Chapter 95 Hating "You hate me?"
The sun is warm and the wind is still; the grass and trees are tender and green.
The dappled sunlight flickered around the two of them, and the rustling of the branches overhead seemed to echo in the silence, as if Cui Ying's words, "Are you out of your mind?", still resonated.
Xiao Qiyu was stunned by her abrupt rebuke, his phoenix eyes narrowing slightly: "What did you say?"
He almost thought he had misheard. He had dressed up extravagantly for once, but instead of receiving praise, he was met with insults.
"I'm asking you, are you out of your mind?!"
Seeing that he dared to question her, Cui Ying became even more furious. She pointed at his conspicuous crimson robe and said, "Look at you! You're dressed like a peacock with its tail feathers spread out. What are you trying to do? Do you know that no one paid attention to what I taught this whole class? Everyone's eyes were glued to you!"
Xiao Qiyu wasn't annoyed. He simply said "Oh," and his gaze fell on Cui Ying's face as he casually asked, "So you looked at me too?"
Cui Ying was taken aback by his question and didn't react for a moment. Even the tip of her finger pointing at him curled up unconsciously.
Xiao Qiyu remained expressionless, leaning slightly closer to her, looking into her eyes, and slowly asked, "If you weren't looking at me, how would you know that everyone else was looking at me?"
"I……"
Cui Ying was speechless, and her face involuntarily turned red, as if all the blood in her body had rushed to her head.
She had walked over confidently, prepared to have a big argument with him, but his casual question threw her heart into disarray, leaving her with a feeling of helplessness, like slapping an empty shell.
"Don't talk nonsense to me. I'm very angry today."
Cui Ying was so angry that she withdrew her hand. Not knowing what to say in rebuttal, she managed to squeeze out a few stammering words: "Xiao Qiyu, you are simply unreasonable."
Xiao Qiyu sneered and moved even closer, casting a shadow over Cui Ying. With her dark eyes, jade-like face, black hair, and red clothes, she appeared ghostly and terrifyingly beautiful even in broad daylight.
"You, Cui Ying, actually call others unreasonable?" He spoke clearly, looking into her eyes. "Use your brain and think about it carefully. Who is unreasonable? I just wore a brightly colored dress. I didn't violate any rules or bother anyone. How did that make me crazy? What did I do to you?"
His gaze was intense, not wanting to miss any subtle change in her face. His expression was extremely cold, but his tone was amused: "Or is it that what you can't stand is not that no one cares about your teaching, but that you can't stand people looking at me, can't stand those eyes on me?"
"Who can't stand other people looking at you!"
Cui Ying was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Her almond-shaped eyes suddenly widened, and she arrogantly looked up at Xiao Qiyu, her cheeks flushed red, and her breath was hot with tension.
Suddenly, everything seemed to quiet down; all sounds disappeared, leaving only the clear and powerful heartbeats of the two people.
Xiao Qiyu stared at Cui Ying's slightly trembling eyelashes and lowered his voice: "Tell me, you just can't stand other people looking at me."
Cui Ying's lips moved, but in the end she only managed to squeeze out two words: "Annoying!"
After saying this, she turned around abruptly and ran away without looking back, her hair standing on end as if it had exploded.
Xiao Qiyu watched her retreating figure quietly, then looked down at the red dress and suddenly remembered that the two of them seemed to have worn the same red dress on their wedding day.
They really know how to turn their backs on someone.
Cui Ying was a master of change and transformation.
...
night.
As dusk settles, the most elegant Yinxiang Tower in the city is filled with the faint sounds of string and bamboo instruments and the wafting fragrance of incense.
Cui Ying, dressed in men's clothing, was drinking wine surrounded by many beauties. Behind the fluttering gauze curtain, a woman was plucking the pipa with her delicate fingers, the melody melodious and moving.
"Ugh! I'm so angry!"
Cui Ying downed the wine in her cup in one gulp. The tender pipa music failed to quell her anger. She looked up and repeated, "I'm so angry!"
She felt a tightness in her chest, and the raging anger in her heart not only did not dissipate with the alcohol, but instead grew even stronger.
"This liquor isn't strong enough, get me something stronger!" Cui Ying shouted.
The pipa music paused slightly.
A snow-white, lustrous hand, adorned with nail polish, gently lifted the gauze curtain, and the courtesan stepped out slowly, her makeup exquisite, her eyes smiling, gazing tenderly at Cui Ying.
"Who made our little aunt so angry?"
The courtesan gave a wink, signaling the girls to leave. Then she gracefully walked over to Cui Ying and sat down beside her. She personally picked up the wine pot and refilled her cup, her voice filled with concern: "Strong liquor is bad for your health. I think this fruit wine is very good. It's refreshing and has a sweet aftertaste."
