Chapter 44 She had never seen a man like that before…
At the end of the month, Leng Cuizhu went to Lu Miaolian's private residence in the suburbs on time, as agreed.
The private residence was said to belong to Lord Chen. It was originally an abandoned Taoist temple, which was neglected and forgotten by the officials. Lord Chen took the opportunity to renovate it and line his own pockets.
"Oh dear, your outfit," Lu Miaolian said, twirling a flower and looking her up and down, even bending down to smell it, "is too plain. At night, once it gets dark, it'll be impossible to tell you're wearing makeup. And why didn't you wear a sachet or something?"
"Sit here, I'll get you dressed again, it's still early anyway."
"Ah, no need..."
Leng Cuizhu was forced to sit in front of the mirror, and Lu Miaolian took apart her combed hair and re-braided it strand by strand.
"Drink what's on the table."
Leng Cuizhu obediently picked up the porcelain bowl on the table and smelled the dark water inside.
Contraceptive Decoction.
She knew this taste all too well. Back in the brothel, she drank this every month. Drinking it for so long had completely disrupted her menstrual cycle, and her body had grown weaker day by day.
But how could a courtesan not drink contraceptive soup, unless she was absolutely certain that she was pregnant and that the man would want her?
Otherwise, even if she gets pregnant, the madam will send men to abort her child.
After finishing her soup, she said, "What if he doesn't know how?"
"Prevention is better than cure," Lu Miaolian smiled. "You don't necessarily want to get pregnant with that sickly man's child, give birth, and then extort money from him, do you?"
“Cuizhu, those nobles are all very cunning and ruthless. They won’t let you extort them as you please. Don’t think that just because he was well-behaved when he was young, he won’t be cunning now.”
Leng Cuizhu remained silent.
"By the way, that Yin guy, he's your lover, you don't know about this, do you?"
"Why would I tell him these things..."
"That's good," Lu Miaolian breathed a sigh of relief. "What do you think I'll do? I'll definitely try to curry favor with him and have some fun with him in bed."
She deliberately provoked Leng Cuizhu: "Didn't you like him so much? You used to sleep in the same bed with me, and you would talk about Young Master Yin every night... I thought you were moaning while you were taking care of yourself!"
"You," Leng Cuizhu's face turned bright red, "What are you saying... I don't remember anything like that. Don't talk nonsense!"
"Tch, you cried out and then denied it," Lu Miaolian rolled her eyes, pulled out the kingfisher hairpin from her head, and found a good place to insert it into her hair bun. "Anyway, Cuizhu, I sincerely hope that you and that Yin something can be together for a long time, and your child, what an adorable little boy."
"After we finish this game, I'll bring gifts and pay you a formal visit, okay?"
She lowered her head and said, "Mmm."
She never thought Lu Miaolian's sincerity was fake.
But she could no longer reciprocate Lu Miaolian's sincerity. If Lu Miaolian knew that she was merely a concubine, that she and Yin Yuan had long harbored resentment, and that their child treated her as an enemy, she would certainly not be able to accept it. She did not want to cause Miaolian any more pain and sorrow.
"Cuizhu, I also want to ask, what's it like to sleep with only one man?"
"……have no idea."
At dusk, Chen Xun arrived with Li the Salt Merchant, but the young master Si Qing was nowhere to be seen.
“It’s not that easy to invite him,” Li, the salt merchant, stroked his beard. “However, he did promise to come tonight. I wonder what time it will be, and whether he will break his promise.”
"Let's just wait and see. We'll make plans if it doesn't come by dawn."
Lu Miaolian stood at the door for a while, then flicked her handkerchief and went to her seat to drink with Li, the salt merchant.
“Wife, let’s go inside and sit down. Be careful not to catch a cold standing in the wind.” Chen Xun rolled up his sleeves and held out his hand to Leng Cuizhu.
He didn't seem surprised to see Leng Cuizhu there, and treated her as usual, only more indifferently.
He led her to the table and suddenly blurted out, "Actually, I originally wanted Lord Yin to join us as well."
“But, my wife knows it’s his own unwillingness. It was the same last time he was at my residence; he left after only a few words. Sigh,” he said. “It seems he’d rather have you come than get involved himself. It’s truly a hardship for you.”
