Chapter 66 "Could it be that Lord Yin has also died without an heir...?"
Could it be that Si Qing and Yin Yuan are long-lost brothers?
She pursed her lips.
This idea is still too absurd.
However, it is not entirely impossible.
"My lady, I'm getting off the carriage." Chen Xun stood up. "You just sit here and rest. The coachman will take you there."
"Lord Chen, if the prefect is wondering why I'm not home, I'll trouble you..."
She and Chen Xun exchanged glances.
"Don't worry, my lady. I'm just a treacherous villain. I don't know anything else, but I know how to talk to people in a way that suits them."
"When you meet someone who considers themselves superior, of course you have to talk nonsense."
After Chen Xun left, the carriage left the county and went onto the official road.
She asked the coachman where they were going, and the coachman said that Si Qing had been living in seclusion in a thatched hut in the mountains these days, and he was taking her there.
So what if it's far away? She's not in a hurry. As long as she can see Young Master Si, nothing else matters.
She crawled back into the carriage and fell asleep peacefully.
Gradually, it started to rain outside. Raindrops pattered against the windowpane, and a few even slipped through the cracks and hit her cheek.
She quickly opened her eyes and went to close the window.
"Wife, we've arrived," the coachman said from outside.
"Oh," she replied, bending down to straighten her dress, "I understand, I'll be right down."
She followed behind the coachman, holding an umbrella as they walked along the forest path, curiously looking left and right.
The path is lined with lush trees, with vines climbing among them, and morning glories blooming in succession.
This was her first time visiting such a dense forest.
Upon arriving at the thatched hut, the coachman respectfully opened the door for her. She folded her umbrella, went inside, and called out Si Qing's name.
“Si Qing,” she stared at the dimly lit room, her voice growing weaker, “where are you?”
No one answered.
She sat at the doorway, wiped the mud off her shoes with a dry cloth, and then went inside to look for them.
The room was a mess, with clothes and utensils piled up on the table like a small mountain.
She felt a chill run down her spine as she looked at it, and reached out to sort through the clothes on the table, picking them out one by one and folding them neatly.
Until he touched a shimmering cloak.
She unfolded it and held it up to her eyes, looking at it again and again.
Why does Si Qing have a cloak made of the same material as the cassock she found when she was sheltering from the rain in the dilapidated house?
Even the jade stones inlaid on it are exactly the same.
Just as she was wondering what was going on, the coachman ran in from outside: "Madam, the Marquis seems... seems to be lost!"
"I just ran into Brother Xiaoyu and the others on the road. They said they went up the mountain to pick mushrooms with the Marquis, but it rained and fog rolled in, and they got separated from the Marquis as they walked!"
"Huh?" She put down the cloak she was holding. "Then, what should we do?"
The coachman sighed repeatedly, "I've heard that porcupines often roam the nearby mountains and forests. I'm afraid the Marquis's fate is grim..."
"Why don't you go into the mountains and look for her, my wife?"
“You mean,” Leng Cuizhu frowned, “that I go fight the porcupine and rescue the Marquis?”
What a clichéd storyline.
Moreover, while others are heroes rescuing beauties, or powerful figures reuniting with beautiful women, in her case, it was her frail body that saved a man in the prime of his life from dire straits.
That's so strange.
But it suited her quite well.
She needed an opportunity like this.
She nodded: "Okay, I'll go find it."
The coachman led her deeper into the mountains and forests, where they encountered Xiaoyu and her group in a hurry. The servants immediately embraced her.
"My lady, you must save the Marquis!" Xiaoyu cried, her nose running down her face. "The Marquis has been in a bad mood these past few days, looking melancholy and rarely smiling. Perhaps it's because he hasn't seen you in so long, or perhaps it's because of the death of his beloved pet—the Marquis's favorite chipmunk has died of old age."
"Huh? Died of old age?"
She sighed, "Life is so unpredictable... such a vibrant little creature, and it just died like that. How pitiful."
Xiaoyu nodded repeatedly: "My lady, the most important thing right now is to find the Marquis! We can start lamenting after we find him."
Deep in the mountains and forests, weeds grew rampant, and the further you went in, the harder it was to find a place to step.
She and the servants split up to search, calling out Si Qing's name as they went.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and with each step she took, her shoes sank deeper into the wet mud, making it difficult for her to walk.
"My lord," she gasped, taking a step forward, "you're here—"
He lost his footing and fell to the ground. He tried to grab a tree stump, but the more he tried, the more confused he became. The umbrella slipped from his hand, and he stumbled and slid down the slope towards the cave.
At the critical moment, her dress was suddenly pulled, and she fell backward into the man's arms.
The two of them fell into the grass together.
"Ouch..." She rubbed her rain-soaked eyelids and opened her eyes. "Si Qing?"
She stared at the man beneath her, her heart filled with mixed emotions: "Did you do this on purpose? You deliberately hid in the shadows, watching me frantically search for you, ignoring my cries, only to come to my rescue when things got really bad."
After what happened last time, she had figured out Si Qing's thoughts: "Perform a show of helping someone in need... that way, I can be grateful to you and forgive what you did before."
She met the man's bewildered gaze: "What I said, was it right?"
Si Qing lowered his eyes, not daring to look at her, his eyelids reddened from the rain. He sighed softly, "Yes, absolutely right."
"Since you knew everything, why did you actually come to find me? I thought you didn't know, that I was still keeping you in the dark... Sister, I'm sorry, I underestimated you."
