Chapter 35 You're allowed to bully me? Does that mean you can't...?
Yang Qing was startled; she was only wearing her undergarments.
Fortunately, the weather was cold now, and everyone was wearing long sleeves and pants, but even so, she still cautiously pulled the blanket over herself before asking irritably, "What are you doing here?"
Li Shangxuan sat down on the edge of her bed and whispered, "I just want to see how long it will take you to realize I'm here."
Yang Qing suddenly remembered that she was still angry and couldn't talk to Li Shangxuan. She tried to turn her back, but he forcefully held her down and even tried to pull her blanket away.
"Are you crazy? This is my house! How dare you lay a hand on me?!"
Li Shangxuan slipped the bracelet onto her wrist before tapping her head. "What are you thinking?"
Yang Qing held her breath, raised her wrist to look at it, and saw that the jade bracelet was a vibrant green. Even if she didn't know much about jade, she could tell that it was a good thing.
Looking at her expression, Li Shangxuan asked softly, "Do you like it?"
Yang Qing was satisfied and nodded reservedly: "It's alright."
Li Shangxuan chuckled softly, leaned closer, and touched her forehead. "Why are you always angry with me?"
Yang Qing, feeling indebted to him, didn't sternly tell him to leave. She simply scoffed, "You're allowed to bully me, but I'm not allowed to get angry?"
Li Shangxuan said, "How have I bullied you? It's you who won't even see me."
Yang Qing said, "I think you've gone mad, coming to my house to cause trouble in the middle of the night."
He paused, then asked, "Where are my maids? What did you do to them?"
Li Shangxuan said, "It's just a nap."
He reached out and pinched Yang Qing's cheek. "Don't you dare think of any other naughty ideas. Be a good girl and wait for me to marry you."
Yang Qing tried to shake off his hand but failed. Instead, he pinched her chin and kissed her for a while until he was panting before letting go of her. But he still licked her lips with lingering desire and asked with a smile, "Why don't you call me Brother Shang Xuan anymore?"
Yang Qing glared at him; even though he was young, he couldn't hide his dog smell.
Li Shangxuan smiled and touched her face: "The more you glare at me, the more I want to kiss you."
As he leaned down again, Yang Qing pushed his face away forcefully. "Don't even think about it. How can our issues be resolved so easily?"
Li Shangxuan frowned. Yang Qing saw her own reflection in his eyes. It was all because several lights were on in the room.
"I've already told you, that child from my past life wasn't mine."
Yang Qing said, "Don't lie to me. If he weren't your son, would you have let him become emperor?"
Li Shangxuan said helplessly, "He is a member of the royal family who was lost abroad, but he is not mine."
Yang Qing said, "Even if he's not your child, you were still bad to me in my past life. You have so many concubines, I don't want to marry you."
This time, it was Li Shangxuan who didn't believe it: "Then tell me, who are the women in my harem?"
Yang Qing wanted to make up a few random ones, but she was afraid of tarnishing the girl's reputation, so she could only glare at him angrily.
Li Shangxuan couldn't help but laugh and kissed her ear. "Didn't I already tell you that the more you glare at me, the more I want to kiss you? Of course, everything I said is true, and you better be too. Otherwise, once I remember everything, if you're lying to me, see how I punish you."
After saying that, fearing that Yang Qing might really be angry, he poured her some tea and handed it to her, saying, "Weren't you thirsty just now?"
Yang Qing turned her head away: "How dare I order you around?"
Li Shangxuan snorted, "Haven't you ordered me around enough? If you don't drink now, I'll have to feed you!"
After saying that, he took a mouthful of water and was about to feed her, but Yang Qing quickly refused, "I can drink it myself, I don't need you to feed me."
Li Shangxuan didn't insist and handed her the cup. Yang Qing complained, "Why are you like this? You already drank from this one. Get me another one."
Li Shangxuan was both amused and annoyed: "You're starting to look down on me now?"
