Chapter 37 Call Me Husband
The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Xue Lanyi was completely unaware of this and continued to throw pillows, clothes, and hairpins at Wei Zhang, leaving the area around the bed in a mess.
The young master valued rules and etiquette above all else. Seeing that something serious had happened, Granny Liu quickly stepped forward and put her arm around Xue Lanyi, saying, "Don't be afraid, young lady, I'm here, I'm here."
Xue Lanyi struggled desperately to break free from Granny Liu, and continued to throw things.
"Young Master, please light a few more lamps, and also have the doctor and the servants outside leave." Granny Liu had no choice but to ask Wei Zhang for help.
Her words implied that all the men should step back.
Wei Zhang vaguely realized something and raised his hand to signal Qingyang.
All the candles on the candlesticks were lit, and the men all left the room, which calmed Xue Lanyi's panicked expression.
But she still hunched her shoulders, scratching her neck and cheek incessantly, leaving several red marks on her fair and flawless skin.
Wei Zhang grasped her slender wrist.
The overwhelming aura made Xue Lanyi's delicate body tremble slightly.
Granny Liu patted the young lady's back to soothe her, "Young master, please don't be offended. You've been like this ever since I started serving you. Perhaps... perhaps you were frightened in the brothel."
Clearly, some men in the brothel had coveted her, and scratching her cheeks and neck was an attempt to preserve her chastity.
Wei Zhang loosened his grip slightly, hesitated for a moment, and then softened his tone: "The illness still needs to be treated."
Yes, this girl's hysteria attack is more severe than before, it can't be delayed.
Granny Liu glanced at the girl who was still struggling in her arms, "Why don't you hold the girl, young master? Maybe that will make her feel better."
Wei Zhang wished he could break her hands, which were only good for hitting and scratching people.
Xue Lanyi seemed to understand what Granny Liu said, and suddenly smiled and opened her arms to Wei Zhang for a hug.
"..."
Wei Zhang sighed, pulled her into his arms, and sat her on his lap. Seeing that she was more awake, he instructed the person outside, "Please have Physician Wu examine her pulse through the curtain."
Grandma Liu lowered the curtain, and the sound of footsteps approaching again came from outside.
Xue Lanyi shrank into Wei Zhang's arms like a startled rabbit, hiding behind his embrace and looking around warily.
Looking down from Wei Zhang's angle, he could see the girl's wet eyes darting around, her right hand still tightly clutching the little rabbit he had given her.
Wei Zhang, rather helplessly, pulled her closer to his arms, then switched her little rabbit to his left hand, and led her out of the bed curtains by her right hand.
The imperial physicians stepped forward to take her pulse. "The concubine suffers from liver qi stagnation, qi deficiency, and blood deficiency. Judging from her behavior, she has hysteria. It seems she has been suffering from it for at least three years."
This is because my aunt is strong-willed and has not usually behaved completely out of line; however, this great shock has caused her illness to manifest.
The imperial physician's words were exactly the same as what A-Yin had said.
Wei Zhang, peering through the curtains, asked with a slight ripple, "How is Auntie recovering? When will she recover?"
"That...is still unknown."
As soon as Physician Wu finished speaking, a heavy atmosphere descended upon him.
Physician Wu immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "Hysteria is a mental illness, and a mental illness requires a mental cure. What the patient needs most is the prince's care and protection."
Wei Zhang had heard these words more than once today.
A hint of emptiness appeared in his usually insightful eyes, as if he couldn't fathom the meaning of the words, nor did he believe that such vague and ethereal care could be eaten or drunk.
His long eyelashes trembled slightly, and his voice turned cold: "I have no time for that. Do you have any miracle cures?"
The imperial physicians looked at each other in bewilderment.
"I can prescribe some liver-soothing medicine to help Auntie calm her mind, but this medicine is not effective against the root cause of the illness. If Auntie's mood remains uneasy, I'm afraid that if this continues..."
"What are you afraid of?"
"Everyone has a string in their heart. No matter how strong the mind is, it will eventually break. At that time, I'm afraid the person will go crazy for the rest of their life and there will be no way to save them..." The imperial physician lowered his head.
Wei Zhang also fell silent.
After a moment, he waved the crowd away, saying, "Go prepare the medicine."
"Yes, sir!" The group bowed and withdrew.
The room was completely empty, and everything in sight was still and motionless.
Only the person in his arms would occasionally grasp in mid-air, their slender fingers waving in front of his eyes, then waving again.
Wei Zhang sat upright, slightly lost in thought.
