Chapter 14 "In the days I was away, you were..."
A bloody handprint appeared on Leng Zhen's cheek, and her face quickly swelled up.
He covered his face: "Mother, you actually hit me...why?" He fell to the ground, choking and unable to say a word, tears streaming down his face.
Leng Cuizhu covered her wound, her face deathly pale.
At this moment, however, she felt incredibly happy, her eyes shining with an unusual light: "Because you deserve to be hit."
“You disgust me.” She said in a light tone, almost laughing out loud.
"Disgusting?" He chuckled, glancing sideways. "Just because I sold my body?"
Then, her face suddenly hardened with anger: "What right do you, a prostitute, have to call me disgusting?"
His voice trembled, as if he couldn't breathe: "A slut, expecting her child to be pure and innocent?"
"You're dreaming."
Leng Cuizhu was completely unaffected by Leng Zhen's insults and slander.
This wasn't the first time she'd been scolded like this; she was used to it.
But this was the first time Leng Zhen had ever cursed at her so angrily.
He seemed to have mustered a great deal of courage to utter the most vicious words of his life, attempting to provoke her and embarrass her.
The result was completely useless.
She struggled to sit up, tore off a piece of clothing, and wrapped it around the wound to stop the bleeding.
Leng Zhen was still cursing, rolling up her sleeves and clenching her fists, trembling all over, just like a down-and-out scoundrel, no different from the petty old men in their seventies and eighties on the street.
"I only slept with that kind of person for you! Why do you care so much about my chastity? You yourself don't have it! You've slept with so many people, so what if I... I... I was just playing around?"
After bandaging her wound, she frowned and said, "Leng Zhen, you take yourself too seriously."
How you sell yourself is none of my business. Similarly, your downfall is not my fault.
"Even without the excuse of your mother, even if your mother were a virtuous and respectable woman from a respectable family, you would still fall into depravity and find other reasons to excuse your crimes."
"Because you yourself are inherently a restless person. You're not doing this for me, but to clear your name and indulge in self-pity."
"Whether you lose your virginity or not has nothing to do with your mother. To be honest, I really don't want to hear you talk about your love affairs, or how miserable and difficult your days are... Your mother doesn't have that kind of fetish, and my sympathy will only get annoying after a while."
"I just want to remind you that a father is a father and a mother is a mother. You can only have familial affection for them."
"I heard you stayed at the Yin residence last night... Please don't mistake something that violates human ethics for something unconventional, okay?"
Leng Zhen suddenly froze.
"Am I really that filthy in your eyes?"
"No, that's not true at all! I went to the Yin residence only to retrieve something I'd forgotten there before, I didn't do anything else! Don't slander me!"
Unfortunately, he lied.
He never left anything behind at the Yin residence.
The Yin residence should rightfully belong to him; why can't he stay at his own home?
He used to resent his family's poverty, but later realized he had mistaken his family for someone else.
"Stop talking."
Leng Cuizhu lowered her eyes, not wanting to listen to his incoherent explanations any longer: "It's just the same few sentences over and over again. Go back and rest. If you don't want to be disfigured, put some medicine on your face."
"Don't have those kinds of thoughts anymore."
"Even so, even if you look down on me... don't even think about abandoning me and eloping with your lovers! It's impossible, absolutely impossible in this lifetime."
"This is what you promised me before." Leng Zhen gritted her teeth, grabbed the blood-soaked dagger from the ground, and fled the room.
She finally breathed her last and collapsed onto the bed, her pale undergarment stained with blood, as were the sheets and the floor.
The air was thick with the stench of blood.
A crow flew in from outside and landed by the bed.
"...Did you two have a fight?"
"Mmm," she answered softly.
"Eun, could you please... change the sheets, and also remove the blood on me..."
The crow nodded: "Okay."
"Madam, let me carry you to the bed first."
After her series of arguments with Leng Zhen, she was utterly exhausted and whispered, "My robes are under my pillow."
She closed her eyes: "The bed sheets are in the wardrobe... and the undergarments..."
A gentle voice whispered in my ear: "Go to sleep, don't think about it anymore."
Eun carried her to the couch to rest, changed the sheets, and cleaned up the bloodstains on the floor. He was busy until the early hours of the morning when the roosters outside were crowing loudly.
After the rooster crowed, his stomach rumbled, so he sneaked into the room to find some millet to eat, only to find two people on the bed.
"Aa ...
Leng Cuizhu suddenly woke up and opened her eyes to find that most of the buttons on her inner garment at the collar had been undone, revealing a blue bodice and one bare shoulder.
The culprit was still unbuttoning, all attention focused on the few buttons on her chest.
"...Eun, what are you doing?"
The rooster squawked, "You scoundrel!"
It tried to squawk again, but Leng Cuizhu kicked it to the side of the bed, where its head hit the bedpost and it passed out.
The man next to her looked up and said, "Change your clothes."
His long hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin, and when he lowered his head, a few strands of hair fell down his cheeks. He had a graceful and elegant appearance, as pure as ice and clear as a deep pool, and his behavior became proper and reasonable.
His appearance was so good that Leng Cuizhu couldn't question him: "I can do this myself..."
She turned her back to him, took the clean clothes he handed her, and said, "You can go now."
"Did you treat the injury on your wrist yourself, Madam?"
“No help is needed… I originally thought it might be useful to the lady.”
She inexplicably felt soft-hearted.
It's indeed a bit excessive to treat him like that, summoning him at will and dismissing him when he's no longer useful, or to find someone else to replace him.