Yang Qing had just seen him drink water with his own eyes. "It's all your saliva on it. I don't want to drink what you left behind."
Li Shangxuan said, "Don't you eat my saliva often? Now you're complaining about it."
He clearly wasn't willing to back down. Yang Qing stared at the cup in his hand for a while, but finally decided to drink from it. She didn't want him to actually feed her that way.
Yang Qing deliberately avoided the spot where he had just drunk from, and finished her drink from his hand. Li Shangxuan thought she was so cute, drinking water like a kitten.
He put the cup on the table and was about to feed her some water again when Yang Qing, seeing that things weren't going well, quickly said, "You should go back now, it's really too late. As for other things, we can talk about them later. What you're doing is really inappropriate."
He can't really be planning to spend the night here, can he?
Li Shangxuan said, "I would like to find an opportunity to talk to you, but are you willing to see me? If you are really so open-minded, you should believe me and marry me obediently."
He stroked her hand. "I promise you, there will never be anyone else, neither before nor after."
Yang Qing remained silent, and as soon as he let go, she eagerly shrank back into the blankets.
Li Shangxuan said, "You're not allowed to hide from me anymore, or I'll come back, understand?"
Yang Qing said irritably, "I know, you're so annoying, just leave now."
After Li Shangxuan left, she got up from the bed and went to look at Liu Ye'er, who was keeping watch outside. She was lying on the couch, sleeping soundly with her eyes closed.
Yang Qing called her a few times, but there was no response. She nudged her a few times before Liu Ye'er finally woke up from her deep sleep. After a moment of confusion, she felt very guilty. "It's all my fault. I don't know why I closed my eyes. What do you want, Miss?"
Yang Qing was just worried that something might happen to her. If anyone should be blamed, it should be Li Shangxuan, not her.
"It's nothing. I just called your name and didn't get a response, so I came to check on you. It's getting cold now, so don't forget to cover yourself with a blanket when you sleep, or you'll catch a cold."
Liu Ye'er readily agreed. After Yang Qing got into bed, she turned off all the lights in the room before lying back down on the couch in the outer room. For some reason, she still felt extremely sleepy, as if she couldn't keep her eyes open. Almost as soon as she lay down, she immediately fell into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile, Yang Qing couldn't fall asleep and kept tossing and turning.
Li Shangxuan's words still echoed in my mind: "If you lie to me, see how I punish you."
Even if she wasn't completely silent, Yang Qing was still quite terrified.
He suddenly remembered something, like giving her the bracelet today; it was probably related to a past life.
What if one day he suddenly remembers everything and realizes that he was lying to him?
The worst-case scenario is that he becomes enraged and, just as he did with Xin Wanyou in Tongtang Mountain, he also cuts off his own head.
He had punished her severely in his past life, but Yang Qing really didn't want to recall the details. She could only blush and curse him in her heart over and over again: scoundrel, lewd, pervert, shameless!
After she finished cursing, she couldn't help but pray that he wouldn't remember it, or she would be finished!
When she turned over, she accidentally bumped the bracelet on her wrist, and Yangqing was heartbroken.
Just looking at this water flow, it's definitely something you can only come across once in a lifetime. Quickly take it down and put it under your pillow.
Her mother originally had a very beautiful jade bracelet, which was supposed to be given to her when she got married. However, in her previous life, she and Lian Tang got married around the same time, and her mother added to Lian Tang's dowry in order to improve her reputation.
Yang Qing was still quite angry. Although she didn't need the item, going back on her word was wrong.
When Li Shangxuan learned about this, he gave her all sorts of bracelets, gold, silver, and various kinds of jade. In fact, Yang Qing's favorite was a bracelet he bought casually on the street. It wasn't strung with any rare gemstones, but it was brightly colored and very pretty.
When Yangqing woke up the next morning, her first reaction was to touch the bracelet under her pillow. She took it in her hand and looked at it. It looked even more translucent and emerald green in the sunlight than under the lamplight, and it was even more beautiful than the night before.
