unexpected
Cheng Yayin stared blankly at Liu Cuifu lying in a pool of blood, as if she had fallen into an icy cave, and her blood froze.
The morning light gradually brightened, but Liu Cuifu remained forever in the darkness of the previous night, never to see the rising sun again. Cheng Yayin wondered what kind of despair someone could feel to sever their wrist with a zither string.
The door of the main room was opened and Meng Yu walked out. He glanced at the corpse on the ground with no expression, not even a frown. He waved his hand indifferently, and several servants came forward and carried the corpse out.
Cheng Yayin looked at him with a stiff face. He smiled gently: "Is it scary? It's okay. It's just a small matter. It will be handled quickly."
It was indeed handled quickly. After the body was carried out, someone immediately entered the yard with buckets of water. With a rush of water and a broom, the blood on the ground was washed clean. The servants, each doing their job, moved with impassive composure, as if they had done this thousands of times before. The loss of a life was nothing more to them than the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves; once they had swept it clean, it was over.
Cheng Yayin watched this scene in horror, and following the orderly retreat of the servants who had cleaned up, she saw several shivering women hiding behind the eaves deep in the corridor.
The women hid behind the pillars, only half their heads visible, quietly watching the situation unfold. The scream Cheng Yayin had just heard must have come from one of them. Their expressions were filled with fear and anxiety, and a hint of confusion, like deer that had strayed into a trap, waiting to be slaughtered.
Cheng Yayin's eyes swept over their faces one by one. Meng Yu came over to block her view and half-forced her back to the room to let her continue to rest.
Cheng Yayin couldn't sleep at all, so she sat on the edge of the bed until dawn. A group of maids came in with basins, towels and combs to help her wash and dress. She was like a puppet without a soul, letting them do whatever they wanted.
After she finished washing and dressing, the maids led her to the dining room. Breakfast was ready and Meng Yu was sitting in the main seat with a smile on her face, waiting for her to eat together.
What happened that morning had no effect on Meng Yu. He ate as usual and even happily served Cheng Yayin a bowl of porridge. Cheng Yayin couldn't eat, but she knew what he would threaten her with. She barely swallowed a mouthful of porridge and spat it out, clutching her chest and retching.
Meng Yu took a handkerchief and wiped her mouth, saying calmly, "Life and death are her choices. There's nothing to worry about."
Even the touch through the handkerchief, Cheng Yayin found it unbearable. She pushed Meng Yu away violently, but he remained motionless, and she herself fell off the chair weakly. She supported herself on the ground with her hands and murmured: "You have long discovered that someone is investigating your case, but the other party is just a small official in the Dali Temple. He has no evidence and can't make any waves. So you didn't take it seriously at all. But you didn't expect that he and Pei Songsheng are close friends. The Pei family should not be underestimated. If Pei Songsheng really wants to investigate, I'm afraid he will really find out something. So you gave him the Soul-Separating Powder. After all, his identity is extraordinary. If he died unclearly, Master Pei would definitely investigate to the end, but if he went crazy, there would be many excuses. It's a good method to destroy this person without leaving any trace and without making any sound."
Meng Yu didn't expect her to suddenly bring this up, and he raised his eyebrows slightly. At this point, he had nothing to hide, so he admitted it directly: "Yes."
Cheng Yayin looked at him and asked, "Why did you give Du Lanxin this poison?"
This seemed like a name she hadn't heard in a long time. Meng Yu was slightly stunned, then said, "I treat all the girls here equally, but she became jealous and wanted to monopolize the status. How could I tolerate her? But after all, we were together for a while, and I couldn't bear to take her life. I could only give her some medicine and send her back."
His words were filled with regret, implying that he was blaming Du Lanxin for being ignorant and deliberately stirring up trouble. Cheng Yayin suppressed the chill in her heart and said coldly, "But when we found out about her, didn't you still want to kill her? You said you were kind, but you did cruel things. Didn't you even send someone to assassinate Xue Zhi later?"
Meng Yu sighed and said, "I didn't want to kill him. He is Xue Wan's brother after all, but he insisted on holding me, so I had no choice but to do it."
Cheng Yayin's heart trembled, and she asked, "Is Xue Wan here now?"
