Chapter 3 Feigning Illness "A blue-faced, fanged man with a face full of scars, revealing his ferocious nature..."
Su Xiaotang listened intently for a long time before she could barely recognize that the voice belonged to Su Yiyi.
He usually speaks softly and sings beautifully, like a nightingale. Su Xiaotang was extremely surprised that such a hoarse and unpleasant voice could come from him.
"Stop talking nonsense! How could His Highness Prince Rui casually kill his consort? So many ears heard His Majesty's golden words today, betrothing you to Prince Rui, and yet you are spouting such nonsense here. Do you expect me to openly defy the imperial decree for you, to rebel against the world for you?!" Su Aoshuang's impatient voice rang out clearly.
"My lady!" Xin Yaning's voice, choked with sobs, continued, "Yiyi has such a tragic life. When he was three, he fell seriously ill, but you ignored him and instead went off to visit brothels, bringing that vile woman Feng Qin into the manor! It was I who tirelessly sought medical help and medicine, and only then did I manage to save his life. Now you want to send him to such a dangerous place again, I absolutely refuse!"
Snap!
Now Su Xiaotang could tell it was the sound of a slap.
"Father!" Su Yiyi's voice rose sharply, as if she had rushed over. "Mother, is there anything wrong with what Father said?! Back then, I was on the verge of death, while you were out enjoying yourself and even took Feng Langjun as your concubine. I survived a great calamity and am destined for good fortune. Shouldn't you exchange your life for mine, using Su Xiaotang's life to save mine?!"
*Slap!* Another slap—"What kind of twisted logic is that?!"
Su Aoshuang listened patiently to his entire statement before taking action. "His Highness Prince Rui is not as tyrannical as the world perceives him to be. I have said all I need to say. This marriage is bestowed by His Majesty himself. You have no choice but to marry him, Bihe!"
"Yes, sir."
"Take the eldest son back to his room and keep an eye on him. He's not to step out without my orders."
"yes."
"Mother! How cruel you are... Waaah..." Su Yiyi's cries gradually faded into the distance.
Xin Yaning seemed to have spoken to Su Aoshuang, but Su Xiaotang, afraid of being discovered by the servants, quickly slipped back to her own courtyard and didn't hear what happened next.
Generally, when there are good things, the eldest son always gives them to Su Yiyi first, and only what's left over might end up in Su Xiaotang's hands. Although Su Xiaotang has never met Prince Rui, since Su Yiyi is so resistant, and she learned about her various acts of violence from the servants chatting under the eaves that day, it's obvious that this marriage is definitely not a good thing.
He had also heard from the diners at Wanqianlou today that the "Cold-Faced Yama"—they dared not call him by his real name, so they used this nickname instead.
Rumor has it that the "Cold-Faced Yama" kills without blinking an eye and eats people without rubbing salt in her mouth. No noble family in the capital is willing to marry their son to her. Despite her great military achievements, many men came to see her on the day she returned to the capital, and matchmakers almost wore down the threshold of her door.
But ever since she kicked the dancer at the victory celebration banquet, the Prince Rui's mansion has become deserted. Only a few wealthy merchants, hoping to climb the social ladder through their sons, still harbored ulterior motives and continued to send matchmakers to gather information.
However, no matter what, Prince Rui was still an imperial son, so how could he possibly be interested in those ordinary women?
"And she calls her a vulgar woman!" The speaker, clearly a wealthy businessman, was indignant. "She looks down on my men, why doesn't she take a piss and look at herself in the mirror?!"
"Have you really seen the true face of that Prince Rui? The day she returned to the capital, she was covered in blood, which was quite frightening. She didn't even take a bath or change her clothes first, so we couldn't see her face at all. It's one thing for us to be disgusted, but we shouldn't be disgusted by His Majesty's eyes."
"Hmph, of course I've seen him!" Su Xiaotang guessed that this person was at least a royal merchant, otherwise how could he have the qualifications to attend the palace banquet and see the true face of Prince Rui? "I saw him clearly at the victory celebration banquet! Blue face and fangs, a face full of scars, a fierce appearance!"
Those around gasped, chattering amongst themselves: "How could this be?" "Given His Majesty's imposing presence," "Could he not be His Majesty's biological son?"...
Fortunately, these people had booked a private room and kept their voices low, so Su Xiaotang only caught a few words. If they had dared to discuss royal secrets so openly and enthusiastically in the main hall, they probably wouldn't have seen the sun rise tomorrow.
At the time, Su Xiaotang only listened to these fictitious things as entertainment and let them pass by. But now, by sheer coincidence, this infamous prince has become her brother's future wife. What a cruel twist of fate!
However, Su Xiaotang never expected that the real twist of fate was yet to come—
"Second Young Master, get up quickly!" Eunuch Li called out urgently in a low voice, "Something terrible has happened!"
Like putting a sack over a radish, Su Xiaotang was still half asleep when she was pulled up, dressed, and hurriedly ushered into Xin Yaning and Su Yiyi's courtyard.