“He…” She pursed the rouge on her lips, “He doesn’t know about this. I didn’t tell him. He didn’t ask me to come; I decided to come on my own.”
"Please, sir, do not tell him..."
"oh?"
Chen Xun smiled brightly and said, "I see. My lady has great courage. Of course, I will keep my mouth shut."
The banquet featured few dishes, but mostly wine.
She was initially a little hungry and thought she could eat something at the banquet, but when she saw that the table was full of turtles and bear paws, she lost her appetite and quietly sat in the corner playing the pipa.
It started raining outside. At first, it was a gentle drizzle, but after she played three strings, the gentle drizzle turned into a torrential downpour, pouring down relentlessly.
"Hey, beauty, come drink with me!"
Li, the salt merchant, was drunk and pointed at her, beckoning her to come over.
Lu Miaolian, who was pouring the wine, froze for a moment, then raised her hand and slapped the man across the face: "You old geezer, what are you saying!"
He winked at her and said, "Cuizhu, go out for a stroll and see if Young Master Si's carriage has arrived yet."
"Oh, okay."
She immediately slipped out.
The servants were all taking shelter from the rain under the eaves, and she was squeezed with nowhere to hide. She was also wearing heavy clothes. After wandering around, she found a room with its door wide open and rushed in.
"Hey!" Someone seemed to call out from outside.
She didn't care much and lifted her skirt to find a place to rest in the house.
Lu Miaolian adorned her with many gold and silver jewels, her clothes were embroidered with peony vine patterns, and she wore a smoky pink gauze dress over them.
The hairpins on her head jingled, making her scalp ache from the weight. So she sat down on the steps under the statue and took off the hairpins one by one, rubbing her scalp.
Knowing that this place was converted from a Taoist temple, Leng Cuizhu was not surprised to see a statue inside. However, she did not expect that the statue was still wearing a blue kasaya, which looked brand new after so many years.
Out of sheer curiosity, she took the robe off the statue and examined it in her hand.
"Huh." There was a moon-white cicada-patterned robe under her feet, which looked like it was also worn by the statue.
"that……"
She was startled by the sudden sound and clutched the robe tightly to her chest.
"who?"
That clear, moon-like voice came from behind the statue.
"Have you seen the clothes I left here? I can't find them..."
"Clothes?" She looked at the robe in her hand, thinking to herself that the person who had lost it must not have lost this one. This one was studded with jewels, dazzling and precious; a servant certainly couldn't afford it. The person hiding here was, of course, a servant, who, like her, had nowhere else to shelter from the rain and had come in.
Moreover, she wanted to keep the robe and try to pry off the gems on it to sell for money.
"I didn't see it."
"good……"
"What kind of clothes? Let me see if I can find any for you," she asked him through the tall statue.
After a long pause, the man finally replied, "...I forgot."
She picked up the semi-transparent cicada-feather garment at her feet: "Here, I have an extra one here, but I stepped on it a few times. You can make do with it for now."
Shall I bring it to you?
"Need not!"
"You, you can just put it on the stone steps, don't go around to the back."
What a weird person.
She complied with his request and folded the cicada's skin neatly, placing it on the stone steps.
The man reached out a hand from behind to take it.
Beautiful hands. The skin was as smooth as mutton fat jade. Slightly thin, with a hollowed-out back. A green agate bracelet adorned her wrist, the loose bracelet making her arms appear even more slender.
The arms were bare, as was the exposed section of the arm.
He quickly took the cicada skin away and remained silent for a long time afterward.
The rain outside has stopped.
Leng Cuizhu: Aren't you leaving yet?
"...I'm leaving."
"You should go first?"
"I'm not leaving, I want to stay a little longer."
The fact that Lord Chen didn't send anyone to fetch her back means that Si Qing hasn't arrived yet, and she can continue to stay here and rest.
"……good."
A while later.
Leng Cuizhu: Aren't you leaving yet?
"...Wait a little longer."
His words carried a hint of helplessness.
After a while, Leng Cuizhu couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep against the statue, still clutching the blue kasaya tightly in her hand.
She slept until the next morning, when Chen Xun came in to wake her.
"Why did you sleep here all night, my lady?" Chen Xun helped her up.
She rubbed her eyelids and suddenly looked behind the statue: "Where is everyone?"
Chen Xun: "He didn't come."
