelly uttered four words: "We'll get married tomorrow."
Chu Li stood there stunned, speechless.
I just told her a few days ago that I wanted to take things slowly with her!
She realized that this scoundrel was doing it on purpose. He was jealous and angry, so he wanted to force her to get married immediately and take her as his own!
As expected, he showed his true colors. She knew this day would come sooner or later. Ha, he can't even handle this little bit of stimulation and still wants to marry her!
"Marry you? Sure." Chu Li sneered, trembling with anger. She suddenly threw off the covers and staggered out of bed.
Wuming instinctively reached out to help her, but was pushed away violently.
She knelt on the ground, pulled a small wooden box from under the bed, angrily lifted the lid, and took out a memorial tablet.
"Go! Go tell my husband!"
Chu Li glared hatefully at Wuming, then held the memorial tablet up in front of him.
"If my husband agrees, I will marry you!"
Wuming paused for a moment, his hand, which was about to help Chu Li up, suddenly stopped.
A row of large characters was prominently printed on it.
—Shang Xinglan, husband of Chu Li.
"Did you see it clearly?"
Chu Li glared at him fiercely, "If you've got the guts, then marry me. Do you know who Shang Xinglan is? If the Shang family finds out that you forced their young mistress into marriage, do you think you have enough lives for them to kill you?"
She never dared to let anyone know this name, not because she was afraid of people finding out that she had killed her husband, but because she was afraid that the Shang family would find out that she had killed her eldest son.
The merchant's influence was overwhelming, and everyone in his household was a cultivator, with hundreds of powerful figures from various branches scattered throughout the northern and southern regions.
Once upon a time, a brute killed a merchant, and the entire city was razed to the ground.
Otherwise, Chu Li would never have taken her child to hide in this remote and deserted Xiaofushan for five whole years, not daring to associate with anyone, and never daring to enter the world until her death.
No matter how capable Wuming is, he couldn't possibly be unaware of the consequences of provoking a merchant.
Seeing him staring intently at the memorial tablet, Chu Li even wanted to laugh. She was very curious about what kind of expression was under that mask.
"Ask away."
Her eyes were full of mockery, and she urged him again.
"As long as he agrees, and the merchant agrees, I will remarry you."
After a long while, Wuming seemed to finally come to his senses and looked up at her.
"Shang, Xing, Lan".
His voice was stiff as he spoke, enunciating each word clearly.
“Chu, Li, Zhi, Fu”.
A note from the author:
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