Chapter 76 "You want it that badly?"...
The tactic of provoking someone is indeed effective.
The dodder was so angered that it fainted on the spot.
She and Eun worked together to dredge the dodder, carried it to the bathroom, and placed it in a bathtub filled with hot water.
"Does this really work?"
As she splashed water on the dodder, looking at his skin reddened by the boiling water, she asked Eun, "Isn't this really torturing him?"
Eun shook his head and took the water ladle from her hand: "If your body aches, scalding it until you can't feel anything will stop the pain."
As he spoke, he scooped up a large ladle of water and splashed it on the dodder's face.
Leng Cuizhu watched in stunned silence, but did not say anything to stop it. She watched helplessly as Tu Si Zi's face turned bright red from the scalding water, and her skin became wrinkled from being soaked in the water, making her look like a red date.
"...Shouldn't that be enough?"
"Okay." The man then put down the water ladle, turned around, and smiled.
"His condition will continue for some time. In the meantime, I will take care of him. Please don't tire yourself out, Madam."
"Thank you for your hard work."
She tiptoed to kiss the man's cheek, but unexpectedly, the man pulled her around the waist, turned her body to the side, and kissed the tip of his lips.
A scarlet lipstick mark was imprinted on his face.
"You," she said reproachfully, her eyes lowered, "knowingly committed the crime..."
"You want it that badly?"
“Yes,” the man answered readily, “Madam, would you be willing to give it to me?”
She kissed him again.
This time, their lips and teeth intertwined, their love lingering.
The dodder huddled in the bathtub, staring silently, and sighed deeply.
He was truly at his wit's end, and muttered to himself, "Can you please not kiss in front of me... It's so annoying."
In the following days, Eun took over the care of the dodder instead of her.
Yuen's caregivers took surprisingly good care of the dodder. It didn't cry or fuss every day. After eating, it would sleep for more than ten hours at a time. When it woke up, it would drink a few sips of water and then fall asleep again. It didn't even have a chance to wail.
She was thus able to catch her breath.
Such peaceful days did not last long. Chen Xun sent someone to tell her that Si Qing's body had been burned in a fire.
"This matter actually happened a long time ago, but the prefect ordered a news blackout, so it didn't get out."
"Young Master Si died at just the right time. His death is an opportunity for us. No one will care about that land anymore. We can do whatever we want on it without having to pay him tribute every year."
She was riding in the same carriage as Chen Xun when she heard this and frowned, asking the man in the main seat, "Why...why did Lord Yin do this?"
Chen Xun waved his hand: "Hey, it's not exactly good news after all. If we don't block the news, will it cause unrest among the people?"
"Speaking of which, the prefect is truly selfless and righteous. He would rather let his own scandalous rumors spread like wildfire and become the talk of the town than let the people be alarmed in the slightest."
"Rumors of a romantic affair?"
"Sigh, it's about you and him, only the rumors are a bit more outrageous than the truth."
"Lord Yin would probably love to hear that, my lady..." Chen Xun said awkwardly, "I'd better not tell you."
"Adults can be too self-centered sometimes, often neglecting the feelings of those around them, even their spouses..."
What's the meaning?
Could it be that Yin Yuan was behind those rumors, trying to make her the subject of gossip and scorn? This man is so cunning.
Leng Cuizhu frowned, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
"Today I'm taking you to see Young Master Si. My lord doesn't know this, so please don't tell him, my lady. He will definitely not let me off the hook then."
"Alright, sir, please rest assured."
“By the way, my lady,” Chen Xun continued, “the saltworks… will be completed in a few days, and we need to borrow your land deed and signature.”
Leng Cuizhu readily agreed: "Alright, shall I go myself?"
When she took over the land deed, she thought it wouldn't be difficult to resell it to Li the salt merchant later, but she didn't expect that there would be several additional clauses on the back of the land deed.
One of the clauses is that the seller is only selling the land use right, not the ownership, and the successful bidder may not resell the contract without the seller's permission.
Therefore, she was forced to own that large piece of land, and once Si Qing died, she couldn't get rid of it even if she wanted to.
Chen Xun didn't react much to this, after all, controlling a woman was a piece of cake for him. Although Li the salt merchant was dissatisfied, he only made a few remarks and then let it go.
"No need, just sign your name."
"By the way, my lady," Chen Xun rubbed his hands together, "could you please invite Lord Yin out for a visit another day?"
She really couldn't understand Chen Xun anymore: "...Just playing around?"
"Are you the one who wants to play with him?"
"Oh, it's Mimi. Mimi thinks you two are very loving and wants to know more about you."
He suddenly said, "MiMi is of marriageable age."
“Oh, okay,” she nodded, “I’ll try my best to say so.”
After all, he made money off him, so it wouldn't be good to refuse.
After she and Chen Xun went to see Si Qing's body, they returned to their carriage without lingering at the supervisor's office. Chen Xun insisted on personally escorting her to the Yin residence, presumably wanting her to go and discuss their travel plans with Yin Yuan right now.
Leng Cuizhu: "...Are you in such a hurry to play with him?"
“It’s Mimi,” Chen Xun explained. “I won’t come then, only Mimi will.”
"I've never seen an adult take Mimi out in public."
Chen Xun put his hands in his pockets and answered naturally and without any flaws: "Sigh, I don't like going out. It's too noisy outside. It's not as comfortable as staying at home."
Leng Cuizhu stared at him, smiled, and said nothing.