After an unknown amount of time, I felt something warm and soft on the wound on my cheekbone.
Wei Zhang came to his senses.
Xue Lanyi was gently stroking his wound, her eyes still dazed, yet filled with tenderness.
Wei Zhang asked irritably, "Who smashed it?"
Xue Lanyi shook her head.
Wei Zhang was so exasperated by her charming and innocent appearance that he couldn't bring himself to argue with someone who was out of her mind, so he put her back on the bed.
Just as he was about to get up, Xue Lanyi grabbed his collar again, muttering to herself, refusing to let go.
Wei Zhang listened closely before he could make out her mumbled words, "Longan? Lingnan longan?"
Hearing this, Su Yin, who had already gone to the outer room, turned around and saw Xue Lanyi cupping the air in her hands as if cupping her face, while murmuring "I like longan" in a hazy gaze.
Su Yin paused, a thought flashing through her mind.
Wei Zhang immediately noticed her and looked suspiciously at the person outside the beaded curtain.
His deep gaze sent chills down one's spine. Su Yin hurriedly knelt down: "Auntie hasn't eaten for four hours, she must be hungry. She loves Lingnan longan, it would be good for her to eat some sweet fruit to replenish her strength."
“Longan.” Xue Lanyi smiled wistfully at the canopy above her head, seemingly in agreement.
Wei Zhang did indeed hear Xue Lanyi's stomach rumble twice, so he raised his hand, signaling Su Yin to do it.
After a while, the medicine and longan were brought in together.
Xue Lanyi remained drowsy and wouldn't allow anyone to get close, clinging only to Wei Zhang's arms.
The time for court was fast approaching.
Wei Zhang was quite tired, but he didn't want to have a madwoman sleeping next to him every time. So he patiently helped the half-conscious Xue Lanyi back onto the pillow, moved a footstool to the bedside, and fed her medicine.
Xue Lanyi was unmoved, wrinkling her nose and shaking her head repeatedly.
The medicinal liquid sloshed out and splashed onto Wei Zhang's clothes.
He frowned.
However, Xue Lanyi across from him completely ignored his expression, muttering incessantly, "Eating longan, I like longan, I love longan the most..."
Helpless, Wei Zhang had no choice but to peel a longan and put it in her mouth.
She didn't know how to bite, so she leaned blankly against the pillow, holding the longan between her lips, and just like that day, the juice flowed down her chin and into her neck.
This time, Wei Zhang instinctively reached out and cupped her chin, catching the juice.
He gazed at her in the same state as that day, yet a different kind of ripple stirred within him.
The girl, oblivious, greedily sipped the sweet juice from the corner of her mouth.
Seemingly unsatisfied, she licked the juice off his thumb with her pink tongue.
With a gentle, soft touch, Wei Zhang's fingers trembled, and he recoiled, his fingertips tracing the wet spot. "Is it dirty?"
Xue Lanyi pouted, like a child who hadn't gotten any candy.
All of Wei Zhang's scolding was useless at this point, so he had no choice but to give up, put the longan into the bowl, mashed it into juice with a spoon, and fed her until she was full.
Xue Lanyi smacked her lips triumphantly.
At this moment, she was neither the flamboyant Li Zhaoyang nor the gentle Xue Lanyi, but simply a very pure young girl.
A simple little girl who loves sweet fruits.
A girl who can't even hold her favorite sweet soup in her mouth...
Wei Zhang looked at the sticky sugar water on her face and neck, and his smile froze as soon as it appeared.
Silently, she went to the outer room to fetch water and wipe the sugar stains off her.
They came back today, but haven't had a chance to properly clean up yet, and it's time for them to go to bed.
Wei Zhang then laid her flat again, intending to remove her outer garment and wipe away the rainwater and sugar stains from her body.
This was the first time he had ever served someone else. The woman's clothes were elaborate, and it took him a long time to finally manage to take off her outer garment, followed by her inner garment.
The inner fabric was already thin and light, and it was soaked in water. Wei Zhang's hand, wearing the black jade thumb ring, moved around Xue Lanyi's waist, and the chilling breath seeped into her skin.
Xue Lanyi's body convulsed and curled up intermittently with his touch.
Wei Zhang lay on top of her, pulling her hands over her head to make it easier to undress her.
She looked dazed and let him do as he pleased.
Her long hair was spread out beneath her, her fair cheeks were glistening with moisture, and the corners of her eyes had a pale pink tinge caused by the cold.
Like a delicate flower ravaged by a sudden rainstorm, it possesses a gentle and vulnerable beauty that evokes an irresistible urge to bully it.
