Chapter 84 "Then I'll stay here for the night..."
The autumn rain continued, and the banana trees in the courtyard were battered and withered by the raindrops. The moss on the bricks and stones was washed even greener by the rain. The clear moonlight and the mottled raindrops intertwined and blended together.
Leng Cuizhu got out of bed, picked up the broken letter from the floor, folded it neatly, and stuffed it into the drawer.
She walked to the window to get dressed and style her hair, just as the man came up from behind and hugged her, brushing a strand of hair from her temple.
She turned her head away: "You should go back."
"One more time."
"I'm going to sleep..."
"Then I'll stay here tonight." With that, the man walked to the bedside, lifted the curtain, and lay back down.
She stood by the window, somewhat unwilling to accept this fact, lowering her eyes and tucking her hair back and forth again and again.
Why are you giving me deer antlers?
The man said calmly, "It treats deficiency and cold."
"Someone just gave me some deer antlers, so I brought them over for you."
Did Yin Yuan leave the evidence of his bribery with her?
She cursed under her breath, "Looks like the local officials are quite welcoming of you."
"They are no different from each other, colluding and plotting together. They sell official positions and titles, blinded by greed."
He would secretly badmouth people who gave him gifts?
"Oh, you're so honest and upright." She said casually, then turned to her desk and flipped through a book. "Sister Yi taught me a few archery techniques. I'm going to review them before I go to sleep."
"……Um."
"If you have nothing to do, go to sleep first. I'm very busy."
"Hmm." The man adjusted his collar.
She sat at her desk looking at picture books for half an hour. The rain outside gradually stopped. She glanced at the bedside and saw that the man was fast asleep. She then went out of the room to take a shower.
This was the first time she had used the bathroom since moving in.
She usually uses this bathroom alone. The bathtub and towels are all brand new. Leng Zhen washes in the bathroom in her own yard, while You En rarely washes because he flies around. Tu Si Zi just rinses her with water.
She added water to the basin, took off her clothes, and was about to step inside when someone knocked on the door and asked.
"My lady? My lady? Are you here?" It was a woman's voice.
She breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "Oh, I'm here. Who are you? What brings you here so late?"
The woman outside the door sobbed a few times: "My lady, it's me, Mimi..."
"My wife, I truly have no other choice, that's why I braved the rain to come to you. You must help me!"
"Ah, Miss Mimi," she said as she bent down to pick up her clothes, "don't rush, I'll be right out!"
"Wife, may I come in? It's raining so hard outside, I'm soaked to the bone..."
She paused for a moment, then thought for a while before saying, "Okay, you can come in."
In the end, she still didn't get to take a bath. Seeing that Jiang Mimi was soaking wet and looked pitiful, she gave the basin of water to Jiang Mimi and even found her own newly tailored nightgown for Jiang Mimi to wear.
While Jiang Mimi was taking a bath, she went in to refill the water and observed most of Jiang Mimi's body. It was a woman's body, unlike what Leng Zhen had said, which showed some strange...things.
"I escaped from the Yin family mansion. I had nowhere else to go but to come to you, Madam," Jiang Mimi said dejectedly.
"Then stay here for the night and make further plans?" Leng Cuizhu poured Jiang Mimi a cup of hot tea and said softly, "Sister, you don't need to worry too much. Perhaps Master Yin will forgive you."
“I hope so,” Jiang Mimi took the teacup and took a sip. “If Lord Yin dislikes me because of my escape, I have nothing to be upset about, since I was the one who broke the contract first.”
"If Lord Chen knew that I had turned this perfectly good road into this mess, he would definitely be angry and ignore me... So, my lady, please, don't tell them that I came here." She grabbed Leng Cuizhu's arm and pleaded softly.
Leng Cuizhu nodded: "Don't worry, I won't."
"Madam Jiang, it's getting late. Go and rest. I've made your bed in the west wing."
Jiang Mimi: "I want to sleep with my wife."
"Hahaha... Alright then." She pulled Jiang Mimi towards the west wing.
Halfway there, Jiang Mimi suddenly stopped: "Why are we going to the west wing instead of the room where my wife lives? The main room where my wife sleeps should be more spacious than the wing, right? The bed is also bigger... so that two people can move around comfortably."
"Hahaha... It's bigger than the side room."
But Yin Yuan is still lying in the main room. If the two of them were to face off, that would be disastrous.