“No,” she chuckled, wiping the water from the man’s cheek with the back of her hand, and murmured, “It’s not because I underestimate you, it’s because you’re too stupid. You never use your mind on the right path, you’re just all talk and no action.”
“But,” the man cried out in anguish, tears mingling with the rain, “if I hadn’t used those methods, how could your gaze have been so drawn to me today? So I have no regrets, even though I have lost so much… even Xiaozhu died because of my momentary impulse to beg for your love.”
"Now that things have come to this, I don't believe you have no feelings for me at all. Whether you love me or hate me, you must have at least some feelings, right?"
“I’m not as greedy as your husband. I just need a little love from you. Just a little bit, just a tiny bit, and I’ll be done.”
Leng Cuizhu was speechless for a moment.
She wasn't sure if she had it or not.
Or rather, she didn't know whether her thoughts were influenced by the Gu worms; she couldn't tell.
The words were still stuck in her throat. She looked at the man's face, but she couldn't say them, no matter what.
The moments they spent together kept replaying in my mind.
Those lewd, bloody, and evil moments, yet so profoundly memorable, are moments she seems to never forget.
"Now that we've found you, come back with me." She tried to get up, but the man pulled her back, and she fell back into his arms.
"I'm not going back."
"You wanted to use me, didn't you?" the man sneered. "The land deed for sale you requested, I've already drafted it, it's right here..."
He raised an eyebrow and leaned close to her ear.
Leng Cuizhu stared wide-eyed and looked down at the man's lower abdomen.
Place it there?
Her head, which felt like it was filled with lead, suddenly exploded.
"If you don't believe me, just try it and you'll see." Si Qing lay back in the grass, casually picking off a blade of grass. "Lady Leng, you'd better be careful not to let it get too wet, or I'll have to rewrite it."
“If it’s to be rewritten… my requirements will go far beyond that.”
She steeled herself, reached into the man's large robe, and her fingertips touched his smooth skin, causing her whole body to tremble.
Underneath his outer robe, he was wearing nothing at all.
No wonder the tactile sensation is so distinct.
The rain continued to fall, and even intensified, the sound of the downpour mingling with the shouts of servants, sometimes near, sometimes far.
The two were buried deep in the grass, their bodies intertwined, their ears rubbing against each other.
In a dizzying moment, she looked up at the tree canopy overhead, letting the drizzling rain slide down her eyelashes, her fingers intertwined with the man's.
She's lost her mind.
Yet she was perfectly lucid.
Soberly immersed in it, even if this scheme is only mixed with a trace of affection.
After returning to the hut, Si Qing drafted a new document for her, along with the original land deed, and handed it to her as well.
At the end of the document, Si Qing's and her names were clearly written. Just as originally agreed, he sold the land to her without receiving a single tael of silver.
"Would you like to stay and have dinner with me?" Si Qing asked her. "After all, you've achieved your goal, so you probably won't come to see me again, right?"
"I originally wanted to make you suffer a lot at my hands, but now... that's enough. Although I didn't get what I wanted, you did, and seeing you happy makes this a good outcome."
"My lord, thank you." She looked up and smiled.
"but……"
Si Qing raised an eyebrow and asked her, "What's wrong?"
"Why isn't this land deed stamped with a red seal?"
Leng Cuizhu knew that without the official seal, a land deed was just a piece of waste paper and had no validity. She was gentle by nature, but not stupid; she knew this much.
For a moment, the man's face showed panic, and his eyes darted around in confusion.
For just a moment, his smile returned: "Ah, I forgot about that..."
"If it's for stamping, I'll have someone invite Lord Chen over tomorrow. He has a way."
"Hmm." She nodded. "Then may I stay at the Marquis's place tonight?"
Si Qing sighed, "Of course."
It started raining again at night, with thunder rumbling.
The man snuggled into her arms and poked his head out.
"Tonight is our last night."
"Yes, I know," she said, raising her hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of the man's eyes. "My lord, you should rest early."
The man frowned: "Then hold me tight."
As she pulled him into her arms, he inhaled the fragrance of her hair and said, "Xiao Zhu, I'm sorry, it's my fault."
"...Why do you say that, Lord Marquis?"
I lied to you.
He remained silent for a long time: "And because of my own selfish feelings, you were poisoned by a curse."
"Do you hate me? If it weren't for me, perhaps you could still have maintained a respectful relationship with Lord Yin? Even if those days were very stifling... But no matter what, I was the one who destroyed your relationship with him."
"I don't love him anymore, and I don't hate you either."
In truth, Leng Cuizhu harbored deep hatred for Si Qing. Only now did she understand why Yin Yuan looked down on those royal relatives and nobles all the time. She should really report Si Qing, this lawless person, to the authorities and have him arrested.
But her feelings for him were complicated. Of course she hated him, but as for everything else... she was completely unsure.
Perhaps sometimes, it's better to live a little more carefree.
"My relationship with Yin Yuan broke down, but it's not entirely your fault. I had already broken ties with him before you did."
"Oh..." Si Qing nodded, "I heard that Lord Yin is not in good health?"
"Have you two ever consummated your marriage in the past ten years?"
She didn't understand why Si Qing was asking this. After hesitating for a long time, she decided to tell the truth, since a lie would be too fake.
She and Yin Yuan had been together for over a decade but had never shared a bed. If this were to be said, no one would believe it, right?
"Yes, but not often... Why?"
Si Qing whispered, "Lord Yin, you wouldn't have died without an heir, would you?"
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