Chapter 88 "Why did you lie to me?"...
"Zhenzhen's little brother—"
Leng Zhen was sitting in the pavilion of the Yin residence when she heard the soft call. She hurriedly gathered the medical books on the table and fled in a panic, but unfortunately, she was blocked by the woman who had come to her aid.
Jiang Mimi's delicate cheeks were covered with a thin layer of powder, which made her skin look even more translucent and rosy, and her smile was as beautiful as a flower.
She feigned a frown and asked Leng Zhen, "Why are you running away? Are you annoyed that I'm coming?"
Exhausted by the harassment over the past few days, Leng Zhen was too lazy to argue with her and gritted her teeth, saying, "Get out of my way."
"Why are you so angry?" Jiang Mimi was not discouraged at all. Instead, she insisted on pulling him to sit down in the pavilion. "After your father and mother come back in a few days, I won't be able to come to see you as often or be so intimate with you."
Leng Zhen glared at her, gritting her teeth: "You shameless woman, you actually know that what you're doing is disgraceful."
"Are the things you did really respectable?" Jiang Mimi raised an eyebrow. "I saw you coming out of Madam's room late at night."
"What do you think a man and a woman doing alone in a room late at night?" She rested her chin on her hand and laughed. "She's your elder, several years older than your mother. How shameless."
Jiang Mimi smiled, her eyes deep and unfathomable: "You like someone your age, Madam, so why don't you consider me? I'm much younger than Madam."
Leng Zhen laughed angrily: "I don't like people younger than me."
"No, I'm actually a year or two older than you."
She changed the subject abruptly: "You must have some kind of secret fetish, right? That's why you like older women."
Leng Zhen grabbed a water glass from the table and splashed it in her face, but instead of hitting her, she also wet the medical book.
As he wiped the water stains on the table with his sleeve, he sneered, "It's not like everyone is like you, whose mind is only filled with romance all day long, and who can't help but have wild thoughts when he sees a man and a woman together. If you really feel lonely, I can introduce you to a few men, all younger than you. Of course, I also have older ones. I can even find you someone who likes old men."
Jiang Mimi scoffed, "I have no interest at all."
"You said you weren't having an affair with your wife," she covered her lips, "Could it be... that you're plotting something?"
Her gaze fell on the medical book in his hand: "I think I know what you're up to."
Leng Zhen frowned.
"Jiang Mimi, I don't care if you know it or not, but if you can't control your mouth and keep talking nonsense, I will definitely kill you."
"Murder is illegal." Jiang Mimi pouted. "You dare to do something illegal?"
Leng Zhen opened her mouth to curse, but suddenly realized something and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Of course you wouldn't dare to kill or set fires, but why wouldn't you dare to make threats?"
“Heh,” she asked bluntly, “you want to be the head of the family, don’t you?”
Leng Zhen suddenly stood up: "I'm leaving."
Jiang Mimi pulled him away, and they wrestled to the edge of the waterside pavilion: "Hey, don't go. Is that right? You want to replace the master and become the head of the family."
“Master only has you as his child. Although you are from a concubine’s family, who knows, this Yin family might really be yours in the future,” she said slowly, stroking her lower abdomen. “If the child in my belly is a girl.”
Leng Zhen: "...You're pregnant?"
"Yes, the master will be very happy when this child is born."
“Even if the master doesn’t like this child, he is still born out of wedlock, so we can’t lose the public affection for him.”
“From now on, he’ll be your younger brother, or rather, your younger sister.” She whispered in his ear, “And who knows, he might even become your daughter.”
He stared wide-eyed in astonishment, as if he had been shocked by something: "How is this possible? Don't try to fool me!"
He tried to run, but Jiang Mimi held his arm tightly and he couldn't escape. He tried to push her away, but in his panic, he accidentally pushed Jiang Mimi into the water, splashing water everywhere.
Jiang Mimi was struggling in the water, calling for help. He took off running, but was suddenly stopped.