Even if nothing's wrong, her bed is definitely big enough for two people, but it might not be big enough for three.
“But I’ve raised chickens in the house. They’re not only noisy, but they also like to poop everywhere. I’m afraid you won’t be able to stand it.”
"The west wing is the same; we can squeeze into that bed."
Seeing this, Jiang Mimi smiled and nodded, "Okay."
After confirming that Jiang Mimi was asleep in the middle of the night, she got up, dressed, and returned to the main room while yawning.
I don't know if Yin Yuan has woken up or not.
Since they haven't come to bother her, they probably haven't woken up yet, right?
When she reached the entrance of the main house, she pushed the door open and tiptoed into the house, stopping every three steps.
There was no one in the bed.
There was no one in the entire inner room.
She sat down at her desk, poured herself a cup of chrysanthemum tea, looked around the desolate, dark room, pondered for a long time, but finally succumbed to sleepiness and went to bed to rest.
This sleep was not comforting, but rather torturous.
She seemed to be bound by something, unable to move, forced to lie flat on the bed, enduring the torment and erosion of a storm.
Although it was comparable to torture, she gradually began to savor a distorted kind of pleasure from it. That pleasure spread from her spinal cord to her whole body, not only engulfing her but also tearing open every inch of her skin to fill it completely.
Finally, unable to bear it any longer, she was forced to twist her aching body and open her eyes.
"...Yin Yuan, what are you doing?"
The man on top of her suddenly covered her eyes.
No matter how she questioned or insulted him, he remained silent.
"Where did you come from?" She took a deep breath. "Look at yourself, do you still look like a decent person?"
The man finally spoke: "Taking advantage of someone in distress? Of course not."
"If you don't like upright gentlemen, I don't have to be one."
She didn't bother to listen: "Get down first, I want to turn over."
"no."
"Let go of my hands, stop covering my eyes, they're so itchy."
"Um."
After letting go, the man naturally hugged her and pulled her into his arms.
She was so tired that she didn't care about the intentions of the person next to her, so she simply let him hold her and fell asleep with her head on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry. We argued again tonight... and I made you angry. From now on, I won't interfere with your interactions with other people... as long as they are legitimate relationships."
"Men come in all shapes and sizes, so it's best not to have too much contact with them. If you insist, I won't stop you, I'm just giving you a heads-up." After saying that, Yin Yuan sighed.
The reason he initially requested a transfer from the county was because he feared Leng Cuizhu would slip out of his control and start associating with disreputable men, including Chen Xun. He worried that Chen Xun would lead her astray. Furthermore, public opinion in the county was already unfavorable to her and the Yin family; continuing her stay would likely cause trouble.
"If you could just listen to me..." The man stopped mid-sentence, "Go to sleep."
Leng Cuizhu had been having several dreams, but was startled awake by the man's patting of her back. She awkwardly replied, "Um... okay."
Too much nonsense.
In the following days, Jiang Mimi stopped coming to her house to stay in the rain. Instead, Yin Yuan kept bringing people to her house under various pretexts. Although he would bring all sorts of rare treasures and even have the servants punish Leng Zhen for her, she still found it annoying. She just didn't show it. She would always greet him with a smile, but secretly put sleeping pills in his water.
There was no other way; compared to sharing a room, she had more important things to do.
She planned to sneak out of the city for a few days at the end of the month to check on the salt fields. She had already sent a letter to Chen Xun, arranging to meet him outside the city gate, where he would send a carriage to pick her up. Lu Miaolian would also come, specifically to help her cover for her.
"I'm going to visit my former best friend in a few days and will need to stay at her house for a few days."
"Close female friend?"
"She's a good friend I made in the brothel. She's reformed now and runs a small business on her own."
She glanced at the man's expression out of the corner of her eye.
"Okay." Yin Yuan nodded. "How much money do you need? Have the butler allocate it to you."
She quickly waved her hand: "No, no! It's free, I just wanted to let you know."
"……good."
She felt that Yin Yuan's gaze towards her seemed a little strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was strange about it. In any case, he rarely showed that gentle smile.
Do you need servants?
"No need, I can go by myself. Please take care of Leng Zhen."
Yin Yuan's smile faded, and he lowered his eyelashes and said with a straight face, "Jiang is alright, that's good, let her take care of her."
