Chapter 57 Chapter 57 Finally, she was gently wept in her cry...
"lady."
"Do you want to open the window?"
Sheng Puzhu closed her eyes, half of her face was buried in her soft hair. The air was humid and hot, and her frosty legs were slightly curled up. She could no longer tell whose breathing was so heavy.
Her eyelashes were very wet, like tender buds wet by the morning mist, with dewdrops on the tips, trembling and glistening. She bit her plump lower lip tightly with her pearly teeth, and her bright red lip was slightly swollen from being crushed, almost oozing blood.
"Let's open it."
Xie Zhiyan didn't need her answer, instead he stood up slowly from the couch. He was really tall, no matter where he was.
"don't want."
"I'm… not hot."
Sheng Puzhu managed to utter a few words, even breathing lightly. But the more he suppressed his breath, the more his body shook. In desperation, he gripped his wrist with his sweaty fingertips, squeezing so hard that his knuckles turned white.
"It doesn't have to be very big, just a small gap to let the cool breeze in."
Xie Zhiyan spoke in a very gentle tone, his eyes falling silently.
Sheng Puzhu shook her head with difficulty to refuse, her cheeks flushed and beads of sweat rolled down from time to time. However, she buried herself in the thick brocade quilt, as if she could forget how she had lost her composure in front of him before.
Xie Zhiyan smiled silently, and touched her lips with his fingertips, rubbing the bright red lips swollen by her bite with neither too much nor too little force. He seemed to be mercifully offering a second choice.
"Then give Madam a bath to relieve her fatigue?"
Sheng Puzhu's breathing became more rapid, and her lips became hot, like a begonia swaying in the wind and rain, unable to bear the damage, and her lips turned green with shame.
"Can I not take a bath?"
Xie Zhiyan did not answer immediately, but stretched out the hand behind his back.
The slightly closed fingertips are clean, slender, and very powerful.
His hands were too perfect, as beautiful as his face.
But when doing that kind of thing, it seems very gentle and light.
But it will definitely push her to the extreme.
Sheng Puzhu's eyes were fixed on Xie Zhiyan's beautiful fingertips. A drop of crystal slid down from his fingertips, drawing a thin and bright silver thread in the candlelight.
He leaned over, looking at her deeply, and with a meaningful twist of his thumb and index finger, the wet marks rushed into the lines of her skin. The air was filled with a sweet fragrance, like frankincense and the subtle fragrance of camellia.
"Ma'am, are you sure?"
"It's cold in the winter, and clothes get very wet, so naturally you have to change into clean clothes to avoid getting sick."
He was still looking at her, his voice low, and he spoke every word softly and slowly, which made each word sound ambiguous and affectionate.
Sheng Puzhu felt like he was about to see through her, then crush her, shatter her at any moment, manipulated, pampered, and then relieved...
She knew very well that even if she could choose again, she still could not refuse the temptation he deliberately gave her.
Moving her gaze downward, she saw a large area on the soft brocade quilt with a deep stain. Her breathing gradually became lighter, as if it had suddenly stopped.
Indeed, winter is cold.
It is inevitable that the floor in the house will be hot, and it is normal to sweat.
Sheng Puzhu turned her face away, and the tip of her wet nose looked like a starry sky in the candlelight, and her eyelashes and eyelids cast a soft shadow.
"Then I'd better take a bath." This was the only way she could comfort herself.
The night was deep and long, with heavy fog, the sound of waves of water, and the scent of soapberries while bathing.
This courtyard is actually very cleverly designed. As long as the windows are closed tightly, no sound can be heard.
However, Sheng Puzhu didn't know.
She bit the corner of the handkerchief tightly, her whole body like a taut bowstring, her back pressed against the edge of the bathtub, swallowing back the trembling sound in her throat bit by bit.
"Don't be afraid."
"I won't hear it."
Xie Zhiyan sighed deeply, feeling that she was about to cry. She looked so... pitiful.
The strange and complicated emotions during the day, which she wanted to hide from her, were finally gently soothed by her crying.
But Sheng Puzhu couldn't hear anything and his mind was not clear.
She was clearly taking a bath, but perhaps because the water in the tub was too hot, she was still sweating, as if surrounded by a layer of hazy fog.