"Leng Zhen!"
Leng Cuizhu ran to the waterside pavilion, grabbed him to stop him from escaping, and ordered the guards following behind her to go into the water to rescue Jiang Mimi.
She was furious and raised her hand to slap him, but seeing his cowardly look as he dodged, she became even angrier. She pinched his cheek, yelling as she did so, "How old are you? Can't you take any responsibility? You pushed someone into the water and instead of trying to save them, you just ran away. Have you no shame? Or are you planning to make me clean up your mess again? What's the difference between being your mother and being a scapegoat?"
She and Yin Yuan had just returned from the salt field and hadn't even had a chance to sit down and rest when they saw Leng Zhen bullying Jiang Mimi. Who wouldn't be angry in that situation?
Leng Zhen covered her face, speechless, and glared fiercely at her, not only at her but also at everyone around her, including Jiang Mimi who had just been rescued.
"Cough, cough..." Jiang Mimi coughed up water, her voice trembling, "Young Master Leng Zhen, I don't know how I angered you so much that you became so furious and tried to kill me..."
"You!" Leng Zhen pointed at Jiang Mimi, but couldn't utter a word.
Leng Cuizhu slapped his hand away: "What did Miss Mimi do to offend you? What did she say to offend you? Tell me!"
“She, she…” Leng Zhen knew she couldn’t say those things, let alone use them as evidence that he hadn’t pushed her without cause, so she could only accept her bad luck. “Fine, it’s my fault, it’s all my fault.”
"What are you doing, acting all nonchalant? Is this how you admit your mistake?"
"My lady." Jiang Mimi tugged at her dress and whispered, "My lady, let it go. Young Master Leng is young and doesn't know any better. He didn't mean to bully or scold me. It's just that I didn't do well enough and made Young Master Leng dislike me... I will definitely stay out of the house less in the future."
"My lady, please don't get angry over my frail body. It would be bad if you fell ill from anger..."
"Mi Mi." Leng Cuizhu felt a pang of heartache that defied words.
Mingming Mimi hadn't done anything wrong, so why should she suffer this humiliation? She didn't understand. The one who was wrong was clearly the abuser, so why did they always pick on the victim? And they even said things like "correct your mistakes if you have them, and strive to improve if you don't"... Blindly giving in would only make the abuser feel more at ease and more fearless. At that point, even her very existence would become a mistake.
The blame should not fall on the victims' words or actions, nor on how much skin they exposed that might spark speculation. The real problem lies with those who gaze upon them, those in positions of power, and those who wield authority. The objectification and oppression they bring are subtle and pervasive, subtly disciplining people without their awareness.
Leng Cuizhu turned to the guards and said, "Lock Young Master Leng Zhen in the woodshed."
Leng Zhen's eyes widened: "Why are you locking me up!"
“Okay,” she nodded without explaining, “then let’s put Young Master Leng Zhen in the water for an hour or two, until he’s bloated, and then take him out.”
Leng Zhen panicked: "No, no, no! I'll go to the woodshed, I'll go!"
He slunk away, being dragged by the guards towards the woodshed.
"Mimi, are you alright?"
Leng Cuizhu rushed to help Jiang Mimi, but as soon as her fingertips touched Jiang Mimi's arm, Jiang Mimi clutched it in pain, her face filled with terror.
"My wife, I..."
Leng Cuizhu exchanged a glance with her and suddenly realized.
"Quickly, help Aunt Jiang back to her room."
Just as Leng Cuizhu had predicted, after returning to her room, Jiang Mimi dismissed the servants and said that something was wrong with her abdomen, fearing that the short time she had been soaking in the water had stimulated the baby in her womb.
"I'll go find you a doctor!"
"Hey!" Jiang Mimi grabbed her, tears welling in her eyes. "My lady, it's no need..." "What doesn't belong to me is useless no matter how much I pursue it." She murmured, wiping away her tears, "Just like how Master doesn't like me..."