"ah……"
Jiang Mimi should take care of Leng Zhen? They're not that far apart in age! Besides, they're sworn enemies, and they won't stop until they're dead!
"good."
At the end of the month, Lu Miaolian picked her up from the Yin residence in front of Yin Yuan and took her into a carriage that left the city.
Even after several months apart, Lu Miaolian was still radiant and kept chatting away with her.
"I recently adopted a godson, he's about the same age as your son. I'll introduce you two sometime!"
Leng Cuizhu asked calmly, "...What does your son do?"
“He sold himself into servitude to buy an official position,” Lu Miaolian raised an eyebrow. “Not bad, but certainly not as clean as your son.”
"Almost." She had originally wanted to tell Lu Miaolian that her son had also sold himself into servitude, and smiled inwardly, but ultimately didn't say it.
"Does Li Liangjia know that you've taken in a godson?"
"I know. If that child really becomes an official and can be used by us, that would be a good thing."
"Oh..." She seemed to understand, but then it suddenly occurred to her, "I heard that Lord Chen's official position was also bought?"
"He bought it all along the way, but it wasn't money he earned by selling himself. I heard it was... his late wife's dowry."
Leng Cuizhu murmured, "How come I've never heard of him having a deceased wife?"
"That young woman died less than three days after her marriage. At that time, Chen Xun was busy taking exams and didn't even get to see his wife one last time when he returned. Because the two of them had never consummated their marriage, and because this matter would affect his career if it got out, they always claimed to the outside world that they had never been married. I think that girl's name was something like Jiang... I forgot."
Leng Cuizhu frowned: "How heartless..."
Seeing this, Lu Miaolian said, "Sister, you seem to have become very sentimental. Do you really think there is such a thing as a perfect man in this world?"
Upon hearing this, she lowered her eyes, touched the scar on her wrist, and seemed to be deep in thought.
Yes, nothing is perfect.
Even Si Qing, whom she remembered for so long, brought her more pain than joy, and left her with an illness that might haunt her for life.
In that case, she should find the will and carefully examine what was written on it, squeezing out every last bit of value he left her.
Otherwise, why wait for all the wrong things she's done to be exposed?
Halfway through their journey, they passed a tea stall, and Lu Miaolian pulled her out of the carriage to drink water and rest at the tea stall.
"Oh, right, Miaolian, I brought you some deer antler," she said. "I've never taken it before, but I heard it's good for your health. Why don't you try it with me?"
Lu Miaolian nodded: "Great! I brought a cook with me, perfect. Let them use the knives from the tea stall to process it."
After a while, the servants brought out a few cups of deer antler blood wine. She and Lu Miaolian each tasted one cup but couldn't drink any more. They then discussed sending a few cups to the caravan next door.
Lu Miaolian went to deliver it, and she sat to the side watching.
“Brother, these are a few cups of deer antler blood wine, freshly squeezed. My sisters and I couldn’t finish them, and we were afraid that such good things would be wasted, so we brought them to you.” Lu Miaolian peeked into the carriage to see what was inside. “I can tell from the understated luxury of your carriage that there must be a cultured and learned gentleman inside.”
The coachman stared at the several cups of deer antler blood wine in front of him, unsure whether to accept them or not: "Ah, this..."
He only felt relieved after the person inside the car coughed lightly, and then took the tray and thanked Lu Miaolian.
After Lu Miaolian left, the coachman timidly put the wine into the carriage.
"She's only surrounded by women?"
"Yes, sir. The lady only has one woman of similar age by her side."
"And the servants? Were they all women?"
"No... no, he only had one or two maids with him, the rest were all men."
"How young are those men? What do they look like?"
Seeing that he was being pressed further and further, the coachman began to flatter him: "Uh, of course, I can't compare to you, sir!"
Upon hearing this, the man's brow furrowed even deeper. He lowered his eyes and stared at the deer antler blood wine on the table. The wine was cloudy, and the steam rising from it coiled in the air like a living snake.
Yin Yuan lifted the curtains and silently gazed at the woman sitting and drinking tea at the tea stall not far away.
Slightly tipsy, the woman leaned back in her chair, her delicate and charming face flushed. The snow-white shawl, as thin as a cicada's wing, slipped down to her forearm, making her look like a drunken, jade-like, slumped mountain.
...Was it really just a trip with my sisters?
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