Chapter 18 Is it fun to get your neck bitten?
He used to braid her hair.
Time really does fly by.
"Oh? What's so surprising about that?"
Leng Cuizhu said matter-of-factly, "You live in my house and do so many things for me, so of course I treat you like my own child! It's only right to braid a child's hair."
"It's not convenient to do things with your hair down all day, is it? I'll braid your hair into a lower braid so it won't hurt your scalp."
"……child?"
"Yes."
She coaxed the man to sit in front of the bronze mirror and combed his hair with a fine-toothed comb: "Of course it's a child."
"I should be a full twelve years older than you, right? What's your zodiac sign?"
Eun turned to look at her, blinked, and then lowered his head again in a sullen voice.
"I don't really know."
“Oh,” she nodded, “I forgot you’re from ancient times. Anyway, I’m definitely older than you, you look very young.”
"Should we put some flowers in our hair after we braid it? Your hair color will definitely look good with flowers."
"I will do whatever you say, Madam."
He turned his head, a slight smile playing on his lips: "May I wear a plum blossom in my hair?"
“Sure.” Leng Cuizhu readily agreed to his request, since You En had always been very obedient.
"The plum blossoms in the yard are in bloom. I'll go out and pick some red plums for you later."
"I'll go instead..."
The man gently reminded her, "Madam, you are not fully recovered yet."
"It's okay, I'll just wear more clothes. You keep a close eye on my hair."
Leng Cuizhu braided his hair into pigtails, told him to hold onto the braids carefully so they wouldn't come undone, and then put on a cloak and went out to pick plum blossoms for him.
They bumped into a guard dozing off by the window.
Upon seeing this, the guard in blue turned and ran, shouting, "Who are you?"
"...Was it sent by the Lord?"
The guard suddenly stopped and turned to face her.
He seemed to have been standing there for a long time; the tip of his nose was red from the cold, and his shoulders were covered with snowflakes.
The guard who always followed Yin Yuan?
Leng Cuizhu suddenly realized and laughed, "I didn't expect it to really be someone he sent."
"My lady, please help me! My master insists that I find a man by your side, or he will make me the scapegoat."
The guard bowed and said, "My lady, you seem easy to talk to. Please don't tell the master that you've found out about this... I still have three children to raise."
“Just tell me you don’t know anything he asks! Please… I’ll just make up a few things, not too many! Just say that the mysterious man is your distant cousin who just came to visit you, hehe.”
"Please, please don't tell him."
No, it won't.
She lowered her eyes: "I won't tell him."
She had thought that she would have a few days to catch her breath after Yin Yuan left, but she found that she couldn't catch her breath at all and was constantly under his watchful eye.
It was terrifying and suffocating.
Regarding the incident of the hair that was left behind that day, she admitted that she was indeed wrong and should not have had such wicked thoughts, and should not have abandoned her principles for a night of intimacy.
But what about Yin Yuan? Was he completely innocent?
He distrusts her so much that he can't rest easy even when she's only gone for a few days, and he even has guards watching her every move.
She was being driven mad by his dark, voyeuristic desires.
He enjoyed seeing her break down and beg for mercy.
If that's the case, why should she let him enjoy his comforts alone?
If we're going to go crazy, we should all go crazy together.
As night fell, she lay in bed, the disgusting image of Yin Yuan still echoing in her mind.
He held her stiff as a corpse, asking her those meaningless questions.
How awful.
Leng Zhen hadn't returned from gathering herbs yet, so she helped him turn off the fire of the medicine he was brewing on the stove. She guessed it was probably brewed for her, so she put it in a bowl and drank it all.
The medicine today seems a little different.
It's sweeter than the original.
Perhaps Leng Zhen changed the prescription for her.
The more she thought about Yin Yuan, the more upset she became. She smacked her dry lips, got up to find water, and groped her way to the table in the dimly lit room, where she touched a hand.
The fingers are slender and long, with firm skin and flesh, but not thin.
In the darkness, she instinctively gripped the hand she could rely on, and the person did not resist, letting her hold on.
Who is it?
She paused for a moment, then said, "I mean I won't tell him, but you can't come in and spy on me."
"You may leave."
She raised her hand to push the man away, just as the cold wind outside blew the window open, allowing moonlight to stream in and fall on one of the man's shoulders.
She could recognize the clothes a man was wearing.
It was the outer robe she had tailored for Yin Yuan.
Her eyes widened.
What followed was a slap on the man's shoulder.
"You lecherous scoundrel..." Leng Cuizhu cursed in a low voice, "Do you know how heartbroken I am?"
"I hate you so much."
"If this is your love for me, I would rather not have this love."
"It's been more than ten years."
She used to be terrified that Yin Yuan would get tired of her, so she tried every means to please him. She was also worried about her looks aging and lived in constant fear and suspicion.
In the end, it was all just a mirage.
A person who is stared at will become a ghost.
He transformed her from an ordinary courtesan into a vengeful ghost.
Her neck stiffened, and she slowly tilted her head back to look at the man's face.
Under the moonlight, his face was deathly pale, and his only feature was his eyes, which were pitch black and bottomless.
"Hate me?"
"Then why did you fall in love with me more than ten years ago?"
Leng Cuizhu couldn't answer.
From the very beginning, it was as if it had been planned from the start; she had no thoughts of leaving this cold man, only having eyes for Yin Yuan.
