Chapter 67 Ayin, please have mercy on me
Li Ao was a frequent customer of this brothel and was very generous with his money. Although he was a little picky when choosing the girls, overall he was not a difficult customer to deal with.
But since a few months ago, Li Ao suddenly changed his personality. He used to be a simple guy who slept with girls, but now he started playing with props and torture.
Moreover, his criteria for choosing a girl also changed. In the past, he liked delicate and weak types, but later he only wanted the arrogant and bad-tempered types, preferably with a heroic look.
The madam heard from the owner of Nanfengguan, whom she knew well, that it was the same there.
In Li Ao's words, this is the way to play and you'll feel a sense of conquest.
But Li Ao's methods were too cruel, and he ruined many of the brothel's girls. Although he compensated them afterwards, it takes more than just money to train a qualified girl.
The madam was very unhappy with Li Ao, but she couldn't turn him away.
Li Ao came at noon today, and as usual, he asked for a new girl and went to the small building in the backyard.
Based on previous experience, he would play until the next morning, and he also brought two guards with him, so the brothel owner didn't pay much attention to him.
Who knew that the waiter just came to tell him that Li Ao's guards were guarding the door. They didn't hear any movement from inside for a long time, so they knocked on the door out of worry. No one answered, so they broke in and found Li Ao hanging naked on the windowsill, fainted, covered in snow, and his lips were frozen purple.
If we had gone in a little later, we would have been frozen to death.
The madam walked quickly and asked, "Where is the girl in the room?"
The employee said, "She was chained to a wooden frame and was unconscious. It couldn't have been her who did it."
The madam gritted her teeth and said, "Whether she did it or not, our words don't count."
If Li Aofei says that it was that girl's fault, they will be in trouble.
When the two rushed to the room where Li Ao was, Li Ao had already been wrapped in a quilt and put on the bed. The charcoal basin had also been moved over. The fainted girl had also woken up, with water all over her head and body, obviously having been splashed awake.
The girl was only wearing a thin shirt, which she must have put on herself after waking up. She knelt trembling beside the brothel, and when she saw the madam come in, she ran over to ask for help.
"Mom, it wasn't me. I fainted from the pain a long time ago. It's really none of my business. Wuwuwu..."
The girl couldn't stop crying. She was afraid that if anything happened to Li Ao, she would die.
The madam squeezed her hand soothingly and asked the waiter, "Have you sent someone to call the doctor?"
The clerk said, "He's gone."
At this time, Li Ao's guards also came over and said coldly: "You must give us an explanation for this matter, otherwise if the head of the family finds out, you will be in big trouble!"
To be able to open such a large brothel in the capital and keep it standing all these years, it is impossible for the madam to not have a strong backer.
Now that the truth has not been found out yet, the guard wants to pass the buck, but the madam of course won't accept it.
She raised her chin and said, "Everything will have to wait until the doctor comes and Master Li wakes up. I believe the Li family is not unreasonable and will give us a clear name."
If the Li family still dares to make trouble when it has nothing to do with them, don't blame her for informing the people behind the scenes.
The guards also knew that the brothel seemed to be backed by the Cui family, and the madam had the confidence to be arrogant, so they didn't say anything more and just snorted coldly.
While waiting for the doctor to come, the madam went to check the wine and food on the table and found that the wine bottle was empty. She immediately frowned.
The waiter was surprised and said, "Is this Fuchun Bar? Everyone is finished drinking? No wonder..."
Hearing his voice, the guards ran over and asked sharply, "What is Fuchun wine? What did you give my young master to drink?"
The madam had already understood the general truth and was more confident in her words. She rolled her eyes at the guards and said, "Don't worry, I didn't feed your young master poison. This Fuchun wine is for aphrodisiacs. It's not advisable to drink too much at once, otherwise you will experience symptoms such as heat and confusion. We told Young Master Li these precautions eight hundred years ago."
As she spoke, she turned the wine bottle upside down and shook it, saying, "Look, not a drop left. Master Li probably drank it all by himself."
"Impossible!" the guard shouted, "How could my young master drink all of this wine when he knew it was not allowed to be consumed in excess?"
The madam shrugged, "How should I know? Maybe he drank too quickly and forgot. When he wakes up, we can ask him about it."