Cui Ying didn't say anything, took the wine cup, and downed it in one gulp.
The courtesan observed her expression and smiled, "It's been a long time since I've seen you so distressed. Has someone upset you?"
Cui Ying frowned and said irritably, "Who else could it be? Besides that guy surnamed Xiao, who else in this world could make me this angry!"
A hint of surprise flashed in the courtesan's eyes: "Young Master Xiao? Since you married him, you have rarely come to my place to relieve your boredom. I just assumed that your relationship was still good."
"Me and him? We have a good relationship?"
Cui Ying scoffed as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world, rolling her eyes so hard they almost reached the sky: "I'd only be with him if the sun rose in the west."
The courtesan narrowed her beautiful eyes: "Is that so? But I've heard that some people travel thousands of miles to find their husbands, and because they're worried about their husbands' safety, they even dare to break into bandit camps."
Cui Ying choked on a mouthful of wine, nearly choking to death.
She wiped the wine stains from the corner of her mouth and immediately said, "What does that count for? It only shows my chivalrous spirit, my extraordinary courage, that I am... a dragon among men!"
Cui Ying answered with the idiom decisively, but her eyes flickered slightly.
She not only found it difficult to explain to outsiders, but also to herself, what exactly she felt for Xiao Qiyu.
bitter rivals?
That seems to be the case; it's been like this since I was little.
Yet there seems to be some inexplicable change.
It seems that everything changed starting with that damned kiss in the storage room.
She couldn't help but get angry when she saw him, but she felt something was wrong when she couldn't see him. Her heart would race if he got even slightly closer, but she couldn't sleep if he didn't get close...
Something's not right, something's really not right.
Cui Ying's heart felt as if it were shrouded in a thin mist, blurring her vision and making it difficult to distinguish left from right. This only intensified her resentment.
"In short, I hate him, even more than before," Cui Ying said angrily, swallowing another large mouthful of wine.
The courtesan smiled gently, looking at Cui Ying's expression, and said tenderly, "Do you dislike it?"
"But Third Sister, do you hate him as a person, or do you hate that he didn't treat you the way you wanted?"
Cui Ying's eyes flickered, and her eyelids felt like they had been stung by something, instantly raising goosebumps all over her body.
She forced herself to remain calm, raised her wine glass, and said absentmindedly, "What do you mean by that? I don't quite understand."
The courtesan didn't press further, but casually asked with a flicker of her eye, "How old is Third Sister this year?"
Cui Ying raised her chin, her slightly flushed cheeks glowing with a hint of pride: "In three more months, I'll be seventeen."
As soon as she said it, a thought flashed through her mind—Xiao Qiyu would be seventeen in a month.
She was startled by her own uncontrollable thoughts, not understanding why she could think of Xiao Qiyu in everything. She quickly shook her head and stopped thinking about him.
The courtesan said slowly and deliberately, "Our third sister is beautiful and has a straightforward personality. She is as good as any man in horseback riding and polo, but there is one thing: she was a little late in falling in love."
"Just like Du Liniang in The Peony Pavilion, who, during her dream in the garden, fell ill with lovesickness for the man in her dream before she even knew what love was. Or like Zhang Sheng in The Romance of the Western Chamber, who, after just one meeting with Cui Yingying, was captivated by her and even climbed over the wall to meet her, his infatuation becoming uncontrollable. Love between men and women in this world is often planted quietly in such a state of ignorance, and by the time one realizes it, it has already taken deep root in the heart and grown into a lush tree."
Cui Ying frowned more and more as she listened, shaking her heavy head vigorously: "Stop, stop, stop! What you're saying is so convoluted, it's making my head spin. I came here to drink with you and cheer myself up, not to listen to your stories."
The courtesan shook her head and sighed, then smiled sweetly: "Very well, I'll punish myself with a cup."
The two raised their glasses and clinked them together, and before they knew it, the conversation had drifted to other topics.
Slightly drunk and in a daze, Cui Ying suddenly blurted out, "By the way, what happened to that fat guy who bullied you back then? Has he ever bothered you again?"
The courtesan gave her a reproachful look and said, "It's been two years, and you still remember?"
Cui Ying said in a serious tone, "I definitely have to remember it. That was the fiercest fight I've ever had in the rest of my life!"
Time flies, and what seemed earth-shattering at the time now seems like nothing special.
It was nothing more than Cui Ying being incredibly audacious. She dressed as a man and went to a brothel to listen to music and watch dances. She happened to see a courtesan, who was then a virgin, being molested by a customer in a pavilion. Seeing this injustice, she pinned the man to the ground and beat him up.
The matter could be considered a big deal or a small deal. After all, Cui Ying did not reveal her identity. Once she left that door, no one would know that the third young lady of the Duke of Wei's mansion had given a good beating to a customer in a brothel.
