Chapter 54 "That should be a female ghost..."
As soon as Yin Yuan returned, she and Yin Yuan went to the prison to visit Leng Zhen.
This wasn't Leng Zhen's first time in jail. She was used to it, so this time she wasn't too flustered. She quietly lay on the straw mat and took a nap until she and Yin Yuan arrived at the prison gate and noticed that someone was coming.
"Mother! You've finally arrived." Leng Zhen glanced at the man beside Leng Cuizhu, intending to quickly look away, but then, as if remembering something, she forced a cry, "Father, you've come too."
"Mother, don't worry, I'm perfectly fine here."
“Oh,” Leng Cuizhu nodded, “That’s good.”
After saying that, he and Yin Yuan walked outside.
"etc!"
Leng Zhen was completely taken aback by her actions. After all, she and her mother had always disliked each other but also shared a deep mother-son bond. Even when they were at odds, their resentment would soon pass.
At least they'll put on a good show.
Why doesn't she act anymore?
“I haven’t been bullied here, but… I still want to go back, go home.”
"Father, Mother, please think of something!"
“If that family sues you, your mother and father can’t do anything about it. Besides, why struggle? It’s just a few days in jail, it won’t last long,” she comforted. “This place is cold and damp, just think of it as a time to cultivate your character and calm down. When you get out, don’t cause any more trouble.”
"Everything else can be faked, but herbs absolutely cannot be faked. It concerns other people's lives. Zhenzhen, you really did something wicked this time. I told you to study more at school and learn more principles, but you wouldn't listen. Now look what happened."
She raised her hand to touch Leng Zhen's cheek: "Here's what we'll do. Tomorrow I'll have someone send you some books that are basically related to moral education. Study them carefully, okay?"
"This was also your father's idea; books can calm the mind."
Yin Yuan: "Mm."
"You can copy books if you want."
When Leng Zhen heard that she was supposed to read or even copy books, her face turned pale. She nodded blankly and dared not bring up the matter again.
“These next few days, your mother will feed you the glutinous rice in your room, so it won’t go hungry.”
"Don't!"
Leng Zhendui laughed and said, "It's easily stressed and startled, so don't go inside to feed it."
"I keep food in my room. If it gets hungry, it will go find food itself."
“Don’t scare her, she won’t come out to scare you, I promise… After all, I locked the attic, she can’t escape.” He lowered his head, his wide eyes darting around, sparkling.
Leng Cuizhu noticed it.
Leng Zhen seems to be going crazy again.
But I don't know what's wrong with him.
When Yin Yuan and Dodder returned to the mansion, Dodder also came back from its mischief outside and happened to run into them.
Unfortunately, the dodder was currently in human form, dressed neatly and holding a sugar figurine. It ran towards her while calling out "Host," and didn't even notice that there was a man standing next to its beloved host until it jumped into her arms.
"You're back? You're finally back! I've been waiting for you for so long."
Leng Cuizhu froze, letting the dodder rub against her chest, tug at her sleeves, and whisper sweet nothings.
She dared not move an inch.
Yin Yuan frowned: "Whose child is this?"
“…Huh?” She nodded vigorously. “Ah, right, it’s Aunt Wang’s house. They must be here to play with Leng Zhen again.”
She quickly pulled the dodder off her body: "Little brother, Brother Leng went out to gather herbs today and isn't home. Why don't you come and play with him again in a few days?"
The dodder, regaining her composure, immediately stopped calling out, glancing sideways at the man beside her, her heart pounding with fear: "Okay, Auntie..."
Following her lead, I turned and mechanically walked towards the door, each step a limp.
Kids are such a nuisance.
Yin Yuan dusted off her sleeves expressionlessly.
“Everyone was a child once,” she quickly interjected, “Wasn’t my husband like this when he was a child?”
"I can't remember."
"I didn't know you when I was a child, how could I possibly act cute towards you?"
"That's not what I meant at all," she said with a forced laugh.
Yin Yuan stared at her and raised his hand to straighten her disheveled collar.
"...It's not that I'm forgetting."
Yin Yuan stayed at her place at night.