"My wife must be tired after a busy night. Let's go back and rest first, and then we can make plans later."
She had no choice but to take the robe back with her.
The journey was long and it was impossible to walk back, so Lu Miaolian told Li Yanshang that they could ride in the same carriage.
“Young Master Si didn’t come at all last night. All that drinking was for nothing, and all that contraceptive soup you made was for nothing,” Lu Miaolian leaned on her shoulder. “When we get back, drink more water and flush out that medicine. Don’t let it stay in your body for too long; it’s not good for you.”
"You probably don't plan to have another child with that Yin guy, right? Or did you already have one?"
"...I'm already in my thirties, how could that be?" Besides, Leng Cuizhu doesn't like children, Yin Yuan doesn't like them, Leng Zhen doesn't like them either, and she doesn't like Yin Yuan and Leng Zhen either.
Lu Miaolian nodded: "That Yin guy is really healthy. You were drinking contraceptive soup all along, and you still managed to get pregnant."
"Can we stop talking about this kind of thing...?"
Lu Miaolian really does speak beautifully about matters between men and women.
The curtains were suddenly pulled back, and Li Yanshang poked his head in: "You're here."
"who?"
Before Leng Cuizhu could figure out what was going on, Lu Miaolian pulled her off the carriage, pushed her to the ground, and threw a handful of dirt at her face as she left.
Li, the salt merchant, rushed over: "Wife, this is our last chance! Young Master Si's carriage will be leaving tomorrow and will be passing by here later. Just lie down here and be quiet!"
"When you see the carriage coming, cry, cry out loud!"
“My cassock…”
"Hey, why are you even going back home! You're about to make a fortune, why would you want to go back to your run-down house!"
Leng Cuizhu reluctantly closed her lips.
These two are really unreliable.
She lay on the ground, then sat up a while later, brushed the dust off her hands, and turned her head but couldn't even see the dust trail from the carriage.
"So you really left me behind..." She smoothed a strand of hair behind her ear and smacked her lips.
The cassock he found was still on the carriage.
If I were to walk such a long distance, I knew I would never be able to make it back.
She simply listened to Li the salt merchant and lay down on the ground, staring at the green grass.
She pressed her ear to the ground, closed her eyes, and after a while, she heard the sound of horses' hooves approaching.
It seems that it is Young Master Si's carriage that has arrived.
She smeared some dirt on her face, picked out a few strands of hair to cover her cheeks, and pretended to look pitiful.
The caravan slowly approached and saw her lying in the middle of the road. The servant rushed over to call her.
"My wife, my wife?"
She frowned.
The servant muttered, "Madam? Has she fainted from some misfortune...?"
"Xiao Shi, the Marquis said to just drag anyone blocking the way aside!" the guard said as he walked, getting closer to catch a glimpse of her face. "Oh, what a beautiful lady... You wait here, I'll go back and ask the Marquis again!"
Her brow relaxed a little.
A moment later, the guard returned and waved his hand, saying, "Quickly, Marquis, you should say to drag him aside!"
"Let's drag it together, hurry up, the Marquis still needs to go back and feed Little Bamboo Leaf!"
She suddenly burst into tears, a few tears welling up in her eyes: "Ugh... my two elder brothers..."
The two people in front of them shouted in unison, "They're still alive! They're still alive!"
The guards ran back and asked again before Leng Cuizhu was helped up by several maids and put into the carriage.
The carriage was spacious and filled with a faint scent of fresh bamboo.
The carriage was wonderful in every way, with everything imaginable, but she was all alone inside.
Clearly, Young Master Si Qing was not riding in this carriage.
Leng Cuizhu then realized how difficult it was to meet this so-called Young Master Si.
In the past, this child would go to great lengths to see her, but he could never get a glimpse of her. How times have changed!
“Thank you so much, my lord. I have no way to repay you,” she said, taking off the agate bracelet from her wrist and offering it to the guard with both hands. “This is my most treasured possession. If you don’t mind, my lord, I would like this bracelet to stay with you, as if I were always with you and never left you.”
She looked up and gave the guard a gentle smile.
The guard, captivated by the sight, repeatedly agreed, "Yes, yes, madam! I'll deliver it to you right away! I'll come back and let you know how it went."
"Thank you, brother."
She wasn't actually very confident about it.