In a trance, Xie Zhiyan seemed to say something to her in a low and hoarse tone.
Could it be that he was heard?
She was clearly very restrained.
Her heart was beating wildly because of anxiety. Maybe she was too nervous. She didn't know what she was doing. She was like a duckweed swaying in the water. She urgently needed to hold on to something that could give her security.
at last.
Sheng Puzhu huddled in that broad, firm chest, crying softly.
Occasionally choking, the wet tune is like spring dew or night rain, and the ending sound is sparse and fragmented, more like the cry of a kitten.
*
Xie Qingshu was so sad that she hid herself under the brocade quilt and fell asleep while crying.
After a night of sleep, I didn't even have a dream.
Because she went to bed early, Xie Qingshu got up even earlier.
After a night, she calmed herself down and had completely let go, so she strolled in the small garden in front of the corridor of the west wing with a rare relaxed mood. As a result, she saw Xie Zhiyan opening the door and coming out of the opposite house.
Xie Qingshu was still very afraid of him and instinctively hid away.
Xie Zhiyan was standing in the corridor, his figure elegant. He saw her, paused, nodded, and then left.
Xie Qingshu felt that she might have seen a ghost, or that the sun was rising from the west today?
The eldest brother, who always kept people at a distance, not only took the initiative to say hello, but he also seemed to curl the corners of his lips in pleasure. Although it was not obvious, she could see it very clearly.
When something is abnormal, there must be something wrong.
Xie Qingshu was in a hurry and didn't dare to stay for a moment.
She held Naidong's hand tightly, her face pale: "Sister Naidong, remember to tell my sister-in-law that I'm going to find my aunt."
Naidong was steady and cautious. She was afraid that the fourth lady of the Xie family might start to act recklessly again. "Madam Du is guarding here. I will take you there."
It's not impossible, it's just a bit troublesome.
Xie Qingshu did not refuse.
A quarter of an hour later, Naidong sent the person safely to Dou's house and bowed to leave.
"Don't go, don't go."
"There are some snacks in the room. I brought them from my house. You can eat them on the way." Seeing that Naidong was working hard and liking this pretty maid, Dou quickly pulled her aside and told her to get some snacks from the room.
Naidong couldn't refuse, so he had to stand obediently in the corridor and wait.
Xie Qingshu volunteered to pick out some delicious snacks and make them for Naidong.
Her personality seemed to have changed a lot overnight. Although she was still spoiled, she was more considerate than before.
At this time, a strange nanny came in from outside.
She bowed to Dou and said, "Third Madam, I wonder if Second Madam Xie is here?"
Dou was slightly stunned: "I wonder who the nanny is?"
"I am the maidservant beside Princess An. The princess heard that Second Lady Xie's calligraphy is exquisite, so she specially invited Second Lady to come and see her calligraphy."
Although Dou was a little timid, she was raised in a wealthy family after all. She was naturally not stupid since she could marry into the Xie family.
She carefully pressed the corner of her lips with the handkerchief in her hand, clearly refusing: "I'm sorry to bother you with making an extra trip, Madam. It's still early. My daughter Lingyi was tired from playing yesterday and hasn't gotten up yet."
The maid must have been prepared. She nodded with a smile, carefully untied something from her waist with both hands, and handed it forward: "It's okay, I can wait in the corridor until Second Lady Xie gets up."
"This is the token from Prince An's Mansion. Please have a look, Madam."
Dou took the token. It was issued by the palace and engraved with a special mark, so it could not be faked. But she still felt something was wrong.
Just when I was in a dilemma.
The door was pushed open from the inside, and a girl wearing a veil came out.
"Mother."
"Since it was Princess An who invited me, I can't refuse her wishes."
"You..." Dou opened her mouth and wanted to say something.
"Don't worry, I'll be back soon." The girl in the veil came forward and shook Dou's hand tightly. "Sister Lingxi is still sleeping in the room. Mother, please speak softly and don't wake her."
"I, I know." Dou nodded, not daring to look up, for fear that her panic would be discovered.
The nanny bowed and said, "Since both daughters from the third room of Donglie are here, there must be something right."
She didn't think much about it, but just smiled and reached out to help: "Madam, I've been nagging you so much this morning. Please follow me."
Naidong stood quietly in the corridor. When the nanny led people out of the courtyard, she quickly reached out to support Dou, who was almost unable to stand.