When they arrived at the Yin residence, it was the time for dinner, around 5 PM. She and Chen Xun pushed and shoved each other at the gate, neither wanting to be the first to step through the threshold.
"Sir, please stop fooling around..."
"Hey, you go in first, I'll follow behind you."
Leng Cuizhu was utterly exhausted from the ordeal, so she could only lower her head and step over the threshold, glancing back as she went inside to see if Chen Xun was following.
Unexpectedly, I bumped into someone without paying attention.
"Ouch!" The guard was so startled that he rushed to pull her away, but then became frightened by the stares from behind and hurriedly withdrew his hand.
She was dazed by the guard's chest and stumbled back a few steps to grab the door frame.
"Leng Cuizhu." Yin Yuan frowned and pulled her back. "Watch where you're going. Is there someone behind you that you're so worried about?"
“No,” she turned to point, but found no one at the gate. “Hey, why did he leave…”
Yin Yuan asked warily, "Who is he?"
It's over.
Here we go again.
She swallowed hard, not wanting to get entangled with him any longer: "Um... are you free in a few days? You haven't spent time with me in ages."
"Um."
"I've asked them to arrange a time to pick you up."
She paused for a moment: "Should we invite your wife too?"
"Why should I call her..."
Before they could finish speaking, Yi Yinwan rode in from outside, took the reins, and stopped the horse precisely in front of the two of them.
She dismounted and reached out to Yin Yuan: "Brother, give me one hundred taels of silver."
"I've already given you an advance on your monthly allowance for the next six months."
Yi Yinwan said matter-of-factly, "I've spent all my money. Hosting a party and inviting all the ladies would be very expensive. Besides, I also need to spend money on clothes."
“Those ladies from powerful families all have five or six maids around them, and they also have their own horse farms. I also want a horse farm and maids. If I don’t have them, I will be isolated by those vain women.”
"They might even whisper in your husband's ear and make him ostracize you."
"..."
Seeing that Yin Yuan ignored her, Yi Yinwan reached out to Leng Cuizhu.
"Huh? Me?" Leng Cuizhu blinked. "Madam, I don't have that much money..."
"No." Yi Yinwan smiled and pulled her hand back. "I wanted to ask you if you would like to socialize with those ladies with me?"
“Of course I’d like to take you, but,” she looked Leng Cuizhu up and down, “you’re dressed too shabbily, and those people will laugh at you.”
"Unfortunately, I don't have the money to buy you any new clothes. I'm willing but unable to."
"well."
"well."
Yin Yuan remained expressionless and pulled Leng Cuizhu inside.
"How about... we give it to her?" she said timidly. "Madam has a legitimate reason, and I think she's a very nice person."
Yin Yuan: "She's faking it."
"From now on, I should have less contact with her."
She insisted, "Don't always think so badly of people."
"And what about you?"
The man lowered his eyes and tightened his grip on her wrist: "Why do you always think the worst of me?"
"Because what you did was wrong in the first place."
"What's the point of discussing right and wrong..."
It's because she doesn't love him.
Yin Yuan knew perfectly well what was going on.
She is not incapable of showing favoritism.
She just didn't love him.
Even if he could hold her hand, and she would lean against his chest, he couldn't find any affection in her smile.
Ironically, this kind of hypocritical life is something he could never have obtained no matter how much he begged for before.
So even if the informant tells him that she lives a life surrounded by admirers while he's away, he pretends not to hear and stays by her side.
Yi Yinwan was annoyed at the gate of the mansion for a while, then dismounted and went inside.
"Hey, Madam, wait for me..." The little maid hurriedly followed behind her.
"Lily of the Valley, don't follow me!" she shouted at the maid.
His eyes darted around a few times, then a smile returned to his face: "Go check the accounting office; if the manager isn't here, steal some silver."
The young maidservant was rather reluctant, and said hesitantly, "Oh, yes, Madam..."
She left the maidservant behind and went back to her room.
There were no servants in the house, and incense was burning in the inner room.
She hurriedly lifted the gauze curtain, stepped into the inner room, and rummaged through the drawers. After a while, she found a roll of tobacco, and her expression, which was on the verge of collapse, eased slightly.
"Did you get the money?"
Leng Zhen sat on the edge of the bed, flipping through medical books, and looked up to ask her.
Yi Yinwan stood there rolling a cigarette: "No, I'll give you the money for the medicinal herbs in a few days."
He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Should I go back first?"
"Where is the finished product? You didn't even manage to create a basic framework, did you?" She spread her hands at him.
Leng Zhen hesitated for a moment, then took out a medicine bottle from her pocket and handed it to her: "This medicine has been tested. It's not very toxic, but it can completely dissolve in the blood, so it won't be detected in an autopsy."
"If you don't believe me, you can catch an enemy and try it. This dose is barely enough to kill a woman."
"Then, shall I try your mother?" She lit the rolled tobacco on the candle flame, gently fanning the smoke to let the wisps of smoke spread throughout the room.
Leng Zhen covered her nose from the stench, her eyelids red and wet: "Do as you please."
"Perfect, this will allow me to expose your misdeeds and claim credit for it."
"Who would believe you if you said that?"
Yi Yinwan rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and leaned closer to him: "You started the fire, didn't you?"
She bent down and held the smoldering cigarette to his cheek, letting the strands of hair get singed and burned.
"Stop causing me trouble."
Leng Zhen glanced sideways at the strand of hair beside her cheek, remaining completely still: "I didn't start that fire."
“Someone is even more eager to cover up the crime than we are.”
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