Chapter 12 "I still thought she loved my brother so much..."
Su Muying actually fell on her own.
The moment Xie Linyuan knocked the bowl of ginseng soup out of her hand, Su Muying fell to the ground.
She knew the bowl had shattered into pieces, and that's why she fell and cut her hand with the broken pieces.
She wanted Xie Linyuan to think that he was the one who pushed her, that he was the one who caused her to cut her hand with broken porcelain, and that he was the one who made her hand covered in blood. She thought that this would make him feel a little guilty, a little compassionate towards her, and a little regret and tenderness. In that case, her future life would be a little easier.
She was definitely playing the victim.
But Su Muying didn't expect that even after she did all that, Xie Linyuan remained unmoved, his heart as cold and hard as iron.
No… he wasn’t indifferent. What was even more terrifying was that he actually braced himself against the ground with his palms, allowing all the shards of porcelain to embed themselves into his hands…
Blood flowed out, mixing with her own, the large patches of red stinging her eyes.
He even raised his hand and slowly rubbed his blood-stained fingertips across her lips, smearing the blood onto them.
Then, he laughed eerily and told her to come with him to the princess's flower-viewing banquet, and warned her not to seduce anyone, otherwise... he would chain her to a secret room, forcing her to keep...
He will, he definitely will.
He hated her so much.
If he locks her up, then even if she gets pregnant, it won't matter.
Even if Xie's mother lets her go, Xie Linyuan will not let her go.
Only then did Su Muying realize that trying to please him was completely useless.
He was a wicked devil who took pleasure in tormenting and frightening her.
He was sinister, tyrannical, and wicked.
He's a... madman, capable of anything.
If she wants to live, she needs to give birth to the child as soon as possible and leave this place before Xie Linyuan goes even more insane.
Furthermore, if she were pregnant, she could use the excuse of taking care of her pregnancy to tell Xie's mother that she was moving out of the west courtyard.
With Xie family blood in her veins, they probably won't make things too difficult for her.
After what just happened, Su Muying had no choice but to put the matter of drugging him back on the agenda.
Su Muying left the study, trembling all over, her face pale, her lips a deep, blood-red hue that, ironically, created a striking and vibrant beauty.
Xie Linyuan stood by the window, his gaze fixed on the flustered girl, until her figure disappeared into the night.
A light rain began to fall again, and the night mist seeped into the room, making the stench of blood even stronger as it mingled with the steam.
Xie Linyuan turned around and walked towards the pool of blood.
He stared at the pool of blood mixed with his and hers, and images kept flashing before his eyes.
The girl holding flowers under the eaves, her brother lying in a pool of blood, the girl's body shrouded in moonlight in the mourning hall, the purse, and her hands stained with blood.
Xie Linyuan squatted down, stretched out his hand which was already bleeding profusely from being cut by shards of porcelain, and slowly stroked the blood on the ground until his entire hand was stained with blood, and the blood slowly flowed down his slender finger bones.
This is his and her blood mixed together.
Then, Xie Linyuan put his hand to his lips, stuck out his tongue, and licked the blood little by little.
Blood, like hers, stained his lips, and like hers, stained his face.
His face was originally extremely beautiful, even more so than a woman's, but because of his violent and murderous aura, his appearance carried an indelible sharpness and fierceness.
But at this moment, besides all that, it also carries a ghostly, sinister quality.
If Su Muying had seen this scene, she, who was already on the verge of collapse, would probably have fainted on the spot from fright.
After an unknown amount of time, Xie Linyuan licked the blood off his hands. He stared at the pool of blood on the ground, the glaring red filling his eyes. He didn't know when the desire buried deep in his heart had broken through the soil and begun to grow wildly like vines.
"Insincere and hypocritical, just putting on an act."
"Why, why did you have to lie to me?"
"Only my brother has a wallet, right?"
"You only shed tears for my brother, right?"
"What's so great about my brother? Hahahaha..."
Suddenly, the man's laughter, which had been echoing in the room, stopped abruptly.
After realizing what he had just said, Xie Linyuan suddenly froze as his mind cleared.
Immediately afterwards, he slammed his fist heavily on the ground, whether out of resentment or something else, it was hard to say.
The shards of porcelain cut his flesh again, and blood gushed out.
"She really is a fairy."
"So bewitching."
——
Su Muying did not return to Xie Linyuan's west courtyard, but went to the small courtyard where she used to live.
She dared not, dared not go back to the west courtyard.
At this moment, in Su Muying's eyes, Xie Linyuan was no different from those child-eating ghosts in the tales of the strange and supernatural.
Even after she returned to her old room and closed the door, she was still shaken.
She leaned against the door, unable to recover for a long time.
Xiao Rong was still sleeping in the outer room. As soon as Su Muying entered, Xiao Rong woke up.
When she came out from the outer room and saw her young mistress, Xiao Rong was initially delighted, thinking of telling her mistress that her cousin had sent another letter with good news. However, when she saw her young mistress's blood-stained hands, she was immediately terrified.
"Miss!" Xiao Rong woke up from her sleepiness and rushed over to help her mistress sit down.