After the doctor came and examined Li Ao, he also said that Li Ao drank a lot of Fuchun wine, and took off all his clothes and lay on the windowsill to cool down, which might have been done when he was unconscious.
He induced vomiting in Li Ao and poured some medicine into his body. All he could do next was to wait.
It was not until the next morning that Li Ao slowly woke up, but what he said was completely opposite to what the doctor and the madam said.
According to him, after the girl fainted, he was going to drink some Fuchun wine to stimulate her spirit and then use a whip to wake her up.
But just after he finished a glass of wine, he suddenly felt a pain in the back of his neck, and then he lost consciousness. When he woke up, he was in this situation now.
The doctor checked Li Ao's neck and found no scars.
Li Ao believed that the whole story was that someone sneaked into the house, knocked him unconscious, poured all the wine into his stomach, then took off his clothes and hung him on the windowsill.
Of course the madam was unwilling to admit that her brothel had security issues, as a thief would actually sneak in and attack a guest, a distinguished one at that.
She refuted Li Ao, saying that judging from the traces of clothes falling on the ground, it was obvious that he had taken them off himself. He did not remember drinking all the wine, and his memory might be confused because of drinking. The pain in the back of his neck was also his imagination.
So the truth should be: Li Ao was too excited about the fun and forgot about the side effects of the Fuchun wine. He drank it all, and then became unconscious. Coupled with the heat in his body, he took off his clothes and lay on the windowsill to cool off, and fainted without knowing it.
Each side insisted on its own story, and neither wanted to admit that it was their fault, so the argument ended in a bad mood.
Li Ao asked his father and brother to make the decision for him, and the brothel owner also went to the Cui family for help. Her brothel gave the Cui family a large amount of money every year, and she didn't believe that the Cui family would ignore her.
As expected, the Cui family was reluctant to give up this cash cow, so they sent people to the Li family to negotiate peace. However, the head of the Li family also felt sorry for his son, and felt that it must be the brothel's fault. Not only did he want the brothel to compensate his son and apologize, he also wanted it to close down.
The reason why Patriarch Li was so angry was not just because of Li Ao's incident.
Previously, he was forbidden by Zong Zhengxiao to use fertilizers. Cui and Chen families just watched from the sidelines. Later, the two families even made compost crazily and used it on every acre of land at home, waiting for a good harvest next year.
The head of the Li family also wanted to do it secretly, but those people were watching him very closely, and there was no chance for him to find any loopholes.
When he thought about how much loss he would suffer the next year if he couldn't use fertilizer, the head of the Li family was so angry that he couldn't sleep, and his hatred for the Cui and Chen families deepened.
Now that Li Ao was being plotted against in the brothel, the Cui family had no intention of taking responsibility and acted condescending, only sending a servant to negotiate with him.
The head of the Li family couldn't swallow this humiliation, so he simply drove the man out without mercy.
The Cui family would definitely not be happy with him doing this.
Now the whole matter is no longer just a question of who is right and who is wrong between Li Ao and Qinglou. Both the Cui and Li families will not allow their dignity to be trampled upon. Whoever gives in first will lose and will never be able to hold their heads up again.
Zong Zhengxiao himself had not expected that he only wanted to teach Li Ao a lesson, but it would cause such a huge chain reaction. It seemed that the resentment between the noble families had been accumulated for a long time, and they were just waiting for this outbreak.
Rong Yin was curious: "Will the two families fight?"
Zong Zhengxiao shook his head: "It will be noisy, but it won't be too ugly. After all, they still have a common enemy in front of them."
Rong Yin sat by the pool, wagging her tail happily. Zong Zheng Xiao, who was soaking in the hot water, said, "When I think of Li Ao being stripped naked and hung on the windowsill like a piece of pork, I want to laugh."
Zong Zhengxiao's lips also lifted up: "Laugh if you want to. I heard that he got seriously ill from being frozen, and because he drank too much of that kind of wine, his offspring were almost ruined. All these things combined should be enough to make him behave himself for a while."
Rong Yin sighed: "How sad the pervert must be when he loses his tools."
Don't be too obvious in your tone of gloating.
Zong Zhengxiao gently stroked Rong Yin's silver fishtail, turned his head to look at him, his eyes deep: "Then this little pervert who hasn't lost his tools, do you want to come down and take a bath with me?"