He added that this would continue for the next few days.
Leng Cuizhu secretly thought that Yin Yuan must have received the news that Si Qingming was going to move next door to her a long time ago.
Perhaps Si Qing told him this herself after she left.
The fight between these two men was truly terrifying.
Originally, she and Yin Yuan returned with the intention of staying away from the vortex of conflict, but who would have thought that they would only fuel the flames of this conflict.
Now that's great, Si Qing has moved right next door to her, so Yin Yuan can have a daily argument with her.
The drama of men fighting over her is like the cracklings left over from rendering lard; eating it once or twice is incredibly delicious, but eating it too much will make you sick of it.
At first, she thought the clucking of the dodder was very energetic, but later on, whenever he clucked, she just wanted to kick his butt.
Moreover, she had a bad feeling that Si Qing's personality didn't seem like she would be satisfied just by living next door to her.
Last time, when Yin Yuan wasn't home, he said he'd do it on the floor with her. This time, he won't just climb into bed and have sex with her while Yin Yuan is asleep, will he?
Sleeping in a bed meant for three people is far too crowded.
But this is for the best; at least her land title is secured, and she won't be abducted to the mountain again.
After bathing and changing her clothes at night, she returned to her bedroom to rest. As she passed through the courtyard, she saw Yin Yuan sitting there, with no tea or pastries on the low table in front of him, only a folding fan.
That folding fan was the same one she had given me before.
"My lord, what's wrong?"
Yin Yuan closed his eyes tightly: "It's so noisy."
She couldn't help but retort, "Are you planning to preserve relics here, my lord? Are you so afraid of noise?"
Yin Yuan glanced at her.
“Lingniang, I wasn’t talking about you.”
"Who is that?" She had barely finished speaking when she heard a sound coming from the next room, which was just a wall away.
"Hurry up! Move this in, and move this in too!"
"The pond should be filled with water so that the little crispy dates can swim in it! The yard should be full of trees so that crispy and crunchy can play hide-and-seek! There should be no pebbles on the ground to prevent the little bamboo leaves from getting hurt!"
"The pigeon coop was placed in the corner of the wall, just in time for the pigeons to fly to the next room."
It sounds like Xiaoyu is speaking.
"Is he going to bring the crispy dates over again...?" She remembered that the neighbor's yard was relatively small, and if he fried the crispy dates with meat, the smell would definitely reach her yard.
The smell was strange, indescribably strange. She had smelled that same smell in Leng Zhen's room before.
The fishy, pungent smell lingers for a long time.
Yin Yuan asked, "Who is Little Crispy Date?"
She answered truthfully, "The tiger kept by Lord Si."
“Keeping wild beasts in the city is forbidden.” Yin Yuan chuckled. “He’s breaking the rules and should be detained for three days.”
"You must not tell him."
“I know you two have a close relationship, but at least we have a child together.”
“My lord is overthinking things,” Leng Cuizhu murmured. “I have little affection for Young Master Si, and I wouldn’t ask you to bring up Leng Zhen.”
"It's not too late to bring it out when he really tries to force you to resign."
"Isn't this a coup? They're practically at our doorstep."
Which palace are you referring to? The uterus? Or self-castration?
In fact, Yin Yuan's actions were not much different from self-castration.
She had never seen the eunuchs in the palace, but had only heard that they were narrow-minded, insecure, and gloomy, and that they tormented their wives to the point of wishing they were dead.
Isn't that exactly what Yin Yuan is like?
"Why is my sir becoming more and more vulgar and rude..."
"He was very polite?"
The man paused for a moment: "Have you been taking your medication these past few days?"
"Contraceptive."
"Sir, would you like to see a doctor?" Leng Cuizhu didn't answer him. "I'll go with you. It seems you need your medicine more."
Yin Yuan lowered his head and stroked the edge of the folding fan.
"You want me to eat rat poison, don't you?"
So, did you take your medicine?
Why is this never going to end?
Leng Cuizhu ignored him completely this time, lifted her skirt and walked into the house, leaving Yin Yuan to sit in the courtyard and eavesdrop on the noises next door.