Wei Zhang's breathing became slightly labored, but in the end he simply removed the black jade thumb ring without startling her.
He glanced away slightly and continued to unbutton her undergarment.
She was only wearing a small, rain-soaked garment clinging to her body.
To be precise, it was strangled on her body, leaving red marks on her soft, supple skin.
Wei Zhang vaguely remembered that when they made love a few days ago, she was also wearing this ill-fitting undergarment.
They always wear the same few clothes, and people who don't know them might think the Duke's mansion is in ruins.
"The key to the private vault is in the study drawer. Just go and get whatever you need," Wei Zhang said.
Xue Lanyi, however, did not respond to him as she had in the past.
Her blank eyes were staring straight at the curtains, her thoughts wandering elsewhere, as she muttered to herself.
Wei Zhang's words fell on deaf ears, so he said nothing more and went to untie the belt around her waist.
The knot at her waist was loose and sparse.
Her waist was too thin to support the ties, and her breasts were too full, so it wasn't that the undergarment had shrunk, but rather that ordinary styles of undergarments would never fit her properly.
Her body was too perfect, so perfect that it was beyond the reach of ordinary people, unlike anything that had grown naturally.
Suddenly, Wei Zhang saw in his mind her terrified expression, clutching her head.
He thought of something and gently lifted her undergarment, revealing the full beauty of the mountains and spring scenery to Wei Zhang.
He stared intently, his eyes gradually darkening.
It is said that some high-ranking officials and nobles have a particular fondness for training women in the brothels.
Because these women were mostly descendants of disgraced officials, they possessed the elegance of noble ladies, and after being trained by their mothers to be alluring, they were exactly what their patrons wanted.
Xue Lanyi was once a bright pearl hanging high on a branch, so how could those people let her go? They must have done all sorts of lewd and wanton things to reform her.
Her graceful curves, even the color of that part, were meticulously crafted to suit the preferences of certain patrons, in order to please them.
Wei Zhang felt a tightness in his chest, and a sense of unease settled throughout his body.
The surrounding air seemed to quiet down and stop flowing.
Xue Lanyi felt suffocated by the oppressive atmosphere. Her thoughts were gradually pulled back, and only when her eyes cleared did she realize that she was completely naked.
She instinctively crossed her arms over her chest.
Wei Zhang pulled her hand away, wanting to see clearly what kind of torment her body had endured.
Xue Lanyi, however, only saw the ruthless aggression in his eyes.
She shook her head repeatedly, her voice soft and tearful, "I don't want to do it."
Normally, she wouldn't express her needs so directly.
Wei Zhang was taken aback. "I won't do it."
"If you're not going to do it, why are you taking my clothes off?" Xue Lanyi's words were full of grievance.
What else could he do besides that when he undressed her?
It can't be a bath or a change of clothes.
Xue Lanyi couldn't believe it, and even Wei Zhang himself couldn't believe it. At this moment, with such a beautiful scene before him, he only wanted to help her wipe herself down, and the impulse he had felt earlier vanished on its own.
"Let go, I really won't do it," Wei Zhang said.
Xue Lanyi held on tightly.
Wei Zhang grasped her slender wrist.
He could have easily pulled her away, but for some reason he didn't in the end.
He simply bent down and kissed her stubborn cheek.
Extremely light, like a feather falling into water, creating shallow ripples.
Xue Lanyi shrank her neck.
He kissed her raised eyebrows and the blush at the corners of her eyes, intermittently, even controlling his breathing, not daring to be too loud.
For many years, Xue Lanyi had not been treated so gently by anyone. The fear in her eyes slowly turned into confusion as she stared at him blankly.
The gauze curtains moved without wind, and a beam of dim light swayed on Wei Zhang's face.
Within the four-sided curtained space, the usually deep and sharp features seemed to have softened considerably.
"What harm is there in showing it to your husband?" he coaxed softly.
After saying the word "husband," he himself was taken aback.
But then he quickly thought that she was his rightful concubine, even though only the legal wife could call him "husband".
However, in private, in one's boudoir, doing so occasionally is harmless.
Thinking this, he felt a strange flutter in his heart and gently pecked her slightly parted red lips. "Call me husband, just once and I won't look anymore."
A low, magnetic voice sprayed onto Xue Lanyi's face.
Xue Lanyi's face remained expressionless, only her wet eyes blinked repeatedly.
Wei Zhang remembered that when he first found her, she was just as dazed and unable to utter a single word.
At that time, she didn't want anyone else, she only wanted him.