Meng Yu shook her head, a look of regret on her face. "Last year, for my father's birthday, she embroidered a screen for me as a birthday gift. My father loved it, so he rewarded me generously. This was all thanks to Xue Wan, but unfortunately, she worked day and night embroidering the screen, and her health was severely weakened. She passed away before I could repay her. Originally, for her sake, I didn't want to make things difficult for her brother, but it was that unknown person who insisted on pestering her. Xue Wan was sincere to me, and if she knew about it in the afterlife, she would also be angry with her brother."
Xue Wan is already dead?
Thinking of the girl who always timidly hid behind her brother, but with such bright eyes, Cheng Yayin felt a pang of heartache. She was still too late.
She gritted her teeth to hold back the sourness in her nose and asked again, "You killed Qu Xiaoyou too, right? Because she wanted to leave you, and you wanted to destroy her if you couldn't get her."
Meng Yu sneered and said, "You can't blame me for this. I admired her, brought her to Shengjing, built up her momentum, and helped her become Shengjing's most famous actress, but how did she repay me? As soon as she got her wings, she wanted to kick me away. How could I let such an ungrateful person go so easily? I only want what I don't want, and I will repay a hundredfold for what I have wronged."
His sharp eyes captured Cheng Yayin, a glint of determination flashing in them. Cheng Yayin felt a heavy cloud pressing down on her head, almost suffocating. Her teeth chattered as she asked, "If I don't obey you, will you treat me the same way you treated her?"
Meng Yu stood up and half-knelt beside Cheng Yayin. Ignoring her dodging, he stubbornly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said softly, "Don't think of me like that. Yinyin, to me, you are different from everyone else. I've been connected with you through your books for a long time, long before we met. I'm sure you're the woman I want. It doesn't matter if you don't want to write storybooks anymore. I just want you to write for me from now on."
Cheng Yayin felt extremely sick when he said her name like that, as if insects and ants were crawling all over her body. She suppressed the nausea and said sarcastically, "Is this how you deceived so many women with sweet words like this?"
"Whether you believe it or not, I've only said this to you." Meng Yu helped her up from the ground, his expression gentle, but the strength he held on her shoulders was unbending. "I know you hate me now, you're afraid of me, and you have many misunderstandings about me. It doesn't matter. In the future, you'll realize how good I am and how much I care about you."
What Meng Yu said, "There is a long way to go", was tantamount to a sentence that imprisoned Cheng Yayin here.
She was under house arrest in Ganchuan Villa, where she was provided with the best food, clothing, and daily necessities, but she was not allowed to leave the house. Meng Yu did not always stay in the Villa, but would occasionally go out. When he was away, Cheng Yayin did not have to stay in her room to avoid him, and would walk around the Villa.
Meng Yu had clearly given instructions ahead of time, allowing her to freely access most areas of the villa. She spent several days exploring the grounds. Indeed, as Meng Yu had said, the villa was nestled against the mountainside, offering stunning views. Behind the main building was a natural rock platform for viewing the scenery, and below that, a row of bungalows nestled against the mountainside. Cheng Yayin had no trouble accessing other areas, but she was stopped as she approached this area. She suspected Pei Songsheng was being held captive there. Unfortunately, the security was so tight that she couldn't find a way in.
There is also a quiet courtyard in the villa, with a plaque on it that reads "Apricot Garden". It is the residence of the women who were tricked back by Meng Yu.
Aside from the day Liu Cuifu slit her wrists and committed suicide, Cheng Yayin hadn't seen those women anywhere else in the villa. They lived secluded in the apricot garden, rarely leaving the main gate or the secondary gate. Cheng Yayin assumed they were, like herself, not under house arrest, and aside from being restricted from leaving the mansion, they should have free access to everything else. It was just that they were like caged birds, imprisoned for so long they'd lost the ability and spirit to fly.
Cheng Yayin tried to engage them, but as she entered the apricot garden, they simply glanced up at her and then turned away, showing no interest or curiosity in this outsider. They saw her as just another woman Meng Yu had brought back, one who would soon move in and repeat the same story as theirs.
Cheng Yayin's eyes swept across the young but empty faces, and a deep sense of powerlessness surged in her heart.
It wasn't until she asked Xue Wan that they reacted.
