Chapter 42 "Bastard".
Leng Zhen pursed his lips and lowered his head tightly, refusing to let Lu Miaolian point at his face.
Leng Cuizhu finally remembered.
Young Master Si Qing is younger than her and is indeed a pretty boy. His face... does indeed have many black moles like Leng Zhen's.
He came to see her once, but he was coaxed there by his several wicked older brothers.
Young Master Si Qing thought that finding a courtesan was simply about listening to her play the pipa, and that's what his older brothers had told him too. So he sat very upright, clapping for her after each piece, until she pushed him onto the bed.
He didn't cry out, he just kept muttering to himself.
Sister... Sister... I feel so bad.
How could doing something like this be uncomfortable?
That's what she asked.
He stopped talking, staring blankly at the increasingly blurry ceiling, the peach kernels he was holding scattered.
Scattered all over the bed.
After that, he was like a man possessed, always sitting downstairs waiting for her, wanting to talk to her, and no one could persuade him to leave.
Perhaps it was because after that night, Leng Cuizhu tearfully handed him a handkerchief still carrying her scent, saying that her life was full of misfortunes and that staying in this building was like being a drifting duckweed with no one to rely on. She told him not to forget her, because if he forgot her, she didn't know what hope there would be for her life.
But she was just putting on an act.
The madam insisted on giving each guest a handkerchief, and she said those sweet words to them.
However, things will be different for Yin Yuan.
Young Master Si Qing, being young and inexperienced, actually believed it to be true.
sunny.
cloudy day.
rain.
Snowy day.
...
He would come to see her every day and wait for her for an entire day.
She's so busy every day, she doesn't have time to sit down and talk to him.
Moreover, Young Master Si Qing never brings any money when he comes, so she can't get any gold or silver from him.
He only brought the rats he kept.
Yes, he also said she looked like a mouse.
Who would want to be told they look like a rat?
Leng Cuizhu would rather forget about this kind of man who wouldn't give her a penny and was like a persistent leech.
She didn't want to get involved, much less see any Master Si.
But Lu Miaolian said that if she could persuade Si Qing to sign the land deed, she could have as much money as she wanted.
This money is too good to pass up, especially since she needs it. As Lu Miaolian said, only a fool would complain about having too much money; even a gentleman can't make money.
The banquet is scheduled for the end of this month.
Lu Miaolian said that not only would she and Li the Salt Merchant be there, but also Lord Chen Xun and Military Governor Wang.
Of course, Young Master Si will also be there.
Lu Miaolian told her not to tell anyone when she got back, since colluding with officials to mine private salt was a capital offense if it was exposed, and the fewer people who knew, the better.
Especially for officials in this county, it is absolutely forbidden to say anything.
Why have you been so absent-minded lately?
Yin Yuan glanced at the teacup on the table, which was overflowing, and then moved it aside.
Leng Cuizhu snapped out of her daze and realized that she had spilled tea on the table. She quickly wiped it up with a handkerchief.
"Where did this bracelet come from?"
She stopped what she was doing, touched the jade bracelet on her wrist, and cried out, "Why is my husband always so suspicious of me...?"
“I have no suspicions,” Yin Yuan put down the book in his hand, his tone softening. “I’m just asking. If you don’t want to say, then don’t.”
"It's just that you didn't like wearing jewelry this much before."
“You’re clearly suspicious,” she said, throwing the damp handkerchief on the table and turning away from him. “I’ve been sitting here for so long, and you’ve been reading and ignoring me.”
Yin Yuan: "You ignored me too."
She glared at him, straightened her shawl, and got up to go to the inner room, where she half-reclined on the chaise longue.
As the days grew hotter, she gradually wore less and less clothing, especially indoors when she was about to rest. She wore only a moon-white strapless dress, with a peacock-blue silk shawl draped over her bare arms, flowing like water from her arms to the ground.
She propped her head up with one hand and waited, but the man still hadn't come in.
She couldn't sit still; she got up and went out to look for it.
Yin Yuan was still sitting, just like before, except that there was now a birchwood box on the table in front of him.
He seemed to be folding something, and after folding it, he opened the wooden box.
She walked over.
Yin Yuan closed the wooden box, which was only half-opened, his expression unchanged.
"What kind of box is this, sir?"
Leng Cuizhu nodded and sat back in her previous spot, facing him.
Yin Yuan: "Wooden box."
"Then..." She stroked the table, where the water stains from earlier had dried completely, "What's in the box? Can I see it?"
Yin Yuan: "No."
It's just a wooden box, why can't I show it to her?
Leng Cuizhu squinted.
There must be something extremely precious inside, something she can't touch.
...Could it be her indenture?
"I don't want to look..." She blinked, turned away to wipe her tears, "Fine, I won't look then."
"I'm just asking. If you don't want me to see it, I'll stay put and not go."
"Um."
As soon as she turned around, Yin Yuan had already lowered his head and continued reading.
The wooden box was placed next to my elbow.
She rubbed her eyes, becoming even more certain that there was something extraordinary inside.
No, she had to find out what was inside. Even if it wasn't a contract of indenture, she had to go and see for herself, just to put her mind at ease.
Otherwise, she would be too worried to sleep all night.
"My lord, I..."
"cannot."
She bit her lip and whispered, "I'm sleepy..."
Yin Yuan had just turned half the page when he heard this and paused.
Only after Leng Cuizhu stood up and straightened her shawl did he turn the pages of the book completely, raise his eyes and say, "Go inside and sleep if you're sleepy."
"Would you like to continue reading, sir?"
"..."
"Um."
He lowered his eyelids again.
She took off her shoes and socks and lay on the bed, pondering how to see what was inside the wooden box, and how to use her beauty to seduce Young Master Si Qing...