She lay in bed for a while, then turned over and glimpsed a crow perched on the windowsill, a willow twig in its beak, large patches of white feathers on its wings, with only a few feathers remaining pure black.
It doesn't seem very energetic.
She called out from afar, "Eun?"
A crow flew to her pillow, and she reached out to stroke its forehead: "Where have you been these past few days? Why haven't you come home even once?"
The crow lowered its head and sighed after a long while, "Wouldn't it be a nuisance if I stayed by your side all the time?"
"Now my wife needs me less."
He didn't completely distance himself from her; on the contrary, whenever he had free time, he would secretly follow her, watching her from a place she couldn't know about.
Look at her, look at her and them, look at how they fight for her.
To be fair, Eun only used himself as a tool.
After successfully escalating the conflict and making her want to escape, he no longer needed to appear frequently.
Moreover, his current physical condition is not good enough to support him staying by her side for a long time.
Therefore, every meeting should have a purpose.
“I came looking for you just now and saw your husband calling your name.”
“Ah…” Leng Cuizhu pondered, “It’s alright, don’t worry about him.”
He's insulting you.
"But he probably isn't anymore. When I left, I saw that he had fainted from fright, apparently from a woman who was passing by."
"Huh?" She was completely puzzled. "How could someone have walked through this courtyard?"
"Then it must be a female ghost."
"Your husband seems very afraid of that ghost."
A female ghost.
The word was both strange and familiar to Leng Cuizhu. She didn't believe in ghosts at all, but she had indeed seen something that looked incredibly like a ghost before.
Could it be Christine?
She went out to see.
Yin Yuan slumped over the table, his dark hair cascading down his back, his hands supporting him on the ground, leaving her with only his back view.
I heard it before I even got close to her.
Yin Yuan was indeed cursing her.
The courtyard was completely dark, with no lights on.
All she could hear was a constant stream of mournful curses drifting into her ears.
"You slut..."
"Yin Yuan?" She walked over, bent down to pull the man, but couldn't budge him.
Yin Yuan slumped onto the table, still cursing incessantly.
She looked around but didn't see any ghostly figures.
"Yin Yuan, get up. The neighbors have stopped moving things. What are you still listening to?" She squatted down again and shook the man's shoulders, sliding her hands a few centimeters down his chest and touching a wet, warm patch.
Blood.
It was all blood.
She felt something like wood on the man's chest and pulled it out.
It is a dagger.
After the dagger was pulled out, blood gushed out of the wound on the man's chest.
Yin Yuan raised his head, his face pale with fear, his eyes filled with resentment.
What are you doing back here?
"...Give it back?"
Suddenly, a rope wrapped around her neck from behind and violently pulled her backward.
The rope around her neck tightened quickly, pinning her down and rendering her powerless.
It was as if she was about to be strangled to death in the next moment.
Yin Yuanzhong was injured and fell to the ground, unable to help her in any way.
"Who...who are you?"
She turned her head with difficulty and saw the brown eyes of the person behind her.
She looks exactly like her, almost like they were made from the same mold.
Those eyes, brimming with murderous intent, narrowed slightly.
Then, he kicked her to the ground, grabbed the rope, and dragged her toward the pond.
Leng Cuizhu was in a daze, staring blankly at the broken stones on the ground.
In the distance, I saw crows fly by and land on branches not far away.
When they reached the pond, her head was pushed into the water, and after a moment she was submerged, she was pulled out.
Where did you lock him up?
"Where is he? Where is he?!"
The girl's voice was choked with sobs.
"……who?"
The girl stopped answering and plunged her head back into the icy pond water, rinsing it repeatedly, while the rope around her neck tightened even more.
Leng Cuizhu was forced to tilt her head back and catch a glimpse of the person's face.
The girl's entire face was wrapped in gauze, revealing only her tearful eyes. Her thin eyelids were covered in bruises, and her trembling eyeballs were stained with blood.
Her body was covered in bruises, and water streamed down her cheeks, accumulating in a trickle on her shoulders and neck.
"First, loosen..."
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