Rong Yin slid into the water, swam over and got close to Zong Zhengxiao, blinked her eyes, and asked innocently, "Just taking a bath?"
Zong Zhengxiao put his hands around Rong Yin's waist and said, "Everything is subject to A Yin's instructions."
Rong Yin's sharp nails slid up slowly up along Zong Zheng Xiao's naked chest, passing by his clavicle, Adam's apple, and jaw, and finally stopped on Zong Zheng Xiao's lips.
As his nails approached Rong Yin's lips, he exhaled softly and said, "Come in the water, I will use the mermaid form. Whoever calls a halt first loses. If I lose, I will listen to you and be on top next time. If you lose, I will not use the medicine jade for the next month. What do you think? Do you dare to bet with me?"
After the two of them had been intimate many times, Zong Zhengxiao finally revealed to Rong Yin his habit of being on top, but Rong Yin felt that this position was very deep and he was very scared, so he kept resisting.
Zong Zhengxiao found out that he didn't like it, so he didn't force him. Only when he saw Rong Yin was in a good mood, he would coax him to come once in a while.
Therefore, this condition is still very tempting to Zong Zhengxiao.
As Rong Yin expected, Zong Zheng Xiao agreed immediately.
"I hope you won't cry and give up halfway." Zong Zhengxiao held Rong Yin's paw, held him and turned around, pressing him against the wall of the pool.
No words were spoken that night.
In this battle, both of them used up all their endurance and physical strength. Rong Yin's eyes were swollen from crying, but he refused to admit defeat.
It was not until dawn that they agreed to a draw, and then fell asleep in each other's arms.
But from a certain perspective, Rong Yin was considered the loser, because although he was not stuffed with the medicine jade this time, he was stuffed with something else.
He found out after he woke up in the afternoon. He was so angry that he kicked Zong Zhengxiao off the bed and accidentally sprained his waist.
Zong Zheng Xiao knew he was wrong: "I was too tired, I forgot, it's all my fault, A Yin, don't be angry, I'll give you a massage, okay?"
But he did not change: "I will pay more attention next time, but accidents may still happen."
Rong Yin: "Shameless!"
Then Zong Zheng Xiao was driven out of the house by Rong Yin.
Zong Zhengxiao was standing at the door. Classmate Xiao Ai happened to pass by. When she saw him, she ran over to play with him.
Zong Zhengxiao stroked its head and sighed, "Your father abandoned you and me."
"Awoo?" Xiao Ai looked puzzled.
So the palace servants in Yinjiao Garden saw this scene: Zong Zhengxiao led Xiao Ai to stand at the door, one on the left and one on the right, and started shouting inside.
Zong Zhengxiao: "Ayin, I was wrong. Let me in."
Xiao Ai: “Woof woof woof!”
After a while, the door opened. Before Zong Zhengxiao could even smile, Rong Yin led the dog in and slammed the door shut.
Zong Zhengxiao was blocked outside again, and this time he was really alone.
The palace maids could hardly hold back their laughter, and for fear of being discovered by the emperor, they quickly ran away.
When it was dinner time, even classmate Xiao Ai went to Rong Yin's table to gnaw on bones, but Zong Zhengxiao was still isolated and alone at the side, sitting at a table by himself, so miserable that he couldn't even eat.
Si Xi suggested: "Your Majesty, shall we serve you a pot of wine?"
As the saying goes, a drink can relieve a thousand worries.
Zong Zhengxiao understood what he meant: "You want to be fined a monthly salary, right?"
Si Xi: "I know my crime. I was wrong."
Rong Yin was really unhappy this time. He had been feeling awkward with Zong Zheng Xiao for three whole days. They didn't sleep in separate beds, but Rong Yin wouldn't let him touch him at all. If Zong Zheng Xiao came over to hug him in the middle of the night, he would push him away if he noticed.
Zong Zheng was in great pain, one misstep led to eternal regret.
He stood at the door, looking at the snowflakes fluttering in the air outside, and felt that his heart was colder than ice.
Suddenly, Zong Zheng Xiao remembered something and ran quickly to the snow-covered courtyard, regardless of the snow still falling.
In the room, Rong Yin was playing tug-of-war with Xiao Ai. He was pulling one end of the short rope, while Xiao Ai was pulling the other end with her mouth, competing with each other in strength.