Last night's rain spurred everything to life, leaving the grass lush and green. The road was slippery, and Su Xiaotang almost tripped and fell along the way, but luckily Xiao Lü caught him in time.
Upon entering the hall, one sees Su Yutang with his legs crossed, one hand supporting his head, the other fiddling with the lid of a teacup.
Su Xiaotang shuddered instinctively.
She looked up when she heard footsteps, saw Su Xiaotang, and smiled with a hint of frivolity and mockery.
Her lips opened and closed very slightly, silently uttering a few words, which Su Xiaotang recognized as "We'll see."
Her eyes were as black as ink, unfathomable. The moment their eyes met, the memories of the day she was nearly violated flooded back uncontrollably. Su Xiaotang's face turned deathly pale. She trembled with fear, the hairs on her arms stood on end, and cold sweat poured down her back. She desperately suppressed the urge to turn and run away.
The slap she had given him that day had been healed long ago by Eunuch Li and Xiao Lü applying eggs and ginseng, but now, his face seemed to be burning with pain again.
"It's nothing." After being lightly patted on the shoulder twice, Su Xiaotang finally came to her senses. She looked up and saw that it was Eunuch Li. "Your mother is in the inner room. The Third Miss wouldn't dare to do anything. Go in."
Su Xiaotang nodded and hurriedly ran around the screen wall to the back room.
Su Yutang narrowed his eyes, watching his figure disappear behind the wall, his smile still lingering, but his greed growing stronger.
Unfortunately, she was a woman and couldn't enter a man's house. There's a difference between men and women; even a close sister should avoid such situations—otherwise, she could have witnessed this spectacle firsthand.
She clearly saw the gloating expressions on Su Yiyi and Xin Yaning's faces when she was dragged to kneel in the ancestral hall by the old woman that day!
And then there's Su Xiaotang, hmph... Su Yutang never fails to get what he wants!
A large group of people had gathered around the bed. Su Xiaotang was tall and could see far, so she recognized her mother, her stepfather, Han Langjun, and several women dressed as doctors.
The person lying on the bed was Su Yiyi.
The curtains were drawn back, and although the face was still hidden behind the gauze curtains and could not be seen clearly, Su Xiaotang could still see the body from the neck down—the person on the bed was only wearing a clean white undergarment, but the hem of his trousers was covered with mud and grass clippings, and wet marks covered his entire calf, as if he had just walked barefoot in the courtyard after the rain.
"Is there any way to cure this somnambulism?" Su Xiaotang asked, noticing her mother rubbing her temples, looking quite exhausted.
"Well... I can't say for sure." The doctors exchanged glances, and the one in the lead nervously wiped the sweat from his brow. "Perhaps we should prescribe some calming herbal medicine first, and then observe her condition for a while..."
"Then let it be." Xin Yaning wiped away her tears with a handkerchief, her voice choked with sobs. "Hongliao, take them to get the prescription."
With fewer people in the room, Su Xiaotang was finally able to see the face of the person on the bed clearly. It was indeed Su Yiyi, but her face was pale, her eyelids were closed, and her cheeks were flushed with an abnormal redness.
"You always seemed so healthy, how come you developed somnambulism after being betrothed?" Su Aoshuang glanced at Xin Yaning, who was silently weeping, with a half-smile. "Such a coincidence in the world."
"Master Wife?!"
Upon hearing this, Xin Yaning looked up in a daze, tears still clinging to her lower eyelashes, staring at her incredulously as if she were looking at a stranger—"Yiyi is also your own flesh and blood!"
“It is precisely because I carried him for ten months and gave birth to him that I know him well enough!” Although Su Aoshuang spoke sharply, her eyes were full of disappointment. “On the contrary, you are making me even more unable to see through you.”
At the beginning of their marriage, the two were a loving and harmonious couple... How did things come to this?
Han Hui remained silent, trying her best to minimize her presence. The three-month period hadn't ended, and he was still under house arrest. He was only allowed to come out today for a specific reason.
But Su Xiaotang could clearly see that the joy on his face was almost impossible to hide.
If the mother and the legal father become estranged, the most likely candidate to be promoted to the position of legal husband is, of course, Han Langjun, who had given birth to the mother's third younger sister.
My mother had many maids, but only my father and Han Langjun had children.
As for his father, who passed away many years ago... if he hadn't been born to his mother, he would probably have been forgotten long ago.
Su Xiaotang returned to the courtyard with a heavy heart.
"What's wrong, Second Young Master?" Xiao Lü had never seen him with such a heavy expression.
He had thought that Su Xiaotang was always grinning foolishly with her big teeth showing, carefree and like a child—but now, her behavior was somewhat similar to that of the head of the family.
Su Xiaotang sighed, "If my brother's illness doesn't improve, I'm afraid the marriage will fall to me."
Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast. Prince Rui's infamy had spread throughout the capital, and Xiao Lü had naturally heard of it as well. Before he could even sigh, Su Xiaotang suddenly had a bright idea and said, "How about... I pretend to be sick too?"