"Third Madam."
Dou clutched her chest and gasped for air. She cried in panic, "It was Qingshu who left with Madam Madam just now, not my Lingyi."
"Do you think something happened?"
"Mother, you and Sister Naidong go into the house first." Xie Lingyi stood behind the screen, still calm.
"What's going on?" Dou asked anxiously.
Xie Lingyi's eyes were slightly red, and she lowered her head and said, "The maid just now was surnamed Pan. Qingshu said she knew her. She used to be in charge of needlework at Prince An's residence. Later, it seems that she made a mistake and was expelled by Princess An."
"She had this impression because last year at the beginning of autumn, she and her aunt went to the farm to pick persimmons, and this nanny suddenly became the daughter-in-law of the head of a farm in the eldest house."
"How could this be?" Dou's mind was in a mess and she couldn't figure out the key.
Naidong frowned, "So that nanny is probably from the first house now. The one who really wants to see the second lady now should not be the princess, but the eldest master in the mansion?"
"Yeah." Xie Lingyi also guessed so.
She was prepared to go, with a dagger hidden on her body.
Although I can still ask my sister-in-law for help, it is too late, and it is impossible to guard against elders who want to attack secretly.
But Xie Qingshu stopped her, and even bit her hard in desperation, then put on a veil and rushed out.
Xie Lingyi touched the bloody bite mark on her wrist. She didn't feel much pain, but her heart would palpitate sharply from time to time when she thought about it.
She is the eldest daughter of the third wife. Her parents are both weak and easy to control. Although they love her very much, her father is respectful to her uncle in everything and never disobeys him.
Even after she came of age, her marriage was not going well, because every time she went to a wedding, her father would ask her uncle for his opinion, and her uncle would always ruthlessly reject her, saying that she could marry a better man.
Naturally, my father happily rejected the matchmaker.
Of course, she did have doubts, but her uncle was very gentle to her. She and her sister would also get a share of any little gadgets that Xie Qingshu had. Even when it came to her younger brother's studies, her uncle would pay extra attention to her.
It turns out that it was not love from the beginning, but an ulterior motive.
"So what should we do?"
"You don't want to, but your father thinks his elder brother is right. However, the marriage still needs the approval of the Saint and the Empress. The Crown Princess has already been chosen."
"Qingshu will go for you."
"What is she going to do?"
Dou kept shedding tears, and even her crying was silent.
"I don't know." Xie Lingyi felt so helpless for the first time.
"Who on earth is it that wants to see me, Mammy?"
"I clearly remember that the princess was diagnosed with pregnancy a few days ago. She can't possibly participate in the winter hunt, right?"
The veil was blown up a little by the wind, and the girl's rosy lips could be seen as she spoke.
Seeing that they were almost out of the East Suburb Villa, Nanny Pan didn't hide it, "Second Madam, it's indeed not Princess An who wants to see you, but the eldest master of the mansion."
"Okay then, take me there."
"I just don't know why you want to see me alone?"
Nanny Pan smiled deeply and said, "It's a good thing that the elders care about you."
The two stopped in front of a secluded tent not far from the East Suburb Horse Farm.
Nanny Pan reached out and opened the curtain: "Second Madam, please come in."
"Sit down." Xie Juyuan was tall, and his sitting posture was not like that of a civil official. He held a teacup in his hand, and white mist rose from the cup, almost blocking his entire expression.
He pointed to a chair not far away and asked casually, "Do you know why I called you here alone today?"
Xie Qingshu looked at her father through the veil, her emotions fluctuating extremely.
This man who was once as tall as the sky, once even surpassed her elder brother in her heart and was the most dignified and elegant man in the world.
She closed her eyes, choked with sobs and unable to speak, and could only shake her head at him.
Seeing her so well-behaved, Xie Juyuan said softly, "The Queen has arranged for the Crown Prince to marry the third lady of the Wei family."
"But your father and I both have high hopes for you."
"After the winter hunt is over, the Saint will probably select two more concubines for the Crown Prince in addition to the Crown Princess."
Seeing that she was hesitant to speak, he did not rush and said slowly, "Although the status of Liang Di is not as noble as that of the Crown Princess, as long as you work hard and give birth to your eldest son soon, if the Crown Prince ascends the throne in the future, I will always find a way to push you to the position of Queen."