Back then, he taught her to speak, word by word.
Perhaps he was traumatized today and is unable to speak again?
He demonstrated the lip movements as before, pronouncing each sound one by one, "Husband...my lord..."
Xue Lanyi opened her mouth, but the words stuck in her throat.
The two looked at each other from an arm's length apart.
After a long while, Wei Zhang did not hear what he wanted to hear, but his heavy gaze that looked down at him tightened.
Just then, a knocking sound came from outside the window.
“Your Highness…” Qingyang hesitated for a moment, “Someone requests an audience.”
Qingyang is always meticulous and thorough in his work, and rarely reports things unclearly or hesitantly.
Wei Zhang quickly guessed who was requesting an audience, but still asked the person outside the window, "Who requests an audience?"
“The...Young Master.” Qingyang stammered for a moment, “The Young Master is currently kneeling in the courtyard of the old mansion, begging the Crown Prince to see him.”
Wei Zhang's gaze never left the person beneath him, watching her every move.
Xue Lanyi's eyes remained calm, her throat moved slightly, as if she was still trying to pronounce something.
Wei Zhang then asked, "How long have you been kneeling?"
"I've been kneeling since last night, probably for three hours. I was soaked in the downpour and even fainted twice in the middle of it."
The words outside the window had barely faded when a stiff voice escaped from Xue Lanyi's lips, "Husband..."
Her eyes, brimming with affection, gazed at Wei Zhang, undisturbed by her surroundings.
The soft, sweet voice echoed through the narrow curtains, layer upon layer.
Like willow catkins drifting in the wind, they brushed against Wei Zhang's cheek.
An itch welled up from the bottom of his heart, pulling Wei Zhang back to his own thoughts. He stroked Xue Lanyi's right cheek with the pad of his thumb: "Say it again."
"Husband, my husband."
This time the call was much smoother.
Her moist lips parted slightly, revealing glimpses of white teeth and a pink tongue.
Wei Zhang's eyes darkened.
"Your Highness, what about the Eldest Young Master..."
"Make him keep kneeling."
Wei Zhang coldly remarked, "Does asking for help take only an hour or two?"
These words clearly imply that the eldest son must kneel for at least a day and a night, so that everyone will know.
In fact, before Qingyang arrived, he had already seen Wei Xuan from afar, his back straight and his knees bent in the mud.
The passing guards all turned to look, whispering amongst themselves.
Wei Xuan was, after all, the eldest son of the Duke's Mansion and the General Who Crossed the Liao River. Most people in the mansion had seen his glory days in his youth, so his kneeling now would surely become a laughing stock.
Qingyang felt a mix of emotions, but the prince had given him orders, so he dared not question them and slouched as he walked away.
Wei Zhang only looked at Xue Lanyi.
Xue Lanyi's gaze remained fixed on Wei Zhang, without the slightest distraction.
This brought a touch of pleasure to Wei Zhang, and her voice softened considerably: "Who is your husband?"
Her voice was stiff, and she couldn't speak, but her weak finger pointed to Wei Zhang's chest.
Wei Zhang looked in the direction she was pointing, and she was pointing right at the spot where his heart was beating.
He was her husband, and everything she had belonged to him.
Wei Xuan was just an insignificant person.
This realization filled Wei Zhang's chest with a strange sense of fullness.
He pulled her hand around his waist, then bent down and kissed her obedient lips, her slender neck, her delicate collarbone, and down her body.
Finally, he gently brushed his nose against her tightly guarded fingers, "Take it away."
Xue Lanyi clenched her five fingers and furrowed her brows slightly.
I just said I wouldn't do anything else.
"Just one kiss." His hot breath sprayed onto his extremely sensitive spot.
Xue Lanyi's fingertips trembled slightly and curled up a little. Wei Zhang then leaned over and gently left a purple mark on the exposed soft flesh.
Thus, every part of her bore Wei Zhang's mark.
The fair, glowing skin and the purplish-red marks complemented each other so well, like a painting of red plum blossoms.
Looking at the unparalleled painting beneath him, Wei Zhang's anger subsided somewhat.
Yet this visual impact also makes one feel as if their lower abdomen is about to bulge.
Xue Lanyi naturally sensed it and turned her head away silently.
Wei Zhang's intense gaze remained fixed on her.
"Give me one time tonight, okay?" He whispered in her ear, unusually seeking her opinion.
Xue Lanyi's eyes darted around without answering, but her chest heaved and her breathing became short, clearly indicating that she was very tired.