Classmate Xiao Ai had meat to eat every day, and he grew bigger and stronger, and his strength also increased. Rong Yin now had to concentrate when playing with him, otherwise he would lose if he was not careful.
After finishing a round, Rong Yin patted Xiao Ai and told her to go drink some water. Winter is dry and it is easy to be dehydrated. He also took a sip of the fruit tea.
At this time, Si Xi came in with a tray in his hand. He bowed to Rong Yin and handed it to her.
"Master, His Majesty said that he knew you didn't want to see him, so he asked this old servant to deliver the things to you. He hopes you won't be angry with him anymore. He knows he was wrong, so please forgive him." Si Xi said sincerely.
Rong Yin looked up and saw five little snowmen sitting in a circle on the tray. In the middle of the circle was a snowball heart that Rong Yin was very familiar with. There were notes stuck on the faces of the little snowmen, which read - I love you, my wife.
Rong Yin's eyes moved slightly, and his expression softened.
Si Xi struck while the iron was hot and told the story of the past: "In fact, His Majesty has long been interested in you, but he was afraid that you would be scared after knowing it, so he didn't dare to speak out. The day you gave His Majesty this snowball, he was very happy and kept it in ice. He would take a look at it whenever he had time. He treasured it more than any gold, silver or treasure. If it wasn't for the fact that there was really no other way today, His Majesty would not have been willing to take it out."
Rong Yin stared at the snowball that was no longer as beautiful as it once was. His heart ached as he could not help but think of how he and Zong Zheng Xiao almost never met again.
"Since you cherish it, take it back and put it away. It's too warm in the room and it will melt soon." Rong Yin's tone was flat.
Si Xi thought this trick was useless and was about to mourn for His Majesty when he heard Rong Yin say, "When you go out, ask him to come in."
"Hey! I'll go right away!" Si Xi's brows suddenly lit up with joy. He turned around and left with brisk steps, almost flying.
The palace servants were also very tactful and knew that it might not be appropriate for them to be there later, so while they left, they also coaxed and tricked Xiao Ai into taking her away.
Outside, Zong Zhengxiao listened to Si Xi's reply, coughed lightly, suppressed his excitement, lowered his eyes and asked him: "How do I look?"
Si Xi knew what he meant and quickly agreed, "Your Majesty looks like you were severely frozen. It would be best to apply some frostbite ointment before going to bed at night."
Zong Zhengxiao then smiled contentedly: "I'm going in, take care of them, don't bother us unless necessary."
"Yes, I will guard the gate for Your Majesty." Si Xi was loyal.
Zong Zhengxiao nodded: "Not bad, this month's salary will be doubled."
Si Xixi smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Zong Zhengxiao went in and closed the door.
Hearing the sound of the door closing, Rong Yin knew that it was Zong Zhengxiao who came, but he didn't even raise his head and continued to pretend to be reading.
They were the only ones in the room, and there was no movement outside, so Rong Yin could clearly hear Zong Zheng Xiao's footsteps, each step seemed to be stepping on his heart.
Rong Yin's fingers pinched the edge of the book, but she didn't turn the page for a long time.
Finally, Zong Zheng Xiao stopped in front of Rong Yin.
Rong Yin held his breath.
Zong Zhengxiao knelt down on one knee and put his hands, whose joints were frozen red, in front of Rong Yin.
At the same time, Zong Zhengxiao's pitiful voice rang out: "Ayin, I'm so cold. The snow is so cold that it almost froze my hands."
Rong Yin couldn't continue reading. He looked up at Zong Zheng Xiao and found that his hair was a little messy, with a strand of hair hanging on his forehead, and his ears and cheeks were frozen red.
Rong Yin was surprised: "Did you go to make a snowman or go to the war? How did you get yourself into this state?"
Zong Zheng Xiao slowly approached Rong Yin, and seeing that he had no intention of refusing, he leaned over and rested his face on his legs.
"It was snowing outside, and I was standing in the snow making a snowman."
Zong Zhengxiao was tall and strong. Such a tall man huddled up against Rong Yin with a wronged look on his face, looking inexplicably pitiful.
Rong Yin didn't know whether she was angry or distressed: "Are you stupid? Why don't you go inside to hide when it snows?"