If sending a token could lure someone over, Lord Chen and Salt Merchant Li wouldn't have gone to such lengths to create opportunities to meet. Deep down, she wasn't sure if Si Qing still remembered her, or if she could win him over again.
Men and women are the same; they both like youthful, innocent bodies. But she's no longer as young and beautiful as she used to be; she's even a mother now.
Besides, the flutter of youth comes and goes quickly. How could someone like someone for over a decade? She didn't believe she wouldn't meet someone better during those years, just like she and Yin Yuan.
She used to love Yin Yuan to the point of obsession, but now they loathe each other.
But she had no other choice but to give it a try.
Everyone's hopes are pinned on her; she has to try.
She waited in the carriage for a long time until the midday sun was high in the sky, shining through the gaps in the window screen and falling on the delicate pink floral decoration on her forehead.
They still hadn't received a message from the guards.
Leng Cuizhu was unwilling to accept this.
She clutched the silk handkerchief in her hand, slowly moved to the window, and wanted to lift a corner of the curtain to look at the outside scenery, but unexpectedly the silk handkerchief in her hand flew outside in the wind.
"Oh, my handkerchief..."
She lifted the window curtain.
The man was standing outside the window, clutching the corner of a handkerchief, looking up to meet her gaze.
She saw tears in his eyes, which shimmered in the sunlight, but the tears quickly disappeared.
Like the silk handkerchief in his hand, it drifted away in the wind as soon as he let go.
He glanced at the carriage beside him, as if he was about to leave, but after hesitating for a long time, he finally lowered his eyes.
After a long while, he raised his eyes and smiled again.
"The sun is coming out……"
"It's so sunny, I can't even open my eyes."
Leng Cuizhu had never seen a man with such an elegant appearance, gentle demeanor, and tall, slender figure.
She was momentarily stunned: "Then, young master, please come in and sit down?"
Si Qing is much quieter than she was a decade or so ago.
The two sat side by side on the couch, neither of them speaking.
Leng Cuizhu took this opportunity to secretly observe him.
The scattered moles on his face, like snowflakes, made his skin appear even whiter. His lips were pale, and although he was thin, he was not the frail type.
In my memory, Si Qing didn't have so many moles on her face; perhaps many of them were newly grown.
"Squeak...squeak..."
Leng Cuizhu: "Huh?"
"What's wrong?" Si Qing asked her with a smile.
"……nothing."
She must have misheard and thought Si Qing was talking to her.
"I never expected to meet you here."
Me too.
The man's eyelashes fluttered, and he sighed, "So you still remember me."
"I thought I was the one saying that..." she murmured, head bowed. "You've really grown up now, much more so than when I first met you..."
She couldn't help but think of that night, when he lay in bed, his eyes filled with tears.
He was only fifteen years old at the time, still a child at heart, and liked to keep all kinds of furry creatures.
More than a decade has passed in the blink of an eye, and now he has grown into a man in his thirties, but she only feels distant and unfamiliar.
"want……"
As she hesitated to speak, she caught sight of the furry object on her shoulder and suddenly sprang to her feet.
"Ah! What... what is this?"
The creature sat in her seat, raised its forelegs, and cried out at her, "Squeak! Squeak!"
Upon seeing this, Si Qing immediately grabbed the creature and held it in her palm: "It's alright, it's a chipmunk, it only eats vegetables and doesn't bite. It's just greeting you."
The little guy was still squeaking in his palm, its tiny tail, like a foxtail grass, hanging outside, swaying back and forth.
Leng Cuizhu, still shaken, said, "...I see."
Why is he still raising these small living creatures?
Although Leng Cuizhu didn't like these small creatures, she didn't want to show it in front of Si Qing, so she simply asked softly, "Are they free-range?"
"Yes." Si Qing opened his hand and released the chipmunk in his hand. The little guy immediately climbed up his arm and into his sleeve.
She didn't want to sit back down, so she stood and asked, "...How big is it?"
Nineteen years old.
"Oh, it's so big..." She didn't expect that a little mouse would be older than her son. It seems that Si Qing really put in a lot of effort to raise it.
Then she would have an even harder time interfering with his sexuality.
"What's its name?"
The man paused, then looked up and fixed his gaze on her.
"Little candle."
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Author's note: Due to some reasons, I will be updating at 6:00 AM every day for the next few days.
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