She was very satisfied and handed it to Doukou to put away.
Doukou was in charge of the jewelry in her room. She was also surprised when she took it. She wanted to ask where it came from, but she swallowed the words back before she could say them.
It wasn't given by the old lady. Yesterday, I went out to play with Xu Pianran, not to meet guests. It seems that the only possibility is that it was given by the Crown Prince.
She quietly put it away, deliberately placing it at the bottom where no one could see it. Yang Qing probably wouldn't take it easily, as it was too conspicuous.
A little while later, the Third Madam sent someone over, saying that she intended to prepare a banquet and wanted her to come and take a look.
Yang Qing knew that this was her third aunt's good intention, wanting her to learn how to do things, so she didn't refuse, although she probably wouldn't need it.
In her past life, with so many people in the Shanggong Bureau, she was just putting on a show. In reality, she had no say in anything. Everyone else was running their own business perfectly. All she had to do was wait to see the results and add her name to the list.
When I arrived, all the girls who were still at home were there.
Rongyue was talking to the Third Madam, and Liantang was listening nearby. Only Chuying was extremely impatient. Her eyes looked up and down, and she even looked at a leaf falling from a tree with great interest. She just didn't want to look at the Third Madam.
The Third Madam is good at socializing and comes from a good family. Even though the Chi family is not doing well now, most people in the capital are still willing to give her face.
Actually, it wasn't just the third wife who came from a good family; the eldest uncle's first wife, as well as the second and fourth wives, all came from prominent families.
At that time, the Chi family was at the height of its power and influence, and naturally, all the sons and daughters in the family married into high-ranking families.
Later, the eldest uncle remarried. The woman he married still came from a good family, but her inner qualities were somewhat lacking. The second wife always felt that the first wife was petty and stingy when managing the household, which made people laugh for no reason.
In a little over two months, around early winter, it will be Madam Chi's birthday. But because she can't handle stress, a strange scene unfolds: the people celebrating her birthday are having a great time outside, while the person celebrating is very lonely.
There was nothing that could be done. The old lady was of a certain age and status, and the gifts from the palace had never been interrupted. How could the Chi family not hold a grand celebration? Otherwise, wouldn't they be branded as unfilial?
When the first snow is about to fall, it will be Yang Qing's birthday. However, with the old lady's birthday coming up first, her birthday will not attract much attention.
She didn't care much about it; she celebrated it every year anyway. Her birthday was especially troublesome when she was the empress. She really hated that she was born in winter, having to get out of her warm bed early in the morning to listen to those ladies of unknown rank giving long-winded congratulatory speeches, and having to stay alert at all times.
This is really bad.
Like Lian Tang, she stood quietly by and watched.
Before long, several of her sisters-in-law came over to join in the fun. They were unusually warm towards Yangqing, as if they had become kindred spirits without her noticing. One held Yangqing's hand, another put her arm around her shoulder, and those who missed the chance to squeeze next to Yangqing were not idle either. Their red lips, painted with various shades of rouge, opened and closed, never stopping for a moment, all praising how wonderful Yangqing was.
Even Yang Qing herself fell silent. Although she had always thought of herself as quite good, these people were practically praising her as a fairy descended from heaven. How could she possibly accept that? She immediately felt uncomfortable.
When it was lunchtime, the Third Madam wanted them to stay for lunch, but Yangqing quickly declined. Since it wasn't far away, she decided to go back first and come back when she had time.
In fact, when was she ever short of time at home? The second madam was too lazy to urge her to do needlework, embroidery, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. She wasn't as ambitious as Rongyue; she was content with just getting by.
The third wife also noticed her discomfort, nodded, and said nothing.
So Yangqing went back and ate lunch. Before her afternoon nap, she planned to read a storybook to help her fall asleep, but she couldn't find it anywhere. She asked Liu Ye'er, but she didn't know either. She only said, "Didn't you just read it last night? It must be in the room."
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