One girl asked quietly, "Do you know Xue Wan?"
Cheng Yayin nodded: "She is my friend's sister. Ever since she disappeared, my friend has been extremely worried and has been searching for her whereabouts. She..." She bit her lip and said hesitantly, "Is she really gone?"
The girls all lowered their heads with gloomy expressions, and no one answered her. Cheng Yayin felt a pang of pain in her heart.
The woman who had taken the initiative to ask the question hesitated for a moment, then stood up and walked over to Cheng Yayin. She took out a handkerchief from her bosom and handed it to her, "This was embroidered by Xue Wan before she died. She said it was for her brother. She worked hard for half a year to make a screen for the prince. In the end, her body was broken and her eyesight was not good. In her last few days, she forced herself to embroider this handkerchief, saying it was an apology gift for her brother. She was ignorant and hoped that her brother would forgive her..."
Cheng Yayin took the handkerchief. It was embroidered with bamboo patterns, and the stitches were even threaded. It was clear that Xue Wan's final days were indeed extremely difficult. She couldn't bear to look at it, and hurriedly stuffed it into her arms, tears in her eyes.
"Xue Wan's biggest regret in her life was that she couldn't hand this thing over to her brother personally. Since you know her brother, I'll leave it to you..." The girl stopped talking halfway when she remembered that Cheng Yayin, like herself, was not free. She couldn't help but smile bitterly and walked back to the corridor.
Cheng Yayin wiped away the tears from her eyes and said, "I will leave here. Not only that, I will let you leave too."
These words stirred up waves, like a stone dropped into still water. The girls panicked, their faces filled with despair, but they kept saying, "Why leave? Making a living outside is hard, but here we have fine clothes and delicious food, and no one will look down on us. As long as we're obedient, the prince has always been kind to us. There's no better place in the world!"
They praised him with their mouths, but their expressions said otherwise. These girls had already become frightened birds, no longer daring to dream of soaring high.
Cheng Yayin returned to her room with a heavy heart. In the evening, Meng Yu came back and wanted to have dinner with her.
During this period, the two often ate at the same table. Cheng Yayin lost her appetite as soon as she saw Meng Yu. If it weren't for maintaining her strength, she would rather stay hungry.
Meng Yu seemed oblivious to her discomfort and chatted with her cheerfully, "Have you met the girls from Xingyuan? You've seen how peaceful they are here, and you will too."
Living like a soulless puppet, with the power of life and death in the hands of a jackal, can you really feel at ease? Cheng Yayin sneered inwardly and asked expressionlessly, "Why did you capture so many women? If you just needed someone to accompany you, why would you make such a fuss?"
"You're wrong. It's not me who needs them, it's them who need me." Meng Yu put down his bowl and chopsticks and spoke earnestly. "You've lived a comfortable life since childhood, and you don't know how hard it is for these women who have to struggle alone in the world to make a living. Even if they are famous for their skills, that's only superficial. Who knows how much cold stares and contempt they endure behind the scenes. I see through the hypocrisy of this world and can't bear to see them wasting their time, so I keep them all by my side. Here, they have the best food, clothing, and daily necessities, and no one dares to disrespect them. For them, this is the best destination."
He actually thought of himself as a savior. Cheng Yayin suppressed her nausea and asked, "If I stay here, will you treat me like those women, confining me to a small courtyard and waiting for your mercy?"
"Didn't I tell you that you are different from them?"
"What's the difference? I can't come and go freely in this villa either."
Meng Yu chuckled: "You don't have to test me like this. When you don't miss Pei Songsheng as much as you do now, I will let you see him."
Cheng Yayin pursed her lips and covered her clothes tightly where he couldn't see.
She always carries the antidote for the Soul-Separating Powder with her, and she must find a chance to see Pei Songsheng. However, Meng Yu's style of doing things will definitely not allow them to meet alone. How can she get Pei Songsheng to take the antidote, and how can she escape from Ganchuan with him?
Cheng Yayin thought about various plans in her mind, and then rejected them one by one. She didn't know what Pei Songsheng's current situation was, and whether he could hold on until she came up with a solution. After a few days of anxiety, she didn't wait for the opportunity to meet Pei Songsheng, but instead waited for an unexpected person to come -
Xia Changhuan.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com