But by sheer coincidence, Xiao Qiyu stumbled upon it.
Fourteen-year-old Xiao Qiyu was already much taller than his peers. His tall body was wrapped in a black armored robe, covered with light silver armor. He held a soft whip in his hand and stood in the corridor of Yinxiang Tower, looking at Cui Ying, whose hair was messy and who was riding on a strange man and throwing punches. His eyes were as cold as the surface of a river in December.
"He attacked me first!"
At that moment, Cui Ying was inexplicably flustered. When she looked into Xiao Qiyu's eyes, she felt a little scared. Like a child tattles, she impatiently explained to him, "He touched my face!"
Cui Ying couldn't remember what Xiao Qiyu's expression was like at the time; she only remembered that in the warm spring of March, she suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold.
"That man is long dead," the courtesan said lightly.
Cui Ying's eyes widened instantly: "Dead?"
The courtesan picked up her round fan and waved it a few times. Her tone was as calm as if she were talking about what to eat for breakfast: "When they were pulled out of the river, both of their hands were broken, and there were hardly any good spots on their bodies. No one knows who did it. He was a businessman who had made too many enemies. The government investigated for a while but couldn't find anything, so in the end, they just let it go."
Cui Ying felt a chill run down her spine, and her drunkenness subsided somewhat: "That was really scary, but it was well deserved."
After several rounds of drinks, the atmosphere in the elegant room gradually became more lively as the girls got more tipsy. Someone suggested that the girls start playing a game called "Heavenly Wedding".
Cui Ying, feeling playful, joined in the silliness. Her eyes were covered by a soft red veil, and amidst giggles, she stumbled and groped her way out.
The thin, hazy red gauze covered my eyes, and all I could see was a beautiful red expanse. People were coming and going in front of me, and I could only make out their general outlines. It was like seeing flowers through the clouds, which was quite charming.
Cui Ying swayed unsteadily, flailing his arms wildly, but couldn't touch anyone for a long time.
With great difficulty, she managed to hug someone, but the touch was not as soft as that of other girls; instead, it was firm and strong, and the person was also very tall.
She chuckled twice and groped around with both hands: "Let me touch this, which lady is this?"
My fingertips touched the other person's cheek first; the lines were distinct, even somewhat rugged.
Cui Ying mumbled drunkenly, "This lady is so handsome and spirited, I don't recognize her at all. Who could she be?"
Her fingertips traced down the bridge of her high nose and her slightly pursed lips, and further down, she touched a noticeable protrusion.
Cui Ying paused, a clear-headed question flashing through her muddled mind: No, why does this look like an Adam's apple?
Do women have an Adam's apple?
As if she didn't believe it, she reached down again and pressed her hand against the other person's chest—
Flat!
Cui Ying was completely stunned and suddenly ripped off the red blindfold.
The lamplight flickered, revealing a young man with jet-black hair and a handsome face. He stood tall and straight, with striking features, yet exuded a cool and aloof demeanor.
Xiao Qiyu glanced down at her, his face calm, but his eyes were as deep as an unfathomable ice cave.
Cui Ying sobered up instantly.
The surroundings were deathly silent. The girls who had been laughing and joking just moments before were now all trembling with fear, not daring to lift their heads.
Xiao Qiyu calmly looked at her, his gaze falling on her slightly flushed cheeks, and said in a deep voice, "You choose, whether you walk out of this door now or I carry you out."
Cui Ying felt a chill run down her spine and instinctively tried to run, but before she could move, her wrist was firmly gripped by a strong hand.
The next moment, Cui Ying felt dizzy and disoriented. Before she could react to what was happening, Xiao Qiyu had already nimbly hoisted her onto his shoulder.
"Xiao Qiyu! Put me down!" Cui Ying struggled with her hands and feet, looking just like a rabbit being snatched in the mouth of an eagle.
Xiao Qiyu remained unmoved, pinning her kicking leg down with one hand. His cold gaze swept over the terrified women in the room, and his voice was icy and resolute: "If she comes again, and you can entertain her, I can make sure you close down the next day."
The girls were terrified by his gaze and nodded hastily, not daring to voice any objection.
Xiao Qiyu said no more, picked up the wailing Cui Ying, and strode out of this gentle haven.
The carriage was cramped and small. Cui Ying was thrown onto the soft cushion, and before she could even settle in, she started cursing: "Who do you think you are, you surnamed Xiao! Who were you threatening just now! Do you think I'm afraid of you!"
Xiao Qiyu leaned closer, trapping her inside the carriage. His phoenix eyes flashed with a terrifying light in the dim light, but his tone was extremely restrained: "If you scream again, believe me, I'll throw you up in the mountains to feed the wolves."
