Chapter 43 "We're not exactly saints..."
"You really want to let me sleep alone while you get up and read?" She snatched the book from the man's hand, flipping through a few pages casually. "Is it really that good?"
My peripheral vision fell on the wooden box on the table.
She got up, sat down at the table, and placed her hands on the surface.
The man stood in front of her, brushed aside the strands of hair on her shoulder, and his fingertips reached up to the back of her neck, gently tugging at the strap of her bra.
The pale pink ribbons came undone, and then the rest of her clothes also came undone, piling up on the table before fluttering to the ground.
She tilted her head back, her dark hair flowing freely: "It's so cold."
The man did not reply. He put his arm around her waist, picked her up from the table, and carried her behind the screen.
Leng Cuizhu suddenly said, "Wait..." Her gaze fell on the wooden box on the table.
"Right there?" She forced a smile. "It's a nice place."
Your mind isn't on this.
As Yin Yuan spoke, he left her on the bed and spread her legs apart.
"Lingniang, you want to know what's hidden in that box, don't you?" His icy fingertips pressed against her, caressing her without any tenderness.
"Um……"
Her lips were bitten until they bled.
"You insist on seeing it?"
"Is it not allowed?"
"Can."
Yin Yuan withdrew his hand, rubbed the back of her knee, and went out to get the box.
She felt empty and restless, her heart itching with longing. She bent her knees and waited for him, her hands gripping the bedsheets.
A while later, Yin Yuan returned with the box.
He sat down next to her and opened it.
Because she was lying down, she couldn't see very clearly, but she could glimpse a fan and a few handkerchiefs inside, all ordinary items.
Yin Yuan took out a jade pillar and brushed aside the strands of hair wrapped around it.
Leng Cuizhu recognized him, and her whole body tensed up.
That jade pillar was the one he had used on her in the carriage before. That thing was too big and too cold; after it was inserted, she felt sore and swollen for several days.
"You..." She was annoyed at herself for having such inexplicable curiosity, and raised her hand to cover her face. "My lord, I don't want this."
"Um."
Yin Yuan actually put the jade pillar back, and then took out a folding fan with redwood ribs and silver nails.
"This fan was given to me by you a long time ago."
"It was our first night."
He opened his fan and murmured to himself, "Lingniang once told me not to forget you."
The folding fan, illuminated by candlelight, revealed several small holes through which light leaked out.
All of them were tiny holes she had bitten out with her teeth before.
He held the fan horizontally over the candlelight to warm it, then turned to her and asked, "How many people have you said the same things to? How many people have you flirted with?"
"If I were the only one, I doubt I would have received such a fan."
“Yes,” she told the truth, “of course it couldn’t be just you alone. You must know that too, so why ask when you already know the answer? Do you think I’m some kind of loyal and unwavering person? You’re not, and neither am I.”
"Can't I just ask?"
The man lowered his eyes and pressed the warm fan handle against them.
The folding fan was so hot it made her tremble, but it felt comfortable against her skin. She lay sprawled on the bed, her face sinking into the soft pillow.
“I really did say that…” She raised her leg to kick him, but he grabbed her ankle and flipped her over. “You’re still unhappy…”
"It has nothing to do with you."
He used the fan handle to hook up the silver thread, twirling it lightly with his fingertips: "You must tell the truth."
"...Besides, I haven't seen you do anything to make me happy."
"Is there a single word of truth in your mouth?"
What about this one?
She was just being polite, why is she pushing her luck?
Leng Cuizhu kept her head down and remained silent. What did it matter to her whether Yin Yuan was happy or not? He took himself too seriously.
Yin Yuan says he'll just tell the truth, but he can't stand hearing the truth at all.
She used to tell him not to touch her and throw flowers in his face; she was always telling the truth and doing what she meant.
He didn't seem particularly happy.
She's barely gotten any worse, and Yin Yuan is already on the verge of death.
Where in her mouth is there no truth? He simply refuses to believe it is the truth.
Men always have an inexplicable competitive spirit, which can drive them to disregard everything, even sacrificing themselves under the guise of loving a woman, just to maintain their superiority and completely disregard her life or death.
Normally, she could pretend to be gentle and obedient, deeply in love with him, but when it came to the bedroom, in such a vulnerable moment, she had no heart to pretend, and she was just being herself.
They actually ended up in bed again.
Deep down, she naturally loathed him; he was the one who had made her into this fragile person who could collapse at any moment.
What about deeper inside?
She was only interested in having fun with the piles and crammed meat.
As dawn broke, he pulled the fan handle out of his flesh and wiped away the glistening water stains.
She bit her lip until it bled, and just as she snapped out of her lust, she got up to push him away, but he suddenly grabbed her.
His embrace was much faster than hers, leaving her unable to exert any strength.
"Throw away the fan."
"I won't throw it away; you insisted on giving it to me."
“If you can’t remember, I’ll remember for you.” He shielded the back of her head and whispered, “From now on, this will have your scent on it. When the scent fades, we should take it out again.”