Although she didn't understand why anyone would like to be ordered around, she still chose to respect Eun's wishes.
"My injury... could you please bandage it for me in a moment?"
"Take the dodder out and add some more corn to its food bowl."
After changing into her undergarments, she forced herself to go to the wardrobe and find a light pink deep-colored robe to wear. Just as she was tying her belt, You En returned and sat quietly on the steps next to the soft couch, which were much lower than the couch.
The man looked up at her.
She fastened her belt, flicked her sleeve, and the wide, drooping sleeve accidentally brushed against the man's face.
"Ah... I'm so sorry!" She quickly pulled her sleeve back, bent down to tidy the stray hairs by his temples, and asked apologetically, "Are you alright?"
The man held her hand as she combed her hair, stroking the tendons and bones on the back of her hand.
Leng Cuizhu used to think that everyone's hands were cold, including Leng Zhen, Yin Yuan, and even herself.
Therefore, she doesn't like holding hands with others.
But Eun's hands were warm, as warm as if they were sharing a bed with them.
She gradually accepted what he called "etiquette." Perhaps there really was a place in this world where people were just as enthusiastic and polite as Eun, only their etiquette was more enthusiastic.
The man lowered his eyes and kissed her palm.
Soft strands of hair fell onto her fingertips, tickling her gently.
Her cheeks immediately burned, and she guessed that this must be some kind of gift.
Does it mean it's okay?
"Haha... Why don't you sit up first? The steps and floor are icy."
"Can I just sit like this?"
He untied the bandage wrapped around her wrist: "This makes bandaging easier."
"All right……"
Leng Cuizhu sat on the couch, glancing at the man beside her every now and then.
The way he bent down to carefully apply medicine and bandage her wounds really resembled Yin Yuan, especially the way he frowned.
She knew in her heart that no one wanted to be treated as an outsider, not even You En. Yet, she couldn't help but connect him with Yin Yuan, and she didn't know when it started.
But at the same time, she became certain of one thing.
"You are much more obedient than Yin Yuan."
After she finished speaking, she was greatly surprised.
How did I manage to say what was on my mind?
"Yeah?"
The man chuckled softly a few times, then looked up and stared intently at her.
Slowly, he rested his chin on her palm: "Then, Madam, you mustn't tell him that."
"Men always have a false sense of pride."
Does Ewan have it too?
She thought to herself, glancing at the man kneeling before her with his head bowed, at his legs.
Beneath the robe, her legs were slightly apart, smoothing out the wrinkles in the fabric around her knees.
She originally wanted to ask out of curiosity.
In the end, she simply raised her fingertip, her nail lightly scraping against his neck and Adam's apple, leaving a faint white mark.
Leng Zhen hurt her, but she didn't go looking for trouble with Leng Zhen.
She didn't want to see him at all; not only Leng Zhen, but Yin Yuan didn't want to see him either.
Unfortunately, she relied entirely on Yin Yuan for money to survive, so when Yin Yuan came to see her, she still forced a smile.
"...Why have you come today, my lord?"
When Leng Cuizhu returned home after buying firecrackers, she saw Yin Yuan sitting on the edge of the bed with a composed expression.
The fluttering bed curtains covered most of his face, and Leng Cuizhu didn't see him at first. But as she got closer, she turned her head and their eyes met, and her heart pounded like a drum.
It was just past Chen Shi (7-9 AM), and at this time, Yin Yuan should have gone to the yamen (government office) to report for duty.
He appeared in her room without a sound, and she was completely unaware.
Yin Yuan remained silent, his long, narrow eyes staring blankly at her.
The only thing moving around him was the bed curtains, fluttering in the cold wind.
Seeing that time was passing, Leng Cuizhu couldn't stand still any longer. She walked up to him, her skirt slipping under his slightly parted legs, and sat on his lap.
"Does my lord want to be my slave?"
She leaned against the man's shoulder, her fingertips twirling strands of hair, her eyes gleaming with a cool, clear light.
She didn't know why Yin Yuan had come this time, nor did she want to guess.
Why not just half-heartedly take him to bed, act cute and soften your stance, and everything will be fine. It won't take long.
Yin Yuan lowered his eyes, placed one hand on her waist, and looked out the window at the beautiful flowers and trees, devoid of any other emotions.
"My lord... I was so excited when I saw you on the street that day."
"It was my fault. Every day I am separated from my husband, I suffer."
"There were other people around that day, so I dared not tell you, my lord..." Her eyes welled up with tears. She bit her lip and wrapped her arms around the man's neck, her sleeves hanging down to her elbows, revealing a section of her snow-white forearm.
The man gently wiped away the tear that was about to fall from the corner of her eye.
Leng Cuizhu grabbed his hand that was wiping away tears, tilting her head and nuzzling him: "My lord..."
Yin Yuan's steady breathing froze for a moment.
Where did you go just now?
"I went to the market to buy firecrackers," she said, raising her hand, "and look, my hand is all red from carrying them..."
Yin Yuan grasped her hand, examined it for a moment, then pulled her and threw her onto the bed.
She clearly made the bed before leaving this morning, but now it's a mess.
She hummed a few times, covered her eyes and let the man press down on her, suppressing the slight upturn of her lips.
A fine strand of silk landed on her face, tickling her parted lips.
"...My lord?"
Yin Yuan held a strand of white hair in his hand, letting most of it fall across her cheek, and said indifferently, "While I was away, were you having an affair with someone else?"
"Is it really that painful?"
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