Xiao Lü: "..." He took back his words that were similar to those of the family head.
Without hesitation, Su Xiaotang immediately had people draw buckets of water from the well, carry them into the bathhouse, and pour them into the bath tubs.
Although the weather was getting hotter, the well water was even cooler because it was buried deep underground. Su Xiaotang took off his clothes, stepped into the water with his jade feet, took a deep breath, and squatted down. The water surface covered his head and enveloped his whole body.
It's cold, so cold.
Her dark hair floated in the water like algae. Su Xiaotang's teeth chattered from the cold, and she shivered uncontrollably from head to toe, desperately suppressing her instinct to escape.
His hearing was dulled, and he could only hear a sudden commotion outside. Then, his arm was grabbed, and a strong force broke through the water, pulling him to the surface.
With a silk scarf draped over her body, Su Xiaotang shook the water droplets off her eyelashes and opened her eyes to see the anxious Xiao Lü and the stern-faced Eunuch Li standing in front of the bathtub.
Eunuch Li frowned and said, "Why does the Second Young Master have to do this? Since the imperial decree has designated the Eldest Young Master, it is impossible to choose someone else. Why do something that will harm yourself?"
Su Xiaotang then remembered that although Eunuch Li had taken care of her for a long time, he was ultimately her mother's man. Today's events would likely reach her mother's ears.
He cautiously inquired, "Is it true?"
"Second Young Master, you should go back and rest." Eunuch Li did not answer directly, but instead changed the subject.
Su Xiaotang has always been healthy and hasn't been sick in a long time. She thought she would have to soak in cold water for half a day to catch a cold, but unexpectedly, in just a short while, she was curled up in the quilt, shivering, sneezing repeatedly, and feeling numb.
"How many days until Big Brother's wedding?" A clump of dark hair spilled out from under the quilt, and Su Xiaotang poked her little head out, asking Xiao Lü, who was guarding the bedside, with a heavy nasal voice.
He's been sleeping so soundly these days that he's completely lost track of time.
With their master ill, the servants naturally dared not neglect their duties, taking turns to stand guard by his bedside, awaiting his instructions. Hearing his question, Xiao Lü quickly replied, "Three more days."
“Three days…” Su Xiaotang murmured, for some reason, she had a bad feeling. “How is my brother’s condition?”
"Still unconscious," Xiao Lü replied.
Illness comes like a landslide, but recovery is slow and gradual. Two more days passed before Su Xiaotang felt much better, and she even ate an extra bowl of porridge for dinner.
The porridge was cooked until very soft, the rice grains burst open, the rice paste was thick and creamy, mixed with bits of meat, and perfectly seasoned. The warm rice oil slid down my parched throat, slowly soothing the itchy urge to cough.
Su Xiaotang hadn't been able to walk for several days, and her bones were numb from lying down. As soon as she felt a little better, she couldn't stay still and wanted to go to the side courtyard to see how the salt water he was making was going.
The earthenware jar containing salt water was accidentally broken when the servants put out a fire last time. Su Xiaotang, after much regret, decided to place the jar in a remote, deserted courtyard.
This batch of brine was newly made by him, and judging by the days, it was almost ready to be used. Just thinking about the delicious food that could be made with this brine made Su Xiaotang so excited that she couldn't help but spin around in circles.
Having learned from the previous experience, Eunuch Li forbade him to act alone again. Therefore, Su Xiaotang took Xiao Lü out of the courtyard and headed straight for the northwest corner of the mansion.
At the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), the sound of pebbles echoed underfoot. All around was quiet, and the sky, as dark as ink, seemed to press down heavily. Su Xiaotang was preoccupied only with his precious salt water and paid no attention to his surroundings.
Passing through the arched gate, its surface covered in green welts, several gray-green earthenware jars, round at the top and narrow at the bottom, stood quietly in the courtyard. Su Xiaotang's eyes lit up, and she dashed off, almost leaping to the jars, and opened the lids—
What a strong, pungent stench!
Little Green, who was following behind him, took a step back because of the smell, covered her nose, and took out a handkerchief from her sleeve.
Su Xiaotang, however, seemed oblivious to the smell, beaming with joy. He produced a small jar from somewhere, scooped it full of thick, inky salt water, sealed it tightly with layers of sealant, as if afraid of spilling a single drop, then turned to Xiao Lü and said with a smile, "Now I can make—hmm!"
A suffocating force came crashing down, tightly covering Su Xiaotang's mouth and nose. The wet, cool touch clung to his face, seemingly accompanied by a strange fragrance. Terrified, he frantically slapped and scratched at the arm that was gripping his neck with one hand, while his other hand held his precious saline solution tightly to his chest.
Are they trying to steal the brine he painstakingly brewed?!
As the last thing in sight faded, Xiao Lü's expressionless face gradually disappeared.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Please promote my completed novel, "Insomnia," by clicking on my author page and adding it to your favorites to help me finish it as soon as possible! [Please][Please]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