Her mind was filled with all sorts of chaotic thoughts, and she couldn't sleep at all. She opened her eyes and stared at the pink, fluffy, and densely packed mimosa flowers embroidered on the bed curtains. Feeling cold, she found a quilt and covered herself with it.
Someone came in from outside, walking slowly. They went to the window, pulled down the bamboo curtain, and then opened the screen to block out the bed. They went to the bedside and lit calming incense.
He met Leng Cuizhu's gaze.
"Oh, my lady, you're not asleep yet..." the maid said softly, pursing her lips. "I'm sorry to disturb your rest. I'll light the incense and then lower the bed curtains for you. I'll leave right away."
"These procedures are all indispensable; if any are omitted, the master will blame us..."
Who is the master?
It couldn't possibly be her.
Leng Cuizhu was not used to being served like this. She yawned, awkwardly crawled inside, and buried her face in the brocade quilt.
The calming incense was lit, and wisps of white smoke lingered around the bedside. Its delicate fragrance finally calmed her racing mind.
In her half-asleep state, she vaguely glimpsed a man sitting by the bed, staring at the incense stick on the bedside table.
Smoke filled his surroundings.
"...My lord?"
"Um."
"Aren't you going to read anymore?"
"Um."
“It’s so uncomfortable to sleep with this bracelet on,” she said, holding out her hand to him. “Could you take it off for me, my lord?”
Yin Yuan did not refuse.
But he didn't agree.
He sat on the edge of the bed in silence for a while, until Leng Cuizhu's arm stiffened and fell limply to the bed, then he placed that hand on his knee.
Grasp her wrist and smoothly remove the bracelet.
"This bracelet is too big for you."
She laughed and said, "There are plenty of unsuitable pieces of jewelry; as long as you like it, that's fine."
"Speaking of which, why do you insist that this bracelet was a gift from someone else? I could have bought it myself and worn it for you to see."
Yin Yuan: "I never said that this bracelet was a gift from someone else."
"What I'm asking is, where did you come from?"
"...Who sent it?"
"A friend."
"man?"
"...a sister I used to be close to."
Is she married?
Leng Cuizhu didn't understand why Yin Yuan was asking this, but she still answered truthfully, "I guess so..."
"man?"
"I told you, she's the sister I used to be close to."
Yin Yuan asked again, "Is her partner a man?"
"...Of course."
She was even more confused, but squinting at him, Yin Yuan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Was that bracelet also a gift from her?"
She didn't answer truthfully again: "Yes, she gave it to me."
Yin Yuan stared at her without speaking.
She felt uneasy under his gaze and closed her eyes, but her eyes kept darting around.
After spinning around a few times, her tightly closed eyelids were pressed down.
The pressure was so tight, pressing down on her eyeballs through the skin.
Just as she used to caress the baby in her womb through a layer of skin, now he caresses her as if trying to pry out what's under her eyelids, pressing down hard.
It can't turn anymore.
The pressure became heavier, and her eyes hurt from being pressed down. She hurriedly tried to slap the man's hand away.
She slapped the back of the man's hand, but he turned his head to dodge it.
My eyelids are twitching.
Yin Yuan pondered for a moment: "I thought it was a gift from your lover."
He spoke as if recounting something trivial: "After all, you received a pair of earrings from him before."
"How can I come to see you wearing something he gave me?"
She covered her eyes and sighed, "How could I bear to..."
"Why?"
“Doing that would surely incur divine retribution, and my husband would be saddened if he knew. How could I bear to make him sad…”
Fake.
It's all fake.
She didn't tell a single truth from beginning to end.
But everything she said was exactly what Yin Yuan wanted to hear.
If he wants to hear it, she should tell him.
This put both sides at ease.
She didn't speak, but she said kind words.
That's how life used to go.
Yin Yuan sighed, and then there was no further movement.
She slept a little further in, turning her back to him.
A deep sleep.
The next day, when she woke up, no one was beside her. Only the remaining marks on the bed proved that Yin Yuan had slept next to her the night before.
The incense by the bedside was still burning, its smoke mingling with the mist, constantly touching the gauze.
Yin Yuan sat at the desk outside, reading a book in the same spot as yesterday.
The wooden box was placed on the table.
She put on an outer robe and sat down in front of the man.
It was still dark.
"My lord, you get up to study before dawn? How diligent you are!"
"..."
She leaned closer to the man: "What book are you reading, my lord?"
"I can't understand these words at all..." She pointed to two lines of text in the book, looked up at him and smiled, "My lord, how do you pronounce these words?"
Yin Yuan glanced at her.
"The vast landscape evokes only longing thoughts of distant places; falling flowers and wind and rain only deepen the sorrow of spring."
He glanced at her again: "Why not cherish the person in front of you?"
Leng Cuizhu did not understand the meaning of that poem.
She couldn't understand most of the poems, and never even thought about trying to.
She was just using this as an excuse.
"My lord knows so many characters, how come you don't recognize what character is written on my face right now?" she said with a smile.
"There are no words on your face."
After finishing his sentence, the man immediately asked, "...What word?"
She took his hand holding the book, placed it against her cheek, and smiled faintly: "Did you see it clearly?"
Yin Yuan really did take a closer look.
From her dark blue eyebrows to her slightly trembling eyelashes, a few streaks of red blood on her face, and finally down to her lips.
Seeing his lips move, he slowly uttered words.
She said...
She didn't say anything.
She lightly tapped his brow with her fingertips.
"You do have a word on your face."
Yin Yuan's brows relaxed a little, and the pink mark between his brows deepened in color.
She rested her chin on her hand and said, "The 'Wang' in 'bastard'."
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The author says: A vast landscape evokes only longing for distant places; falling blossoms and wind and rain only deepen the sorrow of spring. Better to cherish the person before you. —Yan Shu
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