"In this mansion, only my wife treats me sincerely."
“Miss Mimi…” Leng Cuizhu could completely understand Jiang Mimi’s suffering. She longed to marry the man she loved, but when she was actually with him, she found that the man did not love her. Not only was she unfamiliar with the place, but she also accidentally became pregnant with her former master’s child. Every day in the mansion, she lived on thin ice.
Despite her heartache, she still had to ask, "Actually, you're not pregnant, are you?"
She's had children before. Jiang Mimi lied about being pregnant, and she had already figured it out, but she hadn't said anything because it wasn't really her business and there was no need to interfere.
"Eh."
Jiang Mimi stopped crying: "My wife...you have such discerning eyes."
“I didn’t mean to lie to you, my lady. When I told you, I really thought I was pregnant. The doctor said so too. Later I found out it was just gas.”
"I lied to you, my lady, just to win your favor..." Jiang Mimi reached for Leng Cuizhu's hand, but Leng Cuizhu dodged it.
“Little sister, you’ve just been soaking in water, so you should rest well now. I’ll have them make you a few more hot water bottles. When Master comes back from his business tonight, I’ll tell him everything about how Leng Zhen bullied you today, and I’ll definitely get justice for you.”
Jiang Mimi's words and actions were never very sincere, so Leng Cuizhu was a little hesitant to get to know her better.
Besides, this was the first time she had encountered someone trying to gain her attention. Why would she want her pity? She had neither money nor power, and she preferred to believe that Jiang Mimi was deceiving her to lower her guard.
In order to talk to Yin Yuan about Jiang Mimi, she stayed at the Yin residence all day. During that time, she ran into Yi Yinwan, who had just finished playing polo and returned from outside. The two exchanged a few words, and Yi Yinwan asked her why she couldn't find Leng Zhen. She told her the truth, and Yi Yinwan chuckled for a while, then her expression turned somewhat unpleasant.
That night, she was having dinner alone in the small pavilion when she caught a glimpse of Yin Yuan passing by the long corridor opposite, followed by several unfamiliar people. Judging from their clothes, they should be a few minor officials.
The group walked toward the study. She stared at Yin Yuan, and after a moment, the man noticed her gaze and looked up to meet her eyes.
He glanced at it and quickly looked away, acting as if nothing had happened.
She looked at Yin Yuan's silhouette hidden in the darkness from afar, slightly surprised.
That's normal, of course official business is more important. She lowered her head and peeled shrimp, thinking she would go find him later and talk to him.
After finishing her meal, she went to the kitchen to help the maids wash the dishes for a while. Thinking it was time, she composed herself and headed to her study.
When he arrived at the door of the study, the guard stopped him: "The master is discussing important matters with someone."
She was a little surprised, thinking he should be resting at this hour: "Oh... then when is he free?"
"The adults are discussing important matters with someone."
“I know you’ve already said it once, I just want to see him and ask him when he’s free.”
"The adults are discussing important matters with someone."
The guard kept repeating the same sentence, which made her quite helpless. She understood that Yin Yuan didn't want to see her, so she turned and headed towards the gate of the mansion.
These past few days, Yin Yuan has been much colder towards her than before. She doesn't know why. Perhaps he still suspects her relationship with Chen Xun and his group? She's pondering whether or not to punish her according to the law. Hopefully, it's not because of this.
As she passed by the artificial hill, she remembered encountering a skinny gray rabbit behind it not long ago. So she went to the kitchen, grabbed a basket of radishes and greens, and fed the rabbit behind the artificial hill.
As soon as she stepped out of the artificial hill, she caught a glimpse of the figure standing by the pond.
"Yin Yuan?"
The man was clearly stunned. After a long while, he slowly turned his head to glance back, as if to see if she had left.
But she caught him red-handed: "You weren't in the study at all?"
She leaned closer to him, bombarding him with questions: "Why did you lie to me? Why did you say you were discussing something important? Was your important matter just standing there daydreaming?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