Zong Zhengxiao said, "Because I wanted to make the snowman quickly so that A Yin could forgive me, I forgot to hide from the snow in a hurry."
In fact, Rong Yin knew clearly that Zong Zhengxiao was pretending to be stupid. Even if he really didn't think of hiding from the snow, Si Xi and the other palace ladies were not blind. How could they just watch him stay in the snow without going up to persuade him?
Zong Zheng Xiao deliberately made himself so miserable just to soften his heart and make him forgive him.
But what good is it to know the truth? Seeing how much Zong Zheng Xiao cared about him, he couldn't be cruel to him even if he wanted to.
"You just take advantage of the fact that I can't bear to leave you, so you always bully me." Rong Yin said angrily.
Zong Zhengxiao stood up, held Rong Yin's hand, stared into his eyes, and said, "I can't bear to leave you either, my wife."
The last two words were like a small hammer, tapping gently on Rong Yin's heart, causing his heartbeat to gradually speed up and his face to heat up.
"I forgive you." Rong Yin pointed at her lips, "So, kiss me right now."
Before he finished speaking, Zong Zheng Xiao leaned over and kissed him.
Rong Yin hugged Zong Zheng Xiao back, and as they were kissing they changed positions, with Zong Zheng Xiao sitting and Rong Yin riding on his lap.
While taking a breath, Rong Yin panted and said, "Next time, don't leave it inside and don't take it out. What if it breaks later? You don't consider me at all."
"I was wrong. I won't do this again next time. I swear." Zong Zhengxiao stopped joking with Rong Yin and stroked the back of his neck, assuring him in a serious tone.
"I believe you." After saying that, Rong Yin kissed her again.
Zong Zhengxiao and Rong Yin were back to normal, and the Cui and Li families were almost at peace.
During these few days of stalemate, there was actually no major conflict between the two companies. There were just a few frictions in business, but they were all minor.
However, if the two heads of the family do not talk it out and the two families continue to compete with each other, no one can guarantee whether it will develop to an irreversible point in the end.
The head of the Li family was just venting his anger for the moment. To be honest, he could not defeat the Cui family, nor did he dare to fight with the Cui family. But he had already put on airs, and he could not admit his mistakes in a humiliating manner.
Finally, the Cui family head felt that it was not good to continue the cold war. There was no need to quarrel over a small matter, otherwise he would lose his prestige and increase the emperor's prestige.
So the head of the Cui family asked the head of the Chen family to be the middleman and invited the head of the Li family to his home. He sat down and talked with him in detail for a long time, and finally convinced the head of the Li family to give up opposing the Cui family.
Of course, the head of the Cui family also gave Li Ao an explanation. The brothel owner admitted that his protection was not adequate, allowing the bad guys to slip in, knock Li Ao unconscious and then force him to drink.
Unfortunately, the criminals were so skilled in martial arts that they didn't leave any traces in or around the house. The brothel expressed regret that they couldn't catch the criminals, but were willing to pay Li Ao some money.
Patriarch Li knew clearly that rather than being unable to catch the criminal, it was more accurate to say that the brothel simply did not acknowledge the existence of the criminal. And they could not arrest someone for no reason, as that would be too embarrassing.
I decided to spend a little more money, apologize more sincerely, and put the matter behind me.
Patriarch Li and Patriarch Cui had already reached an agreement and would not make things difficult for the brothel.
Patriarch Li absolutely believed in his son, but he also asked people to investigate. The heavy snow hid all traces, and he could not find any evidence to prove that anyone else had entered the room.
If they searched for the person in a high-profile manner, the whole capital would know that Li Ao was stripped naked and hung on the windowsill and almost froze to death. However, the Li family, as a big family, could not find the person who harmed their young master. It would be laughable.
Because Li Aoping had offended too many people, the head of the Li family could not confirm who had done it, so he could only accept the defeat.
"Bang--"
The sound of dishes hitting the ground was particularly harsh. In Li Ao's room, the maids knelt on the ground, all with their heads lowered and trembling, afraid that they would be the next to suffer.
"I said I don't want to eat! You don't understand what I'm saying, right?" Li Ao had a vicious expression and kicked the little maid who brought the food to him. The little maid fell to the ground screaming in pain.
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