Perhaps in the past, just as Yin Yuan didn't love her that much, she didn't love him that much either. She simply depended on him, willingly letting him keep her, and gradually became unable to leave him.
"My wife, please answer me, okay?"
The man moved closer to her, and she took a few steps back and fell onto the bed.
"I don't love you, I just hate you."
The man leaned down and whispered in her ear: "Without love, where does hate come from?"
He was tall and had his arms around her, encircling her completely.
She was so pressured she was almost suffocating, her lips bitten until they turned bright red: "Yes."
"Perhaps in the past, I loved my husband and hoped to stay with him forever."
"There is no love anymore."
"No more?"
“Yes,” she stared at him, her eyes dry and watering, “there won’t be any more.”
"Do you know how much I've hated you over the past ten years? It's like..." She suddenly hugged the man's neck and bit him.
That's what I'm returning to him.
Give it back to him... give him back the pain she suffered.
With all her might, her frail body bit through the man's neck, filling her mouth with the stench of blood.
Tears welled in her eyes and dripped onto the man's shoulder, soaking a patch of fabric.
Hot blood flowed from the wound on his neck, trickled down his skin, and pooled in the crook of his neck.
The man craned his neck, stroked her back, and whispered softly.
Those delicate words passed by, but Leng Cuizhu couldn't hear them clearly. She licked the bloodstains from her lips and had never felt so happy.
She didn't know how she fell asleep after that, and she couldn't remember it. When she woke up the next day, she felt light all over.
There were still traces of blood on her fingertips from last night, indicating that what happened last night had indeed occurred. Yin Yuan had inexplicably appeared before her, and she had even bitten him…
It was so enjoyable.
She changed her clothes and leisurely went to the kitchen to add water for the rooster.
Leng Zhen was also in the kitchen brewing medicine.
He stood by the stove, scooping out the dregs of medicine from the pot: "Mother, where's my medicine from yesterday?"
"Ah, I've finished drinking it."
"You drank it?"
Leng Cuizhu asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"
"...Nothing much."
Leng Zhen sighed: "That's a newly compiled prescription that I was going to brew and test myself. Don't drink it casually next time."
When will Father return?
Why did he ask about Yin Yuan?
Leng Cuizhu frowned: "...In a few days, he will accompany Madam Yin to the countryside."
"Speaking of which, it seems like it's been a long time since you last saw each other. Do you usually visit the Yin residence?"
She couldn't figure out their relationship; it was sometimes good, sometimes bad, and she didn't know how far it had progressed.
But after their last big fight, things probably won't get better between them, right? No matter how many romantic affairs she had in her youth, or how many restless men she had served, once she became a mother, she still hoped that her child would live an honest life, preferably without even touching tobacco or alcohol.
As for love, if Leng Zhen truly only likes men and not women... as long as the man she likes is not her father, but a respectable man from a respectable family, she will turn a blind eye.
Leng Zhen came from her body, the only living thing there, so she certainly wouldn't want him to grow wings and fly away.
So she struggled to back down, dulling her hopes for him.
“No way,” Leng Zhen chuckled and muttered, “I’m not qualified to see him.”
"How stifling the Yin residence is! Such a spacious place, yet it's teeming with servants who dare not raise their heads or speak loudly, scurrying around like ants."
"The one that walks slowly among a group of ants is a maggot. Perhaps the Yin Mansion is just a rotten skull, and if you break it open, you'll find only maggots and ants inside."
Leng Cuizhu: "...Are you taking the medicine the doctor prescribed for you diligently?"
She was worried about Leng Zhen's mental state, so she gave him a few more pieces of chestnut cake, hoping that eating sweets would calm his mind.
At least stop saying weird things.
Since biting Yin Yuan, he hadn't come to see her for several days, which made her extremely happy.
On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, she went to buy groceries as usual, carrying a bamboo basket. As she pushed open the gate, she bumped into the man's arms.
The man was wearing a fox fur coat, and Leng Cuizhu felt warm in his arms.
His clothes were clearly expensive and rare, unlike those of ordinary people.
She looked up and saw the man's face clearly, just as she had expected.
It is Yin Yuan.
She immediately took a few steps back and straightened her clothes: "I didn't see you just now, that's why I bumped into you, sir."
"Um."
Yin Yuan scanned her from head to toe and asked, "Where are you going?"
"I'm leaving."
She gripped the bamboo basket tightly in her hand.
Yin Yuan remained blocking her way, showing no intention of moving an inch.
"I just arrived, and you're already leaving?"
"...Are you annoyed by me?"
"right."
She laughed in anger: "Since you know this, why do you insist on bothering me?"
"I'm not bothered by you."
The man took the cage handed to him by a servant, opened it, and took out a snow-white rabbit.
He patted the rabbit's head and tucked it into Leng Cuizhu's arms: "It's been rid of insects."
Leng Cuizhu looked at the white-furred, red-eyed rabbit in her arms, and then at Yin Yuan who silently entered the courtyard gate, followed by several servants. Her originally relaxed and carefree body suddenly felt heavy.
Trade a rabbit for one night with her?
What did Yin Yuan really see her as? A tool to satisfy his illicit desires?
Or should we treat it as a weak little rabbit?
Is it fun to get your neck bitten?
She'll bite other places too.
Since it doesn't make much difference whether it's there or not, then it's better if it's not there.
A note from the author:
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