"How could there be so much blood!" Xiao Rong burst into tears upon seeing this. She quickly fetched medicine and began treating her young mistress's wound.
Su Muying still looked panicked, her face pale and her eyes glazed over, as if she had been greatly frightened.
Xiao Rong had never seen her young mistress like this before. She was so anxious that sweat beaded on her forehead. After treating her young mistress's wound and bandaging it, she couldn't help but ask indignantly, "Miss, did the second young master bully you again!"
Only now did Su Muying emerge from the fear Xie Linyuan had instilled in her. She looked up and saw that the person in front of her was Xiao Rong, not Xie Linyuan. The terror in her eyes finally disappeared, and she hugged Xiao Rong and burst into tears.
She was usually reserved and calm, and rarely broke down in tears like this. Xiao Rong was also frightened and could only keep comforting her young lady.
"I knew that second young master was a cannibal. All he did was torture the young lady. How can you blame the young lady for the eldest young master's death..."
"Miss, your cousin has sent another letter. Please take a look; perhaps we can leave soon!"
...
Hearing this, Su Muying slowly stopped crying. She raised her tear-streaked face and wiped away her tears.
Xiao Rong immediately took the letter: "I got it from the gatekeeper. I was planning to tell Miss about it tomorrow."
Su Muying opened the letter, glanced at it briefly, and a glimmer of light appeared in her tear-filled eyes.
“My cousin said that the situation in Anzhou is gradually stabilizing, and in a few months, they will be able to bring us back.”
"That's great!" Xiao Rong was so happy she almost jumped for joy.
"But……"
After the initial joy, Su Muying pondered for a moment, and the light in her eyes dimmed again.
Why is it different from what the shopkeeper said?
What exactly happened in Anzhou?
And, would her uncle and aunt really send her cousin to pick her up...?
The Xie family wields immense power. Xie Lin'an, the eldest son of the Xie family, died because of her. If she cannot bear a child for the Xie family as Xie's mother has promised, and forcibly escapes, Xie's mother will likely not let her go.
And... Lin'an did indeed die for her. He took so many blows for her. The little bloodline she left for the Xie family should be considered... considered as repayment.
Although Su Muying knew in her heart that what she owed him was something she could never repay.
"Xiao Rong, I need to write a reply to my cousin. Could you deliver it for me?" Su Muying said.
"Okay!" Xiao Rong wiped away her tears. "Xiao Rong will definitely deliver it to Miss."
——
After Su Muying left, Xie Linyuan stayed in the study.
The study was furnished as usual, with a pool of bright red blood and blood-stained shards of porcelain scattered on the floor, unchanged since Su Muying left.
The wind blowing in from outside was colder, and the smell of blood was even stronger in the damp spring night.
Xie Linyuan leaned back in the mahogany chair, his hand hanging down at his side, blood still seeping from his long, slender fingers.
His excessively dark eyes were fixed on one spot, with blood vessels spreading like a spider web.
He remained seated until the guard Qingshan's report came from outside the door, at which point he slowly and sluggishly tilted his head.
"Reporting to Master, we have found out about Miss Su's purchase of medicine."
He lifted his eyelids, his long, dark eyelashes seemed to tremble, and spoke.
"Come in."
Qingshan then pushed open the door.
As soon as he pushed open the door, he smelled a strong stench of blood, a faint fragrance of women, and the aroma of ginseng soup.
And, at a glance, he could see his master's still bleeding hand.
Qingshan suddenly became alert and asked, "Young master, is it...?"
Xie Linyuan said calmly, "It's alright, get to the point."
Fortunately, he had served Xie Linyuan for many years and was one of his subordinates, having gone to the battlefield with him. He knew very well what he shouldn't say or ask, so he didn't look at Xie Linyuan directly and didn't ask any more questions. He simply lowered his head and reported back.
"I have investigated and, according to the shopkeeper, the medicine Miss Su bought was..."
At this point, Qingshan paused, which was rare for him. He was also a young man who had never married, and he blushed a little when this matter was mentioned. He was stuck there for a while without saying a word.
Xie Linyuan, annoyed, simply said, "Speak."
Aoyama shivered and immediately stood up straight, no longer daring to hide anything, and blurted it all out:
"It is an aphrodisiac for sexual intercourse between men and women."
After Qingshan finished speaking, Xie Linyuan slowly lifted his eyelids and remained silent for a long time.
It seemed as if he hadn't heard what he said, or perhaps he hadn't understood the sentence.
Xie Linyuan frowned slightly, his eyes seemed to be veiled in mist, revealing confusion and bewilderment.
Aoyama was even less likely to explain to him... what this was.
He could only stand there pretending to be dead, with his eyes closed and his mind at peace.
After about half a day, when Qingshan stood in front of his master, cold sweat about to pour out, he wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that after a moment of stunned silence, his master's usually chilling eyes revealed a sense of pleasure and comfort.
This is something he only sees after winning a battle.
But in an instant, all of that vanished.
"I thought she loved my brother so much."
He gave a cold snort, a smile playing on his lips, and sighed:
"That's all there is to it."
A note from the author:
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Male lead: She has feelings for me. [doge emoji]
Female lead: ?
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