Cui Ying was so angry at his words that she laughed, and glared at him with her neck stiff: "Feed the wolf? Do you think I'm a three-year-old? Xiao Qiyu, how come I never realized you were so ridiculous before? You don't even know how to scare people!"
“Alright,” Xiao Qiyu nodded readily, “Then tell your father about this.”
Cui Ying's mouth dropped open, and she pointed at his nose: "You're so vicious!"
"I'm vicious?" Xiao Qiyu sneered, raising his hand to pinch her cheek, his fingertips gently caressing the soft flesh. "Just telling you the truth makes me vicious? Aren't you the one who's worse?"
Cui Ying was too lazy to waste words with him, so she slapped his hand away and twisted her body, saying, "Let go of me! I don't want to see you, I want to get off!"
"Go down?"
Xiao Qiyu narrowed his eyes slightly and said, word by word, "Cui Ying, you're dreaming."
"From today onwards, you are not going anywhere. You will stay obediently in the Marquis's residence."
"What right do you have to tell me what to do?"
Cui Ying was furious and shoved him wildly, saying, "I can't live like this anymore! Let's get a divorce! I'm going back to get a divorce from you!"
The air inside the carriage seemed to freeze instantly.
Xiao Qiyu stared at her, his eyes sharp and cold, his voice seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, his anger turning into a smile: "Divorce? We agreed to divorce in two years, and we've been married for less than a year now, what right do you have to divorce me?"
"Because I hate you!" Cui Ying blurted out, her almond-shaped eyes red as she glared at him. "I get annoyed just looking at you! I don't want to be with you for even a second longer!"
"You hate me?"
Xiao Qiyu seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. He suddenly leaned closer, his nose almost touching hers, his hot breath brushing against her lips, and repeated once more: "You hate me?"
"When you secretly kissed me before, weren't you kissing me quite enthusiastically?"
Cui Ying was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on; the hairs on her body almost stood on end. Her face was flushed red, and her voice was distorted: "You shameless bastard! Who...who kissed you! Stop talking nonsense!"
"I'm talking nonsense?"
As Xiao Qiyu watched her face flush instantly and her eyes dart up, the nameless fire in his heart burned even brighter. He moved closer again, staring intently at her eyes and lips like a hungry wolf eyeing its prey, and said in a low, harsh voice, "I'll help you remember now."
As soon as he finished speaking, he lowered his head and bit her lip.
The interior of the carriage seemed to be instantly ignited, with countless sparks burning and flying around, making a sizzling sound.
Xiao Qiyu almost forcefully pried open Cui Ying's lips and teeth, and with his other hand he gripped the back of her neck, forcing her to look up and endure this fierce kiss in a fit of rage.
Cui Ying pressed her hands against his chest, pushing him away forcefully, and sobbed incoherently, "Let...you go..."
Xiao Qiyu's arms gripped her like iron clamps, refusing to let go. Not only did he not release her, he tightened his grip, deepening the kiss.
All of Cui Ying's struggles were in vain. At the same time, a tingling shiver ran up her tailbone, and her hands, which had been resisting, unconsciously gripped the fabric of Xiao Qiyu's chest, her fingertips gathering intense red.
Sensing her slight compliance, Xiao Qiyu seemed encouraged and deepened his kiss, as if he wanted to devour her whole.
The wind howled fiercely outside the window, and the night was as cold as water.
The temperature inside the carriage rose rapidly and became uncontrollable.
Her neat clothes were disheveled amidst the kisses. In her dazed state, Cui Ying finally caught her breath, but then felt a chill on her neck. Looking down, she saw that Xiao Qiyu had used his teeth to unbutton her clothes. The cool air touched her skin, and the white fabric wrapped around her neck was exposed in the dim candlelight.
Cui Ying trembled slightly, and before she realized what had happened, she felt her breathing become exceptionally smooth, and the snow-white, spotless fabric gently fell to the ground.
The spring scenery is so beautiful that it's hard to look away.
A buzzing sound filled Cui Ying's mind. When she met those dark, fiery eyes, she was struck dumb, unable to focus, and asked blankly, "Xiao Qiyu, what do you want to do?"
Xiao Qiyu remained silent and bowed his head, burying himself inside.
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Author's Note: Happy National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, dear reviewer! Wishing you good health, all the best, and may all your wishes come true. There isn't a single explicit description. These two elementary school students have written over 300,000 words and this is the level of explicitness they've reached. Please, have mercy on these children. Thank you! [kissing emojis]
Following up on yesterday's leave request, I took in the stray kitten. It was skin and bones, covered in ringworm and had diarrhea, but thankfully it was eating and drinking, so it should be alright. I'm trying very hard to teach it to use the litter box, and it seems to see me as its mother. It meows loudly whenever it can't see me, driving me crazy. My partner, who has owned beagles before, is quite pleased, saying it sounds much better than a dog's bark.
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