"You are a daughter of the Xie family, so you naturally shoulder the family's honor."
Xie Qingshu's ears were buzzing and she couldn't believe what she heard.
Her father, whom she respected very much since she could remember, actually wanted to force Xie's daughter to become someone's concubine?
"Lingyi, are you willing?" Xie Juyuan asked seriously.
"What if I don't want to?" Xie Qingshu was crying, her voice choked with sobs.
Xie Juyuan frowned, feeling that the tone was not like Xie Lingyi's.
"If you're willing, I'll send you there respectfully. If you're not willing, don't blame me for being ruthless."
"I have already agreed with your father. As long as you obey my arrangements, I will personally teach Xie Huizhi, your third son."
"I am the Minister of the Imperial Household, and in the twenty-third year of the Mingguan reign, I was the newly crowned first-class scholar. If I could teach you, my brother, you would surely have a bright future."
"So, what does father think of his daughter?" Xie Qingshu's hands were shaking as she pulled off the veil on her head.
She stared at Xie Juyuan angrily and said, "My daughter has long admired the Crown Prince. Even if I were a Consort Liang, I would be willing to give me to him."
"Why is it you? Where's Xie Lingyi?"
The shock in Xie Juyuan's eyes was hard to conceal.
Xie Qingshu sneered, "Of course it's me, because my daughter won't marry anyone but the Crown Prince, so how could I leave this rare opportunity to my sister?"
Xie Juyuan was stunned at first, then flew into a rage: "What did I teach you normally?"
"Xie Qingshu, where is your self-esteem and face? You would rather be a concubine than marry the prince. How can you be so shameless?"
Xie Qingshu took a breath and looked at her father as if he were a stranger.
"I am your daughter, so you know that if I give up being your wife and become someone else's concubine, I would be shameless and have no self-respect or dignity."
"What about Sister Lingyi?"
"Lingyi is also a daughter of the Xie family. Why is she only fit to be the Crown Prince's concubine in your eyes?"
"Doesn't my second sister have any shame or self-respect?"
Xie Juyuan stood up, approached her, and said sternly: "Shut up!"
"A father told his daughter to shut up. Are you feeling guilty?"
"Is this how you like the ladies in this mansion? Don't you feel unworthy of being an elder?"
Xie Qingshu has always been stubborn. She bit her lip, not wanting to lose her composure even if she cried.
Xie Juyuan had a gloomy face, as if he was slapped by his daughter's disappointment from a distance.
He became angry and humiliated, and could no longer maintain the elegance and grace of a civil official.
"Xie Qingshu." Xie Juyuan's expression was almost uncontrollable. He felt angry. "Don't be confused. Even though they are both girls from the Xie family, how can Xie Lingyi compare to you?"
"You are my daughter, and her father is just a small military officer. Even this military service is thanks to the grace of his ancestors."
"Becoming the Crown Prince's Consort is a step up in the world, and will allow Xie Lingyi to pursue greater opportunities."
Xie Qingshu was so angry that her whole body was shaking. She raised her delicate chin and said, "Then I beg father to send me to the prince's tent. This way, I can fulfill your wish, shoulder the burden of the family, and satisfy your daughter's wish."
"Just think of me as someone who has lowered myself to low status."
"Pa." A loud slap.
Xie Qingshu's head tilted due to the beating, and when she raised her head again, her left cheek was swollen with blood.
Xie Juyuan raised his hands high in the air, his expression was very ferocious.
Xie Qingshu was not afraid at all: "If you have the guts, beat me to death."
"In any case, Xie's daughter can't possibly be a concubine. If my father wants to gain the position of Liang Di, he must resort to some shameful means."
"Everyone says the Crown Prince is independent and behaves with moderation. My father is forcing the Crown Prince to marry Xie's daughter. No matter how hard you try, it's undeniable that this will damage his reputation. The Crown Prince has no choice but to marry."
"And since the Xie family girl had lost her virginity before marriage, becoming the Crown Prince's concubine naturally became legitimate."
"Xie Qingshu, shut up!"
Xie Juyuan's eyes were red, not only because of embarrassment, but also because of the rage that his fig leaf had been ruthlessly torn off.
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