"We're not exactly saints, why are we so attached..."
She suddenly burst into tears, her chapped lips pressed against the man's neck, trembling.
Yin Yuan froze.
She blinked and shed a few tears, wiping them all on the man's neck and collar, the clear tears wetting his clothes and leaving tear stains.
The man turned his head and used the back of his hand to wipe away the tears at the corners of her eyes. Before he could say anything, she, who had been sobbing just a moment ago, suddenly lunged forward and bit the back of his hand.
“Ling Niang…”
No matter how the man scolded her, she didn't give in, until she bit her hand so hard it turned blue and bled. The blood from her lips mixed with the blood from her hand and dripped down her hand.
She looked up and sighed, then burst out laughing.
"Is it comfortable?"
She started pretending to be deeply in love again.
Yin Yuan stared at the bite marks on the back of his hand, his eyes filled with an unreadable expression.
A moment later, he pulled her into his arms again.
Both of them were too thin; they were practically bones touching bones.
Of course it hurts; after the pleasure, all that's left is pain.
The two rested on the bed for a while before the maids helped them with their washing and grooming.
Leng Cuizhu was buttoning up Yin Yuan's shirt when a servant rushed in, pointing outside.
"Master! Something terrible has happened..." the servant said breathlessly, "They're arguing, they're arguing."
By the pond.
“If you kneel down here today and kowtow to me twenty times to admit your mistake,” Yi Yinwan adjusted the bright hairpin pendant on her shoulder, “I will reluctantly forgive you today and not hold it against a child like you.”
She held a whip in her hand, and every now and then she would swing it a few times, the whip sweeping the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Leng Zhen clutched her right arm, which had been lashed by the whip, and gritted her teeth in anger: "No!"
The maidservant stepped forward, slapped him across the face, and demanded, hands on her hips, "You lowly commoner, what kind of tone is that? How dare you speak to the madam like that?"
Leng Zhen was knocked to the side by the blow, staggered a few steps and almost fell to the ground, and said in disbelief: "It's one thing for her to hit me, but you're not some master, you're just a lowly slave, how dare you hit me?"
He took a few deep breaths and pointed at Yi Yinwan: "You old hag! You old hag! I..." He swallowed the words back, staring blankly at her with bloodshot eyes.
"What?" Yi Yinwan smiled, taking off the jewelry on her hand as she said, "Tell me, why aren't you saying anything?"
She took a few steps forward and slapped him again.
"I think you're just feeling guilty, aren't you? You still dare to say you didn't steal the bracelet? Who else in this mansion would be so audacious and unrepentant? You stole it once and came back a second time. Do you think this place is a gold mine that you don't have to pay for?"
“Someone like you with dirty hands should be chopped up and fed to the dogs. And if you want more, stuff a few lumps of dog feces into your stinking mouth.”
Overwhelmed with grievance, Leng Zhen burst into tears, her cheeks flushed red. Tears streamed down her face as she cried, "I didn't steal it! It wasn't me! Not before, and not now!"
"Just because I'm poor and of lowly status, you suspect me of everything? What gives you the right?" He gritted his teeth, tears streaming down his face. "These past few days I've been extremely cautious, always watching your every move, Madam, but why do you still frame me? What gives you the right! Give me a reason! You can't just make up stories like this..."
Yi Yinwan completely ignored him: "Lily of the Valley."
Upon receiving the message, the maid raised her voice and shouted to the guards by the pond, "Hey, come here and throw this lowly commoner in!"
Leng Zhen turned pale with shock.
The pond was drained yesterday in preparation for planting some lotus flowers. Now it's just a bare mud pit, emitting a fishy stench like rotten fish and shrimp. If you fell in, you'd be covered in mud.
Leng Zhen was forcibly dragged to the edge of the pond by several guards, who then pressed him into the mud without saying a word.
"No, no..."
Leng Zhen shook her head frantically, then caught sight of a beautiful figure not far away: "Mother, help! Please save me!"
Leng Cuizhu stood under the eaves, turned to leave but then turned back, twisting her handkerchief, pacing back and forth, unsure of what to do.
How did Leng Zhen end up arguing with Madam Yin...? She hadn't expected their relationship to be so bad. If she had known this would happen, she shouldn't have sent Leng Zhen over to bother Madam Yin.
She turned her head and saw Yin Yuan standing in the shade of the room, blending into the darkness, with only his gold-embroidered cloak shimmering in the light.
She couldn't see the expression on his face; perhaps it was expressionless.
She pursed her lips, then put the still-wet bloodstains on her lips into her mouth, the metallic taste spreading.
"My lord..."
My half-clenched hand was suddenly pulled.
"Ling Niang".
The sound came from beside my ear.
Leng Cuizhu shuddered, staring at the man in the room as his head was turned around.
Before me stood a pair of pitch-black eyes.
It is Yin Yuan.
The one inside was just a coat rack with a cloak hanging on it; she had mistaken it for Yin Yuan.