Wei Zhang couldn't force someone who was mentally unstable to join him.
Finally, he pulled the blanket over her body, then got up and got out of bed.
As soon as she left Xue Lanyi's side, the girl instinctively grabbed his hem, looking at him with a pitiful expression.
Wei Zhang glanced helplessly at his lower abdomen.
Xue Lanyi hesitated before letting go of her hand.
Just as her hand was about to fall, Wei Zhang caught it with his large hand and placed the little rabbit in her palm. "I'll be back early tonight."
With the morning court session approaching, Wei Zhang could not linger any longer. He tucked her hand under the covers and went behind the screen to change into his court robes.
He had intended to relieve his own tension, but it was to no avail; his mind was filled with images of her warm embrace.
It seemed as if he hadn't felt it for many days.
Thinking about it only made the pain and swelling in his body worse, so he simply went out and got away from the place where her scent lingered.
"Go brew a bowl of cooling tea." Wei Zhang sat on the stone bench in the courtyard, squinted, and instructed Ying Qi.
He wasn't a lustful person before, but lately he's become increasingly unable to control himself.
After a while, I drank the cooling tea and my mind cleared up a bit. I then gathered my clothes and went out.
When they reached the alley outside Chong'an Hall, they saw the three bloodied grooms from the previous night, along with the mad Xiaomei and Liu'er, kneeling against the wall.
After being soaked in the rain all night, these filthy creatures were long since terrified and silent, except for Xiaomei, who was still screaming in terror.
Qingyang stepped forward with an umbrella and reported: "Your Highness, I have investigated and found out. Last night, it was Liu'er, who was by the old lady's side, who complained that her aunt's reward was not enough. She threw her aunt's embroidered handkerchief to some drunken grooms. The grooms were lustful and climbed over the wall to look for it."
Fortunately, the aunt was quick-witted and hid in a tree hollow, escaping unscathed. However... Wang Mazi's wife was just feeding the horses in the stable, but she suffered the consequences..."
Wang Mazi's wife was also someone he had cheated on.
"Discipline them according to family rules." Wei Zhang raised his hand.
The Crown Prince's family rules: whatever you do, you must pay the price.
This audacious groom must be castrated and then killed.
Liu'er, who stirs up trouble out of thin air, deserves to have her hands chopped off and her tongue torn out.
As for Xiaomei, who had gone mad, thinking about people and things she shouldn't be thinking about, she could only be sold to a brothel.
"Yes!" Qingyang followed behind, bowing in response.
The gloom in Wei Zhang's eyes had not yet faded, and he ordered, "Master Zhang, Granny Xu, and the Governor of Yangzhou, please dispose of this."
The words "Prefect of Yangzhou" were pronounced with a slight emphasis.
This person was the mastermind behind hiding and training Xue Lanyi, preparing to send her to the Northern Camp.
Xue Lanyi's hysteria was mostly caused by these three people.
Wei Zhang naturally couldn't let him off the hook.
"Understood, Your subordinate." Qingyang replied, but hesitated for a moment: "However... Master Zhang died five years ago."
"Does death mean there's no price to pay?"
Wei Zhang glanced sideways, his face gloomy.
When a person dies, there is a coffin, a body, and ashes. Why can't someone be held accountable?
A gust of cold wind swept through the alley, sending a chill down Qingyang's spine.
The surrounding air seemed to freeze, chillingly cold.
The two walked in silence for a while, passing the back window of the dormitory.
Through the crack in the window, one could just see Xue Lanyi lying flat inside the curtains.
She was so thin that her body was almost sunken into the bed, but her graceful curves were still visible.
Wei Zhang's expression softened a bit, and he beckoned to Qingyang: "Find a skilled embroiderer to tailor a few suitable clothes for my aunt. They don't need to be exquisite or gorgeous, just fit well and be comfortable."
Having said that, his gaze slowly drifted away from the window and into the distance.
The rain has stopped.
The thick, dark clouds that had piled up above Chong'an Hall dissipated.
The sky was faintly visible in the hazy, rainy weather.
Inside the sealed four-sided curtain, Xue Lanyi stared blankly at the curtain above her head, a tear slowly sliding down her cheek from her wide-open eyes.
The little rabbit she was carefully holding was suddenly squeezed tightly, deformed and twisted.
In the end, she threw him out of the tent.
What rabbit? It's just a rotten leaf riddled with wormholes, a disgusting sight.
Rotten leaves should be crushed into the mud.
Soon, he will be going to where he is supposed to be.
Xue Lanyi's eyes gradually turned cold.
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