But she was still in shock, hanging her head and clutching her chest.
During the time she hesitated, Leng Zhen had already been thrown into the mud pit, her whole body covered in sticky, wet mud.
Leng Cuizhu pulled Yin Yuan to the edge of the pond and hurriedly said, "My lord, quickly scoop Zhenzhen up..."
Yin Yuan: "There's no need."
"The pond isn't deep; you can climb out."
Upon hearing this, Leng Zhen, who was stuck in the mud, cried even harder, her tears mingling with the mud, pleading and begging for mercy: "Mother... he is him, and you are you. Can you really bear to do this? I'm stuck in this mud and can't climb out."
"Since you all despise me, then I'll stay in this mud forever and suffocate to death!" He cracked his knuckles. "You heartless and ungrateful wretches, I'll haunt you even as a ghost! I'll make sure you never have a moment's peace!"
He took a step forward and bent over to plunge into the mud.
"Leng Zhen, please stop!"
Leng Cuizhu suddenly ran towards the mud pit. Yin Yuan tried to pull her, but only touched her fluttering hair ribbon. He watched helplessly as she reached out to pull Leng Zhen.
Leng Zhen, whose arm was being pulled, suddenly chuckled, gritted her teeth, and pulled Leng Cuizhu down, causing her to fall down and land in the mud, completely filthy.
Yin Yuan frowned, but made no other move.
Yi Yinwan, who was thoroughly enjoying the show, widened her eyes and exclaimed, "I'll fuck you—"
She removed the bow and arrows from the guard's back, took the arrow, and suddenly drew the bow, striking Leng Zhen squarely in the left leg.
"Quickly, get Lady Leng out of the water, and... and that lowly commoner too! Get him out of there too!"
After being pulled from the mud by the guards, Leng Cuizhu collapsed to the ground, her once clean face now covered in mud, her hair matted with mud, and her clothes in even worse condition.
She didn't wipe the mud off her body, but sat on the ground, dazed and confused, biting her lip, speechless, tears welling up in her eyes.
She hadn't expected Leng Zhen to do this, and she didn't understand why Leng Zhen would do such a thing.
So she was also the heartless and ungrateful wretch he spoke of?
Then what about more than ten years of raising a child?
Did she not give him food and clothes? Or did she give them to someone else?
He is the heartless and ungrateful scoundrel.
She has done everything she could.
The guards' arrows were coated with poisonous vines. After being hit by an arrow, Leng Zhen immediately died of pain and collapsed unconscious in the mud.
Yin Yuan ordered his servants to carry Leng Zhen to a place where he couldn't see her, then turned around and began to punish Yi Yinwan.
"Go to the ancestral hall and kneel down."
“Brother,” Yi Yinwan pouted, seemingly unwilling, and stammered out no rebuttal, “Oh… I understand.”
Seeing that Yin Yuan was carrying Leng Cuizhu, who was wrapped in silk and had fainted from crying, she smiled and turned to walk towards the ancestral hall with her maid.
The young maid muttered, "Madam, why... if that cold-hearted woman hadn't tried to pull that bastard away, you wouldn't have been punished. Were they deliberately plotting against you, Madam?"
"Shut up."
"This servant is speaking out on behalf of Madam..."
"Lily of the Valley, then go kneel before me." Yi Yinwan rolled her eyes. "If you're not going to kneel, then go back."
"Don't steal my money. I've counted all the bills I have."
The maidservant looked embarrassed and turned away.
After the maid left, Yi Yinwan snorted a few times, took off the gold bracelet from her arm, and played with it in her hand.
Upon reaching the side room, they saw several servants going in and out, and heard men screaming in agony from inside.
The doctor brought out the box: "Ah, Madam."
"How is Young Master Leng Zhen's leg injury?"
"The doctor saw me in time, so it's nothing serious. I just need some medicine and a good night's sleep."
"Madam, the medicinal herbs you asked me to find last time, I've brought them to you today," the doctor said, taking out a packet of medicine from his pocket and bowing. "It costs... one hundred taels in total."
Yi Yinwan said calmly, "Go down. Just ask the butler for the money. Tell him that I sent you to get the money to buy cosmetics."
"Okay!"
She went straight into the room, dismissed the servants, and walked past the screen to see Leng Zhen sitting on the bed, her expression as usual.
"Medicinal herbs," she tossed the herbs in her hand to Leng Zhen, crossing her arms, "I'll find the remaining few for you slowly, but first, figure out this one."
Leng Zhen opened the medicine packet, sniffed it, raised an eyebrow, and replied with a smile, "Of course you don't need to worry about that."
"That's good," she turned around, then tossed the gold bracelet on the ground. "You performed well today, this is a reward for you."
Leng Zhen immediately got out of bed, crawled over to pick it up, and without standing up, she supported herself on the ground with both hands and smiled at the woman.
The neck was filled with mud and sand, the dirty, rotten mud wriggling as if about to burst out.
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